Page 9 - Martins House Handbook

MARTINS

BOARDING

LIFE

PREP Students should request their exeat before the Wednesday
of the weekend in question, with parental/guardian
The minimum requirement is that there is both an ethos and permission required in advance. An email or a phone
an environment within Houses that supports the academic message will suffice, however students are not allowed to go
work of all students. This means that during prep time, all on exeat without this parental confirmation. Housemasters/
boarders will be in appropriate spaces, the House will be mistresses will always reply to an exeat request to confirm
quiet, and staff supervision good. Doors will be propped the plans accordingly. After parental permission is received,
when a bedroom is occupied. travel chits are issued and transport arrangements are made
by the school. Students are allowed to go out with their
SIGNING IN/OUT family on a Sunday without this counting as an exeat.
When students leave or return to house for any reason they
must check in/out using the tag board. It is essential that all CARE OF PERSONAL POSSESSIONS
students ensure that their return to the house is known to All possessions should be indelibly marked, name taped or
the duty member of staff. engraved. Clothing must have name tapes stitched/ironed
on. Students will not be allowed to send clothes to the
FIRE SAFETY school laundry unless each item is named. Name tapes can
A fire safety briefing will be given at the start of the be ordered from the School Shop and spare name tapes
academic year and all houses carry out planned fire drills are necessary for items purchased during term-time. Minor
every term. If the fire alarm is heard at any time, all students sewing jobs such as name-taping can be done in houses
must congregate outside at the relevant fire safety location. by house managers. Socks are bagged together in a single
named bag, and so do not need to be individually named.
LEGAL GUARDIANS Articles of value should be insured under your household
Following the Children Act (1988), the Protection of Children policy under all risks or you may wish to use the insurance
Act (1989) and the Care Standards Act (2000) Millfield policy recommended by the school. Students should keep
School, in promoting and safeguarding the welfare of every the amount of possessions they bring to the school to a
student, requires parents who do not live in the United minimum. Lockable drawers for more valuable personal
Kingdom to appoint a guardian to act on their behalf for any possessions will be made available to all students via the
student in the school. The above legislation protects the Housemaster/mistress upon arrival.
rights of children and makes ‘proper and appropriate care’ a
compulsory requirement. ROOM ALLOCATIONS
Year 10 students are accommodated in double or three-
During term time, the school is legally responsible for berth dorms, Year 11 students will have double or
each student’s welfare, and undertakes delegated parental occasionally three-berth dorms. Where possible, Upper
responsibilities. However, there are times (e.g. exeat Sixth students will be allocated a single room, although this
weekends, half-term breaks, or when a student is suspended cannot always be guaranteed and Lower Sixth will be a mix
by the school, etc.) when the school must be able to hand of single and double dorms. Every effort will be made to
over these parental responsibilities to another adult – a accommodate sharing preferences, however compromises
properly appointed guardian. will have to be made from time to time. Dorm allocations
change each term, therefore over the course of the two
junior years, your daughter will have shared with most of
EXEATS the girls in their year group. It is important that tolerance,
Students are allowed three exeats a term and these can be understanding and acceptance is always paramount in a
taken at any time. In addition to this, there is a compulsory shared boarding community.
whole-school exeat in the Autumn Term where the whole
school will be closed for the entire weekend (Friday 12.45- Rooms must be kept tidy at all times, especially in the
Sunday evening). Exeats start after games commitments mornings so the cleaning staff can do their job unhindered.
on Saturdays (but not before 3.30pm). All students should Beds must be made and desks left free of clutter. Posters and
return from exeat by 9pm on Sunday to allow adequate photos can be displayed on the pin-board if desired.
time to prepare for school the next day. It is a statutory
requirement that all overseas boarding students have a UK BEDDING / LAUNDRY
based guardian. The school provides all bedding, duvets and pillows so there
is no need to bring these items from home. However, if
students should wish to bring their items, these should be

HOUSE HANDBOOK 9