Behaviour for Learning

Photo of four male Leigh Academy students standing together in a group.

Dear Parents/Carers,

The Leigh Academy ensures the behaviour, attitudes and safety of our students is a top priority. Our academy ethos is “Opening Minds to Success” which is underpinned by the academy’s three R’s, Respect, Responsibility and Resilience, and the importance of supporting one another through positive acts of kindness and being nice to one another.

Attendance and Punctuality

The Behaviour Team continue to work with parents/carers to oversee the attendance and punctuality of students with both being above the national average compared to other similar secondary schools. The ‘Student Services Managers’ (SSMs) and admins for each college are working hard to help families with any issues that have been raised due to the pandemic from travel issues to mental health or emotional well-being problems. All students are required to arrive at the academy before 8:20am ready for line ups. If a student arrives after the start of the academy day from 8:30am, they will receive an S1 – 15 minute detention that day. If there is a genuine reason for lateness then we ask parents/carers to contact college staff at the start of the day to make us aware. Post-16 students must arrive by 8.30am. If there are any issues in terms of punctuality or attendance please do contact your son/daughter’s SSM who will gladly help to support you.

Anti-Bullying Commitment

There is no place for bullying at The Leigh Academy and we take all incidents extremely seriously. The Leigh Academy Anti Bullying policy has been designed to encourage all students to be kind and supportive within its multicultural, diverse and inclusive environment. The Leigh Academy behaviour team have also recently been planning for Anti Bullying week, which will take place between Monday 15th and Friday 19th November 2021 with students participating in a variety of activities through the Tutor Time programme. Currently The Leigh Academy has 30 trained ‘Anti bullying ambassadors’ who will be working with our most vulnerable students. We hope to increase the capacity of this team in the new year with the Diana Award Anti Bullying course being offered to even more students.

The League of Excellence 2021/22

‘The Leigh Academy League of Excellence has been relaunched with students now having the opportunity to be awarded for their positive behaviour. The newly updated reward system will see each student achieve a score based upon three major elements. Students will be awarded a score based on their modular attendance and positive behaviour points. Students are continuously awarded points for achieving an R1 (10 points), R2 (20 points, R3 (30 points, R4 (40 points) or an R5 (50 points). Points are also now deducted if a student is given one of the five consequences for negative behaviour S1 (-10) S2 (-20), S3 (-30), S4 (-40) or an S5 (-50) or if they receive a late mark -5 points each time. Please ask your son/daughter their current score and ranking within their year group and College Tutor Group. At the end of each module students’ scores are calculated and a college league table is created and displayed. Prizes will be awarded including certificates, sweets, badges and Amazon vouchers and names are put on display on The League of Excellence boards in the academy restaurant area.

Detentions

From time to time, students make an error of judgement, can make a silly mistake or can make the wrong decision. Whilst this is obviously discussed and rectified through discussions; on occasions, students do require a consequence for their actions. A student can be set a 15-minute detention to be attended on the same day if a student is involved in ‘low level disruption’ (S1) leading to them receiving warnings from their class teacher. A student can be issued a 30-minute detention for ‘persistently disrupting the learning of students’ (S2) and a 60 minute ‘Senior Leadership Team’ detention for any type of ‘Defiance or Rudeness’ (S3). Students are made aware of these detentions at the time by their teachers, or college leadership teams. Students who escalate detentions on the same day will be expected to complete this concurrently.

Uniform Expectations

The Leigh Academy uniform (Y7 – 11) is designed to ensure all students are able to wear smart attire for a number of reasons. Students ‘wear their uniform with pride’ (Ofsted report 2017). Please could I ask parents/carers to ensure students follow the uniform expectations. All students throughout the winter period are expected to wear appropriate school shoes, a compulsory blazer and a navy blue or black coat. All items of the academy uniform must be worn on a daily basis but if there are any reasons why these cannot be purchased please contact the SSM for your college and we will do all we can to help.

Behaviour in the Local Community

The Leigh Academy works with local businesses, home owners and community groups to ensure the conduct of our students is of the highest standard. We want to ensure the reputation of our students when travelling to and from the academy on public transport, walking through local neighbourhoods and being in view of members of the public in academy uniform demonstrates the respect and responsibility that is regularly discussed and instilled in the students. A reminder that students should not be gathering in large groups in local parks and using inappropriate language. Students should respect local members of the community property, put litter in bins and be respectful of the current government guidelines, such as wearing face masks/coverings on buses or keeping an appropriate distance from people in shops.

Finally, at The Leigh Academy we are very proud of our students and the behaviour of our students. We strive to be recognised in the community with students who are proud of their academy and how they behave both in and outside of the academy. If you have any concerns about the conduct or wellbeing of Leigh students please do contact either stuart.lindars@eighacademy.org.uk or matt.piggott@leighacademy.org.uk who have the responsibility for behaviour at The Leigh Academy.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lindars
Head of Darwin College
Designated Safeguarding Lead