June 2016

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope you are looking forward to the summer holiday and your son is excited about returning to The Fulham Boys School in September for Year 9. Before we break up, I thought I would take this opportunity to give you important information for the beginning of term.

Your son’s first day of term will be WEDNESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER and he is to arrive at 9.25.

FIRST DAY AND FIRST WEEK

The purpose of the first few days is to re-enforce the school’s ethos: ‘geared towards Boys, nurturing Enterprise and built upon the Christian faith’. We want to remind all pupils at the start of the school year what it means to be a Fulham boy. The following is a brief summary of what each activity on the timetable covers.

Photographs – Boys will have their photographs taken to up-date them on our system.

The FBS Library – A visit to the library - when the library is open, what new books are available, how to take a book out etc. We want our boys to be in no doubt that ‘Real boys read’.

FBS Levels – An overview of how we measure progress. FBS levels reflect the new GCSE levels and we want boys to fully understand how we measure and track their progress.

Who’s who at FBS – who everyone is and what they do – new form teachers, head of house etc – and who to go to in different situations.

Sport at FBS – As you know, Sport is a big part of school life at FBS. We want boys to know all the sports that are on offer this year and the expectations we have of them when they represent the school and their school house.

Basic Standards (Behaviour and Appearance) – This session focuses on how we expect Fulham Boys to behave:

- In lessons

- In corridors

- At lunch and breaktimes

- In the dining hall

- To and from school

- During registration (morning and afternoon)

- In assemblies

- In Co-Curriculum Clubs

- During Sport Afternoons

- The session will also re-enforce the high expectations we have of uniform and appearance and how the Conduct Card operates.

Basic Standards (Organisation and Presentation)

- Filling in and looking after their planner

- Baseline presentation in their books

- Always having the correct equipment in school.

Lessons Geared Towards Boys – What the boys can expect in lessons from their teachers and what their teachers and the other boys will expect from them so that teaching and learning is outstanding.

Music and Drama at FBS – Boys will find out more about Music and Drama for the year. They will see what instruments they can learn, the school plays they can be part of, LAMDA lessons they can have, concerts they can perform in, and other opportunities to perform. At FBS we aim to build up boys’ confidence, give them opportunities to perform, nurture talent and put on first class school productions. We want all our boys to develop a love and an appreciation for the Arts.

Student Leadership – The opportunities to be a part of form council, subject council, house council and school council. We will also encourage boys to apply to become prefects – sport, digital, chaplaincy, enterprise, library, Music - corridor monitors and even house captains and vice captains. The application process and what is involved will all be explained.

Built on the Christian Faith – In this session boys will be reminded about the Christian values the school is built upon and the Christian approach to every subject taught at the school.

Nurturing Enterprise – Boys will be reminded of:

- The FBS Enterprise Skills

- The FBS Enterprise Diploma

- The FBS Enterprise File

- Social Enterprise at FBS

- Business Enterprise at FBS

Co-Curriculum – Boys will receive their co-curriculum clubs for the year and be given information about each club – when, where, kit to bring, expectations etc (also see below)

COMMUNICATION

Our main way of communicating with home will be via email, your son’s Planner and his Conduct Card. If you have an issue or a question, please contact the school receptionist who will be able to direct you to the right person.

I will send out weekly bulletins via email to keep you informed of what is happening at FBS each week. I also write a weekly blog on the school website

and tweet @AlunEbenezer.

Your son will be issued with a new planner for the year on his first day and this will be where he records his ‘ownwork’. There will also be a place in the planner for his teachers to write messages for you and vice versa. He will also be issued with a new Conduct Card and reminded he has to have it on his person at all times (apart from in PE).. You will be able to track your son’s progress by accessing the parent portal on the school’s Management Information System. More details will be provided on this by Mr Kellie, Deputy Headteacher.

STANDARDS

As we have said repeatedly, at FBS we insist on the highest standards of uniform, attendance, punctuality, manners and conduct. Every boy must wear full uniform correctly to school, during school and on the way home from school. Our uniform and appearance policy is on our website for more details. Below I highlight some important points from that policy:

- Blazers may be taken off in classroom at the teachers and/or Headmaster’s discretion.

