Caring
for your child
Pupils
are registered by form in year groups and therefore the
person who is responsible for a pupil's pastoral welfare
is the Form Tutor, who oversees each pupil's educational
and social development. All Form Tutors are members of
a pastoral team supervised by the appropriate Head of
Year. Every year group has its own regular assembly taken
by its Head of Year, as well as joining either Lower
or Upper School assemblies.
We carry
out regular reviews of every pupil in the school and report
to parents each term. Tutors also interview pupils in their
group on a regular basis to monitor progress and to ensure
that everything is going smoothly.
We value
the partnership with parents in their child's education
and welcome feedback. Parents are very welcome to make appointments
with the appropriate Head of Year to discuss their child's
academic progress or social welfare. In addition, there
are Parent-Teacher consultation meetings when parents have
the opportunity to make appointments with individual teachers.
Sometimes parents are requested by the Headteacher, Deputies
or Heads of Year to visit school to discuss matters of mutual
concern.
The
Houses
Every pupil at Northgate High School belongs to a ‘House'
and we encourage a strong sense of loyalty to the House
and to the School through regular events such as Sporting
competitions. Good work and consistent endeavour are rewarded
by merit marks and certificates which also contribute to
the House totals. House 'colours' are awarded to pupils
who have really excelled in an activity. Our houses are
Cowper, Nelson, Walpole and Borrow.
Careers
Guidance
The school works closely with advisers from Connexions
to ensure that a full range of educational and vocational
guidance is given to all pupils. Within the Citizenship programme
in Years 9 to 11 time is allocated for careers talks,
interviews, films and visits to establishments of commerce,
industry or further education. Pupils have the opportunity
to visit a Careers Convention and are encouraged to take
a real interest in the opportunities that are open to them.
Every lunchtime our Careers Library is open and staff are
available to give help and advice.
Work
Experience
Every Year 10 pupil is expected to spend at least one full
week in a job of their choice. We are very grateful for
the hundreds of vacancies made available to us by local
industry and commerce. Work Experience is part of the preparation
of pupils for the world of work. Pupils are thoroughly
prepared for the experience in their Careers Education
lessons and, whilst encouraged to be independent, are visited
during their work placement and supported if necessary.
Pupils' Behaviour
At
Northgate we are proud of the behaviour of our pupils.
They are well-dressed, well-mannered and well-behaved.
We expect pupils joining the school to uphold our high
standards and not indulge in any form of anti-social
behaviour, either in school or on the way to and from
school. We place very strong emphasis on courtesy and
politeness. We believe that children really appreciate
our caring and orderly school because it is within this
framework that a child’s
potential can be fully realised.
Rewards and Sanctions
As we all know from our own experience, no school can function
smoothly without both rewards and sanctions.
We are fortunate at Northgate High School in having very
little bad behaviour and it is rare that we have to apply
sanctions and punishment. When we do need to, however, we
do so swiftly and firmly. We are steadfast in refusing to
tolerate any nonsense and demand the highest standard of
work and behaviour at all times. We are grateful for the
very strong support that we have from parents and we will
continue to expect our pupils to set themselves the highest
possible standards of self-discipline.
In the lower school, we have a Merit Marks Scheme for rewarding
good work. There is great enthusiasm amongst our pupils
to achieve enough Merit Marks to obtain a bronze, silver,
gold or platinum Certificate of Merit. The marks also contribute
to our inter-house competition and help to promote a lively
and constructive spirit of competition between pupils.
In the upper school, we have a Commendation and Distinction
Scheme. Commendations are awarded for excellent work in
a given subject. Distinctions are awarded for excellent
work across a range of subjects.
Child
Protection
The
school has a designated teacher with responsibility for
child protection. The school follows the procedures set
out by the Area Child Protection Committee.
Complaints
Procedure
The Headteacher will be pleased to help any parent or member
of the public should they have any worries or concerns about
the school.
The Local Education Authority is Norfolk County Council whose
administrative centre is at County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich,
NR1 2DL. Telephone 01603 222146.
Keeping in Touch
Parents
The work of the school needs the full support of parents.
Regular parents' evenings are provided for parents
to meet members of staff in order to discuss the individual
progress of their child. Special interviews are arranged
on request with Heads of Year, Heads of Department,
Careers staff, the Deputy Heads and Headteacher. You
will receive a report on your child each term. Two
of these will be interim progress reports and one a
fuller Pupil Profile.
Parents are invited to all school activities, games and
athletic functions, concerts, Prize Giving and Parents'
Evenings. A calendar giving details of these is issued to
parents at the beginning of the school year.
Parents are invited to contact the school over any matters
of concern. We always try to see parents as soon as possible.
Each pupil has an organiser in which a homework record is
kept. Parents are encouraged to support the work of the
school by checking and signing these regularly.
Newsletters
We send the parents of every child in the school a termly
Newsletter. Our newsletters contain information about current
educational issues, reports of activities going on in school
and items on individual pupils.
Friends' Association
The Friends support the school and encourage a community
spirit by way of social and sporting activities, using
the school as a focus. Your support at all of the events
that they organise would be appreciated, not only by
the Friends' Association but by other parents, the teachers
of the school and the children themselves.
Community
We believe that part of growing up to be a responsible citizen
is to care for others, to try to see things from other peoples'
points of view and to understand how our society works.
We work very hard to ensure that our pupils become involved
with the local community. Wherever possible we try to link
community involvement with the academic work of our pupils.
Every year pupils identify charities they want to support. Money is raised mainly through non-uniform days but there are other innovative ways in which pupils raise money. We also try to support local collections by selling poppies on behalf of the British Legion and daffodils for The Marie Curie Cancer Care.
We have recently supported: Children in Need, Cancer Research, Jeans for Genes, Oxfam, Comic Relief and Crisis. We have also sent a donation to a school in Wulagu in Ghana.
