Year 7

Welcome Guide

2020

The School Day

The timing of the school day is as follows:

• 8.50 am - Bell for registration

• 8.55 am to 9.15 am – Registration in tutor rooms or assembly

• 9.15 am to 10.15 am – Period 1

• 10.15 am to 11.15 am – Period 2

• 11.15 am to 11.35 am – Break

• 11.35 am to 12.35 pm – Period 3

• 12.35 pm to 1.35 pm – Period 4

• 1.35 pm to 2.20 pm – Lunch

• 2.15pm – Warning bell

• 2.20 pm to 3.20 pm – Period 5

Pupils are taught in lessons which are one hour long.

The timetable is split over two weeks so pupils will have some difference between weeks A

and B.

Sample Timetable

Here is an example of a timetable you would be expected follow over a two week period.

Use the key to and the map to help you find which classrooms you will be in and which

teachers you will have. Try and answer the following questions:

The number is the room number. The capital initials are your teacher. There is a key below: GBL = Mrs G Black CBL = Mrs C Blakeman KCH = Mrs K Chapman-Dean KFL = Mrs K Fletcher BHA = Mrs B Harrison KHI = Mrs K Hitchen MLI = Mr M Lingard SMC = Mrs S McLean NPA = Mrs N Parkinson LRO = Mrs L Ross LRU = Ms L Rushton SST = Mr S Stokes AWA = Mr A Washington

1. What room would you go to for Registration?

2. What subject does Mrs Ross teach?

3. What is the 3rd lesson on Wednesday, Week 2?

4. When do you have Drama?

5. Who teaches you Maths?

6. Where is Computer Science taught?

7. When do you need PE kit?

8. Which two teachers teach you Geography?

Registration Lesson 1 Lesson 2

B

R

E

A

K

B

R

E

A

K

B

R

E

A

K

Lesson 3 Lesson 4

L

U

N

C

H

L

U

N

C

H

L

U

N

C

H

Lesson 5

Monday A 7S/Tu

113

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/MA3

115

SMC

7A/MU4

216

BHA

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/RE4

124

CBL

Tuesday A 7S/Tu

113

7A/FR4

108

GBL

7A/Gg4

213

NPA

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/MA3

115

SMC

7A/EN4

222

KFL/LRU

Wednesday A 7S/Tu

113

7A/FR4

108

GBL

7A/Hi4

214

KHI

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/MA3

115

SMC

Thursday A 7S/Tu

113

7P4/Pe

PE1

SST

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/Cs1

221

AWA

7A/Dm1

112

KCH

Friday A 7S/Tu

113

7A/Gg4

213

NPA

7P4/Pe

PE1

SST

7A/Hi4

214

KHI

7A/RE4

124

CBL

7A/MA3

115

SMC

Monday B 7S/Tu

113

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/MA3

115

SMC

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/Gg4

210

MLI

7A/RE4

124

CBL

Tuesday B 7S/Tu

113

7A/MU4

216

BHA

7A/FR4

108

GBL

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/MA3

115

SMC

7A/SC4

101

LRO

Wednesday B 7S/Tu

113

7A/Hi4

214

KHI

7P4/Pe

PE1

SST

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/MA3

115

SMC

Thursday B 7S/Tu

113

7P4/Pe

PE1

SST

7A/RE4

124

CBL

7A/EN4

204

KFL

7A/Cs1

221

AWA

7A/Dm1

112

KCH

Friday B 7S/Tu

113

7A/RE4

124

CBL

7A/Gg4

213

NPA

7A/FR4

108

GBL

7A/SC4

101

LRO

7A/MA3

115

SMC

School Map

Pastoral Care

Our Assistant Headteacher, Mr Morris, Head of Year 7, Mr Callander, and Assistant Head of

Year, Miss Webster, work with all your form tutors to ensure the very best care during your

time at Holy Cross. Miss Marcroft is our SLT link and is in charge of transition, you may see

her at parental meetings.

Your pastoral team will ensure a smooth transition into Holy Cross and provide you with

care and guidance during your time at school. Each year group has a Head of Year and

Assistant Head of Year who is responsible for the year group. Each year is split into seven

form groups. Each form group is headed by a member of staff who you will see every

morning during registration and on assembly days. Your form tutors are your first port of

call with any issues or problems, they will aim to build your self-confidence and encourage

you to mix with your new classmates.

The form tutors group are:

H

L

Y

C

R

S

X

Teachers will be assigned to these forms shortly; this information will be provided soon.

Form Time Structure

At 8.50 am all pupils should be on the school site, when the bell is called, pupils should

begin to make their way to their form room and line up to begin the day.

During this time, there will be many activities which need to be completed:

• Prayer/collective worship

• Uniform check

• Equipment check

• Notices

• Daily activity eg Newsround/Literacy and Numeracy task

• Silent reading

Year Group assemblies

Each year group has an assembly once a week, for Year 7 this will be Friday all pupils must

be seated by 8.55 am. This assembly is usually led by the Head of Year or a member of the

Senior Leadership Team. They will also sometimes be led by a particular form group. The

assemblies will be held in the school hall, you are expected to be seated in alphabetical

order in your forms designated seating areas.

