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St Mary's Catholic Primary Schools Trust

Parent Handbook 

Absence of Children 

  • The school must be notified by 9.30 a.m. (Juniors) and 10.00 a.m. (Infants) by telephone on the first day of absence.
  • As a follow up, the school must be notified of all absences by letter. The administration staff will note the reason with the appropriate code in the register. If no letter is received a proforma is sent home from school.
  • The electronic registers keep records of absences and lateness for each pupil.
  • Late is 9.10 a.m. at the Junior School and 9.25 a.m. at the Infant.
  • If no reason for absence is received, the absence must be recorded as unauthorised.
  • Parents must apply to the Governors for the leave of absence letter.
  • If the teacher has any concerns about an absence or identifies a pattern of absences, please inform the office or the Head Teacher.
  • Please refer to the school’s Policy for Attendance for further detail.

Accidents and illness of children during the school day 

  • All accidents, other than very minor ones, should be recorded in the Accident Book by the person who first dealt with it.
  • One of the school’s recognised First Aiders should be contacted in the case of illness or injury to either a child or member of staff.
  • Children complaining of illness should be seen by a First Aider and then kept supervised in class in a suitable area while awaiting collection by a parent. Gloves should be worn for reasons of hygiene when dealing with children who have been sick.
  • If the accident is of a more serious nature, an accident form must also be completed and the parents contacted as soon as possible.
  • If the accident is of a very serious nature, an ambulance must be called immediately and the parents contacted as soon as possible. A member of staff should accompany the child in the ambulance if the parents have not been able to get to school in time.
  • If there is any doubt as to how serious an accident is, the Head Teacher must be consulted immediately. Furthermore, all accidents which are serious enough to possibly require hospital treatment must be reported to the Head Teacher.
  • If a child has received a minor bump or injury to the head, an entry should be made in the Accident Book, the child should be given a bumped head letter from the office and the child will wear a ‘bump on head’ sticker. If the head injury is anything more than minor the parents must be contacted as soon as possible and advised to take their child to Casualty or their G.P. as a precaution.
  • If a child is taken ill, the parents must be contacted as soon as possible in order that may collect their child from school.
  • In all cases of accident and illness, the child’s well being is the primary concern and therefore it is better to be over cautious when making judgements and deciding on what action to take.
  • Gloves must be worn when dealing with blood or any body fluids.

Assemblies / Hymn Practices 

  • All children should have the opportunity to take part in daily collective worship. Assembles take place at 10.30 a.m. at KS1 and KS2 but times for EYFS Assembles will change during the year to accommodate morning and afternoon Nursery.

Assessments – General 

  • Children are assessed every half term and the data is collected using Target Tracker throughout both schools. The data is then analysed by the UPS Teacher in each year group and an action plan is drawn up and presented to the SLT.
  • The Assessment Leaders are responsible for ensuring that data is up to date, carefully monitored and presented to the Executive Headteacher every half term.

Attendance Registers and Procedures 

  • Attendance registers must be completed at the beginning of each session in HB pencil. Please make sure the register is marked clearly: that the numbers present are entered at the foot of the register, and that you cross through fully the (P) or (A) in order that the OMR can correctly read the entry.
  • Attendance registers, correspondence and money should be sent to the Office promptly by 9.15 a.m. (Juniors), 9.30 a.m. (Infants). Any child who comes into class before 9.10 a.m. (Juniors), 9.25 a.m. (Infants) should be marked in by the Class Teacher. Children arriving after these times are classed as late and should be sent to the school office. St Mary’s is a cashless school and school dinners must be paid for by Parentpay.
  • Children of parents in receipt of Income Support or Income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance are entitled to receive free dinners and milk. Forms for this are obtainable from and should be returned to the Office. Asylum seekers / refugees are also entitled to Free School Meals.
  • Teachers are asked to hand out proforma ‘Absence’ letters if no letter of explanation is received from the home.
  • If children are taking a packed lunch on an outing, they should bring it in a named plastic bag: for reasons of safety, glass bottles are not allowed. Children in receipt of free school meals are given the option to receive a packed lunch from the school kitchen. Advanced notice for this must be given to the kitchen by class teachers.

