Guidance on School Routine and Expectations
ARRIVING IN SCHOOL AND COLLECTING
The children are expected to be increasingly independent over their time at St Michael’s Junior, so we ask that parents encourage their children to walk into school and on to the playground by themselves in the morning.
START OF SCHOOL
A bell sounds at 8.30am and the children are allowed on to the playground. Another bell sounds at 8.45am and children sensibly walk into school, hang up their coats and enter the class. The children will get straight on with their work as the teacher calls the register. All children must be in school by 8.45am for the start of lessons.
END OF SCHOOL
Many parents like to agree a meeting place after school so that their child knows exactly where to find their parent. It gets busy at the end of the day with so many parents and children! As children get older many parents allow their child to walk home.
Parents are requested to walk to school rather than drive as traffic outside of the school is problematic.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
What a child wears to school reflects the way he/she values learning. It also portrays the school’s ethos and shared positive values. We have a smart but simple and inexpensive uniform that we encourage all pupils to wear. This is a burgundy sweatshirt with the school logo, a burgundy polo shirt with the school logo and grey trousers or skirt. School uniform, including sweatshirts, fleeces, polo shirts, bags and PE kit are available for purchase online from www.screenprinting.co.uk. All items of uniform should be clearly named.
Children are asked to wear low healed, sensible black or dark shoes.
Temporary tattoos or transfers and nail varnish are not appropriate for school and children will be politely asked to remove them at home.
Hair colour is to be kept natural and hairstyles sensible and respectful. Children are asked not to excessively spike gel or decorate hair. Hair should be kept a natural colour.
Jewellery, other than watches, is not permitted and studs or sleepers only are to be worn in pierced ears. Facial piercings are not acceptable.
A named rucksack or book bag is useful for taking home letters, books and homework.
Please make sure that your child has a suitable wet or cold weather jacket or coat and this comes to school for break times.
PE & GAMES KIT
It is important for pupils to wear appropriate clothing for physical activities. Children should come to school in their PE kit on PE days. For PE children require a pale blue t-shirt with logo and navy shorts. For games activities outside, children need a warm tracksuit in winter and trainers. Children will have games lessons outside in winter unless the weather is very bad.
Children take part in swimming lessons in most year groups. This is a statutory subject and all children need to attend. Parents will be informed when their child is starting swimming lessons.
All clothing should be clearly labelled. This will help it to be returned if misplaced.
Jewellery must not be worn for sporting activities and long hair should be tied back. It is helpful if stud earrings are not worn at school on a PE day. If ears have recently been pierced and studs cannot be removed we ask that the studs are protected with a piece of plaster or adhesive strip.
STATIONERY EQUIPMENT
There is no need to bring extra equipment into school unless your child wishes to. We appreciate that some children like to have their own pencils and pencil cases. The school provides the equipment that is needed in class. Problems can arise if a child’s own equipment goes missing and it is difficult for the class teacher and TAs to dedicate time trying to locate items. However, if your child wishes to bring their own equipment and is prepared to take responsibility for it, we are happy for them to do so. We expect that school equipment is looked after and respected.
SCHOOL MEALS
We cook all our meals on site and all food meets the nutritional standards set by the government. The menus are sent home via email and are on our website. Please choose your child’s meal when you pay using Parent Pay.
Some children prefer to bring a packed lunch. Please aim to provide your child with a well-balanced packed lunch.
If you think your child is eligible for free school meals, please collect a form from the school office.
Water is available in the dinner hall at lunchtime, throughout the day in classrooms and at the water fountain.
BREAK TIME
You may like your child to have a mid-morning snack. We welcome sandwiches, fruit and vegetables, and would ask you not to send your child with chocolate, crisps or sweets of any kind. With so many children in school, we ask that foods without packaging are provided for a mid-morning snack as the packages tend to end up as litter around the school.
WATER
Research shows that our brains need water to stay active and alert. All children are encouraged to drink water and each class has access to a filtered water machine. Please provide your child with a spill-proof plastic bottle that they can take home at night to rinse.
TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL
All children are encouraged to walk or cycle into school. Bowthorpe was designed with many footpaths and cycle ways. We have a bike shed in the car park where children can lock up their bikes.
In the interest of safety, parents are not permitted to drive cars onto the school premises and to park considerately around the school.
MOBILE PHONES (including i-pads and Apple watches)
Children are not permitted to bring mobile phones into school. While in school, if a phone call home is required, the school office will use the school’s landlines to contact parents.
Apple watches are not only expensive items to bring into school, but also perform the same functions as many phones. Due to safeguarding reasons, i.e. photos can be taken, messages and emails can be sent, we cannot allow these in school.
COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS
We aim to communicate well with parents and have a number of ways of ensuring that parents are kept informed of things happening in school. The school sends home the weekly bulletin which lets parents know what is happening the following week. Information is regularly sent via ClassDojo. We have school Facebook too. We use texting and emailing so make sure that the school office has your latest details. In addition to this, there will be letters home for specific events or where parental permission is required. Our website is a good place to refer to as all communications are added to this regularly too.
APPOINTMENTS WITH SCHOOL STAFF
Should you wish to talk to your child’s Class Teacher, contact them via ClassDojo or through the school office who can make arrangements or they will ask the teacher to contact you after school.
