Student Care

Arriving at a new school is an exciting development in any student's life, and we aim to make new students feel at home as quickly as possible.

Students are placed in tutor groups of about thirty. Each group is guided by its own tutor who gets to know and understand the individual students well. The teams of tutors are led by highly-experienced Heads of Learning and supported by Learning Managers.

Tutors meet with their students daily at registration and for one assembly each week.

The school's aim is to create a secure and caring environment where education can flourish.

Induction of Students

Chenderit School works closely with its partner schools to ensure a smooth transition from primary to secondary school. This close liaison enables students to transfer without difficulty and settle down quickly to this next crucial stage in their education.

Smooth transition is made possible by:-

  • regular contact between subject co-ordinators;
  • effective liaison with regard to students' welfare;
  • opportunities to visit Chenderit, through, for example, parents' information evenings, the Combined Studies Project, and Primary Transfer Week.

Rewarding Success

The recognition of effort, achievement and success is central to the school's ethos. As well as individual encouragement and praise from staff, there is a formal structure of awards and letters of commendation. We are continuing to work with staff and year councils to enhance our systems of praise and encouragement.

Our structure seeks to reward appropriately as students mature and develop as they progress through the school and culminates in a day visit funded by the school for students of all ages and abilities who receive the greatest number of nominations from their teachers.

Discipline and Consequences

Orderly, courteous and considerate conduct is fundamental to the aims and ethos of the school. Chenderit School is a happy and hardworking community with few major breaches in discipline. If there is cause for concern, parents are quickly contacted.

Minor difficulties can be dealt with by such methods as counselling, daily reports and lunchtime detentions. More serious breaches may warrant a detention after school; parents are given twenty-four hours' notice, and are required to arrange transport home where necessary. New legislation (Education Act 1997, which came into force on 1st September 1998) allows schools to use after-session detention (lunchtime or after school) as a sanction even where parents do not wish it.

Rare, more serious, disciplinary breaches are dealt with by senior staff: the Deputy Head and Headteacher are kept informed or involved directly, as appropriate.

The real strength of the school lies in sharing problems with parents and students. The resolution of such problems is the responsibility of the tutor, Head of Learning and Learning Manager, whom parents are asked to contact if they have any concerns.

Reporting to Parents

Parents receive one detailed written report and one short report annually and are invited to attend parents' evenings or tutor parent meetings at other times during the year, in order to establish regular contact between home and school. Students are actively involved in setting their own targets and reviewing their own progress, a process which builds towards the compilation of an achievement record in Year 11, and, for many, a college application in Years 12 and 13.

Homework

Students' timetables allocate homework for evenings and weekends to ensure that they receive regular and balanced amounts of homework, the thorough and punctual completion of which is of crucial importance.

A personal planner is issued to all students in which they record all homework set. Parents are asked to check the entries, to sign the book each week, and use it to communicate with teachers. By signing the book, parents indicate that they have seen their son or daughter's record of the homework set for that week.

The Government recommends that students in Years 7 and 8 should have between forty-five and ninety minutes per day. In Year 9, the recommendation is one to two hours; in Years 10 and 11 the recommended time is one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours. In the Sixth Form, the minimum amount of homework will be equivalent to the time spent in lessons, usually five hours per subject per week.

Homework and individual study are essential to success at school, and staff appreciate parents' support and encouragement in their endeavours to develop good habits of private study in our students.

Parents who feel unable to support the school's homework policy are advised to consider the wisdom of choosing Chenderit School for their son or daughter.

PSE - Personal and Social Education

In PSE lessons, students will follow courses in Sex and Relationships Education, Drugs Education, elements of Citizenship, Careers Education and related topics.

Parents and Carers who do not wish their child(ren) to participate in the Religious Education or Sex elements of PSE are advised to discuss the matter with the Headteacher.

Careers Education and Guidance

Careers Education and Guidance is an important part of the school curriculum. It features a co-ordinated programme, which involves the whole school community: students, parents, staff and local business people. Heads of Learning, Learning Managers, tutors, subject teachers, the Learning Support Team and the Careers Co-ordinator work in partnership with the Careers Service to provide a well-developed approach to Careers Education and Guidance, which is matched to the individual needs of the student.

Careers Education and Guidance is committed to raising the achievement of all students to support the Chenderit School aim of ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their ambitions, dreams and aims, and for their achievements to be recognised.

The main aim of Careers Education and Guidance at Chenderit School is to ensure that all students are effective planners and managers of their own careers in a rapidly-changing world of learning and work.

Our belief at Chenderit is that all students are entitled to Careers Education and Guidance which:-

  • is independent and impartial.
  • is easily accessible and free of charge.
  • is based on the principle of Equality of Opportunity.
  • is provided by adults with appropriate Education and Training.
  • is structured and forms an integral part of students' overall education.
  • recognises the contribution of students to their own careers and development.
  • recognises the contribution of others, particularly parents, to this process.
  • respects the confidentiality of personal information.

Students in Years 9 - 11 receive specific careers lessons; in Year 10 students take part in a flourishing work experience scheme, and in Year 11 students experience 'mock' interviews, with extensive support from the local Rotary Club. In addition, specialist careers advice is available from an adviser from Connexions.

There is a variety of parents' evenings at which different aspects of careers are presented. The Careers Team values and promotes the parent/school partnership and the Careers Co-ordinator is available at Upper School parents' evenings for further discussions on Careers Education at Chenderit and to show some of the books, websites and software packages used for Careers Education and Guidance.

The UCAS programme, for Sixth Form applicants to universities and colleges of higher education, is co-ordinated by the Head of Sixth Form and overseen by the Headteacher. Students are encouraged to undertake a period of work-shadowing, with the focus on investigating in depth future career paths. Sixth Form students can arrange interviews with the adviser from Connexions as and when necessary.

It is the aim of the school to do its utmost to help every student. It is particularly crucial at the Year 11 and Sixth Form stage for students to obtain suitable employment or further/higher education upon leaving, and our record in this respect is excellent.

Educational Welfare Officer

Northamptonshire County Council employs a team of EWOs who visit schools regularly to check that the school is maintaining attendance records and to visit homes of students where they feel this is appropriate. They are responsible for the issuing of employment permits and can be contacted to discuss any other aspects of student welfare which reflect on attendance and progress. The Educational Welfare Officer currently responsible for Chenderit is Ms Margaret Dyer, who can be contacted at Northampton Education Welfare Office, Cromwell Street, Northampton NN1 2TE, Tel: 01604 259599.