Breakfast Club

Just a reminder that from Monday 7^th November 2022 breakfast club spaces will need to be booked via the Magicbooking system. In order that we can staff and resource this provision so that it can remain an enjoyable way to start the school day for your children, we will be limiting breakfast club to 120 places. We ask that you only use this service if it is absolutely required. The booking system is already open for this half term. If you have any difficulties booking then please do contact the office and they will be happy to assist you. We ask that you only book the sessions that you know your child will need. If a child does not turn up for 3 booked sessions and attends school, we will reserve the right to withdraw attendance at breakfast club. Bookings and cancellations can be made up until 24 hours before – 7.30am the day before the booking.

We are trialling the organisation of this booking system this term and will keep you updated of any changes that we may need to make. For now, our breakfast club remains free but due to the high costs that we are currently facing this is something that the governing body are reviewing for January 2023.

Poppy appeal

We are pleased to be supporting The Royal British Legion once again this year with their poppy appeal. We will be selling poppies in school for a donation as well as a number of additional items such as wrist bands which are priced between 50p and £1.00.

Thank you

Thank you so much for ensuring that your children have been in school ready for our new starting time of 8.45am. The register is taken almost straight away so that lessons can begin promptly. Arrival after this time must be through the school office and will be recorded as late. Since the loss of learning due to the pandemic, the government expects schools to monitor and challenge lateness. Thank you for working with us to make sure that your child/ren get the very best out of their time at school by being on time every day.

Children in Need

On Friday 18^th November we will have a pyjama day in school to support the BBC Children in Need appeal. The children can wear their pyjamas to school as well as embrace all things spotty. As they will still go outside for break and lunch time, it is really important that they are warm and have sensible footwear. All donations to the appeal will be very gratefully received.

Christmas dates

We will provide further information about Christmas activities later in the term but here are some important dates for your diary:

Wednesday 7^th December              Year R, 1 and 2 Christmas Lunch

Thursday 8^th December                  Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 Christmas Lunch

Thursday 8^th December                  Christmas Disco 4.30 – 6pm

Tuesday 13^th December               Christmas Concerts: Infants am / Juniors pm

Wednesday 14^th December            Christmas Concerts: Juniors am / Infants pm

Thursday 15^th December                Christmas Fair 3.30pm

We will have a post box for the children to post Christmas cards from Monday 5^th December – please ensure that cards have the full name of the recipient and their year group.

Safeguarding

Please can we ask for your ongoing support in keeping our site as safe as possible for the children especially at the beginning and end of the day. The gates are released at 8.40am and 3.05pm. At the beginning and end of the day we minimise traffic movement on our site and we kindly ask that you do not come on to the site before these times or release gates from inside to allow early access. Many children attend breakfast club in the morning and classes will still be engaged in PE or COSMIC activities outside until 3.05pm; we have a safeguarding duty of care to protect the children by minimising unsupervised adults on site. Please also ensure that you enter the school grounds via the pedestrian gates and not the vehicle access gates. Many thanks for your ongoing support with this.

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

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