FAQ

For safety reasons, it is vital that we know as soon as possible if your child is going to be absent from school. Please call us on 01603 452628 and leave a message stating your child’s name, form tutor group and, where possible, length of absence. We also ask that you send in a note explaining your child’s absence on their first day back. We will contact parents/carers of any child with an unauthorised absence by text message on the first day of absence.

All students who are late should report to the main reception with a note explaining their lateness, reception will then mark them present and hand the child a late slip to show to their class teacher. The school takes punctuality to school very seriously and students who are late to school will receive up to a 20-minute detention on the same day during the child’s social time.

If your child is sitting a public exam and they are absent, they will not be able to sit it at a later date. Therefore, it is important they attend all of their examinations.

Please take a look at the school meals page.

City Academy Norwich has a cashless catering system.

We ask Parents/Carers to pay for Dinner Money, and School trips, using our on-line payment partner, School Gateway. This is a totally secure method of payment, to start using the service click here for School Gateway.

Behaviour Detentions

After school detentions are usually only given to students who have not met our high expectations for learning within lessons, and demonstrated a lack of respect for others within the Academy setting. Parents/carers are informed of detentions via text or phone call home. Detentions are 20 minutes on the same day; failure to attend will result in a 40 minute detention the following day. Mr Franklin is the point of contact within the school for detentions and can be contacted on office@cityacademynorwich.org if you have any enquiries. Students can be kept behind for up to 20 minutes without notice.

Punctuality Detentions

Attendance and punctuality is taken very seriously at City Academy Norwich. School begins at 8:42am and students are expected to be in their form rooms, ready for registration, by 8:40am. If a student arrives at school after 8:42am, they will be marked as late and will get a 20-minute social time detention on the same day.

Please do not contact them by their personal mobile. If you call the school on 01603 452628 someone will assist you and pass on the message.

You need to apply for a new school through the local authority; your child must continue to attend City Academy Norwich until they have been put on the roll of their new school.

We need to see the original travel tickets for your child. We will also need this in writing, addressed to the attendance and admissions officer. This should also state your child’s last day at City Academy Norwich.

The law only allows head teachers to allow absence in exceptional circumstances. A holiday in term time is not an exceptional circumstance. Taking your child out of school during term time for a holiday will mean that your child misses valuable education, which they will not be able to get back, and could leave them behind other members of their class and struggling in their lessons. Holidays taken during school time will be marked as unauthorised in the register, and, in partnership with Norfolk County Council, any parent / carer who takes their child out of school to go on holiday may be subject to a penalty fine or prosecution in Court under the Education Act 1996. sec 444(1). Your child may also lose their school place, and you would have to reapply for a school place. We may not be able to offer you a place back at City Academy Norwich.

For more information regarding the ‘Pupil Premium’ please take the time to read the Pupil Premium page.

The Academy planner, pens (blue / black), pencil (x2), rubber, ruler, Academy reading book, PE Kit.

The Academy student planner helps students organise their work and plays a crucial part in the learning acquired from the Academy Knowledge Organisers. It helps students record and plan their home learning. It is also the first point of Home Academy communication. Form tutors check and sign the planner on a weekly basis, and we ask parents/carers to do the same. It is one of the ways in which you can share messages with your child’s teachers.

If you have any concerns at all about any aspect of your child’s education or progress, then we encourage you to call us / write a note in your child’s planner requesting a meeting with the Form tutor or year Progress Leader. If it is a general query or the subject teacher concerned if it is a query about a specific lesson. The office@cityacademynorwich.org may help you contact the right person for you to talk to within the Academy.

At City Academy Norwich we have very high expectations about school uniform.

It may be possible for your child to borrow spare uniform items from reception but if this is not possible parents/carers will be contacted and asked to bring in the correct uniform item or your child will be sent home to change into correct uniform. Only medical notes from a GP are accepted as a reason for not wearing correct school uniform or correctly coloured school shoes.

We take all forms of bullying seriously as a school and will act swiftly, firmly and supportively to deal with any instances of bullying. A concerned child or parent/carer can speak to any member of school staff including a member of the student council team, Form tutor, Progress Leader or a member of Senior Leadership Team. The school will then investigate the issue fully and act in the best interests of the children involved. At all stages of the process the child and parent/carer will be kept informed of events.

There are a number of members of staff at City Academy Norwich who speak additional languages and can translate if necessary. Languages spoken include Spanish, French, Polish, Arabic, Bengali. Please let the person who you are meeting with know if you would like a translator. Or additionally if you require translation for reasons of hearing impairment we also have staff onsite who can support.

You may write a letter to your child’s progress leader, explaining the situation. This will then be passed to a member of the Senior Leadership Team, or Headteacher to see whether it is possible to offer support through our Hardship Fund. All decisions of support will be made in final by the Headteacher.

Your child’s timetable should be written in their student planner. However, particularly for new students, it is customary for some adjustments to be made to their timetable during the first few weeks. Parents/carers can see an updated copy of their child’s timetable via the Schoolcoms App. You can find out more about the Schoolcoms App on the Academy website here.

There are a range of after school clubs for students. These include academic boosters (Period 7 lessons for year 11 students on a Monday) in most curriculum areas. There is a Homework Club in the library each day. There are also a wide variety of sporting clubs including football, netball, athletics and dance. Other activities are linked into our enrichment UCAN programme which runs on Thursday afternoons and includes our Debating, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and many others. A full list of clubs is made available each term.

Working in partnership with parents and carers is key and you are warmly invited to join the CAN Parent forum group. A friendly and informal group, Family and Friends of CAN are part of the life of Academy from fundraising to helping shape Academy policy. Whether you are interested in becoming a regular member or just dropping in occasionally, everyone is welcome.

We are always looking for potential new parent governors, if you are interested then please contact the headteacher. head@cityacademynorwich.org