Bullying 

  • Bullying in any form and by anyone is unacceptable – please see the Behaviour Policy and Anti-Bullying Policy for details.

Children’s Records 

  • Information about each child is held on the School’s Management System on the office computer.
  • Brief details of how to contact parents can be found in the data files in the Office.
  • Class Teachers will have access to their individual Tracking and Assessment information and  whole school information will be available to the Assessment Leaders, Inclusion Manager, SENCO, HT and DHT and Administration Staff .
  • SEN, EAL, G & T records are held by individual class teachers and by the Inclusion Manager.
  • Records of individual and termly parent-teacher meetings are held on file in the school office. Records of children’s progress and attainment across the curriculum, reading conferences and data analysis are held in each Class Teacher’s Assessment file.

Contact with Parents 

  • Parents should feel they are welcome to speak with their children’s teachers or the Head Teacher at any time during the school year and not feel limited to the parents’ consultation meetings particularly if they have any worries or concerns.
  • Teachers should feel free to contact parents to discuss any issue in which they consider parents should be involved.
  • The majority of issues where contact is made by teacher to parent or parent to teacher will be fairly straightforward, and will not necessarily have to be discussed with the Head or Deputy Head Teacher. On some occasions, however, it will be necessary to relate to the Head Teacher the concerns parents have raised with teachers before deciding what action to take.
  • Teachers must use their judgement as to what needs to be discussed with the Head Teacher and if in doubt always seek an opinion.
  • Many parents will want a quick word at the start or end of the day which only takes a moment, but there will be many occasions when more time needs to be set aside. On such occasions an appointment should be made which is convenient to the parents and if it has to be during teaching time, then cover can be arranged.
  • Every effort should be made not to delay the starting of the school day by speaking to parents: registration should commence at 9.00 a.m. (Infants) 9.15am (Juniors).
  • Please note - no dogs other than guide dogs, or learning dogs (as these are covered by insurance), are allowed on the schools' premises.

Dress Code 

  • Children are required to wear their uniform as listed on the uniform list.
  • Staff are required to dress in a smart and professional manner that sets an example to the children and reflects the high standards that the school expects of them. Any extreme styles of dress or adornment,  or any dress deemed to be inappropriate such as  bare midriffs, very short skirts, shorts, transparent clothing,  dirty , ripped or old jeans would not be acceptable.
  • Interpretation of the above dress code is at the discretion of the leadership team.

Educational Visits 

  • Before making arrangements for educational visits it is always taken into consideration where the children have visited before to void repeating previous class trips or covering the same ground when on a Museum visit.
  • Educational visits for the whole year can be organised from time to time and the Year Group Leader will make the necessary arrangements in co-operation with the Office Staff.
  • Parent helpers should be selected as follows: 8:1 for most trips, 4:1 if lots of walking is required
  • Fill in the visit form (obtainable from the Office) at least four weeks before the intended trip.
  • Discuss with the Head Teacher the cost of the trip and the amount the children’s parents will be asked to make as a voluntary contribution. If a child does bring a contribution they will still participate in the trip and no further attempt will be made to collect the money.
  • Teachers will keep a record that all consent forms have been completed and returned, although there is a general consent form for very local visits that is signed by all parents before the children start school.
  • Teachers must ensure that the educational visit is entered in the school diary.
  • All parents helpers must be given our guidelines for helpers sheet.

End of the School Day 

  • All children should be collected at 3.15pm by their parent or other responsible adult. Any children not collected by 3.25 p.m. should be taken to St. Martin’s Class where they are supervised by the teacher on duty until 3.30pm.
  • At 3.30 p.m. any uncollected children are brought round to the School Office.
  • Parents should be contacted by telephone (numbers in the ‘Data Forms’ files in the Office) if there is any undue delay in collecting a child.
  • Enter the name of any child being collected after 3.30pm on the ‘Late Collection Form’. Note child’s name, class and time collected. The parent / responsible adult collecting the child must be reminded that school finishes at 3.15pm, and asked to complete the reason why they are late and sign the form.
  • Children who are collected late will be placed in the after school club and a charge of £5 will be levied.
  • Where a child is persistently late being collected, the Head Teacher should be informed. The Head will then speak to the Parent / Carer to discuss this issue.
  • The EWO can be requested to carry out a gate check. This will be at the Head Teacher’s discretion. 

