School Shop summer holiday opening times 2024

During the summer holidays the school shop will be open between 10.00am to 2.00pm on the following dates only.

Tuesday 23 July to Friday 26 July
Tuesday 27 August to Friday 30 August

For more information about the school shop, please click here.

New PE tops for Year 7! This year we are launching our new St Bede's PE t-shirt which is more appropriate and practical for secondary school students. 

Pastoral arrangements - Year 7 2024/25

Head of Year 7 - Miss A Kuipers

Deputy Head of Year - Mr B Lofthouse

If you would like to see all staff information, including the Senior Leadership Team, Heads of Year and Heads of Department/course leaders (found under curriculum staff), please click here. Please note that this will be updated at the beginning of each school year.

Term dates

Daily routine

Your child will have access to their timetable online and they will receive a hardcopy on their first day in September. The two week timetable shows a daily routine which is quite demanding. Registration, tutor time, assembly, five different lessons and, for some students with a longer journey, makes for a day which requires them to be well organised. We value parental support greatly in checking that bags are packed with correct books and equipment, kit for PE and other practical lesson requirements and in checking online for homework, messages and other information each day.

Timings of the school day

Attendance, punctuality and reporting an absence

Homework

Equipment

Lockers

Lockers are available for use by students on payment of a £15.00 fee (non-refundable), payable online. This entitles the student to use an allocated locker throughout the main school (Years 7 to 11). Lockers will be allocated by student services at the start of every academic year and notified to the students. Whilst every effort is made to allocate lockers as close as possible to a student’s tutor room this is not always possible as there are not lockers in every building.

Students must:

• Only use the locker allocated to them
• Fit their own padlock* (min 4 mm diameter shank) – this must be kept on the locker even when empty
• Keep lockers clean and report any spills to student services
• Report any locker damage to student services
• Empty the contents of the locker at the end of each academic year

* Owing to a number of issues with combination padlocks, key padlocks are recommended.

Requests for padlocks to be removed should be made to students services (ie if a key is lost). This will incur a £5.00 charge payable online.

Lost property

This is always a problem especially in a large school. For this reason it is essential that items of clothing and other possessions be clearly marked with your child’s name. Students are encouraged to be responsible and to take care of their own property at all times. If students have lost anything they should ask at the school shop. Unnamed lost and found items remain in the lost property room until they are ‘recycled’ at the end of each half term.

Valuables

Valuable items should not be brought to school. If a student has to bring a large sum of money or an expensive item into school it should be handed in at student services for safe keeping during the day. All students are strongly advised to keep their money in wallets or purses, kept on their person. Money should not be left in bags. The school will make every effort to help in cases of lost property, but it must be understood that compensation cannot be paid by the school or by Surrey County Council for items lost or stolen on school premises.

Mobile phones use (and other devices)

School is a place where the casual use of mobile phones and any other mobile devices such as other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones is not allowed. This also includes audio equipment such as headphones/air pods and earbud type devices. However, we do allow these items to be brought to school.

Our expectations are:

• Personal, mobile technology may be brought to school by students only at their own risk. The school will take no responsibility for loss or damage unless the item is left in the care of student services, main reception or is confiscated by a member of staff. No-one is required to bring such technology to school and parents/carers may make a choice as to whether they allow it. Devices must be switched off and kept out of sight in bags during the school day from 8.00am until 3.00pm, including during break and lunchtimes .
• Technology which disturbs learning in any way (eg a phone that rings or vibrates in a lesson) or used without permission during the school day will be confiscated. Students will be able to collect their phone at the end of the day from the main reception. The confiscation will be recorded officially on Talaxy.
• Use of personal technology in lessons requires direct permission from the teacher and may be used only for the learning that is happening in that lesson. Students must ask permission and never assume it. Obviously, they must follow the teacher’s instructions.
• Trip leaders and staff supporting trips, visits and residentials, reserve the right to enforce mobile phone restrictions to support learning and safety.
• Students must not use their mobile phones to communicate within or from school during the school day (eg ring or text). If there is a genuine reason to do so they must seek permission at student services.
• Students must not use their mobile phones when they are in school, during the school day, for any reason, unless they have permission from a member of staff. 
• Reasonable adjustments to this policy will be permitted in exceptional circumstances such as where mobile phone use allows students to manage their medical condition effectively.
• ALL use of technology (whoever owns it) within the school community is subject to our IT Acceptable Use policy. This forbids inappropriate use (eg for bullying, downloading material that is not for school and so forth) and will be strongly enforced.

Filming or taking photos is not allowed unless agreed by staff (ie in a lesson).

Pupil Premium and financial support

Pupil Premium is additional government funding that is received by the school. The amount is calculated in relation to the number of eligible students on school roll. School funding is awarded to:

• Ever 6 FSM - any student who is or has been in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) in the last six years
• Ever 6 Service - any students whose parents are in the Armed Forces and are eligible
• CLA (child looked after) - any student who is in the care of the Local Authority
• Students who have been adopted or left care - PLAC (previously looked after children)

We would urge families to inform the school if their child is eligible for Pupil Premium as the funding we receive is substantial. The interventions this funding enables us to implement can also help other students who are not eligible but who may benefit from that support, which is very welcome. We are aware that families are sometimes uncomfortable sharing sensitive information of this nature but we assure you that we will deal with this matter in confidence. If you think your child is eligible for Pupil Premium funding or you have any questions, please contact Student Services Manager. Students not in receipt of the Pupil Premium funding may apply for additional financial support for school trips and equipment via our school bursary scheme (the school bursary application form and information leaflet can be accessed on the school website).

Pupil Premium Support

Free School Meals

Your child may be able to have Free School Meals if you are in receipt of any of the following:

• Universal Credit with an annual net earned income of no more than £7400 (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• Income Support
• Income Based Jobseekers Allowance 
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Please refer to the school website or contact student services (01737 214051) for further information and an application form.

St Bede’s is a voluntary-aided, comprehensive school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. The school, which was founded in 1976 by the Anglican Diocese of Southwark and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, is maintained by Surrey County Council. Since 1994, we have admitted students from all Christian denominations.

