Weekly Information - Friday 15th September 2023

We would like to publicly express our condolences to the staff and students at John Taylor Free School, and to the family of Hussein Quig Diop, who tragically passed away on Wednesday this week. We know that Hussein was known to many of our students.

As a school we will be arranging a book of condolence for our students to sign. We have been asked to share that there will be an event in Shobnall Park at 2.30pm on Saturday. Hussein’s mum would like as many people there as possible. They will be releasing some balloons in his memory and then a local DJ will playing some music for him. 

The start of term is always a little challenging in respect to the bus services that transport our students to and from school. I would like to address some of the points raised by parents in recent emails, and how I am working to address them.

I would like to firstly clarify that the contract to transport students to and from school is between Staffordshire/Derbyshire County Council School Transport and the individual bus companies. JTHS is not involved in any aspect of this tendering or organisation. As such, we have no control over the bus routes or timetables. One of my roles in school is to act as liaison with School Transport and the bus companies.

As a school, there are a number of things that I do to help support the transport of students to and from the school.

• I look to instil high expectations of conduct of our students on these services. I require that the students remain seated and respect their fellow passengers, bus drivers and the vehicles. I will work with the individual companies to address any issues where students’ conduct does not meet these expectations. If this is the case, students will initially receive a warning from me, however, significant or persistent conduct issues can result in temporary or permanent removal of bus passes.
• The students are met off the bus in the morning by a member of staff and we have a duty team at the end of the day to escort students to their buses. The organisation of this generally runs very smoothly but we do require students to listen carefully for when their bus is called so that they don’t miss the service. We will not let coaches leave school site until at least 3:50pm.
• Many of the services are run by Diamond Buses. These are local service buses which are designed to have a seating and a standing capacity. I regularly check that these buses do not transport students above their carrying capacity. As such some services are single deckers, other are double deckers. Unfortunatley, this does mean that some of our students will stand during their bus journey. To support our youngest students, we will organise for the Year 7s to get on the buses first when leaving school site in the afternoon. I do report any services that come with the wrong size bus and this is again being monitored by School Transport.
• Finally, I know that parents are concerned about buses being on time. Locally, there have been some traffic issues and road works (I understand the Alrewas Road works are due to complete on the 23^rd September). However, the service we have received on some of the routes has not been as timely as I would like. To try to improve this service, I provide County School Transport with the arrival times in the morning and afternoon each week so that they can hold the bus companied to account. If I am made aware that a bus will be late, I will try to get a message out via Schoolzine and email to update parents.

I hope that this provides some context for parents. Should you wish to report anything to School Transport, their contact details can be found here for Staffordshire: School transport - Staffordshire County Council, for Derbyshire Students, the contact details can be found here: School transport - Derbyshire County Council. If you wish to raise something with the school directly, please use our [email protected] email.

J Twynham

Deputy Headteacher

As you will be acutely aware, the roads around the school get very busy at the start and end of the school day. If you collect your children by car, please could you arrange a suitable pick up/drop off point that is away from the school site to help ease congestion.

Additionally, I would like to ask that parents do not drive onto school site between 8:15 and 9:00 in the morning or between 3:40 and 4:15 in the afternoon unless you have a prior appointment. These are vey busy times of the day with cars, buses and taxis arriving.

Students have had their individual school photos taken today. They should arrive home with a card containing a unique QR code that you are able to use to access the proofs. Ordering of photos is completed via JSSP rather than the school.

Lower School – Meet the Tutor Evening

Tuesday 19^th Sept 2023

We are looking forward to welcoming parents/carers to our virtual Meet the Tutor Evening. On this evening you will have the opportunity to meet your child’s/children’s form tutor.

To receive your invitation to join your child’s tutor meeting please select the correct link detailing your child’s form group and tutor name. Here, you will fill in a short registration form and be sent a link to the meeting on Tuesday evening directly to your email inbox.

Please note the timings for each year group:

Year 7 – 4.30pm

Year 8 – 5.00pm

Year 9 – 5.30pm

On the evening, key information on the school and the role of the tutor will be shared. Parents/carers are encouraged to ask questions via the chat function on Teams so any questions not addressed in the meeting can be responded to at a later date via an FAQ document.

Year_7_Meet_the_Tutor_Evening.docx

Year_8_Meet_the_Tutor_Evening.docx

Year_9_Meet_the_Tutor_Evening.docx

Please find updated information regarding student attendance and absence at John Taylor High School:

Reporting a student’s absence: Please can we ask that all absences for all students are reported to our dedicated absence line: 01283 247858.

Please ensure you tell us:

• Your child’s name
• Your name
• Their tutor group
• The reason for absence.

Absences must be reported each day the child is absent.

Medical appointments in a school day:

Appointments should where possible, be arranged outside of the school day. If they are unable to be scheduled at any other time, please provide us with details about the appointment before the absence is taken.

Should your child have an ongoing medical illness please do let the school know so that a medical health care plan can be completed.

Students in Years 7-11 who are leaving site for appointments during the day must be collected by a parent / carer. Students should present themselves at the Data Hub where they will sign out and wait for a parent / carer to arrive, before meeting the parent / carer in the main reception area.

If the student is being collected by another adult, parents / carers must inform the school in advance who will be collecting the child. For safeguarding reasons, we will not allow any student to leave school premises with another adult without prior consent. Attempting to gain consent at the time the student is being collected may result in a delay in the student being permitted to leave site.

Students will not be permitted to leave in a taxi alone even if this is pre-booked by a parent.