Equal Opportunities 

  • Our aim at St. Mary’s is to create a positive, stimulating and happy learning environment through which all children will achieve success and develop their potential to the full. We look to promote their spiritual, moral, cultural and physical development so that in time they will be ready for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life (see Equal Opportunities Policy).

Fire Regulations and Fire Practices 

  • When the fire alarm sounds the following procedure must be followed by all members of staff and children.
  • All children will remain standing still whilst the teachers and other adults issue clear and precise instructions as what they should do.
  • The nearest or safest exit will be used. Children will be required to walk in an orderly and quiet manner and line up at the exit, which will be opened by the class teacher or other adult.
  • The children will leave in an orderly manner under the supervision of the adult. The adult must make sure that all the children have left the premises.
  • All adults and children will walk to the main body of the playground and line up in their normal class lines facing away from the building by their signs. All kitchen and clerical staff will leave by the nearest or safest exit and assemble in the playground.
  • A member of the Office Staff will bring the registers from the centrally held place and the class teachers will immediately check the presence of all children – firstly by a head count and secondly by taking the register. The Kitchen Supervisor will ensure all her staff are present. The Head or Deputy Head Teacher or most senior member of Staff will check on all other members of staff.
  • The Caretaker and Head Teacher/ Deputy Headteacher will check all adult toilets and staffroom.
  • At no time until the All Clear is given will any member of staff or any child enter the school.

Other actions to be taken: 

  • If the fire alarm sounds, the most senior member of staff or the Caretaker will contact the emergency services and consult the alarm panel to find the source of the fire.
  • Children need to be taught what to do if they find themselves without adult supervision when the alarm sounds, e.g. in the library or toilet. They must immediately leave the area they are in and walk from the nearest or safest exit, and meet the rest of the school in the main body of the playground.
  • Members of staff must not attempt to fight any fire other than when it is of a very minor nature and any attempt to prevent injury to others must not put their own safety at risk. Their main concern should be to evacuate the building and take a head count.
  • The buildings should be evacuated and all staff and children accounted for within about two minutes.
  • Fire drills will take place at least once a term.
  • The fire evacuation procedure is displayed in every room throughout the school

Health 

  • No medicines other than those prescribed can be administered in school. The children on long-term medication (for asthma etc.) have to self-administer under the supervision of the class teacher or first aider – please refer to the Medicines in Schools Policy.
  • Inhalers, which will be kept safely but available throughout the day, are allowed in school. They should be kept in class and in a place designated by the teacher. Children should have access to them whenever they may be needed.
  • Epipens, which will be kept safely but easily accessible to staff, are to be administered when appropriate.
  • A medication form has to be completed by the child’s parent before any medication can be given. These are kept in the Office.
  • Staff are informed of symptoms / problems to be aware of for children with specific health issues e.g. Sickle cell.
  • Photographs of children with specific medical issues e.g. Allergies, sickle cell etc are displayed in the office and on the medical boards in the classrooms.
  • Healthcare plans are compiled for children with significant medical needs.

Home Learning 

  • Home learning is set regularly for all children. This learning is adapted to the age and ability of the child. Please see the Home Learning Policies for details.

Jewellery and Makeup 

  • Jewellery and make up (including nail varnish) are not allowed to be worn in school by children.
  • Earrings are not permitted to be worn by the children in EYFS and KS1. Studs may be worn in KS2.

