The school is open all year round, except for bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year. Reception is open from approximately 8:00 am – 5:00pm Monday to Thursday, and 8:00am – 4:00pm on Friday.

Every student should have a sturdy school bag. Essential classroom items include: a pen, HB pencil, protractor, ruler, rubber, pocket dictionary/thesaurus, a red pen for self-assessment, and coloured pencils. Specific items like scientific calculators will be advised by individual departments.

A full list of our exciting and diverse clubs is collated at the start of each term. It is advertised extensively to students within school and is also published on the homepage of our website for parents.

In the event of extreme weather such as snow or flooding, we will post regular updates on the homepage of our website and on our Facebook page. We will also keep parents informed via text and email messages.

It is vital that we have the most up-to-date contact information for you. You can inform us of any changes by emailing admin@ullswatercc.co.uk, updating the details directly on your Arbor Parent Portal, or by completing our online form.

If your child is not well enough to come to school, please call our attendance line on 01768 210206 (Option 3) before 8:50am. Alternatively, you can email attendance@ullswatercc.co.uk. Please always contact the attendance team directly, not Form Tutors, to ensure the message is received promptly for safeguarding purposes.

Headteachers cannot grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are ‘exceptional’ circumstances, such as the serious illness of a close family member or leave for forces personnel. Cheaper costs or convenience are not considered exceptional circumstances. An absence request form is available from attendance@ullswatercc.co.uk.

If a student feels unwell, they should inform their teacher, who will send them to our Health Hub. Our trained first aid staff will assess the student and contact parents/carers if they need to be collected. Students must not contact parents themselves or leave the school site without permission.

All medication prescribed by a GP must be kept securely in the Health Hub and administered by staff with written parental permission. By law, all medicines must be in their original containers. Please complete the permission form available from the Health Hub.

Mobile phones are not permitted on school site. UCC has a policy of “Never Seen, Heard or Used” whilst on school site. We strongly recommend that students do not bring mobile phones to school. If a student decides to bring a mobile phone into school, it must be switched off and placed in their bag. Mobile phones should not used before, during and after school, whilst on the premises. If a phone is seen, heard or used it will be confiscated in line with the school mobile phone policy which can be found here.

No, students must arrive in their full school uniform and change into their PE kit for their timetabled PE lessons.

Each year group has one in-person Parents’ Evening per year. You will receive an email inviting you to book appointments online via our booking system. We recommend booking early to secure times with all your child’s teachers. Dates are available on the school calendar.

Email is the best way to make contact. For general issues, your child’s Form Tutor is the first point of contact. For subject-specific issues, please contact the subject teacher directly. If you are unsure who to contact, email admin@ullswatercc.co.uk, and our team will forward your message.

Named items are easily returned to students. Unnamed items are taken to the withdrawal room (R30). Please name all uniform and equipment clearly. The school cannot accept responsibility for lost personal property but will always endeavour to return named items.

Arbor is our school management system where we store student records, take registers, and record achievement and behaviour. There is a parent app that allows you to monitor your child’s progress. We will keep you updated as we expand its functionality. For information on setting up the app, please click here.

We will never let a child go hungry. Catering staff will allow your child to have credit for that day’s lunch. You will receive reminders from our finance team if your account becomes overdrawn.

Lockers are advertised to students after the start of the school year, beginning with Year 7. Families need to provide their own combination padlock and pay a £1.00 deposit via iPay to reserve a locker. Students then take their padlock to reception to be assigned their locker for the academic year.