Collective worship

Each morning will begin with prayers or collective worship in form tutor groups. Pupils are

encouraged to take an active part and on occasion lead reflections or prayers.

Our School Prayer

Lord May our school be full of welcoming

Let our rooms be full of happiness Let learning fill our day

Teach us to respect ourselves Give us the strength to do our best

Give us the skill to use our talents wisely Lord, make this school your home

Amen

Uniform

We believe that an economic and practical uniform helps us achieve the high standards of

work, behaviour and commitment, and the great majority of parents support us in this view.

All pupils are, therefore, expected to wear the uniform that is listed below. In certain

circumstances, a uniform grant may be payable by the Local Authority.

Boys Girls

White shirt White shirt

School tie School tie

Black, plain-knit "V" neck long Black, plain-knit "V" neck long

sleeved sweater with badge sleeved sweater with badge

Black tailored uniform trousers Black skirt, knee length plain or pleated but

Grey or black socks not straight, and of knee length, no lycra

*BLACK LEATHER SHOES Black tailored uniform trousers

(no boots/trainers) Thick black tights, black socks

*Please note no other colour is *BLACK, LEATHER flat heeled shoes

acceptable (no boots/trainers)

*Please note no other colour is acceptable

There is no uniform outdoor coat but we would ask for a sensible jacket. Track suit tops,

hoodies, sweatshirts, military or denim coats are not allowed. Baseball style caps are not to

be worn on the school premises.

PE Uniform

Boys Holy Cross badged red/black rugby shirt Holy Cross badged red/black polo shirt

Girls Holy Cross badged red/black fleece jacket Holy Cross badged red/black polo shirt

Black shorts Black shorts Black football socks Black football socks Trainers Trainers Football boots Shin pads and gumshield

Football boots Shin pads and gumshield

Jewellery

Pupils are not allowed to wear jewellery (except watches) including earrings. Should you

wish your child to have their ears pierced, please ensure that this takes place at the

beginning of the summer holidays so that they can safely remove earrings for school in

September.

Earrings, chains, necklaces, and rings can be a safety hazard in school. They can also be lost

or mislaid which results in teaching time being wasted whilst the problem is dealt with.

Legal advice recommends this policy on safety grounds.

Please be advised that we do not allow pupils to wear any make up in school. Nail polish or

acrylic nails are also against school policy. Any pupil attending school wearing make-up or

nails, should be expected to remove them or placed in isolation.

It is advisable to label each item of clothing with your child’s name to avoid items being lost.

Equipment

It is really important that you are fully prepared for all your lessons at Holy Cross. Below is a

checklist of equipment that you will need:

√ Blue or Black Pen

√ Pencil

√ Ruler

√ Rubber

√ Reading book

√ Planner

Lockers

Every pupil will be given a locker and padlock on the first day of school. The cost of rent is

£10 this covers the upkeep and maintenance of the locker over the five school years. It is

your responsibility to keep the keys safe.

Pupil Planners

On your first day at Holy Cross all pupils will receive a planner. This is a particularly

important piece of equipment as it is used for recording homework and detentions. Parents

can use the planner to communicate with form tutors and record any appointments which

will be attended during school hours

√ Sharpener

√ Protractor

√ Compass

√ Green and Purple Pen

√ Scientific Calculator (we recommend

CASIO fx-83GTX)

Rewards and Praise

At Holy Cross we use an achievement system to record praise. The system works by staff

awarding pupils for a wide range of activities: effort and achievement in lesson, successful

group work, sporting achievements and many more.

The achievement points will allow you to be in the running to win vouchers and attend the

end of year trip.

We also hold regular year group rewards assemblies to recognise your academic

achievements and progress.

Behaviour and Discipline

Holy Cross is known for excellent behaviour and well-ordered pupils in the classroom and the

school environment. We believe every pupil has the right to learn and every teacher has the

right to teach. Therefore, pupils who choose not to follow the school rules will be subject to

sanctions. Sanctions are on a debit system:

D1 – Warning

D2 – Detention given

D3 – Removal from classroom

D4 – Isolation

School Meals and ParentPay

Holy Cross uses a biometric system for the purchase of school meals. This compliments the

online payment system ‘ParentPay’. On your first day at Holy Cross we complete the setup

of the biometric system in order for you to purchase your school meals.

Biometrics authentication is the automatic recognition of a living being using suitable body

characteristics for example your fingerprint. A biometric feature is saved onto a database

and gives you access to buy school meals.

Please be assured that a fingerprint image cannot be used by any other source for

identification purposes.

The use of biometric recognition system at Holy Cross creates a cashless system in school.

