Codes of Conduct

The College expects all students to:

be kind and work hard
to wear the school uniform correctly
bring the correct equipment for learning
move about the school with consideration for others
treat the classrooms, corridors and outside areas with respect
treat everybody with respect
respond appropriately to staff requests the first time of being asked
be punctual to school and to lessons

Travel on school buses

Students have the right to a safe and secure journey to and from College each day. Students also have the responsibility to ensure that no individual or group of individuals infringes that right for others. Year 11 students in particular have a responsibility to ensure good order in an appropriate manner.

The College Code of Conduct extends to the journey to and from school. Students:

must behave sensibly
should not eat or drink on the bus
should wear full school uniform
must be seated at all times except when boarding and leaving the bus
must not interfere with the property of other people or do anything to make their journey uncomfortable
should carry their bus pass at all times. Should a student lose their bus pass, they must make sure they go to Student Services at break or lunch-time

Punctuality to school

Students must ensure that they are on time to school in the morning (8.40am start of day). If students arrive at school they will have to enter through the reception doors and sign in. Students will be marked late in the register and will need a note explaining the reason for their lateness, where there is a genuine issue. Repeated lateness will result in parental contact and the student may receive a consequence, e.g. detention.

Medical appointments

We request that whenever possible, medical and dental appointments are made outside of the school day or during holiday time. Where this is not possible, if students need to leave the premises during the day, parents need to contact the attendance team in advance to let them know the details. Our attendance officer can be contacted on attendance@cottenham

Illness and Accidents

Students should alert a member of staff if they are feeling unwell during the College day. During lessons this should be their class teacher, if outside of lessons this will be a duty member of staff.

The College has a first aid room for dealing with illness, minor accidents/injuries. Should there be a more serious illness or injury, the school will contact a person with parental responsiblity, as indicated on the student contact information list. It is the responsiblity of parents and carers to ensure the school always has the most recent contact details, in particular, updating any changes in phone number.

If your child has prescription medication which needs to be taken whilst at College, please ensure a Medical Information Consent Form is completed and given to Reception together with any medications (in their original packaging), clearly marked with your child’s name, dosage and when it should be taken. Prescription medication is to be taken to Reception first thing each morning as students are not allowed to carry medications around during the day.

Please note that the College is not permitted to issue any medications (including paracetamol) without receiving parental/carer consent, and medications must be supplied to the College. The College’s first aiders will only administer medications in line with health care plans/medical consent forms.

Mobile Phones/Electronic Devices

To eliminate distractions in lessons ensuring that students do not access inappropriate websites in school on their own electronic devices, mobile phones are banned from the school site during the school day. We do not recommend students bring a phone to school and take no responsibility for mobile phones that are lost or damaged.

Should parents choose to allow their child to bring a mobile device to school, this should be turned off and placed in a bag, locker, pocket before reaching the front of school site. Any mobile phones seen during the school day, whether in use or not, will be confiscated. Phones confiscated by staff will be held securely until the parent/carer can come into school to collect it and not returned directly to the child.

No child needs a mobile phone for communication purposes whilst at school. Should any urgent messages need to be relayed between home-school then our reception team are on hand to receive or make phone calls.

In terms of smart watches, there is no need for any child to wear a smart watch to school. Should any child be seen to use a smart watch for communication purposes (rather than checking the time) then these items shall be confiscated and returned to parents. We advise that students wear a simple wristwatch for time-telling purposes. We accept no responsibilty for any items that are lost and damaged that parents/carers allow students to bring to school.