A–Z for new parents and students

Joining a new school can be daunting for both children and their parents – lots of new routines and requirements to remember. This page collates a lot of information, some of it from elsewhere on the school website, to create a single page to help new parents and students navigate those first weeks and months at TWGSB.

What happens at the beginning of term? What do I need to do in advance? What do I need to pay for? How do I contact school? This page should specifically help answer the queries that commonly arise at the beginning of term for new parents. There is plenty of further detail under the Parents' Information tab and elsewhere on the main TWGSB school website, so please do look at all the relevant pages before contacting us with queries.

Apps

We use a number of apps and digital learning resources at TWGSB to enhance your son's education. We have two portals that are connected to our Management Information System (MIS), Bromcom – our parent portal called MCAS (MyChildatSchool) and the equivalent for students called the Bromcom Student Portal. Parents also need to access our payments platform called Iris Parentmail, and students use Office 365 for work in school and at home. 

You/your son will receive details on accessing all the necessary apps/websites during the first few weeks of joining TWGSB (see Essential apps for TWGSB parents and students below).

Clubs and sports practices

There are a number of free lunchtime and after-school clubs, as well as sports sessions offered by external providers, which incur a charge. They are listed on the school website and updated regularly. You will be advised as to when these start as there is usually a delay at the beginning of the academic year. Click HERE.

Contacting school

See Who to Contact below for full details. 

Costs at the beginning of term

We understand that, for budgeting purposes, new parents like to be forewarned of the expenditure involved in their son's first few weeks at school. You will be emailed at the very beginning of term in September, once your son has been enrolled at TWGSB, with full details and various requests for payment. These will include the following:

• A Year 7 team-building trip that takes place in October (see Trips and visits below).
• A locker and key (see Lockers below).
• Equipment for practical subjects: Art packs, DT equipment and staple ingredients for Food & Nutrition are supplied to new Year 7s by the school in September and parents will be advised when and how they need to pay for these items. The 2026/27 costs are as follows: art packs (£14), DT materials (£45) and Food & Nutrition ingredients (£10).
• Donation request for the School Fund. 

Doris, our school dog

Doris is our school therapy dog and a very important member of the SEND and pastoral teams. A golden retriever, Doris lives with Assistant Head Mrs Rose and her family outside of school but comes into school every day in order to work with the most vulnerable students and offer emotional health and well-being benefits to the whole school.
Often found in Compass, she is fond of a tummy rub and a gravy bone. Many students and staff find that time with Doris lifts their mood.

Equipment for school

All students are expected to attend lessons equipped with a pencil case with pens (including a green pen for self-/peer-marking), pencils and rubber, and the regular maths equipment of a ruler, compasses, angle measurer or protractor. They will also need a scientific calculator and we strongly urge parents to purchase this calculator, currently available from the Amazon website for about £12–13. This ensures the students are all using the same technology in their classes.

Please ensure all items, including school bags are clearly marked with your son’s name. Any type of bag for school is allowed, but please bear in mind that the lockers are quite small. Your son does not need to bring everything with him every day – just the books and equipment for his lessons that day, as per his timetable.

We suggest that your son brings a water bottle (named) each day and a keyring to which he can attach both his catering fob and his locker key (there is a charge for replacing either of these if mislaid).

School-supplied art and DT packs provide your son with everything required for these two subjects at TWGSB and will be available to purchase in September (see Costs at the beginning of term above).

We understand that starting secondary school is a huge step for children, and some will find it easier than others. We ask parents to encourage their son to check his timetable every day and pack his own bag for school the night before. In addition he should double-check his belongings before leaving for school. Establishing a routine of being prepared not only fosters independence but also instils important life skills. Please do not bring forgotten homework, lunch, PE kit etc. into school during the day on your son's behalf. 

Should we buy a new computer?

We are often asked whether new students require a computer for starting secondary school. At TWGSB, homework at Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9) consists of a fairly even mix of digital research and handwritten work.

