School Information Booklet 2015 2016

School Information Booklet 2015 2016 www.cwmbranhighschool.co.uk Ty Gwyn Way, Fairwater, Cwmbran, NP44 4YZ Tel / Ffôn (01633) 643950 Email / Ebost head.cwmbranhigh@torfaen.gov.uk Headteacher / Prifathrawes Mrs H Coulson 1

Our School Cwmbran High School will be a high achieving, academic school. There have been phenomenal improvements across all areas prior to the merger. We have established a culture of high expectations, challenging targets and bitious goals for every pupil. The outcome of these improvements is to give our pupils the best skills and qualifications they can possibly achieve, to improve their life chances. I looking forward to working closely with pupils, parents/carers and the Governing Body of Cwmbran High School to ensure the best outcomes for our learners. We will offer: An academic drive to achieve high standards A fast track band in each Year Group for our More Able & Talented (MAT) pupils Subjects that are set on ability from Year 7 An ordered school where pupils are well behaved and polite A traditional and moral ethos with a strong Pastoral System A local school that is open from 7.45 each morning with breakfast available in the canteen A superb array of extra curricular activities i.e. Sporting, Musical, IT A range of educational visits A Football Academy in the 6th Form, so pupils can access a range of academic subjects as well as a fully supported football progrme in conjunction with Cwmbran Celtic Football Club 2

Our school has: Computer Suites Dra Studio and Theatre Music Suite with music practice rooms Science Laboratories in a specialist Science Block Technology Rooms in a specialist Technology Block Sports Hall Swimming Pool Flood lit multiuse ges area Fitness Suite A dedicated Sixth Form area Refurbished toilet blocks for all pupils A canteen with a cashless paying system Specialist Facilities: Specialist Post16 Football Academy ASD Base for pupils who are on the Autistic Spectrum Hearing Impaired Unit All host pupils from across S E Wales 3

School Leadership Te Headteacher : Mrs Helen Coulson Deputy Headteacher : Mr Geoff Dixon Assistant Headteacher : Mrs Claire Ager Assistant Headteacher : Mr Jack Lewis Assistant Headteacher : Mr Jeff Savory Assistant Headteacher : Mr Bernie Smith ALENCo : Mr Lawrence Pollock Business Manager : Mr Stuart Foster Headteacher s P A / P R Officer : Mrs Nicola McDuff Heads of Year Year 7 : Mr S Miller Year 8 : Mrs Michelle Wood Year 9 : Mrs Jane Povey Year 10 : Mrs Vicki Booton Year 11 : Mrs Cheryl Haynes Head of 6th Form : Mr Mark Chaan Heads of Department Art : Mr Phil Darmanin Business Studies : Mrs Ceri Shaw Computing : Mr John Childs English : Mrs Jemima Bartley Geography : Mr Richard Morgan History : Mrs Santha Collins MFL : Mrs Trudy Groskop Mathematics : Mrs Ann Lawrence Music & Performing Arts : Mrs Laura Chberlain PE : Mr Daniel Povey RE : Mrs Claire McLaughlan Science : Mrs Joanne Lloyd Technology : Mr Daniel Baribeault Welsh : Miss Kylie Powell Teaching & Learning : Mr Tony Lewis Welsh Baccalaureate : Mr Gareth Brenton Literacy Coordinator : Mrs Rachel Vanstone Numeracy Coordinator : Mr Kevin Parry 4

Code Of Conduct At Cwmbran High School we will.. always work to the best of our ability always complete and meet deadlines for any homework set be punctual and attend regularly conform to the school dress code and have appropriate books and equient behave in an acceptable manner and conform to the school s behaviour code at all times be responsible for taking home communications from school discuss work and any problems with parents / carers and staff be respectful to other pupils and staff treat school buildings, property and the local environment with care and respect 5

School Uniform Cwmbran High School prides itself in the standards that it set all its pupils. Wearing the school uniform is a requirement for ALL pupils in Years 7 13. All pupils are expected to follow the school policy for uniform. The expectation for uniform from September 2015 is: YEARS 7 11 White Shirt (please ensure the collar is large enough as the top button will be done up at all times) School Tie (available from Pretty Miss) Black Cotton Vneck Jumper Black Blazer with School Badge (available from Pretty Miss) Black Tailored Trousers (not tight or skinny fit) or Black Knee Length Skirt Black / Grey Socks / Tights Plain Black Shoes (no daps, trainers or boots) Plain Black Coat / Jacket (no coloured coats, no logos or patterns, no sleeveless coats or any type of hoodies will be allowed) YEARS 12 & 13 White Shirt (please ensure the collar is large enough as the top button will be done up at all times) A Sixth Form School Tie (available from Pretty Miss) Black Cotton Vneck Jumper Black Blazer with School Badge (available from Pretty Miss) Black Tailored Trousers (not tight or skinny fit) or Black Knee Length Skirt Black / Grey Socks / Tights Plain Black Shoes (no daps, trainers or boots) Plain Black Coat / Jacket (no coloured coats, no logos or patterns, no sleeveless coats or any type of hoodies will be allowed) No jewellery apart from one stud in each ear, one flat ring and a watch No facial piercing or tunnel / spike earrings (a skin coloured plug may be used for Health & Safety reasons) No extreme hair colour or styles No obvious makeup or nail varnish Pupils must not come to school wearing hoodies, nonschool sweatshirts or cardigans. 6

