Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby aims to promote a whole-school positive approach to mental health and wellbeing for every member of staff and student; it’s fundamental to our values, mission and culture. We’re a school that helps children flourish, learn and succeed by providing opportunities for them, and the adults around them, to develop the strengths and coping skills that underpin resilience.
Satchel One is our handy app for parents where they can view timetables, see upcoming deadlines and read about their child’s grades and performance.
to access this information on the move. Set up push notifications for new homework, upcoming deadlines and behaviour feedback.
Homework
See your child’s completed, upcoming and overdue homework in full detail. This includes instructions for the task, how long it should take and any useful resources to help support home learning with confidence.
Gradebook
See homework feedback from teachers, including submission statuses, grades and comments.
Timetable
View lesson timetables in full.
Support Multiple Children
For parents with more than one child using Satchel One, all the information for each child is in one place – even if they attend different schools.
Mobile App
Download the free mobile app to view homework, behaviour and lesson timetables on the move at any time.
Alerts & Reminders
Set up email alerts or push notifications for new homework, feedback from your teachers, upcoming deadlines and school events.
Attendance
Parents can see the attendance and punctuality rates of their children.
Behaviour
Parents can view full details of any points or badges their child has been given.
Detentions
Parents can see details of any detentions their child receives.
We’ll work hard and support all families that have genuine medical needs but would strongly recommend that you keep all medical letters and appointment slips so we can support you with this issue.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the school Health Co-ordinator, Ms Jane Egan, on 01952 386061 to discuss any medical needs. Any student having had a sickness complaint must not return to school for 48 hours after their last episode of sickness.
Please click on the link to download the form: Medical Doc.
The academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
All staff, whether paid or voluntary, have a duty to keep young people safe and to protect them from physical harm. When an individual accepts a role that involves working with children and young people they need to understand and acknowledge that the responsibilities and trust are inherent in that role.
All posts at Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby working with children, young people and vulnerable adults will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list check and pre-employment safer recruitment checks. DBS checks are renewed every five years and all staff are expected to sign an annual Disqualification Safeguarding Declaration Form. We hold regular statutory Child Protection training that all staff are required to attend.
At Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby we know that good attendance is the key to success. We must work together with our parents and carers to ensure students are in school and in lessons as much as possible during there time here.
High attendance is a key factor to both academic performance and future employment chances.
We feel that it’s necessary to prepare all our students for the ‘real world’. If students are late for any lessons or mentoring sessions, they willll receive a -1 sanction. The attendance team will message parents if a child is late to school.
Students will be rewarded for good attendance with certificates and reward trips. Those pupils who don’t attend school without a valid reason will be monitored closely by the school and the Education Welfare Officer. Failure to respond to warnings may sadly lead to fines and court appearances and this is something that we’d rather avoid for all our families.
All mentors are responsible for monitoring and supporting students with their attendance. The staff that are responsible for attendance are as follows:
Please note, we do not currently use Leave of Absence forms. If any parent or carer wishes to request a leave of absence in term time for their child, they should either write a letter or send an email to HADEnquiries@taw.org.uk FAO Mrs Joe Edgar (Principal) in advance of the absence, outlining the reasons for the request. No leave/holidays should be booked until the Principal has agreed to give permission for the absence.
The Principal has the authority to decide whether to authorise any requests for leave of absence in term time.
The government has renewed appeals to parents not to take their children out of school during term time. The governors and principal of Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby support this and have decided that students will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances. Each application will be considered and Mrs Edgar will determine the duration of any leave if it’s agreed and authorised. However, if the application isn’t agreed upon and the absence occurs, the dates will be recorded as unauthorised. Parents will be notified of any decision in writing. This notification may be hand-delivered directly to the parent, posted to the parent’s home address or emailed to the parent.
Telford and Wrekin Leave of Absence Leaflet
From August 19th 2024 the Government have introduced a new ‘national framework for Penalty Notices’. (in Telford & Wrekin the changes apply from 1st September 2024).
There are significant changes that parents need to be aware of:
‘Parents should always apply to the Headteacher/Principal for any request for leave in term time. The Headteacher/Principal should be emailed with details of the absence request in advance of the proposed absence (DfE guidance states schools should not authorise leave retrospectively so any leave in term time taken without a request being submitted will be unauthorised absence)’.
In developing and publishing the new national framework, the Government has renewed appeals to parents not to take their children out of school during term time. The Governors and Headteacher of this school support this and students will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances. The DfE Guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance (Aug 2024) states that: Generally, the DfE does not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. (Paragraph 38.)
Each application for leave in term time will be considered and if it is agreed and authorised the Headteacher/Principal will determine the duration of any leave. However, if the application is not agreed and the absence occurs the dates will be unauthorised. Parents will be notified of any decision in writing. This notification may be hand delivered directly to the parent or posted to the parents’ home address.
As a school we are asked to inform you that in line with Telford and Wrekin Council Policy, if your child is absent for 10 school sessions within a 10 week rolling period and that absence is unauthorised, you may be subject to a Penalty Notice fine, criteria is as detailed above. If in an individual case the local authority believes a Penalty Notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. This might apply for example, when parent(s) are deliberately or purposefully avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for events such as birthdays and taking their child out of school, or when there are only four pupil days in school and the fifth day is for example a PD day or bank holiday.
