Senior School Welcome Booklet - June 2023

Reporting and Grade Cards
The core aims regarding reporting at Eltham College include:
• Enabling teachers to provide parents with effective, timely
feedback on their child’s progress in both their academic
studies, extra-curricular activities and personal development;
• To give students consistency in the way their development is
assessed and reported as they advance through the College;
• To provide parents with appropriate opportunities to
understand the nature of the curriculum in terms of the
knowledge, understanding and skills required so that they
can provide informed support to their child at home including
when a student is preparing for public examinations;
• To have a balance between direct contact with teachers such
as parents’ evenings, grade cards and written feedback.
Every student at Eltham College has a Form Tutor who is the
first point of contact for parents. The Form Tutor is best
positioned to understand and comment on a student’s
performance and wellbeing. They are the person who will make
contact with parents should there be any concerns about a
child. Parents are welcome to contact their child’s Form Tutor by
telephone, email or it may be appropriate to meet together at
the College. Details about how parents can contact their child’s
Form Tutor can be found on the College website:
www.eltham-college.org.uk/contact-us/senior-school-staff/
However, in addition to contact with the Form Tutor there is an
annual cycle of reporting with the following key features:
• Each student receives at least one full written report per
year from their subject teachers, Form Tutor and Head of
Section. This will also include a comment from the
Headmaster or one of the Deputy Heads. A comment
about co-curricular commitments will be published at the
end of the academic year.
• Grade cards are issued towards the end of most half-terms
to provide information about students application in class. In
Years 10, 11 and in the Sixth Form these also include a ‘On
Track to Achieve Grade’ and a ‘Challenge Grade’.
• A ‘Challenge Grade’ is a GCSE or A level grade that teachers
believe a student could realistically be expected to aspire to
with consistently strong application. The ‘On Track To
Achieve Grade’(OTTA) is the grade a teacher believes the
student would achieve at the end of the course if the current
level of application is maintained. When OTTA grades are
published they are colour coded to indicate progress and
whether a student is above, meeting, or below the Challenge
Grade set.
• A Parents’ Evening is held once per year for each year group
which provides an opportunity for parents to meet with their
child’s teachers. In addition, for older students there are
further opportunities throughout the year for parents to
meet with tutors, Heads of Section and the Senior
Leadership Team to discuss upcoming key stages, mock
examination results, preparing for university and careers
advice. Details of these events can be found in the School
Calendar on the website and in the key date card sent home
at the beginning of the year.
Stationery
Students are expected to have the following stationery:
• Scientific calculator:
Year 7 – Casio fx-83GT CW, or fx-85GT CW
Year 12 – Casio fx-991 CW, or Casio fx-991 EX
• Protractor and a compass
• Pencils, sharpener, rubber and ruler
• Pens: black, blue, red and green
• Highlighter
• Scissors (labelled)
• Glue stick
*Students will have the opportunity to buy a scientific calculator
from the College at the beginning of the academic year. Other
equipment can be bought from the Library.
Mervyn Peake Library
The Mervyn Peake Library is at the heart of the College and is an
open space for students to read, work on computers, use books
for information gathering, work alone or collaboratively, or revise.
The Library is used by Sixth Form during lesson times, and so is
a quiet working area. During break and lunch time, however, the
library is a buzzing hub of activity, with students working,
revising, choosing books and reading. The Library also opens
before and after school.
The Library provides resources in the form of books, eBooks,
journals, and magazines. The Librarian is available for help and
consultation on a range of subjects from which books to read
next to which resources to choose for your essay. Reading for
pleasure is also extensively catered for, with a large fiction library
for students and staff. There is an extensive selection of eBooks,
with access to the public library collection through the school
library app.
The Library Catalogue is also accessible online and via the app
so that students can quickly find out if the resources they need
are held in the library, and if so, reserve them to pick up at their
convenience. In addition, there are several online databases
which are accessible to students inside or outside of the College
via this website. Access to all the library online resources can be
found on the school SharePoint site.
Mrs Roche, in collaboration with the English Department, invites
authors, poets, illustrators and other relevant guests to visit the
College throughout the year to speak to both Junior and Senior
School students. A wide range of authors, covering both reading
for pleasure, and enhancement of English topics, are invited to
speak either in person or online.