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Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School

Parent Handbook

Yew Tree Lane, Bradley, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1PGwww.bradleyschool.co.uk

01335 370292 [email protected]

Parent Handbook revised June 2014

A welcome message from the Headteacher, Mrs. Nicola Foulds:

Dear Parents and Pupils,

Hello and welcome to our school. We are extremely pleased to invite you into our community at Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School and hope that both your children and you enjoy your time with us.

Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School is a small, friendly village school, set in an idyllic rural location in the beautiful Derbyshire Dales, near the market town of Ashbourne. We cater for pupils from Reception to Year 6. Here at Bradley, we have high expectations of our children, encouraging and supporting them to achieve their very best, not only in the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science, but also the more practical and creative subjects such as Art, Music and PE. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum with many opportunities to encourage the development of personal skills, helping to ensure that our children grow up happy, confident individuals with a thirst for life-long learning. It is our aim that every child, no matter what their ability, is educated to the highest standards, in an environment where Christian values are upheld and promoted. In this way, we hope to ensure that each and every child will flourish.

Our school is a small community, where we take friendships and collaborative working seriously, to provide the best rounded experience and education for your children. Parents and staff work together to ensure both individual and class needs are met.

Our Governing Board are supportive in ensuring we achieve Government objectives and stay focused on our aims for the pupils and the school.

Our active Parent, Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA) work closely with the school to raise all important funds, and also to organise social occasions, so parents not only feel involved, but also make friends of their own.

This Parent Handbook is designed to inform you of everything we think you need to know about our school for when your child starts with us, whether that be in Reception or further up the school. As I am sure you can appreciate, information is subject to change so we try to keep our website updated with the latest information, enabling you to access it at the touch of your fingertips!

Kind regards,

Mrs. Nicola Foulds


Contents

1. Key School facts

2. General School Information

3. Policies and Procedures

4. Communication between School and Parents

5. School Uniform

6. School Activities

7. Governing Body

8. School Expectations of Parents

9. How Parents can help

10. PTFA

11. ‘Stay and Play’ Playgroup

12. Appendix

Our school was built in 1873 and is still housed partly in the original Victorian building


1. Key School Facts

Full Name and Address: Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School, Yew Tree Lane, Bradley, Ashbourne, Derbyshire, DE6 1PG

Website Address: www.bradleyschool.co.uk

Contact Details: (01335) 370292 or [email protected]

Local Authority: Derbyshire County Council - www.derbyshire.gov.uk

School Times: 9am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday(Lunch: 12:00-1:10pm, Morning break: 10:30am–10.45am, the infant children also have a short, 10 minute break during the afternoon)

Headteacher: Mrs. N. Foulds (Also teaches Y5 & Y6 Mathematics and English)

Teaching Staff: Ms Burrows (Infants)Mrs. Edge (Juniors)

Ms Stone (Juniors)

Teaching Assistants: Mrs. Bacon (Infants)

Support Assistants: Mrs Avery Mrs Robson

Catering Supervisor: Mrs. HydesMid-day Supervisors: Mrs. Burgin-Smith

Ms. TunnicliffeMrs. Wheeldon

Chair of Governors: Mrs. Margaret Matthews

Our Infant Classroom, installed November 2013


http://www.bradleyschool.co.uk/

2. General School Information

Our Ethos & Values:We are proud to be a church school, and will promote Christian values in all that we do. It is our aim, that all children, no matter what their skills, strengths, family circumstances or backgrounds, will achieve their potential and be successful in life.

We will strive to ensure that we work hard to provide all children with the best possible education and experiences, to support and challenge them, in order that they reach their potential and are as successful as they can possibly be, whilst in our care.

Above all, we aim that all children who pass through our school, are happy, confident individuals who develop a love for life-long learning. We aim to foster Quality, Creativity and Confidence and inspire success in all that we do, and in the children we teach.

We aim to offer our pupils an outstanding, holistic education, and give you, their parents and carers confidence that we will do our very best at all times to achieve this.

Our Curriculum:Our very small classes, enable us to tailor work closely to pupil need. We always try to group pupils by ability, rather than 'year group'. In this way, we can ensure that pupils are both challenged and supported appropriately.

