GOVERNORS' ANNUAL REPORT TO PARENTS ... - Highcliffe School

GOVE R NOR S ’ ANNUAL REPORT TO P AR E NT S FOR
T H E SCHOOL YEAR 2002/2003
Contents
1 . Chair man’s Welcome
2 . Agenda
3 . Member s hip of Governing B ody
4 . S t af f List
5 . H ome S chool Agreement
6 . H ighclif f e P r ofile:
• Community Programme
• Admissions
• S EN Numbers
• Looked after Children
• Attendance
• Exclusions
• S chool Day
• S chool Term Dates
• Panda Categor y
• Free S chool Meals
• Peripatetic Mus i c L es s ons and T akeup
• Uniform Grants
• Awards
7 . S chool Priorities 2003-05
• Continuing Pr ofes s ional Development
• Performance Management
8 . P olicy Framework of the Gover ning B ody
9 . I nclus ion Policy
10. R ew ar ds Policy
11. H ighclif f e Challenge
12. R ew ar ds and Motivation
13. S E N Policy (under review
14. E xaminat ions 2003
15. S ub Committee R eports
( i) Community Links
( ii) Cur r iculum
( iii) F inance
( iv) P r emis es
16. P ar ent al response slips
T his document has been prepared in accordance with the DfES guidance “Gover nor s ’ Annual
Reports and S chool Prospectuses in S econdary S chools” fr om May 2002. Prospectuses for both
main school and the s ix th form are published in the October preceding nor mal year of entry
(eg for September 2004). The s chool provides parents with a Welcome Pack of useful
information at the New Parents ’ Evening held in the July preceding nor mal entry in S eptember.
Please br ing this report with you to the Gover nor s ’ Annual Parents’ Meeting

Chair man’s Welcome
November 2003
On behalf of the Gover ning B ody I would like to welcome you all to our Annual
Meeting in 2003 and in particular our new parents.
T his last year has seen further significant developments at Highcliffe S chool.
T he Gover nor s continue to be fully focused on the need to pr ovide the bes t
possible education for our students. There can be no doubt that we have a
very high standard of teaching s taff at the s chool who effectively monitor and
encourage ever yone to per for m at the ver y best of their ability.
Our results in 2003 have again been excellent and we anticipate that our
results in 2004 will also demons tr ate our further progression as a top s chool in
Dorset. Can I take this oppor tunity of congratulating on your behalf all the
students who took GCSE’s and A levels in 2003, they have again been a cr edit
to the s chool.
We ar e delighted at the s ubs tantial increase in the number of our Year 11
students who s at their GCSE’s in the s ummer and who have decided to r emain
at Highcliffe to s tudy for their A levels. They clearly have been encouraged by
our A level results and also the exciting oppor tunities that we have to offer.
T here ar e maj or building wor ks in progress at Highcliffe. We have a new
Drama S tudio and we will soon have a new Design and T echnology Block,
which is currently under construction and will again suppor t the S chool’s
philosophy of creating the ver y best learning environment for our students.
We believe that there is a thr ee- way partnership, which has to function
successfully if we ar e to ens ur e that we achieve our mutual objectives. I am
talking of the S tudent, the S chool and you, the Par ents . Please s uppor t the
school wherever you can, and this includes attending our Annual Meeting,
which is your chance to talk to Gover nor s on the impor tant issues. Last year
the attendance at this meeting was again very disappointing. However we do
sincerely hope that we will see an increase in the number of parents this year.
Finally, I hope that you find this Report both informative and inter es ting. I
would like to thank everyone in our Community for all their best efforts in
ensuring that Highcliffe is an ambitious with, yes, rapidly improving s chool.
Martin Axton
Chair of Governors

ANNUAL PARENTS' MEET I NG
4 t h DE CE MB E R 2003 - 7.30 p.m.
T he Gover nor s welcome this oppor tunity to meet with parents to dis cuss any item
aris ing fr om the Repor t, or any other issues concerning the gener al running of the
school. We as k parents to accept that this meeting is an inappr opr iate for um in which
to r ais e individual matters relating to s tudents or staff. In these circums tances ,
please contact the s chool to make an appointment with the Headteacher or member
of staff as appr opr iate.
T he pur pos e of the Annual Meeting is to pr ovide an oppor tunity for parents to dis cuss
the Annual Report and the manner in which the Gover nor s , the Head and the LEA
have dis char ged their responsibilities to the s chool.
I t is to be noted that there wer e no r es olutions taken from the AGM las t year.
AGE NDA
1. Welcome par ents
2. Apologies
3. I ntroduction of Governors
4. Governors' Report - discussion
5. Resolutions - under the r egulations for the conduct of these
meetings , a vote may be taken only if a quor um is present.
For a r es olution to be valid the number of parents present
at the meeting mus t be equal to at least 20% of the number
of registered s tudents . For this meeting 225 parents must be
present.
6. T he Futur e - Governors would welcome par ents ' views in
looking to the futur e of the s chool.
7. A.O.B.

Mr Jeremy ALLIN Vice Chair
Partnership Gover nor
Member s hip of the Gover ning B ody
to S ept 2007
Mr Martin AXT ON Chair
Partnership Gover nor
to S ept 2007
Mr Ben BARNETT
Partnership Gover nor
to July 2007
Mrs S usan CONNELLY
Parent Governor to
2006
Mr Mathew DOWNS
S taff Governor to
July 2005
Mrs Mandy GARDI NER
Parent Governor to
Oct 2007
Mrs Christine KI NG
T eacher Governor to
Oct 2005
Capt John LOFT S
LEA Gover nor to July
2007
Mrs Myra MAWBEY
LEA Gover nor to July
2007
Mr Philip MI LLS
T eacher Governor to
May 2005
Mr Peter MOS ELEY
Parent Governor to
Oct 2004
Ms Judith POTTS
Headteacher
Mrs Julie S AWDON
Parent Governor to
2006
Mr Harry S HARP
Partnership Gover nor
to S ept 2007
Mr Graham S MI T H
Parent Governor
to Mar ch 2005
Mr S tephen WHI T E
Parent Governor
to Oct 2007
Coningsley House, Vaggs Lane, Tiptoe,
Nr. Lymington, Hants, SO41 OFP
10 Freshwater Road, Friars Cliff, Christchurch,
BH23 4PD
86 Farnham Road, Poole, Dorset BH12 1PS
& BOWMAN, BAE SYSTEMS (CDI), New Filton
House, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7QW
47 Ridgefield Gar dens , Highcliffe, Christchurch,
BH23 4QG
01425 620427
01425 276971
01202 383636
01425 273262
Highcliffe S chool 01425 273381
1 Pipers Drive, Mudeford, Christchurch
BH23 4TR
01425 275019
Highcliffe S chool 01425 273381
55 Wortley Road, Highcliffe, Christchurch
BH23 5DR
‘Hathaways’, 16 Wharncliffe Rd., Highcliffe,
Christchurch, BH23 5DD
01425 271972
Highcliffe S chool 01425 273381
T inkers' Revel, 1 Clive Road, Highcliffe,
Christchurch, BH23 4NX
01425 270760
Highcliffe S chool 01425 273381
S tanpit House, 69 S tanpit, Mudeford,
Christchurch, BH23 3LX
157 Hightown Road, Ringwood, Hants,
BH24 1NL
01202 470786
01425 474221
17 S eafield Road, Christchurch BH23 4ED 01425-270974
34 Glenville Road, Walkford, Highcliffe,
Christchurch, BH23 5PY
01425 272650

H ighcliffe S chool
11 – 18 Foundation School and L anguage College
Name of S tudent: ……………………………………………… T ut or Group ………… Dat e …………..
H OME -S CH OOL AGREEMENT
T he S chool will try to:
♣ addr ess all forms of bullying wher e it comes to light.
♣ ensure that it cares for the health, safety, welfare and happiness of each student.
♣ provide an education that harnesses the potential of each child to encour age them to r each the
highest standards.
♣ foster the mor al, cultural and s piritual aspect of education.
♣ contact parents over concerns about their child’s work or behaviour.
♣ monitor attendance and punctuality carefully and wor k with students, parents and the Educational
Welfare Officer as soon as a pr oblem is perceived.
♣ set and mar k home s tudy regularly.
♣ check use of home s tudy organisers.
♣ provide r egular information in the for m of National Curriculum levels/GCS E grades, reports and an
annual parents’ cons ultation evening.
♣ keep par ents informed about school events through, for example, regular newsletters, letters for
specific acti viti es .
♣ encourage s tudents to car e for local community and s chool environment to and fr om school.
♣ foster use of I nformation Communication T echnology (ICT) where possible.
T he Par ents will try to:
♣ work with school to s uppor t high expectation based on their child’s potential.
♣ let the s chool know of concerns that may affect their child’s education.
♣ suppor t the s chool’s policies for behaviour including r ules about uniform (and cycle helmets if
applicable) and the s anctions applied.
♣ ensure that the child is punctual and attends school regularly providing a good r eas on in a note when
required.
♣ encourage a r es pect for local community and s chool environment.
♣ encourage and s uppor t their child in completing home s tudy.
♣ sign the S chool Organiser regularly.
♣ suppor t the child in organising the br inging to s chool of correct equipment.
♣ attend par ents ’ cons ultation evenings as necessary.
♣ show interes t in the life of the s chool.
T he S tudent will try to:
♣ be polite and helpful to all members of the s chool community.
♣ take r es pons ibility for his/her own actions and be pos itive about improvement towards targets.
♣ do class and home s tudy as well as he/she can, using S chool Organiser as a detailed r ecor d and
planning tool.
♣ bring the correct equipment to s chool.
♣ wear school uniform and obey the r ules .
♣ show care of surroundings by helping to keep the s chool free of litter and gr affiti.
♣ behave s uitably on the way to and fr om school whatever the for m of transport.
♣ show res pect to the member s of our school and the wider community.
♣ use the s chool’s ICT provision as set out in the guidelines.
♣ act in a manner that is mindful of his/her own and other s health and s afety.
S ignature of
Parent/Guardian …………………………………….. Signature of Student …………………………… Date

