Other School Information A-Z

ALCOHOL ANDTOBACCO On formal occasions, which involve a set meal, pupils in the Sixth Form may be served wine or beer with the meal. Otherwise alcohol is forbidden. It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to anybody under the age of eighteen except on formal occasions with a sit-down meal. It is against the law for anybody under the age of eighteen to purchase alcohol. Alcohol may not be brought into the School without permission from the pupil’ s Housemaster/Housemistress.

Smoking or vaping is not allowed within the School and while the pupils are under the school’ s control. It is illegal for persons under the age of eighteen to buy tobacco. Smoking materials and paraphernalia including ecigarettes must not be brought into School.The School Anti-Smoking Policy must be followed.

BEDROOMS & FuRNISHINGS Each child has their own notice board in their bedroom, so please do bring family photos or any decorations that will fit on a board as it really brightens up their rooms. It is recommended that children bring a bedside light/lamp which can be sent to the School directly to them and taken to their boarding house. The School will supply the pillow, sheets (pillowcase, duvet cover and fitted bottoms heet) but many pupils prefer to br ing their own, which we fully understand. If so, please ensure all are labelled with nametapes. You will need to purchase a duvet cover on the school uniform website (in non clothing items) or bring your own/purchase elsewhere, the school doesn ’t provide this.

Each child has their own noticeboard in their bedroom, so please do bring family photos or any decorations that will fit on a board as it really brightens up their rooms. It is recommended that children bring a bedsidelight/lamp which can be sent to the School directly to them and taken to their boarding house.The School will supply bedding (pillow and duvet), sheets (pillowcase, duvet cover and fitted bottomsheet) but many pupils prefer to bring their own, which we fully understand. If so, please ensure all are labelled with nametapes. CARS & BIKES No pupil may drive a motor vehicle during term time, without the permission of the Deputy Head, except for permitted driving lessons, nor keep any motor vehicle at Downside or in the village. Driving instruction is not negotiable through the School. If permission to drive a motor vehicle has been granted by the Deputy Head, the pupil and his/her parents/guardian must sign and abide by a

‘driving agreement’ document and car keys must be deposited with the pupil’ s Housemaster/Housemistress on arrival at School.

Bicycles must have their owner

’ s name clearly marked on them, and their serial number should be given to the Housemaster/Housemistress.They must be locked when not in use,and kept in approved places. Passengers must not be carried on bicycles. Cycling off site requires both parental and School permission. Please see the Director of Pastoral Care to be placed on the list of approved offsite cyclists.Any pupil riding a bicycle on or off the School site must wear a helmet at all times.

Hitch-hiking is not allowed. No pupil may be driven in a car by any person other than parent, guardian, brother or sister unless his/her Housemaster/Housemistress has given specific permission. If the driver is under 25 years old, then written consent from parents is required.

CCTV The School does have some CCTV cameras in place to deter theft and assist in its prevention, as well as to enhance security in potentially vulnerable areas of the School.There may be times when covert cameras are required, but they will only be employed where there is reasonable cause to suspect that unauthorized or illegal activity is taking place or is about to take place. Covert cameras can only be set up on the written authorization or request of the Head or Deputy Head.Any such covert processing will only be carried out for a defined, limited and reasonable period, consistent with the objectives of making the recording and will relate to the specific suspected unauthorized activity. Pupils may not set up their own surveillance systems.

ELECTRONIC EQuIPMENT Electrical equipment must be marked, PAT tested and be electronically safe with a single British 3-pin plug, and be approved for use. House Staff may wish to ask that items are checked before use. A list of banned electronic equipment will be distributed by the Head of Health and Safety and published in houses. Cooking devices, heaters and kettles are not allowed to be brought into the School. Each boarding house has a well stocked kitchen and the House teams are always open to new ideas.

ExTRA CuRRICuLAR ACTIVITIES There is a wide variety of extra-curricular activities for your child to be involved in.This includes Combined Cadet Forces (CCF), Duke of Edinburgh Awards and Mountain Biking, to Debating and Model United Nations to learning Sign Language and Cooking Lessons. These all take place during the week and will be offered to your child at the start of each term; they will sit with their Tutor and have the opportunity to sign up for their choices at this point and will not need to choose them in advance.

FOOD AND MEALTIMES This is an important element to your child’ s well being and we are proud of the standard of catering provided by our specialist in house catering firm, Holroyd Howe.All our meals are eaten together in the Refectory (Ref), with Staff in attendance. Saturday nights are the only time we eat in house with specially prepared picnics, a change for a more informal House get together. We cater for all tastes and have a wide variety of alternatives for those who have special dietary requirements.

Meals take place at the times published in houses. Pupils are required to attend all meals, unless given leave of absence by their Housemaster/Housemistress.

Eating or drinking is not allowed in classrooms, laboratories, the libraries, the ICT centres or the sports hall without permission from a member of staff. Chewing gum is forbidden in the School at all times. LAuNDRY Each House has its own laundry day when uniform, sports kit and personal clothing may be handed in for washing. All clothing should be clearly named with a name tape. Bed linen and towels laundered by the school too.Whilst we take every care to ensure your child’ s clothes are laundered carefully, please remember to think twice about precious designer clothing coming to School.