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum across all years. We work hard to ensure that subjects are taught creatively, with as many opportunities as possible for real-life learning, in real-life contexts. Above all, we aim to make learning fun for our pupils. Reception - Follow the Early Years programme of study, with a balance of opportunities for pupil-

initiated and teacher-guided work. This is linked, wherever possible, to the topics followed in Key Stage 1. When they are ready, pupils will begin to join-in with the Year 1 children.

Year 1 & Year 2(Key Stage 1) - Study the following subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, ICT, RE (following the

2015 revised syllabus) PE (including Swimming), History, Geography, Art & Design, Design Technology, Music and French.

Years 3 to Year 6(Key Stage 2) - Taught in small groups for English and Mathematics, according to ability, then jointly

for all other subjects, as above Music and the Arts are a strength of our school – Key Stage 1 pupils learn to read music, and have the opportunity to learn to play a range of musical instruments including ocarinas and handbells. In Key Stage 2, most of our pupils have more formal music lessons, and currently have the opportunity to study clarinet, violin, flute, oboe, keyboard and drums. Lessons are delivered by both our 'in-house' staff and also peripatetic music teachers. We strive to provide the most creative, inspirational and motivating opportunities for learning that we can. We provide real-life contexts for children to apply their skills and solve real-life problems. Further information about the curriculum can be obtained from the school office or on our website.


Starting School:When children start at Bradley C o f E (VC) Primary School in Reception, they should be able to…

Recognise their written name Use the toilet independently Dress themselves Use a knife and fork for mealtimes Use tissues

Practise with this before they start would be beneficial.

Reading and Phonics at Bradley:We value reading above all other skills that we teach. Unless we can read fluently and reliably, we are unable to make sense of the world. To this end, Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School has recently invested in a new reading scheme, funded in equal measure by our excellent PTFA and the private school fund. We will continue to invest heavily to improve our reading scheme, our school library and other resources to raise the standard of reading for all our pupils.

Our reading scheme is largely based on the excellent Oxford Reading Tree resources and their website, Oxford Owl, provides resources to help parents support their children at home: www.oxfordowl.co.uk. We use the Letters & Sounds phonics scheme to teach early reading, supplemented by the Phonics Bug and Bug Club electronic resources. Again, there are online resources, including e-books, to accompany this scheme, which we encourage parents and carers to access in order to support their child's reading development.

Term Dates:We run the traditional three terms per year, starting each new intake in September. As Ashbourne schools celebrate the Shrovetide tradition, in February, this can have an impact on the usual Derbyshire standard holiday pattern, but falls in line with QEGS, our feeder secondary school. Full details of the dates for each term, including holidays and any inset days can be found on our school website or from the school office. Please do not assume that our holiday dates are the same as other Derbyshire schools – please check with us/our website to be sure.

INSET Days:These are staff training days that we are required to run during each school year. At present, Derbyshire County Council require that we have five per school year. These dates do vary and we will endeavour to


http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/

provide you with as much notice as possible as to when these will be held. Our school website will provide you with details of when these will be for the current academic year; the school will be closed to children on these days.

Teaching Staff:In the Infants (Foundation Stage and KS1), Miss Burrows teaches the class. Our Teaching Assistant Mrs. Bacon is present most days to support the pupils. In the juniors, Mrs. Edge and Miss Stone teach throughout the week, and Mrs. Foulds teaches Monday-Thursday, including Year 5 and 6 Mathematics and English lessons.

School meals:We are extremely lucky to have our own cook at Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School, who prepares freshly cooked meals in line with the Derbyshire County Council’s menu; www.myschoollunch.co.uk/derbyshire. All children have access to school dinners; infants are entitled to free school meals, and meals for the junior children currently cost £2.00 per day (may be subject to future change). Termly newletters will detail forthcoming costs and school meals can be paid for termly, half-termly or weekly on our new online SchoolMoney system. Derbyshire County Council policy states that all meals must be paid for in advance.

You may be entitled to free school meals for your Junior children. Please speak to a member of staff if you believe you qualify for this. Further information can be found on the Derbyshire County Council website: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals and on the school website.

