Please see our FAQ'S on our mobile phone policy

Please see our guidance document on the electronic parent/carer booking system going live on 13th March 2017.

If you change address, phone number, email address or GP you can amend both your and your child's details via Varndean PLUS (our online information system). Please see out handy guide to help you with this. 

You can also securely email our safeguarding manager via Varndean PLUS to notify them of any addition support needs your child may have or contact the school to speak to a member of your child's school base team if there are personal circumstances you wish to make the school aware of.

The Options booklet is published in spring each year and can be found on the Options page.

Please refer to our procedure for snow closures on the attendance page.

If you believe your child may be entitled to Free School Meals please see our Free School Meals page for information on how to apply. If your child is entitled to free school meals, it is very important that you claim them – even if your child prefers not to eat in the canteen. The reason is that a free school meal entitlement opens up Pupil Premium funding for your child.

We use a cashless card system called Wisepay to pay for all meals and you can also pay for trips and equipment in this way too. Students entitled to Free School Meals will have their cards pre-loaded with the daily allowance. 

York Place Diner 1884 has a canteen helpdesk for Student & Staff to deal with issues with Wise pay, Allowances, Lost or new cards, dietary and allergen’s  and any food issues.

This is in operation at morning break 10:45 & lunch time 13:35/13:20 Or email food@varndean.co.uk

School uniform can be purchased from Khalsa Schoolwear Ltd they can also be contacted on 020 7729 3286.

For more information please see our uniform page.

Black/blue ball point pen (and a spare)
Pencil
Ruler
Rubber
Protractor
Set square
Scientific calculator

Revision books are available through school in the majority of subjects, you can find out more from the relevant teacher.

Please see the extra-curricular calendar for up to date information about the extra-curricular activities on offer. Please note these may change throughout the academic year so keep checking back, particularly at the start of a new term or half term.

Please see our homework/preparation page for full details, such as the preparation timetable for all years.

Detentions are referred to as Resolutions at Varndean School as we believe that they should lead to a resolution to a concern about behaviour, which will bring about a change in attitude and a return to a focus on learning.

Behaviours and/or incidents are recorded in the following way: 

C2 - 10 minute resolution with the teacher that day
C3 - 30 minute department resolution held after school
C4 - 1 hour whole school resolution held after school

Restorative conversations are used by teachers with students if poor behaviour has been displayed in their lessons.

For any resolution longer than 10 minutes, parents/carers are notified by email or text with 24 hours’ notice.

Parents/carers can keep track of their child's/children's achievements and behaviour on Varndean PLUS.

We have a Medical Centre on site run by a first aid trained Medical Officer. You can contact the medical centre directly on 01273 545246. 

Please see the prospectus page for details on and a copy of our current prospectus.

Setting is where students are grouped by ability or aptitude for a particular subject and streaming is where pupils follow different pathways through the curriculum based on ability or aptitude.  Setting means that a school can mix the populations of teaching groups. Streaming means the populations will stay fixed. Varndean uses setting to aid achievement.  We don’t use streaming.

For further details please see our setting information sheet.

All letters are emailed home where possible to enable us to communicate in a more timely manner, while reducing our usage of paper. Should you require a copy of a previous letter please contact the school office in the first instance.

Our Ofsted report can be downloaded directly from Ofsted’s website as well as on our Ofsted page on the website.

Please visit our Exams and Results pages for the latest exams information, results and press releases.

All Varndean students are expected to be in school uniform at all times during the school day. Please see our uniform page for full details.

Please see Varndean School’s curriculum policy on our Policies page. Alternatively, you can view the Varndean Curriculum page or use the department pages to find out more about each department.

When is the canteen open?

Breakfast 08:00/08:45

Morning Break 10:45/11:00

Lunch 12:35/13:20

Please see the catering page for further information.

At Varndean, students are encouraged to participate in and to manage many aspects of community life. One example of this is the role of the student receptionist.

Typically, once a year, students will be asked to support the reception area of the school by showing visitors around the building, relaying messages from parents and helping to operate the mail room.

We have found that this activity develops self-reliance, confidence, a sense of community – and most of all, introduces students to many aspects of the school’s daily routine to which they may otherwise have been unaware.

During the day – in addition to helping the reception team – students will have a set of work from different department bases that they must complete – but may also be found engrossed in their favourite reading book.

Please see our venue hire information page.