Rewards & Sanctions
The system has just been reviewed and its implementation will continue to be improved and shaped as the year progresses.
Rewards
1. Merits
Whilst verbal praise and positive comments in books is central to the rewards’ system, teachers of Lower School pupils have the ability to award merits and even double merits to a pupil for such things as a good piece of work, progress, or a positive contribution to School life.
2. Commendations
The School also has a system of Commendations for good academic work, either an exceptional piece of work or consistent achievement. Parents are automatically informed of the award of a Commendation to their son or daughter. The Commendations contribute towards the award of the Academic Cup in each section of the School. These cups, bestowed by a distinguished Old Silhillian, the late Lord Butterfield of Stechford, are presented annually to the winning House. Thus, every pupil, whatever his or her academic standard, can contribute towards winning this cup. Commendations also contribute towards the certificate system outlined below.
3. Certificates And Awards
Over the course of a term a pupil in the Lower School has the ability to acquire a number of merits / commendations. Their values; merit, (1) and commendation (5) provide the pupil, parents and teachers with a ‘running total’ of rewards to date. Throughout the term, pupils will have the ability to receive a certificate based on the accumulation of rewards, namely;
A) Bronze (awarded by Form Tutor)
B) Silver (awarded by Head of Section)
C) Gold (awarded by Head of Section)
D) Platinum (awarded by Headmaster).
The exact requirements to attain each level will be outlined during the course of the Christmas term 2006. Each new term the pupils would begin on zero, though there would be a cumulative effect leading to End of Year awards.
4. Attainment Grades
After each Attainment Grade session, the Head of Section will highlight those pupils who have attained the best grades, made the most effort and made the biggest improvement with regard to both effort and attainment.
5. Outstanding Achievement Award
To be awarded at the end of the year for; ‘A’ Grades in all examinations in the year, exceptional academic performance and exceptional effort and Improvement.
Sanctions
It is expected that from time to time a pupil may be rebuked verbally for indiscretions/misdemeanours.
1. Demerit
The initial formal sanction that will be issued is a demerit. A demerit can be issued for a range of issues, from a poor piece of homework to unkind behaviour.
2. Detention
A pupil will be placed in Detention for an accumulation of 5 demerits or, at the member of staff’s discretion, for a single offence.
The 5 demerits would be flagged up to the Form Tutor, who would be guided by the information but would still retain some discretionary licence.
A pupil may be detained for a maximum of one hour after school in School Detention on Tuesdays, ending at 5.25 pm. In all cases 24 hours’ notice will be given and parents will receive and are asked to sign a letter detailing the offence/concern.
In cases of a serious or repetitive breach of the regulations, pupils may be required to attend on a Saturday morning to undertake academic work for two hours. Work which is unacceptable or not produced on time may also lead to attendance on a Saturday morning.
If a pupil accumulates detentions throughout the year, the following procedure will take place:
4th Detention becomes a Saturday Detention (Parents may be called in and a letter written confirming meeting with Form Tutor /Head of Year/Head of Section).
7th Detention becomes a Saturday Detention (Parents called in and a letter written confirming meeting with Form Tutor/ Head of Section and Headmaster).
9th Detention becomes a Saturday Detention (Parents called in and a letter written confirming meeting with Form Tutor/Head of Section and Headmaster).
The Headmaster will interview ALL pupils in Saturday Detention at lunchtime on the preceding Friday.
Prep Club
If a Lower School pupil accumulates 5 demerits for organisational reasons it may be that he or she is told attend Prep Club.
A pupil may be detained for a maximum of one hour after school in Prep Club on Tuesdays, ending at 5.25 pm. In all cases 24 hours’ notice will be given and parents will receive and are asked to sign a letter detailing the offence/concern.
The Prep Club model would work in exactly the same way as the Saturday Detention model, though clearly, reasons for poor organisation and failing to complete homework MUST be clearly understood. Mrs R. Hadley (Learning Support) would be appraised of any concerns.
3. Report Cards
If there is continued serious concern about a pupil’s progress, he/she may be placed on Report Card. The Head of Section will decide to pursue this course in consultation with the pupil’s Form Tutor and the Year Head, and parents will be informed before this course is undertaken. A Report Card enables every teacher to make a comment about a pupil’s behaviour in every lesson. Parents are asked to sign the card every day and the Form Tutor monitors progress. The Report Card is put in place for an agreed period of time.
4. Suspension/Exclusion
For very serious offences a pupil may be suspended from the School for a period of time, or suspended permanently. Full details of these procedures can be found in Appendix F.
Transition from the Upper Fifth to the Sixth Form is conditional, not only on academic success, (a minimum of 6 B grades at GCSE) but also a record of good behaviour. Similarly a pupil who does not have a good record of behaviour, or has failed to apply him or herself to his/her study in the Lower School may be prohibited entry into the Middle School. Please refer to Section 6 of the School’s Terms and Conditions.
Prizes
Prizes for excellent work in specific subjects, the maintenance of high standards across a range of subjects and for contributions to various aspects of school life are all awarded at the annual Lower School Prizegiving.
Bags
The school does not insist on a specific type or make of bag but the following guidelines may be helpful.
Every pupil in the Lower School has a locker in his form room. Pupils are encouraged to ensure that they are carrying as little as possible, not every book for the whole day. It is also much better to separate books from PE kit, to prevent damage to books. So we suggest that bags need NOT be big and that pupils have a separate bag for PE and Games kit which need not exceed 50cm x 25cm x 25cm.
The Solihull School Parents’ Handbook
The Parents’ Handbook contains much more information on issues relating to the school as a whole, including a comprehensive account of the curriculum in each section of the school. There now follows a subject by subject account of what each subject covers in the Lower School.