Children can choose to bring a packed lunch if they prefer. These are to be brought into school each day and will be stored in the classroom; it is therefore requested that they contain an ice pack. Children can opt for cooked school lunches on some days of the week and food brought in from home on other days. (e.g. school meals Monday to Wednesday, food from home on Thursdays and Fridays each week). Derbyshire Catering Service request that you give us at least 2 weeks notice, if your child wishes to change to, or from schools meals.

Drop off and Pick Up TimesSchool starts at 9.00am prompt each morning, and ends at 3.30pm. The wooden side gate will be open from 8.50am each day and a teacher will be there to greet the children, further staff are in the playground, where the children will be supervised. Please do not leave your child at the gate prior to this time, as they will not be supervised, and are your responsibility.

When coming to collect your child at the end of the day, you need to come to the front of the school and wait for your child to be released by the teacher. All children will be individually handed to their parents. We cannot escort children to the car and will not allow a child to leave school premises without a responsible adult.

Should you have arranged for another adult to pick up your child, please make their teacher is aware of this in advance, so we can ensure the child’s safety, (this includes if a child is going to play at another pupil’s house after school). If any arrangements are made after the school day has started, please call the school office to inform us of this, as we appreciate circumstances can change.


http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

http://www.myschoollunch.co.uk/derbyshire

Please be advised that unless pupils are attending an after-school club, staff have no responsibility for them after 3:45pm, and unless we have been previously advised of an issue in collecting your child after this time, and where we cannot contact a parent/carer we are obliged to contact social care, passing responsibility for your child to them.

Time off During School Time:At Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School, our attendance figures are outstanding – well above the national average and this is something of which we are justifiably proud. We strongly believe that every day is important to your child’s education and development, and every missed day has the potential to impact negatively on their progress.

Unless your child is ill, or the circumstances are exceptional, schools cannot authorise any absence from school. This includes family holidays. Whilst we appreciate that there may be many reasons why you choose to take your child out of school during term time, we are bound by law to report unauthorised absences to the local authority, who may issue a penalty notice.

Absence due to Ill Health:We fully understand that a child can become unwell and need time off. If this happens, please call the school on the first morning of absence before 10am to report that they are unwell and will not be attending. You will then need to call school each subsequent day to report absence until such time that the child returns to school. There may be individual cases where daily reporting is not necessary, but each case must be discussed and agreed with the Headteacher. Upon the child’s return to school, please provide a signed letter confirming the reason for absence.

In cases of sickness and diarrhoea, we follow the protocol set by Derbyshire Council County, in an attempt to reduce the spread of the illness. This states that when a child has one, or both of these, then they will need to wait 48 hours from the last episode before returning to school. Please help us stop the spread of these illnesses by following these guidelines.

If your child becomes ill at school:If your child feels unwell, but we feel that either the school day is nearing its end, or that we can nurse them through the remainder of the day, by taking their mind off the way they are feeling, we will keep your child at school. This would be for mild cases of headache, stomach ache etc. If we feel that your child is more seriously unwell, or they are very upset by the way they are feeling, we will contact you to either collect them from school as soon as you are able, or to make the judgement call on whether you feel they are fit enough to stay in school. In any event, if the Headteacher feels it necessary for a child to go home, you will be contacted to arrange their collection.

Medication in School:We fully appreciate that there may be times when a pupil is well enough to attend school but requires some form of medication, (e.g. inhaler, insulin, etc). If a child is bringing medication into school, it must be named, with clear instructions about dosage. A pink medication form will also need to be completed by the parent before we are able to administer any form of medication, and a new one completed if/when the medication or dosage changes. Should your child have a long-term illness or health condition that we need to be informed of, please contact the school directly to discuss this.


Lateness:Punctuality, both in arriving at school and in being collected at the end of the school day is of great importance. The gate will be locked at 9am, when the school day begins, and any child arriving after this time must come through the front entrance, via the office. We are obliged to advise you that your child will be marked late in the attendance register, if they arrive between 9am and 9:10am, and an unauthorised absence will be recorded if your child arrives after 9:10am. If you there is a genuine reason why your child will be late for school, please try to let us know beforehand. Whilst we appreciate that there are occasions when unforeseen circumstances may mean that your child is late to school, we will not accept regular lateness. We will endeavour to get your child out on time at the end of the day, but there may be occasions when they are a few minutes late – please understand that the teachers make every effort to be punctual, but they need to close the day in an orderly and calm fashion, and in line with daily routines (class prayers etc.), which can sometimes run over time, as they are led by the children.

