Standards Expectations

4^th April 2019

 

 

Dear Parent or Guardian,

 

We continue to strive to be outstanding in all that we do at Penketh High School. We are writing to reiterate our high expectations and standards that we will maintain across the final third of the school year. The year so far, pupils have shown extremely positive attitudes across school with 98% of all learning scores awarded being 2 or better. This demonstrates the dedication and commitment of pupils towards their studies, complimented by the participation in our comprehensive enrichment opportunities and EPS session.

 

I’m sure you agree that it’s important that the school maintain high standards and expectations in order to continue to drive the improvement at the school. We appreciate your ongoing support in helping us to maintaining the following;

 

Attendance

Pupils who have poor attendance are at risk of not reaching their full potential as pupils need to be present in school in order participate in learning. Pupils have 13 weeks of holiday per year so as school we can not authorise holidays that fall inside term time. If pupils fall below 90% attendance they are at high risk of underperforming in school; as result the Local Authority become involved in challenging levels of attendance of individual where pupils fall below this threshold.   Parents/carers can be prosecuted by the Local Authority where pupils have poor attendance to school.

 

The table below demonstrates the impact attendance has on progress and outcomes from our GCSE results last year – it clearly demonstrates the link between performance and the frequency with which pupils attend school.

 

Year 11 attendance last year	Average progress 8 score	% 9-5 in English & Maths	% 9-4 in English & Maths
Above 95% attendance	0.14	55.2%	75.8%
90% – 95% attendance	-0.30	38.7%	62%
85% – 90% attendance	-0.67	22.7%	48.7%
80% – 85% attendance	-1.25	11.7%	26.7%
Under 80% attendance	-2.02	9.6%	16.5%

 

Equipment

Pupils as a minimum should always bring the following equipment to school to support their academic pursuits;

 

• Pen
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Calculator
• Planner

 

Pupil equipment is checked by form tutors so that they can ensure that pupils are equipped and ready to learn. If pupils do not have all the equipment, they will be sent to BS1 to discuss this and have an opportunity to purchase missing items. We recognise that some pupils might not have the money for these items at that moment so pupils can return the money to school the following day. Pupils will also be given a break time detention for failing to bring the basic level of equipment in order to undertake lessons. Any equipment that is not paid for will be billed to parents/carers at the end of the term.

 

I’m pleased to report that the vast majority of pupils are well prepared for learning and bring the necessary equipment to school which helps to support success.

 

School Uniform

 

Our uniform expectations are clear and can be found in pupil planners. Any pupil who arrives at school with incorrect uniform will be prevented from accessing their normal timetabled lessons until the situation is resolved. Of course, where there are legitimate reasons for the uniform not being met, we will work with parents to resolve and appreciate that this may take an agreed amount of time to resolve. Where there are circumstances that prevent pupils wearing full uniform we’d ask parents to provide a note for pupils.

 

Girls rolling their skirts up repeated will be given trousers to wear. A photograph of the school skirt is available on the school website www.penkethhigh.org and the expectation is that the skirt is knee length. Our school skirt is available from the uniform shop in Warrington.

 

Girls should wear either black, opaque tights with their uniform or plain black knee-length (not ankle, or over-the-knee). Skirts can be made to measure if you request this at the shop (few extra days turn around).

 

We’d also like to remind parents of the following areas that link to the high standards and expectations at Penketh High School:

 

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones have the capacity to disrupt learning and distract from the learning focus across the school. We are committed to enabling pupils to be successful and as such want to remove barriers that can prevent this. We have seen in previous years that mobile phones, particularly through the use of social media, can cause issues that subsequently disrupt pupil progress. This problem has been significantly reduced across the last year since we banned mobile phone use during school hours.

 

Whilst we appreciate that mobile phones can be useful for pupils traveling to and from school, mobiles phones should not be used around the school site between 8:40am and 3:10pm. As soon as pupils come through the school gates they need to be switched off and put away so they cannot be seen. This includes during break times and lunch. If a pupil is seen using a mobile phone during this time, the phone will be confiscated and locked away securely for the pupil to collect at the end of the day. There will be a serious consequence for pupils who refuse to hand in their phone and parents will be contacted and informed. We would also request that if parents need to contact pupils, for whatever reason, they do so by contacting the school.

 

Excessive Make-Up and Jewellery

Pupils should not arrive to school wearing excessive make up, including false eye lashes and bold eye brows. One ear-piercing is allowed and no rings. The school is a professional environment where we want pupils to prepare for the expectations placed on them when in employment, similarly we want pupils focused on their education and progress. Pupils will be asked to remove excessive make up at the start of the day. Brightly coloured nail varnish or gel/false nails are not allowed, and pupils will be asked to remove them. Refusal to do so will result in remove from normal timetabled lessons.

 

All staff are committed to maintaining the high standards set out in this letter. We will continue to work closely with you to ensure that your son or daughter not only looks their personal best but achieves their personal best in school.

 

We appreciate your continuing support, but if you have any questions or require any further clarification please do not hesitate to contact school.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

Mrs C Lomax.

Assistant Principal.