Request for leave of absence:

All requests for Leave of Absence must be submitted via the following form:

JTHS Leave of Absence request form

You must provide documents to support the reason for absence e.g. proof of travel, exam or competition confirmation.

Headteachers are unable to authorise leave of absence in term time unless the reasons for this are deemed to be exceptional.

Leave of absence which is deemed not to be exceptional, or is not applied for prior to the absence being taken, is classed as unauthorised leave of absence.

Any period of unauthorised leave of absence may result in a parent receiving a penalty notice fine. Should a fixed penalty notice be issued, the fine applies to ‘per parent/carer and per child’. This is regardless of who applied for the leave. Currently the parent has 3 choices:

• A fine of £60 if paid within 21 days
• A fine of £120 is paid after 21 days but within 28 days
• In the case of a non-payment of the fine then notice will be withdrawn and will trigger the fast-track prosecution process under the provisions of section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996. If found ‘guilty’ then this would result in a criminal record for that parent.

Late arrivals:

We kindly request that all students are on site, ready for registration, at 8.55am. Students arriving after 9am will be recorded as late arriving to school. An accumulation of late arrivals may lead to behaviour sanctions. Should a student arrive late due to dedicated school transport issues, their late arrival will not be recorded as late.

Attendance expectations:

At John Taylor High School, we believe that students need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education and to fulfil their potential. Missing school leaves students vulnerable to falling behind.

The reason which is most often provided for a student to be absent from school, is that they are too unwell. At John Taylor High School, during the academic year 2022-23, 19099 sessions or 9549.5 days, were lost due to students being too unwell to attend. We ask that as far as possible, parents and carers encourage their children to be up early enough to have a healthy breakfast before they come to school and ensure they follow a healthy lifestyle including the appropriate amount of sleep, exercise, relaxation and study.

The following text is taken from a recent letter to school leaders from the Government’s Chief Medical Officer and gives some useful advice to parents:

“We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused some parents to feel less confident with assessing whether their child is well enough to be in school so we have laid out some information which we hope you will find helpful.

There is wide agreement among health professionals and educational professionals that school attendance is vital to the life chances of children and young people. Being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation throughout the life course. The greatest benefits come from children and young people attending school regularly.

It is usually appropriate for parents and carers to send their children to school with mild respiratory illnesses. This would include general cold symptoms: a minor cough, runny nose or sore throat. However, children should not be sent to school if they have a temperature of 38°C or above. We would encourage you to share the NHS ‘Is my child too ill for school?’ guidance with parents and carers in your schools and communities which has further information.

In addition to respiratory illnesses, we are aware that more children may be absent from school due to symptoms of anxiety than before the pandemic. Worry and mild or moderate anxiety, whilst sometimes difficult emotions, can be a normal part of growing up for many children and young people. Being in school can often help alleviate the underlying issues. A prolonged period of absence is likely to heighten a child’s anxiety about attending in the future, rather than reduce it.”

Absences of more than 5 days

Should a student be absent for more than 5 consecutive school days due to illness, additional documentation is requested to support and validate this prolonged absence from school. This can be emailed into school at [email protected] Should your child have any ongoing medical issues, please do let the school know as a Medical Health Care Plan may need to be completed.

At John Taylor High School, we are proud of our high expectations and the positive collaboration with our students, parents, carers and other key stake holders, which enables us to achieve high attendance levels. We believe that students need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education and to fulfil their potential.

Please note that the deposit for the Year 7 residential to Outward Bound Trust, Aberdovey is now available via ParentPay. Please find attached a letter for further information.

Many thanks,

Mr Simmons

Year_7_OB_Aberdovey_2024.docx

YEAR 7 OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES – BONDING DAY – MONDAY 16th OCTOBER 2023. 

Payment can now be made via Parentpay. 

If you have any queries or require any assistance with ParentPay, please email [email protected]. 

Many thanks,

Mrs Gilmore

Post 16 Art Exhibition

Burton Albion Ticket Offer

Burton Albion FC has a special ticket offer for all Burton Albion Community Trust Partner Schools and we want to tell you all about it.

We have a feast of football waiting for you at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday, September 23, when the Brewers take on Fleetwood Town in EFL League One.

Come along and cheer the Brewers in your own dedicated terrace, behind the goal and close to the action, for a bargain price.

It’s just £3 for under 17’s and £10 for adult family members who want to join them. Pupils aged 14 and over don’t need an adult to accompany them, so can come with their friends. Please buy your tickets as soon as possible as we expect demand to be high and numbers are limited.

Here’s what’s happening on the day: 

From 90 minutes before kick-off over on our 3G pitch there will be music, a football kickabout, fun and games in our Family Zone … and watch out for a visit by Billy Brewer;

There will be a chance to meet Burton Albion first team players;

Schools  terrace behind the goal to share with your friends and families;

A saving of £10 for adults and £4 for pupils on normal matchday prices.

Brewers manager Dino Maamria said: “We are looking forward to welcoming our partner schools to the Pirelli Stadium. We are going to pull out all the stops to make this a day to remember so make sure you join us on September 23.”

TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OFFER:

Go to our ticketing website:

http://ba1.glitnirticketing.com/baticket/web/logingroup.php

Enter the password: participants23

Please note that this is an online offer only. Please don’t call the club to buy tickets. It’s for partner schools’ staff, pupils and their families only. Please do not pass this offer on. Please pick up tickets from the Pirelli Stadium during normal office hours up until kick off on September 23.

Kind regards,

Katie Johnson

Education Manager

Burton Albion Community Trust