General Information

Organisation of our School

For academic matters the school is organised into Curriculum areas. These areas are;

Religious Education, Mathematics, Science, English, Design and Technology, Art, Business Studies, Information and Communications Technology, Drama, Physical Education, History, Geography, Citizenship (incorporating personal, social and health education), Careers and work related learning, Modern Foreign Languages, Health and Social care and Music.

For pastoral matters the school is organised into Year groups. These are;

Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 which is known as Key Stage 3 and Year 10 and Year 11 which are known as GCSE or Key Stage 4 and Years 12 and 13 known as the 6th Form

The teaching time at Thomas More Catholic School is 25 teaching hours a week: this excludes daily acts of worship, break and registration. A different year group has as assembly every day and the rest of registration times in the week are used for checking pupil planners and other pastoral matters.

Children may enter the Dining Hall from 8.00 am onwards but should arrive in good time for the 8.25 start to the day.

The daily sessions are as follows: -

The School Day

The School day is split into 5 working sessions as follows: -

*Some 6th form lessons are run until 3.35

**Registration is first thing in the morning and at the end of the school day.

Travel Arrangements

It is a parent’s responsibility to make arrangements for their child’s transportation to and from school. Cars must stop at the bottom of the driveway and drop children off and pick children up. Cars are not permitted to come up the driveway to drop children off or pick children up from school as this causes severe congestion and is dangerous.

A large number of our pupils use buses that pick up and drop off at Purley Cross. Please ensure that your child is mindful that when they leave school in the distinctive green blazer that they are representing the school and should act and behave accordingly.

Buses that run into Purley include 60, 166, 405, 289, 455, 466 and 127

Cycling

Permission can be requested from the headteacher for a child to bring their cycle onto school premises. Permission will be given if the child has passed their cycling proficiency test.

THE THOMAS MORE TEN (ten strategies for successful lessons)

The strategies listed below are part of all lessons at Thomas More School and teachers use this as the basis for their lessons. Copies can be found in all classrooms

1. The Big Picture First

At the beginning of each lesson start the lesson with an overview “By the end of today’s lesson you will have learned….”

2. Have high expectations

Teacher expectations shape pupil performance. Your expectations will be passed onto the pupils you teach. Expect high standards in all areas

3. Speak to every child, every lesson

Some quiet pupils can go all day without any adult acknowledging who they are or what they are doing so don’t let this happen

4. Ensure lessons are high challenge, low stress

Pupils learn best in safe, secure environments so make your classroom a stress free zone. Personal comments to pupils from other pupils are particularly stressful – so don’t allow insults to be hurled around a room

5. Describe the behaviour that you want

Don’t talk about things you don’t want because inevitably pupils will then do that! Your use of words is important. Saying “Everyone look at me please” is much better than “Stop turning around”. State positives rather than negatives

6. Positive use of language. Change from “I can’t to I can”

Create time and opportunities for pupils to experience success. Encourage then to understand what they can do not what they can’t do. This has a beneficial effect on pupil self esteem and motivates pupils

7. Optimal use of time

Optimal time use has been shown by research to be chronological age plus 1. So an average 14 year old can spend 15 minutes on task, successfully, before they will start to drift.

8. Input in three ways and no banned activities

Children learn through visual, auditoral and kinaesthetic means. This accesses the preferred learning style of everyone and makes lesson content informative and memorable. You must cater for these needs. Activities such as copying are not high challenge activities

9. Assessment, Feedback and Review

Assess pupils at every opportunity to ensure understanding. Encourage feedback to you the teacher and review where you are.

10. Review and recap

At the end of every lesson undertake a review – “What we have learned today”.

Homework

Parents provide invaluable help and support by encouraging their child’s developing interests and skills at home.

“Homework is not an optional extra, but an essential part of good education. There is clear evidence that it helps pupils reach higher standards” (DFES, 1998)

Each pupil is given a homework timetable which is suitable for their Year group. Clearly as a pupils gets older then the amount of time required for homework will increase each night. Additionally in Year 10 and 11 pupils will have to undertake coursework to meet requirements of GCSE examinations – nearly all of this done in the pupils time out of school.

It is expected that pupils at Key Stage 3 may need some support from their parents in undertaking tasks or checking their work. However, in Years 10 and 11 pupils should become much more independent and self-reliant. Hobbies, family interests, sporting or creative ability and community events complement and enrich a child’s learning, usually take place out of school, and are to be encouraged.

Extra-Curricular Activities

These are held at lunchtime or after school. Members of staff and outside coaches run the activities. The activities on offer including music and sport most of our activities are free. Details of after school activities are on display in the FLC and are publicised by Ms Laffan, our Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator

Gifted, Able and Talented Children

Children can have abilities and talents that are well above average in may different areas. It is our aim to identify such children at Thomas More Catholic School, in order to recognise and extend them appropriately. They benefit from our extra curricular programme but are also extended by running extension groups and differentiation in lessons.

Assessment

Teachers assess children’s progress and tracking grades are recorded every half term to assess if pupils are on task or under performing. If they are under performing then parents will be called into school by the Year Leader to discuss a way forward.  The school also uses Academic Tutoring Days, twice a year, to have an open dialogue with pupils and parents about academic progress (see below)

Provision for Special Educational Needs

Children with special education needs are supported by a Teaching Assistant, who works within the classroom under the direction of the class teacher and the SENCO.

Lunch Time Arrangements

Children may bring a packed lunch or have a school meal that is cooked on the premises, all children eat in the dining hall. We operate a cash cafeteria system, that enables each child to chose the set meal or select and purchase any combination of foods, as all items are priced separately. Children who have a packed lunch may also buy items from the cafeteria. Children taking school dinner therefore, need to bring cash to school each day and should do so in a named purse. Children are responsible for their own belongings, including their money. A guide price for a traditional “set” meal is £1.50. Children whose parents are in receipt of Income Support are entitled to free school meals, an application can be made via Mrs Ferris. In order to keep the cost of school lunch down, we encourage parents to provide their child with a drink from home.

Reporting to Parents

We report to parents formally about the progress of children once a year.  We publish a report for parents once a year detailing information about academic progress.   We also run two Academic Tutoring events where pupils are parents are able to talk through progress, assess tracking achievement grades and work with the Form Tutor to set targets for improvement.

Communication with Parents

We like to work in close partnership with our parents to ensure the best possible progress of their child. In order for this to happen we like to keep parents full informed about all aspects of school life we do this through: -

School Newsletters - These give general information highlighting activities that will take place over the half term ahead.

Letters - These are usually concerned with issues of immediate interest, or require a response from parents.

Information Evenings - These are an important vehicle for informing and involving parents in the life of the school.

Annual School Profile - Offered by the Governors, once a year.

School Records

Thomas More School keep careful records on the educational progress of pupils. These are confidential to the school.

Charging for School Activities

The teaching staff work hard to plan and organise experiences that enrich and enhance children’s learning.

The school is unable to fund these sorts of activity from the school budget, we therefore rely wholly on parental contributions.

Security

To protect our children, all visitors are checked in and issued with identity badges.

Community

We are keen to develop good relationships with different groups and business in our local community. This is a two way process which is greatly valued by us, benefiting the children in many ways. We work closely with the various borough and outside agencies to get the best possible advice to help with our vital role with children.

Inspection

Our last Ofsted Inspection was in 2005 and we are expecting one soon.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about your child’s progress or if you have a complaint regarding the curriculum or a related matter, first discuss it with the form tutor or subject teacher and / or a senior member of staff. If this does not resolve the difficulty, then ask for an appointment to see the Headteacher.