Our School Day
Children in Foundation, Years 2, 4, 5 and 6 come into school at 8:40am and leave at 3:20pm.
Children in Years 1 and 3 come into school at 8:35am and leave at 3:15pm.
Travelling to school
The school car park has limited space and is for staff use only. There is some very limited on-road parking on the roads surrounding the school and we always ask our parents to be courteous to our school neighbours. The best way to arrive safely and promptly at school is to set off from home in good time. Allow a few extra minutes to walk to the gates after parking away from the school on one of the neighbouring roads.
Reception children arrive and leave via their own Reception gates on Rendell Street. Children in Years 2, 4, 5 and 6 arrive and leave via the main playground gates on Rendell Street. Children in Years 1 and 3 arrive and leave via the gate on Howard Street.
Arriving at school
Staff are on duty at 8.30am to open the gates, meet, greet and supervise the children on the playground. Children and parents should wait by one of the entrances on to the site in readiness. Teachers will escort the children to class at 8:35am for Years 1 and 3, and at 8.40am for all other year groups. It is the responsibility of parents to supervise their children before 8.30am.
We encourage parents to allow their child/children to enter through the school gates by themselves carrying their own book-bag and water bottle etc; this encourages independence.
We ask parents/carers to avoid having conversations with staff before the start of the day unless sharing essential information regarding their child's welfare or safety, this allows the teaching day to start promptly. If it is necessary to speak to the teacher about your child's learning or school experience, please email or phone the school office and the identified staff member WILL contact you back on that day.
The school gates will remain open until 8:45am for Years 1 and 3, and until 8:50am for Foundation, Years 2, 4, 5 and 6. Any child arriving after this time should enter school through the Main Reception on Howard Street and sign in at the School Office.
Please note that during the school day access is limited to the Main Reception entrance ONLY (via Howard Street).
Lunches
All pupils in Reception (EYFS) and KS1 (Years 1 and 2) are provided with a free, hot school meal paid for by the government. Meals for pupils in KS2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) are charged for unless in receipt of Free School Meals (please check with the school office if you think your child/children should recieve FSM). Meals are freshly cooked on the premises by our Catering Team and provide excellent value for money. You may also send your child with a packed lunch.
All payments are via our parent app Arbor. Please see the school website: Parents/Arbor Help
We actively encourage “healthy eating”. For this reason we ask that snacks and packed lunches are as healthy as possible and contain nut free products (we have a number of pupils with nut allergies).
Children are encouraged to bring a bottle of water into school each day (in a named bottle please) which they are able to refill in school if necessary. This can be kept in the class so that children have access to water throughout the day. The bottles should be taken home each evening, washed out, re-filled and returned on a daily basis. For reasons of eco-awareness and sustainability we prefer pupils not to have single-use plastic bottles.
Leaving school at the end of each day
At the end of the day children are escorted to the playground by their teachers and will wait in the same area each day to be collected by parents/carers. Reception classes exit through their own gates. All children are personally ‘handed over’ to parents/carers, if staff do not know the adult collecting the pupil they will not hand them over. Please tell us if there are any changes as to who will meet your child. If your child is older, in Year 5 or 6, and you wish to allow them to walk home without an adult, permission must be given in writing to the school office.
Bad weather
Very occasionally, if we have a period of very severe weather and feel that it would be unsafe for the children to be in school, we will close the school. Notice of closure would be sent to all parents via the Arbor app.
The most frequent cause of closure is heavy snowfall and this may happen overnight; this sometimes leaves a very short period of notice of closure for parents for which we apologise in advance.
If you require any further information about our school day, please contact the school office by calling 01509 263497 or emailing us at [email protected]