Letters to Parents 

  • Parents receive weekly newsletters of information from the school covering a range of issues of which they will need to be aware. The Executive Headteacher, Head Teacher (or Deputy in her absence) will normally write such letters for distribution on a Friday.
  • In EYFS and KS1 a weekly curriculum letter from each Year Group is sent home covering areas of learning. The weekly RE, Literacy and Numeracy focus for each year group and associated homework is printed on the back of the newsletter. The Year Group Leader is responsible for ensuring that this information reaches the office on Wednesday.
  • All members of Staff are free to write letters to groups of parents or individual parents as required, but such letters must first be shown to the Head Teacher for approval and shared with the Office Staff.
  • Standard letters for such things as educational visits, sporting events etc. can be obtained from the office and should be sent out at least two weeks before the event or visit.
  • If a member of staff wishes something to be included in a general letter of information they should mention it to the Head Teacher by Thursday morning of that week at the latest.
  • All letters written on behalf of the school should be sent on headed note paper and signed by the person who has written it.
  • Parents should be kept as fully informed as possible about issues and events which involve their children, and letters are one of the best ways of ensuring this happens.
  • Every effort should be made to ensure that letters sent to the classroom (usually in the class plastic folder) are distributed on the day they are given to the teacher for circulation.
  • No letters must go home without the Headteacher or Executive Headteacher’s permission and approval.

Lost Property 

  • All school property, P.E. bags, book bags, lunch boxes etc. should be clearly marked with the owner’s name. Parents will be reminded of this periodically in the newsletter, but it is helpful if a child’s teacher can point it out to any parent who has not labelled their child’s possessions.
  • If any item that has been found has a child’s name on it, send it to the appropriate class at playtime or dinner time.
  • Lost property should be handed into the lost property box where it will be kept for a short time.
  • When children bring something to you which they have found, tell them to take it to the office at playtime or dinner time.
  • At the end of the Summer Term anything left in the lost property basket will be displayed so that it can be reclaimed. Anything that remains unclaimed after the display will be disposed of in an appropriate manner.

Monitoring 

  • Monitoring is carried out regularly by the Executive Head Teacher, SLT and Subject Leaders and reported to the Governing Body.

Curriculum

Our teaching and learning at St Mary’s is based on a fundamental respect for children and their capacity to instigate, test and maintain curiosity,  and to find and appreciate the awe and wonder of God’s world.  We believe in children's right to play; the right to access the outdoors; the right to access risk and the vibrant reality of the world; the right to experience a healthy range of emotions, through all the challenges of social interaction, and in doing so, to build a resilience that will enable continued and creative engagement with their peers and their potential.

We believe that learning is a lifelong process and that we all learn new things every day in different ways. Learning should be an exciting, rewarding and enjoyable experience for everyone; and, above all, learning should be fun.

Aims and objectives

· To provide a rich and challenging learning environment that allows children to develop their skills and abilities to their full potential,

· To enable children to become confident, resourceful, enquiring and independent learners,

· To foster children’s self-esteem and help them build positive relationships with other people,

· To develop children’s self-respect and encourage children to respect the ideas, attitudes, values and feelings of others,

· To show respect for all cultures and faiths, in so doing, to promote positive attitudes towards other people,

· To enable children to understand their community and help them feel valued as part of this community,

· To help children grow into reliable, independent and positive citizens who are able to make informed choices.

 

Effective Learning includes:

Acknowledgement that people learn in many different ways and the need to develop strategies that allow all children to learn in ways that best suit them. The psychologist Howard Gardner identifies seven main areas of intelligence: linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spacial, kinaestic, musical, interpersonal/group working, and intrapersonal/reflective.

We take into account these different forms of intelligence when planning teaching and learning incorporating a range of “accelerated learning” strategies.

Opportunities for children to learn in different ways include:

  • Play based learning
  • Outdoor exploration of the physical and natural environment
  • Use of ICT
  • Collaborative learning
  • Investigation and problem solving
  • Research and finding out
  • Group work
  • Pair work
  • Independent work
  • Whole classwork
  • Enquiry
  • Fieldwork and visits to places of educational interest
  • Creative activities
  • Debates, role-plays and oral presentations
  • Designing and making things
  • Participation in athletic or physical activity

Through Assessment for Learning we encourage children to take responsibility for their own learning, to be involved as far as possible in reviewing the way they learn, and to reflect on how they learnt

Effective Teaching

We focus on motivating the children and building on their skills

Set academic targets for the children in each academic year and involve children and their parents in setting and reviewing targets

We plan our lessons collaboratively with clear learning objective.   Lesson objectives are communicated to children. We use continuous assessment of children’s work and achievement to ensure matching appropriate level of work to each child

All our teachers follow school policies with regard to discipline, classroom management and equal opportunities.