H OME / S CH OOL AGREEMENT
Our Goal: Parents are bett er informed and involved
T hroughout your son/daughter’s career at Highcliffe we will work together to
ensure that you are both informed and involved, most appr opr iately, about
their curriculum plan, development and pr ogr ess.
ARRANGEMENTS: STUDENT DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS
P r ogr ess Check
T his is an interim check on the attainment, attitude and pr ogr ess of each
student. The pur pos e of this Progress Check is to keep you updated about the
progress being made in each subject area. It will also allow faculty areas and
tutors to identify students where fur ther suppor t or action is required.
T he F ull Student Profile
T he s tudent profile gives a full report on the attainment, attitude and pr ogr ess
in each subject area and includes their current level of attainment set against
national criteria. To identify the potential in all students and to s et challenging
targets for them, data of prior performance and fr om cognitive abilities tests
are us ed to s et challenging tar gets for them. Individual subject-based lear ning
targets that suppor t student progress are r ecor ded on the pr ofile. The pr ocess
of reporting to par ents will increasingly give you information about the
progress made by your son/daughter towards these tar gets .
P ar ent s ’ Evenings are held for each year group after receipt of your
son/daughter’s profile.
P ublic E xam inat ion Results
Parents will receive S AT S results at the end of Year 9.
I nt er im meet ings with specific s taff as required. Occas ional ly there may be
a s pecific need to meet in addition to thos e above. Please contact the s chool
to make an appointment. We will respond at the ear liest point. Remember if
you arrive at school without an appointment the member of staff that you need
to s ee will most likely be teaching.
T he intr oduction of the Or ganis er provides parents, specialist teachers and
your son/daughter’s tutor, the oppor tunity to s har e points of progress, items of
news and items for recognition, clarification/resolution.
We have als o intr oduced for students 14-19 their own I ndividual Learning
P lan and t ar get s to keep abr eas t of their development and futur e pathway.

T his will include –
1. Current studies/options.
2. Planned choices for post–16 studies (based on prior achievements and
target grades).
3. Career pathways or directions.
T he annual T ut or Evening provides the oppor tunity parents and tutor s to
focus on topics relevant to our students’ development.
W I DE R DEVELOPMENTS
Our July Year 6 into 7 Parents’ W elcome P ack provided at the July I nduction
Evening for parents prior to S eptember start.
T he Curriculum Booklet 14-19
Distributed to s tudents and par ents in Year 9 as part of the planning pr ocess
for stating their 14-19 programme and pr efer ences .
T he I ntr anet Site for parents and visitor s
Parents can access this site which is now under development. The website
addr ess is:
www.highcliffe.dorset.sch.uk
T he S chool Newsletter: H2U
Produced by our News Team; usually two per term.
S pecific letters: for example Activities , Trips and Visits organised by staff
throughout the year .
T he H ighcliffe Calendar
We ar e always pleased to s ee par ents getting involved in the life of the s chool
by supporting per for mances and events .
You, as parents, have suppor ted both your child/children and the
s chool. Here ar e some examples:
• Ensuring that your child attends school and is punctual
• Avoiding tr affic conges tion and potential hazards at the main school gate
• Providing full school uniform, PE kit and equipment for your child
• Ensuring that your child complies with the dr ess and j ewellery code
• Encouraging your child to manage litter and chewing gum in a pos itive way
• Providing a war m, private s pace for homestudy and assisting your child with
homestudy as and wher e appr opr iate
• Attending, where appr opr iate, Maths Catch Up classes and other extra
activities
• Enabling your child to attend S cience S ummer School ensuring that it was a
great success
• Attending par ents ’ evenings and tutor evenings

• T aking par t in the Highcliffe S chool Association (H.S .A.) and s uppor ting fund
raising events
• S uppor ting and enj oying a r ange of performances including Global Rock at
the B our nemouth Pavilion
• Attending the Language Lear ning s essions at Highcliffe with your son or
daughter
• Providing funds for student refreshments and lunch
• Helping your son or daughter take par t in extra curricular sport and clubs
• Making s ur e that your son or daughter’s kit and possessions are clear ly
named in case they end up in ‘lost property’
• Monitoring and making us e of your son or daughter’s Student Organiser
• Actively encouraging and pr oviding funds so that your son or daughter can
participate in trips and vis its
• Bringing to our attention and/or helping to r es olve issues which affect your
son or daughter’s well being and s uccess
• Encouraging and pr omoting your son or daughter’s respect and appr eciation
for the community and s chool environment
• Being a Gover nor of the s chool
• Promoting s por t, recreation and leisur e inter es ts through your active
suppor t and networ ks
• Providing oppor tunities for work experience and wor k related pr oj ects and
activities
• Being able and willing to make a voluntar y and valuable contr ibution to
S chool Fund
• Attending the Gover nor s ’ Annual Parents’ Evening and mor e !!
Over all, you invest a consider able amount of time, care, love and
s uppor t to help your children develop str ong self esteem, confidence,
pos it ive values and develop their capability to learn well from an early
age.

H I GH CL I FFE SCHOOL: PROFILE
Cat egor y
Foundation
11 – 19 mixed compr ehens ive
Partner school of the Chr istchur ch S ixth Form
Designated S pecialis t School (1.9.2000)
Language College
Des ignat ed Feeder Schools – H ighcliffe P yr amid
Bransgore Pr imar y School
Brockenhurst Primary School
Highcliffe Junior School
Hordle Pr imar y School
S t Luke’s Primary S chool
T iptoe Pr imar y School
Mission
“Our mission is to es tablish, for all our students, a challenging and pr oductive lear ning
environment which is both academically and vocationally relevant.
We s eek to s har e with our family of schools and our local community the oppor tunities ,
resources and ex per tis e neces s ar y to r aise s tandar ds of achievement and par ticipation at all
ages, in the s tudy and appr eciation of foreign languages and cultur es .
We aim to equip our students of all levels of ability with the s kills, knowledge and attitudes
they need to enter into r ewar ding employment or training as further steps along a path of lifelong
lear ning.”
Our Goal
T o ens ur e that all students learn to their full potential in an informed, caring and s uppor tive
environment and that challenging lear ning exper iences develop s tudents as successful
confident young adults .
Our Vision
“I believe in using what you have, instead of mourning for that which you do not. I n
t hir t y years time, I want to be able to look back at my youth and know that I used
my talents fully: that I wasted nothing.” – A H ighcliffe S tudent.

Community Programme
As part of our Specialist School (Language College) Plan we have been
developing our links and pr ovision at Highcliffe.
T his year at Highcliffe we have:
Developed our Twilight Language Lear ning Pr ogr amme
Held a Family Learning Day (MFL/Saturday workshop)
Embarked on broadening our joint provision with the Adult Education Centre
in Christchurch
Developed our global network of partner schools and activities (Germany,
France, Japan, South Africa)
P r imar y School and Pyr amid Activities
S taff and s tudents undertake to wor k with primary schools . Examples include:
Regular teaching in Modern Foreign Languages (weekly)
Regular teaching in Expressive and Per for ming Ar ts (weekly)
Common Pyramid Pr oj ects “One World Ar ts Project” acr oss Christchurch
Providing technical support through the S uppor t Agreement for Information,
Communication T echnology (ICT)
Chr is t church: Three secondar y schools working together
Chr is t church Sixth
With our Partner Schools (Grange and T wynham) we have r eviewed the
collaborative model introduced to deliver sixth form provision (1998).
Parent/student feedback has informed this review. As numbers are now
appr oaching s ome 500 students (Christchurch S ixth) we have now entered a
period of developing the Highcliffe-based curriculum provision.
T his now means substantial programme is available her e at Highcliffe.
S tudents can travel to enj oy wider oppor tunities within the collaborative
arrangements, but this is becoming less of a necessity and mor e an individual
choice.
We anticipate that through the ear ly expression of student course pr efer ences
we will be planning an even wider programme bas ed at Highcliffe next year.
Our collaborative arrangements are mor e focus ed on sharing good pr actice,
training and development work between colleagues in Christchurch and less
emphasis on shared curriculum delivery of subjects to s tudent groups.
A common Action Plan (LI G)
T his is emphasised in our common Action Plan under the Leader s hip I ncentive
Grant (LI G) aimed at continuing to impr ove and r aise s tandar ds overall.
Colleagues from each school form teams to tackle common areas for
development.

S chool Based T eacher Training ( S CI TT) across Bournemouth and Poole
Highcliffe has entered into a par tner s hip with 13 other establishments to
develop a for mal organisational arrangement for continuing pr ofessional
development. A s pecial focus will be s har ed tr aining of colleagues new to
teaching thr ough various schemes (DfES ).
H ighcliffe L anguage College : Local T raining Centr e S tatus
During the s ummer the S pecialist Schools T rust awarded Highcliffe Local
T raining Centr e S tatus in MFL. We will work within the r egion to pr omote and
develop MFL teaching.
I nvesting in our students ; promoting oppor tunities for greater
participation in their school.

Admissions (as of January Plasc 2003)
Number on Roll 1124 as per return 17 th Jan
Age Dob Boys Girls
11 1.9.89 – 31.8.90 112 99
12 1.9.88 – 31.8.89 98 116
13 1.9.87 – 31.8.88 114 104
14 1.9.86 – 31.8.87 100 116
15 1.9.85 – 31.8.86 96 90
16 1.9.84 – 31.8.85 19 24
17 1.9.83 – 31.8.84 15 20
18 1.9.82 – 31.8.83 1 0
T otal Boys 555 Girls 569
H ighcliffe S ixt h Form: (as of S eptember 2003 Plasc r etur n) 172
S t andar d admission number 210 for 2002/03 (Designated S even Form
entry: ) Students are or ganis ed into eight tutor groups.
Applications received for Year 7 September intake 2003 - 271 first
pr efer ences at closing date.
Number on roll for Year 7 as of S eptember Form 7: 219
S E N Numbers
T otal SEN S tatements - 16
Cognitive & Lear ning - 2
Behaviour, Emotional and S ocial - 8
Communication & I nter action - 4
S ensory & Phys ical - 2
T otal School Action Plus - 38 (+5 in S ixth form)
T otal School Action - 104 (+5 in S ixth form)
T otal SEN register - 158 (+10 in S ixth Form)
L ooked Aft er Children
T here wer e 4 looked after children in the las t academic year and currently 4 in
this academic year .
Attendance
Aut hor is ed Absences 7 % (last year 7.3% )
U naut hor is ed Absences 0.2% (last year 0.2% )
T he level of unauthorised abs ence has levelled out at a r elatively low rate.

