Carers Our Parent-Teacher Meetings are

October ‘13 Dear Parents/Carers Our Parent-Teacher Meetings are changing this year New style Parent-Teacher Consultation Meetings are replacing Parent’s Evenings for Year 7 through to Year 10 this year. This is to help us to: - Improve the length and quality of the parent-teacher conversation - Provide more focus on your child’s progress as well as attainment - Give more advice on how you can support your child’s learning. - Make it easier for you to make appointments with teachers at a variety of times throughout the day and into the traditional evenings. Dates and Timings Parent-Teacher Consultation Meetings during any two hour window you select on: Year 7 and 9 9.00am to 7.00pm Thursday 21 November 2013 Year 8 and 10 9.00am to 7.00pm Thursday 30 January 2014 Making Your Appointments Once you have selected your two-hour window, you will be able to choose up to 8 appointments with key subjects which can be booked on-line. Appointments will last for up to 10 minutes and should be chosen in order of priority by thinking about: - How well your child is doing – their attainment and progress compared to their targets. - What advice you think your child needs - to be able to make expected progress or better. - Which subjects you need to know more about - to be able to offer support to your child if they are struggling or falling behind. Information about attainment and progress can be seen in the on-line reports and other data on the parental gateway. Further information will be issued when the on-line booking system is opened. For parents who do not have access to the internet, you can make your appointments over the phone with the Pastoral Office on 01625 410285. The Importance of Parental Engagement Parental engagement in parent-teacher meetings is a vital way of giving support to your child (ren)’s learning and studies have shown how important this is for their future academic success. As you probably know we track your attendance at parent-teacher consultation events because we have a duty to consider all factors which affect children’s progress and well being. We are hoping that this new system will build on the excellent rates of attendance we already have and further increase parent’s attendance which averages around 87-93%. Inevitably we will need to contact some parents to encourage attendance to the consultations themselves or for specific subjects where teachers have concerns about achievement and progress or barriers to effective learning.

The Structure of the Consultation Day Once you have made your appointments, you are advised to make a copy for yourself and bring it with you. When you arrive, you will receive a pack with the following: - Your appointments - A map (the appointments will be within faculty areas*) - A list of subject teachers and rooms - Academic Report/Review - Attendance Report - Target Review Form (for you to complete during the consultation’s) - Parental Survey Form (to complete and return on the day) [* Unless you have a mobility/access issue in which case the teachers will come to a room in the Romero Conference Centre to meet you.] Arrangements for Students during the Consultation Days Students will be expected to know the arrangements for their work or study on BOTH consultation days. Students should attend appointments with parents/carers and are required to wear their uniform. The arrangements for students on each day are as follows: FIRST CONSULTATION DAY – THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2013

Year Group 7 APPOINTMENTS 8 9 APPOINTMENTS 10 11

Sixth Form

Expected Activity  Attend appointments with parent/carer(s)  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader – blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader – blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Attend appointments with parent/carer(s)  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader – blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Young People’s Take Over Day (Self placed – take your child to work day)  Coursework / Revision  Young People’s Take Over Day (Self placed – take your child to work day)  Coursework / Revision  Subject Reading Day  Year 13 UCAS Completion

SECOND CONSULTATION DAY – THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014

Year Group 7 8 APPOINTMENTS 9

10 APPOINTMENTS 11 Sixth Form

Expected Activity  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader– blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Attend appointments with parent/carer(s)  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader – blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Young People’s Take Over Day (Self placed – take your child to work day)  Reading Challenge (Accelerated Reader – blogs to be sent between 9.30am-3.00pm)  Attend appointments with parent/carer(s)  Coursework/revision  Coursework / revision  Subject Reading  Subject reading Day  Optional First Aid Training Day

Arrangements for Year 11 and the Sixth Form Please note that traditional Parents Evening arrangements remain in place for Year 11 and Sixth Form as follows: Year 11 5.00pm to 7.30pm 16 January 2014 Sixth Form 5.00pm to 8.00pm 13 February 2014 Your Feedback Matters We will be delighted to receive your feedback on these new style Parent-Teacher meetings. Please let us know how the new system works for you so we can keep it under review and make any refinements as necessary. We have a dedicated e-mail for your feedback on [email protected] Thank you, in advance for your support and the active interest you take in your child’s learning and progress. We look forward to seeing you at the relevant consultation day/evening. Kind regards

A S Billings Principal