Important Notices from the Headmaster – April 2024
End of Term
The Term 1 School Examinations have now concluded and your son will be in the process of receiving examination feedback from his classroom teachers. Alongside this feedback, normal teaching programmes will continue until the end of Period 7 this Friday 12 April.
Please be aware leave will not be granted for students to finish the term early for travel or holiday reasons. We appreciate your support as we aim to maximise teaching time.
Term 1 Reports
The first formal report of the year will be delivered electronically via the Parent Portal. This report focuses on your son’s Term 1 examination results and he will receive an examination mark and an attitude/effort grade for each subject. Please be aware there are no teacher comments on the first set of reports.
We expect reports will be made available on the Portal at the beginning of the second week of the holidays. You will be advised of the availability of the reports via email.
Student Attendance – Notification of Absences
A reminder that if your son is absent, we ask you to immediately complete the Absence Notification e-form that is accessed within the Parent Portal on the day of his absence. This is a legal requirement and is part of our duty of care which we cannot fulfil without your co-operation.
Parents should log in and click on the Absence Notification link under Student Information, which is found on the homepage of the Parent Portal. Parents should be aware that submitting an e-form verifies your son’s absence and will generate an automatic response to the email address you have provided us. It is important that you do not disclose your Parent Portal login and password details to your son, to ensure the legitimacy of this functionality.
There is no requirement to phone the School nor to provide a written note to notify us of an absence.
Student Office Updates
Please note that the above system for notifying the School of your son’s absence does not apply for exeat requests, where temporary leave is sought to leave the campus for appointments throughout the School day. Your son should bring a note to the Deputy Headmaster on the front steps of the Main Block after assembly to receive approval.
When your son provides this note to the Deputy Headmaster, he will be given a permission slip to allow him to leave his lesson at the appropriate time, at which point he must formally sign out at the Student Office before departing.
If your son is late to school, due to a pre-arranged appointment, please provide him with a written note to be handed to the Student Office staff upon his arrival.
Parents should be aware the Student Office does not accept or distribute any items, including lunches, delivered for your son during the School day.
2023 Cambridge International Examinations Documentation and May/June 2024 Examination Series
Official Cambridge result certificates from the November 2023 Examination Series will be distributed to current students (who did Cambridge exams last year) at a Form Period this Thursday 11 April. Old Boys can collect their certificates from Main Reception on Monday 15 April between 10am-11am and 2pm-3pm.
Senior students who are re-sitting Cambridge AS examinations in the 2024 May/June Series received their Statement of Entry and Examination Timetable and Rooming Guide at an examination briefing on Tuesday this week. The Timetable and Rooming Guide for the May/June Series has been posted on the School website and on GrammarNet. Cambridge Examinations start on Friday 29 April and finish on Friday 10 June. Students and parents should also be reminded that, as per the AS Re-sit Application Form, students are not permitted to have Study Leave, as their regular A Level classes will be operating as usual during the exam period.
Parent Teacher Interviews in Term 2
We begin Parent Interviews in Term 2. Interviews take place between 3pm-6pm from Week 3 in the Great Hall. We would encourage you to take the opportunity to make appointments online to meet with your son’s teachers.
Interview bookings are made electronically and parents will be sent booking information and explanation of the process two weeks prior to your son’s year group interviews. Interview bookings are on a first in, first served basis, so we encourage you to act upon the email when you receive it.
Please be aware that the School day will conclude at 2:30pm on the days of Parent Interviews, as follows:
- Form 6 and 7 Interviews – Thursday 16 May
- Form 5 Interviews – Monday 20 May
- Form 4 Interviews – Tuesday 28 May
- Form 3 Interviews – Wednesday 19 June
Winter Sport
Trials are well underway for the winter sports season. We strongly encourage all young men to play a winter sport and hope that your son has registered for a winter code by now. If he has not done this he should see Head of Sport B. Richardson for more information or go direct to the Master in Charge of the code he wishes to play. He can find this information on the School website.
Please remember full and correct sporting uniform is required from the start of the season, otherwise students will not be permitted to play. It is vital therefore that each player has the correct socks, shorts and shirt or jersey. We encourage parents to purchase the correct sports uniform as soon as possible, as winter sport starts promptly in Term 2.
The School does not allow young men to have compression clothing visible underneath their sports uniform. We appreciate your support as standards are set in all aspects of School life.
It is always good to see strong School and parental support on our sidelines. We simply ask that Grammar expectations are met or surpassed and that we only share positive or encouraging comments. We really appreciate our parochial supporters, but we ask that actions, attitudes and comments are supportive of ‘The Grammar Way’.
Absences
If a young man is away from School the day prior to, or the day of, a sporting fixture for medical or other reasons, he will be ineligible to play for his School team. It is the School’s view that if a young man is not well enough to be at School prior to a fixture, he is not well enough to represent the School in any extracurricular activity. Please ensure his coach or manager is informed of such an absence before his game.
School Uniform
When Term 2 starts on Monday 29 April, students are permitted to wear jackets around School and in classes, however they are not permitted to wear jackets in Science laboratories or Technology workshops for health and safety reasons.
We remind all students that the only jackets that may be worn to School are the approved School Jacket (available for sale in the School Shop) and the School Rep jacket. Students should not wear the School cap from the beginning of Term 2.
Sandals are only approved for wear in Term 1 and Term 4. All students are expected to wear shoes and socks in Terms 2 and 3, with garters used to ensure their socks are worn to the top of their calf muscles.