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1.1         School Rules

Pupils of Hereford Cathedral School are subject to all the following rules while they are at School, including during the lunch hour, on their journeys to and from School, and on visits and expeditions run under the aegis of the School, whether in the holidays or term‑time. Compliance with school rules and any amendments made from time to time is a condition of pupils’ continued membership of the School. Pupils should be aware that any action of theirs which has the capacity to harm the reputation of the school may be regarded as an offence against school discipline, whether it is specifically mentioned in these rules or not.

General Conduct

1)      Pupils are expected to behave courteously at all times and to ensure that they do not give offence to others, particularly members of the general public. Pupils travelling between home and school should behave sensibly and with courtesy to each other, fellow passengers and to bus drivers, rail staff and other transport staff.  It is particularly important that pupils exercise consideration for other users of the streets and of the paths across the Cathedral Close.

2)      Pupils are expected to behave with dignity and manners: there should be no public displays of affection, nor any other behaviour likely to cause embarrassment or offence.

3)      Pupils are required to conform to the school’s dress code and wear full uniform smartly at all times, unless a member of staff in connection with a particular activity has granted exemption.  Hair should be neat, well groomed, off the face and of a conventional style.  Hair should not be shorter than that achieved by a No.3 cut.  There should be no excessive dyeing of hair.   Any colouring should be discreet and natural-looking.  Girls are permitted to wear matching stud earrings, which should be worn in the conventional manner.  No additional earrings or rings worn high on the ear are allowed.  No other visible jewellery should be worn by either sex.  Pupils should consult the separate Uniform List for details.

4)      No bullying, physical, verbal or psychological, is acceptable. This includes sending offensive messages by text, email or via chat lines.

5)      Pupils selected to represent the School at Games, or in any other capacity such as musical or dramatic, are expected to honour their commitments.  A pupil wishing to be excused from such a commitment must obtain permission in advance from the member of staff in charge of the activity.

6)      All pupils must attend school on all school days unless prevented by illness or other unavoidable causes.  On return to School after an absence, pupils must bring a written letter of explanation from their parents to their Tutor, unless prior leave of absence has been requested from and granted by the Headmaster.

7)      Attendance at Registration, Assemblies, Tutorial Periods, all timetabled lessons and other timetabled commitments is mandatory.

8)      Pupils are expected to be punctual; those who arrive late (i.e. after registration) for morning or afternoon School must report to the School office immediately upon arrival and sign the late book.

9)      Early Departure: pupils may not leave the School early without their Tutor's agreement and the School Office being informed. In a genuine emergency informing the School Office will be sufficient.

10)  Pupils are responsible for the care, tidiness and good decorative order of the school buildings and grounds.

11)  No litter may be dropped, either indoors or outside.

12)  Chewing gum is not allowed in School.

13)  Pupils should treat all property and furniture with respect and care.

14)  Communication: every pupil should look at the TODAY board and the other notice boards relevant to him/her every day.

15)  The Headmaster may exclude any pupil from school or may require the permanent removal of any pupil for a serious breach of School Rules, or for exercising harmful influence in any way, or for consistently or repeatedly failing to respond with adequate effort and application to the teaching provided at the school, including where this failure is to the detriment of other members of the school, or for the accumulation of several Headmaster’s Detentions, or for any other good or necessary reason.

Conduct in Class and Form Room

16)  The form room and its tidiness is the responsibility of the whole form. Only members of the form are allowed in their form room, except under the supervision of or by permission of a member of staff. Food may not be eaten in form rooms or locker rooms.

17)  Pupils should stand upon the entry of a member of staff, unless they are told not to do so.

18)  Pupils are expected to wait quietly before lessons begin.

19)  Pupils must give their teachers at least 24 hours' notice of missing a class for an instrumental music lesson. If pupils anticipate missing lessons for any other reason, they must as a courtesy ask their teacher's permission at least 24 hours in advance.

20)  Whenever pupils have missed a lesson for any reason, they must arrange in their own time to catch up the work (including homework) that they have missed.

Conduct in Chapel

21)  The Cathedral must be respected as a place of worship at all times. No bags may be brought into morning chapel or left in the Cathedral porches.

22)  In the Cathedral before Chapel pupils may talk very quietly until the organ starts to play; there should then be silence.

23)  After Chapel pupils leave quietly under the direction of the School and Form monitors and the staff on duty; all kneelers should be hung up; there must be no litter at all.

