13 January 2017
Dear Parents, Carers and Students,
I was appointed as the new Headteacher for Great Wyrley High School at the start of January. You may
already be aware that a number of changes are underway with regards to standards in achievement,
behaviour, leadership, teaching and learning. We will be putting the GREAT back into Great Wyrley
High School but it will be more difficult to do so without your support.
We are introducing an Excellence policy which means any behaviour or appearance that prevents us
from being excellent will be dealt with immediately. The majority of young people come to our school
each day to learn and they should be allowed to do so with pride in their school and a sense of joy.
Pride and joy have been taken away from some of our young people and we will be returning it.
Uniform and appearance are essential elements of an excellent school. Students not adhering to our
agreed policy will be sent home before the start of the school day or detained in our Consequences
Room until full uniform is restored. The vast majority of families support this policy and are quite
rightly upset when students let down the standards they expect of us.
Detailed in this letter, are the uniform expectations, code of behaviour and the new classroom
behaviour system. These policies will be carried out to the letter by every member of staff in this
organisation. Students will only enter through the main front gates from 23 January so that we can
conduct uniform checks and, where necessary, send students home in order to meet our uniform
code. These policies extend to when students are travelling on the transport services. We know that
our improvement will be a challenge to those who have set a lower standard of ambition but it is our
moral duty to give our young people the best education possible and not let anyone prevent this from
happening.
The standard of teaching is vital in our journey to excellence and we will ensure every member of staff
is committed to our programme of improvement. Professional ability will be under constant review
and developing our staff will ensure excellence. On January 20th the students will finish at 1.30pm so
that I can finalise the training for all of our staff in the implementation of the classroom behaviour
system. Coaches will be forwarded to this new time and lunches for those in receipt of free school
meals will be provided as usual.
We are moving back to a year group system in order to monitor progress and behaviour. Houses will
remain in place for mixed age events, competitions and charitable work, but as of 30th January,
students will be placed in tutor groups based on year groups. This information will be shared with
students w/c 23rd January.
This is to facilitate Mr Bourne, Mrs Moore and Mrs Hughes leading in the area of improving behaviour,
progress and well-being. Mrs Macey is continuing with her role of Associate Assistant Headteacher to
ensure that the systems in place for our Post-16 students, with the support of Miss Taylor remains a
priority. Mr Fielder is going to focus on students in Years 10 and 11 with Mrs Matthews and Mrs
Moore.
Mr Smith is going to be focusing on students in Years 7, 8 and 9, with the support of Mrs Wood and
Miss Stuart.
In the first instance, Miss Taylor (Post-16); Mrs Wood and Miss Stuart (Years 7,8,9) Mrs Matthews
(Years 10 and 11) and Miss Holloway (Inclusion) should be your contact point along with your child’s
Form Tutor.
Rewards
At Great Wyrley High School we want to recognise the efforts of students in each and every lesson
that they attend. As such, the students will continue to be awarded attitude to learning (ATL) scores
for every lesson. This means when a student arrives at the lesson they are awarded an ATL 2 score. If
they produce outstanding work or make excellent progress that will be increased to an ATL 1 score
but can move down if they display behaviour that prevents an excellent lesson from taking place.
Attached to the ATL 1 and 2 scores there are merits which will accumulate over time. These will then
convert into a cash value to put towards specific school events chosen by students, such as nonuniform days, canteen credit or towards reward trips.
Consequences
We expect very high standards of behaviour and attitude from students at Great Wyrley High School
so that this facilitates teachers delivering excellent lessons. As such any behaviour that prevents
excellent lessons from taking place will be dealt with swiftly and dispassionately using a rigorous
behaviour system. The steps to this are outlined below and will be applied by any member of staff in
the school.
Consequence 1
Consequence 2
Consequence 3
Consequence 4
Consequence 5
Consequence 6
Yours sincerely
Lee Taylor
Headteacher
Students are reminded their behaviour is preventing an
excellent lesson from taking place.
Students are given a formal warning that their behaviour is
preventing an excellent lesson from taking place.
Students are moved to a designated seat in the room.
Students are moved to another classroom and a 1 hour
detention issued for that evening.
Students are placed in the Consequence Room for 1 full
day (5 hours equivalent) including break and lunch.
Students will serve a 1 day fixed exclusion and will be reintegrated after a short meeting.
School Uniform
Blazer: Burgundy, school badge on pocket
Trousers: Plain black tailored
Skirt: Plain black, knee length
School Jumper: (Optional) V neck burgundy, Year 7, 8 and 9 / v neck black with school badge Year 10 and 11
Shirt: White school shirt, capable of fastening to the neck (not fitted)
Tie: School tie
Shoes: Plain black flat footwear (see clarification below)
Socks: Plain white, black, grey or burgundy
Tights: Natural, grey, black or burgundy
Girls Trousers: Black trousers may be worn of the styles indicated below. Trousers must be tailored with a waistband and a
zip. No stretchy or clingy fabrics. No leggings, jeggings or any other skin tight or figure hugging trousers will be allowed. No
cargo pants, jeans or trousers with additional zips, buckles or studs.
Boys Trousers: Black trousers may be worn of the styles indicated below. Trousers must be tailored with a waistband and a zip.
No cargo pants, jeans or trousers with additional zips, buckles or studs.
Skirts: Black skirts must be worn of styles indicated below and again no stretchy, clingy fabrics will be allowed. Tube style skirts
will not be permitted. Skirts must be knee length.
Shoes: All plain black leather or leather look flat footwear. No sports logo or colour laces. No trainers or pumps. Boots can be
worn under trousers as long as they are flat, plain black leather or leather look.
Jewellery: One plain ear stud only, in either ear lobe or both No other body piercings allowed at all.
Make-up: No make-up is allowed in Years 7, 8 and 9. Discrete make-up in Years 10 and 11 only.
Nail Varnish: Clear plain nail varnish allowed. No colours or extensions.
Hair: Natural colours only (bright red, green, blue etc. or extreme cuts/patterns will not be allowed.