Charlton School

Dear Parent/Carer,

Further to my letter earlier this week about our expectations for the new term in September, I wanted to confirm the arrangements for the first two days back and inform you of a change we are making to the structure of the school day. This does not impact the start or end times of the day, only how we are organising the day between the hours of 8:40am and 3:10pm.

• Tuesday 5^th September – Years 7 and 11 only
• Wednesday 6^th September – All year groups

Years 7, 8 and 9 should enter the school site via the back gates by the Sports Hall. Year 7 and 8 will line up on the Basketball Court, Year 9 will line up on the area to the back of school (where they are lining up currently). On these two days, the first lesson will be spent in tutor rooms where students will be provided with timetables and receive reminders about the required equipment, uniform and behaviour expectations. The remainder of the days will follow our new school timetable.

New School Day Timings

Please note that all students should be onsite by 8:40am. At this time, they will enter the building and make their way to Lesson 1 for a prompt lesson start at 8:45am. We have made the decision to go immediately into Lesson 1 at the start of the day. This is to maximise learning time whilst students are most alert and to encourage good punctuality, so students are not late to school, otherwise they will miss learning time. Our same day, breaktime detentions will remain in place for students who are late to Lesson 1. Once Lesson 1 registers have been completed, parents will receive a text if their child has not made it to lesson on time.

We have made the decision to adjust the timings of the school day to reduce the time lost due to transitions between lessons or activities. By combining form time and the reading session, we feel students will benefit more from a dedicated 20 minute reading session, whereas with our current model, students were reading for only around 10 minutes per day. All students will need a reading book in school with them every day, either one of their own or one from the school library.

I hope you have a fantastic summer break and come back refreshed for another exciting year at Charlton.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A McNaughton

Principal