To pay for your school meals you must have credit on your account. Parents can credit the

account via ParentPay or pupils may top up their account via a machine which accepts cash.

Parents can also set a limit that pupils can spend daily on their school meal account.

Pupils can also bring their own packed lunch to eat in the main dining hall.

ParentPay

ParentPay is a secure system which offers parents the freedom to make payments

whenever you like. ParentPay is used to make payments for school meals, trips, and school

supplies. For your convenience there is an App which can be downloaded for your mobile

phone.

You will be sent further information containing details on how to activate your ParentPay

account and any support on this matter will be available directly through school.

Homework

Pupils will be set homework by their class teacher through Show My Homework. Teachers

will set homework when they deem it meaning and purposeful. However, when homework

is set there will be an adequate amount of time to complete the homework to a high

standard.

Pupils will receive their personalised login details on the first day of school in September.

Please be advised that it is not a requirement to login to Show My Homework to view this

content. The main homework calendar is available at:

https://holycrosschs.showmyhomework.co.uk. However, it is advisable to use your login

and password to receive a personalised list of homework tasks this means you can

communicate with your teacher if you are struggling with any homework tasks.

There are opportunities available to complete homework during some lunchtimes in the

library or in supervised classrooms.

Absences

If your child is too ill to get in to school, please report this by ringing school before 8.55 am

on the day of the illness. If we are unaware of your child’s absence you will receive a text or

phone call enquiring about his/her whereabouts.

You will need to ring in on a daily basis throughout the child’s absence. On returning to

school the pupil must bring a note written by his/her parent or guardian explaining their

absence. This content of the note is recorded on our system.

Our contact details are:

Holy Cross Catholic High School

Myles Standish Way

Chorley

Lancashire

PR7 3LS

Tel: 01257 262093

Absence is monitored by our designated Attendance Officer, Mr Dooley.

We can only authorise absence for:

• Hospital appointments – you will need to provide us with an appointment card, letter or

text from the clinic or hospital. The card, letter, or text should be shown to the

receptionist on the day of the appointment

• Illness – we will ask you to provide a note explaining the nature of the illness and

medical evidence

• Exceptional circumstances

Every child should have a minimum of 97% attendance. For every day, your child is absent

it will become more difficult for them to achieve.

Mobile Phones

Holy Cross recognises the use of mobile phones travelling to and from school as they can

help with pupil safety. Therefore, pupils can bring mobile phones into school on the

understanding that phones are switched off, kept in bags or lockers and not seen

throughout the day.

If a mobile phone is used, seen or heard on school premises it will be confiscated and

handed to reception. The mobile phone will only be returned to a Parent/Carer through

reception.

Pupils must only contact Parents/Carers through reception.

Support in English

What is Bedrock Vocabulary?

Bedrock Vocabulary is an online vocabulary curriculum that teaches pupils about vocabulary

through reading, games and quizzes. It has different blocks, which means that it is tailored

to each individual pupil and each pupil will have a level appropriate to them. It embeds new

words and also recaps words that pupils will already know.

Pupils are expected to complete a minimum of 2-3 lessons per week. They will complete

one of these in an English lesson each week and will be expected to complete 1-2 lessons at

home. Pupils can do this on any device with the internet.

There is also a Bedrock club every Monday lunch time if pupils need to complete their

lessons.

How can I help my son/daughter?

You can monitor their use of Bedrock each week via the parent access code. This will enable

you to see their progress and monitor how many lessons they are completing each week.

Reading at Holy Cross At Holy Cross Catholic High School, we believe that reading is fundamental for our pupils' academic and emotional development, thus we actively promote this across school. All tutor rooms have a reading box, Key Stage 3 pupils begin every English lesson with silent reading and we encourage pupils, as part of their English homework, to continue reading at home. What is Accelerated Reader? Accelerated Reader is a programme which we use with all pupils in Years 7 to 9. Once a fortnight, pupils are taken to the Library by their English teacher and given a full hour to access our wide range of resources, including thousands of works of fiction, a diverse range of non-fiction texts and multiple specialist magazines. Pupils are encouraged to use this time alongside 15 minutes per English lesson to read. Once they have completed a book of their choice, they are able to log on to their Accelerated Reader account and take a quiz on the text they have just read. Pupils love being able to see their quiz scores and how many words they have read so far. In previous years we have had over 52 word millionaires who have all benefitted from awards for their excellent efforts. How Can I Encourage My Child's Reading at Home?

• Provide a range of reading material. From novels to non-fiction, anything you can read is worthwhile. Many children enjoy reading magazines or blogs based around one of their hobbies or interests.

• Question your child about what they've read. • Challenge your child to read something different. Although revisiting a favourite

book is often enjoyable, choosing a book that's out of their comfort zone will help them to progress.

• Encourage your child to read often. Reading is an excellent way to wind down before bedtime.

• Monitor their progress on Accelerated Reader by accessing your parent account or asking to see their reading log in their school planner.