Notes for the Guidance of Teachers 1973


NOTES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF TEACHERS

CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
ORGANISATION
FORM MASTERS
DISCIPLINE
ASSESSMENT OF WORK
GENERAL NOTES

INTRODUCTION
 
 This booklet has been drawn up in consultation with Heads of Year and Housemasters to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the School.
It is especially necessary in this difficult time of reorganization for the routine to be closely observed. Only by the full cooperation of all concerned, by following this booklet, can satisfactory standards be achieved.
All members of staff therefore are asked to abide by the guide lines set out. Any queries or suggestions for improvement should be raised with the Headmaster.
 
ORGANISATION
A. Heads of Years
The aim is to set the tone and standards, through the Form Masters, for the whole year group.
Headmaster - D G S. Akers   Deputy Headmaster W Rainforth
Senior House Master Mr. A.Appleton
Head of Sixth Year Mr. C.P.Jenkins
Head of Fifth Year Mr. R.D.Mant
Head of Fourth Year  Mr. M.P.Davies

Form Staff (12) Form Staff (8) Form Staff (8) The Heads of Years are responsible to the Headmaster for the efficient running of the particular year in all respects and in particular for the discipline (breaches of school rules, appearance, manners etc.), studies, progress, games and educational development in the fullest sense of the word, through the Form Masters, of all the boys in the age group. The Heads of Years are responsible for setting the tone and standards of their year group through the Form Masters. Heads of Years will be expected to co-ordinate activities in their year group with the aid of meetings of form staff. Specifically, they are responsible fore
a. Attendance; truancy and punctuality, including the supervision of Early Reports.
b. The appearance of boys with regard to uniform, hair and cleanliness.
c. The checking of Progress Reports of all forms in the year group. Seeing all the boys who have two B-s or more. Warning boys or sending them to the Headmaster for Work Report. Seeing daily Work Reports.
d. Seeing boys who do not do work or prep. properly.
e. Dealing with misbehavior. Masters will send boys to the Head of Year if they cannot deal with them. Prefects will take serious offenders to Head of Year who will if necessary take boys on to the Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster.
Investigate problems of bullying, vandalism, breakages,etc.
f. Check Extra Lesson and Circuit Runs.
g. Dealing with boys' individual problems, and consulting parents where necessary.
h. Ensuring that Form Masters complete record cards each term. Check reports of all boys in the age group and comment on the general progress and development.
i. Liaison with Housemasters and other Heads of Years.
j. Careers guidance within the year.
k. Liaison with feeder schools to ensure smooth transfer to the Senior High School.
1. Supervision of parents' evenings.
There will be a meeting each week between the Headmaster., Deputy Head­master, Heads of Years, and Senior House Master on Tuesdays.
Academic Departments
Heads of Departments are responsible to the Headmaster for;
a) The preparation and submission of syllabus and setting internal examinations.
b) The budgeting of Department capitation which involves forward planning.
c) Books and Stationery. Heads of Departments are responsible for the issue of books and statione.
Textbooks not in use should be returned to stores.
Individuals are responsible for lost and maltreated books and must pay for replacements (to the office). Each year all books should be checked before collection and boys charged for inordinate deterioration. At the beginning of the year subject masters are asked to put a letter with their initials on the name-label (Pd = new, A = good condition; B := satisfactory condition; C = poor condition but quite usable; D = just usable). Text­books should last for five years and boys should be charged a third of the cost of any book which deteriorates by more than one grade while in their year's care.

d) The academic work within the Department including a check on the progress made by forms. This will involve the calling in of exercise and note books during the year for inspection by the Headmaster.
e) The timetabling of members of the Department to spread the available forces in the most beneficial way.
f) The giving of assistance and advice to members of the Department over specific problems which may arise in teaching and discipline.
g) The training of new members of staff in academic work and school routine.
h) Liaison with opposite numbers in the feeder schools.
i) Liaison with allied Departments.
j) The holding of regular Department meetings and representing the views of the Department and its members at the Heads of Departments meeting.
k) Reporting to members of the Department on the results of Heads of Depart­ments meetings.
The Heads of Departments meet with the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster weekly, Thursday lunchtime.
 

House System

There are four Houses;

Each boy will be allocated to a House immediately upon entry to the school; he will additionally be placed in a form group of which there are two per House in each year. Boys are allocated to form groups irrespective of academic ability; they register in these groups and have form periods and certain lessons together. For example, a boy may be placed in 4M2 or 5W1 or L.6D2; in each case the first number indicates the year, the letter indicates the House.
The purpose of the House System is twofold. Firstly, it is to enable every boy to take part in meaningful competition in a sport or skill which he likes, even though he may not be good enough to represent the School: secondly, it serves to bring together boys of differing ability and attitude and offer them a common aim - that of working together to support the House. Activities range through all the major sports and include Rugby, Soccer, Cricket, Athletics, Tennis, Badminton, Basketball, Table-tennis, Hockey, Chess, General Knowledge, etc.
The Parents' Association have presented trophies for the major sports and there is a cup for the House which has gained most points at the end of the year.
Each member of Staff is allocated to a House and it is expected that he will not only attend all House meetings but also, if possible, help with the running of various teams. Only in this way can the House really begin to mean something to the people concerned.

Housemasters, who often see a different aspect of a boy from that which he displays in class, should work in close consultation with the Heads of Year.

