St George’s Day
This week our catering staff provided a selection of St George’s day themed desserts for our students, some of whom attended the Parade in Rothamsted Park. We hope you had a happy St George’s Day.
This week our catering staff provided a selection of St George’s day themed desserts for our students, some of whom attended the Parade in Rothamsted Park. We hope you had a happy St George’s Day.
Attendance Rewards
The school is keen to reward good attendance and has introduced some additional incentives to promote positive attendance.
Every half term the form who has the best attendance will receive some sweets from their form tutor (allergies & intolerance taken into consideration) and extra house points for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
Our winners for the first part of the spring half term were 7 Ali with the runners up being 9 Ali & 7 Nightingale. Congratulations to them all!
1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
We also recognise students who achieve 100% attendance in every half term. During the last six weeks between January and February, we were thrilled that 423 students achieved this and received a personalised email of congratulations from Mr Martin.
By achieving 100% in a whole term, they will have their name entered into a prize draw, where there are five prizes for a free school meal up to the value of £2.90 to be added to their Arbor account. All 100% students over this period of time will also be entered into the grand prize draw which takes place in the summer which will consist of Amazon vouchers ranging from £50 to £5.
The more terms a student has 100% attendance, the more entries they receive into the summer grand prize draw.
Attendance is key to success and attendance statistics reset every half term so it’s never too late for students to make a difference with achieving good attendance for the remainder of the school year.
If you require any support with a student’s attendance please don’t hesitate to contact their Head of Year.
If you have any queries with regards to attendance processes, please don’t hesitate to contact Chrissy Dicks and Katrina Linehan, the school’s Attendance Managers.
On Thursday 5th December, Year 11 received the results from the mocks exams which they sat in November. The students had a presentation from Mr Livesey Jones, Mrs Stockwell and some KWSixth students about the importance of the next few months ahead, and how to use these results positively. The year 11 students were then given an envelope and the opening commenced with much excitement. There were some fantastic results with many students getting very high grades and the vast majority making significant progress since their last exams.
We were so proud of how this cohort demonstrated the three Rs, not only throughout the mock exam periods but also during the results day. It was a pleasure to see students supporting each other practically and emotionally, and being genuinely pleased for each other. Afterwards, the Year 11s had a chance to reflect on their achievements and plan for the next crucial few months. This was evidenced at parents’ evening the following week which had a brilliant turn out and gave students and parents a chance to discuss next steps with their subject teachers.
We look forward to celebrating even more successes with this year group and welcoming many of them back to KWSixth.
This year we have brought in a new method of reporting absence through the Arbor Parent Portal APP which is quick and easy for parents and carers and our preferred way for contacting school with regards to reasons for absence.
In order to report absence through the Arbor Parent Portal APP, go to the home page of the Arbor app.
To record an absence, click on the Quick Actions button and then click Attendance
From here click the green Log Absence button in the top-right of the page.
You can input a start and end time for the absence and type in the reason for the absence giving as much detail as possible.
By default, the absence start and end times reflect the student’s full day, but these can be adjusted as needed if a student will only be absent for a short time as a result of an appointment. Once you have filled in all this data, click ‘Log Absence’ and this will be visible to the school attendance team.
Please note that informing the school is a key responsibility of parents/carers. When staff from both the attendance and safeguarding team take time out of their day to chase families, it detracts from the support we can offer to students in school. Therefore, please ensure all reports are made by 8.30am and the school are informed every day that a student is absent.
Where possible, please give plenty of notice for any planned absence, for example hospital appointments by using the Arbor parent portal app or emailing absence@kwschool.co.uk.
By working together, we can help students reach their full potential and make the most of the opportunities school has to offer.
If you feel you would like support with your child’s attendance or well-being, please do not hesitate to their Head of Year.
Chrissy Dicks
Attendance Manager
The school is keen to reward good attendance and has recently introduced some new additional incentives to promote positive attendance.
Every half term the form who has the best attendance will receive some sweets from their form tutor (allergies & intolerances taken into consideration). The winners will receive 60 points to be added to their house totals and the runners up will receive 30 points each.
Our winners for the first part of the autumn half term were 7 Nightingale with the runners up being 7 Ali & 7 Keller. Congratulations to them all.
In addition to this, those students who attain 100% attendance in every half term will receive a personalised email of congratulations from the Headteacher, and if they achieve 100% in a whole term, they will have their name entered into a prize draw, where there are five prizes for a free school meal up to the value of £2.90 to be added to their Arbor account. All 100% students over this period of time will also be entered into the grand prize draw which takes place in the summer which will consist of Amazon vouchers ranging from £50 to £5.
The more terms a student has 100% attendance, the more entries they receive into the summer grand prize draw.
If you have any queries with regards to this, please don’t hesitate to contact Chrissy Dicks, the school’s Attendance Manager.
Attendance Rewards, Review & Absence Reporting Procedures
As a school, we place great importance on attendance and expect that all our students will achieve an attendance level of at least 96% each academic year. Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly and punctually.
