Student Code of Conduct
At Blessed Thomas Holford everything we do is rooted in our mission:
We are a Catholic family of aspiration, dedicated to all our students excelling spiritually and academically in our college and beyond.
We change lives through our culture of high standards and expectations of everyone who learns and works in our college and a belief that achievement is for all
As a Catholic family, we have the gospel values at the core of all we do, and we live our values every day. We provide a nurturing, caring and loving environment where spirituality and Catholic ethos and faith permeate everything we do.
We expect our college family to be kind at all times. We aim to develop respectful, compassionate students who are kind to everyone. This reflects the gospel values of compassion, kindness, service to our neighbour, gentleness, love and generosity. This means that we think of others before we think of ourselves. Being kind is an intrinsic part of what we do at Blessed Thomas Holford.
As a Catholic college, we are proud to worship and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Walking around our college you will ‘feel’ our Catholic ethos in the air – the way we talk to one another, the way we support and trust each other and the way we are driven to succeed in our mission.
We work hard. Being successful does not happen without hard work. Everyone must give 100% effort in all subjects, all the time. We promote the values of resilience, perseverance, and determination as qualities to be admired and rewarded at college, as they will be in life. We expect our students to respond to feedback, improve and not give up. Our students will learn that success needs hard work and effort. The rewards for this hard work and effort will be knowledge learnt from expert teachers as well as making exceptional progress in all areas. At Blessed Thomas Holford we continually celebrate the success of our students because we know that success only comes with hard work.
The staff at Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College promote a dedication to all students, which empowers our students to excel spiritually and academically whilst expanding their horizons in a nurturing environment. Our commitment to high-quality teaching, focus on mastery of knowledge and partnerships with parents and the local community provides a richness of experience that enables all to develop their God-given talents.
We develop our whole selves. This means that, as well as developing academically, we also expect students to develop personally, spiritually and emotionally. For example, applying for and holding a student leadership position; training to be a peer mentor; attending an after-college club; supporting one of the charities we work with; becoming a member of the St Vincent De Paul group; being active in worship; joining our College Choir; or playing for one of our sports teams. There are many, many ways to develop your whole self. This is vital because, although achieving academic success is important, we are not defined by this. We are defined by who we are as people of Christ: we develop our whole selves.
Our total love for the child ensures that all individuals are given the opportunity to succeed. Our consistent approach provides clarity for all students and instils strong lifelong learning habits, thus, aiding every student to become better qualified, more successful, and happier. We have the highest expectations for all.
This means that we will do whatever it takes to ensure that every student achieves their full potential both academically and personally. We aim to develop young people who treat others with dignity and respect and have high expectations of themselves and others, encouraging each other to succeed.
We have an outstanding reputation for academic achievement based on a consistent record of excellent examination results. Our values driven policies, clear vision and consistent routines demand and nurture a strong sense of moral purpose, personal responsibility, integrity, honesty and respect for others within our students. These qualities enable each of our young people to fulfil their potential.
We look forward to working with parents and enabling our students to lead full, active, vibrant lives where every child thrives and makes meaningful contributions by serving others and their community; ensuring the journey to adulthood is a journey of faith.
We have a well-developed system to encourage good behaviour and help students to learn positively from their mistakes.
The system is called ‘Behaviour For Learning’. The system is easy for all students to understand and is consistently applied by all staff across the college.
Students who make a significant helpful contribution or who show excellent effort or progress in their work and meet our daily BTHCC expectations are rewarded with VIPAs. These are logged through our computer system and celebrated in assemblies.
Simple and sensible rules are in place to help us all to work harmoniously and effectively to achieve our best. Everyone is expected to show respect and concern for each other, demonstrate good manners and be smart, both in terms of appearance but also in demeanour.
When someone breaks a rule there are clear consequences:
We want our students to broaden their interests and to develop their personal qualities, by embracing our BTHCC Be Your Best Expectations which can be summed up as : Be Kind, Work Hard, Develop your Whole Self.
We expect all members of the BTHCC family to live these expectations, so that it is reflected in all that we do:
1. Be kind – We aim to develop respectful, compassionate students who are kind to everyone.
2. Work hard – We promote resilience, perseverance and determination as qualities to be admired and rewarded, at college, as they will be in life. We expect our students to respond to feedback, improve and not give up. Our students will learn that success needs hard work and effort.
3. Develop your whole self – We want students to achieve more than just academic excellence.
We encourage all students to develop themselves through our extracurricular provision, so that they leave Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College as well-rounded citizens who are equipped with the skills they need for life. All the experiences aim to develop a whole range of skills, which will help both to find rewarding jobs and to thrive more generally in adult life.