Book Bag:Each child should bring a Book Bag to school every day, not a rucksack, due to lack of large item storage space. These can be purchased along with the school uniform, as is explained in the later ‘Uniform’ section. These bags will contain a Homework Book (detailed below), any book borrowed from the Derbyshire County Library Bus Service, homework, spellings book, reading book and reading diary, plus anything else that the child needs to bring to school each day. We also find these invaluable to carry letters and notes home to parents. Therefore please check the contents daily, as it may contain a letter that your child has forgotten to pass on to you.

Equipment:School will provide the basic equipment necessary for your child to complete their school work, however, as these are shared resources, and get very well used, we encourage the junior children to bring their own equipment, in a named pencil case. We find that children take greater pride in their work when they have completed it with their own ‘special’ equipment. As a minimum, a well -equipped pencil should contain: at least one sharpened pencil, a handwriting pen (if a pen licence has been awarded) a ruler, rubber,, coloured pencil crayons and a pencil sharpener. Year 5 and 6 will also need a protractor and possibly a compass. Additional equipment such as felt-tipped colouring pens, hi-lighter pens, and a calculator would be useful.

Homework:Each child will be provided with a Homework Diary, which is to be kept in their Book Bag. The Juniors are responsible for filling in these books independently and showing you what is expected of them – we expect you to sign them each week to indicate that your child has shared the homework expectations with you. The Infants have theirs completed for them by the staff. These books provide you, as the parent, with valuable knowledge of what homework is expected of your child and when it is to be completed by. Age and level appropriate material will be set and your child’s teacher will explain the frequency and quantity of this. Homework may take the form of a set piece of work based on classwork that week, research or project work – sometimes over a longer period of time. There is also a list of spellings to learn for the weekly spelling test and we expect children to practise times tables, so that by the end of year 4, they are fluent with them, up to x12.


In addition to this, we ask that parents listen to their child read as much as possible, at least once per day for KS1 and three times per week for KS2 pupils. Whilst we aim to listen to them read regularly in school, any additional support would be extremely beneficial for your child’s progress. Just 5 minutes each day, sharing a book with your child really can make all the difference.

Show and Tell:Children may bring in items to show and talk about to their peers during a ‘Show and Tell’ session, which is held every Monday. Items should be small and are brought in at the owner’s risk!

Reports and Parents’ Evenings:We have a responsibility to keep you informed of how your child is progressing whilst at our school. We hold two Parents’ meetings during the year – a more informal one in the Autumn term, which gives you an opportunity to look at the work your child has done, and to have a chat with your child’s teacher to find out how they are settling. Reception parents are encouraged to come in a little earlier on that occasion to discuss how your child has settled into the school environment.

A more formal parents’ meeting is held in February, when you request a ten minute appointment with your child’s teacher, to discuss their general progress in all aspects of school work. Should you have a particular concern that may require longer discussion, you can arrange another meeting at a later date. Each pupil’s work will be laid out in the classroom so, on the evening, please arrive 10-15 minutes early so you can look through their work and the teacher’s written comments, prior to speaking to the staff member. In cases where two teachers work together to teach your child, both will be present for the interview. We usually run the interviews from 2.00pm to 6.00pm. The Headteacher will be available on both occasions, should you wish to discuss anything with her.

Assertive mentoring reports are sent out at Easter and Christmas. An annual written progress report will be issued towards the end of the Summer Term, with a full attendance report attatched.

3. Policies and Procedures

By law, our school is required to have a number of policies and procedures that are updated regularly and accessible for all interested parties. Our school website contains the latest versions of these policies, where you can browse each one and understand our aims, our requirements and also our achievements.

The list on the website includes the following:- Our Ethos & Values- Admissions- Behaviour Policy- Charges and Remissions Policy- Disability and Special Educational Needs- Pupil Premium- Our Curriculum- Reading and Phonics- Most Recent published KS2 Data – SATs results


These documents are all important and we would encourage you to take the time to read through these, so that you have a full understanding of how the school operates.

