School Handbook 2019/20 Alva Academy Alva Academy 2019/20 Head Teacher : Mr S McEwan Academy Avenue, Alva, FK12 5FE Email [email protected] Web www.alvaacademy.com Tel 01259 452322 Twitter @AlvaAcademy Dear Parent, Welcome to Alva Academy. This handbook is designed to give you an insight into the school, its aims, values, and achievements. It will also provide you with information about the different academic pathways open to your son or daughter. As a school community we promote respect, aspiration, and equity. We recognise the wide ranging talents, interests, and abilities in all of our young people. Vitally, we appreciate that the greatness in each child is already there and it is our responsibility to help them recognise this and fulfil their potential. We value every young person and our aim is to ensure that they are ready for the challenges of the ever changing 21st century. We do this by nurturing strong relationships based on respect. Strong relationships combined with a learning environment that is happy, disciplined, purposeful, and productive has resulted in a school that is academically strong, inclusive, nurturing, and ambitious. As a school we are brave in our curriculum design ensuring that we provide all of our young people with a pathway that allows them to achieve all they can be. A curriculum that involves many partners who help us deliver outstanding experiences and opportunities for our pupils. Partners who plan with us, aspire with us and succeed with us. Our most important partnership is with you, our parents. The shared purpose of shaping a young person who is ready for life beyond school is in my eyes the most important job we can do. Therefore the relationship with you is vital. We welcome you to be active members of our school community and encourage you to talk to us about any concerns you have, issues that arise or the progress of your child. I look forward to welcoming you and your children to Alva Academy. With every best wish. Scott McEwan Head Teacher 1 Management Structure Alva Academy is currently led by a team of senior staff – Head Teacher and four Depute Head Teachers, each having a clearly defined sector of day-to-day management, administration and curriculum co-ordination for which they are responsible. This team, along with a Principal Teacher and the School Administrator meet weekly to discuss policy, planning and to review the day-to-day running of the school. http://alvaacademy.com/senior-management-team/ Staff List Our most up to date staff list can be found using the following link http://alvaacademy.com/staff-list-2/ THE SCHOOL WEEK Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Warning Bell Warning Bell Warning Bell Warning Bell Warning Bell 08:35 08:35 08:35 08:35 08:35 Period 1 Period 1 Period 1 Period 1 Period 1 08:40 08:40 08:40 08:40 08:40 Period 2 Period 2 Period 2 Period 2 Period 2 09:30 09:30 09:30 09:30 09:30 INTERVAL INTERVAL INTERVAL INTERVAL INTERVAL 10:20 10:20 10:20 10:20 10:20 Period 3 Period 3 Period 3 Period 3 Period 3 10:40 10:40 10:40 10:40 10:40 Period 4 Period 4 Period 4 Period 4 Period 4 11:30 11:30 11:30 11:30 11:30 Period 5 Period 5 Period 5 Period 5 LUNCH 12:20 12:20 12:20 12:20 12:20 LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH LUNCH Warning Bell 13:10 13:10 13:10 13:10 12:55 Warning Bell Warning Bell Warning Bell Warning Bell Period 5 13:45 13:45 13:45 13:45 13:00 Period 6 Period 6 Period 6 Period 6 Period 6 13:50 13:50 13:50 13:50 13:50 Period 7/ Period 7/ Personal Support Period 7 Personal Support Period 7 Finish 14:40 14:40 14:40 14:40 14:40 Finish Finish Finish Finish 15:05 15:30 15:05 15:30 2 School Term Dates 2019/20 In-service day: Monday, 19th August 2019 Autumn term begins (Pupils): Tuesday, 20th August 2019 Autumn term ends: Friday, 11th October 2019 October holiday begins: Monday, 14th October 2019 October holiday ends: Friday, 18th October 2019 Winter term begins: Monday, 21st October 2019 In-service Days: Thursday 28th and Friday 29th November 2019 Winter term ends: Friday, 20th December 2019 Christmas holiday begins: Monday, 23rd December 2019 Christmas holiday ends: Friday, 3rd January 2020 Spring term begins: Monday, 6th January 2020 In-service Days: Monday, 17th and Tuesday, 18th February 2020 Spring half-term holiday begins: Wednesday, 19th February 2020 Spring half-term holiday ends: Friday, 21st February 2020 Spring term ends: Friday, 3rd April 2020 Easter holidays begin: Monday, 6th April 2020 Easter holidays end: Friday, 17th April 2020 Good Friday Friday, 10th April 2020 Easter Monday Monday, 13th April 2020 Summer term begins: Monday, 20th April 2020 May public holiday: Monday, 4th May 2020 Summer term ends Thursday, 25th