Times of the School Day 

Mornings	Nursery	8.30 am until 11.30 am
Reception	8.40 am until 11.45 am
Key Stage One	8.40 am until 11.45 am
Key Stage Two	8.40 am until 12.15 pm
Afternoons	Nursery	12.30 pm until 3.30 pm* * Doors with open from 3.15 pm
Reception	1.00 pm until 3.15 pm
Key Stage One	12.30 pm until 3.15 pm
Key Stage Two	1.00 pm until 3.15 pm

 

Staff are on duty from when the school doors are opened at 8.40 am.  We offer a staggered start time so the classroom doors will remain open until 9am however we encourage all children to arrive in class by 8:50am so they are settled and ready for lessons to start at 9am.

Each day the children in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two have a fifteen minute break in the morning. The children Key Stage One also have a fifteen minute break in the afternoon. The children in Reception have access to outdoor provision throughout most of the school day as part of their curriculum.

For safety reasons, the children must be collected from their classrooms at 3.15 pm. If you are unavoidably delayed, please try to get a message to school to that effect.

Car Parking

Following concerns about the safety of our pupils, parents are asked not to park in nor walk through the car parks when bringing or collecting children. Please observe the parking restrictions in force outside both entrances to school and avoid parking on the pavements and grass verges or across residents’ drives. Wherever possible please follow a one-way route so as to pass the school only once, Key Stage 1 – Up Southcroft Avenue, down Southcroft Drive, Southcroft Gate and Key Stage 2 - Up Station Lane towards Cross Lane. Your co-operation in this matter would make life safer both for the school community and for our long-suffering neighbours.

Absences

If your child is ill, please notify us as soon as possible by Parentmail or telephone on the first day of absence, following this with a letter on the child’s return to school if appropriate – e.g. after a prolonged absence.

New Government legislation came into force on 1st September 2013, the amendments to the 2006 regulations remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Therefore, from September 2013, in order to comply with this change, holidays will not be authorised. If you choose to take your child out of school this will be unauthorised and you could be issued with a fine. If you feel an absence would be classed as “special circumstances” then you need to put this in writing for the Headteachers attention.

Where no reason is given for an absence, this will be followed up by a phone call. Unauthorised absences and late attendance at school will appear on your child’s annual report and have to be reported to the Kirklees Attendance Social Worker.

Please also notify your child’s class teacher in writing, or contact the school office, if you need to take them out of school for a medical or dental appointment.

A copy of our Attendance Policy is available from the school office and on our website.

Illness / Medicines in School

If your child is ill, please keep them at home where they can rest. If you suspect that they may have an infectious disease, please notify the school as soon as possible.

The minimum period of exclusion from school recommended by the Health Authority after any sickness or diarrhoea is 48 hours after the last episode.

Medicines requiring three or less doses per day can be timed to avoid the need for them to be given at school.

When a medicine has to be given four times a day it may be administered by a member of staff in the following circumstances:

• It has been prescribed by a doctor
• It is brought to the school office in its original container with the pharmacist’s label by the parent or other responsible adult
• A parental consent form is completed
• The parent, or other responsible adult, collects it from the office at the end of the day.

If a child requires an inhaler for asthma it will be kept in the classroom and will be made available to them when required. A parental consent form must, however, still be completed and the inhaler must be clearly labelled with the child’s name.

Under no circumstances will ‘over the counter’ remedies  - e.g. throat lozenges - be administered in school, nor must children bring them to school.

Lunchtime Arrangements

We encourage the children to stay for school dinners, which are cooked on the premises. Our experienced kitchen staff provide healthy, traditional hot meals with fresh vegetables; there is always a vegetarian option for main course. Salads and fresh fruit are also always available, along with a pasta/potato bar in the winter.

From September 2014, all children in Reception and Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2) will be universally entitled to free school meals. This entitlement for all stops after Year 2. From Year 3 onwards, families who satisfy the criteria can continue to claim free school meals for their children. All children in Years 3 to 6 who are not entitled to free school meals and wish to have a dinner should pay in advance via Parentpay.

 If you would prefer your child to bring a packed lunch, this should be in a secure lunchbox, clearly labelled with your child’s name, and should not include any sweets, including chocolate bars, or fizzy drinks. Water is provided at school.

We encourage active lunchtimes, and a wide range of exciting equipment is available for pupils to play with both independently and in organised activities under the supervision of our experienced Educational Teaching Assistants, some of whom are qualified community sports leaders, and ‘play buddies’.

