Our School Office Staff are here to help you, however here are a few items that may be useful to parents and carers which you can view or download from our website.
Our School Day
Every morning, Mrs Costello will open and supervise the gate from 8.40 a.m to 8.55 a.m. A member of school staff is on duty from 8.40 a.m. All children (apart from Reception and Nursery) should use the main gate to access the school yard.
Registration for all children is at 8.45 a.m. For health and safety reasons children should not arrive at school before 8.40 a.m unless they are attending breakfast club which starts at 7.45 a.m. Attendees should use the hall door to enter the school. At the end of the school day, parents should wait at the front of the school until class teachers escort children out of the building.
Reception children use the top gate and Reception class door for entry into school from 8.40 a.m. each morning. Reception children should also be collected from the Reception class door at 3.15 p.m. Nursery children should be dropped off and collected from the nursery entrance (Sure Start building).
Here is a breakdown of our school day:
The 2 Year Old Nursery has two sessions lasting for 3 hours, starting at:
- 9 a.m. to 12 noon
- 12.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
Sessions are flexible and additional hours can be purchased. Please contact the office for more details.
Lunchtime:
School meals are available and dinner money is collected on Monday morning for all pupils. Alternatively, packed lunches may be brought. Lunchtime is staggered in-order to feed pupils successfully, efficiently and with limited waiting time.
Holiday Requests
It is a legal requirement for children to attend school. High attendance leads to high achievement. From 1 September 2013 legislation prohibits any school from authorising leave of absence for holidays except in exceptional circumstances. Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, came into force on 1 September 2013.
It is therefore illegal to take children out of school for holidays during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. There is no entitlement to any leave of absence for a holiday during term time. Schools are in session for 39 weeks per year, so there are opportunities to take children on holiday during the remaining 13 weeks.
Criteria for Exceptional Circumstances
It is not possible to define exceptional circumstances, but examples of what might be considered as such are:
- Where it is company/organisational policy for an employee to take leave at a specified time in the year and there is no opportunity for a family holiday in school holidays. This must be supported by documentary evidence from the organisation
- Service personnel returning from/scheduled to embark upon a tour of duty abroad
- To attend religious festivals or services such as the wedding or funeral of an immediate family member
- Where a holiday is recommended as part of a parent or child’s rehabilitation from a medical or emotional issue. Evidence must be provided, from qualified professionals, such as a doctor
- Where there are other factors which the Headteacher may consider to be exceptional circumstances, this may be referred to the Local Authority for advice
Consequences of taking an Unauthorised Holiday
Taking a holiday without authorisation will have an impact on a child’s learning. Parents who choose to take an unauthorised holiday must accept that this will have an adverse effect on their child’s educational achievement. The school will therefore ask the Local Authority to issue a fixed penalty fine where an unauthorised holiday has been taken.
A penalty fine is now £60 per parent per child. Amendments to the 2007 regulations will reduce the timescales for paying a penalty notice. Parents must, from 1 September 2013, pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. Fines will be invoiced by the Local Education Authority. The fixed penalty fine is collected and kept by the Local Authority, not the school. Please contact the school, if you require any further information.
Downloadable Forms
Holiday Request Form
Leave of Absence Factsheet for Parents
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