Attendance P olicy
By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must get a
full-time education.
Continuous attendance and good punctuality are essential for each student to
learn well, develop r elations hips and build upon their previous best. We expect
all students to be at school, in their tutor room, ready for morning r egis tr ation
at 8.35.
By law we ar e r equired to indicate on the r egis ter whether a s tudent is
present, engaged in an appr oved educational activity off site, or absent. We
must also distinguis h between authorised and unauthor ised abs ence. In our
efforts to encour age good time-keeping we will give an hour’s detention to any
student who is late without good r eas on on two or more occas ions in a week.
We wor k closely with the Local Education Authority’s Education Welfare Officers
who monitor attendance and help par ents to meet their responsibilities if there
are any problems.
As parents you can help by:
• Ensuring that your child comes to s chool regularly, arrives on time and
obeys the s chool’s rules.
• Making s ur e that your child under s tands that you would not approve of him
or her missing s chool.
• Contacting the s chool on the firs t day of your child’s absence and confirming
in writing the r eas on for the abs ence when the child r etur ns to s chool.
• Asking well in advance s hould you need per mission for your child to miss
school for a s pecial reason or medical appointment.
• Avoiding taking your child on holiday during ter m time – especially when he
or she s hould be taking exams or tests. The law says that you do not have
the r ight to take your child on holiday during ter m time without the
permission of the Headteacher. Application forms are available fr om the
tutors.
• T aking an interest in your child’s school work and s uppor ting the s chool in
its efforts.
T he r ew ar ds for good attendance ar e:
• S ecure lear ning and r elations hips
• Less “catch up” wor k to do
• A cer tificate for full attendance – awarded termly
Our target is to r educe the number of days lost through authorised abs ence.
Aut hor is ed Absence (as defined by DfES )
• S ickness or other unavoidable caus e (such as hospital treatment).
• A day of religious observance by the r eligious body to which the par ents
belong.
• Leave of absence gr anted.
• Attendance at another school.

• Late arrival at school with good r eas on.
• Exclus ion.
U naut hor is ed Absence is any absence for which the r eas on is not known or
authority has not been given.
E xclus ions
T here was one per manent exclusion in the las t academic year (Year 8 boy).
T here has been one per manent exclusion in the current academic year (Year 8
boy).
T he pr esent School Day is:
8.35 a.m. to 1.20 p.m.
2.15 p.m. to 3.20 p.m.
During the teaching day there ar e pr es ently 5 teaching per iods , four in the
morning and one in the after noon, each of one hour ’s duration.

Progression routes being taken by Year 11 Students (2003)
Destination Percentage
Post 16 Education and T r aining 98%
Other 2%
S chool T erm Dates (2004 – 2005)
T his is the bas ic pattern of term dates. Dates for Staff T raining day have to be
decided and ther e may be s light adjustments made to the bas ic calendar to
allow for additional activities.
Aut umn S pr ing S ummer
T erm S tart 01/09/2004 04/01/2005 11/04/2005
Half T erm Break 25/10/2004 14/02/2005 30/05/2005
Half T erm Restart 01/11/2004 21/02/2005 06/06/2005
End of T erm 17/12/2004 24/03/2005 22/07/2005
P anda Cat egor y 5 – 9% as of 2002/03
F r ee S chool Meals - 49
Number of students receiving Per ipatetic Music les s ons 2002/03
Guitar 54
Drums 37
Flute 17
S axophone/clar inet 8
116
Number of Uniform Grant Applications
2002/03 11
2003/04 9
Aw ar ds
S pecialist Schools Trust Awards
T he s chool achieved the “Gr and S lam” of all three awar ds which we r epor ted
earlier in the year in H2U.
GCS E Performance 2002 – 70% Club
Value Added Awar d
I mproved S chool Award
British Council
I nt er nat ional School Award
Last year we had done enough to as pir e to s ubmit our action plan for
developing an international ethos and pr ogr amme to pr omote “inter national
citizenship within and acr oss the curriculum.” With everyone’s help we s et
about developing this aspect in our curriculum. Each edition of H2U gave us an
oppor tunity to s har e developments and we wer e delighted to be notified in

Augus t that we had been successful. No mean feat! Only some 360 schools
nationally have managed to s atis fy the r equirements since the awar d was
launched in the late 1990s. This not an end but only the beginning…
We have been appr oached by the B r itis h Council to twin with Padma S es hadri
Bala S enior Secondary School in Nungambakkam in I ndia to mentor them
towards securing the s ame awar d. The B r itish Council have a maj or project
with a gr oup of schools in I ndia who want to “go for it” as we did. Additionally,
Highcliffe has appeared in two lead ar ticles in national (TES) and local
newspapers (Your Dorset) for our work in this area. We ar e now putting in
place a world-wide networ k.
We have j us t really begun to “s cr atch the s ur face” of how our link with the
British Council and networ k might be br ought into play to impr ove the r ange of
oppor tunities for all at Highcliffe. Our “global teacher” Mr . Coughlan has led
this initiative well to this stage and a br oader “international team” has been set
up to help take it on a pace.
B uilding Bridges Partnership w ith Ballard S chool New Milton
Acting mor e locally to impr ove oppor tunity, with the enthus ias m and har dwork
of Mr Pearce, we s ubmitted a bid with Ballard S chool to the DfES for additional
funding under this scheme. Our intention is to wor k together on quite tightly
focused ar eas to extend oppor tunities , making the mos t of each other’s
strengths and assets so they can be us ed to extend lear ning oppor tunities ,
especially for students who have par ticular talents. Transport has been a key
to opening up thes e oppor tunities and ther e may be a Chr is tmas surprise in
store! We will keep ever yone pos ted thr ough H2U.
W olfson Foundation Award
Last term our Science team, keen to impr ove fur ther and enhance the
refurbishment work in the labor ator ies already in hand, decided to make a bid
for additional funding for new equipment and other complementary resources.
We have been visited by the assessor and now are awaiting the result which is
due ar ound Chr istmas . We will again keep you posted thr ough H2U!
S ummer School (Dorset LEA bid)
Our team, eager to develop pr ovision for gifted and talented s tudents ,
committed thems elves to r unning a S ummer School for Year 7 students.
Again their initiative and har d wor k paid off and by all accounts it was greatly
appr eciated and a s uccess. The LEA evaluation report has been very positive
about the r ange of activities offered and the enthus ias m of both staff and
students alike.
T hese ar e only some of the examples of the s uccessful projects which secured
awards in the las t period. Some ar e s till to come into fr uition. H2U throughout
the year tries to keep ever yone infor med about these activities .

GOI NG F OR IT IN 2003/04
S por t s mar k
We ar e keen to develop our sporting pr ovis ion and have been working har d to
get things in place to r eally move for war d on the playing fields . The team here
at Highcliffe have decided to tr y to achieve the S ports mark award as a mar ker
along the way.
Ar t s mar k
Again we ar e cons ider ing this award as a means of pressing for war d in this
area. We have s ome excellent examples of work and s uch a br oad s et of
criteria could help us to evaluate what we do and what else we might develop
so that we have a br oad platfor m in place.
L ear ning and S kills Council Award
News has just been received that we have been successful in securing
additional funding to s uppor t the r ais ing of grades (level 2) in Key Stage 4.
T his project will help s ome of the “boos ter ” s tr ategies we ar e developing and
putting in place to help our students do even better.
S CH OOL PRIORITIES 2003-05
W H OL E SCHOOL PRIORITIES
We continue to monitor and r eview our work, building upon the for mal reviews
in the pr evious period. This included par ent and s tudent surveys and feedback
as well as some exter nal consultant/inspector faculty reviews. During the
coming year the s chool will revisit parent/student experiences and views as a
biennial cycle.
T he following s tr ands and obj ectives have been framed following on from our
review processes.
S T R ANDS : (A-C)
A Developing our ethos and cultur e as a lear ning community
1. Ensure that all staff can contribute to the pos itive cultur e of the s chool
2. Engage par ents and ex ter nal agencies in suppor t strategies for students
3. Engage s tudents in the development of their school
4. Develop academic tutor ing and s uppor t processes
5. Develop our networks and s ys tems to enable ear lier intervention to
suppor t students who ar e in need of learning s uppor t plans or extension
plans
6. Extend oppor tunities to lear n more widely
7. I mprove s ys tems for recording and tr acking attendance
8. Extend oppor tunities for professional research and dialogue for improving
provision and r aising s tandar ds

9. Continue to r aise es teem and motivation through participation,
recognition and r ewar ds
10. I mprove the quality and r ange of the lear ning environment and facilities
to deliver the curriculum
11. Consolidate our Specialist School and Language College pr ogr amme
including
12. T he inter national dimension.
B Developing the quality and r ange of teaching and lear ning styles
and s t r at egies
1. Developing the policy and pr ovision for our gifted and talented s tudents
2. Maintaining and ex tending the Key Stage 3 Strategy in line with National
Framework
3. Reviewing the 14 – 19 programme, increasing applied GCS E and
vocational elements
4. Reviewing and updating (accor dingly) schemes of work across the
school
5. I ncreasing the r ange of exemplar material and guidance acr oss the
school
6. Embedding lesson observation, feedback and outcomes into timetabled
day-to-day practices
7. Achieving gr eater consistency in the implementation of our homestudy
programme
8. Making better use of assessment strategies and data to infor m teaching
and lear ning
9. Continuing to develop our capacity to exploit I CT for teaching and
learning
C. Developing and empow er ing leadership and management
1. Review and r evise, where appr opr iate, Leadership and Management roles
and r es pons ibilities
2. Develop the s tr ategic r ole of the Gover ning B ody and Gover nor s
3. Consolidate our new Performance Management policy and pr ocesses
4. Continue to develop and ex tend quality assurance s tr ategies
5. Extend s uppor t to develop colleagues in their professional roles as both
leaders and manager s and in their effectiveness
T he s chool is in the latter stages of finalising the S chool Progress Plan drawing
upon more r ecent performance data and analys is. Data s ystems are developing
to infor m teaching and lear ning and s et targets.
T he s chool also takes part in an LEA annual cycle of school reviews.
Cont inuing Professional Development (CPD)
S taff training is developing via a number of routes and s tr ategies including
national, local and LEA networ ks . A developing s tr ength is the ability to deliver
good quality training fr om within the s chool.
T ypical areas have cover ed:

