Tutor Programme supporting SMSC

Our Tutor Time Programme supports our students' personal and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development.

Tutor time is an invaluable part of the day for all students accounting for an hour and 15 minutes of hours of their week. The role of the tutor at Meridian High School is central to student well-being and supporting their academic, social and broader personal development. Our tutors encourage our core behaviour values of resilience, ambition and respect, commitment and high standards of work and behaviour. Our Form Tutors support students by:

 Promoting positive relationships

• Knowing all members of the Tutor Group and contributing to the upkeep of the personal development tracker for each student in their tutor group.
• Create a positive ethos by promoting Meridian's Core Values.
• Promoting academic and extra-curricular participation and rewarding achievements positively whilst implementing sanctions in a supportive way where necessary.

 Encouraging high standards

• Checking and maintaining high standards of uniform and equipment.
• Communicating with parents to support students with issues that may arise and to keep parents informed of success.
• Ensuring that students are punctual to tutor time and monitoring and supporting a good level of attendance.

 Monitoring and evaluation of student progress and well-being

• Monitor, review and communicate students' progress, behaviour and attendance/punctuality.
• Communicate positive messages and cause for concern via e-mails, phone calls and conversations with parents.
• Always raise any safeguarding concerns to the pastoral team and log on CPOMs.

 Delivery of structured tutor time and communicating messages

• Communicate key messages and explain school policies, including Health & Safety and Fire Drills.
• Ensure that tutees value tutor time by delivering a structured programme. This will include the whole school assembly, personalised attitude to learning conversations, current affairs, SMSC and British values by delivery of Votes for Schools, SMSC and British values, discussions/debates, and promotion revision and Prep.
• Support students' developing literacy through tutor reading, promotion of allocated biography reading and delivery and data capture of spelling.
• Assist in the distribution of letters/notices and report writing.

Tutor Time Programme

• To raise the profile of tutor time and encourage students to embrace the tutor programme as essential learning time (as crucial as any other lesson) a structured week and routine are essential.

Monday - Meet on Monday

Whole School Assembly: This is recorded and shared with students at the start of the week. Copies of the Assembly are then shared in Google Classroom Tutor rooms, so students can revisit them.

Tuesday - Talk on Tuesday

Votes for Schools: A weekly topic linked to current affairs is explored providing students with the chance to speak out on issues that matter to them. Engaging with Votes for Schools improves oracy and builds confidence and critical thinking. Throughout the year, the topics ensure we cover all British Values, SMSC and Prevent Curricula.

Wednesday - Word Wednesday

Spelling Test: Each key stage is supplied with a spelling list at the start of each half-term of challenging, academic and subject-specific vocabulary that they are tested on each week. Tutors record these scores so progress is measured and achievement monitored.

Thursday - Thursdear (Drop Everything and Read)

Tutor Group Reads: Through shared reading students and their tutors read a thought-provoking novel and empathy-building book for pleasure

Year 7 - 'Boy 87' by Ele Fountain

Fourteen-year-old Shif and his best friend Bini are ordinary boys with big ambitions, but their world implodes when they attract the attention of the military "giffa". Wrenched from their families, they're sent to a remote desert prison, where their cellmates are barely clinging on to life.

However, the boys' arrival sparks hope in the imprisoned men, and they give everything to ensure their escape. Reaching the nearest town, Shif has only just begun the perilous journey which he hopes will end in safety and freedom.

Set in an unnamed country, this is a timely and important book which illuminates the realities of life as a refugee. The first-person narration simply but powerfully conveys Shif's terror at the violence and cruelty he encounters, as well as his sense of loss. The horrors he is escaping are all too real, but this is ultimately a story about the power of kindness and the strength of the human spirit. (From the BookTrust website)

Year 8 - 'The Dangerous Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime' by Mark Haddon

Seen through the eyes of Christopher, a mathematical genius and Sherlock Holmes fan, who also has ASD, this bestselling novel opens with the discovery of a murdered dog on the neighbour's lawn.

In his search to discover the identity of the killer, Christopher uncovers some disturbing information about his own family, which throws his ordered world into chaos, and he embarks on a journey to London to find the mother he thought was dead.

This funny, touching and compelling novel was the winner of the inaugural Booktrust Teenage Prize. A must-read for adults and children alike, it is an adventure story unlike any other. (From the Book website)

Year 9 - 'Thief' by Malorie Blackman

Lydia's last thought before darkness closed over her mind was that the strange, swirling storm had trapped her. Would it ever let her go? Fleeing onto the moors when she is unfairly accused of being a thief an extraordinary storm suddenly whirls twelve-year-old Lydia into the future – a computer-dominated future where her home town is ruled by a cruel tyrant. As Lydia struggles to get back to her own time, she discovers she must face a terrible confrontation . . . (from Malorieblackman.co.uk)

Year 10 - 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. (From Goodreads)

Year 11 - 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini

1970s Afghanistan: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-fighting tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. But neither of the boys can foresee what would happen to Hassan that afternoon, an event that is to shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return to an Afghanistan under Taliban rule to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.

Friday - Future Friday

Notices and career and future-focused activities. Students are supported further by tutors with regular reviews of their STEM and Creative Prep Packs.

Meet on Mondays: Assembly

Talk on Tuesday: Votes for Schools: SMSC, Prevent, British Values, UNCRC and SDG