LIBRARIES The Petre Library is open to all pupils and staffed with a Librarian who will support your child in their reading interests. Borrowed books must remove it according to the procedures published in the Library.

Each department has its own library and many of the books can be borrowed. Reading lists can be obtained from Heads of Department. All libraries should remain quiet places for study and reflection.

LOST PROPERTY Do not bring valuable equipment to School unless it is essential to studies or approved recreation. If you have any valuable equipment, give a description of it that includes its serial number, colour and make to your Housemaster/Housemistress. It is your responsibility and that of your parents to record and insure any valuable items. As soon as you are certain that any item of property has been illegitimately taken from you, report its loss to your Housemaster/Housemistress.They will then inform the Director of Pastoral Care.

MOBILETELEPHONES AND DEVICES Mobile devices may be used with permission from a classroom teacher or Housemaster/ Mistress in order to access approved learning platforms.

Mobile phones should not be used in lessons without permission from the teacher. We work extensively with pupils, through education in PSHE lessons to support the safe use of internet and devices and would expect pupils to treat one another with respect andThe School accepts no responsibility for loss, detriment or injury attendant on the use or possession of a mobile telephone or mobile device.

The use of devices and mobile phones is governed by the Acceptable User Policy and BringYour Own Device (BYOD) Policy. (See new joiner forms)

POCKET MONEY The best and safest way to provide pocket money is with a prepaid cash card (eitherVisa or Mastercard).You can set-up the card before travel and pre-load their pocket money by bank transfer. These cards are available for young children and you will be able to set spending limits as well as top up the card and monitor their spending from home. They will be able to use the card to pay in shops or take money from ATMs just like a debit or credit card. If you wish, we can hold your child’ s card safely for them while they are in School and issue it to them for excursions and shopping trips. There are many different providers of prepaid cash cards across the world and you will be able to find the most suitable one for you. Any pupil who has more than £20 in cash should hand it immediately to the Housemaster/ Housemistress or Assistant Housemaster/Housemistress. If neither of these is available it should be given to the House Parent.

SCHOOL POLICIES Our policies are available on the website and we would recommend that you take the opportunity to review them. www.downside.co.uk/downside-school/parentinformation/policies.

uNIFORM School uniform is purchased through the School Shop ’ s website, which can be found in the Parent' s section on the SchoolWebsite. The full list of Regulation Dress (uniform) and Sports clothing is shared on the New Joiner Forms. There is some second hand uniform kept in the School Shop, so if you are interested, please contact Tracey Coles, who manages the onsite School Shop, once you have established your child' s recommended sizes.

In the first instance, you will need to take a few measurements of your child, to input into the website, and you will be given suggested sizes to purchase. Uniform is then sent to the School Shop (select ‘ collection ’ at check out), to have the name tapes sewn on, and then it is taken to the boarding house. When your child is trying on their uniform, at the start of term, please ask them to leave the labels on until they have tried the item on, in case it needs to be exchanged. If an item is the wrong size, your child can take it back to the School Shop and it will be exchanged.To book an appointment, if local or visiting, please emailTracey Coles on shop@downside.co.uk. WEBSITE – PARENT PORTAL All new parents will be contacted with information on how to log onto the School’ s Parent Portal. The Parent Portal is an interactive view into your child’ s life at the School, including School Reports, Rewards and Sanctions, Timetables and Activities. Information regarding the Parent Portal including your account log-in will be sent at the start of the academic year by the School Office. For enquiries please contact Laura Cray on lcray@downside.co.uk

WEBSITE – SPORTSWEBSITE https://www.downsidesport.co.uk/ Your support and encouragement of our teams and athletes is always most welcome both on the touchlines and by reading our published match reports.We hope that our sports website will make this support much easier for you and give you direct access to fixtures, tam sheets, results and match results. For more information, please contact Director of Sport, Richard Jones, on rjones@downside.co.uk.

WEEKENDS Weekends are busy and purposeful at Downside. On Saturdays, pupils have a morning of lessons and an afternoon of Sport and Fixtures against other schools.At the start of every week, our Director of the Cocurriculum, shares the weekend poster which is circulated to all the boarding houses. Pupils are asked to pick activities to take part in before the start of the weekend. Every Sunday, after Mass, we have a trip to Bath organised, accompanied by a teacher, to offer the pupils an opportunity to get off site and do some shopping or take in the beautiful sights. For our older pupils, the weekend is also an opportunity to get some welldeserved rest or catch up with their studies. Here is an example of a recent weekend at Downside.

WIFI As you would at home, sensible practice is put in place to ensure that your child has access to safe and filteredWiFi. If your child enjoys audio books, it would be useful to enjoy this through a standalone MP3 player or eBook device to avoid being distracted by a mobile after lights out.The use of mobiles phones is discouraged after lights out; and HsMs adopt practices that are appropriate to different year groups.