T he Key Stage 3 Strategy
14-19 developments
Aspects of teaching and lear ning
Monitoring and mentor ing
Assessment and tar get setting
Data handling and analys is
Behaviour Management
I nformation Communication T echnologies
I nclus ion
Health and s afety
Course s pecifications and br iefings
T he s chool is taking oppor tunities provided by national initiatives related to the
new professional framework.
For example:
NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship)
Online cour s es offered thr ough the new National College for School Leadership
(NCS L)
Advanced S kills Teachers (2)
Leading teacher s in Key Stage 3
Fast track route for new teachers (1)
Applying for Serving Fas t T rack Teacher status
I nduction T raining for new teachers
Our Graduate T eacher Programme (2)
A well as developing our capacity to offer more thr ough local and national
networks (noted ear lier)
P er for mance Management
T he s chool has reviewed its arrangements and continues to develop our
systems in line with national requirements. All newly qualified s taff benefit
from a pr ogr amme of continuous suppor t, mentoring and r eview as part of
their formal Induction Programme. We ar e delighted to r epor t that all these
members of staff successfully completed their induction year. Applications for
T hreshold Assessment have been successful and a s imilar picture holds true for
progression on the Upper Pay Scale.
T he Headteacher and Leader s hip team arrangements for Performance
Management are included within this framework.
P olicy Framework of the Gover ning B ody
During the las t three year s , we have been reviewing the Policy Framework of
the Gover ning B ody in line with national legislation and r equirements . This has
been a cons ider able tas k. We anticipate that this will continue thr oughout the
next few years in terms of drafting new policies and r eviewing ex isting ones .

I n this report we have included s ome examples of policy to illustrate our work.
Our newly formed I nclus ion Policy, for example, also s ets the ethos and
practical requirement to develop our Rewards Strategy to encour age and
reward s tudent participation in trying out many oppor tunities to dis cover their
interests, talents and potential.
We have been developing the Highcliffe Challenge for some time and have j us t
launched it this year. Essentially it is a lear ning fr amewor k to over lay across
the curriculum and is cumulative acr oss a K ey Stage and ar eas of experience.
Again, we aim to pr omote a “have a go” ethos in a s uppor tive cultur e. To
develop s tudent responsibility and lear ning s kills the MyHighcliffe ar ea has
proved popular with our students. With experience and r efinement, it should
prove to be a power ful learning tool suppor ted by our academic tutor i ng
provision.
Parent access to MyHighcliffe will shortly be made available and par ents will be
informed s epar ately about this.
We have als o included our SEN policy which is currently being r edr afted to
meet the new requirements which have been introduced.
P olicies renewed/updated P olicies to be r eview ed
Admissions Policy Child Pr otection
Anti-Bullying Policy Collective Wor s hip
Assessment Policy Data and I nfor mation Management
Attendance Policy
Governing Body Standing Or der s & Arrangements
Behaviour Management Policy Lettings
Career Education & Guidance Policy Literacy Policy
Work Experience Policy Modern Languages Spelling Policy
I nternational Policy Non-S moking Policy
Work Experience Health & S afety Policy Numeracy Policy
Citizenship Policy S ixth Form Version: Home S chool Agreement
Cover Policy S pecial Educational Needs
Curriculum Policy S pelling Policy
Dress Code S uppor ting Pupils with Medical Needs
Drugs & Drugs Abuse Policy S chool Security Policy
Gifted and T alented Policy
Home S chool Agreement
Home S tudy Policy
I nclusion Policy
I nformation & Communication T echnology
Marking Policy
Performance Management
Racial Equality Policy
Rewards Policy
S ex & Relations hips Education Policy
Continuing Pr ofes s ional Development
Accessibility Policy
I NCL U S I ON POLI CY
Nat ional Curriculum
T his school endorses the National Curriculum statement on I nclusion which
states the pr inciples essential to the curriculum. This statement embodies the
intent that disapplication from any part of National Curriculum should be kept
to a minimum.

Definit ion
I nclus ion means providing effective lear ning oppor tunities for all students. An
inclusive curriculum:
a) S ets suitable lear ning challenges for all
b) Responds to the diver s e lear ning needs of all
c) Overcomes potential barriers to lear ning and assessment for individuals and
groups of students.
I nclus ion becomes a par ticular issue for students who:
Have s pecial educational needs
S how ability much above or much below their chronological age
Have emotional/behaviour al barriers to lear ning
Have a native language other than English
Have a physical condition which impairs their sight, hearing, speech, mobility
Have interrupted s chooling becaus e of illness or parental mobility
Det ails of the I nclusive Curriculum
a) Learning challenges
T eachers need to adapt the pr ogr ammes of study to take account of the
abilities of their students, where necessary using content from earlier or later
Key Stages. In providing for more able s tudents , teachers may plan further
differentiation by extending the br eadth and depth of study or by drawing on
the content of different subjects. Students falling s ignificantly below
expectations for the Key S tage, may need to us e the Pr ogr amme of S tudy as a
context for appr opr iate lear ning.
b) Diversity of needs
T eachers should have high expectations of all, regardless of sex, ability,
disability, social/cultural/ethnic back gr ound, linguis tic back gr ound. Teachers
need to plan their teaching s tr ategies so that all can make effective us e of
lessons. They should:
♣ create effective lear ning environments
♣ secure s tudent motivation
♣ provide equality of opportunity through teaching appr oaches
♣ use appr opr iate assessment procedures
♣ set targets for learning.
c) Overcoming barriers
Barriers to lear ning may exist because a s tudent has a s pecial educational
need (which can have a var iety of causes), a dis ability or has insufficient
knowledge of the language of delivery.
S pecific action to pr ovide access to lear ning might include additional planning,
language s uppor t, helping s tudents manage their emotions and behaviour and
enabling s tudents in KS 4 to pr epar e for work.
P r ovis ion for Inclusion
I n Highcliffe S chool, the following methods are us ed to ens ur e inclus ion:
1. Documentation – the ideals of inclusion are embodied in: School
Prospectus, Staff Handbook, Home-School Agreement

2. Learning S uppor t – provision under the S EN Code of Practice (see
separate handbook for details), including in- class support and s pecialist
teaching
3. Pastoral Care – suppor ting s tudents who have emotional/behavioural
barriers to lear ning; enabling all to benefit from the curriculum provided
4. Counselling/Mentoring – individual contact with trusted adult
(teacher or other) for students with particular problems
5. Outside Agencies – where appr opr iate, liaison with agencies such as
Education Welfare Officer, Educational Psychologist, Behaviour Suppor t
6. S tudent Grouping – suppor ting differentiation by grouping students
appr opriately for the s ubj ect and their ability
7. Differentiated S chemes of Work – access to lear ning at their own level
for all students
8. Work-related curriculum – differentiating the curriculum for some
students at KS4, disapplying s ome of the National Curriculum. and
offering wor k placements
9. Careers Information – together with Progress File and including Wor k
Experience, helping s tudents make per s onal action plans and s ee their
learning as part of a continuum
10. Literacy strategy – fostering attention to literacy in all subjects,
improving the bas ic s k i lls of some s tudents
11. Numeracy strategy – improving bas ic k i lls and s uppor ting numeracy in all
subjects
12. NQT suppor t scheme – tutoring Newly Qualified T eacher s to enable
them to us e appr opr iate teaching and lear ning styles
13. I CT – where appr opr iate us ing I CT as a means of delivery of National
Curriculum and s uppor ting s ome lear ner s by provision of laptop
computers and s uitable s oftwar e
14. Anti-bullying policy – fostering an ethos in which bullying is
unacceptable and offering both peer and tutor /teacher support
15. Anti-racis t policy – ensuring equal oppor tunities
16. Parental contact – discussion with parents both formally at calendared
meetings and by appointment, and infor mally
17. Disabled access – improvements to the buildings and s ite for
wheelchairs
18. S ocial suppor t – lunchtime s uppor t for students who might become
isolated
19. Homework club – enabling s tudents to complete wor k on site with help if
needed
20. Diagnostic tes ting – to assist in identifying s tudents in need of support
Whilst it is clear that all these s tr ategies and agencies are in place to ens ur e
the inclus ion of all students, there ar e obvious ly some ar eas where ther e is
need for improvement.
T he S chool Handbook should s et out the pr ocedur e for moving towar ds special
provision for inclusion, through the Lear ning S uppor t programme. ‘Inclusion’
should never be a euphemis m for ‘exclusion’. An inclusive curriculum does not
isolate s tudents because the teaching and lear ning offered in the classroom is

not appr opr iate to their needs . Instead it is adapted s o that all students, with
special arrangements made for them where necessary, have access to the
means of learning. Inclusion is not just a matter for the Lear ning S uppor t
team, but for every teacher, as an individual and as a member of a s ubj ect,
faculty or year team.
Compiled by: D.Ashton Revision number:
Agreed by: Headteacher
Adopted by: T he Gover ning Body Review date: Summer 2004
R E W AR DS POLICY
At Highcliffe S chool, we believe it is very important to r ecognis e and r ewar d
the efforts, achievements and s uccesses of our students. We us e r ewar ds to
motivate the s tudents , encouraging them to par ticipate fully in the many
different aspects of school life. Through this, an individual’s gifts and talents
can be nur tur ed as well as his or her expectations of their own performance
raised.
We r ecognis e and r ewar d s tudents in many different ways, such as:
• Praise – quality feedback, individual recognition and inter es t from the
teacher
• I nvolvement in decision making – (e.g. School Council)
• Responsibility (e.g. librarians, news team, prefects, Principal Students,
Helping Hands )
• Merits and motivational marking
• S chool colours and badges
• Head of Year certificates
• Honours Book awards
A new addition to this list is the ‘Pr ais e Car d’, a pos tcar d s ent from the s chool
directly to par ents to acknowledge cer tain achievements of their son or
daughter – we want parents to know how proud we ar e of their achievements.
Praise car ds may be s ent home in recognition of consistent or exceptional
application or hard wor k in Years 10 and 11, or they may be sent home as part
of the r evis ed mer its scheme j us t launched in Years 7, 8 & 9.