Why St Bede?

St Bede was born in 674. He went to school at the monastery of St Peter in Wearmouth but spent most of his life at the sister monastery of St Paul in Jarrow. He is rightly regarded as the father of English scholarship and learning and, apart from his books on the Bible and on the history of the Church, he also wrote works on poetry, geography and mathematics. He died on 25 May 735 and is buried in Durham Cathedral.

We feel that it is highly appropriate that our school should be dedicated to this good, learned and much loved Saint.

Religious life of the school

St Bede’s is a Christian school which currently has students from the following traditions: Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Independent Evangelical, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, Society of Friends, United Reformed, as well as students from other faiths.

As a joint church school, we try to recognise:

• What all Christians have in common
• What each Christian tradition contributes

Education is a partnership

We recognise that parents/carers are the prime educators of their children in faith and living.

We ask staff to help students realise their full potential to clarify and extend the Christian faith and vision that the students bring from their homes.

Governors seek to promote the interests of the school in the community and to appoint competent staff who are either positively committed to Christian education or clearly in sympathy with its aims.

We expect our students to bring a wide variety of interests and to share their insights in the building of a school community.

Our chaplains lead the school community in prayer, helping us to grow in faith, to celebrate the reconciling love of Christ by building bridges both within school and between us and the wider community.

The local churches play a distinctive but complementary role with regard to religious formation and to support the school in its ecumenical mission.

We encourage students to respond to the needs of today’s world through engagement with the wider community.

Building community

The immediate community includes staff, students and their families, as well as all those who contribute to the life of the school, including our governors, all our churches as well as our partner schools.

How we live

Our overriding mission is the spiritual, social and academic growth of each member of our school community. This calls for mutual respect for the dignity of each other as well as an acceptance of differences, expressed in attitudes, values and behaviour.

How we work

The curriculum as a whole reflects, as far as possible, the vision of the school through the selection of material, the methods of teaching and especially the quality of staff-student relationships. We teach the full National Curriculum in the first three years of the school and offer a wide range of subject options at both Key Stages 4 and 5.

All students study religious education throughout the school and our aims in this area are:

• To encourage awareness of the importance of religious understanding within the students’ experience
• To enable each student to appreciate the contribution of religion to human culture and society
• To promote an understanding of religious beliefs and practices in both Christian and non-Christian faiths
• To awaken recognition in students of the relevance and challenge of Christian values for contemporary society
• To support students in their search for a faith by which to live, with particular emphasis on the Christian way of life

How we pray

Worship at St Bede’s….

• is based on our shared belief in the love of God
• is an expression of our common Christian heritage
• is founded on the conviction that the diversity we experience is an enrichment

There are:

• School assemblies during which there is a brief presentation of the Christian message, leading to common prayer and allowing for individual response. We try to use a variety of media to provide interest.
• Services of prayer and worship marking major feast days and seasons of the church’s year. Such worship draws from the range of Christian tradition represented at St Bede’s.
• Year group assemblies and tutor group worship in the chapel.
• Regular acts of worship (both teacher and student-led) within the tutor group and, where appropriate, in the curriculum.
• Additional activities that take place during the school year that reinforce our commitment to our faith and allow opportunity for prayer.
• Informal groups which meet in the chapel for prayer, reflection and Bible study.
• Regular staff acts of worship.

Chaplaincy

Please go to the Chaplaincy area of the website for information regarding Chaplaincy at St Bede's.

Religious Education

Whilst our Christian values underpin everything that we do at St Bede’s, religious education lessons play a special part in helping students to explore the beliefs, traditions and experience which contribute to a Christian view of the world. The unity of faith we share and the diversity of traditions we inherit are taken into account in all religious education lessons. The Key Stage 3 (KS3) core religious education course deepens students’ understanding of salvation and widens their awareness of world religions, philosophy and ethics.

Students are also taught in denominational groups (DRE) for one lesson a fortnight in Years 7, 8 and 9. This allows for students to have a place within the curriculum catered to nurturing their own denominational identity as well as developing a deep appreciation for ecumenism.

Please go to the Religious Education subject information area of the website for more detailed information on the curriculum.

BBC Bitesize - Starting Secondary School 

Compass - 12 Steps to help with transition (scroll to the middle of the page for some great tips, please note the services offered by Compass do not cover the Surrey area)

Mindworks - Starting a new school in September 

Young Minds - Transitions and change 

Young Minds - How parents can help with secondary school transition

Anna Freud - Supporting children's transition to secondary school: guidance for parents and carers

Ten Ways for parents to help children cope with change

The policy of the school is that students wear school uniform. This is based on a belief that the uniform, amongst other things, provides a corporate sense of identity. Full school uniform is compulsory until the end of Year 11. The offer of a place at the school is made on the understanding that parents/carers will support the school in this matter. Parents/carers are asked to encourage their children to take pride in their uniform and to keep it in good condition. All uniform must be named.

Please click here for detailed information on school uniform.

We hope that parents/carers will feel very much involved with their child’s education, which we see as a close partnership between home, school and church. We hope that you will always feel welcome at the school.

When you do contact the school, the following information may help you decide who it is best to ask for:

1. Tutor - the most important contact person for your son/daughter. Tutors see students at the beginning of each day, receive your notes concerning absence, check uniform daily and will be the member of staff who knows your child best. Tutors monitor progress, set targets and give encouragement and praise where possible.
2. Head of Year - coordinates the entire year team and students in that year and deals with more serious matters that may involve dealing with outside agencies or more serious disciplinary procedures. They also see students whose work or behaviour deserves praise or gives cause for concern, as well as those students who have gained multiple merits.
3. Subject teacher - if your query concerns a particular subject you should contact your child’s teacher for that subject or the head of department.

If you need to contact a member of staff it is best to do so via email or telephone, see Contact Information. Staff will, where possible, reply to emails within 48 working hours during term time. Parents/carers and students should not expect a response within that time frame to emails that are sent in the holidays or at the weekend. 

To email one of your child's teachers/tutor, please use their staff code from your child's printed timetable - ??@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk from your personal email account we have registered at school. Students must email staff from their school Google account.

