Mobile Phone Policy - 'no see, no hear'

At John Colet we have a 'no see, no hear' policy for mobile phones while students are on school site.  In a community of over 1000 people it would be disruptive to learning for phones to be used by students. Insisting that a parent or carer collects the phone acts as a deterrent to phones being used. 

During school hours, should you need to contact your child please telephone the School Office and we will get a message to them.  Alternatively if a student needs to contact their parent/carer they should go to the Student Support office where they can request to ring home.

Unfortunately, at times parents try to contact students directly which causes their phone to go off during lessons - this results in the student having their phone confiscated as per our school policy and it will be a parent/carer that will have to pick the mobile phone up from the School Office.   If you are unable to collect the phone please arrange for a family member, or responsible adult to collect it on your behalf.  Students will not be able to pick up their phone themselves under any circumstance.  A number of students have raised the issue of having to use their phone to pay for transport home. If this is the case the student needs to come and speak to the school office. We will arrange for a loan which will need to be reimbursed the next day.  

School Attendance

As Mr Brierly mentioned in his recent parent briefing, there has been a focus on resilience in school, including encouraging students to attend every day even if they are suffering with a minor ailment.  Mrs Gould presented an assembly to each year group last week to reinforce this message, and it was fantastic to see so many of the students engaging with her regarding good attendance and reasons for absence. Many students felt that 90% attendance would be considered ‘Good’, but attendance at this level can be incredibly detrimental to a student’s learning and outcomes. We know that for every 10% of school that a child misses, they are likely to drop a whole grade at GCSE in year 11. It can also  mean they miss key learning, lose out on time with their friends and prevent them from  taking part in extra curricular activities all of which can lead to a lack of engagement and longer term school avoidance.
We expect that students will only be absent if they are too ill to attend, and those with a minor illness such as a cough, cold, headache or tummy ache should come in to school as usual. We can give paracetamol, where we have consent, from 12.15pm to help manage symptoms.  Where a student has an injury, such as a sprained wrist, they are able to come in to school and we ask that you contact their form tutor so we can offer them support.

Please can we remind parents and carers to report absence each day using the form on the front page of the school website. It is important that we know the whereabouts of students, and it saves us a number of phone calls if all absences are kindly reported before 8.30am on every day of absence. 

For unavoidable medical appointments during school time, please also complete the absence notification on the website, and send proof of the appointment to us by email attendance@johncolet.co.uk. Please ask your child to sign out at the medical office at the agreed time, and arrange to meet with you in reception. We will be unable to release your child until you have arrived to collect them.

We know that some students are anxious about coming in to school for a variety of reasons. It is so important to send your child in to school when they are feeling wobbly, and again we ask that you contact their form tutor in the first instance if this is the case. We often see students miss school because they have friendship issues, or are finding a particular lesson difficult, and keeping them at home only causes further worry. We have an amazing pastoral team and are able to offer a wide range of support to tackle any issues.

There is no longer a requirement to isolate if your child has Covid, and if they have mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or mild cough, and they feel well enough, they can continue to attend school. If they have a high temperature, or feel too unwell to come in to school, they should stay at home until they feel better or their temperature has returned to normal. They do not need to have a negative test to be able to return.

Finally, a reminder that students should not miss school for family holidays, trips to see relatives, to go shopping or celebrate a birthday. We have received numerous requests for leave this term already, and we are unable to authorise leave in most circumstances. We do appreciate it is important to spend time doing fun activities and ask that you make arrangements for these at the weekend and during the school holidays. We often see requests for leave that indicate it is necessary due to the availability of other family members, and ask that you prioritise your child's education in these circumstances.

If you do have any concerns about your child's attendance, we are more than happy to discuss these with you and ask that you make contact on the telephone via the main school number, or on email attendance@johncolet.co.uk and we will be happy to help.

With kind regards

Di and Natalie, the Attendance Team

Free School Meals

If your circumstances have changed recently and you think you are eligible for free school meals please get in touch via pupilpremium@johncolet.co.uk and we can complete a simple check for you.