Friday 15^th November 2024

 

Dear Parents and Carers,

RISE

In order to improve the culture around the school, last year we developed RISE. RISE underpins a lot of our work, including our Behaviour for Learning Policy which was launched last summer Term.

Students can only learn when they are calm, present and engaged in their learning. Our Behaviour for Learning policy aims to support this through following our RISE approach.

Our ‘Safe’ category is used for our more serious misbehaviour as specified in the policy. If a student is issued with a ‘Safe’ sanction they will be taken to our Return to Learn room to allow us to investigate the incident.

Safe incidents may include:

• Direct verbal abuse
• Possession of harmful object
• Smoking/Vaping
• Dangerous use of equipment
• Vandalism
• Any behaviour deemed to be a risk to safety

This is not an exhaustive list and all staff will issue a “Safe” sanction if they feel that there is any behaviour that is a risk to safety.

If your child receives a ‘Safe’ sanction you will be sent a text message to inform you of this and you will be able to view this on Class Charts. All ‘Safe’ sanctions are investigated and reviewed to ensure they are applied fairly and consistently across the school. As we are a large school this can take time and, at the end of every day, we hold a behaviour briefing with the pastoral team to review any sanctions and agree next steps. Parents and Carers will be contacted after the briefing if follow up is needed.

We want the school to be a positive environment both inside and outside the classroom. The vast majority of our students do the right thing every day and we are in the process of reviewing our rewards system to ensure these students get the recognition they deserve for this consistently good behaviour.

 

Sporting excellence – Year 11

We have been tracking the progress of Luca in Year 11 in the world fencing circuit. Luca has recently attended the European Circuit Competition as part of the Men’s Foil Great Britain team. I am delighted to share that they won a Silver medal in the Teams Competition which was the first British Teams Men’s Cadet Foil fencing medal on the circuit in almost three years. Luca fenced brilliantly beating opponents from Denmark, France and Latvia. He also ranked 13^th in the individual event – a fantastic achievement.

We are extremely proud of Luca’s achievements and wish him continued success with his upcoming competitions in Hungary and Germany.

 

Newport High School Detachment

We are very proud to have our own Detachment of Cadets at Newport High School. On Sunday they took part in the Armistice Day march in Newport City Centre and Cadet Pescud laid the wreath. 

Our Cadets meet every Wednesday after school to train. If anyone is interested in joining the Cadets please email info@newporthigh.co.uk

 

Free school meals price increase from January 2025

 

Our school meal provider Chartwells has informed the council that the cost of all school meals will be rising from the start of the new term in 2025.

 

From January, school meals in most of Newport’s secondary schools will be increasing by 18 pence per meal, from £2.95 to £3.13. The increase will affect pupils at Newport High School who do not receive free school meals.

 

We recognise this will be an added financial pressure on parents and carers and would encourage them to check whether they might be entitled to free school meals at www.newport.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-meals/free-school-meals

 

It is also worth noting that families who are eligible for free school meals can also apply for additional help with other school costs.

 

You can find out more at https://www.newport.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/school-meals/free-school-meals

 

If you are not in receipt of Free School Meals but think you are eligible and would like any help in accessing, please let us know so we can help.

 

Parental Forums

Working closely with our families is an essential element of ensuring that our students make progress. To support this, we are continuing to run both our on-line Parental Forum and our Parental drop-in sessions.

These are not parent/student meetings to discuss specific queries but an opportunity to meet with myself so you can raise broader issues about the school. The dates of the next parental forums are as follows:

• On-line parental forum – Thursday 5^th December on Teams at 5pm
• In person parental forum – Friday 13^th December in school at 10am

If you are interested in attending either of these meetings, please email info@newporthigh.co.uk stating which session you would like to attend.

Parking

Just a reminder please that no-one should be parking on double yellow lines or in any restricted parking areas. This includes the loading bay in front of our services area.

 

 

Social Media

Please can I urge all parents who have an issue or concern about school to contact us directly to discuss. This will give us the opportunity to try to resolve the issue.

If you have any concerns, please email us on: info@newporthigh.co.uk

 

Punctuality to school and lessons.

Please can you reinforce the importance of punctuality and work with us to support your children.

 

 

New after school bike club at Newport High School

Our new bike club meets every Wednesday from 3pm to 4pm in the main yard behind the canteen. This new initiative is being led by Mr Jones, in collaboration with Momentwm. If there are any families who have not signed up but are interested in joining, please email info@newporthigh.co.uk with the heading “Bike Club” in the title.  You do not need to have your own bike or helmet to come along as we can provide these. The group is open to students and their parents or carers from Newport High School.

 

Uniform and equipment

A small number of students still do not have school bags. Bags are important as students need to carry their equipment and timetables around during the day. Also, as we are now a mobile phone free school, they need somewhere secure to store their phones during school hours. If anyone has any issues with uniform or equipment, please let us know so we can work with you to support.

Mobile Phones

We do not allow the use of mobile phones anywhere in school, including outside during break and lunchtime.  This means that, from the time that students enter the building until they leave, they are not allowed to be seen with a mobile phone. This includes wearing air pods or headphones which are also not allowed.

If they wish to bring a phone to school, it must be switched off and kept in their bag

If students are seen with their mobile phone out, whether they are using them or not, it will need to be handed in for them to collect at the end of the day. If this happens frequently then an alternative plan will need to be put in place.

Inset days and Term dates – 2023/2024

The remaining INSET days (when school is closed to students for staff training) for this year are as follows:

• Monday 25th November 2024
• Friday 7^th March 2024
• Friday 27^th June 2024
• Monday 30^th June 2024
• Monday 21^st July 2024

We finish the Autumn term on Friday 20^th December and return for the start of the Spring term on Monday 6^th January 2025.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your continued support over the term.  

With kind regards

Mrs Lee