It is a purely personal decision and certainly not necessary to rush out and buy new hardware; parents might prefer to adopt a ‘wait and see’ attitude. If you do decide to purchase something, consider whether you would prefer a desktop so your child sits at a desk to work, or whether the portability of a laptop is more convenient for your family. Our IT department recommends a basic machine with the following spec:

• i3 or i5 CPU
• 8GB RAM
• 256GB SSD
• Windows 11

The IT department also recommends HP for its reliability but any computer brand will suffice.

There is no need to purchase software as TWGSB provides each student with a school email address and a free Microsoft Office license, which allows them to download the full suite of Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc) on to up to five personal devices free of charge. This works on tablets and phones as well as Windows and Mac PCs. (See Essential apps for TWGSB parents and students below.) 

Forms/tutor groups

Forms 7A to 7G are at the Tunbridge Wells campus, forms 7H, 7I and 7J are at Sevenoaks. Your son will learn which form he is in when he arrives for Transition Day on Thursday 2nd July. He will also find out on that day, if not before, which TWGSB house he has been allocated – he will need a house T-shirt for termly inter-house sports competitions.

Every Year 7 form has a dedicated Form Tutor (some forms have two Tutors), your son is likely to meet his Tutor on Induction Day. For 2026/27 Mr Roberts is Head of Year 7 at Tunbridge Wells, Ms Brydon is Head of Year at Sevenoaks. Mr Millar and Mr Leaver are the Assistant Heads with responsibility for Key Stage 3 at Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks respectively (KS3 includes Years 7, 8 and 9).

Lockers

Year 7 students are allocated lockers for which they pay a fee and key deposit. At the Tunbridge Wells campus, students use the same locker for Years 7–9 (cost £37). There are no lockers available after Year 9 due to the number of students at the Tunbridge Wells campus. Sevenoaks students keep the same locker for Years 7–11 (cost £55). Information on how to pay for lockers will be available in September.  

Lunches/school dinners

Catering at TWGSB is provided by Independent Catering. We operate a cashless payment system whereby students 'purchase' food using a prepaid catering fob. Your son will receive his catering fob from his Form Tutor on his first day of term and you will be able to put credit on his dinner account via MCAS as soon as you have access to the system (see Essential apps for TWGSB parents below). Students will be able to use their fobs on the first day of term, even if parents have not been able to credit the account in advance.

Food is normally available before school, at morning break and at lunchtime. Currently, the cost of a main meal and dessert is £3.00. Click HERE for further details.

Alternatively, your son may prefer to bring a packed lunch with him. However, even if he prefers packed lunches, keeping his MCAS dinner account topped up is a useful back-up for the odd occasion when he might forget to bring his own lunch or leave it on the bus, and needs to buy food or drinks at school.

Free school meals

If your son is eligible for free school meals be aware that all students are given catering fobs on joining TWGSB; the fobs all look the same and work in the same way, whether the student is receiving a free meal or is paying. The only difference is that your son will have his account set up to allow him to get a meal without you needing to put money into the account. However we advise adding some money on to the fob so your son can buy drinks and snacks which FSM payments do not cover.

Medical/dental appointments

We request that wherever possible you arrange medical, dental or other appointments outside of school hours or during school holidays. If this is not possible, and your child needs to leave during the school day, please let us know in advance (see How to report absence). We will then make a note on the register, so the relevant teacher knows that the student is leaving class.

Students should know what time to leave their lesson, ask the teacher to be excused and go to Reception where they must be collected by a parent or responsible adult. Our staff do not collect students from class for appointments and we cannot remind them during the day.

Mobile phones

TWGSB has long held a policy that students are not allowed to use their mobile phones in school during the day and all mobiles must be switched off and kept out of sight or risk confiscation. New rules apply from September 2026 when all Tunbridge Wells secondary schools are adopting a smartphone-free environment for all new Year 7 students. (This includes our Sevenoaks campus.) This decision aligns with strengthened national guidance issued by the Department for Education, which has emphasised that schools should be phone free throughout the entire day, with students not using mobile phones at any point during the school day, even as calculators or for research.

