The tutor group is the centre for each pupil’s daily work. The tutor groups meet twice a day with their Tutor and we regard this as an important part of routine work. Parents wishing to talk over any problems are asked to contact the Tutor first. If the matter cannot be easily resolved then please approach the relevant Assistant Head or Head of KS3 or KS4.

Our Home / School Agreement was created in 1999 and distributed to all households with children in the 11-16 age group attending school. This agreement is the result of a government directive that all schools should have such an agreement, but it must be stressed that signing it is NOT a legal requirement; it should be seen as a genuine effort of all parties concerned to work together for the good of the pupils.

Assessment is an important part of children’s learning and at Hartismere our assessment policy aims to improve a pupil’s performance by concentrating on achievement rather than failure. The system supports teachers and pupils working together and we hope to give the kind of information which will be useful for pupils, their teachers, their families and other users of our assessment system. Assessments are made in relation to skills, motivation and effort.

A very detailed profile is produced for each pupil during the course of the year at a time which is most appropriate to their learning needs. This involves a considerable amount of self assessment by the student and shows their achievement in all aspects of school life.

The pupil and form tutor work together to agree a summary of individual personal and social development. Parents are an important part of the assessment process and are asked to comment on their child’s performance.

A number of consultation evenings are arranged each year to enable discussions to take place with teachers; the dates of these sessions are made available to parents early in the Autumn term. They are arranged so as to complement the issuing of Pupil Profiles. Each year group has one session during the year. An appointment system operates between 5.00 pm and 8.00 pm.

In addition to these, there are two evenings for parents of Year 6 pupils in the year before their children join the school, one in November, and one in July. There is also an evening for pupils in Year 7 who have just arrived at the school. We hope that this will ease the process of transferring to a new school. Year 9 have an extra evening to discuss option choices. We have an Information Evening for Year 10 parents in the Autumn term to discuss such issues as Work Experience and the demands of GCSE. Year 11 have a ‘Pathways’ evening in the Autumn term where they can see the options open to them post 16, and an invitation evening when staff ask to see certain parents.

These dates appear in the calendar planner issued to pupils and parents at the beginning of each academic year.