Click here to view our attendance booklet. 

Regular and punctual attendance of students is both a legal requirement and crucial to a student's success.  There is a clear link between a high rate of attendance and high achievement. If students are not in lessons they cannot learn! 

• 90% attendance over five years at secondary school equates to half a school year being missed.
• 80% attendance over five years at secondary school is the same as one whole school year being missed.

The greater the attendance, the greater the achievement

Good attendance is considered to be 96%+ attendance with no unauthorised absence. 

• 93% attendance gives your child a 73% chance of achieving 5 A*-C grades in their GCSEs.
• Below 90% attendance, gives your child only a 27% chance of achieving 5 A*-C grades in their GCSEs.

If a student is ill

If your child is too unwell to attend please report the absence through the Fullhurst App or contact the college on 0116 282 4326 and select option 2.  Please do this by 10am on the first day of absence.  A note explaining the absence should be brought in on return to college. 

Medical appointments 

Please attempt to make any appointment to see the dentist, optician and doctor outside of college hours.  If this is unavoidable, please ensure that your child attends college before / after the appointment.  Medical evidence should be provided for all appointments.

Family holidays in term time

Families are requested to book their holidays to coincide with the college holidays. Holidays in term time will only be authorised for exceptional reasons.  Whilst we appreciate the differences in the price of holidays during the school holiday period compared to term time, it is important to note that government guidance clearly states that financial reasons are not ‘exceptional reasons’.  

For unauthorised absence from August 2024, Penalty Notices will increase to £160 per parent per child (discounted to £80 if paid within 21 days).  If there is occasion to issue a second Penalty Notice for unauthorised leave of absence within a rolling 3 year period, it will be issued at the higher rate of £160 per parent per child, with no opportunity to pay at the lower level.  A Penalty Notice cannot be issued if there is a third occasion of unauthorised leave of absence in the rolling 3 year period and it is highly likely that the local authority will take direct prosecution action in the Magistrates’ Court which can result in you receiving a criminal conviction.  Please also be aware that any cases of extended periods of unauthorised absence, linked to holidays or trips away, are highly likely to result in prosecution action by the local authority.

 If your child has unauthorised leave of absence prior to the end of the summer term in 2024, you will either be issued with a Penalty Notice of £120 per parent per child (discounted to £60 if paid within 21 days), or, your case will be referred by the Local Authority directly to the Magistrates’ Court.

Punctuality

We expect and insist students arrive to their lessons on time. Timekeeping is a crucial life skill and therefore it’s important students manage their own time well. During the school day, bells sound to indicate when lessons start and end. We also have ‘pips’ which sound a few minutes after the lesson bell has rung. This is a signal to the students that they are now late. Arrival after the pips at any point during the school day results in a late mark. Significant lateness during the day will result in a 30 minute detention. If a student is late to school in the morning this automatically results in a 30 minute same day detention.

Expectations of Students

Fullhurst Community College aims to produce confident, responsible, well-educated students who can fulfil positive roles in society. We believe that learning takes place in an orderly, purposeful environment and so our expectations, systems and behavioural procedures are designed to produce such an environment. Our behaviour and belonging policy in full can be found on SharePoint.

• Students are expected to act in a kind, courteous and responsible manner at all times, respecting other people, their property and contributing to a happy learning environment.
• Students’ language should never be offensive and students should show respect for others at all times.
• Through their exceptional conduct, students will present themselves as good representatives of the school at all times, both inside and outside of school hours, reflecting our school values.

Rewards

At Fullhurst we are very proud of the excellent attendance, punctuality, attitudes to learning and achievement of our students. We ask that all staff at Fullhurst consistently acknowledge and celebrate positive behaviour, raising self-esteem, confidence and a sense of belonging amongst students.

• Achievement points are awarded to students for good attendance, punctuality and reflecting the school values.

• Positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded in every lesson through direct praise

• Positive behaviour is communicated to parents and carers through phone calls, app messages, postcards and faculty certificates

• Rewards trips and events are run during the course of the academic year

Achievement Points

In lessons, students are awarded achievement points for demonstrating an excellent effort or achieving highly. These are awarded through TrackIt lights. Throughout the year, these points are calculated for the students so that they can obtain either Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum awards for their effort and achievement. Points are also given to students who make a positive contribution to the school community and for reflecting the school values. To recognise this achievement, students are awarded a badge that recognises the level of reward they have been given. Students wear these with pride on their blazer lapels. We run a Unity reward in the form of a free breakfast on a Friday morning for the highest number of Unity points achieved by a form group in the previous week. The points are awarded to student who arrive to tutor time; In correct uniform, are on time and have correct equipment. Each subject area also runs subject awards that are given out regularly throughout the year for subject achievements.

