Sanctions

There are times when behaviour falls short of the standards expected and the School reserves the right to impose sanctions. Currently these are:
a) Detentions
i) Short detentions - 15 minutes
These take place on the day the detention is given and are usually given for lateness or for minor infringements. A student reports back to a member of staff at the end of the school day to discuss bad work or behaviour. Short detentions are written into a student's Diary. Parental agreement does not need to be sought and there is no further paperwork.
ii) Subject detentions - 30 minutes
These detentions are given by subject teachers, usually for unsatisfactory behaviour in class, or for failure to do homework or to hand it in on time.
iii) Tutor detentions - 30 minutes
This kind of detention may result from more serious misbehaviour, usually outside the classroom.
iv) Whole school detentions - one hour
These are taken by a senior member of staff, on Thursdays and Fridays after school. Parents/Carers are notified in the Diary. One hour detentions will be given for a serious misdemeanour or when a student fails to respond to other sanctions. Curriculum Leaders and Learning Co-ordinators make the decision to place students in the whole-school detention.

Parents are given one or more days' notice of ‘Tutor', 'Subject' and ‘Whole-School' detentions on the appropriate page in the Diary. The form states the reason for, the date and the place of the detention. Parents are requested to sign the Diary as an indication that they are aware that a detention has been set and that their son or daughter will be late home.

b) Daily or Weekly Report/Attendance check
This is occasionally thought desirable by teachers or requested by parents or by a student. The student is given a Weekly Report Form usually by the Tutor which is shown to and signed by the Subject Teacher each lesson and then by the Tutor or Learning Co-ordinator and parents, each evening as an aid to promoting an improved standard of work/behaviour/attendance.

This report also helps the School to monitor difficulties in relationships and/or learning.

c) Parental Interviews
These are conducted by the Learning Co-ordinators, Curriculum Leaders, Assistant Headteachers, a Deputy Head or the Headteacher and occur when there has been a serious breach of school discipline or cause for concern. The Tutor is usually present.

d) Exclusion
This type of sanction is reserved for very serious cases of misbehaviour. Fixed term exclusions generally last between one and five days. A maximum of 45 days in any one year, for an individual student is permitted by law. Students given a fixed term exclusion of 6 days or longer in one continous period, will be educated off site from the 6th Day.

Permanent exclusions and fixed-term exclusions of more than 5 days can be appealed against by parents to the Chair of Governors and/or the LEA. Following an exclusion, parents come in to school with their child to see the Learning Co-ordinator and/or a senior member of staff. During their meeting, strategies to help the child avoid making the same mistakes again are discussed, agreed and recorded in the student file.

A copy of the minutes of the meeting will be sent to parents.