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Teachers Handbook

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Welcome to the Sixth Form 2011-2012

The following booklet has been produced to help provide Sixth Form students with the very best learning experiences.

The following staff are here to support all colleagues:

• Beverley Deremaux - Sixth Form Office Manager (Extn 212)
• Leah Howell - Sixth Form Admin (Extn 248)
• Bridget Buck -  Attendance Officer (Extn 116)
• Iain Cornell (Maths) - Deputy Head/Linked to Year 13
  
• Kaye Chittenden (PE) - IB Coordinator and Assistant, Headteacher/Linked to Year 12
• Katie Taylor (Humanities) - Head of Year 12 and in charge of Community Links and General Studies
• Dave Flello (Science) - Sixth Form Coordinator working with Year 12 and in charge of External Applications
• Chris Hall (Art & Design) - Sixth Form Coordinators working in Year 12
• Clive Jackson (Social  Science) - Sixth Form Coordinators working in Year 12
• Richard Nicholls - Head of Year 13 and in charge of student liaison
• Rob Phillips (Social  Science) - Sixth Form Coordinator working with Year 13 and in charge of progression to work and training and liaising with Connexions
• Claire Tanner (Maths) - Sixth Form Coordinator working in Year 13 with responsibility for Higher Education
• Anna Killick (Humanities) - Sixth Form Coordinator working in Year 13
  
• Dave Milner (Social Science) - Higher Education Coordinators
  

Sixth Form Agreement

All Sixth Formers sign a Sixth Form Agreement at enrolment which is then sent to parents. The Agreement outlines our expectations of students and what they can expect of us:

We should expect that students, with the support of their teachers, should:

• attend all lessons and be punctual.
• be committed and enthusiastic.
• treat everyone in the school with respect, dignity and courtesy.

In return students should expect their teachers to:

• provide high quality lessons that meet their individual needs.
• mark work and set targets for improvement.
• provide a variety of opportunities for enrichment.

Link to the full agreement. It is supported by a Disciplinary Code agreed by the Schools Governing Body.

Disciplinary Procedure

In most cases, problems can be resolved between a student and his/her teacher and tutor. However, the following shows how issues, which are not resolved, will be dealt with. This Disciplinary Procedure has the full support of the School’s Governing Body.

The Thomas Hardye School has adopted an approach to disciplinary issues which is based on three levels, each of which is increasingly serious. Serious disciplinary issues may go straight to the final level.

Level One – A Formal Warning will be issued by the School which means you are two stages away from being asked to leave the Sixth Form. This will be a consequence of significant disciplinary issues and infringements of the Sixth Form Agreement e.g. missing registrations/ lessons/failure to do personal private study.

Parents will be informed if a student is issued with a formal warning and be invited to discuss it with a Sixth Form Co-ordinator. All formal warnings will remain on record and relevant to level two considerations (if necessary) throughout the student’s attendance in the Sixth Form.

Level Two – A Final Warning is issued by the School. An individual action plan will be set up identifying what a student needs to do. A Final Warning will be rescinded upon successful completion of the action plan.

However, If this does not materialise, and there continues to be no significant improvement, you will go to Level Three. This will be a consequence of more serious issues or persistent instances of Level One issues.

Parents will be informed and asked to attend a meeting with the Director of Sixth Form. The Headteacher will be informed. .

Level Three – This means you will be asked to leave the Sixth Form and the end of our formal agreement. If this cannot be agreed formally the School will start procedures that will lead to recommendation for formal exclusion. This will be a consequence of serious issues and include bullying and physical aggression as well as failure to improve after a Level Two Final Warning.

Parents will be informed and will be asked to attend a meeting with the Director of Sixth Form and/or the Headteacher.

Warnings are issued subject to the discretion of the Director of Sixth Form or Head Teacher and will only be given to the student if all reasonable negotiations to resolve an issue fail.

Ultimately students in the Thomas Hardye Sixth Form are here by choice and if they refuse to follow the Sixth Form Agreement and to conduct themselves appropriately, they are free to seek opportunities elsewhere at a Sixth Form, College or in employment/training.

These procedures form part of your agreement with the School and are in place to protect all members of the Sixth Form. Most students have a very positive approach to learning and the Sixth Form in general. The number of students who have to be dealt with through these procedures are small.

Attendance

• Complete the computerised attendance register every lesson. Please ensure your register is accurate. If there are any problems let Beverley Deremaux know immediately. 
• You might find it helpful to keep your own register as well so that you can look at trends over time.

• If a student is absent for three sessions in a row or has frequent absences (and you have received no communication about this):
  • Notify the student’s tutor
  • If there is no obvious reason for the absence agree a course of action. Contacting home usually produces immediate results. (Telephone numbers are available from the Sixth Form Office).
  • If you want the Sixth Form Office to contact home for you, leave a message with Beverley Deremaux or contact the Attendance Officer, Bridget Buck (Extn 116).
• If there continues to be an attendance problem contact the tutor again and involve the Year Leader.

Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA)/Bursary

• This is being phased out by the government.  Year 13 students who received the full payment last year will receive £20.00 a week this academic session.
• The weekly payment is based only on attendance and therefore it is vital that all staff maintain accurate records of student attendance on the school’s computerised attendance system.
• Year 12 students can apply for a Bursary which is means tested.  For those most in need of support this could be an annual grant of £1,200.  For others it is more likely to be payment for particular student costs, for example transport and field trips.

Induction

• It is good practice to give students an outline of the course, the assessment demands and the assessment criteria.
• Help students in your group to get to know each other (This is particularly important with students not from our Year 11). Plan activities, especially in the first Half Term, that enable students to work with everyone else in the group at some point. By October everyone in the teaching group should know each other.
• Do NOT assume students have the essential skills for the course from the start. Many, for example, will have no real experience of note making or essay writing. Design activities to practise higher order skills such as extended reading, note making, essay writing.
• It is good practice to spend at least a session in the Library Resources Centre and identify relevant library sections, important works and reference materials. Please contact the Librarian beforehand.
• At the start, in particular, be very precise about what work you want students to do:
  • Very specific description of task/tasks – help students use their Study Planners.
  • State time students should spend on the task.
  • Give expected length (pages).
  • Identify resources to be used (including page references for books/texts).
  • State clearly the format of work.
  • Give a reasonable deadline. (Be aware of what work your teaching partner is giving students).
• All subjects should have produced an Independent Study Guide to help Year 12 students develop independent ways of working and to explore their course in depth. Encourage students to use it and monitor the results.

 

Rewarding Sixth Form Students

• Sixth Form students need rewards, praise and positive recognition if they are to flourish and succeed.
• Give immediate positive feedback in lessons and on pieces of work. Positive encouragement should pervade your teaching.
• More formal rewards are postcards sent home. The Sixth Form has its own special Commendation Postcard. Keep some in your Planner/Mark Book/Diary and send one home when you feel a student has completed excellent work or put in an impressive effort. Complete the postcard and send it to the Sixth Form Office where it will be addressed and sent home.
• Encourage your students. Use the Commendation Postcards
• Also please tell one of the Sixth Form Team or the Head Teacher if a student produces exceptional work or effort.

Marking Students' work

• Explain clearly how you are going to assess and mark work:
  • What grades or marks will be used.
  • What the grades and range of marks mean.
• Mark and return work set as quickly as possible. When marking comment on the following THREE things:
  1. “The good aspects of your work are …”
  2. “The reason you got this mark/grade is …”
  3. “You could improve your work by …”
• Ensure comments are positive, clear, legible, understandable and concise.

Changing or discarding a course

• Students can only change or drop a course with the agreement of the subject teacher, tutor, parents and year coordinator.
• Students discarding a course, therefore, will have to complete a Course Change Form signed by tutor, parents and then by the subject teacher. The Sixth Form Office will confirm with the teacher that this has been agreed.
• NOTE Subject teachers must not just tell students, “You are off the course”. Discarding a course can have serious consequences for the student’s current programme and future aspirations and must be done in proper consultation with all concerned. If a student’s progress is of concern then a series of support measures must be tried first in consultation with the tutor, year coordinator and parents before discarding the course is considered.
• Unless students have completed a Course Change Form the subject teacher should assume that the student should still be attending lessons and act accordingly (See section on Attendance).
• Students will not normally be allowed to take up a new course after the October Half Term. Year 12 students cannot change course until after the first two weeks of the Autumn Term.

Student under perfomance

• You will be given data about each student you teach early in the academic year. This will include CAT scores, AS/GCSE results and the student’s Minimum Predicted Grade. (The minimum grade a student should achieve in your subject based on past GCSE results and student success in the subject). All this information should give an indication of the level a student should be achieving.
• Students might under perform for a range of reasons eg not completing work, poor work, lack of effort, inability to concentrate in class.
• Do Not accept poor effort and/or poor work. Deal with the issues quickly. Talk to the student immediately about your concerns and inform the tutor (Use email).

Strategies that have proved successful that you might use include:

• Make it very clear what your expectations are and what the students need to do to improve. Set a target date to review improvement.
• Set short term targets and deadlines and identify with the student when they will actually do the work.
• Support students with their learning skills e.g. structure work, write essays, organise planning etc.
• Give a student your own monitoring/report sheet listing areas for improvement with space to make comments every lesson (and perhaps score out of ten).
• Arrange for students to attend extra work clubs/sessions after school.
• Give students a note book to keep a weekly work diary. They record what work they do and teachers make comments as well. The diary should be reviewed weekly or fortnightly.
• Use detentions and detention letters home.