Our Lesson Expectations

Students will experience a high quality, broad and bespoke curriculum, designed specifically for students at Fullhurst. In lessons students will be exposed to new curriculum content in their subjects in a range of ways, and teachers will regularly re-visit material to ensure student learning is secure. Students will be asked to recall information from memory, also having access to Knowledge Organisers which support them in signposting exactly what material they should be focusing on, and teachers will use questioning, mini-whiteboards and other methods to regularly check students’ understanding and adjust lessons accordingly. Teachers will model ‘what a good one looks like’ for students, to support them in approaching new tasks and applying new skills independently. We expect that students will engage with their learning, and try their best.

FAST is a set of expectations that support students in their classroom learning by explicitly teaching them how they should be behaving in classrooms, as well as why this is beneficial to their learning. The expectations are as follows:

F Face Forwards - students are expected to face forwards, towards the teacher, during teacher explanations and instructions in order that they can see everything clearly, and so that teachers can check student engagement. This means that they shouldn’t be turning around to others behind them, which can cause them to lose focus.

A Asking and Answering questions - students are expected to answer questions to the best of their ability in class, so that we can see if they have understood what has been taught, and if necessary adjust explanations to make sure that everyone has understood. Students are also encouraged to ask relevant questions at appropriate points in the lesson, to further their understanding and to ask for clarification on anything.

S Sitting up and being Silent – students are expected to sit up during lessons, not putting their head on the desk or getting up to walk around the classroom. Students are expected to be silent whilst there is an explanation, or whilst others in the class are answering questions. This is so they can concentrate on what is being said, and so they don’t miss any key information, which can hinder learning. Students will also have periods of time when they are expected to complete written work in silence. This is so that they can concentrate and focus, apply their learning, and so we can see what they are able to do independently.

T Trying their best – students are expected to try their best across their school day. This includes trying their best by heading directly to lessons on time, having their equipment so that they can be ready to learn, following instructions they are given and giving all tasks they are set their best attempt. This helps us to see what students can do, and also to identify where they might need more support.

In lessons, if student behaviour falls short of our expectations then our teachers use a very clear consequence system to ensure student behaviour maximises the learning potential of all students. This is structured in the following way:

Mobile phones & Devices

Are not allowed to be seen at all during the school day, including break and lunch time, and if they are seen, they will be confiscated. Regardless of where you see the phone or device (classroom, corridor etc) the process is the same. Either take the device directly to main reception on both sites or log on TrackIt and the device will be collected.

First offence - Student will be able to collect at the end of the day.

Second offence - Parent has to come in to collect.

Third offence - Parent has to come in to collect, and a meeting takes place.

Anti-Bullying

Fullhurst Community College will not tolerate any form of bullying. All incidents will be taken seriously. We are proud to have won an Anti-Bullying Award in recognition of our good practice in preventing and tackling bullying within the college. The ABA (Anti-Bullying Alliance) defines bullying as: the repetitive, intentional hurting of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can happen face-to-face or online. Parents, guardians and carers should be aware of the applications that their children have on their mobile phones and devices and ensure they are age appropriate, particularly social media applications. The school will be limited in its actions if students use applications that are not age appropriate. Advice for families Talk to your child and find out what happened. Encourage them to write down what has happened. Tell them to report it to their Standards or Behaviour Support Leader as soon as they reach school. If the problem persists, please contact your child’s Standards Leader 0116 282 4326 or via office@fullhurst.leicester.sch.uk

At Fullhurst Community College, we believe homework helps students to both consolidate and re-call learning that they have completed in school and to gain new knowledge and skills. 

Homework will help our students build positive habits throughout KS3 (year 7, 8 & 9) and will focus on small / shorter tasks that develop positive routines. improve self-regulation and organisation and build the key skill of independence needed to help them meet the higher demands at KS4 (year 10 & 11)  

At Fullhurst Community College, the setting of reading homework is backed by research which supports our key rationale:  

• The more students read, the more quickly their reading skills improve;  

• Time spent reading has a greater impact on student achievement than any other activity;  

• Time spent reading positively impacts student progress in all subjects, including     Maths and Science;  

• When this reading takes place outside of school, the impact on student progress is even bigger.  

Reading Homework is set approximately every fortnight (please see the Fullhurst App for full details) for years 7, 8 and 9 in the form of a reading booklet. These contain 6 short texts to read linked to the curriculum, with a summary activity. Students will receive a hard copy and a digital copy will be available on student Sharepoint.  

Mathswatch homework is set for years 7, 8 and 9 weekly by the class teacher. Mathswatch is on online platform that provides students with the opportunity to consolidate and secure their learning.  

Homework in other subjects at KS3. Tasks will focus on short activities, such as gap filling, labelling and matching and completing charts and tables. During year 9 homework levels will increase as students build towards KS4.   

Homework at KS4 will vary and will include revision, reading, research and practical exercises.  

Homework will be communicated to parents via the Fullhurst App. This will provide details of what is to be done, hand in arrangements and due date. There may however be times when homework is has to be set outside of the App but the same expectations for completion will be clearly communicated to students.  

How Parents and carers can help 

Parents can help and encourage their children to get into the habit of completing homework and submitting on time and working and learning independently. For example, at KS3 parents can support by talking about the texts in the reading booklet, at KS4 support might come in the form of helping their children to create a good environment to complete their work.