Teaching and Learning

Students have continued to focus on developing their understanding of subject keywords and using thinking frames in lessons. Assessments have taken place in all subjects for all year groups so that we can begin to have a clear picture of progress. The outcomes of the assessments will be shared with parents and carers in reports to parents – these will come via the students or, if absent, posted home.

Last year, the school introduced reading time in all tutor groups as a key part of our literacy strategy. With the additional work this academic year on developing vocabulary, we are delighted to say that we have seen a significant improvement in students’ reading ability.  Over 63% of students in Year 8 have improved from their starting point in Year 7. A huge 73% of students in Year 9 have improved from their data in Year 8.

We wish all of our Year 11 students ‘Good Luck’ in the first round of GCSE Mock exams which started this week. These will continue after the half-term holiday. Please ensure that your child continues with their revision during the break.

Cheltenham Literary Festival – Two separate visits to the Cheltenham Literary Festival took place this term. Mrs Scanlan accompanied a group of Year 7s to enjoy a number of book readings, whilst Mr Holliday led a group of Year 11 students who attended a live broadcast of The Times Radio’s political panel discussing next year’s General Election.

 

School parking

The school has two disabled parking spaces available immediately in front of the school reception. We have had several instances when students and parents who are registered disabled have been forced to park outside of the school grounds as other car users have taken the spaces.

Can I please remind all parents and carers these spaces are reserved for registered disabled persons only.

 

Uniform and equipment

Our children continue to look extremely smart in their uniform; thank you to all parents for your support of this.

As we move into the colder months, just a gentle reminder that students are allowed to wear a school jumper underneath their blazer. Hoodies and sweatshirts are not permitted.

There is no requirement for students in Yrs. 8-11 to wear grey. We are phasing in the change over the next 5 years with each new year 7 cohort.

All students are expected to wear black shoes; trainers are for PE lessons only. This is for all year groups.

Community

On Wednesday, our Year 7 students showed their support for the Dwarfism Awareness Day by wearing green and making donations for a local Dwarfism charity which looks to develop self-esteem and confidence through sporting opportunities. Well done and thank you to all involved!

Last week, we held the Year 10 parents’ evening. Thank you to all parents and students who attended and completed the survey. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

 

Statement	Strongly Agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
My child is happy at Barnwood Park	33	66	3	1
I am happy with the education my child receives at Barnwood Park	36	63	4	0
My child is making good progress at Barnwood Park	40	60	3	0
The school deals effectively with any problems my child may have (Please leave blank if not applicable)	25	48	6	2
I find making parents’ evening appointments on SchoolCloud easy to do	61	40	2	0
I would recommend Barnwood Park to other parents	37	62	4	0
	Yes	No
I use the school website to look for any information that I might have missed	81	22
I follow the school’s Facebook page	63	40

 

 

On behalf of all the staff, I would like to wish all students and their families a Happy Halloween and a relaxing week’s holiday.

 

Kind regards,

Karen Clinton

Headteacher

 

Appendix:

Parent/Visitor Code of Conduct

In line with other public sector organisations, e.g. doctor’s surgeries, hospitals, and public buildings, including shopping centres, supermarkets, the school governing body has approved the Parent / Visitor Code of Conduct.

This is to support all staff working at the school who continue to receive verbal and written abuse, threats and harassment on a regular basis from a very small minority of parents / carers.

 

Barnwood Park School:

Parent and Visitor Code of Conduct

We are very fortunate to have a committed and supportive school community where staff, governors and parents recognise that the education of our children and young people is a partnership between all of us.  Accordingly, we welcome the full participation of our parents in the life of the school.  We endeavour to maintain positive relationships with parents and visitors.  We are committed to resolving difficulties in a constructive manner through open, positive communication.

Our school values and ethos require that all members of our school community can expect to be treated reasonably and with respect.  Barnwood Park School further has a duty of care to its employees and volunteers to protect them from behaviour which is rude, intimidating, abusive, aggressive or threatening.

Purpose: This code is intended to ensure that we share a common expectation and understanding in relation to the behaviour of parents and visitors.

Code of Conduct

We expect parents and visitors to:

• Respect the inclusive, caring values and ethos of the school
• Understand that the values and ethos of the school encompass relationships with staff and volunteers
• Demonstrate that all members of the school community are to be treated with respect and dignity
• Respect, and cooperate with, the school’s policies, processes and procedures
• Recognise that school staff are endeavouring to act in the best interests of the child/ren involved in events
• Approach the school in a proportionate and measured way to resolve any issues of specific concern
• Recognise that school staff have many competing duties during a typical day which may mean that they are not immediately available, for example, staff should not be expected to respond to a queries within an unrealistic time-frame e.g., staff may not be able to respond on the same day
• Understand that requests for meetings without appointment or for an unspecified reason cannot be accommodated and allow time for staff to look into and respond to a query/issue rather than seeking a meeting in the first instance
• Respond calmly when any incident is reported by a child or young person and contact us to clarify what has happened, so that issues can be resolved swiftly and positively
• Use our Complaints policy appropriately to raise concerns and complaints

We are obliged to secure a safe and calm school environment, and to support the well-being of all members of our school community.  We cannot accept, and will not tolerate, any of the following behaviours towards any child or adult:

• Disruptive behaviour which interferes with, or threatens to interfere with, the normal business of the school
• Violence or the threat of violence
• Shouting or raising of the voice
• Speaking in an aggressive or threatening tone
• Abusive or aggressive communications
• Physical intimidation e.g. standing close, blocking exit
• Physical contact
• Swearing
• Spitting
• Language or actions which breach our commitment to Equality and Diversity, for example, racist, sexist, LGBTQ-phobic
• Behaviour which causes staff or volunteers to feel uncomfortable or bullied
• Threats of non-violent action designed to intimidate staff or volunteers
• Defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments (direct or implied) about any member of the school community, including unfounded and/or blanket comments about the professional competency or motivation of staff or volunteers – this extends to comments made on social media.
• Damaging of school property
• Approaching someone else’s child in order to chastise them because of their actions towards their own child
• Smoking, vaping or consuming drugs or alcohol whilst on school property (alcohol may be consumed only during authorised events)
• Bringing animals onto school premises (other than assistance dogs)

This applies to personal interaction and also all telephone, email, text, letter or social media communications.

Unacceptable behaviour may result in:

• A letter from the school requesting that the behaviour ceases
• An invitation to attend a meeting to discuss and address the behaviour
• Restrictions on the school’s response to communications (any restrictions will be detailed in a letter to the parent/s or visitor concerned)
• A ban on entering school premises (usually for a limited period in the first instance)
• Complaints/communications being deemed vexatious
• Information being passed to the police
• Police being called to remove people from the premises
• The school taking legal or local authority advice

Complaints:

This Code of Conduct does not prevent parents or visitors raising legitimate concerns or complaints.

Concerns and complaints can be resolved through constructive, open dialogue with members of staff, utilising our Complaints Policy as appropriate.