Dear Parents and Carers,

School Photographs 

Individual Pupil Photographs will be taken on Wednesday 9th November - please remember to send children in full uniform. 

If you would like to have photographs taken with siblings that do not attend our school or nursery, we will have some slots available before school from 8.00am. These slots are limited and MUST be booked - we cannot accommodate families that turn up without having booked. Please contact the office to book a slot, places will be given on a first come, first served basis. 

Parents’ Evening

A big thank you to all of the parents that attended Parents’ Evening earlier this week. We had a great turn out and it was lovely to share positive reports with parents. 

If you missed your appointment or were unable to attend, and would still like to meet with your child’s class teacher, please contact the school office and we can arrange an alternative time for you. 

Parent Questionnaires and Feedback 

During parents evening, we handed out Parent Questionnaires and the response we received was simply phenomenal! We will share further feedback with parents soon, but two of the main things that came out of the questionnaires were that parents would like more information on what their child is learning each term, and more parental engagement. With this in mind, we will be planning some curriculum information sessions for parents very soon and also looking into how we can further involve parents in our school life - watch this space for more information! 

If you have not had a chance to complete a parents questionnaire and you would like to, you can access the form online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1YQfZKBrD_oOnNsemuFtcKlA6WxliJ1VvAEFZthXZAVk/edit?usp=drive_web

Incidents/Concerns  in School 

We have recently had a number of conversations with parents regarding incidents that have happened during the school day. These incidents have been reported to parents at home time, but not to staff at school, and therefore not resolved. 

If your child comes home from school and shares with you something that has happened during the school day, please check with them that they have told an adult, and if so, who? 

Whilst the safety and happiness of our pupils is of utmost importance, we cannot deal with concerns children have if they do not report them to us. 

School Meals Pricing 

As of this term, our school meals provider, Chartwells, have increased the cost of a school meal to £2.45 per day. 

After School Clubs 

A little reminder that all of our sports/music/art clubs that take place after school are still FREE for Term 2. 

Ukulele Club - Monday - Years 5 & 6 

Art Club - Every other Monday starting 7th Nov - Years 5 & 6

Basketball - Wednesday - Years 3-6 

Multi Sports - Thursday - Year 1 & 2 

Chess Club - Friday - Years 4-6 

Archery - Friday - Years 4-6 

Please remember to book your child into clubs using the School Gateway App before 12 noon on the day of the session - alternatively you can contact the office to book in, but this also must be before 12 on the day. 

Penalty Notices (Fines) & Term Time Holidays 

Unfortunately, during Term 1, we had to issue 4 Penalty Notices to families that took holidays during term time. This is a disappointing amount, and we would like to remind parents that  children should not be taking holidays during term time. 

If you need to take your child out of school during the term, it is essential that you complete a leave of absence request form to inform us of this. Holidays will not be authorised and will result in a penalty notice  - this is a fine of £60 per child/per parent. 

New guidance from the Education Welfare Service also states that families that take holidays consistently each year, will bypass penalty notice procedures and be referred directly for prosecution. 

Absences for other reasons will be looked at on a case by case basis and authorisation will be dependent on your child's current attendance and attendance from previous years . Unless absences are for an exceptional circumstance, it is likely that they will also be unauthorised which means you may also be at risk for a penalty notice.  Please be aware that we may ask for evidence of exceptional circumstances. 

Also, from now on, if we have reason to believe that your child’s reason for absence is not legitimate (for example you have told us your child is ill, but we have been advised you are actually on holiday), we will investigate this. This may mean that home visits are carried out during the absence period to establish your child’s whereabouts. 

Parent Helpers for School Trips

We would like to create a small team of parents who are available to help out with school trips. We would offer some simple training and a full DBS check would be required to ensure safety. . Parent volunteers would not necessarily be on trips with their own child’s class but would have a great opportunity to support the school and our children. Please contact the school office if you are interested.