Students

Code of Conduct

We all have the right to:
– Be treated fairly
– Be respected
– Feel safe
– Learn

Responsible:
– Accept the consequences of poor choices
– Make the right choices
– Be in the right place at the right time
– Take responsibility for your own actions

Respectful:
– Respect yourself and the others
– Use appropriate language
– Keep hands, feet and “put downs” to yourself
– Listen to others and reply respectfully
– Allow others to learn
– Look after your surroundings and equipment

Ready to learn and focus:
– Mobile phones off and out of sight
– Be on Time
– Stay for the whole lesson
– Dress appropriately
– Reach your potential
– Always try your best to progress

Student Arrival Procedures & Mobile Phones

ACE is a place of learning and students need to be ready to engage and focus on their learning and ensure that they are adding positively to the safety, peacefulness and focus of the community.  We all have a responsibility to not distract others and to not be distracted by others.  As with any school, as far as possible, outside life should remain outside.

Mobile phones and social media are a reality of day to day life and have many positive benefits but they are also a major source of distraction and learning how and when it is appropriate to use them and when they should be turned off and ignored is now a basic life skill.

We work with students to explore their use of social media, to look at the advantages and disadvantages of an increasingly online lifestyle and how to keep themselves safe online by being careful over what information they choose to share.

Mobile phones are banned from the ACE site and we encourage students to leave their mobile phone at home.

• Students will hand in their mobile phones when they arrive at ACE and collect them again before they go home. Secure storage is available for this.
• Any member of staff can confiscate mobile phones if they have not been handed in when a student arrives at ACE.
• There will be sanctions in place for students who are found with phones or refuse to hand them in and ultimately this could include internal or external suspension.

Support for Students

The information below is all about organisations that are offering activities and support for secondary age students.

You can either contact them yourselves to find out more information, or let your ACE coach know that you are interested and ask them to find out more details for you.

Kooth

Kooth is a free to access, online service for all teenagers (11 – 19) who might be having emotional, social or mental health worries. Kooth is moderated by live staff who monitor content, conversation for appropriateness and can also provide support, answer questions and signpost users to other organisations and sources of advice and guidance. Kooth is free, safe and anonymous. All they need to do is sign up to Kooth.com. Kooth is here to help and support young people with their mental health and is available 365 days a year. We offer so much more than just counselling. Kooth magazine, forums & live discussion boards, journal, goals and we have our mini activity hub.

Young Minds: Supporting you and your mental health

We provide young people with tools to look after their mental health. Our website is full of advice and information on what to do if you’re struggling with how you feel. We empower parents and adults who work with young people, to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives. And we give young people the space and confidence to get their voices heard and change the world we live in. Together, we can create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health.

We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health. It’s about how we think, feel and act. Sometimes we feel well, and sometimes we don’t. When our mental health is good, we feel motivated and able to take on challenges and new experiences. But when our mental health is not so good, we can find it much harder to cope.

Childline: Phone and website support service

Childline is here to help anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through.

You can talk about anything. Whether it’s something big or small, our trained counsellors are here to support you.

Childline is free, confidential and available any time, day or night. You can talk to us: by calling 0800 1111, by email, through 1-2-1 counsellor chat, Whatever feels best for you.

Calm Harm App for Students

Home

Young Persons Sanctuary (14-17)

The new service will offer free help and advice for anyone between 14-17yrs. The Young Person’s Sanctuary will open its doors at the Young Persons Hub, ResoLUTiONs in Castle Street, Luton on Monday, 20th March, and run from 4.00 pm -10.00 pm, (Mon – Sunday), 365 days of the year.

The Wednesday night Sanctuary will be held at Luton Wellbeing Centre, Dumfries Street, Luton, also from 4pm to 10pm

The Young Person’s Sanctuaries are safe, non-judgmental spaces that students can come to if they find themselves in crisis or mental distress in the evenings. There is no need to call and book an appointment, simply drop in and they will be met by a trained mental health worker who will listen and help you identify ways to address the problems you are facing.  The teams will also be able to refer and signpost to other services if required.

The Young Person’s Sanctuaries were identified as the preferred support option during a round of public focus groups held to shape a new 24-hour extended mental health crisis care for young adults across Bedfordshire and Luton.

Recognizing & Rewarding Success

At ACE, we want our students to learn, to grow and to succeed as learners and as individuals and we believe that praising and celebrating the successes and the progress, no matter how small, is more effective than a list of rules and punishments.

Poor behaviour and poor decisions do need to be challenged and students then supported in realising where they want wrong and how they could do better the next time. There are some fixed lines around behaviour that cannot be broken and students will get things wrong, but it is what they learn from the experience and how they move forward that is important.

The work of everyone within ACE is underpinned by a simple set of expectations and Core Skills. These are widely displayed throughout ACE.

Green Day – all green, max 1 yellow, no red, move up 1 step, praise slip for celebration prizes. (You have exceeded expectations against the core skills, and a praise slip will be issued. You have worked, behaved and tried extra hard. You have completed all the classwork and asked for extra, you have taken away / completed additional work / homework, you kept out of classroom distractions and stayed focussed, you have been helpful without having to be asked or prompted, you have shown yourself to be a role model for ACE with exemplary behaviour or attitude).

