We extend a particularly warm welcome to parents of all our new students. Starting a new school can be an anxious time for the girls but we are also ware that new parents also have worries and concerns. We have identified five common ways in which you can help us to ensure that your daughter’s transition into the Wycombe High School community is as smooth as possible:
Click Here to see the presentation about Curriculum 2011, as shown at the New Year 7 Parents Meeting in July 2011
Attendance and punctuality
We expect your daughter to be in school, on time, every day.
- Please make sure she has a watch and that she wears it!
- If she feels less than 100%, dose her up and send her in. If she is really unwell, we will send her home.
- If she is very unwell, please keep her at home and let us know.
- Please don’t take holidays in term time. We believe that excellent attendance underpins successful learning. From the girls’ perspective, it’s difficult enough to keep up, without having to catch up too.
- Girls are expected to be in their form rooms at 8.45 am. They need to arrive at school in plenty of time, be encouraged to come straight on to the school site – they can go to the library if it is before 8.00 am – and then at 8.30 am go straight to their lockers, so they can be in their form rooms for 8.45 am.
Uniform and behaviour
We promote the highest standards of uniform and behaviour.
- Please don’t believe your daughter when she says everyone else wears make up, or rolls their skirts up, or wears their jumpers round their waists, or wears trainers to school! We challenge every student whose uniform falls short of our expectations. We contact the parents of girls with repeated uniform infringements.
- We expect the girls to be the very best version of themselves they can be and to give of their best in every regard, in and out of lesson time.
- We rely on the full support and co-operation of parents in maintaining the highest standards of uniform and behaviour. Please don’t ask us to make your daughter the exception to a rule. It makes it really difficult for us to apply rules fairly and firmly if you do this.
- We regret that students in Years 7 – 11 may not use mobile phones in school. Any mobile phones brought into school may not be used and must be kept in lockers during the school day. If for any reason your daughter’s locker cannot be secured, she should hand her mobile phone into Student Support Services for safe keeping before 8.45 a.m. Failure to keep mobile phones in lockers will result in the phones being confiscated for a significant period of time. For a first offence this will be for one week; for a second this will extend to two and for a third it will be treated as persistent breach of school rules and a more serious sanction will be applied. Letters will be sent home at each stage should this apply.
Friendships
Girls can be very exclusive in their friendships. Please encourage your daughter to develop a wide circle of friends and have different groups of friends. Do be aware of how easily your daughter can access things that most of us weren’t able to when we were at school; texting, emails, MSN and the impact of these on her life and her friendships. Please talk to your daughter about the responsible use of texting, emails and MSN in particular and monitor her use.
Communication
Please try to adopt a neutral stance if your daughter comes home with an account of something which causes you concern. Encourage her to come and talk to someone at school, before ringing us yourself. We want to encourage your daughter to take increased responsibility for her behaviour, her relationships and her learning.
Let us know if something significant happens out of school that is likely to impact on your daughter’s behaviour or learning, in school, for example, a family bereavement or any kind of upsetting or unsettling incident.
Monitoring progress
Check and sign your daughter’s Student Planner every week. Look out for comments by staff, detention stickers and check the merit and last-to-leave, hotspot and time out pages at the back of the planner.
Bring your daughter with you to Parents’ Evening. There is nothing like hearing your strengths and areas for development first hand, from your subject teachers, in front of your parents!
Praise, praise, praise!
Look for and focus on the positives!
Find something - no matter how small - that you can celebrate with your daughter every day.