Behaviour at Bradley School:The ‘Behaviour and Discipline’ policy provides clear detail on the expectations of our pupils’ behaviour whilst at school and when representing the school off site. We give high priority to clear communication within the school and to a positive partnership with parents, since these are crucial in promoting and maintaining high standards of behaviour. A positive partnership with parents is crucial to building trust and developing a common approach to behaviour expectations and strategies for dealing with problems. Our vision for Bradley School is a safe, equal, secure and happy learning environment for all pupils. We take any form of bullying very seriously. Children are actively encouraged to report any instances of bullying to an adult, either through the Worries Box, or by talking to either a member of staff, or the Anti-bullying Ambassadors, who are older pupils trained in recognising and dealing with instances that may be considered bullying. Should you believe that your child is being bullied, then please contact us immediately to discuss.

Disability and Special Educational Needs (DSEN):At Bradley School we do not discriminate between any of our pupils, parents, staff, governors or visitors. We aim to ensure that all pupils are supported appropriately in order that they make the best possible progress. Our DSEN Policy is available on our website, and you are most welcome to make an appointment to discuss your child's needs at any time.

OFSTED:Ofsted is the Government Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. They report directly to Parliament and are both independent and impartial. OFSTED inspect and regulate services which care for children and young people, and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages. The latest published report can be found by following the ‘Links’ tab on our school website and click on ‘OFSTED’.

Church School:We are Bradley Church of England, (Voluntary Controlled) Primary School. Whilst we teach our pupils all about the various religions, we are a Christian based school and therefore our values, teachings and lessons reflect this. Our children attend church services at our local church in Bradley. We work closely with our local vicar, Reverend Phil Michell, who is not only a School Governor, but also comes into school and works closely with the children as the topics arise.

Our main church services are Harvest Festival, Christmas and Easter, and we have other services as appropriate during the school year. Infants and Juniors take it in turns to plan and deliver different church services held throughout the year. Parents are very welcome to join the pupils at our Church services, and we will let you know in advance which date and time of day they will take place.

All Saints’ Church, Bradley


Photographs / Filming In School:When your child joins us, we will ask you to sign a form stating either that your child’s photograph and or video image may be published on our website,, in school brochures, in newspapers and in and around the school building. If you prefer that we do not use photographs in these ways, it is vital that you let us know.Whilst we are happy for you to take photographs/video your own child, please DO NOT take photographs/video of other children.

Internet Usage:You will be issued with our Safe Internet usage policy, which we ask you to sign. We will also ask your child to sign an agreement in school, stating that they will use and respect the Internet according to school rules.

Data Protection and Privacy Notice:We at Bradley C of E (VC) School are Data Controllers under the Data Protection Act 1998, as we collect and store information about you. We may also receive information about your child from their previous school or nursery/pre-school setting. We hold this personal data and use it to:

- Support the child’s teaching and learning;- Monitor and report on your child’s progress- Provide appropriate pastoral care, and- Assess how well our school is doing.

We will not give information about you or your child to anyone outside the school without your consent unless the law and our rules allow us to. We are required by law to pass some of your information to the Local Authority (LA), and the Department for Education (DfE).

If you wish to see a copy of the information we hold and share about you then please contact our School Clerk. Further information on this can be found in the appendix at the back of this booklet.

We regularly update our Health and Safety Policy, a copy of which is available to view in the school office. Accidents are reported and recorded in the school accident book, and a note will go home, should your child have an accident in school. Please look out for a letter printed on red paper, as this means that your child has bumped their head during the day, and you need to be especially aware of this.

You will also be asked to sign a permission slip, agreeing that we can take your child out of school for various trips, visits and walks .

The Garden Room in Winter


Snowy days, and other times we may need to close the school at very short notice:Whilst we make every effort to open school every day during the winter months, there may be occasions when we are forced to close school, for everyone’s safety. If an adequate number of teaching staff are unable to get in to school, due to severe snow, we will not open school to pupils. All our teaching staff live some way from school, and navigating the rural, often untreated roads in bad snow would be impossible. Similarly, if we feel that encouraging parents to travel to school during bad snow conditions would put parents and children at risk, we will close the school.There may be other occasions when we are forced to close the school, if for example we have a flood or services such as water are cut off.We never take the decision to close school lightly, but if this is the case, we will endeavour to send you a text message as early as possible, put the information on the website and the local radio stations – Ashbourne Radio and Radio Derby. We thank you in anticipation of your understanding in this matter.