All parents/carers and visitors are asked to sign in whilst on school site by reporting to main reception only (located at the front of the school). We regret that it is not possible to see parents/carers without an appointment.

If your child is ill, you must telephone student services on each day of absence, see Attendance and Reporting absence.

Home-School Agreement

In line with government policy, the school has a Home-School Agreement which outlines some of the ways in which the school, parents/carers and students will be committed to working together. A copy can also be found in the student planner.

Home-School Agreement

Home-School communications

Communicating information to parents/carers is a key element of the good partnership between school and home that we strive to maintain at St Bede’s. We aim to ensure that communications are shared efficiently and promptly and with over 1900 students this is quite a challenge. We therefore require assistance from parents/carers in ensuring that contact details are always up to date.

We communicate different information in a variety of ways.

1. Talaxy emails to parents/carers – this is our main form of communication with parents/carers. These emails include information regarding your child, your child’s year group or class specific letters, trip or event details, test or exam revision details, school notices, parent newsletters and general reminders. In order to keep emails you receive from us to a minimum, we try and send multiple messages in one email, by year group, on a Friday. You  may still receive messages from us other than this during any given week. Some staff may also email directly (from their school account) about specific matters relating to your child. Any emails sent via Talaxy are automatically uploaded to your Talaxy account where they can also be viewed. (NOTE: You will need to provide a confidential email address (inaccessible by your children). If you do not have access to an email address which you check regularly, we need to know the best way to communicate with you.
2. Scopay direct emails/text messages – occasionally we will send you payment reminders directly from the online payments system. We may also occasionally contact you via text message for very urgent messages.
3. Parents/carers are able to access their child’s homework using Satchel One.
4. Letters sent by post to home address – this would be personal to your child only and may require a response from you.
5. Letters sent home via students – these may be class or school letters, however, we rarely use this method of communication.
6. School website – we have an interactive and informative website that we are continually updating with new posts and announcements; please check regularly to keep up to date with the latest information. Also familiarise yourself with the website so that you know where to find important and relevant information for your child when you need it.
7. Parent newsletter – the newsletter is produced and shared fortnightly with parents/carers and summarises activities and events that have taken place in school, celebrates students’ success, contains news items about the school’s work and advertises upcoming events/activities.
8. Social media – we have set up official St Bede’s social media sites on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn, so that parents/carers who use social media can receive notifications and updates. Please do join our sites; however parents/carers should not solely rely on this form of communication.

We recommend that you add school.simsoffice@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk and school.adminteam@st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk and scopay.com to your trusted recipients to avoid important emails going into your spam. Please regularly check that your Talaxy emails are not going into your junk/spam so that you do not miss important messages and updates from school. Please keep us informed if your email address has changed or if you have recently acquired a new email account. 

Please ensure we have a separate email address for each parent/carer who wishes to receive messages via Talaxy.

Accessing your child's information using 'Talaxy'

Parents/carers should each provide a separate email address for the school to be able to make regular contact. The school provides parents/carers (and students) password protected access to their child’s information stored on the school database. This provides access to:

• Basic student information (with a facility to correct and update)
• Attendance registers (sessions)
• Timetable Examination entries (including timetables and results)
• Progress/action reports Behaviour data (both positive and negative)
• Copies of documents (eg letters home) linked to your child

Each parent/carer of an individual child has a separate login with the username being the email address provided, as each parent/carer has a separate account they will only be able to see their own information unless a request is made by both parents/carers to share personal information. All students will have access to their own information.

Please note that the Talaxy system is ‘live’ and shares with you the data held by the school at any given moment. Some data (eg attendance registers) takes time to collect, check and update before it becomes final, therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information will be complete or completely accurate. For this reason, and for the protection of your child and others, it is important that all users of the system read and understand the E-safety policy and guidance which explains the terms on which the data is shared with you. The system also allows us to communicate with parents/carers by email and all notifications sent out are stored to be able to access at a later date.

Talaxy is the system that we use in most instances to communicate with parents/carers. We politely request that you look at your child’s information regularly (and check for accuracy termly).

Reporting progress

Parents/carers may use Talaxy to follow their child’s progress as well as: 

• Looking at the marked homework and classwork in their book
• Attending the ‘Meet the Tutor’ evening (October of Year 7 only)
• Discussion with subject staff at the parent consultation evenings (see the school calendar for dates)
• Progress reports
• Contacting the tutor or subject teachers if they have a particular concern

School website

The school website address is www.st-bedes.surrey.sch.uk. From the home screen you will be able to access the ‘Parents’ drop down menu in order to access links to important information that parents/carers will need to refer to, ie the calendar, parent newsletters, term dates, Partnership with Parents information and much more. Other useful information can be found under the ‘School Life’ drop down. Announcements will appear on the home screen. Please check the school website regularly.

Biometric systems

St Bede’s uses an automated recognition system which identifies a student by scanning their fingertip and generating a code from its features. At no point is any ‘fingerprint’ stored and the code does not allow the ‘fingerprint’ to be re-created.

We will invite all new Year 7 students to have their fingertip scanned to allow them to use the canteen. This requires permission from a parent/carer. The vast majority of our students use this system as it is very convenient, in particular if they intend to use the school canteen which is cashless, or to borrow books from the library. If you have any concerns or would like further information please do not hesitate to contact our Student Services Manager.

The biometric system is used to register all students arriving late to school or leaving early. All students in Years 7 to 11 must report to student services to sign in if they are late or returning to school and they must sign out here if they leave during the school day.

Cashless Payments (‘Tucasi’ on www.scopay.com/surreystbedes)

We encourage all our parents/carers to make payments to school using this online system. Full details of the system and how to access online payments have been sent out by email.

All students and staff may use this system to make ‘cashless’ purchases. Once an online account is set up you can top up your child’s canteen account, purchase goods from the school shop and pay for trips and visits. The online account page, which is accessible via the school website, also allows parents/carers to see exactly what is available, what has been paid for and even details of what has been purchased in the canteen.