When students receive mer its for good wor k, it will be their responsibility to
collect these mer its and then have them recorded. Senior students will be
available to r ecor d mer its two lunchtimes a week onto the S chool Information
S ystem. When students have had 30 merits recorded, they will receive a
certificate fr om their Head of Year in assembly. When they reach a total of 50
merits in the year , a Pr ais e Car d, signed by the Head of Year, will be s ent
home, informing their parents of this achievement. 80 merits will generate a
second Head of Year certificate and 100 merits will result in a Pr ais e Car d
signed by the Headteacher being s ent home.
At the end of every term we will be holding achievement assemblies for each
year group, at which rewards will be dis tr ibuted:
• A gift voucher for the s tudent with the mos t merits in the year group.
• A pr ize for the tutor group with the mos t merits.
• Other rewards distributed thr ough the ‘Achievement Draw’ - For every 10
merits that have been recorded by the s tudent that term, they will be
allocated one ticket in the dr aw. 100% attendance for the ter m will also
result in a ticket. The mor e mer its collected, the mor e chance of winning a
prize.
T he aim of this system is to encour age ever yone to wor k towards gaining
merits, to give all students the chance of winning a pr iz e and to make
collecting mer its even more fun! If you would like to find out more about the
ways we r ewar d students, or if you have any comments, please contact Mr.
Yapp (As s istant Headteacher) via the S chool Office.
T HE HIGHCLIFFE CHALLENGE
T he aim of Highcliffe Challenge is to motivate s tudents through the cumulative
collection of experiences across each key stage. Every student has the
entitlement to expect, in addition to a br oad, balanced and appr opr iately
differentiated curriculum a r ange of oppor tunities to challenge and motivate
them, helping them to develop as individuals.
K ey Stage 3:
By the end of Key Stage 3 every student will have had the oppor tunity to:
• Experience an international dimension activity
• Participate in an outdoor education experience
• Begin work for his/her Progress File
• Represent his/her tutor group in an assembly or activity
• Participate in a literary or artistic per for mance

• Become a member of the S chool Reception Duty T eam
• Participate in a s por ts team or sports coaching
• Access and utilise the I CT network to develop I CT literacy
• Undertake induction to the Libr ar y Resource Centr e and become a
responsible libr ar y borrower
• Undertake environmental/cons er vation work
• Develop ex amination and s tudy skills
• Participate in the S tudent Council, Youth Parliament or other representative
body
• Become involved in charitable fundr ais ing and/or community service
• Monitor his/her health and fitness profile
• Participate in a technological, mathematical or scientific event
• Achieve 100% attendance for at least three ter ms
16 experiences: participation in 12 needed to pass the Highcliffe Challenge.
K ey Stage 4:
By the end of Key Stage 4 every student will have had the oppor tunity to:
• Experience an international dimension activity
• Participate in a literary or artistic per for mance
• Participate in a community/bus iness activity
• Participate in a s por ts team
• Participate in the S tudent Council, Youth Parliament or other representative
body
• Participate in outdoor education (e.g. Duke of Edinburgh, sports leadership
programme)
• T ake a pos ition of responsibility such as: School Prefect, Helping Hands ,
DI G, Librarian, H2U News Team
• Participate in a pr ogr amme of work experience and car eer s education
• Have an individual interview about post-16 transition
• Fully complete his /her Progress File
• Participate in the application process for post-16 learning/training
• Achieve 100% attendance for at least three ter ms
12 experiences: participation in 8 needed to pas s the Highcliffe Challenge.
K ey Stage 5:
By the end of Key Stage 5 every student will have had the oppor tunity to:
• Participate in a bus iness or community activity
• Coach/train younger students
• Participate in a literary or artistic per for mance
• Participate in the application process for post-18 learning/training
• Participate in the S ixth Form enrichment programme
• Participate in the S ixth Form Council, Youth Parliament or other
representative body
• Complete a per iod of study of a For eign Language or European S tudies from
those on offer

• Extend his/her Profile to r eflect participation in wider oppor tunities
• T ake r es pons ibility for his/her Individual Learning Plan
• Key Skills Level 3 qualification I CT
• Complete the UCAS application process
• Achieve 100% attendance for at least three ter ms
12 experiences: participation in 8 needed to pas s the Highcliffe Challenge.
Ver ificat ion
Examples of activities that count as separate ‘exper iences ’ will be made
available when the s cheme is launched and on the S chool Intranet. Other
activities could count, but they would need to confirmed by the appr opr iate
Head of S chool.
S tudents will need to have ver ification that they have completed a par ticular
experience. To ver ify an activity, they will enter the details of the activity they
have under taken into a s ection of the ‘MyHighcliffe’ ar ea of the s chool Intranet,
identifying which member of staff can verify the activity. This will automatically
generate an e-mail to that member of staff, who will then simply have to click
on a link ‘yes’ or ‘no’, to ver ify, (or not) that activity. Positively verified
activities would then appear in the s tudent’s ‘MyHighcliffe’ ar ea, which the
tutor will be able to see at the next academic tutor ing s ession with that
student. When a s tudent has the r equired number of activities verified to pass
a K ey Stage Challenge, the r elevant Head of Year would be automatically
notified.
Acknow edgement
When students have completed the Highcliffe Challenge, they will be pr es ented
in an assembly with a cer tificate and a badge to wear : a br onze badge for the
completion of the KS 3 Challenge, a s ilver badge for the completion of the KS 4
Challenge and a gold badge for the completion of the KS 5 Challenge. Once
students have completed a Challenge, they can begin work on achieving the
next Challenge, even if they are s till in an earlier key stage.

R E W AR DS AND MOTIVATION
November 2003
One ver y important aspect of encouraging good behaviour in
schools is positive r einfor cement of student achievement. Through
rewarding good wor k and pos itive behaviour , and thr ough
encouraging s tudents to become fully involved in the wider life of
the s chool, students become mor e active, more awar e of the
oppor tunities that surround them and genuinely want to achieve
more and become mor e involved. The pos itive, ‘can do’ atmos pher e
is encouraged as students realize that their achievements, whatever
they may be, wherever their strengths lie, are recognized and
rewarded.
Over the pas t year, two maj or appr oaches for positive
reinforcement have been implemented at Highcliffe – the S chool
Rewards Policy and the Highcliffe Challenge. The policy statements
outlining thes e s tr ategies are included. Both strategies place the
emphasis on students taking r es pons ibility for recording their
achievements. Each strategy also pr ovides a r ange of rewards for
students to aim for. These include:
• Gold, silver and br onze badges for the Key Stage 5, Key
S tage 4 and Key Stage 3 Highcliffe Challenges, designed by
the S tudent Council.
• ‘Praise Car ds ’ s igned by the Head of Year (50) or the
Headteacher (100) sent directly home infor ming par ents when
students have had 50 and 100 merits recorded electr onically
in a year .
• Head of Year certificates for achieving 30 and 80 merits in a
year.
• A £20 WH Smith Achievement Voucher for the s tudent in each
of Years 7, 8 & 9 achieving the mos t merits each term.
• Achievement vouchers as raffle pr izes (10 merits = 1 raffle
ticket) in each end of term year group 'Achievement
Assembly’ (Year s 7, 8 & 9).
• A pr ize to s har e for the tutor group in each of Years 7, 8 & 9
with the mos t merits recorded each term.

S o far , these s tr ategies have pr oved to be ver y popular, as the
following facts and figur es show:
Mer it s :
37,214 merits were recorded electronically last year (2002 – 2003):
• 25, 837 in year 7,
• 9, 016 in year 8,
• 2, 297 in year 9.
• 286 students received Head of Year certificates for gaining 30
merits,
• 166 students had Pr aise Car ds posted home for achieving 50
merits,
• 49 students received Head of Year certificates for gaining 80
merits,
• 10 students had Pr aise Car ds , signed by the Headteacher,
posted home for achieving 100 merits.
S o far in 2003–2004, 5,619 merits have been recorded
electronically by 632 different students (this being in the firs t 7
weeks of the s chool year).
T he H ighcliffe Challenge:
S ince being launched in October 2003, so far the following numbers
have taken part in the Challenge (Year s 7 & 10 have been
encouraged not to r us h things at this stage as they are only at the
beginning of their respective Key Stages):
Year 7 - 20 students (9% of the year group)
Year 8 - 93 students (42% of the year group)
Year 9 - 55 students (25% of the year group)
Year 10 - 10 students (5% of the year group)
Year 11 - 88 students (40% of the year group). One s tudent, Alex
S achs has just completed the Highcliffe Challenge!
T he Highcliffe Challenge has only been running for just over a
month, and it is already generating much interest and enthus ias m.
Our first students will be pas s ing the Highcliffe Challenge befor e the
end of this Autumn term. By the end of the s chool year, many
students will be wear ing with pride the Highcliffe Challenge badges
that they have ear ned, encouraging other s to be mor e involved and
aim to get for themselves the r ecognition that they rightfully
deserve.

