Ready To Learn - Hanham Woods Academy

Dear Parent/Carer,

Each year we refine and review our Ready to Learn Policy to ensure that students are able to maximise their opportunities for disruption free learning. Ready to Learn is a whole Academy behaviour and learning policy which covers all aspects of Academy life.

The aims of Ready to Learn are:

To eliminate disruptive behaviour, so that there is a culture of achievement, ambition and learning everywhere in the Academy, and no learning time is wasted
To provide clarity for staff and students about acceptable behaviour and the consequences of misbehaviour
To encourage students to take responsibility for their own actions
To enable teachers to deliver engaging and creative lessons, experiment and take risks, without concern for behavioural consequences

In order to achieve this, we need a learning environment that allows teachers to teach and learners to learn. However, like all Academies, we have a small number of learners who disrupt teaching and learning for others – I’m sure you agree this is not fair and it is not acceptable. If students are to have the best chance of becoming successful adults, they must have every opportunity to access education successfully.

Students will be Ready to Learn by:

Attending the Academy in correct uniform; arriving on time and being “Ready to Learn”
Listening to and following instructions promptly
Working to the best of one’s ability
Completing and presenting work to a high standard
Being polite and respecting everyone’s right to learn in a safe environment

Staff will ensure students can Learn by:

Dealing with unacceptable behaviour in an emotionally literate way
Teaching lessons which aim to meet all individual needs
Promoting and modelling appropriate behaviour at all times
Building positive relationships with students
Learning from our mistakes

Parents/Carers will ensure students can be Ready to Learn by:

Supporting students with having the correct equipment and uniform
Supporting students in being at the academy punctually and every day except when seriously ill
Communicating concerns to staff
Supporting with any sanctions
Celebrating success

If a student is not RtL, any member of staff may tell them that they have a “warning” and their name will be written on the board. If they are not RtL for a second time, the student will be sent to the Inclusion Area until the end of the next social time and will receive a 30 after academy detention on the same day in which they will complete a rebuild conversation with the member of staff who sent them. This will support them to focus on their own learning and prevent them from disrupting others. Arrangements will of course be made for learners to access the school canteen at lunchtime. Parents or carers will be contacted by the end of that day, therefore it is essential that we have an up to date contact number for you.

Our aim is for no learner to have to be removed from a lesson. However, we know that you want your child to have every opportunity to be successful, therefore, it is vital that no one takes away their opportunity to learn and make progress in lessons.

Details of specific updates

Detention update:

From September the Academy will no longer issue 15 minute or 45 minute detentions. All detentions will be 30 minutes and will take place at the end of the day.

Why are detentions issued?

All detentions will be 30 mins and take place on the same day they are issued from 3.00pm – 3:30pm.

IA referral = 30 AAD sanction to complete rebuild conversations with members of staff that have referred them.
Homework = missed homework results in same day 30 AAD as an intervention.
Poor conduct around the academy (such as hands on/swearing/defiance) = 30 min AAD sanction the following day.
Lateness = students arriving late to the academy will receive a 30 min AAD sanction on the same day.

When a student has been referred to the Inclusion Area from a lesson, where possible they will meet with the member of staff that referred them at 3pm in the IA room. This will support both staff and students to discuss the referral and ensure positive steps forward for the next lesson. Students will have an opportunity to identify any support they feel they need to be successful in their next lesson. Staff will also contact parents to inform them of the reason the student was referred to IA. If a student is referred to IA, they will always have a 30 min AAD.

Punctuality

Students who arrive after 9am will be immediately referred to the Inclusion Area for the remainder of that lesson. Uniform and homework will be checked by the Inclusion Area Team and Pastoral Leaders will make contact home to determine why the student was late. Students will be issued with a 30 minute detention for punctuality and will return to their next lesson.

Reset cards and toilet pass update:

We are seeing increasing numbers of requests from students and parents to use reset cards and toilet passes. Over the course of the summer all reset and toilet passes will be reviewed.

Toilet passes: where we hold up to date medical evidence for individual students they will continue to be issued with a toilet pass in September.

Reset cards: reset cards are an intervention designed to support students in regulating their behaviour after unexpected behaviours occur. Typically such interventions are designed for short term use of one term and will be reviewed to identify where positive impact on behaviour is identified. Reset cards will be reviewed termly and issued by agreement of the Behaviour Lead and SENDCO.

In each case Pastoral Leaders will update parents regarding the support and interventions their child will receive.

What support we need from you?

Support students to attend 30min after academy detention. We believe in agency and teaching students to take personal responsibility for their choices and decisions. If students have not followed the academy code of conduct then they need to accept the consequences. We will work with them to make the next best decision to get them back on the right track.

If your child is currently late and you excuse this and ask for the detention not to stand. This will not be possible in September. Being on time is important for life beyond school and we need to understand that this is something we can control. We will of course consider extreme situations on a case by case basis.

Ensure your child is in the correct uniform and ready for school. Build habits like making sure they are organised and ready the evening before, go through the expectations and save your money on things that are not suitable for school: piercings, false lashes and nails. Our expectations are very clear and students and families have had plenty of notice about what they need to get things right.

If you have feedback, questions or would like to discuss any of this information further. Ready to Learn will be the theme of the first Parent Carer Forum which will be held on site and in person in Term 1. This is the space where you get to ask questions and have a discussion and learn more about decisions we have made. Quite often, parent voice and feedback in these Forums have influenced our decision making so we do value your feedback. We will be giving you details of this in our first communication with you after the summer.

Thank you for your ongoing feedback and support and I wish you a wonderful summer break.

Kind regards

Helen Barnes

Assistant Principal