Important Notices from the Headmaster – May 2023
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 our 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.
2022 Cambridge International Examinations Documentation and May/June 2023 Examination Series
Official Cambridge Results certificates from the November 2022 Examination Series will be distributed to current students (who did Cambridge exams last year) in the next fortnight. Old Boys have had their certificates posted to them.
Senior students who are re-sitting Cambridge AS examinations in the 2023 May/June Series received their Statement of Entry and Examination Timetable and Rooming Guide at an examination briefing last term. The Timetable and Rooming Guide for the May/June Series has been posted on GrammarNet.
Cambridge Examinations start on Tuesday 2 May and finish on Friday 9 June. Students and parents should also be reminded that, as per the AS Resit 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
We begin Parent Teacher Interviews this term. Interviews take place between 3pm-6pm from next week 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 Teacher Interviews as follows:
- Form 6 and 7 Interviews – Wednesday 10 May
- Form 5 Interviews – Monday 15 May
- Form 4 Interviews – Tuesday 23 May
- Form 3 Interviews – Wednesday 14 June
Winter Sport
Please remember that full and correct sporting uniform is required from the start of the season, otherwise young men 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 this Term.
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
During Term 2, 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 & 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.