School Policies

Where there are more applicants than places available, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Need which name the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in this order:

Waiting lists

All applicants for Townley Grammar School who are not offered a place – and any late applicants ‐ will be placed on the school’s waiting list in the order of the criteria set out above – including the criteria for further allocations, where that process is used.  If places become available before the start of the year they will be offered in order according to the child’s place on the waiting list. Townley Grammar School will hold a waiting list throughout the first term of Year 7 and will offer places from that list if vacancies become available.   Beyond that point, applications will be considered using the in‐year applications process set out below.

Entry to the Sixth Form

The school has an expected total number of 500 places available in the sixth form.

All Townley Year 11 students who wish to transfer to the sixth form may do so provided they meet the entry requirements set out below.

The maximum number of places available for external candidates joining year 12 is 100.  If the school receives more applications from appropriately qualified candidates which it can accommodate within teaching groups it may exceed that number.

The requirement for entry to the Sixth Form is 8 full course GCSEs at grades 9 -5 which must include English, Mathematics (English & Maths grade 5 or above) and an average point score of 5.75 in the best 8 subjects.

For legacy GCSEs, grades will be converted as follows:

In addition all students are required to have at least grade 6 and above in the subjects they intend to study in the sixth form, except, Mathematics which require a minimum of a grade 7 at GCSE (8/9 for Further Maths). Science require grade 7.

The points score is based upon the current point system for GCSE full courses as follows:

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

Conditional offers are based on predicted grades; actual places are not confirmed until GCSE results are announced. This may mean that some courses become oversubscribed and if there are more applicants than places available then we will allocate places according to the over‐subscription criteria below:

GCSE Point Score

‐      Over-subscription on a course

‐      Being a performing Arts School with a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing – greater weighting may be given to these subjects. 

‐      Looked after children or other extenuating circumstances which we feel warrant special consideration. (See application form).

‐      Siblings

‐      Distance

‐      Being a girls' school there is a limitation on the number of boys we can admit taking into consideration the facilities we can provide.

In‐year admissions process

An ‘in year’ admission is when a student is admitted to the school, outside of the normal secondary transfer period (when a student enters the school from Year 6 into Year 7).

This element of the policy applies to admissions from January of Year 7 to the beginning of Year 10. The school does not normally offer places after the beginning of Year 10 or in Year 11 – other than to girls who have moved into the area and cannot continue to attend their previous school.

Townley Grammar School will participate in the Fair Access Protocol in Bexley and where required to do so will offer a place through that process ahead of any other applicant on the school’s waiting list.

For a girl to be considered for a place at Townley Grammar School, she must have been deemed selective in the Bexley Selection Tests.   Procedures for making a secondary transfer have recently changed and all parents of students wishing to apply for a place, at Townley Grammar School, whether they live in Bexley or in a neighbouring local authority, must complete a ‘Grammar In‐ Year Application Form’ available from Townley Grammar Schools’ website or ‘Bexley In Year Application Form’ which is available on Bexley Council’s website (www.bexley.gov.uk).  If your child is not currently in a Bexley school it is advisable to complete the Bexley ‘In Year’ application form as this will give access to all schools in Bexley rather than just selective schools.

If your daughter has been deemed selective and a place is not currently available, you can ask for her to be placed on a waiting list for the appropriate year group. Girls are ranked according to oversubscription criteria 1 (LAC), 3 (sibling) 4 (staff children) and 6 (distance) in that order, using the tie break described above where necessary.    If a place becomes available we will contact the person at the top of the list to offer them a place at the school.

Girls will be tested only once during any school year.  The names of those achieving the required standard will be added the waiting list.  If further vacancies become available, any further applicants who have applied since the last test will be invited to sit selection tests. Applicants who achieve the required standard in the test will be added at the appropriate place on the waiting list.

Waiting lists will automatically update at the end of each academic year unless a parent/carer requests their daughter’s name be withdrawn from the waiting list.

If any special arrangements are required for an applicant to take the tests they must be requested in writing when the invitation to attend the test is accepted, including details of what is required and confirmation either from the applicant’s current school that these arrangements have been accepted, or from the applicant’s primary school that they were accepted for KS2 tests.

Admissions Policy 2019-2020

Townley Grammar School became an Academy on 1st January 2012 and is therefore the admissions authority for the school from that date.

