At Thomas Aveling we have the very highest expectations of all involved: Students, Teachers and Parents.  Please scroll down through this section to check out our expectations of attendance, behaviour, our home school agreement, and uniform.  For students to make the very best progress while at the school, it is vital that we all understand our opportunities and responsibilities.

 

ATTENDANCE

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Research shows that there is a clear link between high attainment and good attendance in school. Therefore, it is vital that students attend school every day. The school has several support strategies in place to help ensure that all students can achieve their full potential, these include:

 

• Regular monitoring of student attendance and punctuality – morning registration is taken electronically by the form tutor at 8.40am. In addition to this we have electronic registration in all lessons to ensure attendance throughout the day.

• Celebrating good attendance – we celebrate students’ 100% attendance at the end of each academic year.  In previous years we have invited students to enjoy a meal together at a local restaurant or students have received shopping vouchers.

• Actively working to improve attendance – from our regular monitoring of attendance, we can quickly see if there are any causes for concern. If attendance is a cause for concern, then a series of actions are taken. Parents will be informed by text, phone call and/or a letter. Should there continue to be a concern, parents will be invited into school to discuss the issues and, if necessary, the Attendance Advisory Practitioner (AAP) will be informed. Parents and their sons/daughters may be invited to attend an attendance panel where the Senior Attendance Advisory Practitioner will be present. The Attendance Advisory Practitioner will work with parents to help improve their children’s attendance, but they do have the authority to award fixed penalty fines and instigate court proceedings against parents for their children’s non-attendance.

• Actively working to improve punctuality – from our regular monitoring of punctuality, we can quickly see if there are any causes for concern. If students are late then they will have to attend a punctuality detention at breaktime the same day, should they fail to attend, this will be rolled onto the following day; if the breaktime detention is not attended this will then result in a leadership detention after school.

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We will continue to use these strategies and work with students and parents to ensure that students have the best possible opportunities for success.

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The holiday form is no longer available as the Governors have not authorised holiday absence for any student during term time since September 2007. Only in exceptional circumstances will authorised leave be granted. In these circumstances, parents should write directly to the Headteacher.

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Penalty Notices – In line with Local Education Authority practise we must advise parents/carers that a Penalty Notice may be imposed in certain cases where unauthorised holiday leave is taken, or a child has regular unauthorised attendance.

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BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING

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INTRODUCTION

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This guidance underpins the Governors’ statutory policy on Discipline. All members of the school community have the right to work within a safe, well-ordered, and supportive environment where effective learning can take place. At Thomas Aveling we believe we all choose how we behave and are responsible for our actions. To support these beliefs, we seek to create a culture of positive relationships based on mutual rights, supported by individual responsibilities and protected by reasonable rules that are applied consistently.

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POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

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​Ofsted is clear about the key features which make a school successful these are:

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• teachers who manage classrooms effectively and in accordance with the school’s conventions (they control entry and seating, give clear instructions and explanations, use interesting material and activities, challenge, and support students, keep them on task and respond fully to their work)

• additionally, any weaknesses in basic skills are systematically addressed and students are taught to work independently and efficiently.

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Therefore, this school gives priority to promoting good teaching, as this gives the best incentive for students to attend school and behave well. Our written policies and systems must be complied with consistently to ensure success.

In dealing with behavioural issues, it is always our intention to support the student’s return to effective learning.

Student Voice confirms that a good teacher is one who is firm and keeps order in the classroom, explains the work to be done and helps with it, and maintains a friendly disposition in and out of school. Students are much more likely to be compliant if our expectations of them are consistently voiced and applied. The Behaviour guidance below lists the detailed responsibilities of class teachers, House teams and school leaders, as well as our shared expectations of students.

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REWARDS AND RECOGNITION

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Rewards that are used effectively can support a student in making significant changes to their attitude and behaviour. The rewards below also underpin the House System, and all rewards equate to a value of house points which are added together with the House with the most winning the House Competition – which is a really big thing at Thomas Aveling.

 

Students can be awarded merits which equate to 1 house point for the following categories

• Ambition

• Pride

• Respect

• Creativity

• Resilience

• Kindness

• Outstanding effort

 

These can be awarded directly to the school system or students can collect these merits on a conduct card. The conduct card once completed is worth 10 merits and any completed conduct cards are entered into a prize draw at the end of each term.

 

For more sustained effort students can be awarded postcards (worth 5 merits) and certificates (worth 10 merits).

 

For instant recognition we also use Legend cards (which are worth 5 merits ) these are only allowed to be awarded to one student per lesson and are awarded for any of the reasons merits can be awarded, but also for showing a sustained change in behaviour or attitude.

 

At the end of each term subjects and house teams nominate stars of the term, these are for students who have shown or developed one of our core 5 virtues over a period of time. All nominated students receive postcards and the overall star of the term per subject and form receives a certificate.

 

Each form earns house points for attendance above 95% and students who have 100% attendance in a term earn themselves 20 merits for their House.

 

At the end of the year, the House with the most house points is awarded a house celebration, where students and staff from the winning House are off timetable and spend time celebrating the success of the year.

 

We run a number of reward trips throughout the year to celebrate the students who achieve well, these include trips to the cinema for students in years 7-10, race to “Rockin’ and Bowlin’” and race to the Prom for year 11s.

 

CONSEQUENCES (SANCTIONS)

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Despite all the positive behaviour management strategies, there will be times where student’s behaviour requires a consequence.