A student’s canteen account cannot be used to make purchases in the school shop. Parents/carers are also advised that as students reach the end of their schooling at St Bede’s they should ensure that canteen balances are run down to zero. Refunds or transfer of balances on canteen accounts are not made.

Student bulletin

The student bulletin is produced weekly and tutors share the presentation with their tutor group at the beginning of the week. This includes worship materials linked to the theme of the week as well as important information about the forthcoming week’s activities/events, results from sports matches and learning quizzes/games. We also celebrate student success through this bulletin. The student bulletin is also shared with students via the student portal every Monday afternoon.

Pupil Voice

In each year, there is an elected Pupil Voice with representatives from each tutor group. They meet termly to discuss ways to improve the day-to-day running of the school and to enhance the students’ experience of St Bede’s. It also aims to raise the profile of what matters most to students and how we can support our students to excel in all areas of the school. Each year group Pupil Voice is overseen by the Deputy Heads of Year and students in all years have the opportunity to join a committee. The committees that will continue into 2024/25 are Diversity and Inclusion, Teaching and Learning and Environment and Facilities. We already have students signed up to help run initiatives and mark events next year and look forward to welcoming even more students, including our new year 7 cohort, into the groups next year. Pupil Voice runs from years 7 to 13 and Mr Mackie, in conjunction with relevant members of the senior team, oversees the three committees to offer a proactive platform for students to take action.

Student email

All students have an individual school email address as part of their account within the school’s G Suite for education system provided by Google. This is used by the school to communicate with students and for access to various parts of the system essential to their learning at St Bede’s. Being online, these resources are available to all students anywhere and anytime – in school, at home or even if away on a trip. As part of an integrated system, information can be shared across applications and assessment data and other information can be handled more efficiently. The school Gmail address is the only email address students should use when communicating with staff (school systems for school business). Students must not use a personal email address when contacting staff.

Satchel One

All students use an electronic homework recording system called Satchel One. This helps students to organise and complete the tasks set by their subject teachers. Students are also provided with a student planner which will be a manual way to record homework tasks, make notes, eg room changes and to store a paper copy of their timetable which they receive in September. Parents/carers are also able to access Satchel One to support independent learning at home.

Online resources

Students are encouraged to use technology for independent study and it is essential for some homework tasks that are set. If accessing online material is difficult for your child, please do make your child’s form tutor aware.

At St Bede’s, we provide a range of IT services to allow good quality teaching and learning to take place. These include subject specific website resources, software within school and more general internet services such as Google G Suite for Education; nearly all of these are essential tools to support student learning.

All students have individual access to the following Google services: Gmail, Google Classroom (teacher managed resource sharing and communications based on timetabled classes), Google Drive (cloud based file storage), calendar (showing their timetable), Docs, Sheets and Slides (cloud based word processing, spreadsheets and presentations), Keep (notes), Sites (website design), and Contacts (related to Gmail). Other Google tools are not linked to their account. There are also a range of curriculum resources to support learning in specific subjects, eg science, geography, languages, maths and others.

We also have a video library linked to the student portal which contains tutorials on how to use the various online resources. This resource is updated regularly.

Reading

It is impossible to stress too highly the importance of reading for young people’s education. Good reading develops the imagination, helps to create an interesting style of writing, assists spelling and gives much pleasure. Reading enables young people to develop an understanding of their culture and society, increases their vocabulary and, in the words of Spike Milligan, “Reading is like jogging for the brain.”

Please encourage your child to read widely and to borrow books from the school library as well as the public library. Any reading material: fiction, non-fiction, magazines and newspapers is encouraged. The library contains a variety of reading material suitable for a whole range of ages and abilities (including reluctant readers). The library staff will be able to help your child with suitable material.

As we are sure you are aware, young people are also greatly helped by discussion with their parents/carers, so please engage your child’s interest in current affairs through discussion.

The library

The library is open from 8.15am to 4.30pm every day. All students are welcome.

There is a huge choice of books and digital resources to choose from and we also have computers, chromebooks and printing facilities available. Students are encouraged to use the library and to borrow books, both for pleasure and for information to help with homework, research etc. There are comfortable areas to sit and read, tables for quiet study, and plenty of room to browse. At least one member of the library staff team is always on duty and will be happy to help with finding books and using the resources.

Year 7 students have regular reading lessons with an English teacher and the librarians; we also run a series of introductory sessions during the autumn term to help students get the most out of the library. A team of friendly student librarians help us to run the library smoothly.

We look forward to meeting you!

For more information on student wellbeing, please go to the Student Wellbeing area on the school website.

Student relationships

The vast majority of our students experience friendly relationships with members of their tutor group and year group, and with other students in St Bede’s School. If, however, any student feels unhappy due to the behaviour of others towards them, the school has a clear policy of guidance in relation to preventing and addressing bullying. All staff are trained to deal with any situation which may arise, in a firm yet sensitive way. This includes a positive, step-by-step approach which has been found to be most effective in diffusing situations and enabling students to feel individually safe and secure. Information on what to do if a difficult situation arises will be given to your child by their tutor. It is most important that any student who feels unhappy about any aspect of school life should talk to their tutor, helpliners, head of year or any other member of staff. Students may also report any concerns using ‘tootoot’ - an anonymous reporting platform.

Helpliners

A small group of sixth form students are attached to each tutor group in Years 7 and 8 to assist the tutor in pastoral work with the students. They also provide additional, sometimes confidential, support for your child. Helpliners attend morning registrations, take part in tutor group activities and visits and become a friendly and supportive part of helping students to cope with life in a new school. They receive initial training, including basic safeguarding training, so that they can help to support students safely (within the limits of safeguarding) and have a particular role in providing an initial contact if students have problems with friends or are experiencing difficulties of any kind.

Chaplaincy team

The chaplaincy team forms an important part of the pastoral structure at St Bede’s for students, staff and parents/carers, providing general pastoral support for all, including 1:1 and group sessions for students as required. They also work closely with year teams and our other support mechanisms within the school. The team provides specific support for students such as 'young carers' (in liaison with Surrey Young Carers) and through bereavement and loss, both in the short and longer terms. They are aware of the need to protect confidentiality (within the limits of safeguarding) and respect the wishes of the individual at all times, as appropriate.

