It is so lovely to be back at school and fully engaged in life at St George’s. I look forward to seeing many of you during this half term.
I would like to bring your attention to some new policies, which we have adopted; they are not statutory but are recommended good practice policies. As a school, we are embracing a trauma informed approach to education and every single member of staff is engaged in training to ensure all staff are well equipped to support students effectively and in a trauma informed and therapeutic manner. Alongside the training, we have access to a bank of resources one of which is the Connection and Regulation Policy, this runs alongside our Positive Behaviour Support Policy and can be found on our website.
https://stgeorges-school.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Connection-and-Regulation-policy.pdf
The Department for Education issued schools guidance on the use of mobile phones in school, please see the link,
The information provided in the Foreword is interesting and concludes:
During recent stakeholder engagement, head teachers and leaders reported that after removing mobile phones from the school day, the whole culture of the school changes for the better. The environment becomes safer, protecting pupils not only from the short-term distraction of a notification but also the background noise of their lives outside school. Without their mobile phone at school, pupils have the headspace and calm to focus on their lessons. With this in mind our Governing Body and Leadership Team have adopted a policy ‘Students Personal Electronic Devices Policy’ which can be found on our website.
The majority of students are already compliant with expectations, however the policy has an agreement which we are asking families to sign in support of this new policy. The agreement is attached to the newsletter and we would very much appreciate it if this can be returned to school as soon as possible. If anyone would like further discussion or support with the agreement please contact either your child / young person’s teacher or Key Stage Lead in the first instance.
We have also adopted a Respect Charter which Isle of Wight Head Teachers agreed to support to ensure an islandwide consistent approach around expectations of staff, visitors and external colleagues behaviour when on school premises. This can also be found on our website and runs alongside our Complaints Policy and Complaints Managing Serial and Unreasonable Complaints policy. https://stgeorges-school.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/RespectPolicy-June-2024.pdf
I am sure that you will agree that all three policies will make school a safer and more nurturing environment where all can thrive. We have two development days planned, the first is on Monday 2nd December 2024 and the second is Friday 31st January 2025. Both have a safeguarding element to the training for staff. All classes on both sites will be closed to students on these days.
This leaves us with one further development day to allocate and we will notify you of the date in due course. Thank you for your understanding and support, these days provide opportunities for statutory training and ensure all staff are up to date with their continued professional development.
It has been wonderful this week seeing all students settled, working hard at school and engaging in a wide range of activities.
Have a lovely weekend
Steff Gleeson
Head teacher