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P E Kit Boys: reversible rugby top polo top black and purple shorts rugby socks Studded football / rugby boots and suitable trainers ( not daps) Optional items: hoody black skin Girls: polo top black and purple shorts white socks suitable trainers / training shoes ( not daps) Optional items: hoody CHS black and purple skorts black skin plain black leggings 8

9 School Session Times Session Times Form Period Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Break Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lunch Lesson 5 Week 1 Monday Friday 8.35 8.55 8.55 9.55 9.55 10.55 10.55 11.20 11.20 12.20 12.20 1.20 1.20 2 2 3 Week 2 Wed Only (PSE) 8.35 9.15 9.15 10.10 10.10 11.05 11.05 11.30 11.30 12.25 12.25 1.20 1.20 2 2 3 AUTUMN Term Begins Tues 01/09/15 Half Term Begins Mon 26/10/15 Half Term Ends Fri 30/10/15 Term Ends Fri 18/12/15 SPRING Term Begins Mon 04/01/16 Half Term Begins Mon 15/02/16 Half Term Ends Fri 19/02/16 Term Ends Thurs 24/03/16 SUMMER Term Begins Mon 11/04/16 May Day Mon 02/05/16 Half Term Begins Mon 30/05/16 Half Term Ends Fri 03/06/16 Term Ends Weds 20/07/16

Curriculum Key Stage 3 (Years 7 9) All pupils follow the National Curriculum through a balanced progrme of study in English, Mathematics, Science, French, Welsh, Geography, History, Religious Education, Technology, ICT, Art, Music, Dra and Physical Education. All pupils also take part in Personal Social Education (PSE) and Skills (Literacy and Numeracy) throughout all subject areas. Pupils are taught in ability sets. Key Stage 4 (Years 10 1 1 201517) Compulsory subjects: All pupils follow courses leading to full GCSEs in English Language, Mathematics, Religious Education, Science and Skills Challenge Certificate. Some pupils study English Literature. They are taught in ability sets for these subjects. All pupils follow short courses leading to GCSE in Welsh. All pupils also follow courses in PSE and Ges and receive Careers Advice. Options: Option choices include GCSE and BTEC Level 1 and Level 2. Pupils can pick 3 further subjects to study, choosing from: GCSE: Computing, French, Welsh, Music, History, Geography, Graphic Media, Resistant Materials, Photography and Triple Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) BTEC Level 1 or 2 School Based: Art and Design, Information Technology, Health and Social Care, Hospitality and Catering, Business, Performing Arts and Sports. BTEC Level 1 or 2 Outside Provision 1 day per week; Potential subjects include; Animal Care, Construction/Creative Interiors, Child Care, Motor Vehicles or Salon Services and provision depends upon availability each year. Key Stage 5 (Years 12 13) We have a Sixth Form Prospectus which is issued to pupils during year 11. Each year we are joined by new students for the sixth form, including students who are in the Football Academy. All students study for the Welsh Baccalaureate and can also choose from a wide range of courses at AS/A2 and BTEC Level 2 and BTEC Level 3. A Levels: English Literature, Mathematics and Further Mathematics, Biology, Computing, Chemistry, Physics, Physical Education, Photography, History, Geography, Religious Education, Art, Music, Dra, Media Studies, French, Spanish, Design Technology. BTEC level 3: Information Technology, Hospitality and Catering, Health and Social Care, Applied Science, Sport, Business, Performing Arts, Health and Social Care, Public Services, Travel and Tourism and Art & Design. BTEC Level 2: Sport, Health & Social Care and Hospitality and Catering. For Football Academy students, Coaching. 10

