Riley House HOUSE HANDBOOK 2019-20
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RILEY Riley House HOUSE HANDBOOK 2019-20 RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 1 2 RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 A warm welcome to Riley! I am delighted that you are joining RileyHouse. We will do all that we can to make your time in Riley a happy and rewarding time. The purpose of this handbook is to help you understand how Riley works and hopefully help answer many of the questions you will likely have ahead of your arrival and during the first few weeks of term. I hope it will help you gain a clearer picture of Riley and the house facilities as well as some of the tutors that you will be meeting. The beginning of a new term can at times seem overwhelming and hectic but you should remember that you are now part of a community, all of whom have been in your position before and everyone is here to help. You will quickly learn the values and ethos of the house — a warm and friendly place based on building positive relationships through kindness, support, tolerance and doing the right thing. Riley is a place to get involved, whether you are a day pupil or boarder This could be through our in-House events such as our Halloween party, decorating the House Christmas tree, our Christmas disco, enjoying pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, dancing at our ‘silent disco’s’, joining in with the MANY birthday celebrations that take place each term, curling up on the sofa for Saturday movie nights, playing board games in the common room. Alternatively you could play outside with your friends on the paddock or build dens and dams in the Riley valley. There are also many opportunities to represent the House and School in sport, art, music, performing arts, debating and academic endeavour. I hope you will find new interests and come to love the breadth of opportunity here at the School. The pupils in Riley are supportive of each other and there is a strong sense of family at the very heart of the House. This is particularly evident at weekends where pupils from different years will come together to play games, watch movies, bake or just chat during the quieter moments. The older pupils take a caring role towards those in younger years and will encourage you to join in during those quieter moments. So don’t be shy, we are all in this together; we look forward to letting you into our secret house motto ‘These kids can….’ For me the most important thing is for you to be happy in Riley, to use your time here to achieve great things and to leave with fond memories. I very much look forward to getting to know you and your family and seeing your achievements in the future. Mrs Emma Lalani Housemistress, Riley House RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 3 Contents House staff House Staff 4 Communication 7 The School Week 11 Routines 14 Expectations 16 Domestic Arrangements 18 Welfare and Pupil Safety 20 House Facilities 22 House Traditions 24 Strathallan Dictionary 26 Mrs Emma Lalani, Housemistress Mrs Lalani is responsible for running the house. She teaches Maths, English, History and PSD to the Year 5 children and coaches Riley girl’s games throughout the year. She lives in the boarding House with her husband Zahir and her two children Mia and Sami who are both in Riley. In the holidays she loves going to Northumberland and visiting the coast with her dog Zuri…who is a firm favourite with all of the Riley pupils. Email: [email protected] 4 RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 Riley Matron The role of the matron in Riley is a busy one, providing pastoral care to the children, dealing with domestic and laundry issues and providing support for the Housemistress and tutors. Matron’s office is situated on the ground floor next to the common room, and the door is usually open for a chat. Email: Mr Pete Keir Ms Traude Ailinger Assistant Housemaster Resident Tutor [email protected] Mr Keir is the Assistant Housemaster Ms Ailinger is a residential tutor of Riley. He teaches English from in Riley and lives there with her Form 1 up to GCSE. He also coaches husband Iain. She teaches EAL and Hockey and Cricket in Riley and PSD. During the holidays, she loves RILEY referees the junior Rugby teams. He travelling, catching up with family lives with his wife Sally, a primary and friends in Germany and watching school teacher, his daughter Amy movies. who has recently left Strathallan and Email: [email protected] his beloved dog Dudley. His hobbies are playing golf when he can, going to the gym and eating chocolate or anything sweet! Email: [email protected] RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 5 Domestic team • Dawn Garton Laundry Assistant (mornings, Monday-Friday) • Pamela Cruden and Emma Roy, Domestic Assistants (mornings, Monday-Friday) Dawn, Pamela and Emma work incredibly hard to keep Riley clean and tidy. They are very supportive of the pupils and take a genuine interest in their well-being and achievements. Tutors Every pupil will be a member of a Tutor Group and have their own tutor. Tutors are involved in all aspects of students’ well-being and daily life at school. They will help with any academic concerns that may occur, monitor academic progress, give support and challenge each pupil to achieve their best. Tutors also help pastorally and take a genuine interest in their tutees and the other pupils in House. Pupils meet with their Tutors three times a week on a Monday, Wednesday and a Thursday but they will always be available should pupils need support at any other time. They are all members of the School teaching staff so have a holistic understanding of the School and pupils as individuals. All of the tutors do regular evening duties in the House. 6 RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 Communication It is important for pupils and parents to feel they can contact the School at any time. The first port of call will normally be the housemistress or the girl’s tutor. However, it is also perfectly acceptable to contact the Head (headmasterspa@ strathallan.co.uk) with any questions or concerns. Riley contact information Postal Address Duty Tutor Riley House Riley Office RILEY Strathallan School 01738 815 056 Forgandenny Perthshire PH2 9EF Matron Please use this number or email Mrs Lalani to report lateness or absences to Riley Mobile Kirsteen or Jane. Riley Matron 07718 476569 01738 815 059 Riley Office [email protected] 01738 815 055 [email protected] Health Centre Health Centre Reception Ms Ailinger Resident Tutor Phone 01738 815 010 01738 813 828 [email protected] RILEY HOUSE House Information Booklet 2019/20 7 The School Calendar Noticeboards Sanctions There are a variety of noticeboards in Each term the School produces a If a pupil is in breach of any of Riley, including our main whiteboard calendar, which details the daily the above rules they will have no in the common room, please do access to their phone for 24 hours programme within the school and is check these daily. Here you will find in the first instance and it will be sent to all parents in the termly mail the weekly bulletin and any daily stored by the Housemistress. In an out. The calendar is also published in notices, and it is important they are full on the website www.strathallan. checked regularly when you enter emergency the School Reception co.uk. It is an essential guide to and leave the House. Lists such will take and pass on a message for a school life and we try to ensure that as the activities timetable, music pupil. During the hours of 8am-5pm it is accurate. timetable, sports timetables, House (Monday to Friday) the Matron or events and trip sign-up sheets are all Duty Tutor can relay any messages, If there are any changes to the displayed as are notices about the out with this time please contact calendar we will communicate House expectations, school rules and the Housemistress. All pupils will be these via email, Social Media, on health and well-being information. given their own school email address the website and in the Riley Rag. on arrival which should be checked Parents are most welcome to attend Mobile Phones daily and used to communicate with any event on the School calendar The School has an education based staff. however some do require tickets policy on the use of mobile phones which can be obtained from the and we would be most grateful Post School Reception, which is advertised for parental support to assist us in in advance. Other useful information implementing the following rules: Boarders post will be placed on the is contained including term dates, Rules for the acceptable use of a table in the foyer area or distributed lesson timings and the pupil mobile phone in Riley by Matron; pupils may be asked complaint procedure. • Day pupils to hand phones in on to open their parcels in front of a arrival member of staff, most likely Matron, House Meetings • Phones can be collected after if they do not wish to do so then the parcel will be kept until it can be These occur every morning and school at 4.00pm handed over to the parent/guardian. lunchtime, and are compulsory as • Boarders to hand their devices in a formal roll call is taken.