For more information on the chaplaincy team, please go to our Chaplaincy area of the website.

Behaviour and Student Support (BaSS)

The BaSS team supports the ethos and values of the school in working with students who are experiencing behavioural and emotional difficulties and supporting them in all aspects of school life. Three experienced non-teaching members of staff are available to engage with individual students in conjunction with pastoral staff. The staff in the BaSS are all safeguarders and work closely with outside agencies including our Valley Trust counsellor, Early Help practitioners (eg Targeted Youth Support) and Children’s Services.

Wellbeing Hub

The purpose of the Wellbeing Hub is to protect and promote students' mental health and wellbeing and has a particular focus on students who are struggling with school and experiencing anxiety and mental health issues. The Hub also liaises closely with the MHST (Mental Health Support Team) and other outside agencies.

Welfare services

The school works closely with a number of outside agencies including Health (School Nurse), MHST (Mental Health Support Team), CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), Valley Trust (counselling service), Children’s Services, Educational Psychology, the Inclusion Service, Surrey Police and Surrey Virtual School. If you are concerned for your child and would like to explore requesting support from any of these services we would encourage you to speak with your child’s head of year in the first place (all heads of year are safeguarders) or any other member of the safeguarding team.

Valley Trust counselling

Our Valley Trust counsellor offers a twice weekly confidential listening/counselling service for students who are experiencing problems. Students can self-refer without the permission of a parent/carer or a parent/carer can request an appointment for their child. Pastoral staff also make referrals. Students (and parents/carers) can approach their tutor, heads of year, chaplains or student services for information about this service.

Mental Health Support Team (MHST)

The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is a service aimed at supporting students experiencing issues like low mood, worries, stress, anxiety, sleep problems. MHST is rooted in the NHS Mindworks Surrey provision as well as linked to CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service) and students can be referred by pastoral staff, the BaSS or the Wellbeing Hub staff. Parental consent is required.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding team is headed up by the Designated Safeguarding Lead and consists of the three heads of key stages, all heads of year, the BaSS team and the Wellbeing Hub team and a number of learning support staff. These safeguarders are available to support our young people and ensure they are ‘safe’, liaising with parents/carers and staff, and where necessary relevant agencies in order to support students through more challenging times. 

For more information on safeguarding, please go to our safeguarding area of the website.

SEND support

The SEND support department is led by our SENDCo. The department also consists of an Assistant SENDCo, SEND administrator, an access arrangement coordinator, five lead SEND support assistants and a team of SEND support assistants who support in the classroom and with 1:1 or small group interventions.

The team supports students who require additional help to access the curriculum both in and out of lessons. Within the department, we also identify and organise specialised assessments for students who may qualify for exam access arrangements. The department also liaises and coordinates provision with external agencies.

Students who are Wave 3 (specialist provision) and have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), will be allocated a key worker who will support their learning and emotional wellbeing. Students who are Wave 2 (targeted provision) will also be offered support which may include short-term interventions and increased monitoring of progress.

Should you have any concerns about your child and feel that there are barriers to their learning, please make contact with their teachers or tutor in the first instance.

For further information, please see the Inclusion & SEND area of the website.

Partnership with Parents (PwP)

The main purpose of our Partnership with Parents initiative is to create an extra level of pastoral support for children and families by offering effective strategies, support groups, training sessions/presentations and an opportunity to talk to other parents who have had/are currently experiencing similar challenges. We also hope to empower parents, encourage open and honest communications and strengthen the home school link.

For more information on this initiative, please click here.

At St Bede’s we believe that everyone matters equally and that learning is important. We also believe that good behaviour is vital to ensure everyone in the classroom gets the education they need. Here at school, we are excited to reiterate our high expectations in a positive way under the title of, ‘The St Bede’s Way.’

Our behaviour for learning policy has been recently reviewed and approved as of March 2024 and highlights the following principles:

• Good behaviour is best promoted in an environment where people feel safe and valued and where learning is purposeful.
• People respond better to praise and encouragement than to criticism and sanctions.
• Rules are necessary for orderly community living and must be clearly stated and followed by students and staff.
• All members of the school community have a common responsibility for promoting and maintaining good order and for applying this policy consistently.

Teachers will apply the above principles when managing behaviour in lessons and around the school. While teachers will always look to notice and praise students doing the right thing, issuing merits and shoutouts, to create a positive climate for learning, there will also be times that students face consequences for poor behaviour.  

Our system involves teachers issuing formal ‘logs’ on Talaxy. This way you can follow your child’s behaviour each day. Talaxy ‘log’ warnings will be issued to reinforce our standards and expectations in order to support learning in the classroom. See specific examples below:

• When students do not have the minimum essential equipment required for the school day.

• When students arrive late to school or lessons. Students who are late as a result of a school bus will not be punished.

• When students are not in full correct uniform

• When students are issued a second warning in the class for persistent disruptive behaviour or non-compliance.

• When students are misusing their phone/mobile devices. 

• When students are disrespectful (towards staff, the school grounds, other students) or disruptive to the good order of the school (outside of lesson).

Where students receive three or more ‘logs’ in one day they will receive an after school centralised detention the next day for 30 minutes. Students for whom this applies, require a swift consequence. They also need to know that the next day is a fresh start. The certainty of a consequence will in most cases serve as a deterrent to poor choices and result in an even more calm and predictable school environment.

We do not seek to endlessly sanction students and the majority of students will not receive any ‘logs’. Our intention is that the vast majority benefit from a consistent approach to tackling low level persistent disruption in the classroom and therefore make even more progress in school. Following a survey earlier in the year completed by nearly 500 students, it is clear we are on the same page with them in regard to a shared expectation that students should show up to lessons on time, well dressed and equipped for learning, be teachable and be challenged to achieve their best. 

The certainty of consequences for students who fall below our expectations is designed to reinforce strong learning habits as well as habits that are required to be part of a community and large organisation, helping to shape our young people into resilient, aspirational, employable, promotable and investable young citizens.

