Supporting At Home

When parents and teachers work well together it provides a solid base for the child to flourish.

There are Parents’ Evenings, study groups and many cultural and fund-raising events at the school.

Parents are encouraged to give active support to the quality of the education by helping children enjoy imaginative and creative activities at home rather than, for example, watching television or playing computer games which have been shown by research to undermine children’s learning and development, especially for young children.

Pastoral care, behaviour and expectations

Care of pupils’ well-being and development is central to the ethos of our Academy. Kindergarten teachers, class teachers and class guardians work to meet and support the development of each pupil while encouraging and challenging them to meet their potential at all levels. Everyone is called upon to show respect for each other.

The Dress Code

There is no formal uniform at Steiner Academy Hereford as our learning environment seeks to support both the individual voice and community spirit. There does however exist a set of expectations for outward appearance which tries to walk the tightrope between individual expression and a supportive learning environment, especially within the context of a through-school where older children are seen and copied by much younger children.

This version of the dress code (July 2020) considers the special difficulty of dealing with more “permanent” aspects of appearance such as hair colour, piercings and tattoos.

Section 1: hair dying, piercings and tattoos

• Lower school
  • Hair should not be dyed in lower school.
  • Those with pierced ears in lower school may wear studs only – no dangly earrings. Piercings in other parts of the body are not allowed.
• Upper school
  • Hair can be dyed in upper school if either to a natural colour or to a subtle shade or tint, or highlight. Examples of acceptable hair dying would include a red “wash” or blonde highlights. Examples of unacceptable hair dying would include bright blue/green/crimson etc.
  • Upper school students are permitted to wear dangly earrings but may be asked to remove them for laboratory work, physical activity or other health and safety reasons.
  • Ear stretchers and bars are not permitted.
  • Piercings in the side of the nose are permitted in upper school but only with studs – nose rings are not allowed. Septum and bridge piercings are not permitted.
  • Piercings on any other part of the face or body (lip, eyebrow, belly button etc.) are not permitted.
  • It is illegal for anyone in the UK to get a tattoo under the age of 18, but we are aware that students can get tattoos abroad. No tattoo is allowed to be visible in school.

Arbitration: As these aspects of the code often cannot be immediately covered up or changed, the responsibility for handling these fall to the lower school and upper school leads on a daily basis, and will involve liaison with parents to achieve a resolution.

Section 2: clothing, loose jewellery and make-up

• All clothes should be whole and not torn. This includes knees on jeans and tights.
• Pupils should wear sensible shoes appropriate for school. Shoes may be removed for play on the Lower or South Fields only.
• Clothing should display a minimum of slogans or pictures and should be comfortable and appropriate for movement, and movement lessons. If clothes have logos or pictures, then this must be small. As a guide, about four square inches – the size of a drinks coaster – is acceptable.
• Clothing worn at school should be appropriately modest for a through-school working and learning environment. Any clothing deemed by guardians or class teachers to be inappropriate will either result in the student being asked to cover up (some plain clothing will be made available for this purpose) or collected and taken home. This would include wearing crop tops and what guardians deem to be excessive bare skin on either boys or girls.
• Hats and hoods are not permitted to be worn in any lessons.
• Loose jewellery should not be worn in lower school and not to excess in upper school.
• No make-up, including nail varnish is to be worn in lower school and only discreetly in upper school.

Arbitration: Class Teachers and Guardians carry responsibility for the management of these easily changeable aspects of the dress code for his or her class on a daily basis. Any questions or concerns on pupil dress from colleagues and/or parents should be addressed directly to the relevant class teacher or guardian.

December 2020