School Bounds

School Bounds are defined as follows: Castle Green, Redcliffe Gardens, Castle Street, Quay Street, The Cathedral Close, Church Street (as far as East Street).  However, First Year pupils must remain in the area of the school buildings at all times. Pupils in first to fifth forms are not allowed in the Sixth Form Centre.

24)  Sixth Form students may leave the school bounds during the lunch break. Members of the Upper Sixth may leave the premises during study periods and, provided they have registered in the Exeat Book and have no afternoon lessons or other commitments, may go home after 12.55.  No Sixth Form student may visit any private house in the lunch break with the exception of their own, and then only with written parental permission notified to the Headmaster.

25)  Members of the fourth and fifth form may go into the town during the lunch hour. No student may visit any private house in the lunch break with the exception of their own, and then only with written parental permission notified to the Headmaster.

26)  Second and Third Year pupils must remain within the school bounds at all times during the school day, unless a specific exception has been requested by parents and permission has been granted by a member of staff (Tutor / Head of House / SMT)

27)  The sole exception is that members of these year‑groups may go to Wathens in King Street at lunchtime without prior permission.

28)  N.B. DURING BREAK THE TOWN IS OUT OF BOUNDS TO ALL PUPILS.

Pupils must remain in the area of the School buildings.

29)  Pupils may not take a short cut through the Chapter House Gardens or the Cathedral itself on their way to and from King Street/Gwynne Street.

30)  When crossing the Cathedral Close, pupils must keep to the paths at all times, but not block the way for other pedestrians. The rules displayed by the Dean and Chapter must be observed, in particular the rule prohibiting games.

31)  Ball games may be played on Castle Green, providing that no inconvenience is caused to other people there. Ball games are not allowed in Redcliffe Gardens (Hereford City Byelaw), the Cathedral Close or in School Yard.

Conduct in the City

32)  Pupils are forbidden to eat or drink in the street, the Cathedral Close, Redcliffe Gardens or Castle Green.

33)  Public houses are out of bounds to all pupils.

Walking to and from Wyeside (and the H.R.C. Boathouse)

34)  All pupils must exercise the greatest care on the way to and from Wyeside. Pedestrians must use the subway at the Greyfriars Bridge, the pavement on the north side of Barton Road and the Sainsbury underpass at the Barton Road/Broomy Hill junction. Pupils must be particularly vigilant when crossing to the north side of Barton Road. Pupils must not use the tow‑path beside the river.

35)  No pupil (in years 1 -3) may go down to, or return from, Wyeside on his/her own. All pupils must travel to and from Wyeside in small groups of at least three. Large groups that are likely to cause an obstruction should be avoided. The same rule applies when leaving Wyeside and coming back into town: pupils may not go on their own.  (Special arrangements will be made for those attending music lessons.) Pupils who have permission to wear games kit on their way to Wyeside must wear a tracksuit.

36)  These rules about travelling in groups and about using the subway at Greyfriars Bridge also apply to pupils going down to the Hereford Rowing Club Boathouse in Greyfriars Avenue.

Travel

37)  Pupils travelling on public transport must conform to safety procedures issued by those providing the transport.

38)  Pupils cycling or driving to School are expected to conform to the Highway Code.  Pupils may cycle to and from School and to Wyeside and the Swimming Pool. They must also observe the ‘no‑cycling' notices, e.g. no cycling in the Cathedral Close, over the Victoria footbridge or through the subways under the Ring Road. It is the responsibility of cyclists to see that their bicycles are in good order and they should lock their bicycles when they leave them on School property. The School cannot take responsibility for their safety or insurance. Cyclists are required to wear reflective bands and suitable helmets.  Cycles must not be ridden within the school grounds and must be securely padlocked in the bicycle sheds.

39)  Pupils wishing to drive to School must complete the appropriate registration form, which must be signed both by parents and by the Headmaster.  Pupils should collect a form and a copy of the rules concerning pupils driving from the Head of sixth form.

40)  Pupils wishing to have a lift in a vehicle driven by another pupil must produce their parents' consent in writing in advance to the Head of sixth form.

41)  For their own safety pupils travelling in minibuses must wear the seatbelts provided.

Property

42)  Pupils are responsible for their own property and for items issued by the School: the School can accept no liability for theft or accidental loss.