We set and agree with children the class code of conduct. We expect all children to comply with these rules to promote the best learning opportunities for all.

We praise children for their efforts and, by so doing, we help to build positive attitudes towards school and learning in general.

We insist on love, respect, and good behaviour at all times.

We follow the guidelines for sanctions as outlined in our school behaviour policy when children choose to use unacceptable behaviour,

We ensure that all tasks and activities that the children do are safe.

When we plan to take children out of school, we first inform parents and obtain their permission as outlined in our School Visits Policy,

We deploy classroom assistants and other adult helpers as effectively as possible. Sometimes they work with individual children and sometimes they work with small groups and assist with the preparation and storage of resources.

 Our classrooms are attractive learning environments and we make full use of our outdoor areas.

We change displays regularly to reflect the topics studied by the children. We ensure that all children have the opportunity to display their best work at some time during the year.

By offering a stimulating environment and exciting classroom we set the climate for learning and promote high quality work by the children.

Teachers reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, and professional development needs are planned accordingly to continually improve practice

We conduct all our teaching in an atmosphere of trust and respect for all.

The Role of Governors

Our Governors determine, support, monitor and challenge. In particular  they:

Support the use of appropriate teaching strategies by allocating resources effectively.

Ensure that the school buildings and premises are best used to support successful teaching and learning.

Monitor teaching strategies in the light of health and safety regulations.

 Monitor how effective teaching and learning strategies are in terms of raising pupil attainment.

Ensure that staff development and performance management policies promote good quality teaching

Monitor the effectiveness of school teaching and learning policies through the school self-review processes. These include reports from subject co-ordinators and the termly headteacher’s report to governors as well as a review of the in-service training sessions attended by our staff.

Monitor the effectiveness of the SLT through challenging questions at Governing Body meetings.

Parent Helpers 

  • Parental help in school for such things as educational visits, swimming, assisting children with their work etc. is valued and welcomed but has to be properly organised.
  • Volunteer Support Reading workshops hear readers on a weekly basis in Year 2, Year 1 and Reception.
  • Parents who help out in school on a regular basis will not normally work in the classes their own children are in. This does not apply to educational visits and swimming. Teachers should seek help from parents of children in their class for both of these activities.
  • All volunteer helpers in schools are given a protocol to follow by the front office.
  • All regular volunteers are given DBS checks.

Parents’ Consultation Meetings: Arrangements 

  • Parents’ Consultation Meetings are offered to Parents every term.  Reports are written every term at the Infant School and in the Summer Term at the Junior School.
  • Parents are encouraged to speak to the class teacher whenever they have a problem or query.
  • A mutually convenient appointment will be arranged by the Class Teachers for parents to meet and speak to them.

Parking 

  • Members of staff should park their car in the staff car park. They will be given a fob to operate the electronic gate. On leaving they must return this to school. If the fob is lost, it will have to be paid for.
  • Parents are not allowed to use the car park to drop off or collect their children.
  • The various line markings on the main road and in the school car park should be observed at all times.

Planning Procedures 

  • Teachers’ plans for all areas of the curriculum should carefully follow the long-term plans and take account of the Teaching and Learning Policy and the school’s agreed curriculum.
  • Learning objectives should be specific and measurable and the planned activities should clearly set out success criteria so that it is apparent how they will achieve the stated objectives.
  • The planned activities should allow for differentiation and, where appropriate, the activities of various groups should be clearly described i.e. gifted and talented, higher, average, lower, special needs and EAL.
  • Resource requirements should be clearly stated and Subject Leaders consulted if a gap in resources is identified.
  • Subject Leaders should be consulted if there are any doubts or uncertainties as to how or what to plan.
  • An up to date timetable should be available in the classroom.
  • If a class teacher is absent, the other teacher in the year group will explain the learning for that day to the cover teacher.

