September 2016

Dear Parents and Carers Our term has begun well and our 260 new Year 7 students have settled in very quickly to our routines here at Park High. Last year’s Year 13 students did well in their A Levels and almost all are off to begin their university careers. Year 11 BTEC and GCSE results were pleasing and a large number of them have enrolled into our Year 12 to begin their A Level courses. Term even began with sunshine after the wet end to August with the local flooding and there is a mood of considerable optimism around the school – long may it continue. Following a successful bid for funding from the government, Park High is finally having all of its Crittall Windows replaced with modern double glazed replacements, at a cost exceeding £700,000. We are also having replacements made to some of our roofs. The total bill for this work is just over £1 million. These two major projects are taking place over the next few months and, as a consequence, much of our building is clothed in scaffolding and most of our small car park is out of use. Please excuse our appearance while we are making things better. Park High School is a chewing gum free zone. Any student found chewing gum in the building or in the grounds will find that they have a detention. Please make sure that your children are aware of this rule. We are also requiring our students to remove their football boots before they enter the school building! I know that this appears to be common sense and that none of you would ever allow your child simply to walk into the family home wearing studded footwear and dropping mud and grass over your carpets and flooring but it has been our experience that that is what many of our young people do at school. We have to take care of our school environment and this is a new measure that we have unfortunately had to put in place. It would be wise for students to have a boot-bag or shoe-bag that they can use to carry their boots to and from the park. Parent Governor Vacancies Two of our current parent governors’ terms of offices come to an end in the next four weeks and we will be inviting nominations from parents and carers who might wish to offer their services to the school and community. Further details will follow shortly in a separate letter. Student Leadership Park High has a long tradition of helping its students of all ages to develop their leadership skills and qualities. By the time they leave Year 11, virtually every student has achieved at least one nationally recognised leadership qualification and many of our students have many

such certificates. We operate our own leadership award scheme with Bronze, Silver and Gold levels of leadership. Silver and Gold levels of leadership require that students act on their own initiative to make a difference for others. In the past tutor groups have taken it upon themselves to organise a tidy-up of areas of the school, its grounds and Centenary Park, and each week they could be seen out with litter-pickers, vinyl gloves and black sacks. It is this selfless behaviour that marks the future leaders among our young people. This year we have decided to continue with our programme whereby all tutor groups in Years 7, 8 and 9 will be allocated a week and on one day of that week will be equipped with litterpickers and, under supervision, will clear an area of the school, park or the neighbouring areas. This is a terrific way in which we can help them to understand the nuisance caused by casual litter dropping and to care a little more for the environment and neighbourhood in which the school is situated whilst demonstrating their care for their community. Dropping – off and collecting your child Please do not drive along Burnell Gardens or Thistlecroft Gardens, even when it is raining, unless your child is physically unable to walk the length of those two streets. Parents and carers who insist on driving along narrow, congested residential cul-de-sacs are adding to the congestion and endangering children. Indeed, some parents have taken to standing in driveways, preventing our neighbours from leaving their homes safely for fear of reversing their cars into a pedestrian. Please think of others, too. Please also be considerate to neighbours in other nearby streets: Lamorna Grove is a narrow residential road that suffers badly from early morning congestion; Crowshott Avenue has a doctor’s surgery and a pedestrian crossing on it. Both of these streets suffer hugely from inconsiderate parking on verges, on double yellow lines and even on occasions on the zigzags of the pedestrian crossing. We do our young people no service whatever in terms of healthy and safe lifestyles, nor in terms of their good citizenship or neighbourliness, if these are our adult behaviours. If it is essential that you drive your child towards school, please ensure that you drop them off on the far side of Centenary Park away from pedestrian crossings and other hazards, which will mean a walk of no more than 200 to 300 metres. Almost all students live near enough the school to be able to walk, on their own or with friends, and we should encourage them to do so. Attendance One of the reasons our examination results are so reliably high is that we maintain a very high level of attendance, regularly among the best for secondary schools in Harrow. It is essential that you help your child to be in school on every possible occasion. There will always of course be occasions when, for reasons of illness or family bereavement, your child cannot attend; however holidays taken in term time and routine low-level medical appointments and the like should not interfere with your child’s attendance. We are only open to students for 190 days in a year. Every one of those days must count. Please do not ask us to authorise holidays during term time as we will not do so.

