Academic year 2026/2027

At Orchard Mead, we are always looking for ways to improve our offer and make the school experience as positive as possible for all students. I would like to thank the parents, carers and students who gave us feedback about our reward system last year. Many parents told us they wanted the system to place greater emphasis on recognising positive choices, while ensuring that any consequences were applied consistently and fairly. These changes are designed to achieve exactly that. Your views are valuable and have helped us to make some changes to our Oath Points system from September.

Our aim is simple: we want every student to have the chance to succeed and be rewarded for doing the right thing every day. Every student starts with 500 points, so at the start of the year, every student will be given 500 Oath Points. This is because we believe in every student. We believe that every student can be a Gold student and can do well. Students build on their starting points by working hard, being kind and being responsible.

Being responsible includes bringing the right equipment, arriving on time, having a positive attitude to learning, following our school routines, and making good choices about behaviour.

Points will be simple and fair. Positive points will be awarded automatically through our school systems to recognise students’ good choices and achievements. Where a student does not meet our expectations, negative points will be issued to identify the behaviour that needs to be addressed and rectified. This ensures that all students are treated consistently and fairly, while providing clear feedback to support positive change.

For example:

Attend school on time +5
Late to school -1
No equipment -1
C3 -2

More serious behaviour will mean a larger deduction.

Points continue to build throughout the year. Every day that a student attends school on time, in uniform and with the correct equipment, they will gain five points, allowing them to increase their total and earn rewards.

The most important thing is that students do not need to be perfect. Everyone starts with 500 points, and everyone has the opportunity to build their total.
At the end of each term, students will be invited to reward activities based on the percentage of points they have achieved. Students who consistently work hard, attend regularly and make positive choices throughout the term will build the highest point totals and qualify for our highest rewards. We hope that these changes will make our reward system fairer, clearer and easier to understand. Most importantly, we want our system to send a clear message to every student:

We believe in you.
Work hard. Be kind. Be responsible.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year.

Attendance Rewards