In the interests of the health and safety of students, staff, other members of the school community and visitors to the school, the school asks parents and students to ensure that any inappropriate and dangerous items, or any inappropriate and harmful substances, are not brought in to school. In the majority of cases the application of common sense will easily determine what should not be brought in to school. The list below is not exhaustive but is intended as a guide.
Sanctions under the Student Behaviour Policy may be applied to any student found in possession of any banned item or any item that the school deems to be unsuitable and dangerous. The school reserves the right to exclude students in extreme cases, or when students or parents have received warnings about banned items.
1. FIRE LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
- Matches, lighters, etc
2. DRUGS and SMOKING EQUIPMENT
- Nicotine or Tobacco products, Cigarettes, E-cigarettes, Vapes etc
- Alcohol
- Solvents
- Any form of illegal drug
- Any other drugs except medicines covered by the Prescribed Medicines Procedure, including legal highs
3. WEAPONS and OTHER DANGEROUS IMPLEMENTS or SUBSTANCES
- Knives or blades, including pen knives, craft knives, razors
- Catapults or guns of any kind, including replicas and BB guns
- Laser pens and LED torches (students who cycle are permitted to bring their lights but these must be kept in a bag and switched off)
- Studded arm bands, belts bracelets, etc
- Whips or similar items such as long chains
- Pepper sprays and gas canisters (e.g. CS gas)
- Fireworks or explosives of any kind
- Dangerous chemicals (e.g. strong acids and alkalis, bleaches, hair dyes, etc)
4. Items related to appearance
- Make up
- False nails
- Hair extensions
- Eyebrow extensions
- Dyed hair other than natural colours
- Piercings other than one stud in an ear
- Tattoos
5. Other Items
- Any form of liquid based correction fluid
- Chewing gum
- Energy drinks/Fizzy, sugary drinks
- Large quantities of sweets, biscuits, crisps and other unhealthy items
- Offensive material (pornographic, homophobic, racist etc)
- Any aerosol (other than essential medication) Note: students should use non-aerosol deodorants
- Cameras (Mobile phones should not be seen or heard in school whilst students are on the school premises, therefore the taking of images/video is strictly forbidden)
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Any items that resemble any banned items, replicas or items made with 3d printers are also banned.
Religious Items
Only items considered compulsory by a religious faith are acceptable e.g. a Kara in Sikhism. Items such as necklaces with crosses are not permitted, because they are not mandatory in the Religion. The school respects the right of individuals to wear items required by their religion. Parents and students are reminded however that these items, for example a ceremonial Kirpan, Kara and Hairpin in Sikhism are only permitted if they are worn and used appropriately. The school reserves the right to require students not to bring these to school if the privilege of wearing them is misused.
Mobile Phones etc
Turing House is a mobile free school from September 2025. Please click this link to find out more Turing House School.
Please read our Student Safe and Acceptable Use of ICT Agreement. Parents and students are asked to consent to this on enrolment to the school. The school reserves the right to confiscate cameras, mobile phones or smart watches and to delete any unauthorised pictures or video recordings of students or staff. Confiscated devices may be returned to students at the headteacher's discretion but in some cases parents may be required to collect them in person.
Consequences
Prohibited items will be confiscated. Depending on the nature of the item the school may return this to parents, dispose of or destroy it or hand it to the police. The school will also apply its behaviour policy and consequences for possession of some of these items would be likely to result in fixed term or permanent exclusion.
Students wearing inappropriate make-up may be asked to remove it in school or parents may be asked to collect their children to deal with more involved items e.g. hair extensions or gelcoat/nails etc. Inappropriate haircuts will be dealt with by discussion with parents on a case by case basis.
Focus Toys and Tools
If your child has special educational needs that impact focus and concentration, you may feel that they would benefit from use of items to support this, such as focus toys and tools. In this case, please contact the Learning Support Department by sending an email to info@turinghouseschool.org.uk or completing this online form.
Your request will be directed to a member of the Learning Support team who can discuss with you reasonable adjustments regarding items to help maintain focus for your child. If the decision is made to allow your child to use such an item, you may provide a suitable focus tool, but please be advised that you should always follow this guidance:
- Tools should be silent
- No balls
- Should be non sharable
- No magnets
- Should be reasonably small – can be discreetly used
- Should not be distracting for others
The SENCo has some focus tools available for those who cannot provide one from home. Please note, no toys are permitted at school other than those agreed with the Learning Support Department. Please also see this related page on our website: Banned Items
Searches
Staff are empowered to search students for these items with or without consent. Please see the relevant Government Guidance.
In practice, most students will hand over prohibited items when asked, which enables the school to deal with the situation sensibly and restoratively. Any member of staff may ask a student's permission to search their coat, blazer or bag with permission. The headteacher and other authorised staff (which includes the deputy headteachers at Turing House) are permitted to search students without permission in certain circumstances, as outlined in the Government Guidance linked above.