We are grateful to students who follow our lead and rise to our expectations without hesitation. We are also committed to tackling those whose behaviour undermines our core school values and the learning and progress for the common good. We are grateful to parents who support our high standards and welcome you to the partnership.

Our Code of Conduct, which can be found in our behaviour for learning policy outlines our expectations.

Merits

Merits may be awarded to your child for their work, their contribution in a lesson, or for their part in an activity in school. Merits are recorded under one of our five values:

• Belonging
• Education
• Determination
• Excellence
• Service

The number of merits collected each term will be recognised as follows:

Shoutouts

Your child may also be awarded a 'Shoutout,' recognising their efforts where they have gone above and beyond. These are celebrated in assembly and fortnightly in the parent newsletter.

Good learning does not stop at the end of the school day. As well as regular homework, which extends subject learning outside the lesson, there are lots of opportunities to develop skills and interests beyond the classroom.

We offer a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities and activities, from orchestras, bands and choirs to a range of team and individual sports, as well as science and humanities clubs to Christian unions, the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme (from Year 9), debate club and drama clubs. Many of the school clubs are free, but we also offer some activities where we employ specialist instructors and a small charge is made. Details of all these programmes are published termly, and available on the school website under ‘School Life’. We set a challenge to all Year 7 students to join at least one club or activity in the course of the year.

School visits

The experience of trips and visits for students is enriching to their school life as well as educational. Such opportunities and experiences create student memories beyond the classroom and develop specific skills which cannot be taught within the classroom setting. Paperwork and prices have recently increased significantly, however, we are proud of the range of domestic and international trips that we have been able to offer. 

The school offers a wide range of day trips and residential visits that may be either subject and/or year based. All of these opportunities will be offered to parents/carers at the appropriate time via a Talaxy email. Some trips have limited spaces which will be allocated at random if oversubscribed. It is the school’s normal practice to request an initial deposit in order to secure a place on higher cost visits, and thereafter to accept payment in instalments. We ask all our parents/carers to make payments to school using the online system. More details about a particular visit can be obtained from the teacher responsible. We feel it is important that, as far as possible, finances do not prevent students from taking part in educational visits. Parents/carers who wish to request funding support for compulsory trips (such as those required by an examination specification) can be provided with a school bursary and inclusion fund application form (found here). The school has very limited funds and therefore a successful outcome is not guaranteed.

Peripatetic music lessons

St Bede’s is the music centre for the South East Surrey area. We have visiting peripatetic instrumental teachers for all strings, brass, woodwind and percussion as well as electric, bass and classical guitar, voice and piano. Parents/carers can apply online at www.surreycc.gov.uk/music or by calling 01483 519303. Woodwind lessons are also given at St Bede's by Mrs Jane Patrick. If you wish to contact Mrs Patrick for more information her email address is jane@patrickk.force9.net.

Lessons are taught either throughout the school day on a rota basis or after school, hugely extending tuition for students at St Bede’s and those from the wider community.

St Bede’s is pleased to offer an Assisted Instrument Purchase Scheme for our students, whereby an instrument can be purchased without paying VAT. This is a government initiative to encourage more young people to take part in music. This saving is available to students who have instrumental lessons arranged through the school or Surrey Arts, take GCSE or A level music lessons in school or take part in a school ensemble that meets regularly throughout the school year. Details can be obtained from the music department.

Students on Free School Meals (FSM) are supported by Surrey Arts. We are, however, conscious, that some of our families fall outside of the FSM criteria but are still unable to afford the cost of lessons. Please contact the music department to see if you can get financial support through a local music charity.

Fitness suite

Our fitness suite comprises of a fully equipped gym and free weights room. All students will be ‘inducted’ into the use of this facility as part of their PE programme. Once inducted, students are allowed to make use of the fitness suite at lunchtime and after school up to 4.30pm each day. There will be a sports attendant on duty, but the fitness suite is not closely supervised and students are expected to take responsibility for their own safety and use of equipment. We find this works very well, but parents/carers may decide not to give permission for their child to use the fitness suite outside PE lessons. We will assume that permission is given unless a parent/carer writes to us to say otherwise.

Use of the fitness room by parents/carers (and other members of the community) is available from 5.15pm-9.30pm Monday-Friday, 8.30am-6.00pm on Saturday, 10.00am-4.00pm on Sunday and times vary during school holidays (currently for £15 a month). Please ask for details if you are interested or check the fitness suite page on the website.

Bus and coach services

Surrey County Council (SCC) arrange the buses that serve the school. For information on eligibility for free school transport please refer to the Surrey County Council website (www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/transport/under-16/eligibility). On a limited number of services, concessionary seats may be available. Applications must be made by July – for full details, see the transport section of the Surrey County Council website www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/transport.  

If necessary, please contact Surrey County Council – Education helpline: 0300 200 1004.

Cars

Students arriving by car should be dropped off/picked up in Carlton Road or the surrounding roads. Parents/carers must not park near to or drive onto the school site at the beginning/end of the school day.

Please do not pull up or turn around in the gateways to the school when dropping off/picking up students as this is very dangerous to our students and other drivers and impacts on the flow of school buses onto the school site. Please observe the rules of the road and the street markings (there is no parking directly outside the school between 8.30am and 5.00pm) when stopping and parking in Carlton Road and please be considerate to the residents of Carlton Road and the surrounding area.

There is a visitor car park at the front of the school. For the safety of our students, parking elsewhere on the school site is not permitted during the school day.

Bicycles/scooters/skateboards

Parents/carers of students who wish to travel to school using a bicycle/scooter/skateboard allow them to do so at their own risk. Students are not allowed to use these items on school site during the day at any stage (including before or after school). These items are left on school premises during the day at the owner’s risk – the school does not have insurance to cover loss or damage. The wearing of safety helmets is strongly encouraged but it is the parent’s/carer’s responsibility to enforce. Parents/carers are also encouraged to plan a ‘safe route’ to school for those cycling on roads and remind students that they must abide by the Highway Code when travelling to/from school. E-scooters are not permitted on the school site at all.

