Click below to join the VB mailing list and be kept up to date with the latest news from the school.

Home > School Information > School Policies

In This Section

Venerable Bede School Policies

Grouping Policy

Moving to secondary school provides an opportunity for making new friends. In order to encourage this, the students from the various primary schools will be divided up and placed in a house and in a mixed ability and mixed age tutor group. We are working with Y6 teachers in order to do our best to ensure that each student has at least one friend in their tutor group. The tutor groups will usually stay together with their tutors as they progress through the school.

Students develop at different rates; in order to give them support when they most need it and encourage the highest levels of attainment, teaching groups will be banded according to student ability. In Year 7 there will be 7 teaching groups. It is important to understand that while a student may be one of the top students in their current class, once the students from all the schools come together there may be a number who are attaining higher standards.

SAT scores and other KS2 information will be used to allocate students to bands. As individuals improve or plateaux there will be movement between the groups. This is particularly relevant in the transition for Year 7 to Year 8 in core subjects.

In all subjects students will be divided into two large populations according to ability. Students are then placed in sets for core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science) according to ability. In other subjects students are taught in mixed ability groups.

Special needs covers a wide spectrum including being more Able/Talented, having a physical/social difficulty or having a learning difficulty. If you would like to discuss any special needs your son or daughter has please do not hesitate to get in touch with Mars Joanne Mills (Co-ordinator of Learning Support).

Lost Property

Personal belongings are the responsibility of students. It is for this reason that we do not allow mobile phones and personal stereos. We will do our best to get lost property back to the owner, in order to assist with this please ensure all uniform, pencil cases etc are clearly named.

Insurance

Students are covered for third party liability by the school insurance policy.

Control and administration of medication

If your child is taking regular medication, you will need to provide details of their medical condition and prescribed medicine. Prescribed medicine must be handed in to school and should not be retained by students with the exception of an inhaler for asthma. The school has a separate policy on the control and administration of medication which sets out clear guidelines for the safekeeping, administration and disposal of all medicines.

Handling of Monies

Where students bring monies into school for visits, events etc., is should be placed in an envelope clearly marked with the students name, tutor group, amount enclosed and name of the visit/event or purpose for which the money is intended. Cheques are acceptable and should be made payable to the 'The Venerable Bede School Fund'. The envelopes should be placed in the collection box provided outside the school office.