This policy will apply to admission to Years 7 and 12 in September 2019.

Townley Grammar School is a former maintained grammar school designated as such under section 104  of  the  School  Standards  and  Framework  Act  1998  and  the  Education  (Grammar  School

Designation) Order 1998. As such it is permitted to continue to select its intake by reference to ability.

Points applying to all admissions

The school will admit pupils who have a statement of special educational needs naming the school, provided that the school has agreed that it can meet that child’s needs and therefore consented to be named.

The school will agree to consider an application for a place for a statemented pupil only if she (or he, for sixth form) has reached the same selective standard as other students offered places, identified separately below for Year 7 and sixth form.

In all cases where an application for a place at a school is unsuccessful, the parent will have the right of appeal. That appeal will be heard by an Independent Appeal Panel commissioned by the school.

If false or misleading information is used to gain entry to the school, the place may be withdrawn. Applications for Year 7 admission will be co‐ordinated by the London Borough of Bexley.  All other  applications will be handled directly by the school.

Year 7 admission arrangements

Girls are eligible for admission to Year 7 in the September following their 11th birthday (for admission in September 2018 that is girls born between 1st September 2007 and 31st August 2008 (inclusive).  The school will accept applications from girls who are no more than one year younger (that is, they were born no later than 31st August 2009) provided that they are already in Year 6 at a primary school and the school confirms that they are working successfully in that group.

The school’s admission number is 224 pupils (An increase of 14 places from September 2016)         

In the first allocation of places, the school will only consider applicants “deemed selective” by the London Borough of Bexley – using arrangements published by them.   At this stage, girls with a statement of special educational needs will be considered only if they reach that standard.

If there are fewer than 224 such applicants, all will be admitted.

Where there are more applicants than places available, after the admission of pupils with Statements of Special Educational Need which name the school, priority for admission will be given to those children who meet the criteria set out below, in this order:

Where a tie break is necessary – because two or more applicants live at an equal distance from the school as measured under criterion 6, the girl with the highest aggregate score in the selection test will be offered the place.  In the event that two or more girls living at an equal distance from the school have the same aggregate score, random allocation will be used.

Further allocations

If places remain available at Townley Grammar School after all girls “deemed selective” by the London Borough of Bexley have been offered places, the Governors will adopt the principles and process of the London Borough of Bexley’s reserve list, and will participate in that process where it is managed by the Admissions Authority.

Under that process, places will be offered to girls in descending order of the aggregate score achieved in the Bexley selection tests. Within each aggregate score priority will be given to girls with a statement of special educational need achieving that score and then according to oversubscription criteria 1 (LAC), 3 (sibling) 4 (staff children), 5 (Pupil Premium and/or Free School Meals) 6 (distance) in that order, using the tie break described above where necessary.

Waiting lists

All applicants for Townley Grammar School who are not offered a place – and any late applicants ‐ will be placed on the school’s waiting list in the order of the criteria set out above – including the criteria for further allocations, where that process is used.  If places become available before the start of the year they will be offered in order according to the child’s place on the waiting list. Townley Grammar School will hold a waiting list throughout the first term of Year 7 and will offer places from that list if vacancies become available.   Beyond that point, applications will be considered using the in‐year applications process set out below.

Entry to the Sixth Form

The school has an expected total number of 500 places available in the sixth form.

All Townley Year 11 students who wish to transfer to the sixth form may do so provided they meet the entry requirements set out below.

The maximum number of places available for external candidates joining Year 12 is 100.  If the school receives more applications from appropriately qualified candidates which it can accommodate within teaching groups it may exceed that number.

The requirement for entry to the Sixth Form is 8 full course GCSEs at grades 9 -5 which must include English, Mathematics (English & Maths grade 5 or above) and an average point score of 5.75 in the best 8 subjects.

For legacy GCSEs, grades will be converted as follows:

In addition all students are required to have at least grade 6 and above in the subjects they intend to study in the sixth form, except, Mathematics which require a minimum of a grade 7 at GCSE (8/9 for Further Maths). Science require grade 7.

The points score is based upon the current point system for GCSE full courses as follows:

Conditional offers are based on predicted grades; actual places are not confirmed until GCSE results are announced. This may mean that some courses become oversubscribed and if there are more applicants than places available then we will allocate places according to the over‐ subscription criteria below:

GCSE Point Score

‐      Oversubscription on a course

‐      Being a performing Arts School with a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing – greater weighting may be given to these subjects. 