Playtimes 

  • Playtimes for KS2 are as follows: morning break 10.45 to 11.00, Lunchtime break 12.30 p.m. to 1.30. p.m. KS1 are as follows: morning break 10.45am to 11.00am, lunchtime break 12.10 p.m. to 1.10 p.m., and afternoon break 2.20pm to 2.30pm. EYFS children do not have set playtimes.
  • At the end of each playtime the teachers the children are called back to their classrooms.  

Policies 

  • A range of policies covering all areas of the curriculum and every other aspect of the school has been put in place through staff consultation and collective decision-making. All such policies should be followed at all times.
  • All policies are regularly reviewed and ratified by the Governing Body.
  • All policies are kept in the Policy File.

Record of Achievement / School Report 

  • A Record of Achievement on each child’s progress will be written by the class teacher and issued to parents in July.
  • The Record of Achievement, in duplicate, is sent home with the children to enable their parent(s) to make a comment in reply. This copy should be returned to the school to be kept in each child’s file.
  • All Records of Achievements will be word processed on the school’s official format.

Registration 

  • Registration will take place at 9.00 and 13.30 for KS2 children, and 9.15am and 1.10pm for EYFS and KS1 children. Children will be marked present or absent, as the case may be, in the manner described in the register guidelines (refer to the Attendance Policy).
  • All registers will be returned to the school office no later than 10 minutes after the register has been taken. Absence and lateness is monitored by the Attendance Officer and reported to the Headteacher every three weeks. Persistent absence or lateness will be referred to the EWO.

Safety 

  • Children should walk at all times when moving around the school.
  • Children are not allowed to climb on or over any of the gates or fences within the school grounds.
  • All safety guidelines as listed in the various policies and schemes of work should be strictly adhered to. Teachers should consider carefully how best to use such equipment as glue guns, hand tools, food technology equipment etc.
  • We ask all children with long hair to tie it back at all times. This is particularly important during P.E. and games lessons and when using some specialist equipment in science, art, food technology etc.
  • Both boys and girls must wear a swimming hat when taking part in swimming lessons.
  • T-shirts must be tucked in when taking part in P.E. lessons.
  • The policy for ‘Off Site Activities’ should be consulted before organising educational visits, a Risk Assessment carried out and recorded on the Risk Assessment form.
  • Staff and children should be fully aware of what to do in an emergency such as a fire. Practices for such eventualities will be undertaken at least once a term (refer to Safety Policy).
  • Children should be properly supervised at all times but levels and degrees of supervision will vary depending on the activities being undertaken and the ages of the children involved (refer to Safety Policy).

School Development Plan 

  • The School Development Plan is reviewed annually and consists of a focussed plan of major work  to be undertaken, introduced and implemented. The School Development Plan will consist of a three year overview, a detailed one year action plan for each school, and a week by week strategic plan.  

Special Educational Needs Process and Procedures 

  • A child will be identified as having special educational needs if there is a need to  provide a special or modified curriculum.
  • All teachers are teachers of children with SEN.
  • The Inclusion Manager or SENCO must be consulted about all special educational/ medical needs.
  • All matters relating to special needs must be channelled through the Inclusion Manager or SENCO and at no time should any outside agencies be consulted or contacted without prior knowledge.
  • It is the responsibility of the Inclusion Manager or SENCO to contact all personnel from other agencies after informing the parents of her intention to do so.
  • Children will be placed on programmes of termly targets or half-termly where necessary.
  • The responsibility for completing SEN Support Plans belongs to the class teacher.
  • The class teacher must arrange to formally consult with the parents of children with special educational needs in mainstream classes on at least one occasion near the start of each new academic year. As soon as the child is on the Special Educational Needs register, the parents must be informed.
  • Targets for children with special educational / medical needs are to be signed by parents, class teacher and Inclusion Manager every term.

Start of the Day 

  • Children in Key Stage 1 can be left in the playground from 9.00 a.m. when there is a teacher on duty. EYFS children are taken to their classrooms by their carer.
  • At KS2 children leave their parents at the playground gate.
  • On certain days parents and children in Reception and Year 1 are encouraged to come into the classroom at 9.00 a.m. to share a book (please see the year group teachers for the days this happens in their year group).
  • If it is raining or it is otherwise inadvisable to keep the children outside, at the Infant school children enter by the main entrance and sit quietly in the hall: a DVD can be shown until 9.10am at which time they are collected by their teachers and walk to their classes for registration. At the Junior School children enter by the side door and sit in the hall until 9.00 a.m.

