Charlton School

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome back! I hope you all managed to have some time with family and friends and feel refreshed to make the most out of the summer term. It is a big term for our Year 11 and Year 10 students with the formal written GCSE exam series starting on Monday 15^th May. Please can I also take this opportunity to wish our Muslim community Eid Mubarak for your upcoming celebrations.

Please take time to read this letter as it has some important updates for this term and for September.

Strike Action

It has been announced that there will be further strike action from the NEU on Thursday 27^th April and Tuesday 2^nd May. I will write separately with details of these but inevitably there will again be a partial school closure on these days.

New Staff

We have several new colleagues starting with us this term; please make them feel very welcome:

• Mr McGinley (Head of Computing)
• Mr Sawyer (Head of Science)
• Miss Whitehouse (Science Teacher)
• Mrs Gaston (MFL Teacher)
• Miss Sumnall (Teaching Assistant)

Uniform Expectations

From September 2023 the coloured striped ties will be assigned to year groups:

• Year 7 Purple
• Year 8 Red (Current Year 7)
• Year 9 Yellow (Current Year 8)
• Year 10 Green (Current Year 9)
• Year 11 Blue (Current Year 10)

If you are purchasing a new tie from this point forward, please buy the tie corresponding to the correct year group for your child. Students in current Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 will have until September 2024 to move from their house colour tie to their year colour tie.

From September, we will have phased out any legacy blue trousers or skirts for the girls and all students will wear black. The approved skirt is a black, knee length pleated design. This must not be tight fitting and the hem of the skirt must be on the knee. Trousers must be straight leg only. Skinny fit or tight trousers are not acceptable.

Please can I take this opportunity to remind parents and students that at no time during the school day should hoodies or sweatshirts be worn under the school blazer. The only item that can be worn under the blazer is the Charlton blue V-Neck jumper available from Baker & Sons. Blazers must be worn at all times.

Jewellery and Make Up

Jewellery is not permitted, except for one pair of small gold or silver studs earrings worn in the ear lobe. We have recently allowed students with a nose piercing to wear a clear flat plastic retainer whilst in school, but unfortunately a few students have taken this further and are wearing studs or rings – these are not permitted.

Make up, other than a discreet amount of mascara or foundation, should not be worn. Eyebrows should be natural and not tinted, and there should be no false eyelashes worn in school. Nail varnish and nail extensions are also not allowed in school. Students are involved in many activities and nail extensions can cause injury to themselves and others.

Parent Survey

As you know, we view partnerships with our families as central to our success. To ensure we are working effectively with our families, we conduct a termly parent and carer survey. We would be very grateful if you could spare a few moments to complete our most recent questionnaire (below) to let us know how you think we are doing. The outcomes of parent and carer surveys inform our school development plans and help us to identify areas of strength and further development. Previous actions include:

• Creation of the Personal Development page on the school website with curriculum maps for each year group: https://www.charlton.uk.com/our-school/personal-development.
• More frequent email communication about the content of Curriculum Enhancement Days.
• Development of the Curriculum section of the website which allows you to view which topic your child is currently studying in each subject area: https://www.charlton.uk.com/parent-student-information/curriculum.
• Ongoing development of knowledge organisers so that you can break down all topics to further support your child at home. These are now available at: https://www.charlton.uk.com/parent-student-information/curriculum/revision-resources
• Safeguarding information for families and useful guides: https://www.charlton.uk.com/help-guides-for-families
• A wider range of sessions for parents and carers, including workshops on CSE, the School Behaviour Policy, Revision, Post 16 Options, T Levels and Apprenticeships.

I hope you agree that these actions have made our communication to families more effective and would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our website is continuously being updated with key information for our families. If you don’t already, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, to view our social media feed for good news stories and celebrations of students’ successes.

We always receive large amounts of positive informal feedback and it would be great if you could share this with us and complete the parent and carer survey for the summer term. Please click on this link: https://forms.office.com/e/uGPP184prk or scan the QR code on your device:

Thank you as always for your continued support. As a school community, we are very proud of the commitment of our families and our engagement with the wider community.  

I again wish our Year 11 and 10 students the very best of luck for their exams and hope all students excel in the summer term.

Yours faithfully,

Mr A McNaughton

Principal