‐      Looked after children or other extenuating circumstances which we feel warrant special consideration. (See application form).

‐      Siblings

‐      Distance

‐      Being a girls' school there is a limitation on the number of boys we can admit taking into consideration the facilities we can provide.

In‐year admissions process

An ‘in year’ admission is when a student is admitted to the school, outside of the normal secondary transfer period (when a student enters the school from Year 6 into Year 7).

This element of the policy applies to admissions from January of Year 7 to the beginning of Year 10. The school does not normally offer places after the beginning of Year 10 or in Year 11 – other than to girls who have moved into the area and cannot continue to attend their previous school.

Townley Grammar School will participate in the Fair Access Protocol in Bexley and where required to do so will offer a place through that process ahead of any other applicant on the school’s waiting list.

For a girl to be considered for a place at Townley Grammar School, she must have been deemed selective in the Bexley Selection Tests.   Procedures for making a secondary transfer have recently changed and all parents of students wishing to apply for a place, at Townley Grammar School, whether they live in Bexley or in a neighbouring local authority, must complete a ‘Grammar In‐ Year Application Form’ available from Townley Grammar Schools’ website or ‘Bexley In Year Application Form’ which is available on Bexley Council’s website (www.bexley.gov.uk).  If your child is not currently in a Bexley school it is advisable to complete the Bexley ‘In Year’ application form as this will give access to all schools in Bexley rather than just selective schools.

If your daughter has been deemed selective and a place is not currently available, you can ask for her to be placed on a waiting list for the appropriate year group. Girls are ranked according to oversubscription criteria 1 (LAC), 3 (sibling) 4 (staff children) and 6 (distance) in that order, using the tie break described above where necessary.    If a place becomes available we will contact the person at the top of the list to offer them a place at the school.

Girls will be tested only once during any school year.  The names of those achieving the required standard will be added the waiting list.  If further vacancies become available, any further applicants who have applied since the last test will be invited to sit selection tests. Applicants who achieve the required standard in the test will be added at the appropriate place on the waiting list.

Waiting lists will automatically update at the end of each academic year unless a parent/carer requests their daughter’s name be withdrawn from the waiting list.

If any special arrangements are required for an applicant to take the tests they must be requested in writing when the invitation to attend the test is accepted, including details of what is required and confirmation either from the applicant’s current school that these arrangements have been accepted, or from the applicant’s primary school that they were accepted for KS2 tests.

Anti Bullying Policy  pdf please click here

Introduction

School assemblies provide unique and valuable opportunities to develop the school as a community and to promote the personal, spiritual and moral development of pupils.  They provide opportunities to foster values and attitudes which bind people together for mutual encouragement and support.  Daily Collective Worship is a statutory requirement and at Townley Grammar School for Girls occurs in the context of an assembly.  Collective  worship is conducted in ways which encourage and allow for a diversity of religious responses.

Aims For Collective Worship

DFE Circular 1/94 'Religious Education and Collective Worship' gives the following aims for collective worship:

Collective worship in schools should aim

• to provide the opportunity for pupils to worship God;
• to consider spiritual and moral issues and to explore their own beliefs;
• to encourage participation and response, whether through active involvement in the presentation of worship or through listening to and joining in the worship offered;
•  to develop community spirit, promote a common ethos and shared values, and reinforce positive attitudes.

The Nature of Collective Worship

 
Collective worship should regularly include one or more of the following features:

• sharing values which are clearly based on religious faith;
• opportunity for pupils to think carefully (meditate) about these values as they affect themselves;
• opportunity for pupils to pray or to listen to prayer;
• opportunities for pupils to listen to, and think about extracts from sacred texts or other writings which have a religious theme.

Planning for Collective Worship

Mrs S Perfect plans the Assembly Rota liaising with Mr M Suranyi, the Director of Music.  An assembly prefect is appointed each year to support Mrs Perfect.

The Accommodation

 
The following areas can be used for assemblies, the hall, the two gyms and the drama studio.

The Assembly Pattern

A short class assembly is held with the form tutor on Tuesday mornings.  Form tutors and a form representative are provided with assembly ideas, which include notable dates for the week, a brief explanation of the assembly theme, a reading and sometimes a prayer.  Form representatives meet with Mrs Perfect and the assembly prefect to discuss the readings.

