Students explored careers in medicine as part of a hands-on surgical dissection experience.

With World Book Day just days away, plans are well under way to mark the annual celebration of reading in style.

TCA is oversubscribed for the coming academic year following an increase in the number of offers made for places at the Academy.

Our Year 10s spent a week on work placements at various firms and organisations in the area, some of which they sourced themselves.

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to notify you about some necessary changes to our behaviour system, which will commence Monday 25^th February 2019

This is to further encourage good behaviour in school, which the vast majority of our students display and in turn creates a positive learning environment for the students at Thomas Clarkson Academy.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support. The vast majority of our students are well behaved and their conduct overall is a credit to themselves, their families and the Academy.

After school detention:

Detentions will be issued when students haven’t met Academy standards.

Detentions will be held Monday to Friday starting at 15:00 and finishing at 15:45.

Should a student fail to attend a detention, they will be automatically entered for a Principal’s detention on a Friday for 1 ½ hours (15:00 to 16:30).

Failure to attend or complete Principal’s detention will result in the student being removed from our community to work in isolation.

There will be no second chance detentions or exemptions from the after-school detention system. If your child has a medical appointment, parents/carers must inform the school with evidence and rearrange the detention. It is not possible for a student to rearrange it themselves. If your child is absent on the day of a scheduled detention, it will be rearranged to the next detention session automatically.

In line with the Department for Education, schools have no legal obligation to inform parents/carers that their child is being kept back after school for a detention. Nor do schools need the consent of a parent/carer to issue and detain a student for an after-school detention.

As an academy, we have however made the decision to continue to notify parents that their child has been entered for a detention by text or email.

In the event a child has been issued a same day detention (perhaps due to absence on the day in which the detention was issued), we will endeavour to contact parents by telephone.

We understand that after-school detentions can sometimes be an inconvenience to parents/carers, however they are an integral part of the behaviour system, and as such we urge parents/carers to encourage their children to adhere to the rules and expectations of the academy, so that ultimately they are not issued with a detention.

• For further information on the guidance surrounding detentions, please visit the links below for the Department of Education:

  www.gov.uk/school-discipline-exclusions/discipline

In Summary:

Detentions

• Monday to Friday
• Start time 15:00 – 15:45
• No second chance detentions
• Thomas Clarkson will notify parent/carer via email or text.
• Failure to complete/attend will result in a Principals Detention

Principals Detention (new)

• Every Friday
• Time 15:00 – 16:30
• Thomas Clarkson will notify parent/carer via email or text.
• Failure to complete/attend will result in Isolation

Isolation

• Monday to Friday
• Time 08:30 – 16:30
• Any student will in Isolation will enter the academy via the attendance entrance
• Thomas Clarkson will notify parent/carer via email, text or phone.
• Failure to complete/attend Isolation will result in further sanctions up to and including Fixed Term Exclusion.

Should you require any further information regarding our behaviour systems, please feel free to contact me.

Yours faithfully

Mark Taylor

Associate Vice Principal PDBW