• If the problem continues involve your Curriculum Coordinator/ Department Head. (Continue to keep the tutor informed). Often involving parents at an early stage can help to resolve the problem quickly. (Keep the tutor informed).
• If there is still little improvement despite your efforts involve the relevant year coordinator.

Education Extra

The Education Extra team at The Thomas Hardye School is committed to giving students the extra support they may need to be successful and independent in their studies.

If

Students received support from the Education Extra team at any time during Years 9/10/11

or

are joining us from another school where they received support

or

just need a little help to adjust to the demands of Sixth Form courses

Education Extra can support students in a number of ways.

How do students access this support?

The earlier we know about a students need for support, the more effectively we can plan that support. Students should ask their tutor for a referral form to complete and return it to the Education Extra office.

What support can Education Extra offer?

• Essay writing skills
• Study skills
• On line adult literacy and numeracy tests (each worth ½ GCSE grade B) to boost GCSE points score
• Access Arrangements for exams in exceptional circumstances.

Students will need to register at the start of Year 12 for us to arrange an assessment. This will then be submitted to the exam boards which have very strict criteria and will make the final decision. See our Referral Policy for more details.

Setting the standards

Teachers usually have a very positive relationship with Sixth Formers.

These, however, are a few guidelines that should help to establish a positive and consistent working relationship with students:

• Do expect students to be on time to lessons.
• Do not release them from your class before the bell goes. This undermines the value of your work with them.
• Do encourage and support positive relationships within the classroom.
• Do not allow the use of bad language or the belittling/bullying of others.
• Do not allow students to call you by your first name. They should address you formally.
• Do insist students are dressed appropriately for work. Do not allow students to turn up in shorts, “strappy” tops, bare midrifts.
• Do not allow students to wear or use personal stereos or mobile phones in your class or around the school. Mobile phones should be switched off in lessons and only used in the Sixth Form Centre.
• Do encourage students to use all the facilities available in the school.
• Do not allow students to work outside or on the field during lesson time.

Taking students out of school

• Please follow normal school procedures. Start by completing a School Visits Proposal Form.
• If possible, try and avoid important assessment periods during the year, in particular:
  • September – The Start of the Year
  • December – Internal Exams
  • January – External Modules
  • April/May – Revision period leading to external exams/ coursework and practical assessments.
• Please ensure other teaching staff know about the visit as early as possible and names are put on the board in the Staff Room and emailed to colleagues.
• Insist students find out what work they will miss and make it clear that they should catch this up.

Dress

• The school policy on Sixth Form dress is flexible but students are required to wear smart clothes suitable for a working environment.
• Boys should wear long trousers, T-shirts or shirts.
• Girls should wear skirts of an appropriate length, long trousers or culottes. Shirts and T-shirts should be smart.
• Strappy, cropped or short tops which do not cover shoulders, chest or midriff are not appropriate and should NOT be worn.

NO STUDENT SHOULD WEAR SHORTS.

• Any student who does not arrive at school appropriately dressed will be asked to return home to change.

The Sixth Form Centre

The Sixth Form students are very fortunate to have a purpose built centre with three large social rooms, cafeteria, games machines, hi-fi, wireless laptops, IT and Seminar Rooms.

You are very welcome to use some of these facilities yourself:

1. Large rooms for large group lectures/visiting speakers/small conferences/films during the timetabled day. The large rooms have presenters, screens, music systems and DVD players.
2. Cafeteria (8.30 am – 3.30 pm), hot drinks and cooled filtered water machines (all day).
3. Vending machines in the entrance.
4. Large rooms for after school activities, meetings and social functions.
5. IT Rooms upstairs for small group activities.
6. Seminar Rooms for small group activities, meetings and visitors.

If you wish to book any of the rooms please contact Mrs Deremaux in the Sixth Form Office.

Student views of good lessons

The following are comments made about lessons by students in Year 13.

In the best lessons:

• The teachers have an enthusiastic attitude towards the class and what they are teaching and this encourages pupils to devote more interest and more effort.
• The class is agreeable and the teachers get more personally involved with student learning eg group discussions.
• The teacher is able to socialise and relate with the class, whilst still commanding the necessary respect required in order to ensure the students feel motivated to complete their work.
• Teachers and students are more relaxed because they want to be there.
• Teachers work to a high standard and know their subject well.
• The teachers are extremely supportive, providing unparalleled assistance when students are assigned work projects, inspiring confidence and injecting enthusiasm into otherwise potentially challenging tasks.
• Teachers get more involved and encourage all students to reach their maximum potential. Work projects become more personal and therefore we are more interested and put more effort into completing assignments and meeting deadlines.
• There are one on one sessions with teachers helping us to become more involved and standards go up.
• We are encouraged to work for ourselves, express our own opinions, do our own research and take control of our own personal development.

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