FAQs

The school follows a two week timetable. 

Week 1 is known as Alpha Week and Week 2 is known as Omega Week. You can find out which week is Alpha and Omega by visiting the front page of the school's website http://www.stphils.org.uk/.

The school day begins at 8.15am and finishes at 3:00 pm amounting to 32.5 hours in a typical week.

Year 7, 8 & 9 leave school at 2.45pm. If any students in Year 7, 8 & 9 have RE, Art or a Design Technology, Food or Product Design or Textiles lesson Period 5 they will remain in their lesson until 3pm.

Due to school expansion in 2014, 2016 and 2023 and the large numbers of students on site, over 1400 who travel long distances, it's important to support safety of young people and the wider community with a staggered dismissal.

Currently, the  morning break is 25 minutes in length from 10.45am to 11.10am and the lunch break is 50 minutes long from 1.10pm to 2.00pm.

There are 5 lesson periods each day. Each lesson is 1 hour long.

Students start to arrive from 7.30am. They are to go to the dining hall where a supervised breakfast club takes place. All other areas of the school are unsupervised until 8.25am.

Further details about the school day are on the school website: https://www.stphils.org.uk/about-us/school-opening-hours  

We are strongly advising that Year 7 have "brick phones" for the first term to aid with behaviour and the use of social media. 

All mobile devices are brought into school at the owner’s risk; students are not required to bring a mobile device to school for any aspect of their day to day education at St Philomena’s. 

All mobile telephones must be switched off when on the school site and inside the building and must not be accessed or used during the day. Students should turn their device off before entering the building in the morning. For students in Years 7 to 11 the phone must be placed in the student’s locker; for students without a locker, they should deposit their phone at reception. It may only be switched back on after leaving the building at the end of the day. If a student is suspected of having a phone on their person, a wand may be used, (please see 'searching' and 'screening' in the Behaviour Policy for more information). 

Checks are carried out. If a student  has their mobile phone on them, it will be confiscated until the end of the day. A Behaviour Point will be given and an internal exclusion applied.

If this happens multiple times, then the matter will be escalated to ascertain why a student cannot follow a reasonable instruction, so support can be given to prevent it happening again.

For year 8 Students only. From Autumn 2025 students in Year 8 are required to have the Blackout app installed and running on their device during the school day. The app will be activated between 08:20 -14:45 and restricts access to social media and camera services whilst in school, supporting students’ focus, wellbeing and safe use of mobile phones. If a student does not install or engage with the Blackout App, then the school requires that phone to be handed into her Head of Year before the start of the day and collected at the end of the school day. This software will be provided to Year 7 students as well from the summer term, in preparation for their transition to Year 8. 

If a student wishes to make contact with parents/carers in an emergency situation, this should be done through the School Reception. Messages about travelling home or arrangements after school can be collected when the mobile phone is switched back on again outside the building at the end of the school day.

We appreciate parents and carers may want students to have mobile phones for safety reasons whilst travelling to and from school on public transport. For this reason, mobile phones confiscated by staff during the school day will be returned to students at the end of the day from Reception. Failure to follow the school rules relating to mobiles phones, will result in a Saturday Detention. Should a student have their phone confiscated on a further occasion it may be necessary for a suspension to be issued or for the school to confiscate the device for a period of time and/or ask parents to collect the device from school.

Students in Year 7 - Year 11 are not permitted to have ‘smartwatches’ in school nor to use at any time in place of a mobile phone to receive calls or messages. Exceptions to the rules may be applied in cases where medical advice states that mobile phone software is required to monitor a diagnosed condition for example, diabetes. 

Your daughter will need to go to the late sign in desk at the front of Reception and report to a member of the school's Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to state her reason for being late. She will be marked as late and a note will be written in her planner to be shown to parents. 

Should lateness persist, your daughter may be expected to attend school on a Saturday morning from 9am- 12 noon in full uniform.

Providing your daughter can prove that the transport was late, she can sign in and it won't count as a late, but will be recorded as one, as will the time she arrived at school.

French and/or Spanish 

On the Online Family Information Form (FIF) you are able to express your daughter's preference of Modern Foreign Language (MFL) - either French or Spanish. Please be aware that it is not possible to change this selection after completing this form so please ensure you discuss this with your daughter prior to making your selection. Please note that this is only an expression of your daughter's preference and we cannot guarantee all students will be allocated their preferred language. The allocation of language classes will also take into consideration the date on which you complete your FIF. Students in Year 7 will study either French or Spanish, with the option of studying the other language during twilight lessons.

Every student has the right to attend school and be safe. The school actively encourages the reporting of incidents should a student experience bullying in school so that the matter can be promptly dealt with.

The School takes the issue of bullying extremely seriously, recognising it as behaviour by an individual or group, repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group physically or emotionally. The School is committed to ensuring that parents and students are aware of the procedures to follow if they believe their child is being bullied/they are being bullied, and that the school community is clear on the disciplinary sanctions that may be imposed. 

Please see the specific anti-bullying policy in the policies section on the school website - https://www.stphils.org.uk/about-us/policies-and-procedures 

We offer Achievement Points and you will be able to see these on Arbor.

In the same way, we issue Behaviour Points - these could be for lateness, non-completion of work or poor behaviour. 

On the online Family Information Form there is a section regarding musical instrument lessons and you can select to show your interest in up to two different instrumental music lessons for your daughter. You will then be contacted by the relevant peripatetic music teacher regarding your daughter's chosen instrument/s and to set up the lessons. If your daughter would like to learn more than two instruments you will need to contact the Music Department directly (enquiries@stphils.org.uk email).

 Please complete the online Family Information Form by Friday 1st May 2026 to ensure that the Music Department has your daughter's musical instrument choices. 

It is also possible for your daughter to collect a form regarding musical instrument lessons from the Music Department after joining the school. 

Please note there is a cost for musical instrument lessons which are taught by outside peripatetic music teachers. Discounts are available for Pupil Premium students - please discuss this with the Music Department.

We are a cashless school and those students for whom Biometric Consent has been received will register with their fingerprint for cashless payments in the Dining Hall. 

As a parent you will need to monitor this account and top up funds when needed.  

No recording/videoing is permitted on the school site. Presentations which take place at the school can be viewed on the school website after the event has taken place.