Student Expectations

Four students sat around a table having a conversation with a young man facing two female students.

Dear Parents & Carers, 

We are writing to follow up from our recent communication informing you of some of the changes we have put in place on returning to school this half-term. The feedback from the parental survey and parental meetings identified that most parents / carers were happy with the behaviour within the academy, however, a small number felt that our expectations and standards could be raised even further to ensure effective learning for all students. As we strive towards excellence, we aim to use this feedback to drive forward positive change. Below we outline our high expectations of  behaviour, chromebooks, equipment and uniform. 

Uniform expectations

Following the re-introduction of lockers, in line with our uniform policy, if students are found to be wearing coats inside of the building these will be confiscated until the end of the day. It will be expected that all students will use the lockers to securely store away their outdoor coats and belongings. Hoodies are banned from the site and will also be confiscated from students if worn. Students should only wear one pair of small gold or silver studded earrings to school, no facial piercings such as  nose studs, bracelets or necklaces as per our uniform policy.

We would like to remind you that girls have the option of wearing either a Strood Academy skirt and black tights, a Strood Academy skirt and black ankle socks or Strood Academy trousers. We would like to remind you that knee length socks are not permitted as part of the uniform policy. We also do not allow any form of eyelash extensions or fake eyelashes as part of our uniform policy. If you would like a more detailed reminder of the uniform expectations please view them on the academy website. Failure to follow the schools’ uniform rules and hand over any infringing items will result in a 30 minute detention.

Behaviour expectations

At Strood we are focused on ensuring that all students have lessons that are free from disruption. We realise that ‘creating a positive climate for learning is a responsibility shared by leaders, teachers, parents and pupils’ hence our contact with you on this important matter. We have a consistent approach to managing disruptive students so that we as staff and you as parents can enforce expectations successfully. 

Below we have outlined our steps to managing low level disruption in classrooms: 

  • Students will be given one reminder (first warning) as part of our policy Remind, Reinforce, Remove.
  • Continued disruption after the reinforcement (second warning) will lead to the student being removed from the lesson. 
  • The student will then be kept in the removal room for the rest of the day where they will have access to their full learning. Any student who has been removed from the lesson will be placed in an after-school detention until 4pm that day. 
  • If your son / daughter is removed from the lesson you will receive an automatic text message informing you of the removal and the detention that day.
  • Following the removal, the class teacher will contact you within 24 hours to discuss the reason for the removal and work with you to discuss the removal. 

It is imperative that all students have access to disruption free learning. The above steps in managing behaviour are there for a very small minority of students who may cause disruption. We want to reiterate that the majority of our students do work extremely hard in lessons and want to be successful. 

Chromebooks 

As an academy we have been extremely proud to provide our students with chromebooks to enable them to access their learning both online at home and also within the academy. Consequently, it is vital that students bring their fully charged chromebooks with them to school as they are used in all lessons. If your son / daughter does not bring their chromebook they will be issued with a 30 minute detention.  If a Chromebook is not working, this should be reported to your child’s tutor as soon as possible as per your loan-agreement.  However, as also stated in the agreement, chargers should be replaced by parents.  They are USB-C type chargers that are available from many shops and online.

General Equipment 

Students are also expected to bring a pencil case containing a blue or black pen, red pen, pencil, ruler and calculator. On days when students have P.E lessons they must bring a full P.E kit to actively partake in the learning. Failure to bring any of the items above will result in a 30 minute detention being issued. 

We very much thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you on these important matters.

Yours faithfully, 

Numera Anwar Principal and Strood Academy Senior Leadership Team