23 Sep To: Parents of Pupils currently enrolled
23rd September 2016
Dear Parents / Carers
I would like to thank you for my welcome to Ulidia Integrated College as Principal – the passion and dedication for this College’s incredible success is clearly rooted in its partnership with parents, and I am delighted to be part of the team. As you can imagine, the first few weeks in a new role have their challenges, but I have to report that I am genuinely impressed by the staff and young people of Ulidia. This is a superb school that parents and carers are quite rightly proud of.
I am writing to inform you of two major developments to Ulidia Integrated College this year:
1 Positive Discipline
2 School to home communication – no more texts!
Positive Discipline
I would like to thank you for your support for our new positive discipline project in Ulidia Integrated College this year. Three weeks into the term and it has been a phenomenal success, with staff reporting a noticeable improvement in engagement and effort from the pupils collecting credits. This project has been a year in planning, and we are delighted to see the positive impact it has had on the school so far this year overall.
We are approaching our first round of recognition rewards as well, where the pupils who have accumulated enough credits can ‘cash them in’ for a treat from our rewards ladder. I am genuinely looking forward to my role within it; where I get to make thank you and congratulations calls home to parents after 2500 credits are achieved.
Schools that have adopted this system have seen a significant improvement in results across the board – one such school reported;
“We have risen from 19% 5 A*- C including English and Maths in 2007 to 66% this year.
We have also risen from 35% 5 A*- C in 2007 to 74% this year” (The Rodillian Academy)
- so it is well worth the potential gains; imagine if every pupil saw even a 5-10% increase in results this year!
No new system is without teething problems, and I would like to thank pupils, parents and carers who have been giving us feedback on suggestions and improvements.
When is a planner not just a planner?
The pupil planner has been significantly updated to allow for the positive discipline system to function. It is no longer just a ‘homework diary’. To get the project successfully launched, we have had to take a firm position on insisting that pupils have their planners with them every single day without exception, and the only way to do this is to impose a sanction when pupils do not bring their planner into school.
The reason for this is simple – the planner is now the hub of the entire academic and pastoral rewards and sanctions system. If the planner is not in school, the entire project cannot function. It is as fundamental to the pupils’ experience as their uniform.
No planner means no communication home to parents when improvement is needed, no planner means we cannot encourage and support effort in school through the system we have worked so hard to develop.
Effective Sanctions and Parents’ Support
Parents – we need your support if positive discipline is to work. The last thing we want is to withdraw a pupil from their lessons, but we find it to be one of the most effective sanctions available to us, and so that is why we have decided that any pupil who does not bring their planner will be withdrawn for the day. Pupils will complete their usual work for the day, but will miss out on the social aspects of being in class. They will be working with their year leader or form tutor. Please ensure that planners are in bags every night – we want all pupils in class every single day.
If your child struggles with organisation, you may consider a checklist in the schoolbag or reminder by the front door to double check each morning that the planner is in their bag. The easy way to ensure the positive discipline system is a positive experience for your child is to ensure the planner is always in school. When possible we will try to contact parents by text or telephone to see if the planner can be brought into school and so allow the pupil to return to class.
The benefits of this system are enormous, and it is well worth the time and effort we are putting in to it. The vast majority of the feedback so far has been tremendously positive. I realise a period of adjustment is to be expected, and encourage parents to let us know if you have suggestions for how we can make it even better.
School to home communication – no more texts from October 1st 2016!
As you are aware, we have been operating a texting system to communicate with parents. I am pleased to announce that in partnership with Parentmail (www.parentmail.co.uk), we are launching a brand new way of getting messages home to parents. Over the course of the next term we will be rolling out changes to how school can communicate with home. You will be invited to download the ‘Ulidia Parentmail’ app to your smartphone or tablet. You can also access it if you have a home computer. This means that all communications will be stored in the app and not in the general text messages or email accounts you may have.
You must have a verifiable email account for this to work, and if anyone would like help with setting this up, we will be running parent/carer setup workshops after we launch it. This means:
- School can send bulletins, circulars, news, reminders, invitations directly to you – no more lost notes in the bottom of the schoolbag.
- Parents will be able to pay for anything school related directly from their phone, tablet or PC – no more looking for fivers for lunch money, swimming money or trips. One click and the money is transferred directly to your child’s account within around 15 minutes. There is a very small transaction fee for using this online facility of around 1.4%. Most parents will find the convenience more than worth it.
- Parents will be able to get a general report of what pupils are spending their money on in the canteen direct to their phone– helps ensure a balanced, healthy diet.
- More features to come – permission slips, parents evening booking, meetings and events, homework tracker.
What if I don’t have internet access?
For those parents who still prefer paper copies to be sent, or prefer to send their child with cash for the lunch money machines, that will always be an option.
Thank you for your support.
Yours sincerely
M Houston
Principal