43)  All pupils are expected to respect the property of others.

44)  All property must be clearly marked with the owner’s name.

45)  Lockers are to be kept locked.

46)  Expensive personal items and large sums of money should not be brought to School without good reason. In no circumstances should money or other valuable items be left in bags, unattended clothing or changing rooms: all such items should be handed to staff at the beginning of the lesson, fixture or practice for safe-keeping.

47)  Musical instruments must be kept in the Music School.

Prohibitions

48)  Pupils may not possess or use any of the following whilst under school discipline: fireworks, matches, cigarette lighters, cigarettes and other smoking materials, alcohol, illegal substances, any offensive weapon or potentially dangerous items (e.g. laser pointers) or other objects capable of bringing the school into disrepute. Pupils found smoking or in the possession of smoking materials can expect an automatic two-day suspension. Similar sanctions apply to pupils found drinking alcohol, under the influence of alcohol or in possession of alcohol.

49)  Any pupil found in possession of illegal drugs, found to have brought them into School or found to have used them must expect to be expelled.

50)  Gambling is prohibited.

51)  Mobile telephones, MP3 Players and similar devices must be switched off and not used in any way during lessons or any other school based activities.  Pupils are allowed to use mobile telephones during break and at lunch time but not inside any school building.

Computers and ICT Facilities

52)  Infringement of the school’s ICT Policy will constitute a serious breach of school discipline.  The school reserves the right in such cases to refuse use of school ICT equipment both in and outside formal lesson time.  In some instances breaches of this policy may also result in a range of other sanctions, including permanent exclusion.

(a)     The ICT rooms and other school computers may only be used in the presence of or with the permission of an appropriate member of staff.

(b)     Pupils' private floppy disks and other file storage media may only be used in a School computer with the permission of an appropriate member of staff.

(c)     Pupils may not download files or programs from the Internet unless they have permission from an appropriate member of staff.

(d)     Pupils may not install any software on a school computer ‑ whether brought in on disk or downloaded from the Internet. Any individual requirements not already available at school must be discussed with the ICT Systems manager or the ICT Technician. Pupils may not make copies of any software on the school computers.

(e)     Pupils are strictly forbidden to hack into any of the school computer systems, or to change any of the contents or configuration of the school computers, or to interfere in any way with any other pupil's work or files held on the school computers.

(f)      Pupils found using or in possession of computer pornography or any other offensive material will be dealt with severely (with the same sanctions as those set out for smoking).

(g)     Any use of the email system or the Internet which brings the school into disrepute, whether inside or outside the school, will also be dealt with severely (with the same sanctions as those set out for smoking). Any offensive emails that are sent to other pupils will be treated as a form of bullying.

(h)     Pupils are responsible for their own network passwords, so any files or emails attributed to that user name will be attributed to the pupil concerned.  Pupils must not use other pupils’ passwords.

Specialist Areas

53)  Additional rules apply in specialist areas such as the Gilbert Library, laboratories, technology rooms and games facilities. These rules will be displayed in the areas concerned and must be observed.

In particular, concerning the School Library:

(a)     The Library stock is protected by a library security system. Tampering or interference with any part of the system will be regarded as a serious offence and treated as vandalism.

(b)     Any defacing of books will similarly be treated as vandalism.

(c)     No food or drink may be consumed in the library.

(d)     In forms 1‑5, individual pupils using the library during lesson time must have a library exeat slip signed by the class teacher.

(e)    The full library rules are on display in the library. The School Librarian reserves the right to exclude from the library any pupil whose behaviour is not acceptable; any exclusion will be notified to the Tutor of the pupil concerned.

Health and Safety

54)  For safety reasons the following areas are out of bounds to pupils unless specific permission has been granted:

The staging and all associated rooms and equipment in the Powell Theatre

Science laboratories and the Technology Department

The Gymnasium

Any area where building or maintenance work is taking place

55)  Pupils should always walk and not run inside the school buildings.  Pupils should walk on the left on all staircases.

56)  Pupils must observe all instructions given by staff concerning safety procedures in lessons or in connection with any organised activity.  This includes the wearing of lab coats and other protective clothing.

57)  In the case of fire, Fire Drill procedures must be strictly observed.

58)  Pupils injured in any way or who become ill whilst at school are to report firstly to a member of staff in charge of their class or activity and then to Matron; they may not leave school without prior permission from matron.