Getting home

With all sorts of activities taking place after school, students may sometimes prefer not to travel home immediately. The school does not provide direct supervision for students after activities are finished, nor transport home, though we will try to help if there is a genuine emergency or difficulty. There are responsible adults on site and facilities open until 4.30pm each day. At this point students are asked to leave the school site. After 3.30pm, parents/carers may arrange to collect students from school by car, using the ‘bus loop’ on school premises. Before 3.30pm, collection should be from roads surrounding the school and not from the school directly.

In secondary school we expect all students to communicate with their parents/carers to make arrangements for travelling home if these are different from the norm and to ensure that parents/carers are aware of their plans. Any use of a mobile phone during the school day must be with permission. Students should visit student services to seek permission to contact home using their mobile phone.

Students travelling to/from school in school uniform represent St Bede’s and they are expected to behave appropriately. Students who are reported to have behaved in a way that brings the school into disrepute will be sanctioned accordingly.

You should notify the school if your child has a medical condition. The school has an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) available for this purpose. If you need to discuss your child’s medical condition please contact Student Services on 01737 214051. You can access an IHP form in the Student Wellbeing area of the website.

Asthma

Please make sure you inform the school of your child’s treatment for asthma and what may trigger an attack. Please attach a copy of your child’s asthma action plan to a completed Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP).

If your child carries ‘relief’ medication, we would suggest that a spare be kept in Student Services for use in an emergency. Please complete the parental agreement to administer the medicine section in the IHP which also includes consent for the use of the school's emergency salbutamol inhalers.

Adrenaline auto-injectors

It is important that you provide Student Services with your child’s photo and a copy of the treatment plan for your child’s allergy. If your child has an adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) for treatment of an allergy, please make sure they carry two with them at all times. We do encourage a spare to be held in school for use in an emergency. Please attach a copy of your child’s allergy action plan to a completed Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP) and complete the medicine section of the IHP which also includes consent for use of the school's emergency AAI.

Diabetes

Please inform Student Services of your child’s treatment for their diabetes. (We would normally be contacted by your child’s diabetic nurse to discuss their treatment). Appropriate emergency rations (drinks, biscuits etc) should be kept in Student Services for any student with diabetes. Please make sure these are in a container labelled with your child’s name and tutor group and parents/carers should ensure that goods are replaced regularly so they do not become out of date.

Medication

The school is not allowed to provide students with general medication but we are allowed to provide paracetamol for emergency use. Paracetamol can be provided to relieve minor ailments, such as headache (not associated with a head injury), toothache, dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) and sudden rise in temperature, in order to allow the child to remain in school. Paracetamol will only be administered to a student to relieve minor symptoms as described above which begin to present themselves during the school day. Paracetamol will not be administered to the student until we have contacted a parent/carer to establish permission, need and prior dosage.

Student Services will hold named medicines/tablets for students either temporarily or long-term, but they must be in the original container or packaging (no loose tablets in envelopes please). Written permission must be provided with this medication, signed by the student’s parent/carer and stating the dosage and time to be taken. Student Services cannot take responsibility for ensuring that medication is taken at the correct time.

It is the responsibility of the parents/carers to ensure that all medication kept in school for their child is within its expiry date, and to replace it when necessary.

The only prescription medications a student is permitted to carry with them around school, on their person, are asthma inhalers and adrenaline auto-injectors. As these are prescribed drugs, it is important that they are clearly labelled with the student’s name and tutor group in case it is accidentally mislaid during the day.

Please also refer to the supporting students with medical needs policy.

Why do we need an IT Acceptable Use Policy?

We want every student and member of staff to use all the facilities provided by computer systems including the Internet. We believe that it is appropriate for people to be allowed a great deal of freedom in using IT for study, work and leisure. With freedom comes responsibility. St Bede's cannot control what people all over the world make available on the Internet and a small proportion of this is not acceptable in school, whilst other material must be treated with great sensitivity and care. Exactly the same standards apply to electronic material as to material in any other form. If it would not be acceptable for school in a book, magazine, video, audiotape or spoken form, then it is not acceptable on a computer.

For the full IT Acceptable Use Policy, click here.

Parental use of school data

The school believes that sharing information that the school holds about its students with their parent(s)/carer(s) helps to support the school in promoting good learning and progress, and also enables parents/carers to support their child. We aim to allow students and their parent(s)/carer(s) to access all information we hold electronically about each student, but this access has to be subject to some basic rules and terms. Using systems to access student data is strictly and always subject to the following:

• The school cannot be responsible for the confidentiality of data once accessed by students and parents/carers. By accessing student or parent data you take on the responsibility for caring for it. The school will not be held liable for information disclosed by a parent/carer or student who had legitimate access to it.
• The information provided is shared ONLY for the purpose of informing a student or their parent/carer. The information remains confidential and may not, under any circumstances, be published in any form (including on the web or social networks).
• For clarity – students and parents/carers may naturally discuss the information as they wish (eg within the family or with an advisor) but there is no permission for that information to be made public (eg in a newspaper article or even in a twitter, Facebook or web page message).
• The system allows some information (eg reasons for absence, changes of address, bookings for parents’ evenings, option choices) to be given to the school. The online system is more reliable and effective than the paper-based systems it replaces, but as has always been the case, we cannot promise, warranty or guarantee that such information will always be received and processed without error, though we will always seek to correct any errors made if it is possible to do so.
• Live, read-only access is provided to information held electronically by the school, as it is at that moment. This will inevitably mean that the information has not always been checked and verified and may not be complete. We are always happy to hear about anything that is inaccurate or incomplete and the system provides parents/carers with easy ways to alert the school. We will do our best to correct information as soon as possible, but we make no promise, warranty or guarantee about the quality of the data we share with parents/carers and will accept no liability for its accuracy or completeness.
• Part of the information may relate to school records of disciplinary (eg to impose a detention or other sanction) or academic decisions (eg special educational need). We will not normally disclose detailed records relating to any investigation, discussion or decision. Parents/carers, who wish to discuss these matters, need to raise any questions or issues with the most appropriate person (eg form tutor, SENDCo, Head of Year).
• Some information is not held electronically and is not shared online. There are parental rights to access all information held about a student (the school ‘file’) subject to certain limits and protections. Parents/carers must write to the Headteacher requesting that they receive a copy of the student’s ‘school file’. A charge may be made for the file to be copied and a response is unlikely to be immediate. Parents/carers and students are also entitled to see their information under data protection rights.
• In the unlikely event that a parent/carer has access to data about a student for whom you do not have authorisation, they are required to guard the confidentiality of that information and alert the school immediately so that the data can be protected. Please contact the school data protection officer as soon as possible, via the contacts page on the main school website.
• Normal data protection law applies to all use of the information (and is reflected in these terms and conditions). Failure to observe these terms and conditions could expose a parent/carer to criminal action under the Data Protection Act and other law.