ABM catering offers a vibrant restaurant and a range of freshly prepared, innovative, seasonally influenced menus during morning break and lunch services.
We firmly believe in delivering a fresh, nutritious meal service that provides students with excellent choice, quality and value that meets their needs and exceeds expectations.
Fantastic Food
We aim to serve great, fresh food using the very best of seasonal ingredients to create amazing, innovative and exciting dishes.
Awesome People
It’s not just the food that’s important, it’s the whole meal experience.
Our team are proud of the food they serve. That’s why we provide a friendly, smiling and polite service. It’s a recipe for success.
Great Offers
Look out for promotions, deals and special offers.
Value For Money
‘Meal Deals’ will provide a range of value-for-money offers including a main, dessert and unlimited hydration station for £2.65.
In addition, our tariffs across our menus offer excellent value for money.
Pupils attending Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby are required to wear the school uniform. The school expects a smart standard of uniform at all times and requires all pupils’ ties to display five stripes in length. All shirts should have the top button fastened and should be tucked in at all times.
The official uniform supplier is Baker & Son, 29 New Street, Wellington TF1 2LU. Parents can order items of uniform online here or by telephone 01952 641897.
Compulsory Items For All Pupils
Girls
Boys
Recommended Items
Further Guidance
Outdoor Coats, Jackets and Rainwear – coats, jackets and hooded tops aren’t permitted to be worn inside the school building. Coats, jackets and hooded tops should be removed and put away once inside the building, along with scarves, hats and gloves.
All articles of clothing must be clearly marked with the pupil’s name (this helps to identify misplaced or lost items).
We are committed to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of all students and staff members. Good mental health is the foundation to young people achieving their aspirations.
Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby is the central hub of our local community and families have attended here (previously Abraham Darby School) for many generations. It’s always been a wonderful place full of inspiring teachers and enthusiastic pupils. We offer so much more than examination results and, with our focus being on providing an outstanding all-round education; our pupils achieve excellent outcomes outside as well as inside the classroom.
In order to build on our community relationships, we work closely with our more local primary schools. We’ve been able to offer a wide range of programmes and projects to enable students to experience secondary school life early on, thus building confidence for when the time comes to progress to Year 7.
To find out more about joining Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby please click here.
Science
Year 5 pupils from Coalbrookdale Primary School and John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School have taken part in a series of lessons centred around solutions. Pupils were able to identify properties of solids, liquids and gases, explain changes of state and investigate dissolving. They were able to use specialist lab equipment, including Bunsen burners (which were very exciting!).
Music
Year 12 students have been leading a series of music lessons to Year 5 pupils from William Reynolds Primary School, Woodlands Primary School and Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School. They’ve learned about rhythm using our state-of-the-art percussion instruments, tried out brass and woodwind instruments, learned about pitch using the keyboards and in the final week, they created an ensemble piece. Pupils are then invited to sign up for music lessons at Saturday Music College. Thank you Year 12!
Art
Pupils from Coalbrookdale Primary School and John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School were able to come into our art department and create a fantastic piece based on Vincent Van Gough’s ‘Sunflowers’ painting.
Languages
Year 5 pupils at Coalbrookdale Primary School and John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School were involved in a series of French lessons and very quickly learned lots of vocabulary and became quite fluent in some areas!
Maths
In the summer term, our maths department offers a programme of lessons to a group of our most able Year 5 pupils. Subjects covered were loci, Pythagoras, algebra, maths and science, sequences, Fibonacci and the golden ratio, maths orienteering, making compasses and maths trails. This involved a variety of fun activities which took place inside and outside on the playground!
Drama
Pupils from Woodlands Primary School arranged to have their after-school drama club at Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby during the autumn term.
Parents’ evenings are an essential part of the ongoing dialogue between the academy and parents. In most cases, we’d expect parents to make every effort to attend parents’ evenings and be able to meet their child’s subject teachers and mentors. We appreciate that in a very small number of cases, this may be difficult but we endeavour to publish the dates well in advance to allow parents to plan ahead. If parents are unable to attend, they may wish to contact certain staff for an overview of their child’s progress, which you can do via the contact page.
| Year 11 | 11th December |
| Year 13 | 18th December |
| Year 9 | 29th January |
| Year 12 | 5th March |
| Year 11 | 12th March |
| Year 10 | 26th March |
| Year 7 | 7th May |
| Year 8 | 2nd July |
There are a number of ways in which parents may contact Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby.
The first opportunity is to contact the child’s mentor by using the space provided in their planner. This may be useful to let us know of medical appointments or other such events that are planned ahead. Of course, there may be times when parents need to speak to someone. We would ask that they try to speak initially to their child’s mentor as they will have an overview of how each child is progressing.
Where there’s the need to speak to a specific member of the teaching staff regarding a curriculum issue, all of the necessary contact details are on the ‘teaching staff’ page under the contacts menu. Electronic communication is essential nowadays and we would welcome contact via email.
To help with this, you can locate the teacher’s email address from the “teaching staff” page. It’s also important that parents keep us informed of any email address changes along with other contact details such as mobile numbers – please email ad.academy@taw.org.uk with any changes remembering to include the relevant child’s name in the email.
If parents receive a text advising that their child is absent, they can either text a reply, explaining the absence, or telephone Attendance on 01952 386013 or by email on HAD_Attendance@taw.org.uk.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch, we’re here to help and answer any questions or queries you might have.
