A montage of pictures of HM Queen Elizabeth II as shown in assembly.

Welcome back to a very exciting new school year and we hope that you have enjoyed the summer holiday. We are really looking forward to seeing you all on Monday 5^th September (Monday 12^th September for our new Reception children). Much of the information in this letter was sent to you at the end of last term but I thought it might useful to send it again. We are really looking forward to welcoming you back into school and working in partnership with you to make this a truly fantastic year for your children.

Change to the times of the school day and attendance

The government has increased the expected time that children should be in school. From Monday 5^th September the bell for the start of the school day will be at 8.45am and this is when classroom doors will be opened. The school gates will open at 8.40am providing time for you to walk children to their class. Although Year R doors will be open from 8.45am, the day for Reception children will not begin until 8.50am to enable parents to drop off in the main school and then walk around to the Reception classes.

The government has also provided schools with much more comprehensive guidance around school attendance. They are concerned about the amount of schooling that children have missed due to the pandemic and expect schools to have very robust measures in place to support good attendance and challenge any unnecessary absence. We will be updating our attendance policy in line with this guidance and will share it with you later this month.

Reminders and updates for the new school year

Breakfast club will begin at 8am for children who would like to attend. The entry routine remains the same with a member of staff meeting the children at the main gate at 8am. Parents may also access the school office if needed. Children can arrive for breakfast club up until 8.25am. In order to ensure appropriate safeguarding and supervision for the children attending breakfast club, after 8.25am children will need to wait with parents and only come onto the school site at 8.40am.

Hot school lunches can be ordered at the new price of £2.20 per meal. This remains significantly below the charges made by most Hampshire schools who mostly outsource to an external provider. We are so lucky to run our own school kitchen which enables us to provide a really high-quality meal for this price.

Please ensure that your child brings in a water bottle from home each day.

We are looking forward to seeing the children looking smart in their school uniform once again. Please look at the school website or contact the school office with any queries.

We are planning to continue with children wearing PE kit to school on PE and Games days. Please make sure that jogging bottoms are plain black, blue or grey and are worn with a white tee-shirt and blue school sweatshirt. Appropriate trainers or plimsolls must be worn. Football kits, colours other than blue/black/grey bottoms / white tee-shirt and clothing with motifs or labels are not acceptable PE kit. Children will be expected to be wearing appropriately coloured PE kit and we will ensure that each year group has some spare kit for any child who does not wear PE clothing fitting with our policy on their PE day.

At the end of the day the school gates will be opened at 3.05pm for you to collect your children from their classrooms at 3.15pm. Reception pick up will be at 3.10pm giving time to walk to pick up siblings.

Kids Club continues to be available for parents requiring after school care. This can be booked through the Magicbooking System and the charge remains the same at £9.00 for the session (3.15pm – 6pm) We are currently in the process of recruiting a new leader for Kids Club. Until the new leader is able to take up the post, we ask that any Kids Club communication or queries are communicated to our Business Manager, Anna Evans. Contact can be via the school office or by email: a.evans@warrenpark.hants.sch.uk.

Parent Drop in: Years 1 – 6

We are delighted to be able to invite you into school for a drop-in session so that your child can show you their new classroom and meet their teachers. It will be an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and say hello rather than an in-depth conversation. If you need to discuss a matter requiring more time or privacy then please do contact the school office and they will be happy to arrange this for you. The session will take place after school and you will be able to move from one class to another if you have more than one child with us.

In order that we can manage the number of people in the building, we ask that you attend on the day that matches the with the initial of your surname.

Inset days

On Friday 25^th November 2022 school will be closed for the children.

On Friday 23^rd and Monday 26^th June 2023 school will be closed for the children. (If these dates are secondary school transition days for Year 6 pupils, they will be expected to attend their new school)

With very best wishes,

Elizabeth Cooper