We have a House system for tutor groups and different teaching groups for lessons. The designated House your daughter is in, will also be her tutor group. She will spend time each morning in her tutor group for morning registration, prayers and a different activity. She will then have lessons in her teaching groups throughout the day.

The School Houses are: Charity (Purple), Faith (Blue), Hope (Yellow), Mercy (Red) and Peace (Green).

The teaching groups are: A, B, J, M and T - they are each an initial of a different female Saint: A = Anne; B = Bernadette; J = Joan; M = Margaret; T = Teresa.

Each year we get lots of girls who come to Holy Cross without knowing anyone or only a few people. We understand this can be worrying for some girls but they will be in new groups with lots of students in the same situation as them. There is lots of time to make friends and settle in with different activities and games they can play when they start together. Starting at secondary school is a great time for a fresh start and an opportunity to find common interests and hobbies with other students.

We have a fantastic reward system at Holy Cross and lots of praise and House points are given for many reasons, including our ‘8 to be great’. These are 8 points we deem to show a wonderful attitude to learning at school. They are:

1. Enthusiastic

2. Never giving up

3. Showing initiative

4. Taking risks and welcoming new challenges

5. Acting on teacher or peer feedback

6. Independent thinker

7. Ambitious

8. Prepared to learn

Rewards and House Points are entered onto a system called SchoolPod and parents/carers will receive a breakdown of the rewards the girls have received on the student's report at the end of each half term.

Detentions and sanctions can be given for various reasons. However, they are used to encourage girls to learn from their mistakes and move on. Like the rewards, detentions and sanctions are also recorded on SchoolPod and parents will be notified of these in the end of half term reports.

Girls will be given a homework planner on their first day and this will have lots of important information inside, including the school's code of conduct and uniform policy. In addition, there is a great selection of prayers and some pages that may help with their studies such as a world map and periodic table. The homework planners should be used to record all of their homework. The planners should be checked and signed at the end of the week by parents/carers. Parents/Carers can write messages in them if they need to communicate with any of the teachers.

To allow Year 7 girls to settle into the school routine as quickly as possible, and to enable them to participate in extra-curricular activities, girls will receive a reduced amount of homework in the first half term in their core subjects only (no more than 3 subjects in one evening):

• English - Up to 2 pieces per week, each lasting 20-30 minutes.

• Maths - Up to 2 pieces per week, each lasting 20-30 minutes.

• Science - 1 piece per week, lasting 20-30 minutes.

• RE - 1 piece per week, lasting 20-30 minutes.

• MFL - learning key vocabulary.

After half-term, the amount of homework will increase gradually to include all subjects.

The canteen is open before school for breakfast and also at break and lunch time. It has a wide range of different food available, including freshly prepared hot meals, sandwiches, salads, jacket potatoes, soup and more! If preferred, girls can bring a packed lunch. Food can be purchased in the canteen and eaten there, or girls can take it out to one of the lovely outside spaces such as the Peace Garden, on the field or the courts where they will be able to sit and chat with their friends.

There are a wide range of clubs available for girls to join and most of them are free to attend. There are a large number of different sports clubs including Football, Netball, Trampolining, Athletics and Badminton. We also have Dance, Drama, Chess, Choir, Orchestra, Chaplaincy, Science and Mindfulness clubs. These run either at lunch time or after school. For a sample of sports and other student clubs and activities on offer, please visit the school website here.

Although The Holy Cross School is a small school compared to other secondary schools, it will feel a bit bigger than most primary schools. We are a very friendly community and all our staff and students are very happy to help new students find their way around. Girls should always ask another student or a member of staff to help them find where they need to go.

The school canteen offers breakfast, hot and cold snacks, sandwiches, salad bar and lunchtime hot meals. All produce is locally sourced and meals are freshly prepared on site on a daily basis. The canteen has been awarded a 5 rating on food hygiene but the Food Standards Agency.

School Tours are only available to parents/carers of Year 6 girls with a confirmed Education & Health Care Plan (EHCP). To book a tour, please contact the school office on 0208 395 4225 after the Open Event.

In-class support is given by LSAs (Learning Support Assistants). Out of class interventions take place in St Theresa's (the school's Inclusion Area). For example spelling/handwriting/touch typing/Socially Thinking.

Shakespeare's The Tempest, an introduction to poetry, Roald Dahl short stories, literary fiction extracts, a novel and pre-1914 literature.

