Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you all had a good half term.
We've enjoyed having the pupils back, the rest has done them good! We've been really impressed with attitudes to learning. Our positive to negative ratios have been the highest we've seen since the start of the academic year. The most notable improvement is from Year 11. They have increased their positive to negative ratio to 98%, a huge 10% leap and well timed as they approach their last half term in formal education.
Thanks very much to all our Year 9 parents and carers for attending on Thursday evening. It was great to see so many of you. We really value your feedback on the exit questionnaires, we are so grateful for the positives. As ever, we will ensure we act on areas for improvement going forward.
Earlier this year, the Government published updated guidance on the use of mobile phones in school. The non-statutory guidance stated that schools develop and implement a mobile phone policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, breaktimes and lunchtime.
As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering the best possible learning environment for our students, we are reviewing our current policy on mobile phone use during the school day.
Our current policy is that students' mobiles are switched off and kept in bags throughout the school day; if they are seen being used without permission, they are confiscated and kept at reception for the remainder of the school day. We have always recognised that, being a rural school, our students need their phones, particularly at the end of a school day. However, over recent weeks, incidents involving the use of mobiles have been increasing.
We understand that mobile phones can be both a valuable tool and a potential distraction, and we would greatly appreciate your input on how we can strike the right balance. To help guide our decision-making, we kindly request that you complete a short questionnaire to share your views.
https://forms.office.com/e/B232SixkDd
The questionnaire seeks your feedback on the impact of mobile phones in school, as well as your thoughts on potential policy changes.
We will feedback to you on the results of the questionnaire.
Your insights are invaluable in helping us make informed decisions that support both student wellbeing and academic success.
Reasons for this change:
- Supporting Well-Being: Research suggests that limiting phone usage can contribute to improved concentration, reductions in distractions, reductions in anxiety and improved social interaction.
- Parental feedback: My team and I have had an increasing number of parents/carers who have contacted us to discuss concerns over the addictive nature of mobile phone usage, specifically the impact social media is having on social skills and mental health.
- Digital Detox: We are trying to promote more opportunities for our pupils to communicate and improve their oracy skills. In addition, we'd like to encourage them to become more active and recognise the benefits of a healthier lifestyle on their mental health.
Thank you for your time and for being a vital part of Danebury's community.
We will be holding a number of assemblies over the next few weeks to explain why and how we are changing our approach. We will communicate with you in more detail before we break for Easter. We would appreciate your full support with this going forward.
Some excellent news from the #BeeWell survey which is a Hampshire wide pupil survey carried out by Years 8 and 10 annually. The survey is based around pupils' mental health and well-being. We were overjoyed to see that our pupils' responses were within the top 5 in Hampshire, this reinforces the positive feedback we receive from our internal pupil voice surveys. See graph below, Danebury is the largest grey circle in the green area!
Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the blue skies and sunshine!
Have a good weekend.
Nicky Goodridge, Head of School
