pm Icknield High School WELCOME HANDBOOK 2020—2021 INTRODUCTION May I take this opportunity to extend the warmest of welcomes to our School, Icknield High School. For many of you this will be your first association with the School and for others who already have or have had family at the School, we welcome back ‘old’ friends. Your child and their happiness, safety and progress are our primary concerns and we hope that over the coming years we will forge and, in many cases, strengthen our partnership which will allow your child to fulfill their potential. Our School values all students equally whilst also valuing their right to be different and to excel in different ways. Together we will build an ethos where mutual respect is paramount, where students are treated equally, regardless of sex, race or creed and the rich diversity of our cultures is welcomed and celebrated. The environment we provide is designed to prepare the students for the future and for them to play a full and active role in the future development of our local, national and global society. The students have hopes and dreams they wish to realise and rightly have high expectations of the learning they will experience during their five years with us. We equally have high expectations of them and expect them to play their part by working hard, behaving maturely and taking advantages of the many opportunities available to them. The purpose of this introductory booklet is to provide information about the school, including its organisation, curriculum and activities. We trust that you, as parents, will find it useful and informative and as we are continually working to improve the service we provide, we would welcome any comments on how it could be improved in the future which should be addressed to the Pastoral Leader for Year 7. We hope everybody joining us will quickly settle and flourish, and that the time ahead will prove to be one of happiness and rewarding achievement. Mr J Noble Headteacher ETHOS STATEMENT The ethos of the school is one whereby we uphold traditional values such as uniform, good behaviour, courtesy, hard work and respect for self, others and the school. This is coupled with a commitment to ‘Raising the Achievement of All’, aiming to fulfil the potential of every student through an innovative approach to learning and teaching blending the best of old and new within a supportive partnership with parents. We ask all parents applying for a place here to respect this ethos and its importance to our school community. 2 PASTORAL SYSTEM In a large comprehensive school such as ours, the size of the buildings and the number of students (about 1460) inside them can be quite daunting to new entrants. At secondary schools, students change from class teaching to specialist subject teaching, and although they are in tutor groups, they will not remain solely with their group for all lessons. It is possible that, in such circumstances, a student may feel isolated. It is to minimise the possibility of this that we have a strong pastoral system. When students join us, they are placed in the care of the Pastoral Leader. The Year Group has ten tutorial groups, most having approximately 30 members under the guidance of a tutor. Students remain with their Year staff throughout Year 7 and in Year 8 change their Pastoral Leader for their four remaining years. Tutor groups meet each morning to be registered, prepare for the day, review the previous day’s lesson monitor scores, and to follow a programme of tutorial work, which includes a weekly assembly with the whole year group. This daily contact with the tutor is at the core of our pastoral and CARES system. Tutors provide the first line of support for Students, and routine correspondence should normally be addressed to the tutor. However, the Pastoral Leader is fully involved with all aspects of the general welfare of each student and can be contacted (preferably by appointment) at any time when there is a concern. Each Year Room also has a Pastoral Support Officer who supports the Pastoral Leader in all aspects of his/her work. In addition, the school also has a Student Transition Officer and a Parent and Family Support Officer – they are there to help whenever you need it. The Year Group staff will also organise and monitor social and curricular activities, and tutors and the Pastoral Leaders are teachers with whom each student may easily identify, and who know them more personally. There will always be someone available to help resolve any problems which may arise. It is vital that students realise they do not have to face worries alone, and we find virtually all children quickly settle down and take their place in the life of their new school. One important method of day to day contact between school, student and home is the Parent app called ‘Connect Ed. We require up-to-date e-mail addresses and mobile numbers, in order to do this. You can download the app once your son/daughter has started at Icknield. This will give you access to their attendance record, timetable and important messages and dates. Our Aim ‘Raising the Achievement of All’ We wish to: C elebrate Our Uniqueness A chieve - Our Potential to Succeed R espect - Ourselves, Our Society and Our Environment E njoy Our Opportunities to Learn S upport - Our Community and its needs ‘ICKNIELD CARES’ 3 CURRICULUM OVERVIEW Curriculum Vision and Values The curriculum at Icknield High School encompasses every aspect of a young person’s learning; everything we do is underpinned by our overriding philosophy of ‘Raising the Achievement of All’. To this end, we have purposefully designed our curriculum so it is cohesive, challenging and knowledge-based. This allows for strong academic rigour, whilst also recognising the importance of developing students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills which are vital for their life beyond the school’s gates. At Icknield High school we encourage students to immerse themselves in their studies and choose subjects which cater for their potential and capability. In order to give students a broad and balanced experience, we cover the whole of the statutory national curriculum at key stage 3, and continue to offer a wide range of subjects at Key Stage 4 (KS4). We encourage students of all abilities to follow the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subject till the end of year 11. The English Baccalaureate includes students studying the following subject, Maths, English Language & Literature, Science, History and Geography and a Language. As a school we also value the creative arts and believe that every student should be given the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in this area. As such, every student studies the core principles of Art and Design at Key Stage 3 (KS3), before choosing either Art and Design, Graphic Communication, Film or Textiles to study in greater depth at KS4. We are proud of the fact that all of our students leave us with a GCSE in a creative arts subject and the majority of students excel in this area. Our curriculum is designed around fifty one hour lessons over a two weekly cycle. In addition to this, all year groups begin the day with a 30 minute session with their tutor group. At Icknield the role of a tutor is extremely important and recognised as being crucial in supporting our students’ development, both academic and personal. Key Stage 3 The curriculum at KS3 is designed to build on learning undertaken at Key Stage 2 (KS2). We address any evident gaps in knowledge when students join us in year 7. We work very closely with our main feeder schools to ensure we understand their curriculum and outcomes so no time is wasted. There is a strong focus on literacy, reading and Mathematics for students of all abilities, but in particular for the many students who have outcomes below national average when they first arrive at Icknield. The decision to include an extra literacy period in the KS3 timetable is as a result of this, and we are confident that our KS3 curriculum provides students with the foundation knowledge needed to access the academically challenging KS4 programmes of study. At KS3 all of our students have access to all statutory national curriculum content. The hours allocated for these are as follows: Subject Lessons per fortnightly cycle in Years 7 and 8 Mathematics and English 8 Science 6 Geography, History and Modern Foreign Languages 4 (French, German or Spanish) Visual Arts and Physical Education 4 Computing, Ethics and Philosophy, Music, Design 2 Technology and PSHE Literacy/Extra English 1 Key Stage 4 At KS4 the curriculum builds upon the foundation work undertaken at KS3. We do this by ensuring that students develop a deeper and more insightful understanding of the core knowledge underpinning their subjects. Whilst academic rigour is at the heart of our curriculum, we also recognise the importance of students continuing to 4 access the wider curriculum beyond the restraints of the GCSE specifications. As a result, we offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities which enables us to foster a love for learning outside the classroom. There continues to be a strong focus on literacy, reading and Mathematics for students of all abilities at KS4. Where students have been identified as at risk of failing their English or Mathematics GCSE, they are guided to study extra Mathematics or English in place of one of their GCSE option subjects. We do this as we know it gives these students the best possible life chances and opens more opportunities for them at post-16 level.