Use of the Welsh Language All of our teaching is in English, but we try to use Welsh as much as possible to encourage bilingualism and to increase the employability of our pupils. Cwricwlwm Cymreig forms part of the work of all curriculum areas. Sex Education Sex Education forms part of our Science and PSE curriculum. As well as covering issues such as puberty, adolescence and reproduction pupils are encouraged to develop a responsible attitude to sexual relationships by considering emotional, physical and social aspects. Careers Education and Work Experience Careers Education forms part of the PSE progrme in Years 7 to 11 and is addressed as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate in Years 12 and 13. We have a Careers Officer based at our school. Careers Wales provides first class support, providing a wide range of information by leaflet and by the Careers Wales website. They offer support and advice at Parent s Evenings, Options Evenings. One to one careers interviews with our resident Careers Wales officer can be arranged by request. Pupils who would like to use this service should approach their Head of Year for a referral. Guest speakers come into school to motivate and inspire our pupils, such as entrepreneurs connected through the Dyno Project. All pupils in Year 10 undertake one week of work experience in the summer term and all Year 12 students have one week of Work Experience, also in the summer term. 11

The Pastoral System Cwmbran High School will have a strong pastoral te, led by Mr Geoff Dixon, Deputy Head Teacher, who work to provide the best possible learning environment for pupils throughout the school. Each Year Group has a Head of Year and a Deputy Head of Year, in addition to a dedicated te of Form Tutors. Pupils are placed in mixed ability Tutor Groups from Year 7. The role of each Year Te is to support and encourage pupils to achieve their full potential, in all areas of school life. On a half termly basis, every pupil s progress is monitored in all subject areas. Heads of Year then analyse the data and implement strategies to reward or support pupils where necessary. During this process, pupils receive subject specific targets from subject teachers and pastoral mentoring from form tutors. Parents / Carers are welcome to contact the school to arrange an appointment with the Head of Year to discuss any issues. The Sixth Form We have a large Sixth Form with a vast proportion of Year 11 pupils staying on to study Level 3 courses. We are also joined by pupils from other schools. Our Sixth Form is led by Mr Mark Chaan, and supported by a te of Form Tutors, all of whom help to monitor progress in learning, to help in the develoent of skills and to provide advice and support in application to university or progress into employment. 12

Equal Opportunities Our policies and procedures were written to ensure that all pupils and staff are treated fairly with no discrimination. All policies are available to be viewed on request. Relevant policies include: Accessibility Plan Disability Equality Statement Equal Opportunities Policy Race Equality Policy Disabled Access The particular needs of all individuals, pupils and staff, are carefully considered, appropriate risk assessments carried out and necessary arrangements put into place. Our school has been completely restructured with rps and lifts to ensure full wheelchair access. Security, Health & Safety and Safeguarding All permanent and casual staff employed at the school are required to hold a current DBS check. Contractors and all visitors are required to sign in at Reception. Our site is protected by CCTV, a fence surrounding the school site and many of our doors are protected by security locks. The site is regularly monitored for Health and Safety issues by staff and Governors. We have staff who are qualified to act as First Aiders. We have a ned teacher and a ned Governor who are responsible for Safeguarding. 13

Welsh Baccalaureate This forms an important part of the curriculum for all students in Year 12 and 13. It adds a valuable new dimension to courses, encourages independence and adds real life experience to the curriculum. The new Welsh Baccalaureate has been developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and is valued widely by both employers and universities. It is also now graded like all other ALevel courses. Included in the qualification is proof that students have achieved Essential Employability Skills, through completion of 4 challenges. Students work in lessons to achieve the Skills Challenge Certificate and achieve the Baccalaureate following successful award of other ALevel/BTEC qualifications. Computing Cwmbran High School will have some of the best equipped computer suites in Wales. The 2 core rooms will have 32 stations each with touch screen monitors running the latest version of Windows. This will allow us to teach coding and app develoent as well as Computing theory. All pupils will study Computing from Year 7 to Year 13, participating in a challenging and engaging curriculum. Every computer station will have a Raspberry Pi computer which will allow pupils to test their progrs and learn Linux commands, each station will also have connection to a router which will allow our pupils to practically learn the fundentals of networking. We will have a Computing laboratory where pupils will be able to learn the principles of hardware and components. We plan to use Scratch, Python 3.3 and Greenfoot/Java as our main learning platforms for progrming. We will also cover Microsoft s Visual Studio and App Studio for app develoent. All the above software is designed with education in mind and free to download at home. We will also pay attention to the teaching of safe use of the internet. Our network has a very high level of security and all pupils have their own passwords. 14

Working with Parents/Carers We value the close partnership between school and home to make sure that we get the best possible outcomes for each pupil. Good communication is important to make sure that this partnership thrives. We will provide information regularly throughout the year by written reports, monitoring sheets and by parent / teacher evenings. We will also communicate by letter, by text and e mail. Our school website contains up to date information relating to News & Events. When pupils are absent without warning we make First Day phone calls. We encourage parents/carers to contact us to discuss concerns and we are always pleased to meet with parents to resolve any issues that may arise, providing they have made an appointment with the relevant member of staff. 15

