Rewards and Recognition

At The Hayling College, we want every pupil to feel known, valued and recognised for the positive contribution they make to our College community.

Being Happy, Healthy and High Performing is about much more than academic results. We recognise pupils for their effort, attitude to learning, improvement, resilience, participation, kindness, teamwork and the way they support others.

Recognition, praise and reward are therefore an important part of everyday life at Hayling.

Our Merit Awards

Throughout the school day, staff award merits to recognise pupils who demonstrate the attitudes and behaviours we want to see across our College.

Merits can be awarded for excellent work and achievement, but they are equally important for recognising effort, progress, resilience, participation, kindness, responsibility and consistently making positive choices.

Our new rewards system gives pupils clear milestones to work towards throughout the year:

The Elite Award is our highest merit recognition and celebrates pupils who demonstrate exceptional and sustained commitment to College life.

Gold Star Learners ⭐

Our Gold Star Learner recognition celebrates pupils whose contribution goes beyond simply accumulating merits.

Each week, Heads of Faculty nominate pupils who have demonstrated the qualities and behaviours we want to see throughout The Hayling College.

A Gold Star Learner might have demonstrated:

• Togetherness – supporting others and working exceptionally well as part of a team.
• High Standards – consistently taking pride in classwork, homework and presentation.
• Commitment – being prepared, punctual and ready to learn.
• A Winning Mindset – showing positivity, resilience and determination, particularly when things are difficult.
• No Egos or Entitlement – showing humility and helping others without expecting recognition in return.
• High Work Ethic – consistently putting in additional effort and going beyond expectations.
• Respect – treating pupils, staff and visitors with courtesy and consideration.
• Great Communication – listening carefully, asking thoughtful questions and making positive contributions.
• 'We', not 'Me' – putting the success and wellbeing of the group ahead of individual recognition.
• Strong Relationships – building positive relationships in lessons and across our wider College community.

Heads of Faculty submit their nominations each week, including a specific example of what the pupil has done to deserve recognition.

Gold Star Learners then have the opportunity to meet the Headteacher personally to talk about what they have achieved and why they have been nominated.

It is an opportunity for us to recognise not simply what a pupil has achieved, but the character, attitude and behaviours that helped them achieve it.

Positive Postcards 📮

Sometimes a merit does not quite say enough. 

Throughout the year, staff nominate pupils to receive positive postcards home for particularly impressive work, fantastic participation, significant improvement, kindness or an achievement of which they should be especially proud.

Receiving something positive through the letterbox gives families the opportunity to celebrate that success at home too.

And the postcard has another purpose...

Bring it back – Participation Counts!

When a pupil receives one of our positive postcards, they should bring it back into College and show it to their tutor.

They will receive:

🎟️ 5 raffle tickets for our weekly Participation Counts raffle.

Participation Counts 🎟️

We want pupils to understand that getting involved matters.

Participation might mean answering a question when you are unsure, helping another pupil, joining a club, representing the College, taking part in an event, producing a fantastic piece of work, demonstrating resilience or simply consistently giving your best.

Our Participation Counts approach gives us another way of recognising those contributions.

Positive postcards generate five entries into our weekly Participation Counts raffle, giving pupils regular opportunities to be recognised and win prizes.

And it does not stop with the weekly draw.

End-of-term raffles and celebrations 🏆

Throughout the year, pupils have opportunities to earn entries towards larger end-of-term prizes and celebrations.

Our end-of-term whole-College assemblies are an important Hayling tradition. They allow us to bring the College community together to celebrate achievements, awards, participation and some of the experiences pupils have enjoyed during the term.

Our current Participation Counts campaign includes bigger prizes at the end of every term, alongside the weekly raffle. Previous College reward campaigns have included major prize draws such as an iPad, and our end-of-year celebrations have included recognition of merit awards, postcards and an iPad winner.

We will advertise the prizes and opportunities available during each term through assemblies, tutor time, our website, newsletters and social media.

Every contribution counts

Ultimately, rewards at Hayling are not about prizes.

They are about making sure pupils know that we notice.

We notice the pupil who perseveres when something is difficult.

We notice the pupil who quietly helps somebody else.

We notice improved attendance, better effort and increased confidence.

We notice the pupil who contributes to their team, faculty, house or wider College.

We notice excellent work.

And we notice the pupils who consistently make the right choices without expecting recognition for doing so.

Through merits, positive postcards, Gold Star Learners, Participation Counts, assemblies, personal praise and communication with home, we want our pupils to know that their effort and contribution matter.

We want every pupil to have something to work towards, something to be proud of and an opportunity to be recognised.

Participation Counts. Effort Counts. Kindness Counts. Achievement Counts.

Happy, Healthy, High Performing.