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In keeping with our belief that behaviour is a choice, it is important that students understand there will be consequences if they choose to work outside our fair rules. The consequence should link the behaviour with the sanction and is applied to the misdemeanour rather than the student. The certainty that there will be a consequence for poor behaviour or insufficient work is more important than the severity of the sanction. Any system will be as strong as the weakest link and it is essential that all staff apply rewards and sanctions consistently.

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The following flow diagram will be used when issuing sanctions:

 

Refusal – Level 3

• If the student refuses to follow instructions, leaves the classroom without your permission or is involved in a very serious incident that cannot be dealt with at Level 2, the Level 3 threshold has been reached.

• A Senior Leadership Team (SLT) CALL OUT must be placed by sending a responsible student to reception. A member of SLT will come and collect the student and escort them to the Inclusion Zone where an appropriate sanction will be issued.

• Students will be sanctioned according to their level of behaviour. Incidents that might meet the threshold for Exclusion will be referred directly to the Deputy Headteacher.

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THE INCLUSION ZONE

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The Inclusion Zone has been established in consultation with Medway and drawing upon DfE guidance on Learning Support Units. It is run by the Inclusions Zone supervisor.  If a child is placed in the Zone for a day or longer, they will have some intervention work conducted by the Zone supervisor and be expected to be visited by their Assistant Director of Learning (ADOL) or Director of Learning (DOL)

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There are a variety of reasons a child may be placed in the Zone

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a) Time Out

b) Internal Exclusions

c) Stabilising

d) Pending

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This facility aims to improve ‘inclusion’, combat disaffection and reduce the number of exclusions from school

Detentions

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This policy is based on the Secretary of State’s Guidance. Detention is one of the sanctions used to support the school discipline (behaviour management) policy. The Education Act 1997 gives schools legal backing to detain pupils after the end of a school day.

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The school will give at least 24 hours written notice of a detention to the parent indicating:

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• that their child has been given a detention

• why it was given

• when, where and for how long

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In practice a detention would need to be set with two school days’ notice.

 

PARENTAL OBJECTIONS

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Any parental objections will be dealt with by the Subject Leader in the first instance, who may refer to the Director of Learning, and thereafter to the Link Deputy Headteacher.

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FAILURE TO ATTEND

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If a student fails to attend an after-school detention without a valid reason in writing from a parent/carer, the student will be internally isolated in the Inclusion Zone until 4pm the following day.

 

Download: BEHAVIOUR FOR SUCCESS

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Download: BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING

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Watch: CODE OF CONDUCT VIDEO 

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HOME SCHOOL AGREEMENT: RULES AND STANDARDS

Download: Home School Agreement

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SCHOOL UNIFORM

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We are extremely proud of how smart our students look in their school uniform and will always insist that high standards are maintained.  Parents will be contacted where the uniform code has been infringed without reasonable explanation and children may work with their tutor all day or be sent home to change.  We appreciate the support from our parents in this matter.

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GIRLS' UNIFORM

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Blazer - Black with *School Badge (edged with house colour)

Skirt - Skirts must be tailored and made of ‘non stretch’ fabric to allow movement and should be no more than 3-4” above the knee (no short or tight skirts will be permitted)

Trousers - Trousers must be tailored and made of ‘non stretch’ fabric (no flares or tight fitting trousers will be permitted)

Blouse - *White with blue pin stripe – short sleeve, worn in or out (no tie required). Whilst we prefer the girls to wear the white blouse with blue pin stripe (as specified above), they are permitted to wear a white shirt with a Thomas Aveling school tie, if they prefer.

Sweater (optional) - *Blue V-necked with embroidered school logo

Shoes - Black school shoes (no platforms, high Heels or open backs, and strictly no boots or trainers of any descriptioSocks

White or black, or plain natural/black tights (no patterns).

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* Available from Schooltime Uniform Shop, Railway Street, Chatham, Blazers with pre-sewn badges also available. Parents may purchase blazers from any retail outlet, but badges are only available from Schooltime.

 

BOYS' UNIFORM

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Blazer - Black with *School Badge (edged with house colour)

Trousers - Tailored black -  made of 'non stretch' material
Shirt - Plain White, short or long sleeved, suitable for wearing with a tie
Tie - *Blue and gold diagonal stripe
Sweater (optional) - *Blue V-necked with embroidered school logo
Shoes - Formal black leather, or leather-look, school shoes (strictly no boots or trainers of any description, no high heels or open backs)
Socks - Black

Summer Term - Those who have worn the white shirt and tie may choose to wear a *Blue Polo Shirt with school logo as an alternative to collar and tie. A blazer must still be worn.

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 * Available from Schooltime Uniform Shop, Railway Street, Chatham. Blazers with pre-sewn badges also available. Parents may purchase blazers from any retail outlet, but badges are only available from Schooltime.

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Uniform basics:

• No long, false or painted nails should be worn in school

• Make up should be discreet in Year 9 and above and not worn at all in Years 7 and 8

• Hair should be a natural colour, all one colour and all one style – it should also be a minimum length of a grade 2. No extreme styles allowed

• Jewellery - only a small pair of studs (one earring in each ear lobe) and a watch are allowed. No other piercings, rings, bracelets/bands or necklaces to be worn

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Please click on this link to see what is not acceptable uniform.

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PE KIT 

Shorts /Skort - Navy and Royal Blue
Polo Shirt - Navy and Royal Blue
Sweatshirt - Navy and Royal Blue (Optional) 
Training Joggers - Navy Blue (Optional)
Trainers - Non Marking soles
Football boots - Optional
Football Socks - Navy Blue
Shin Pads

 

The PE kit is only available at School Time Uniform Shop