Dear Parent/Carer,
As we approach the end of a very busy and productive half term, I want to share with you a few of our many achievements.
In addition to our excellent classroom provision, we have worked hard to ensure that our students have had access to high quality enrichment activities. In January, over 150 Year 7 Students enjoyed our new overnight experience ‘Sleep at the Deep’, they arrived back very tired but with great memories that will last for a lifetime. Throughout this half term our students have engaged with numerous educational, sporting and cultural opportunities including a Careers Fair for all of our Year 8 students and our annual Work Experience Week for Year 10s.
Next half term will be just as busy as we encourage all of our students to grab every opportunity to live by our motto, ‘Learn. Dream. Achieve.’ Our Year 11 students will complete their second round of Pre-Public Exams and our Year 9’s will be making their GCSE option choices. For all year groups, Sharples offers a vibrant learning environment and I would encourage you to follow Sharples on Twitter and to read our weekly newsletter in order to keep up to date with the numerous opportunities which we provide to support and encourage our learners.
At Sharples we place great importance on both attendance and punctuality. All students are expected to arrive punctually for school in the morning and to arrive punctually for each lesson. A register is taken at the start of the day and during each lesson. Students arriving late are recorded as thus on the register. A twenty-minute lunchtime detention is given for all students who are late to school. This is completed on the same day as the late. If a student is late twice in a week, they receive an afterschool N2 detention, for three lates an N3 extended detention is given.
According to DfE guidelines, registers must be closed after a certain time in the morning. Therefore, if a student arrives after 9.30am, they cannot receive a late mark but have to be marked as absent for the whole morning session. If the lateness is due to a legitimate reason e.g., a medical appointment, the absence can be authorised once a medical note has been received. Otherwise, the session is marked as an unauthorised absence. Please see our website for more information on both our attendance and punctuality policies.
On a final note, I hope that you all enjoy a well-earned half term break and I look forward to welcoming all of our students back to school, ready for a prompt start to registration at 8.45am on Monday, 26 February 2024.
Yours faithfully
Ms A Webster
Headteacher