Pastoral issues can be discussed with a member of our Pastoral Team. Each year group has a designated member of staff from the Pastoral Team.
Mr Laband and Mrs Brabbin, the school’s Special Needs Co-ordinators, are very happy to meet parents and can be contacted through the school office.
LIBRARY
We have a well-stocked library and each class has a timetable slot weekly in which to change their book. Some Year 5 and 6 children are taught how to carry out some library jobs and can support the younger children. If your child needs to access the library in between the class library slots, this can be done at lunchtimes. Children are able to borrow up to 3 library books at a time. We appreciate that some books take longer to read than others, so if your child wishes to keep the book for more than 2 weeks, bring the book back to the library to be rescanned. This helps us to keep track of the books and minimise loss. We have a computerised system for taking out the books. We ask that all school library books are returned to school and Mrs Treglown, our Librarian, sends reminders home when necessary. We are happy to have any books returned whenever you find them!
EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
We run a wide variety of extra-curricular activities at lunchtime and after school. The activities list comes out half termly and are heavily subsidised by the school so that all children who want to attend can do so. Children who attend our All Angels’ After School Provision can attend this after the activity and will be collected by staff.
OUT OF SCHOOL PROVISION
The school runs a Breakfast Club from 7.45am and Angels’ After School Club until 5.30pm. This provision is run by school teaching assistants. Ask at the school office for further information.
ATTENDANCE
Good attendance enables children to fully access all school provision and to make good progress across the curriculum. It is also hard for a child with poor attendance to maintain good routines and friendships. The government changed the law on term time holidays so schools are unable to authorise holidays. Parents need to apply to Mrs McCarney for leave of absence from school. When a child’s attendance falls below 90% or they have had 5 consecutive days’ absence through illness, school will ask for medical evidence. The child will also be monitored by the Local Authority’s Attendance and Inclusion Officer. The school has a very strong Pastoral Team which can support good attendance so parents are referred to the team when their child’s attendance causes concern.
The child will be marked late if they arrive after 9.00am and recorded as unauthorised absence if they arrive after 9.15am. Letters are sent out to parents offering school support if, when monitoring the registers, there appears to be an issue. If attendance does not improve, the school is obliged to follow a legal route, which may result in a court appearance.
Parents must contact the school as soon as possible and before 11.00am to inform of a child’s absence from school.
HOMEWORK
All year groups will set homework over the week. Often this is in the form of a longer project which may be set over half a term. Children are expected to read regularly, at least 3 times a week, carry out maths tasks and learn their spellings.
READING
All children are heard read over the week. As children move into Key Stage 2 this is usually during Reading Master sessions. Some children benefit from extra reading to an adult too, so this is put in place for those who need it.
We encourage reading at home and have a reward scheme in place for this. Our Reading Tree is displayed in the hall. Children can earn leaves and apples for the number of times they read.
SCHOOL TRIPS
We aim to give the children a rich and varied curriculum and some of the most memorable aspects of this will be the school trips, visitors and special events. We heavily subsidise all school trips but we may ask for parental contributions towards these to enable them to take place. Please appreciate that without parental contributions these trips, activities and events cannot take place.
CELEBRATION OF SUCCESS
We have weekly Celebration Assemblies and try very hard to celebrate when a child has worked hard, demonstrated perseverance, thought differently about a problem or has made good progress. This is done throughout the year on a day-to-day basis in class (there are in class systems to promote positive actions and behaviours) and as a whole school. Children will come home with stickers, being entered into the Gold Book, certificates, Classdojo points and notes. Much is done throughout the year to ensure that all children are praised for what they achieve.
SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN
From time-to-time children will require support from our Pastoral Team. It may be that there is, for example, a bereavement in the family, a separation, friendship issues or anger management concerns. Our well-trained team is available to the children following a referral by the parent, school staff or the children themselves. One of our team will work with the child for an agreed period of time and will liaise with the parent on how this has helped.
SUPPORT FOR PARENTS
Our Pastoral Team are very happy to support parents on a wide range of matters. Do not hesitate to contact the Pastoral Team if you think they might be able to help or you wish to have a chat about your child.
SCHOOL RULES
We find it unhelpful and unnecessary to have a long list of school rules. The two rules we have are: Be Respectful and Keep Safe. We have found that all matters relate to these. For example, if a child hits another child, one was not keeping the other safe. If school property is damaged, respect for the environment hasn’t been demonstrated. Children will have discussed these rules with their class and their teacher and are encouraged to think about how they can demonstrate respect and safe behaviours. You might like to try this at home?
MEDICATIONS
If your child has any medical needs or needs to take medication of any sort, please let the school office know. We have a permission form to sign which includes all the information school needs to know so that we can administer the medication properly. We also need to know if your child requires an inhaler for asthma and be regularly updated if circumstances change.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS
We welcome parents to work alongside the staff in school and such involvement is invaluable for all concerned. There is an open invitation for parents to let us know when they can come and how they can help. All volunteers working in school are required to have an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly Criminal Records Bureau or CRB) and this can be arranged through the school office.
POLICIES
Please see the school’s website for all policies in more detail.
CONTACT DETAILS
St Michael’s V.A. Junior School
Astley Road
Bowthorpe
Norwich
Norfolk
NR5 9LA
Tel: 01603 745812
Website: www.stmichaelsjuniorschool.co.uk