If your child is ill on any day, please telephone the school office to let them know. The office is staffed from 7.30am each day and there will be someone with whom you can speak, who will take details, or you may leave a message on the school answerphone. From September 2013 the Department of Education determined that, in all schools, attendance will be closely monitored and any absence categorised as unauthorised is likely to result in Harrow Local Authority issuing a penalty notice – a minimum of £60 per child. Persistent unauthorised absence could lead to further fines and eventual court action. We know that there are clear links between high levels of attendance and academic success and we do all we can to ensure that parents and carers understand this and work with us to make certain that as little schooling is missed as possible. Contacting School Please get in touch with us if there is anything you think we should know about your child, or if you want to comment on any aspect of the work of the school. This is one of the main purposes of the contact book which is designed to help us all talk to each other easily. Please contact one of the following people:

Your child’s tutor:

Any matter relating directly to your child. It might be that you are concerned about something, or you might need to give us some information. Your child’s tutor should be the first person that you contact.

Your child’s head of year:

When you think the matter is particularly serious or if you need an immediate response, please contact the child’s head of year. The Heads of Year and their attached Assistant Headteacher for 2016/17 are as follows: Year Year Year Year Year

7 8 9 10 11

Head of Year Ms Acheampong Mrs Becker Mr Guiheen Mr Jones Ms Perren

Assistant Headteacher Mrs Day-Haynes Mrs Lambert Mrs Dalziel Mr Darby Ms Kassir

A subject teacher or a head of department:

When you have a particular question about your child’s progress or behaviour in a particular subject. The names of heads of department are on our website or you can telephone the school office.

The Head of Sixth Form:

Please contact Mr Barrett, the Head of Sixth Form, directly if you have any questions about the Sixth Form.

The Headteacher, one of the Deputy Headteachers:

Mr Haldenby, Mrs O’Dwyer and I are always happy to meet with you to discuss any matter relating to the school. Please telephone and, if necessary, leave a message and we will contact you as soon as possible, either to talk on the telephone or to arrange a meeting.

Concerns, compliments and queries If you have a concern about our ways of working there is a procedure to follow and details and assistance are available from the school office or online from the school website. Of course, we also like to know what you think is going particularly well, so please also try to tell us about those things! A short note or telephone call is always appreciated. If you have a general query, our staff in the school office will be able to help you, or advise you on who you should talk to. If you feel something is urgent then someone will be able to talk to you straight away. We use Parentmail PMX for all our correspondence with parents and carers. Letters will be sent home shortly to those who have not yet registered for Parentmail PMX. Please make sure you are registered to receive this and keep your details updated on Parentmail PMX. Copies of letters and other information is available on our website www.parkhighstanmore.org.uk so do please visit it periodically. Please be aware that Parentpay is a completely different system to Parentmail PMX and you will need to register for both. Dates for 2016-17 Attached to this letter is a list of term dates for the school year. I hope that this term goes well for you and your children and that we get to see you at one of our many school events that will take place at this time and throughout the year. I will write again soon. With kind regards. Yours sincerely

Mr Emlyn Lumley Headteacher

Term & Holiday Dates 2016/17    AUTUMN TERM 2016     

Thursday 1 September 

 

           Staff Development Day* 

Friday 2 September 

First day of term for New Year7, Y11 & 13         students only 

  Monday 5 September  

 

 

First day of term for Year 8 to 10 students 

Friday 23 September   

 

 

Staff Development Day* 

Monday 17 October   

 

 

Staff Development Day* 

Tuesday 18 October   

 

 

Staff Development Day* 

Monday 24 October‐Friday 28 October 

Half Term Holiday (dates inclusive) 

Friday 25 November   

 

 

Staff Development Day* 

Wednesday 21 December 

 

 

Last day of the Autumn Term 

   

SPRING TERM 2017     

Thursday 5 January   

 

 

First day of the Spring Term    

 

Staff Development Day* 

 

Half Term Holiday (dates inclusive) 

 

Last day of the Spring Term 

 

Wednesday 1 February        Monday 13 ‐ Friday 17 February 

 

 

Friday 31 March 

 

 

     

SUMMER TERM 2017     

Tuesday 18 April 

 

 

 

First day of the Summer Term  

Monday 1 May 

 

 

 

May Day Bank Holiday 

Monday 29 May – Friday 2 June 

 

Half Term Holiday (dates inclusive) 

Friday 21 July   

 

Last day of the Summer Term  

 

*Students are not in school on these days