We hope that parents and carers, knowing that schools are not allowing such devices, will feel less pressure to purchase smartphones in the first instance. Students may bring a 'dumb phone' (a basic mobile phone with no internet capability) if needed for travel or safety. However, 'dumb phones' must be switched off and put away from 08:40 until 15:30 and may not be used at any point during lessons, breaktimes, lunchtimes or transitions.

To reiterate, smartphones and smartwatches will NOT be permitted for Year 7 students from September 2026. The only exceptions will be for students who rely on digital devices for essential medical monitoring and who will have had individual healthcare plans created with our medical and pastoral teams. All other Year 7s should be aware that if they bring a smartphone or smartwatch to school it will be confiscated for 7 days. A Year 7 student whose dumb phone is switched on or visible during the school day will have it confiscated for 24 hours. A lunchtime detention and -2 House Points will be issued for either of these infringements. 

This policy will apply to Year 7 from September 2026, and will then be rolled up annually, so that it applies to Years 7 and 8 in September 2027, and applies to all KS3 students (Years 7, 8 and 9) in September 2028 as we move toward a fully smartphone-free KS3 environment.

Click HERE for the full TWGSB policy regarding the use of mobile phones, smart watches and music playing equipment while at school.

Music lessons

To arrange private music lessons for your son please visit the music pages of the school website where you will find the link to an online application form. If your son is interested in music lessons please complete this online form as soon as possible so the Music Department can plan accordingly for the autumn term.

Parent Handbook

This useful document for TWGSB parents is packed with information about the school and updated annually. The 2026/27 version will be available by September.

Payment platform

Our online payments platform is called Iris Parentmail (see Essential apps for TWGSB parents below). After your son has joined us in September and you have registered for the platform you will be able to pay for items as and when requested. Please note there will be a number of payment requests from school quite early in the term (see Costs at the beginning of term).

When you are using Iris Parentmail, a query we commonly receive involves parents/carers unable to see an item in their account that they are expecting to purchase. You simply need to find the 'Shop'. Depending on the device you are using, it may be a trolley icon at the foot of the screen or you may need to tap the three horizontal lines/'burger' at the top to access the next payment screen and view the item.

PTA

You will no doubt already be familiar with some form of Parent-Teacher association from your son's primary school. The TWGSB PTA is a charity that raises funds for the school – click HERE to find out how to get involved and/or make monetary donations.

PTA volunteers also sell TWGSB second-hand uniform, and create a Facebook group for the parents of boys who will be joining Year 7 in September: TWGSB 2026 joiners | Facebook. 

To contact the PTA email pta@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk. 

School day timings

Students are expected on site by 08:40. Failure to be punctual for Form Time and for lessons may result in students being issued with a detention. A student’s late arrival, regardless of reason, automatically triggers an alert email to be sent to parents. To ensure their safety, students cannot access the school site before 08:00. The school website details the school day timings.

We operate a two-week timetable to ensure that students are able to access a broad and balanced curriculum. You and your son will be able to access his timetable (see below) via MCAS/Student Portal respectively. The school website lists whether it is Week 1 or Week 2. 

School Fund

The School Fund plays a vital role in enriching the educational experience of every student at TWGSB. Through the generosity of our parent community, we are able to provide opportunities and facilities that go beyond what core funding can support. We invite all families to make a voluntary contribution to the School Fund, with a recommended donation of £20 per month, per student. Every donation, regardless of size, makes a meaningful difference.

Your support helps to fund a wide range of clubs and co-curricular activities that inspire students to discover new interests, develop their talents and build lifelong skills. It also enables us to maintain and improve essential school facilities, including our all-weather 3G sports pitches and school minibuses, ensuring that all students continue to benefit from a vibrant and well-resourced learning environment. If you are able to make a financial donation, please click HERE for further information. Thank you for your support.

Student Services

Your son will quickly learn that Student Services is the central port of call for all aspects of student support. Whether a student feels unwell during the school day, is seeking lost property or needs a new timetable, he should visit Student Services. A parent with any pastoral concern should also contact Student Services in the first instance, and a parent with any medical concern should contact our Medical Officer, Mrs Taylor (see Who to contact below).