Bulletin

The Bulletin is issued weekly in two parts - one for staff and one for pupils.   It appears on Friday and contains details for the following week. The purpose is to reduce the number of routine announcements at Assembly and to ensure that everyone is kept fully informed about school activities and charges in routine.
All items which involve any sort of change in routine for staff or pupils must be included, e.g. visits, courses, lectures, matches, examinations, etc. To this end, all information (including a list of pupils involved where appropriate) must be handed to the Deputy Headmaster by the Wednesday break of the preceding week.

THE FORM

The form is the normal unit for all general and administrative purposes. The Form Master is in addition responsible for the well-being of the boys in his form. It is most important that he should know them as individuals and have a clear picture in his mind of their conduct.

Form Masters take roll-call at 8.55 prompt and collect dinner monies on Mondays. They should accompany their forms to the hall so that the school is ready for Assembly to start at 9.05.

The following arrangements for Assemblies will operate during 1973-4 -
Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Hall All 5 main hall All others Dining Hall -Assembly ends at 9.20 for first period, so that promptness in starting Assembly is vital.
Form Period                      

The Form Period should be used by Masters to discuss various points with their groups as a whole,
e.g. for fourth and fifth years, explanation of "0" Level and "A" Level standards, grades, etc., discussions;
matters for School Council. Thereby Masters can help boys to a greater understanding and can answer any questions.
It is hoped that Masters will arrange to interview individual boys during lunch hours or after school,
should the need arise; either through the boy asking for help or through the deterioration in a boy's work or behaviour.
1) Appoint a Form Captain and Homework Monitor and School Council Representative.
2) Ensure that preps are set and prep book is properly kept (all forms).
3) Bring to the attention of pupils items in the Bulletin.
4) Check hair, dress, tidiness,, etc.
5) Check desks and condition of room.
6) See that all boys know their A, B and C letters as soon as possible. Go through letters encouraging or warning boys. Take an interest in boys' progress. Look at Report Sheets daily.
7) Keep a record of absentees in the Absentee Book which should be handed in to the offices morning and afternoon. Heads of Years will contact parents via Mrs. Broad where absence exceeds two days without notification. Heads of Years will normally correspond with parents, but any doubtful point will be referred to the Headmaster.
Late boys are referred by the Prefects to Mr. Davies (Form 4), Mr. Mant (Form 5), and Mr. Jenkins (Form 6).
8) Liaise with Head of Year over any problems arising.
9) Check that all return slips are collected and handed to the Head of Year.
10) At each registration the Absence Book must be completed as well as the register being marked. All boys who are late must report their presence to the office where the Absence Book will be amended.
11) Instruct boys who bring sandwiches to school that these should be consumed only at lunchtime either in the dining hall or on the field when conditions permit. Everyone is asked to be vigilant in the control of litter.
12) Form lists are printed in September. Masters will help by supplying promptly the information required and by exercising great care in checking proofs.
Record cards of all boys are kept in the office, filed by forms. These cards are always available for extraction of information and entry of details, but must not be taken away, except for the entry of confidential reports at the end of the Christmas, Spring and Summer terms.

DISCIPLINE
Duty Masters
The rota of Duty Masters is drawn up on a weekly basis and published in the Calendar and Bulletin.
The purpose of this duty is to ensure that there are two Masters on duty at all times when boys are on the school premises to deal with general discipline and any possible emergencies. They should:
a.   Be present by 8.40. Check that the Prefects are on duty.
b.   Ascertain from the Deputy Headmaster any particular orders for the day.
c.   See that all boys attend Assembly promptly and ensure that the Late Duty is carried out effectively by the .Prefects.
d.    Obtain a list of notices given in Assemblies from the Duty Prefect and put this on the Staff Notice Board.
e.   Walk round the school at breaks, check that the Prefects are on duty and patrolling the corridors.  
One Duty Master should be in the playground during break.
f.   In wet weather, when boys are sitting in classrooms; extra Prefects are needed and greater supervision exercised. All classrooms must be visited.  Societies do not meet in wet lunch hours.
g.   After school, one Duty Master should check that boys have left class­rooms and cloakrooms and the other should control the bus queues.

Punishment
Each member of staff is provided with a copy of the School Rules which should be implemented at all times.
A punishment to be effective need not be severe but must be checked to ensure that it has been correctly done. It should as far as possible be immediate and as appropriate as it can be made to be.
Lines are not to be set as a punishment and written work must only be set if it is in itself useful. Exclusion from class should not be used.
For minor instances of bad work or behaviour Masters should keep boys in after school, giving one day's notice so that parents will not worry over their son's late homecoming. The detention should not last for longer than forty-five minutes without the Headmaster's permission.
In serious matters boys should be sent to the Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster via the Head of Year, if possible after a proper investigation. If it is not practical for the Master to accompany them, the boys should bring a note from the Master which will be initialled for return after he has dealt with the boys.
Extra Lesson
For serious bad work or omissions, boys should be put into Extra Lesson which is held in Room 1 at 4 p.m. each Friday under the supervision of a Taster. The boy's name should be entered in the book kept in the Staff Room for this purpose. The Headmaster signs this book each Monday and the Deputy Head reads out the culprits' names in Assembly on Fridays.
Circuit Training
Boys who fail to bring their correct P.E. or games kit or who do not produce a note will be put into Circuit Training on Mondays at 4 p.m. The P.E. staff have arranged a circuit which is supervised by a member of staff on a rota basis. This punishment may also be used for suitable cases of unruly behaviour.
Extra Lesson and Circuit have priority over all other school activities.

oer matron - more follows soon............