Any student with an attendance figure below 90% is defined nationally as a persistent absentee. This equates to just over 3 days of absence per half term and applies if the absence is authorised or unauthorised. If a student were to get a score of 90% on a maths test this would be very good. If, however, a student’s attendance is 90% over their five years of compulsory school age, from Year 7 to 11, this equates to missing half a year of school, which is detrimental to any individual, regardless of their academic ability.
There is a strong statistical link between attendance and attainment. Studies show that students with the highest attainment in their GCSE exams, at the end of Year 11, have higher rates of attendance over Years 10 and 11, compared to those with the lowest attainment.
We review attendance regularly and have an attendance procedure we follow based on each student’s attendance percentage. The attendance leaflet which is attached to this email provides important information regarding our attendance procedure.
We strongly advise parents/carers to avoid booking holidays during term time. We appreciate there may be exceptional circumstances behind a request for leave. If this is the case, you should give a detailed explanation as to why it is necessary for you to take your child out of school by completing the form on the attendance page of the school website and send it to absence@kwschool.co.uk where it will be forwarded to Mr Martin for his consideration.
Rewarding Excellent Attendance
Students who attain 100% attendance every half term will receive a personalised email from the Headteacher, and if they achieve 100% in a whole term, they will have their name entered into a prize draw which takes place at the end of the year. The more terms that a student attends without absence, the more entries they have in the draw which increases their chances in the draw. In July, prizes included Amazon vouchers ranging from £50, £25, £10 & £5.
By working together, we can help students reach their full potential and make the most of the opportunities school has to offer. If you feel you would like support with your child’s attendance or well-being, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
Absence Reporting
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, urgent appointments or other reasons please use the Arbor Parent Portal App (instructions shown below), telephone the 24hr school absence line on 01582 314800 or email absence@kwschool.co.uk by 8.30am at the latest, on the first day of absence and every subsequent day thereafter.
Reporting absences though the Arbor Parent Portal App – Our preferred choice which is quick and easy for you!
It is now possible to report absences quickly and easily using the Arbor parent portal app.
Go to the home page of the Arbor app, click on the orange Quick Actions tab, click attendance, and on the right-hand side you will see a green box, click ‘Log Absence’.
You can input a start and end time for the absence and type in the reason for the absence.
By default, the absence start and end times reflect the student’s full day, but these can be adjusted as needed. Once you have filled in this data, click ‘Log Absence’ and this will be visible to the school attendance team.
Please note that informing the school is a key responsibility of parents/carers. When staff from both the attendance and safeguarding team take time out of their day to chase families, it detracts from the support we can offer to students in school. Therefore, please ensure all reports are made by 8.30am.
Where possible, please give plenty of notice for any planned absence, for example hospital appointments by using the Arbor parent portal app or emailing absence@kwschool.co.uk.
Chrissy Dicks, Attendance Manager
Please note the following changes from the Department for Education will be coming into effect from August 2024 and that the fine for unauthorised school absences will change.
Whilst the school assesses each individual case on its own merit, currently the school can request a fixed penalty notice to be issued by Herts County Council for unauthorised absences, such as term time holidays and general non-attendance after 15 sessions of unauthorised absence, which is the equivalent of 7 ½ school days.
However, under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions, the equivalent of 5 school days for unauthorised reasons.
In addition to this:
● The first penalty notice issued to each parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
● A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil will be charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
● Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period from the date of the first fine. Once this limit has been reached, other actions like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
● If a prosecution goes ahead at court because a child has not been attending school, the fine could be up to £2,500.
We strongly advise parents/carers to avoid booking holidays during term time. We appreciate there may be exceptional circumstances behind a request for leave. If this is the case, you should give a detailed explanation as to why it is necessary for you to take your child out of school by completing this form and sending it to absence@kwschool.co.uk for consideration.
If you require any support with your child’s attendance or wellbeing, please don’t hesitate to contact their Head of Year or if you have any further queries in relation to these changes please contact the school’s Attendance Manager, Chrissy Dicks.
For further information relating to these changes, please click here to access the government’s latest advice.
I am pleased to say that our 3G pitch is progressing well and we are on track for the pitch opening in January 2024. The fence posts are now up and the lighting columns are currently going up. The final stage which is the carpet being laid is likely to take place over the next couple of weeks. Wheathampsted Wanderers our partner club are gearing up to start using the pitch from January.
The pitch will be available for students to use during PE lessons, we hope to also make it available at Lunchtime when clubs/training are not taking place. It will be a fantastic resource for our PE department and the local community.
Students will need to Use round plastic-studded footwear only (no metal studs) to be allowed on the 3G Pitch. The footwear policy will be enforced at all times to prolong the life of the surface.
July
August
Harpenden Secondary Education Trust
Company Number: 09238779
Registered in England and Wales
Registered Address: Katherine Warington School, Lower Luton Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 5FH
Chair Of Trustees: Jenny Howarth, j.howarth@kwschool.co.uk
Katherine Warington School,
Lower Luton Road,
Harpenden,
Hertfordshire,
AL5 5FH
Telephone: 01582 314777
admin@kwschool.co.uk