School Milk

School milk is provided to school by Cool Milk.   Milk for under-fives is provided free of charge. Milk for over-fives is partially subsidised by the European Union and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).

Snacks

Our school participates in the Schools’ Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, which provides every child from Nursery to Year 2 with a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable every day at no cost to parents.

Children can bring a snack to school for playtime. They may bring fresh or dried fruit (including pure fruit bars such as Bear Yoyos – these must be 100% fruit and not contain added sugar), raw vegetables or cheese to school as a snack. If your child brings grapes these must be cut in half as they are a choking hazard when left whole. 

Please note we are a nut free school so nuts or food containing nuts must NOT be brought into school.

Sweets, chocolate and biscuits including cereal bars, fruit flakes, fruit winders etc are not permitted.

School Uniform

We encourage all the children to wear our school uniform. School uniform can be purchased from Sports FX Unit 12B, Victoria Spring Business Park, Wormald Street, Liversedge, WF15 6RA.

The school colours are as follows:

Shirt / Blouse	Pale blue
Sweatshirt/Jumper/Cardigan	Burgundy
T Shirt / Polo Shirt	Pale blue
Skirt/Pinafore/Trousers	Grey
Summer Dress	Pale blue and white checks or stripes
Socks	Grey, blue or white
Shoes	Black  (sensible)
Tie	Optional YR5 and YR6 only

Children in Nursery and Reception may wear jogging bottoms in navy instead of grey skirts, pinafores or trousers.

Your child will also need:

• Black shorts and a white T-shirt (both boys and girls) and pumps for P.E., together with a drawstring pumpbag to keep them in. School pump bags are available to order from the school office.
• A change of footwear for indoor use when the weather is bad - e.g. pumps or sandals.
• Swimming kit (Year 4 only)

For safety reasons, fashion shoes, boots with heels, strappy sandals and flip flops should not be worn to school.

Please ensure that all items of clothing and footwear are clearly marked with your child’s name.  Whilst we do take all reasonable care of children’s things, from time to time we acquire quite a collection of unnamed lost property.

Children also need a school book bag – available to order from the office.

Jewellery

No jewellery should be worn at school, with the exception of small, plain studs for pierced ears. This is for both safety and security reasons. Please note that studs must be removed or covered for P.E.

Pastoral Care

Each teacher has a particular concern for the wellbeing of children in their class. If you have any concerns about your child at school, or anything which you feel we should know about your child, the class teacher is your first point of contact. Similarly, the class teacher will speak to you if they have any concerns about which they feel you should be aware.

Discipline

Our discipline is based on excellent relationships and mutual understanding between teachers and children. A good standard of behaviour is expected at all times and the children are expected to show care and consideration for others and for their surroundings. School rules are kept to a minimum and are phrased positively. In exceptional circumstances of persistent disobedience the Headteacher would invite parents into school to discuss ways of working together to improve matters.

A copy of our Good Behaviour and Discipline Policy is available in school and on our website for parents to read.

Safeguarding

We are committed to ensuring the welfare and safety of all children in school. All Kirklees schools follow the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board procedures. The school will, in most circumstances, endeavour to discuss all concerns with parents about their children. However, there may be exceptional circumstances when the school will discuss concerns with Social Care and/or the Police without parental knowledge (in accordance with Child Protection procedures). The school will, of course, always aim to maintain a positive relationship with all parents. The school’s Safeguarding Policy is available on request from the School Office and on our website.

Confidentiality

We put the child at the heart of the learning process and provide a safe and secure learning environment. We implement the underlying principles of the Every Child Matters Agenda and address the issues which may arise about confidentiality. We committed to developing creative and positive ways for the child’s voice to be heard whilst recognising the responsibility to use, hold and safeguard information received. Our Confidentiality Policy is available on request from the School Office and on our website.

Charging and Remissions

Under the Education Reform Act no compulsory charges can be made for activities taking place wholly or mainly during school hours, but voluntary contributions may be requested, In the event of insufficient voluntary contributions being received to cover the cost of an activity, the activity would, unfortunately, have to be cancelled.

Parents experiencing difficulty providing a voluntary contribution should discuss this, in confidence, with the office staff or Headteacher as help may, in some circumstances, be available.

Complaints

In general, class teachers deal with day-to-day problems. In the event of more serious concerns you are invited to contact the Headteacher, so that problems can be discussed fully and hopefully resolved. If a solution cannot be reached at this stage, the Headteacher will inform you of the next steps in the procedure.