- Blazers and/or pullovers may be taken off at certain times at the Headmaster’s discretion e.g. hot weather, summer term.

- Shirts should be tucked in, with the knot of the tie pulled up to the shirt collar, with the tie tail covering the shirt buttons. Shirts must be long sleeved. No short sleeved shirts.

- An outer jacket is permitted to be worn to and from school, it should be black or dark grey, with no emblems or logos visible, and should not be longer than thigh-length.

- Exterior blazer pockets should not be used for storing anything larger or heavier than a handkerchief or oyster card, and should not be used for resting hands inside.

- Hair – hair styles should be tidy and of a conventional nature, no extreme or ‘cult’ haircuts including sculpting, shaving or braiding are allowed. The maximum hair length is above the collar and the minimum hair length is a number 2 cut. Hair must be one natural colour. Parents are strongly advised to seek advice on the acceptability of hairstyles that may be considered ‘different’ before allowing their son to adopt such a style. School reserves the right to insist on re-styling if it considers the style inappropriate.

- No jewellery other than a wrist watch may be worn.

- No make-up is allowed.

- No visible tattoos.

- Black, leather, shoes that can be polished.

EQUIPMENT

Please provide your son with a pencil case including:

2 Pens, black or blue

1 Green pen

2 Pencils

1 Rubber

1 Sharpener

1 Ruler

1 Protractor

1 Glue stick

1 Scientific calculator

SPORTS AFTERNOON

On Thursday afternoons the Year 9 boys will go to Hurlingham Park for Sport. We will leave school at 1.30 and they will have coaching sessions until 4pm. The boys do not need to return to school but will be dismissed from the Park at 4.15pm.

SECURITY

It’s only natural for parents to worry about their son’s security. We are convinced that our firm approach to discipline and no nonsense approach to bullying and other anti-social behaviour will ensure your son feels happy and safe at school. Furthermore, our staff will continue to be on duty at the school gate at the beginning and end of the school day and we will also have teachers on duty at the bus stop and tube station near the school.

MOBILE PHONES

A reminder that boys are permitted to bring mobile phones to school but they must be at the bottom of their bag and switched off during school unless they are being used for learning purposes and they have been given permission by a member of staff to switch them on. Any boy using his mobile phone without permission during lessons, breaks or lunchtime will have his phone confiscated and parents will be required to come into school to collect it. Boys are allowed to use their phones in the front yard at the end of the school day to contact their parents. We encourage boys to do this instead of getting their phones out of their bags after they have gone through the school gate.

SCHOOL MEALS

As we have said before, we believe nutrition is of huge importance and has a direct impact on boys’ behaviour and learning. It is compulsory that all boys eat our school meals which are prepared with fresh local produce every day by our resident school chef. There is always a vegetarian option. Boys can bring healthy snacks (fruit) and juice or water to have at breaktimes. They can also buy healthy snacks (flap jacks etc) from the canteen.

We will continue to operate a cashless catering system and an online payment system that allows parents to make most payments for school items in one, secure place. You can use this to pay for your son’s lunch, school trips, uniform and many other items.. You will be charged for school lunches in advance each half term.

HOME SCHOOL AGREEMENT

Your son will be given a Home School Agreement on his first day at FBS. Please can you read, sign and ensure he returns it to his form teacher by the end of the first week.

CO-CURRICULUM

Ms Johnson, Deputy Headteacher, will contact you this term with information about all the co-curricular clubs on offer at FBS and information about how your son can choose the clubs he would like to join.

IT

Mr Kellie (Deputy Headteacher) will also contact you this term to invite you to a meeting to discuss electronic devices and our approach to IT and Computing at FBS. In this meeting he will also be giving information about the school’s parent portal and how it works.

We will be inviting all year 9 parents in to meet house tutors at the start of the school year. Parents of boys in Brunel will be invited in on September 19th, Dickens September 20th, Liddell September 21st and Wilberforce on September 22nd.

Meanwhile, I hope you find this information helpful and if you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact the school via email at or by telephone on 020 7381 7100. Please bear in mind that the school breaks up for the summer on Friday 8th July.

Yours Faithfully,

Alun Ebenezer

Headmaster