School Life : School Policies

Child Protection Policy
Dyffryn Taf fully recognises the contribution it makes to child protection.
There are three main elements to the school’s policy:

1. Education and Pastoral support is offered to pupils to enable them to keep themselves safe and prevent abuse.

2. Procedures are in place for identifying and reporting cases, or suspected cases, of abuse. Because of our day-to-day contact with children, school staff are well placed to observe the outward signsof abuse.

3. Supporting pupils who may have been abused. Our policy applies to all staff at the school and any one of them can be the first point of disclosure for a child. Concerned parents can also contact the school to discuss child protection issues.

Health and Safety
There are regular inspections of the school carried out by the Headteacher and a Governor Health and Safety expert. Any potential hazards are identified and the necessary action is taken to ensure that the school remains a safe environment for the children to work and play in. At least once a term there is a fire drill when children practise speedy evacuation of the building.

Complaints
Should anyone have concerns about their children’s education in the school, they should contact the school immediately. A senior member of staff will always meet with parents by appointment in order to resolve difficulties. If the matter remains unresolved the Chair of Governors should be contacted. Should the issues remain unresolved you have the right to report them to the Director of Education.

Charging Policy
No charge is made for any provision of the basic curriculum. However, voluntary payments may be requested for: visits which are not part of the curriculum; the cost of any articles made in school and taken home for use or consumption; certain extra-curricular activities.
The support from contributions from parents will ultimately determine the viability of the proposed activity.

Sex Education
All students receive education on sexual matters. The Science and Biology syllabuses deal with information concerning sexual reproduction, and the Personal and Social Education programme and the programme for Religious Education deal with the social and moral aspects of human relationships. Staff of Carmarthenshire Health Authority and other outside agencies assist with the sex education programme.

Attendance Policy
Regular school attendance is considered to be of great importance at Dyffryn Taf. Without it, all our efforts to provide high quality education come to nothing; if a child is not present at school they cannot
earn or reach their true potential. For these reasons, we discourage parents from taking holidays during
term time. We aim to have the maximum attendance rates possible for our pupils.
There will, of course, be just and valid reasons why pupils cannot attend school on occasions, but we have
systems in place to monitor and investigate absences across the school. This policy outlines our practice
and procedures for maintaining a high level of pupil attendance:

We expect the following from all pupils:
• That they will attend school regularly.
• That they will arrive on time and appropriately prepared for the day
• That they will inform a member of staff of any problem that may prevent them from attending school.

We expect parents to:
• Encourage their child to attend school regularly.
• Ensure that they contact school when their child is/has been unable to attend school.
• Ensure that their child arrives at school on time and well prepared for the day ahead.
• To monitor homework in the planner and check that homework is done and handed in on time.
• Contact school whenever problems occur which may keep their child away from school.

Equal Opportunities’ Policy
The school is determined to offer an equality of opportunity to all, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, colour,
language, ability or disability.
In striving to achieve greater inclusion we have recently installed a lift to complement our accessibility plans.

Home-School Agreement
The school asks all parents to be aware of our Home School Agreement which defines respective responsibilities.
This offers parents the opportunity to actively engage in the education of their children.

All other Dyffryn Taf School Policies are available from the school on request.