Procedures

Snow

If there is inclement weather, assume the school is open!  Closures are advertised on the school website and Radio Kent.  You should also be contacted by your line manager if the school is closed.  (It never is!)

Staff development

Currently, the students leave school at 1:10 on a Friday, and CPD activities take place from 1:40 for all teaching staff every week.  Some activities also include support staff.  However, this time is specifically for professional development activities.  It is expected that departments and pastoral teams will need to meet at other times to complete “everyday” tasks like admin, moderation etc.

Site managers

The site managers have an office in the main foyer of the school.  Sometimes elusive, the office staff might radio them for you in an emergency if you ask nicely.

ICT room; small rooms or large room booking

Room booking is done via the staff hub on Google.  See your Subject Leader for more information. 

Rewards in SIMS and star pupil

These are whole school rewards systems.  Your department may have additional rewards, ask your subject leader.  Each lesson at KS3 you should nominate a start pupil on SIMS. You can also award merits via SIMS.   

Letters home

Letters home, either positive or negative, can be sent via the Office.  If, for academic purposes, they should be okayed by Subject Leaders.  For pastoral issues, a copy should be sent to their Form Tutor. 

Borrowing headphones/cameras/laptops/net-books etc…

All such equipment can be found in the ICT office, and booked via the cloud.  A member of staff is required to hire them via Google.  Students can be sent to collect and return them.

Telephone details

You will be given a voicemail number and initial password.  There are instructions as to how to access this above the telephones in the staffroom.  Messages are put on your voicemail, and you should aim to collect these at least once a week.  The school’s phone number is 01474331893.

Uniform for students

Be aware that all students in years 7-11 are required to wear blazer, tie, shoes, no jewellery (with the exception of religious observance).  The Sixth Form should be in a suit, but have their own policy (including the allowance of facial hair and low key jewellery).  You can obviously correct misdemeanours as and when! 

Parents’ evenings

These are centrally organised by the Admin staff.  They run from 3:45 – 6:30pm.  Please be aware that all staff are contractually obliged to take part.  If, for some reason, you are not able to attend, please let admin staff and IT Support know as soon as possible, preferably before they inform parents of the evening. Currently these are run remotely through a secure online system.

Reports

You will need to write two short reports for each child you teach, plus a tutor report for your tutor class at some point in the year.  When reports are written for each year group is staggered through the academic calendar. Currently reports are done on SIMS.  Please see line managers for any advice you might need.

Contacting parents

The parents as a whole at this school are generally positive and supportive.  Ringing home about a child is often the “worst” punishment in their eyes.  It is always worth checking with a child’s form tutor and/or student services before you contact home to get a little background information. 

Contacting staff

Emails are most commonly used for communication, but we are a friednly staff so do not forget the good lod fashioned face to face chat! All staff emails cannot be sent by staff, and must be agreed by the Head's PA should youd esperately need to send one. This is to try adn reduce the sheer volume of email that staff receive, and try and so something towards staff wellbeing.  

Equally, there is no expectation that you should be checking emails at the weekend or during the holidays. 

Fire/bomb alerts

As with all schools, there will be drills of these events.  All staff and students should go out to the far side of the field.  You will then need to register your tutor group there.  A fire alert is one constant bell, whilst a bomb alert is a two tone bell.  There are notices about exit procedures in every classroom.  It is worth checking which way you should exit the building on these.

Blue tutor folders

There is an AM registration here, at 8:25.  It is only 10 minutes, so most tutor business happens in the slots at lunchtime.  All letters/messages will be left in your form’s blue box down in the foyer.  Each lunchtime please send a boy to collect this box.

Free meals tickets

For those in your class, they are kept at reception.

Course requests

If there is a training course, fill out a form that can be found on the staff hub on Google. You will be more likely to be able to attend if the form applies to performance management or school operational plan priorities.  

Assessment

Done via SIMS or Edulink.   The school is actively promoting Assessment for Learning.   Please see your subject leader for details on assessment sheets, and completing the cycle activities.

“Uniform” policy for staff

Although there is no specific uniform here, the requirement is to look smart and professional at all times.  Realistically it means shirt and tie for men and the equivalent for women.

Part time working – be aware of contracts

Please be aware of your contractual obligations if you are part time, as these may be somewhat different to full time members of staff.  The Head or Head’s PA will be able to assist you if you are unsure what your obligations are.

Before you begin work

Union – join one!

Summer school opening hours – check with the office if you want to come in. Usually school is open mornings only.

Schemes of work etc from your Subject leader, so that you can be a little prepared when you start.

HR will be in touch regarding:

DBS Checks, degree (and teaching certificates if applicable), right to work, photo ID, National Insurance number.

AND FINALLY …

If in doubt, ASK!  Either the Professional Mentor, or your line manager.  You can ask any member of staff, because we are a friendly staff room, and everyone will help you in any way they can.