Term dates

All relevant dates during the school year are listed on the School Calendar of the school website, which is a useful reference for parents. Term dates are on the School Calendar and are also listed separately on the website. Both areas can be accessed via the Quick Links tab on the home page of the school website.

Timetable and the school day

Individual timetables are given to the students by their form tutors on their first day at school. Your son will be able to view his timetable online once he has started school and registered for the Student Portal (see Essential apps for TWGSB parents and students below). Parents will be able to view their son's timetable in MCAS.

Transition from Year 6 to Year 7

For a reminder on the transition process at TWGSB click HERE. A copy of Mr Millar's presentation from the New Parents' Welcome Evening held 25th June 2026 is available HERE.

Travel to/from school

If you intend to drive your son to school, please do not drive on to site at the Tunbridge Wells campus, nor swing around in the entrance, at the beginning or end of the day to drop off/collect your child. Space is limited and extra traffic on site at either end of the school day significantly increases the risk of health and safety issues for our students. In addition, please park with consideration for our neighbours, for example do NOT park in the Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre car park or outside the Cross Keys pub.

At the Sevenoaks campus there is a car park with parking bays and drop-off lanes for parent use. However the space is shared by three schools and can become very congested at the beginning and end of the school day, which raises safety concerns. We therefore ask all parents and carers for their full cooperation by parking only in designated parking spaces, keeping access routes, exits and drop-off lanes clear at all times, and showing consideration to local residents by not parking on residential streets in a manner that causes obstruction or inconvenience.

Wherever possible, we strongly encourage students to travel to and from school using public transport, walking or cycling. 

If your son will be travelling to either campus by train or bus, please ensure in advance that he knows his route and where to catch his train/bus home. Some buses come on to the school site; others stop at bus stops near the school. The nearest train station to the Tunbridge Wells campus is High Brooms, which is a 20-minute walk to school. Bat and Ball is the nearest station to the Sevenoaks campus and is a 25-minute walk to school.

Bus travel

Children who live in Kent can apply online for a KCC Travel Saver that can save on the cost of bus travel. Parents need to apply by 9th August 2026 to ensure their child receives the pass at the start of term in September. KCC send the bus passes to school at the beginning of September for the School Office staff to distribute to students. If you apply after 9th August you may need to wait up to four weeks for KCC to send the pass to us; this means it may not be ready for the start of term and the bus driver is likely to charge your son for his journey. Do check before applying whether the KCC Travel Saver offers the best value for money for your child's journey to school. You may want to contact the bus operator directly to find out whether cheaper options are available before applying.

Bus operator Arriva sells Student and Child annual tickets, which can be paid for monthly via Direct Debit, giving parents a cost-effective way of paying for travel for their child. Click HERE for details. See also Getting to School. 

Trips and visits

Whenever a school trip/visit is finalised parents are advised of the details via MCAS/email and payment is requested via Iris +Pay/Parentmail. If a parent misses the payment deadline their son may not be able to participate in the event. Nearer the time parents are asked to complete an online form with any medical/dietary information that is relevant for the trip/visit.

All students are expected to participate in curriculum trips, which can only take place if parents/carers of all participating students are prepared to voluntarily meet the costs involved. Below are details of the non-curriculum trips proposed for Year 7 this year, the first of which takes place in October – see Costs at the beginning of term above for other payment requests.

We always strongly advise that students do not take items of value with them on school trips as the school cannot be held responsible for loss or damage.

Date	Venue	Type of trip and focus	Approx cost
October 2026	Arena Pursuits, Flimwell	Transition/team building and leadership skills	tbc (£50 in 2025)
July 2027	tbc (Bushcraft and Aquachimp available in 2026)	End-of-year (ARE Week) challenge and group building learning/independent thinking	tbc (£52 in 2026)

Uniform

All students are expected to comply with the school's school uniform, and infringements may lead to detention. The school website provides full details of the TWGSB uniform and suppliers, as well as details of approved shoes. 
Please ensure all uniform is fully named – we have over 1,900 students at TWGSB over two campuses, and labelling items with single names or initials is generally not enough to reunite lost property with its owner. The PTA sells second-hand uniform and you can request items during term time by emailing them.

