Pastoral
The size and diversity of a large school may at first seem off-putting for your son or daughter. However, this is a school which cares and through our pastoral system, we work to develop a caring community within which every boy or girl will soon feel at home. Every member of staff has a pastoral responsibility in the school, whatever their subject responsibility.
Your own child will be placed in the direct charge of a Form Teacher, in a group of about 30 children. Considerable significance is attached to this post, so please keep in close contact with this teacher. Each week, pupils follow the school’s personal and social education programme.
Heads of Year line, welfare and coordination of the year groups and Heads of Year are senior members of staff who have responsibility for the disciplead the team of form teachers. Parents are encouraged to make contact with them when the need arises, and are of course, free to approach the Headteacher, Deputy Headteachers and Assistant teacher, if they feel this is necessary. Heads of Year are assisted by Pastoral Administators who may deal with routine issues on a day to day basis.
Contact with Home
We like to be in touch with parents if aspects of a child’s work or conduct or welfare are causing concern, and we notice that in such cases, problems are usually resolved where there is close cooperation between home and school.
There may be occasions when we need to contact you during the school day, usually because your child is ill or has had an accident. For this reason we ask all parents to complete a form giving telephone numbers where a responsible person may be contacted.
Please update this information should it change – this is most important. Parents are always contacted before a pupil is allowed to leave school during school hours.
Behaviour
As a comprehensive school, our pupils are of all abilities and come from all backgrounds. The education of each of them is of equal value.
While we cannot isolate ourselves from the climate and atmosphere of our present society, our tasks as a school remain unchanged.
a) to provide for all pupils the opportunities to develop their talents and capabilities to the full:
b) to ensure that the atmosphere in which the pupils work will enable them to do so.
We assume that most children will behave reasonably if they know what is expected from them.
The Form Teacher, therefore, spends some considerable time during the first few weeks making clear not only what is expected but why.
We try to keep official written rules to the minimum and base them on common sense. These are examples of such rules, which all pupils are made aware of on entry:
- You are expected to be courteous and considerate to all people, whether younger or older than yourself.
- Personal possessions should be clearly marked with the owner’s name.
- You must bring to school a pen, pencil, ruler and rubber.
- You must wear the correct school uniform at all times.
- You are expected to move around the school and between home and school in an orderly manner.
- You are expected to attend school regularly and punctually.
High Standards of attendance, dress, conduct in the classroom and correct treatment of the school buildings, furniture and equipment are required, based on courtesy and consideration for others.
Most pupils behave well in school with only occasional lapses from the high standard we expect. When such lapses do occur, they are dealt with immediately.
- Those who are reluctant to work will find tasks even more time consuming than if they had responded in the first place (ie detention may be given/extra work set).
- Those who find it difficult to be punctual will find their day lengthened as a result, by an afterschool detention. Parents are given at least 24 hours notice of after-school detentions.
- Pupils who continually refuse to wear the school uniform correctly may be placed in an afterschool detention for failure to obey school rules.
- Those whose enjoyment of their friend’s company interferes not only with their own concentration, but with that of others, will find themselves temporarily removed from that temptation.
- A progressive sequence of disciplinary measures is used for pupils who disrupt the learning process. Parents are involved from an early stage. Parents may discuss such measures at any time with a Head of Year.
Attendance
Good attendance and punctuality are essential if a child is to get the best out of their education. Please ensure that your child gets to School on time. You will be informed of regular persistent lateness etc. School work is easier to cope with if lessons are attended regularly and punctually and in turn this leads to better results and better prospects. It is important that parents inform us if their child is going to be or is actually away from school. A telephone call letting us know what is wrong is acceptable at this time; but at the end of each absence we would expect parents to send a note explaining clearly the reason for and the dates of absence.
Some absences cannot be avoided, illness, medical appointments, religious festivals, etc. Family holidays should whenever possible be taken during specified holidays. Where holidays are planned in term time, specific permission should be sought from the headteacher. There may be other occasions when you feel it is necessary to keep your child away from school. If this occurs please telephone the Head of Year, who will discuss the problem with you. Children feel more secure and less out of things if they attend regularly, and as a school we will work with parents to ensure this happens.
Exchange & Residentials
Exchanges regularly take place with schools in France and Germany. We also have established links with St Petersberg and with a school in Denmark. We liaise with contacts in Sweden and in Kazakhstan
to extend the links with Europe. We have built up extensive links with Sweden and Germany through
the Comenius Project. This has included teacher visits, work experience and curriculum projects.
Regular visits include the annual skiing trip and a residential Year 7 week in Blencathra. Various other trips feature in each annual calendar. Brighouse High School’s links with Europe earned it a commendation in the European Curriculum Awards for 1994, sponsored by the EEC and the Central Bureau.
School Meals
Meals are served in the dining room, where all food, including packed lunches, are eaten. Pupils staying to lunch are not allowed to leave the premises during lunchtime except with a special “home” pass. It is most important that parents make this clear to their children. Please let us know if your child requires a special diet for some reason. Our school kitchen already accommodates some children with special dietary requirements. Some pupils receive free school meals and applications for them should be made to the Education Department in Halifax. Provision is also made for pupils to eat sandwiches brought from home at school during the lunch hour.
Health and Welfare
The Schools’ Medical Service visits the school regularly and carries out dental inspections and vision testing. Parents are informed confidentially of any matters which require attention. Initially, parents
are offered the opportunity of protecting their daughters against Rubella, a disease which can have
damaging effects on an unborn child if it is contracted by the mother in early pregnancy. Later there is the opportunity to have your child vaccinated against Tuberculosis following a skin test. Approval forms are sent to all homes so that parental consent can be obtained for any vaccination. The school operates a sick bay at which our first aid assistant is based, and has first aid stations around the school in specialist areas.