Advice and guidance to parents/carers - social networking websites

Many older (and some younger) people use extremely inappropriate behaviours and foul language on social networking sites because they think ‘no-one is looking’, it’s very easy to be rude in front of a screen rather than face to face. Internet Service Providers may be able to give a ‘family filter’ which will filter out undesirable websites. Parents/carers are asked to keep a regular check on what their child is doing on their phone, tablet and or on the personal/home computer, eg by going into the room unannounced to ‘have a chat’.

Parents/carers should regularly talk to their child about their use of IT, mobile devices and social media. Encourage them to be open and discuss what they share with others and why.

Parents/carers should remind their child that poor behaviour online is a very serious matter and may be reported by others who see it to the police. All social networking sites have complaints procedures and can track even those people who try hard to remain anonymous by using false names and identities. Rude or unpleasant things that are written about other people, and especially lies written about other people are deeply wrong, very likely to put the student into serious trouble with school if associated with other individuals in school and might even get the writer into court on a very expensive libel or defamation lawsuit.

Parents/carers should encourage their child to avoid getting involved in ‘saying’ negative things about other students, friends, teachers or members of staff. A good rule is: ‘If you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.’ In our Christian community, we expect all individual students to always behave respectfully towards each other at all times including on social media. Parents/carers are asked to support their child in being careful when following others online, especially people they do not know face-to-face (from whom they are much more likely to receive an unsolicited and offensive message).

The police run an excellent online advice and guidance service called CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection). Parents/carers should take the time to look at this site - it is often the best route for advice and to make complaints against other users who are misusing the internet. Parents/carers are also recommended to go through our website link to ParentZone who also offer very good advice and practical suggestions. The school, therefore, all parents/carers are members of ParentZone.

If parents/carers would like any advice from staff at school they should contact their child’s tutor or a member of our safeguarding team. We strongly recommend that parents/carers monitor and regulate their child’s use of social networking sites and know their online account passwords. In our experience misuse of social networking sites can lead to unpleasant friendship issues.

For more information about supporting your child staff safe online, please click here.

Photographs and videos

The use of photography and video in school for positive purposes (by staff and photography students) is encouraged and does not require any special permissions or procedures but those being photographed or videoed must give consent – usually informally but if the nature of the images might raise any doubts about the purposes for which they were taken, or if the school will not retain control of them (if they are published in any way), then formal permission must be obtained.

Images must never be made, or used, in any way which demeans, dishonours or abuses another person. The school will take serious disciplinary action in such cases in accordance with the school’s behaviour for learning policy.

Any member of the school community (staff or student) may take photos or make videos, including images of staff and students, in school or on organised school trips elsewhere for these positive purposes:

• As part of any course in which students need to make photos and videos
• As part of any learning or social activity organised by the school
• To support teaching and learning or to make a record of work in any subject or activity
• To celebrate the school’s work by showing or publishing within the school
• To communicate within the school (eg publicity photos, notices, senior student ID board)
• To celebrate groups and relationships arising from any of the above (eg a form group or team photo)

Where images are made for any of these reasons, there is no need to seek any special permission from the school, or from those being photographed or filmed or from their parents/carers. Those being photographed or filmed must freely agree to this and they must know the reason why the images are being made and what they will be used for. There is no need for any written agreement or record provided that the images are clearly and obviously positive and reflect normal school expectations and ethos. No-one must use the images for any other reason or purpose without seeking permission from those who were involved (and possibly from the school – see below).

Photographs may be taken or videos made at ‘public’ or school events (eg concerts, plays) ONLY with the explicit permission of the person in charge of the event or, if in doubt, the headteacher. Programmes and similar information will make clear when photography and video is acceptable: if there is no statement, photography and video are permitted. Many events will not allow photography or video in order to protect the enjoyment of the event from being disturbed and for copyright reasons as well as protecting students. ANY photography or video of a public or school event will be for ‘personal and family’ use only and may not be published in any form (including being placed on a web site – which includes sites such as Facebook and YouTube) or copies sold unless the headteacher has given written permission. Photography and video of public and school events for other purposes (eg for publication) will require permission to be sought from those imaged and from the headteacher.

Parents/carers may withdraw all permission for their child to be photographed or filmed in school (except where required for examination purposes) by informing the SIMS office in writing. A list of all students affected will be kept up to date and circulated to staff and the list must be checked before images or video that could clearly show one of these students is displayed in school or elsewhere. The school will not take responsibility where a student chooses to ignore parental wishes by volunteering to be photographed or filmed. Where images are published the school will not link an individual’s full name to an image without formal written permission from the individual and (where under 13) the parent/carer.

Permission must be sought in writing from the school (ie the headteacher) and directly from sixth formers or from the parents/carers of students in main school, where photos and videos are to be published outside the school (in a newspaper, website or other public form) except where the photo does not identify individual students (eg is of a group of students together or a number of individual, unidentified photos are used together to provide an impression of school life: as in the prospectus).

For further details, please refer to the school’s E-safety policy, on the school website.

Governors' fund

For information about the governors' fund and how you can help make a difference, please check out the Governors' fund area of the website.

Friend's of St Bede's

The Friends of St Bede’s are a highly committed group of parents/carers and all are welcome to join the team. We realise that support comes in many forms, from attending meetings, providing support at events, offering help in the run up to events and so much more. The Friends of St Bede’s work with the school to support events and to enhance facilities and services for students. 

For more information and how to get involved, please check out the Friends of St Bede's area of the website. The more the merrier!