June 2020 In-service days 19th August 2019 28th and 29th November 2019 17th and 18th February 2020 3 LIAISON WITH PARENTS Information Evenings Information Evenings are arranged towards the end of each stage of school to discuss the choice of course for the following stage. Pupil Progress Parents will receive details of academic progress through interim and full reports. There will be the opportunity following the issue of main reports to discuss issues with subject staff at Parents' Meetings. If you wish to discuss an issue concerning your son/daughter outwith these times, please make an appointment with the Principal Teacher of Support responsible for your child: Miss Grant Harrier House Mrs Gibson Kestrel House Mr Bradbury Merlin House School/Parent Communications Through the course of the year, parents will receive a variety of communications. At key stages of your child’s education information will be available to help with choices that have to be made. In P7 your child will receive an “Information for Parents and Carers of P7 Pupils” leaflet which will be followed by “Information for Parents and Carers of S1 Pupils” during the transition programme in June. S1 pupils have an initial Parents’ Meeting within the first term, followed by a full report and a Parents’ Meeting in towards the end of the year. Parents will also receive newsletters from the Head Teacher throughout the year. These are put on the school’s website to keep production costs to a minimum with a Groupcall alerting parents. Parents can access the Head Teacher’s Blog, which is frequently updated on the website. A weekly column of 'Academy Notes' appears in the Alloa Advertiser and Wee County News. This column is written by S6 pupils intimating events, successes, forthcoming dates etc. The school website (www.alvaacademy.com) is also regularly updated with news of events that have taken place and to come in the future. The school now has a Facebook page which pupils/parents can sign up to and a Twitter account. Details of school events, open evenings, parents’ meetings, stories, news, photographs and other important information will be posted on the Facebook page. All non-urgent information will be emailed to parents. Important information, including if your child is absent, will be intimated by text message or voice mail via Groupcall. Pupils will receive daily notices via the tannoy (before interval). Pupils are encouraged to participate in the Pupil Parliament, which meets to discuss issues which affect pupils’ day- 4 to-day school experience. The Parliament provides a valuable source of feedback to the Senior Management Team and other members of staff regarding pupils' feelings with respect to the school and its environment. Pupils are also able to meet with their Principal Teacher of Support to discuss issues concerning personal or academic matters. Regular Assemblies take place to address specific issues with pupils. Assemblies can be arranged either on a House basis or with specific year groups. The House Assemblies are led by the Principal Teachers of Support, Year Assemblies by the Depute Head Teacher for that year group or the Head Teacher. What is Wider Achievement? Wider Achievement refers to activities and interests (out with formal qualifications) that your child might take part in e.g. youth work, part time jobs, hobbies, interests, volunteering, or helping to care for a relative. Why is Wider Achievement important? Curriculum for Excellence recognises how valuable achievements are and how important it is for young people to have the opportunity to take part in activities. These types of activities help to develop important skills for learning, life and work and are valuable when applying for training, college, university or employment. Such skills might include, for example, being responsible, being creative, time keeping, problem solving, planning, negotiating, a wide and diverse range of organisational skills and social and interpersonal skills – all of which are valuable in educational and work-related contexts. Including information about personal achievements (e.g. activities your child is involved in and what they have learned from them) will help to strengthen the personal/supporting statements that your child writes when they come to apply for training, college, university or jobs. How should it be recognised? It is important that the activities that your child is involved in are of value to them and their potential places of future study (college or university) or employment. What really matters is that your child is able to see what they have learned, describe it to others and explain how they can use these skills and build on them further.