S E N POLI CY (under Review: currently being r e-dr afted)
T he pr ovis ion for Special Educational Needs at Highcliffe S chool is in
accor dance with the Code of Practice and follows guidelines laid
down by the LEA. The obj ectives for making pr ovision for students
with S EN are that the s chool allow all its students to take up their
curriculum entitlement. It aims to wor k in partnership with their
parents. It plans for the integr ation of S EN provision into
differentiated pr ogr ammes of study across the faculties as well as
monitoring and maintaining current records enabling access for all
concerned.
All faculties have an S EN policy where aims and obj ectives to cater
for all students are us ed in planning s yllabuses and s chemes of
work and the deliver y of the curriculum in appr opr iate teaching and
learning s tyles .
• I n line with the Warnock report the aims of the Lear ning S uppor t
Department are the s ame as those for all students in the s chool.
I t is recognised that many students will, perhaps for only a s hor t
time, have s ome for m of S EN and that some s uppor t may be
required.
• T he s chool will ensure that equality of educational opportunity is
provided for all students.
• All teachers are teacher s of S pecial Educational Needs and as
such will enable all students to access the lessons.
• T he ter m ‘S pecial Educational Needs ’ encompasses the gifted or
exceptionally able s tudent as well as the s tudent with learning
difficulties.
• S tudents with S pecial Educational Needs should and will,
wherever possible, be educated alongs ide their peer s .
• S tudents with S pecial Educational Needs will benefit from a
variety of grouping s tr uctur es and teaching appr oaches including
the us e of I CT .
• When working with students with S pecial Educational Needs ,
teachers will seek to r ais e the s elf esteem and confidence of
these s tudents by allowing and pr oviding oppor tunities for
success.
• Effective pr ovis ion will be s ecur ed wher e ther e is the gr eates t
possible degr ee of partnership between parents, students,
teachers and ex ter nal agencies.

• S tudents are involved in reviewing tar get setting as part of the
I EP process and decisions about their future educational
provision.
Funding r eceived into the s chool budget is used at the dis cr etion of
the Gover ning B ody to fulfil their duties with regard to making
provision for students with S EN.
I n accor dance with the s tudents ’ S tatement of S pecial Educational
Needs , they may be withdr awn from lessons, either individually or
in small groups for literacy, numeracy, language or specific teachi ng
to addr ess a par ticular need. In addition, there is suppor t provided
during lessons and ex tr a curricular time by Learning S uppor t
Assistants to enable s tudents to access the wor k in lessons and
complete individual study.
S tudents on the S EN register are fully integrated into the life of the
school and ever y effort is made to ens ur e their curriculum
entitlement. All students are encour aged to achieve the highes t
possible s tandar ds and to develop into r es pons ible and s uccessful
members of the community.

E NT R I E S FOR PUBLIC E XAMI NAT I ONS
(NOT E: The following par agr aphs provide a br oad indication of the
Governors’ pr es ent policies and pr inciples for students being
entered for public ex aminations from the age of 15 upwards).
S tudents are cons ider ed for entry to public ex ami nations on the
recommendation of the Headteacher and the assistant teaching
staff. Students will be couns elled and par ents will be cons ulted but
ultimately the decis ion as to the type and level of examination for
which the s tudent is entered is a pr ofessional one.
Entry, certification and ex amination fees for subject, courses and
course components which students take on the r ecommendation of
the Headteacher and as s istant teaching s taff are paid for by the
Governors under certain circumstances. Further information is
available fr om the s chool.
E XAMI NAT I ON RESULT S – SUMMAR Y SUMMER 2003
K ey Stage 3
Key Stage 3 results overall were again very pleasing with our
highest ever average points score. The ambitious targets that were
set for this year group wer e not quite achieved in any of the thr ee
subjects but Maths missed by a s ingle per centage point. In 2003:
• 79% of students achieved level 5 or above in English
• 84% of students achieved level 5 or above in Mathematics
• 81% of students achieved level 5 or above in S cience
T he abs ence of some candidates accounts for some of the s hor tfall,
particularly in English. Of the s tudents who s at the tes ts , 88% in
Maths , 84% in S cience and 86% in English achieved level 5.
S chool T argets KS3 2003 (set in Aut umn 2002)
English 85%
Mathematics 85%
S cience 85%
T hese r es ults are already above the tar gets that have been set
within the County for 2004.

S chool T ar get s KS3 2004 Dor s et Targets KS3 2004
English 85% 80%
Maths 85% 79%
S cience 85% 80%
S chool targets were s et in Autumn 2002 and ar e to be r eviewed.
I n English, 42% of students achieved level 6 or above. In Maths
60% achieved level 6 or above and in S cience 49% and this
represents significant improvement on 2002. The impr oved
performance at the higher levels has also helped thes e curriculum
areas to achieve their best ever average points score. To build on
this excellent foundation we have s et ourselves further ambitious
targets at level 6 and above.
K ey Stage 4
Extra s uppor t targeted at Year 11 last year helped to ens ur e that, at
GCS E level, 66% of students achieved 5 or more A* - C gr ades . This
is above the pr evious three- year average of 65% and is well ahead
of the 62% target set for the County.
T he aver age points score for all subjects, which reflects the
performance acr oss the whole cohor t, was 47.2 for those s tudents
who s at GCSE examinations in 2003. The aver age points score
capped to the bes t eight subjects was 40.
T his year group contained a wide r ange of ability and it is again
pleasing to note the levels of success achieved by students across
the ability range. T he per for mance of students was above that
predicted by their cognitive abilities tests and their prior attainment
at Key Stage 3.
As well as some outs tanding individual achievements:
21% of students achieved 10 or more A* - C
41% of students achieved 8 or more A* - C
57% of students achieved 6 or more A* - C
T ar get s for GCSE KS4
S chool 2004 Dor s et 2004
5A* - C 75% 63%
5 A – G 99% 97%
Average point score
per student 51 45

S ixt h Form Highlights
Year 13 had an average GCS E points score of less than 5 (Grade C)
and ther efor e we wer e delighted to s ee thes e s tudents make above
average pr ogr ess. They achieved in excess of their target grades
set on their prior attainment. Highlights included:
• Nearly 99% pass rate at A level
• Appr ox imately 95% pass rate at AS level
• Over 80% of Highcliffe S tudents exceeded their Target
Minimum Grade at A level
• S tudents with exceptional performance
o Patrick S teen, 3 Grade A at A level and Gr ade C AS
Maths
o James Bishop - TMG E based on average GCS E point
score of 4.2 - achieved 2 Grade B and 1 Grade C
• All but two s tudents were placed on their first choice degr ee
course
Current Year 13 UCAS applications
T o date ther e has been 1 application to Oxfor d, 1 to Cambr idge and
1 for Medicine.

L ink I nspector to S chool – Harry T urner, Head of School
I mpr ovement
Gover nor s Sub-Committee R epor t s 2002/03
T he Curriculum Committee R epor t
Member s
H arry Sharp, Chair, Partnership Gover nor
Martin Axton, Chair of Governors
Judith Potts, Headteacher
Nick O’Connor, Deputy Headteacher
Philip Mills, Teacher Governor
Mandy Gardiner, Parent Governor
S usan Connelly, Parent Governor
T he agenda for the curriculum committee is very broad indeed, as
are the r es pons ibilities of the committee. The committee addr esses
all aspects of the s chool curriculum, including the taught curriculum
at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 (Sixth Form) as well as the wide r ange of
extra curricular activities that student engage in. We ar e currently
reviewing the level of student involvement in the extr a curricular
oppor tunities that we offer, with a view to achieving a S por ts Mark
status for the s chool as well as to evaluate the impact that this
provision has on the s chool community.
A key focus of the pas t 12 months has been the s ignificant increase
in the platfor m for our Sixth Form. As a par tner in the Chr is tchur ch
S ixth Form we have now developed a s trong s ens e of Home S chool
identity at Highcliffe and ar e in the for tunate pos ition to be
recruiting well from Year 11 students as well as increasing the
number of external applicants. More s tudents now travel to
Highcliffe fr om our partner schools for their studies than at any
point in the pas t. We ar e now able to meet the demands of a year
12 that has more than doubled in size, together with the lar ges t
ever student number in Year 13. Accor ding to the Lear ning and
S kills Council figures we have incr eas ed the S ixth Form by 89% at
Highcliffe and the Chr is tchur ch Collaboration now caters for over
500 students which, makes the S ixth Form the s econd lar ges t in the
region.
T he Committee is sensitive to the fact that every member of the
school community plays an important part in the over all life of the
school and hence makes a contribution to the ‘curriculum’. We
recognize that the r elations hip between students, parents and s taff
in school is critical to our school improvement strategies.

As part of our ongoing wor k in developing a home s chool learning
partnership we would welcome any comments relating to the
curriculum that we offer at all Key Stages within the s chool. We
have als o developed a r ange of presentations to complement the
tutor evenings at school for which we als o welcome any feedback.
T he r ange of agenda items that we addr ess include:
• How we identified and wor k with our gifted and talented s tudents
in school
• Monitoring the preferences process as students make decis ions
about their individual learning programmes, particularly at the
transition points from Year 9 into 10 and fr om Year 11 into the
S ixth Form.
• I mplementation of a wor k related lear ning programme at Key
S tage 4
• T o wor k with the Lear ning and S kills Council to r ais e GCS E
achievement (Level 2)
• T o develop a curriculum that is relevant for all our students and
to wor k more clos ely with new partners
• Planning accommodation improvement and ex pans ion to meet
the needs of the s chool and the br oader curriculum
• Developing an academic tutor ing programme for all students
• T imetable time for teachers to impr ove their teaching and
learning s kills
• S uppor ting Faculties with development time to s tar t new courses
and impr ove exis ting ones
• Providing access to wider accr editation in the KS 4 curriculum,
e.g. modular GCSE, AS level, ASDAN award, NVQs
• T he intr oduction of the Pr ogr ess File in the PS E curriculum
• KS 3 Strategy developments which are infor med, planned and
suppor ted with help of LEA K S 3 consultants
• Curriculum Leaders are kept up to date with good pr actice at a
national level, which is then cascaded to all staff
T he Committee are committed to continuing to pr ovide a curriculum
that is dynamic and r elevant to s tudents ’ needs , interests and
abilities.
Community Links Sub-Committee Annual Report
Gr aham Smith, Chair, Parent Governor
Martin Axton, Chair of Governors
Judith Potts, Headteacher
Mandy Gardiner, Parent Governor
John Lofts, First Governor
Philip Mills, Teacher Governor
Christine King, Teacher Governor

