Registration Programme

“Use every day as an opportunity to make tomorrow a better day.”

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At Kings Langley School registration takes place at the beginning of the day for the duration of half an hour. This time is invaluable as it allows tutors to ensure students are pastorally supported, “school-ready” and also support and enhance the curriculum experience through a targeted range of directed and relevant activities, which are completed in association with the tutor.

Registration time is a very focused half an hour trying to accomplish three main objectives.

The first is to ensure that students are school-ready which entails:

Ensuring that students are focused and in the right frame of minds to access the learning in the day ahead.
Checking that students have the correct equipment and resources.
Giving students relevant and important information.
Ensuring students have started the day with a healthy diet and the right energy levels to be successful.

The second is to develop and deepen students’ skills and knowledge. This entails a series of activities such as:

Reading with the tutor.
Literacy (spelling, punctuation and grammar).
Numeracy.
Discussing the news.
Explicit teaching of character virtues.
Assemblies.
Guest speakers.

The third and the most important is to ensure students feel safe and secure and any pastoral issues are either dealt with or raised with the correct members of staff. The tutors do this through building up strong relationships with their tutees and their families through daily contact, events or working with external agencies to spot any potential sign and ensure support is in place. The tutors form part of one big team to ensure all students are Kings Langley School are supported to unlock their potential for life.

Each year group is given a registration timetable with fixed activities to do on each day, which are resourced across the entire school. On Mondays, you will find tutors reading set books to their tutees, as part of our reading reconsidered programme. Students have their own copy of the book which are rotated between form groups and each year group has carefully chosen books which are regularly reviewed for age appropriateness, relevance and to develop their literacy. Tutors take opportunities to discuss plots, characters and language with students to ensure that students understand and are able to engage with the story.

Then there is the weekly treat of either Numeracy or Literacy Ninjas – the chance to challenge your skills against the clock to decide what colour Ninjas belt you will be. Students compete against each other, their form tutor but also themselves vying for the top black belt. A fun but structured way to develop key numeracy and literacy skills that progress with time and ability.

A firm favourite of the students is the picture news – a news item of the week which is discussed in detail, lending beautifully to British values; SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development); character development as well as developing an understanding of the World around them. Students learn to share points of view and ideas in positive and productive ways, as well as listening to others. These items will often lead to debates allowing students to reason through ideas and arguments to make their case – all great skills for the future!

The explicit teaching of character is a fundamental part of Kings Langley School’s Character Programme as it allows students to:

Learn about the virtues in detail, considering the golden mean of each (what happens if you have too much or too little of a particular virtue)
How the art of “practical wisdom” and how decision making can be developed when two virtues such as honesty and kindness may conflict.

Assemblies are led by all staff, outside speakers and even students. They are linked to school themes and character, trying to ensure that students see these from all aspects of their school curriculum. Each form is asked to run an assembly per year, each taking a turn every half term. This allows students to have the opportunity to stand in front of an audience and present, developing their skills for the future.

Registration activities are monitored by the Pastoral Leaders and Senior Leadership Team ensuring that all students have equal access to the planned activities, as well as checking their quality and delivery. Students and staff are asked to reflect and give feedback on the programme over the year which is considered when reviewing the programme.