We have a reading room in Room 22 that Y7s are welcome to use at break or lunch. They can borrow a book from our collection and enjoy a quiet read on the bean bags.

We do two pieces of deep marking per half-term and students are given formative targets to allow them to improve their work.

Students can take part in a debate club or join a reading club: we borrow new books from New Malden library for our students to enjoy.

Students are placed into teaching groups based on a combination of the Key Stage 2 results and the CAT tests (Cognitive Ability Tests). There is flexibility to move between sets across all year groups and students are regularly monitored.

Yes, Biology, Chemistry and Physics are all compulsory at Key Stages 3 and 4

No, in Key Stage 3 most girls will have one teacher for their 3 science lessons and the 3 sciences will be taught as different topics. In Key Stage 4 most girls will be taught by 2 specialist teachers.

Biology, Chemistry and Physics A Level and BTEC Applied Science. Please visit the Sixth Form page on the school website for more information about each course.

Year 7 Science club, Astronomy, Electronics.

We have an active Choir / Gospel Choir, Orchestra, String Group and various smaller Ensembles. Any student who sings or plays an Instrument can join as we differentiate the music for students to be able to participate. Students involved in these clubs practice towards performing in school events or concerts in and out of school. Students participating regularly in these clubs have the opportunity to go on a School Music Tour. The Music Tour takes place every 2 years and the last tour was in February 2020 to Paris.

Yes. We have our own team of peripatetic music tutors and tutors from Kingston Music Service also teach on the school site.

Tuition is given on a weekly cycle through the year at 10 lessons per term. Lessons rotate weekly and academic disruption will be kept to a minimum, though this is dependent on factors such as teacher availability, trips and compulsory academic work which cannot be missed.

All girls in Year 7 and 8 are timetabled one hour of Music per week. Students in Year 9 are taught one hour of Music each week for half the year.

Yes, being a Catholic School, Religious Studies is compulsory up to Year 11.

No, we also study Hinduism, Judaism and Islam in Key Stage 3. Judaism is studied as part of their GCSE.

Year 7 visit the Hindu temple in Neasden, Year 8 have a full day out on retreat with their whole year group and Year 9 go to Wintershall, an outdoor production of the Life of Christ.

No, Dance is a separate subject. All students in Year 7 have one lesson of Dance per week for the whole year and Year 8 and 9 have one lesson per week for half the year.

Students learn a wide variety of genres including Ballet, Bollywood, Street Dance and Jazz. They also learn about the choreographic elements, necessary performance skills and study different professional dance works.

We offer Dance as an option in Year 10 and 11. The students currently study BTEC Level 2 Performing Arts Dance qualification which has a wide range of practical and theory elements.

There are different Dance clubs including Key Stage 3 Dance club led by Key Stage 4 Dance prefects, Irish Dancing club and Choreography club. Other clubs may be offered if requested and enough interest is shown. We put on a school musical every two years as the Performing Arts Department. Dance, Drama, Music and Art all work together to put on a whole school production.

In Year 7 we have 3 Maths lessons a week. Year 8 have 4 Maths lessons a week, Year 9, 10 and 11 have 3 Maths lessons a week

We try, depending on how the timetable works out, to set the students from 5 classes into 6 Maths sets. This means that we can have smaller classes for those who are struggling a bit more in Maths than others.

Maths clinic is available every lunch time and is run by a member of staff and some Year 10 Maths prefects. There are also interventions that go on for our exam classes. Students are generally encouraged to communicate with their teachers on a regular basis if there are any issues at all with classwork or homework.

A lot of Maths is still done in an exercise book. We do use online games and platforms to do Maths but for the most part they will be using a text book and an exercise book.

An Introduction to History, The Roman Empire, Medieval Realms

1 hour per week in Year 7 (1 lesson), 2 hours in Years 8 & 9 (2 lessons)

The History Department runs a variety of trips, some change from year to year. Key Stage 3 trips have included: Chepstow Castle, Tudor workshops at Hampton Court, Holocaust survivor talks and workshops as part of Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration at the Kingston synagogues, Imperial War Museum, Bletchley Park (in conjunction with the Maths & Computing Departments). Key Stage 4 trips have included: Old Operating Theatre Museum & medical exhibits at The Science Museum, The American Museum in Bath, GCSE revision workshops. Key Stage 5 trips have included: The Imperial War Museum, A Level History lectures, 4 day visit to Berlin.

