Schools Information Booklet - Torfaen County Borough Council

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Spare Seats - Pupils may be allowed to occupy spare seats on school buses as
a temporary concession even though they do not satisfy the criteria referred to
above. No charges are currently imposed by the Authority for providing transport
in such cases. Concessions may have to be withdrawn at short notice.
Moving Home - Pupils attending secondary school who move home to an address
outside the catchment area of the school attended will not normally continue
to be provided with free transport to that school if the move takes place during
the first or second year of education at that school even if the distance criteria
mentioned above are met. Applications for pupils moving home in the third
or subsequent year of attendance will be considered only if transport can be
provided by using existing services.
Behaviour on Buses - Pupils whose behaviour during the journey to and from
school is not of an acceptable standard may have the agreed travelling
arrangements withdrawn.
For further information on entitlement telephone:- Kath Worwood, Forward Planning
& Performance on 01495 766915 or e-mail:- kath.worwood@torfaen.gov.uk
Transport policy
A copy of the Authority’s Transport Policy is available from the Education Service.
Contact 01495 766919 or alternatively our policies are also available via the
Authority’s website, www.torfaen.gov.uk
The Authority is also reviewing its schools transport policies and procedures and
the above mentioned arrangements may therefore be subject to change for the
academic year 2013/2014.
Child employment
Torfaen County Borough Council Byelaws on the Employment of Children regulate
the types of occupation and the number of hours for which children under school
leaving age may be employed. Employers are obliged to notify Local Authorities
of their child employees (Byelaws 9). The role of Education Welfare Officers is to
monitor the employment of children to ensure that they are safely and legally
employed and that their employment is not having an adverse effect on their health
and education. Details of the hours that children are able to work both during term
dates and school holidays are available from the Education Welfare Officers listed
on pages 44-45. For further information on child employment or support regarding
school attendance, please contact your child’s school or telephone: Vicky Clode,
Senior Education Welfare Officer, telephone:- 01633 647373.
Family holidays during term time
Torfaen County Borough Council’s approach is to no longer approve pupils taking
holidays during term time except for exceptional circumstances at the discretion
of the Headteacher. Where a school does not grant leave of absence and the pupil
still goes on holiday, such absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
Public examinations
Public examinations are those that are available to students who follow
programmes of study from external awarding bodies such as WJEC, EDEXCEL,
OCR and AQA. Schools organise and administer examination entries for pupils
and parents are provided with either a paper or electronic copy of their child’s
timetable to assist in the organisation of revision and ensure pupils attend at the
correct time.
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