White Day – met standard expectations – move up 1 step (You have met your expectations and had a usual lesson, you have worked and behaved to your usual standard, you arrived promptly at the start of the lesson, you completed a satisfactory amount of the work set, you stayed in lesson, you asked for permission first if you needed to leave the lesson, your behaviour was good and your attitude respectful, you responded to staff instructions).

Yellow Day – no more than 3 yellows, no red, stay on same step (You have had a disappointing lesson and got some things wrong and could do better.  You turned up late for the lesson, you left the lesson without permission, you repeatedly left the lesson, you completed minimal work and/or made minimal effort, you were talking with inappropriate language or about inappropriate topics, you were distracting other students from their work, you were ignoring / disrespecting staff).

Red Day – any red or 4 or more yellows, move down 3 steps (You have had a bad lesson and got things wrong. You have behaved in a way which is unacceptable and we need to put things right, and needs an intervention. You refused to do any work, you were using inappropriate language and talking about inappropriate things despite being asked and reminded to stop, you were getting involved with verbal abuse of others, you refused to attend the lesson, you were hiding / running around the building and disturbing others, constantly in and out of lesson disturbing learning).

Students start at Day 1 and rewards triggered at day 6, 9 and 12. As students behaviour improves over time, the ladder can be extended so the goals raised.

Student Rewards and Trips will increasingly be attached to where students are on their ladders.

Reward trip examples could be theme park (10 places), private cinema screening – to get the top trip, it will be the most number of green scores and praise slips earnt in the two weeks both in lessons and through rewards.

In your coaching groups, you can see your daily colour scores and where you are on the ladder.

ACE Core Skills

To Be Responsible

• Make your own decisions and be your own person
• Make the right decision and do the right thing
• Accept the consequences and put things right

To Be Respectful

• Respect yourself and others
• Show tolerance, empathy and understanding
• Appropriate language, attitude, dress and manner

To be Ready to Learn

• Right place, right time, the whole time
• Always try, always learn, always improve
• Ask for support, act on the advice, give it a go

The ACE Colour Codes

Core Skills are tracked and reinforced through our colour coded Pastoral model.

This sees every student, in every session of the day receiving one of 4 possible scores

Green:

In your behaviour, engagement and manner you have exceed expectations. Staff recognise the effort and focus you have shown and want to share this success with you and your family. A praise slip is issued for the weekly Celebration Assembly.

White:

You have behaved well with manners and politeness around the building and have been focused and working well in your lessons. Staff have noticed the efforts you are making and you should be pleased with what you’re achieving. This is a positive session

Yellow:

Your behaviour at ACE and / or your engagement in lessons has been less than we would expect and not as good as we know you are capable of. This is disappointing but you can easily put this right and we are all here to help you. This is a poor session.

Red:

You are not following the ACE Code of Conduct; you are ignoring the support and guidance of staff and are making poor choices and getting things wrong. The behaviour and / or attitude is not acceptable, is limiting your progress and is disruptive. There needs to be an immediate change, sanctions will be applied and restorative work needs to take place.

Sanctions

Poor behaviour choices mean a consequence and these are about reflecting on what went wrong and how you can handle it better next time. A sanction could include:

• Taken aside by the pastoral team to discuss and reflect on the incident and make amends
• Removal from the lesson to work separately
• Spending lunchtime / enrichment time in the pastoral room to catch up on work and reflect
• Spending the rest of the day in reflection, catching up with work and planning how to undertake restorative work to move the situation forward
• In the most severe cases and if appropriate, fixed term exclusion
• In all cases, parents and school will be informed.

The ACE Rewards Ladder

At ACE we want to capture and celebrate success and achievement and work towards students not just having a good day, but increasingly, a sustained period of positive behaviours, engagements and progress.

When getting things wrong, an appropriate sanction needs to be in place, but importantly, each day is a fresh start and we all move on.

When things are going right, we want to build upon and reward the sustained effort and focus and this is done through our rewards ladder.

• Students start on Day One and are working to reach Day 12 for a reward and to maintain a Day 12 plus status to access a higher level of trips, activities and enrichments.
• Positive scores (Green and White) see students move up the ladder and access a range of rewards and positive acknowledgements
• For unfocused days of poor choices and minimal effort, students remain where they are on the ladder.
• For a day of unacceptable behaviours, sanctions are applied and students move down the ladder three steps

ACE Rewards

The focus of the ACE rewards system is on trips, visits and enrichment activities; on allowing our students to have experiences that otherwise they are unlikely to have. Such trips expand students’ horizons and self-confidence, allow them to interact with staff and peers in a variety of situations and are all part of the wider personal development ethos of ACE.

Each half term, there are two organised trips, one that is aimed for all students and one only for those who have sustained places at the top of the rewards ladder. Eligibility criteria are shared with students, based around the ACE Code of Conduct and students are given a timeframe in which their scores are being monitored.

Recent Reward trips have included:

• Private cinema screening
• Orbital Jump Centre and lunch
• Theme Park visit
• Go Karting
• Trips to London

The Student Day at ACE

School Day Times