If a student does lose something we always recommend that they first retrace their steps to the classroom/area they last saw it. If their item is named it will probably turn up in Student Services; however, be aware that this can take a while at the Tunbridge Wells campus because the site is so large and spread out. 

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Essential apps/websites for TWGSB parents and students
Parents  You will not be able to register for either MCAS or Iris Parentmail until after the first day of term when your son is officially enrolled at TWGSB. You will receive an invitation email directly from both platforms with instructions on how to register/log in.
MCAS (MyChildatSchool) Every parent is set up with an MCAS account. MCAS is available as an app or can be accessed via MyChildAtSchool - Login. The portal allows you to: Report absence View your son’s timetable, reports and assessments, classes and attendance record Prepay for your son's food/drink purchases and view his catering transactions (see Lunches/School dinners above) View the homework your son has been set and the deadlines See any behaviour points that have been awarded Easily contact the School Office Please click HERE for further information on MCAS and for trouble-shooting if you did not receive/cannot locate an invitation email.	Iris Parentmail Iris Parentmail is the online financial platform required for making payments to school as and when requested for items/trips etc. Quick access to the Iris Parentmail log-in page is available under the Quick Links tab on the home page of the school's website. It is also available as an app.
Students Students will not be able to register for Office 365 or the Bromcom Student Portal until they have a school email account. They will be given their school email addresses during the first week or so at school, usually during their first computer science lesson.
Microsoft 365 As part of the school’s IT provision, every student is provided with a school email address and a free Microsoft Office license, which allows him to download the full suite of Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc) on to up to five personal devices free of charge. This works on Windows and Mac desktops/laptop as well as mobile devices used at home. Students will need access to these programs for homework tasks – this will be useful across most subjects, not just in computer science. The instructions below guide them through how to install these programs on to their devices. If your son has any issues installing Microsoft Office, please contact our IT Department via the main school email address: thegrammarschool@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk. For Windows and Mac Go to office.com. Click ‘Sign in’ and use your school email address and password to log in. You should see an ‘Install Office’ button near the top-right of the page; click on that, then click ‘Office 365 apps’. This will begin the download. Once the download has finished, open the file that will guide you through installing Office. If you are asked to log into any of the Office programs, use your school email and password. For iOS and Android mobile devices Go to the App Store (iOS) or the Google Play Store (Android). Each Office program has a different app (Word, Excel etc.). Search for and download the ones you need. When you open the apps, you may be asked to log in. If you are, use your school email address and password.	Bromcom Student App/Portal The student App/Portal will show your son his timetable and is used by TWGSB teachers for setting homework and awarding behaviour points. Your son will be able to access it once he has been given his school email address.  Click HERE for instructions for students on accessing the Student App/Portal. Others Some teachers use subject-specific learning apps in their teaching/for homework, for example Dr Frost Maths and Seneca, among others. Your son will receive details of these directly from his teacher, who should be able to help with any registration/log-in problems.

Who to contact

Form Tutors Should you encounter any problems or have an issue you wish to discuss, your first point of contact is your son's Form Tutor who can then pass on your concern to the appropriate member of staff if necessary. Head of Year Mr Roberts is Head of Year 7 at Tunbridge Wells for 2026/27: groberts@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk Ms Brydon is Head of Year at Sevenoaks: TBrydon@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk Student Services/pastoral concerns Tunbridge Wells campus: Ms Mooney (smooney@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk) Sevenoaks campus: Ms Majumdar (amajumdar@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk) Medical concerns For medical concerns at either campus, contact our Medical Officer, Mrs Taylor, in the first instance: ctaylor@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk School Office Office hours are 08:30–16:00 Monday to Friday. Please ring 01892 529551 or email: thegrammarschool@twgsboys.kent.sch.uk. Parents can also use MCAS to contact school. Absence reporting/attendance Please notify the school via MCAS before 09:00 on the first and every subsequent day of a student’s absence from school, providing the reason for the absence. Other staff at TWGSB Details of school staff can be found on the school website HERE.