Supply Teachers 

  • From time to time, supply teachers will be required to cover for members of staff who are absent through illness or are on courses. The year group partner will liaise with the cover teacher to plan the day.
  • Every cover teacher will be given a protocol sheet by the school office as soon as they arrive.
  • Whenever possible, supply teachers already familiar with the school will be called upon to cover absences.

Swimming 

  • All children from Nursery to Year 2 have swimming lessons throughout the year in the Junior School pool. In Years 3 to 6 swimming is supervised by Teaching Assistants to provided PPA release for Teachers.
  • It is expected that all children will attend their swimming session unless there is a medical reason preventing them from doing so.
  • Any children not attending swimming will still go to the pool.
  • The timetable for swimming is organised by the P.E. Co-ordinator, Head Teacher and Swimming Instructor at the beginning of the school year.

Target Tracker 

  • This is an electronic assessment, tracking and target setting tool used throughout the school. All teachers are responsible for regularly updating the assessment data for their pupils
  • The Assessment Leader prepares class files at the start of each academic year, and Middle Leaders (UPS Teachers) monitor and analyse data every half term. They are then required to produce an action plan to address any identified needs and issues.  Additional support and training on an ad-hoc basis as well as through planned Target Tracker staff meetings will be provided by. The Assessment Leaders regularly monitors teachers Target Tracker files and uploads data to a central data file for analysis. Staff inset time is planned for Target Tracker every term.

Telephone / mobile phones / social media 

  • For urgent and general calls that are not associated with school business, members of staff can ask permission to use a school phone.
  • Mobile phones should not be used during the school day and should be placed on silent.
  • Please refer to social media policy for details of acceptable use.

The School Day 

  • School starts at 9.00 am at the Junior School and 9.15 a.m. at the Infant School, and registration should be completed and registers sent to the office within 15 minutes.
  • Breaks will vary depending on the needs of the curriculum and the age of the child.
  • School finishes at 3.15pm at the Infant School and 3.30 p.m. at the Junior School.
  • Nursery morning session begins at 9.00am and finishes at 12.00 p.m.
  • Nursery afternoon session begins at 12.20pm and finishes at 3.20pm.

Visitors to School 

  • All visitors to the school should sign the Visitors’ Book and wear an identity badge. All visitors should first report to the Office but if this has not happened you should tell them to do so, and the purpose of their visit will be dealt with from there.
  • Any unexpected, unannounced or unrecognised visitor entering the school or the school grounds should be challenged by any member of staff who sees them by first saying to them “Can I help you?”
  • If any person visits the school or is seen taking an interest in a child or children in such things as playtime activities, it must be reported to the Executive Headteacher or Headteacher immediately by whatever means is necessary, but at no time leave the children unattended. Ways of handling such a situation are discussed at various times.
  • All staff will be informed if any circumstances prevail which prevents a child being taken out of school by any particular person.

Please note that all adults on the either site are expected to behave in an orderly and dignified way. Any adult that behaves in a way that is deemed by the leaders of the Schools to be detrimental to the smooth running of the Schools will be asked to leave the premises immediately and may be denied entry in future.

Wet Lunchtimes 

  • Before or after they have had their lunch all children will be supervised in their classes by a Lunchtime Supervisor .
  • Various games, pencil and paper activities and books will be available for wet lunchtimes and will be kept separately from normal classroom resources. Each class teacher needs to be consulted about management.
  • The Supervisor in charge of each class will ensure the classroom is tidy and the children are settled before afternoon classes start.

Wet Playtimes 

  • Children will stay in their classrooms at the time of their normal playtime and play with playtime equipment.
  • In EYFS and KS1 the teachers on duty and all class based Teaching Assistants will supervise them until the bell goes when the rest of the teachers will return to class. At KS2 the staff on duty and wet play monitors will supervise the children.