There are regular assessments but class and homework is also assessed regularly by means of self, peer and teacher marking.

At present, students are strongly encouraged to take one of History or Geography as part of the EBacc however they can take both History and Geography at GCSE if they wish.

Yes, the chapel is normally open every break and lunch for all students to come in for a quiet moment, to pray, to reflect, and is used by many students throughout the year (there is always a slight increase just before exam season!).

Students have the opportunity to participate in the celebration of mass throughout the year with whole school masses on special feast days (holy days of obligation), and some special year group masses. As part of their journey at Holy Cross, students will have planned liturgies and guided meditation times as well.

We have a student chaplaincy team called Ignite with representatives from different year groups, which students can join and help to organise and promote chaplaincy activities to their peers. Miss Byrne, our School Chaplain, oversees this group, and runs several clubs and opportunities for students to engage with faith in exciting ways: gospel choir, youth alpha, meditation club, faith in film, and other seasonal activities in our school chapel.

Prayer and collective worship is a central part of Holy Cross, so students start each morning with prayer in their tutor groups or as a year group in assemblies, and regularly participate in sung worship too.

We have a dedicated member of staff who oversees the EAL provision. We have an EAL Club where Year 7s are paired with EAL students in Sixth Form. Having a 'big sister' provides the Year 7s with a wider support network at the school. Students are also given EAL Vocabulary books, where they write down new vocabulary for each subject.

Yes, field work would take place, ranging from within the school grounds to a GCSE trip to Iceland.

2 hours per week in Year 7 (2 lessons), 1 hour per week in Year 8 (1 lesson) & 2 hours per week in Year 9 (2 lessons)

Introduction to map skills, development of location knowledge, Focused study of the UK (physical and human geography), Africa (focus on the Horn of Africa and Kenya) and Rivers

Girls are encouraged to do either Geography or History as part of the EBacc however many choose to study both through to GCSE.

Regular assessments are carried out. These can be teacher, peer or self assessed and take a variety of formats including presentations, models, quizzes and longer written tasks.

We have a code club which runs in conjunction with the 'Girls Who Code' organisation.

One lesson per week at Key Stage 3.

We teach Python programming, programming using a Micro Bit and HTML.

Computational thinking, programming the Micro Bit, using the computer safely, spreadsheets and graphics.

One hour per week.

We offer A Level Photography and A Level Art.

Yes. Creative studio spaces are important to stimulate ideas.

Foundation skills in art - learning how to draw and record in a variety of media. Opening up ideas to artistic designers and artists.

Students will choose to study either French or Spanish when joining in Year 7.

2 hours per week at Key Stage 3.

We recommend that native speakers sit their GCSE in Year 9.

In Year 7 we cover a variety of lessons focusing on skills and techniques. Introduction to drama, mime and movement, storytelling, script work and improvisation.

Year 7 one lesson a week, Year 8 and Year 9 one lesson a week shared between Dance and Drama.

Yes, we offer GCSE Drama where we explore a chosen text, create group devised pieces and learn a scripted piece. We also go to see a live theatre performance as part of the examinations.

There is a Drama club for Key Stage 3 led by Key Stage 4 Drama GCSE students during lunchtime. We also put on a school musical every two years as the Performing Arts Department. Dance, Drama, Music and Art all work together to put on a whole school production.

Students are taught on a 3 way carousel with Health Studies, Textiles and Food Technology, each carried out for a term, one lesson per week.

Students pay a small contribution to store cupboard ingredients at the start of their rotation. This enables the school to provide some ingredients to the students. Some ingredients will need to be purchased for some of the practicals.

Students are encouraged to provide equipment and materials. However no student will be disadvantaged if they cannot bring their own materials/equipment.

Yes, we offer Hospitality and Catering Level 1/2 at GCSE level. We explore the industry and carry out practicals related to different skills taught on a weekly basis. At GCSE level students have 3 lessons per week in Year 10 and 2 lessons per week in Year 11.

Currently Textiles is only taught at Key Stage 3 level.

GCSE results are based on a variety of factors but we use a model to show a possible range of grades based on students prior attainment. This flight path is linked to reports so parents/carers can see if students are on track. At GCSE the school follows the FFT5 model to assign targets to students.