Dear Parent/Carer,
Our mission is to enable all learners to make progress appropriate to their ability in every lesson. We want our learners to be successful and to be:
* ambitious, capable learners ready to learn throughout their lives
* enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work
* ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world
* healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
In order to achieve this, we need a learning environment that allows teachers to teach and learners to learn. However, like all schools, we have a small number of learners who disrupt teaching and learning for others – I’m sure you would agree that this is not fair and it is not acceptable. If children are to have the best chance of becoming successful adults, they must have every opportunity to access education successfully.
I have consulted with learners (representatives from every tutor group in Years 7 to 11), staff, the local authority and the Governing Body regarding this matter.
As a result, we are amending our behaviour for learning processes (to be called Ready to Learn or ‘R2L’) from Monday 21st March, so that any disruptive learners are not able to repeatedly stop others from making progress each day. Our ‘Ready to Learn’ approach to behaviour for learning supports our mission. This, in turn, enables our learners to develop and display the ambition, belief, determination and resilience needed to be successful in school and thereby successful after they leave school.
Ready to Learn is a whole school behaviour for learning approach which covers all aspects of school life. It is a set of protocols that are used successfully in many secondary schools.
The aims of Ready to Learn are:
1. To prevent or remove disruptive behaviour, so that there is a culture of achievement, ambition and learning everywhere in the school, and no learning time is wasted
2. To provide clarity for staff and learners about acceptable behaviour and the consequences of misbehaviour
3. To encourage learners to take responsibility for their own actions
4. To enable teachers to deliver engaging and creative lessons, experiment and take risks and achieve the objectives of the curriculum for Wales
Rules for learners in the classroom
Always in lessons:
* Arrive on time – typically within 5 minutes of lesson start time
* Follow staff instructions, including sitting where told
* Start your bell task (lesson starter) immediately, in silence
* Listen and speak to others respectfully
* Keep off task conversations for social times
* Work in silence when adults ask you to (this enables vital exam practice)
* Stay in your seat unless told otherwise
* No eating or drinking, other than water
* Don’t call out or distract others – allow others to learn
* No mobile phones unless given permission by your teacher
If a learner does not follow our school rules in a lesson, an adult will tell them that they have a “warning (W1)” and their name will be written on the board. If they break a further rule, a W2 will be issued and a ‘x2’ added to their name on the board. Learners are already very familiar with the ‘W1’, ‘W2’ system of warnings for unacceptable behaviour.
If they do not follow the rules for a third time (after a second warning (W2) has been awarded), they will be sent to undertake their work in the Inclusion Room (I.R.) for five lessons. This will support them to focus on their own learning and prevent them from disrupting others. Arrangements will of course be made for learners in the Inclusion Room to have their food and drink during their break and lunch times, including having access to the school canteen. Any learner who does not attend their normal lesson and truants internally will also be referred to the Inclusion Room for the same time period.
If a learner is sent to the Inclusion Room, parents or carers will be contacted via the School Comms app or via a text message. It is therefore essential that we have an up to date contact phone number for you and that you have downloaded the School Comms app. Please e-mail us at admin@lliswerryhigh.org if you need to update your contact details or require help downloading the School Comms app.
Learners will remain in the Inclusion Room until 3.15 for a short detention on the day they are sent there. This will give the member of staff who referred them time to meet with them and discuss any issues and to move forward ready for their next lesson together. After being sent to the Inclusion Room, should a learner refuse to leave the classroom their after school detention will be extended by 15 minutes.
If a learner continues to be disruptive whilst in the Inclusion Room, parents/carers will be contacted and a further consequence will be issued. This could be a referral to A41 (internal exclusion room) or an external fixed term exclusion. Upon completion of this, a meeting will be held with parents/carers and the learner will then be expected to complete their time in the Inclusion Room.
Our aim is for no learner to have to be removed from a lesson. However, I know that you want your child to have every opportunity to be successful in school, so that they have the best chances of success later in life. Therefore, it is vital that no one takes away their opportunity to learn and to make progress in lessons.
Ultimately, most of our learners are respectful and keen to learn and so it is only the small number who disrupt learning for others who will be directly affected by these changes. As I wrote at the start of this letter, as parents/carers I’m sure you would all agree that stopping others from learning is neither fair nor acceptable. Thank you very much for your support in this matter. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year.
Best wishes,
N Davies
Headteacher