Dear all,

At Holmleigh Park, we know that the independent work completed through our homework provision is absolutely essential for all pupils to achieve their potential with us. Because of this, we have been thinking a lot over the past few months about how we can remove as many of the barriers as possible.

Since Christmas, we have been working hard to relaunch Detention as Academic Preparation, which we are colloquially referring to at HP as “prep”.  We realised that every detention we were setting was due to a student not being sufficiently prepared for that day’s teaching. Most commonly, it was because they were late, did not have the necessary equipment or had not completed their homework. All of these factors mean that pupils arrive at school not prepared for the day ahead. At Holmleigh Park we want to support any student in this position to be able to break the cycle and come in the next day fully prepared and ready to have a brilliant day. However, upon reflection, we decided that the existing Detention system was not totally meeting this aim. Therefore, at considerable expense, we have repurposed the time into Academic Preparation and I am excited to be able to share details of this to you now.

There are some elements of Academic Preparation that are the same as Detention:

• It is compulsory for any student who is late, does not have the necessary equipment or has not completed homework.
• It takes place from 3:00pm to 4:00pm for Years 7-10 and 4:00pm to 5:00pm for Year 11.
• Non-attendance will automatically result in an OSP referral the next day.

However, there are a number of new addition to Academic Preparation:

• Whilst pupils still initially attend the Main Hall to be registered, there are now two designated Academic Preparation classrooms, one for Y7+9 and another for Y8+10, so that the environment is even more purposeful.
• Each of these classrooms will be triple staffed, with an Academic Preparation Manager, a teacher and a Teaching Assistant, so that there are a plethora of adults available to help.
• Each classroom is fully stocked with Chrome Book computers, so that every child who is set Academic Preparation will have access to all of our online homework platforms.
• Each classroom will be fully stocked with equipment that can be purchased for a nominal amount, so that every student leaves school with everything they need for the next day.
• Each classroom will be overseen by an Academic Preparation Manager who will be responsible for providing targeting support, so that pupils who require additional help are able to receive it.

Alongside the relaunch of Academic Preparation, we have increased the length of our Homework Club. This will now run from 3:00pm to the newly extended time of 4:00pm.

Finally, I would like to make a polite request on behalf of our local residents. There have been occasions in recent weeks when local residents have been affected by some of our families parking their cars on pavements or blocking driveways when collecting children at the end of the school day. Please can we ask that all of us are considerate of local residents when it comes to the end of the day collection and that we ensure we always park in ways that do not prevent local residents from going about their daily lives.

I wish you all a lovely weekend,

Mr Hudson
Headteacher