A thought for the day is also prepared for forms to use once a week.

Years 7 and 8 attend assembly in the main hall once a week on Mondays.  They also attend their own junior assemblies on Wednesday and Friday in the gym.  Years nine, ten and eleven have their own year group assemblies and they attend assembly in the hall twice a week.  The sixth form meet together once or twice a week and attend assembly in the hall on Thursdays or Fridays.  Lower school form prefects attend assembly in the gym with their forms on Wednesdays.

Most assemblies are "of a broadly Christian character", a hymn, a reading or talk followed by a prayer.  The Headteacher, the Deputy Heads, Assistant Headteachers, Year Heads and other interested members of staff take assemblies.  Pupils are encouraged to be actively involved.  Each form prepares an assembly once a year and presents it either in the hall or the gym.  Each form has an assembly representative who helps prepare or organise the form assembly. All prefects read regularly in the hall and help younger pupils to prepare their class assemblies.  Individuals and groups of pupils regularly sing or play instruments as an integral part of an assembly. 

The major Christian festivals of Easter and Christmas as well as harvest festival and Remembrance Day are celebrated by the whole school.  The annual Head Girl's Day Service is prepared by the Head Girl and to which parents, governors and friends of the school are invited.

Statutory Requirements

 
The following points summarise the statutory requirements in the Education Reform Act:

• All pupils in attendance at a school shall take part in an act of collective worship each day, unless they have been withdrawn by their parents.
• The act of collective worship can occur at any time of the school day.  It can comprise either a single act by the whole school or separate acts of worship by pupils in different age groups or, if the SACRE has granted a permission to lift the requirement for wholly or mainly broadly Christian worship for a group of pupils, by different groups.
• The head teacher in a county school is responsible for ensuring that all pupils in attendance attend collective worship daily;
• At least 51% of acts of collective worship, taking each term as a whole, must be wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.  The remaining acts of collective worship during the term can have content of any combination of Christian and other faiths;
• All acts of collective worship shall take into account the family backgrounds of the pupils and their ages and aptitudes;
• The organisation and nature of collective worship in a county school is the responsibility of the head teacher, after consultation with the governing body;
• The head teacher, after consulting with the governing body, can apply to the SACRE for permission to provide alternative collective worship for any class or description of pupils in the school for whom the requirement of wholly or mainly broadly Christian worship is inappropriate.  The governing body may consult with parents when the head teacher has indicated the intention to seek permission.

Assessment and Marking Policy

Attendance Policy

Bring Your Own Device Policy (PDF)

Behaviour Policy - pdf

Behaviour Policy Appendix - pdf

16 - 19 Bursary Fund Policy/Statement 2016-2017 -pdf

CCTV Policy (PDF)

Charging and Remissions Policy

Complaints Procedure for Parents Policy (PDF)

GDPR Data Protection Policy (PDF)

Drug and Substance Misuse Policy (PDF)

Educational Visits Policy

Examinations Policy 2015

Equal Opportunities Policy please click here

E-Safety Policy

Annual Report & Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st August 2017

High Achievers Policy 2015

Lettings Policy (PDF)

Link Governor Visits Policy

Independent Study Policy   pdf please click here

Supporting children with medical needs policy (PDF)

Please click the link here for Pupil Premium information in our Student Services Section  

Select the links below to view the current Pupil Premium Policy and Pupil Premium Planned Allocation for this academic year 2017-18.

• Pupil Premium Policy Signed December 2017

•  Pupil Premium Planned Allocation for 2017-18 pdf

Records Management Policy (PDF)

Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy pdf  

"This document forms part of the Local offer for Bexley. Under the Children and Families Bill which becomes law in 2014, Local Authorities are required to publish, and keep under review, information about services that they expect to be available for children and young people with disabilities and Special Educational Needs aged 0-25. This is called the Local Offer. The intention of the Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It will also be an important resource for professionals in understanding the range of services and provision in the local area".

Select links below to view the policy documents.

Townley SEND Local Offer 2015-16

SEND Policy 2017

Please click this link to Students Services Section to view information regarding  Special Education Needs.

Sex and Relationships (PDF)

Use of Force to Restrain Students Policy (PDF)

Please select the link below to view the attached policy (PDF).

Exclusion Policy Odyssey Trust 2018-19(PDF)