Support for Learning All pupils join our school with a set of achievement data. This includes Key Stage 2 results and the results of reading/literacy tests. This information is used by the government to generate targets for Key Stage 3 and for Key Stage 4. In Year 7 all pupils are assessed using the Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs) which give additional information about a pupil s potential and about their learning style. We then set challenging targets for each pupil. Each pupil is aware of their targets for each subject and will join in discussions about the best ways of achieving these targets. There should be evidence of these discussions in marking and reports. We monitor pupil achievements at regular intervals ( Progress Checks ) and make sure that they are making appropriate progress towards achieving their targets. If we are concerned we will contact parents / Carers and involve them in planning strategies for improvement. We are particularly concerned that all pupils make full progress in Literacy and Numeracy and will provide additional intervention work if we feel that this is necessary. This will include mentoring and additional lessons. Throughout the year we run many additional study sessions across the curriculum both at lunchtime and after school. 16

Additional Learning Needs The school s policy on Additional Learning Needs is to provide support and help for all pupils who need to overcome educational difficulties, however they are caused. These difficulties embrace many aspects including difficulties accessing the curriculum (for exple with literacy and numeracy), physical, social, psychological, emotional and behavioural difficulties. We are an inclusive school which means that we aim to support the learning and develoent of all pupils in mainstre classes whenever possible. The additional support may involve help in class, withdrawal from some lessons, or other times of the school day, or be a range of other intervention strategies involving outside agencies if appropriate. We have a large te of skilled staff under the direction of the ALENCO, Mr Pollock, to enable this support to be in place if required. Alongside this we are fortunate to have the help and support of the specialist ASD Base & Hearing Impaired Base. If any pupil is highlighted as requiring Additional Learning Needs support, parent / carers will be fully involved and informed. Additional Learning Needs information is gained from the Primary Schools to allow suitable support and transition to be in place for when the pupils start Year 7. Pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs are fully included in school life and the curriculum. Statements are reviewed annually. Charging policy When learning activities and opportunities take place wholly or mainly in the school day, parents may be asked to make a voluntary contribution to the costs. For residential trips, or trips outside normal school time appropriate charges will be made. We also charge for individual music tuition, external exination resits, goods made in technology subjects and sports kit for Sports Academy students. 17

Pupil Behaviour We are very proud of the way that our pupils behave both in lessons and around the school. We encourage good behaviour at all times and role model the way that we would expect our pupils to conduct themselves. We use rewards whenever possible. Some pupils, from time to time, need to be encouraged to improve their behaviour. We may use sanctions such as detentions, isolation and occasionally exclusion from school. Sometimes we modify the curriculum or seek to provide additional specialist support. We have a strong Antibullying policy. Bullying is not tolerated and any incidence is dealt with firmly. Collective Worship Pupils gather for assemblies in Year Groups and occasionally with the whole school. We have a planned progrme of themes for consideration throughout the year. Each day pupils are encouraged to consider the Thought for the Day with their Tutor Group. Parents/carers may choose to withdraw their children from religious assemblies if they wish, but should discuss this issue with us further. 18

Joining Cwmbran High School Liaison with Partner Primary Schools We will work closely with our partner Primary Schools to develop continuity of learning. Pupils from Primary Schools will visit several of our departments to use our resources and to extend their learning opportunities throughout the year. Visiting our School We encourage any parents/carers who are interested in sending their children to our school to visit us. In the Autumn Term we hold our annual Open Evening. We also encourage visits during the school day, so that Parents/carers can see lessons in progress and get a feel for the calm bience of our school. If you are interested in visiting us please contact to arrange a suitable time. Admission Arrangements Admission arrangements for Year 7 pupils are managed by Mr S Miller, Head of Year 7 and Mrs C Ager, Assistant Head. Admission into Years 8 to 11 is managed by Mr B Smith, Assistant Head, and into the 6th Form by Mr M Chaan, Head of 6th Form. Managing the Move In the Spring Term, after choices have been made, we contact all filies and send home important information. We visit all new pupils in their Primary Schools and make sure that we learn as much as possible about their needs, interests and achievements. In the Summer Term, all new pupils will spend a day with us, finding their way around the building, meeting new teachers and possible new classmates. 19

Extra Curricular Activities Ban S d oo h c s n io t c u od r P Scho l Spo rts ol Cho ir Sp Pu ea bl ki n & e tr ral a e tu Th ul its s C Vi ic g y it r a Ch k or W Fre nc h Clu b Art b Clu Crim e Prev enti on De Cl IC sig n ub T 20