Gareth Hughes, Deputy Headteacher
Myra Mawbey, LEA Gover nor
Ben Barnett, Partnership Gover nor
Julie S awden, Parent Governor
Mathew Downs, Staff Governor
T he community links sub-committee has presided over a wide r ange
of issues during the year that have r es ulted in a s tronger
partnership between the s chool, LEA and the community.
T he committee has been instrumental in honing the char acter and
shape of the s chool as an 11-19 centre of learning by their active
suppor t of school-bas ed initiatives that have included the
development of the S ixth Form and ex tending the over all provision
at Highcliffe. A mos t pleasing tr end is that of the continued gr owth
rate of the S ixth Form. This is indicative of the changing char acter
of the s chool and is a r es pons e to both the wis hes of the par ental
body and the s tudents themselves, who s ee Highcliffe as a natur al
extension to their studies beyond GCS E. Indeed s uch developments
have fur ther enhanced the s tr ategic r elations hi p that has developed
between the s chool and the LEA in terms of funding and s uppor t.
L ocal Community
Regular meetings this year with the local community have been well
attended. Primarily they have pr ovided the oppor tunity to infor m
the local residents about the new building impr ovements and have
provided a for um for their views to be aired. The gover nor s wish to
extend thanks to Councillor Capt. J. Lofts for his hard wor k and
dedication in guiding the s chool throughout the planning pr ocesses
involved in the new build. In addition, Councillor A. Griffiths is to be
thanked for being ins tr umental in the development of the tr affic
congestion control scheme. This is aimed at reducing conges tion in
the vicinity of the s chool at peak times. Many thanks to par ents who
have already responded s o pos itively to the s cheme in terms of
drop-off points.
I nclus ion
T he committee has reviewed and adopted the s chool policy on
I nclus ion, which was presented by Mrs. D. As hton (I nclusion Coordinator)
and the B ehaviour al Support Framework, both are
intended to pr ovide a multi-agency response to the needs of
students through their Individual Behaviour Support Plans (IBSP)
where necessary. Much stronger relations have been forged with
the ‘Connexions’ and Educational Welfare S er vice with the
respective appointments of Joan Bartlett and Dawn Rudge to the
team. The Lear ning S uppor t and Guidance T eam has also been
suppor ted by Mrs. G. Alderson and the peer suppor t group Helping

Hands. As a r es ult, increasingly a multi-agency appr oach can now
be adopted when devising s tr ategies to s uppor t individual students.
S adly, the s chool bade far ewell to PC Williams (who has moved on
to a new post) after numerous years of tireless service to Highcliffe.
We extend our sincere thanks to him for his past service and bes t
wishes for the futur e. PC Williams has been replaced by PC Car ole
Darkin, whom we welcome to the s chool and tr us t that she will
enjoy working with us.
Admissions
T he community links group has had a pivotal role in formulating the
response of the s chool to both the Hants & Dor s et LEA new
admissions arrangements and in setting the s tandar d admission
number that has now been agreed at 216.
Attendance
From S eptember 2003 the s chool has moved towar d electr onic
registration, which is carried out via laptop computer s . This will
provide up- to- the- minute infor mation about students. Within the
school rewards structure s tudents are r ewar ded for good
attendance thr ough certification and Honour s Book nomination. The
attendance r etur n made to the DfES illustrates a pleas ing downwar d
trend in the number of unauthorised abs ences (0.2% ) and an
overall figure of 93% attendance for the whole s chool.
S chool Council
T he committee meet regularly with Mrs. C. King and r epr es entatives
also attend guidance and gover ning body meetings . Alex S achs
(Year 11 Representative - School Council) recently informed the
Governing B ody of the r ole of the s chool council in the r edes ign /
refurbishment of the toilets , the awar d of the cater ing contr act the
design of a webs ite and the S ixth Form Cafe. In both cases, the
companies concerned acknowledged that it was the firs t time in
their dealings with schools that the s tudents had been involved in
the negotiations and that their views had been both thoughtprovoking
and challenging when putting their respective bids and
plans together.
Alex S achs has become a member of the Chr is tchur ch Youth Council
and is also r epr es enting Chr istchur ch Lions in a r egional Citizenship
competition. Jasmine Rouf (S ixth Form) has been elected to the
Dorset and the National Youth Parliament.
E nvir onment F or Teaching And L ear ning
T he s chool has continued to develop an effective wor king
relationship with Dorset LEA. The committee has been involved in

eviewing var ious facility contracts and in the cons ultation process
with regard to the new building des ign. In addition, planning iss ues
associated with the new replacement building for the ROS LA block
have als o been tabled. This has been a maj or project for the s chool
and the gover nor s are delighted to hear that building appr oval has
been secured. Work on the technology block has now star ted in
earnest and is ongoing in readiness for the next academic year .
H 2 U
Communication with parents and the local community has been
further improved as a r es ult of the r egular publication of the s chool
H2U newsletter led by Mr. P. Coughlan and his team of students.
T he news letter appear s regularly and is circulated to par ents and
local residents. It aims to pr ovide infor mation about activities at
school and to celebr ate the many successes achieved by the
students in both their academic and ex tr a curricular activities.
I CT
We have now provided the oppor tunity to involve the gover ning
body of I CT developments such as the ‘Highcliffe Challenge’ which
presents students with the oppor tunity to wor k in close cons ultation
with staff in order to gain accr editation for achieving challenges
which complement their studies. Both the ‘Highcliffe Challenge’ and
‘MyHighcliffe’ ar e now available to s taff and s tudents via the
internet. This is a maj or and unique development to Highcliffe that
provides the oppor tunity for students to take on more owner s hip of
their progress and to pr ovide r egular updates of their achievements.
T he ‘MyHighcliffe’ s ite is soon to be available for parental scrutiny
Mer it s and R ewards
A new system of recording achievement has been introduced which
involves the us e of the intranet to awar d mer its and r ecognise
achievement. This has further enhanced the cultur e of achievement
and r ewar d that has been instilled in the s tudents and pr ovides
them with the oppor tunity to collect merits in order to develop their
web-based por tfolios. This initiative has been significant in ensuring
that students are r ewar ded for their achievements and for ms an
intrinsic par t of their learning pr ocess.
I nt er nat ional School Award
Highcliffe S chool and Language College has now been granted
I nternational School status by the B r itis h Council as a r es ult of our
bid and s tr ong links have been established with our partner school
in S Africa – Joubert Ludidi. In addition, staff and s tudents have
participated in the Chr is tchur ch Pyramid ‘One Wor ld’ pr oj ect
through performing and Expr essive Ar ts .

H ighcliffe S chool Association
T he HS A have wor ked with a team of staff and par ents in activities
to r ais e funds for the s chool by arranging s ocial events. As a r es ult,
the s tudents will benefit from the funding to pr ovide:
• games for a lunchtime club
• football kit for the both the boys ’ and girls’ s occer team.
• £1,000 to s ubs idis e Activities Week
• £1,000 to Per for ming Ar ts to pur chas e new instruments
• £1,000 to PE to pur chas e Rugby kits and pos ts
T he main source of funding for the association is that of the 200
Club and the r ecycling of print cartridges. Social events are als o
organised s uch as Quiz & Games nights.
F und R aising
S out h African Link Partnership S chool
T hrough fund r aising, Highcliffe s tudents have been able to
purchase a full football kit for Joubert Ludidi School in S outh Africa.
T he kit is sponsored by Highcliffe and has the motto in Xhosa
‘S iyakunye Phambili’ which means ‘Moving For war d T ogether ’.
Comic R elief – Mufti Day £1076.50
B lue P et er – Bring & Buy £407.05
W or ld Book Day - £60
Oper at ion Christmas Child – Current I nitiative Nov 2003 – over
190 shoe boxes have been received to date.
Monies from ‘The B ig W alk’ – Have now been distributed to local
charities
Poole Hos pital Cystic Fibrosis £1590
Oakhaven Hospice £1590
Meningitis T rust £1590
Links Community Development £1090
Africa L ink in S chool £500
£1590
S chool Fund £6357.88
(towards our new minibus fund)

F inance S ub-Committee
Member s hip
P et er Moseley, Chair, Parent Governor
Martin Axton, Chair of Governors
Judith Potts, Headteacher
Harry Sharp, Partnership Gover nor
Jeremy Allin, First Governor
Christine King, Teacher Governor
Kay Lewis, Resource Manager
S tephen White, Parent Governor
T he s chool’s current financial position continues to r eflect events of
the 1990’s when a redetermination of the funding available for the
payment of business rates resulted in the s chool incurring an
operating deficit of £157,000.
T his legacy has required the s chool and the Local Education
Authority (LEA) to agr ee a s trategy that manages the level of deficit
in the s chool’s accounts while allowing the s chool to impr ove the
educational environment for the s tudents . The s chool carries a
deficit that is licensed by the LEA, within the fr amewor k set by the
Department for Education and S kills.
During 2002/03, the s chool produced a medium-ter m financial plan
that reflected the need for front loading of investment in staff and
facilities as part of the s chool’s overall improvement plan. The
financial plan also pr ovides for repayment of the deficit by the end
of 2007/08.
For the financial year 2002/03, the main sources of funding wer e
delegated funds from the LEA of £2.45m and funding fr om the
Learning and S kills Council for the S ixth Form that amounted to
£352,000. Standards Fund money of £275,000 included £123,000
for the Language College and £6,500 for the S ummer School for
gifted and talented s tudents moving to the s chool in S eptember
2002. The DfES passported £72,000 of funding dir ect to the s chool.
T he s chool set a r evenue budget for 2002/03 that forecast a deficit
as at 31 March 2003 of £266,200.
T he budget was set at this level in order to pr ovide additional
teaching hour s in support of the curriculum and timetable, and to
allow the es tablishment of a full leadership and management team.
Additional suppor t staff were employed in order to enhance s tudent
suppor t, finance and data handling. It was also necessary to take

account of staff pay awards and compr ession of the main teaching
pay scales. Overall, increases to s taffing budgets cost an additional
£336,300 compared with 2001/02.
Another feature of the budget was the s chool’s membership of the
LEA’s building management scheme. This required a £32,000
increase in the funding allocated for the building maintenance cos ts ,
but enabled pr ogr ess with renovation works around the s chool.
Joining the building management scheme pr ovided the s chool with
access to additional capital funding for major refurbishment works.
During the year , financial reporting was enhanced thr ough the us e
of data held on Dorset County Council’s financial systems. The
actual deficit at the end of the 2002/03 financial year was
£264,000. A s ummar y of actual revenue expenditur e and funding
for 2002/03 is attached.
Capital Funding for the year was £84,000, and j us t over half of this
was carried for war d into 2003/04 to help fund the r emodelling of
the fr ont entrance to the s chool. The r emainder was used to
purchase r eplacement kitchen equipment and additional dining
tables. A classroom was refurbished for use as an I nformation
T echnology base, and r eplacement classroom furniture was
purchased for the Des ign and T echnology faculty. Capital spending
plans are appr oved by the LEA, to ens ur e that they comply with the
Asset Management Plan for the s chool.
Governors feel that 2002/03 provided a s ound platfor m for future
developments at the s chool, including the expans ion of sixth form
provision at Highcliffe.
Each year, parents are as ked to cons ider making payments to
Highcliffe S chool Fund, as these funds are an important source of
income. During 2002/03, parents contributed £1,800 with
individual donations averaging £10. The maj or ity of this money
was used to pur chas e equipment for the S cience faculty. For the
current year, £1,200 has been received to date. For parents
wishing to make a contribution who have not yet done s o, a for m is
attached at the back of this report.

P r emis es Sub-Committee
Member s hip
Mar t in Axt on, Chair of Governors
Harry Sharp, Partnership Gover nor
Judith Potts, Headteacher
Kay Lewis, Finance Officer
Mathew Downs, Network Manager
Malcolm Ambrose, Site S uper vis or
David Williams, Assistant Headteacher
David Johnson, Head of Mathematics/T imetabler
(S upported Dr Graham Alner (Consultant: Dorset Buildings Division,
Peter Robson (Dorset Education Officer), John Long (Dor s et
Buildings Maintenance and I ns ur ance S cheme: BMIS)
W or k currently being undertaken:
• New Reception Area s pr ing 2003
• Loss of Room 1 for new Reception meeting r oom space
• Phase two : signage autumn 2003
• I nternal painting s et for summer/autumn 2003
• Heating values /management system summer 2003
• External painting and guttering phas e two and thr ee s ummer
2003
• Electrical power supply upgraded s ummer 2003
• Removal of closed mobile s ummer 2003
• Phase one : Major rewiring of old Chr istchur ch Grammar School
building s ummer 2003
• T hree s cience labor ator ies , two pr ep r ooms and wor k room
refurbished Augus t – Sept 2003
• New Double Ar t Studio mobile Augus t- S ept 2003
• New Performance S tudio Augus t- Oct 2003
• Relocation of temporary Performance mobile to tennis courts
summer 2003
• Reorganisation of maintenance ar ea/s heds etc. autumn 2003
• Café Facility for 6 th form (conversion of common room) Capital
from Catering contr act August-Sept2003.
• Disabilities Discrimination Act works to s tair s , door s , toilet, and
ramps August-Sept and ongoing 2003
• Creation of office on English corridor Sept 2003
S ince S eptember 2000 the s chool has been actively pursuing, in
partnership with Dorset LEA, the r eview of accommodation and the
development of an Asset Management Plan (AMP) in line with
national and county-wide s tr ategy. Due to the natur e of the wor k
the Gover ning B ody resolved to conduct its business in a s lightly
different way to other sub-committees . The r eview and associated

programme of works requires a ver y frequent meetings ’ s chedule
with relevant project leaders and contr actor s . The gr oup ther efor e
meet often during the s chool day and with the appr opr iate
personnel in attendance. This group then works within the other sub
committees to cons ider various facets of each aspect and pr oj ect.
Regular updates are then made available at each meeting of the full
Governing B ody. The s chool endeavours to keep the community
informed thr ough our newsletter (H2U), various letters and
displays.
Over the las t year the Gr oup have wor ked to es tablish the
condition, suitability and net capacity of Highcliffe S chool in line
with the curriculum needs and the char acter of the s chool as an 11-
19 community comprehensive s chool. This Strategic R eview is
currently basing the pr oj ected need on an admission number of 216
x 5 year groups in main school (1080) with an anticipated s ix th
form of around 280: 1360 (total). The s chool has consulted with the
LEA who are in agreement with the viability of these pr oj ections as
a bas is for planning.
T he s chool has responded pos itively to the developments (14-19)
taking place nationally and mor e par ticular ly the s chool’s change of
character (1998) with regard to s ixth form provision at the s chool
and its designation as a S pecialist School. The las t year has
continued to be an exciting if demanding one, as we have s ought to
successfully resolve what in effect is something akin to a Rubik’s
cube!
We ar e now in the final stages of this Strategic R eview and outline
programme of works. Related pr oj ects have already got underway
to enable the s chool to r es pond to the needs of health and s afety
and asset depreciation on the one hand and to be able to pr ovide a
curriculum befitting our teachers/students and the 21 st century on
the other . We ar e, as ever, well suppor ted by the County team
linked into this Review and ex pr ess our appr eciation to ever yone
who has played an active par t in programme or exercised patience
during per iods of disruption and delays .
T he pr ogr amme of works undertaken during the s ummer was very
ambitious and with the bes t efforts of the s chool team and
consultants we s tr ove to minimis e delays within the ter m. We have
formally written to Dor s et setting out some s ugges tions in
hinds ight, given that such work on schools is now a pr ior ity and
involves substantial capital grant from central government often
quite late in the day. The lis t of projects indicates the s cale of works
currently being under taken over the per iod.

We have been particularly impressed with the contr ibution of ideas
from our Student Council members and other groups of students
who have been involved in some of the pr oj ect planning for the new
facilities for their school. Students have r es ponded well to thes e and
with respect.
T he r efur bis hed toilets and S ix th Form café have been well
received. We intend to pr ess for further refurbishment works to
other toilets. Our new Reception is now up and r unning and we
watch with anticipation the building wor k related to our new
Performance Hall and Ar t, Design and T echnology centre.
S chool Security
As part of the over all programme of work mentioned above, the
school has involved var ious specialists in reviewing as pects of
security and assisting us with prioritising wor k. We ar e pleas ed that
Dorset LEA helped fund our new reception with a s ecur ity grant.
Although the whole pr oj ect is not complete, it has made a
substantial improvement already. Other work has included new (or
refurbished) external door s and locking mechanisms , harmonising
and ex tending fire and intr uder alarms, more walkie- talkies for duty
staff, our new security badge s ys tem currently being phas ed in for
visitors, staff and s tudents in the S ixth Form.
Work will continue and we anticipate developing our formal policy as
part of the pr ocess noted above.
Dis ablities Discrimination Act (DDA) : Access
T he r elatively recent introduction of this legislation has brought new
responsibilities and oppor tunities for the Gover ning B ody and
community. As part of our review and pr oj ect work we have
endeavoured to make s ome r eal inroads into making Highcliffe mor e
accessible. We have a stair lift on a main stairwell and the r eview is
currently considering fur ther lift requirements. With the new
performance hall and ADT Centre we will have four disabled toilets
distributed evenly over the whole s chool site. Door way controls and
door access in terms of ramps are being pr ovided within the
programme of works. Further handle r ails and tr ead mar kings on
stairs are under consideration. Wheelchair provision and access has
improved. Assistance has also been secured fr om the Access to
Work team.
Having got started, we r ealise how much is still to do! Again, we
anticipate developing our formal policy on Accessibility as part of
the pr ocess above and wider access needs (including curriculum
access and modification and language access).

R et ur n to Form T utor T ut or Group
Gover nor s ’ Annual General Meet ing 4 t h December 2003
We/I the par ent/s /guar dians of ……………………………….. will be attending the
Annual General Meeting.
S ignature ………………………….
Opt ional
I have a ques tion about …………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Please r etur n slip to For m T utor

H ighcliffe S chool
H eadt eacher
1 1 – 18 Foundation School and L anguage College
Deput y H eadt eacher s
Ms J A Potts BEd (Hons) Mr G Hughes BA (Hons) Mr N O’Connor BSc ( Hons)
j apscfund1/smr
14 th October 2003
Dear Parents
Highcliffe School Fund
Each year at Highcliffe we as k parents to cons ider making a donation to Highcliffe
S chool Fund. These funds are our main source of income other than our budget
share fr om the LEA. This fund enables us to pur chas e invaluable, additional
curriculum suppor t material and equipment.
Last year with your suppor t (£1,800) we wer e able to pur chas e S cience
demonstration models, balances and mater ial. This complemented what we had
already been able to put in place. Last year we cr eated a new S cience bas ed I CT
cluster and made a s ubs tantial investment in new textbooks . This year, three
S cience labor ator ies , two pr epar ation areas and a S cience work room have been
completely refurbished, with another three labor ator ies planned for refurbishment
next year. With your help we have been able to make s ignificant headway with
our Science plan.
At the beginning of term, Mrs. Hazel Wheeler took up pos t as our new Learning
Res ource Centr e Manager replacing Mr s . Hall who decided to embar k upon a fulltime
higher education course.
Mrs . Hall had made a s ignificant impression on our Learning Res our ce Centr e
much to the benefit of our students. I know that Mrs. Wheeler relishes the
oppor tunity to build upon this work. We will therefore be ear-marking any
contribution you feel that you are both willing and able to make for new material
for our Learning Res our ce Centr e. The Lear ning Res our ce Centr e is a gener al
suppor t for all students and r es our ces available ar e a vital source of material to
help acr oss all our students’ cur r iculum projects, classwork, coursework and
homework. Your contribution would be much appr eciated and help to make a
difference.
A r eply slip is attached. Thank you!
Yours sincerely,
J. A. Potts
Headteacher
Parkside
Highcliffe
Christchurch
Dorset
BH23 4QD
T elephone: (01425) 273381
Fax: (01425) 271405
office@highcliffe.dorset.sch.uk
www.highcliffe.dorset.sch.uk

SCHOOL FUND 2003/04
REPLY SLIP
Highcliffe S chool
P leas e R etur n to Mrs. B r ight w ell in the F inance Office betw een 8 a.m. and
9 a.m.
S tudent Name(s) T utor Group
…………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………
Delete as appropriate
I am able to make a contr ibution to the S chool Fund and enclos e a cheque for
£ ………………………. payable to Highcliffe S chool.
I am unable to make a contribution at this time.
S igned …………………………………………………………………………………………… Parent/Guardian
PLEAS E PRINT NAME …………………………………………………………………………………