4. Communication between School and Parents

Our new school website, launched October 2016, is an invaluable resource for all details that you may require, we are adding to it all the time. If you find something is missing which you would like to see included on the site, then please let us know.

Pupil Update Form:At the start of each school year, pupil update forms are sent out to parents. We ask that you complete and return these forms to school to ensure that all information is kept up to date. If, at any time during the school year your details change (e.g. phone numbers, addresses, etc.) please do let us know. Also, should there be a change in your family circumstances, we would ask you to notify us of this; we are fully aware that these situations are difficult and need to be handled sensitively, and wish to support both you and your child appropriately.

Newsletters:We aim to send out newsletters to parents on a termly basis, which will contain key information and dates. In addition to this, we may write to parents if there is a specific matter arising – e.g. school trip, concert / play, etc. All letters will be electronic and on our website, if you require a paper copy, please enquire at the office. We may request a payment towards these activities and will explain these in detail when the situation arises.

Open Door Policy:We like to think we are an approachable staff, and should any matter arise which gives either you or your child concern, then please do not hesitate to speak to us. This could be at the end of the school day or, if you wish to speak at length to us, we will happily arrange a meeting to discuss the matter. Please be aware that the teaching staff are usually very busy organising activities at the start of the school day, so we politely ask that, unless it is urgent, please speak to teachers at the end of the day, or contact the office, who will try to help. Under no circumstances must parents or other visitors enter classrooms during the school day, unless invited. Teachers are not able to deal with any issue whilst they are teaching your children. The Headteacher or office staff will fetch your child, if you need to collect them early for, for example a medical appointment.

Text Messaging:Our school uses a text message service, which can quickly and cost effectively deliver brief messages to parents’ mobile phones. We will ask you if you wish to be signed up to this service and, if so, please keep us updated with your latest mobile number. This service will only be used to pass on generic information and


reminders (e.g. don’t forget the school fair this Friday), not specific information relating to your child or more ‘weighty’ information which would be needed to be fully explained in a letter.

Text messaging, is however, a very useful tool on days when the school has to shut unexpectedly, (e.g. in heavy snow, flooding, power cuts, etc), as it allows us to contact as many of you as possible in a very short space of time. We therefore strongly recommend you sign up for this service. The form for this is attached at the back of this booklet and should be returned to school.

We have our own Facebook page which keeps parents up to date with all the latest activities and news .

5. School Uniform We pride ourselves at Bradley CofE (VC) Primary School for having a smart, yet practical, uniform. We believe it instils a sense of belonging and pride in the children, removes the potential for bullying and is cost effective for parents. We expect our pupils to come to school dressed in their uniform each day. Uniform items can be ordered by parents directly from our manufacturer. The websites at www.schooltrends.co.uk and Tesco can be used all year round, making it easy for parents to replace items as their child outgrows them, as well as to purchase when your child initially joins us.

Our PTFA runs an informal second-hand uniform sales shop, whereby parents donate good quality items that their children have outgrown, which can then be purchased by parents of younger children. The items for sale will be displayed on either our website, or alternatively on the wooden noticeboard at the side of school. The PTFA often has a stall at our Christmas and Summer Fair also selling these items.

What uniform do I need to purchase?Please see separate uniform list attached. Uniforms can be ordered from Tesco and School trends.

Name Labels:We insist that you put your child’s name on all of their school uniform, including P.E. kit and shoes. As you can imagine, we have a large number of identical items which often get mislaid, especially jumpers! If you want to ensure that your child brings home the clothing you have bought for them, then please clearly label it. Any clothing found without a name will be kept in ‘Lost Property’ for a short time, and then if not claimed, will be donated to the PTFA to sell on.

You can purchase the woven name labels to sew / iron into clothing from our uniform from www.jjcash.co.uk or you may find an alternative supplier on the internet. Alternatively you can purchase permanent fabric pens from places like Ryman or Mothercare that do just as good a job.

PE Kit:Pupils are required to have their PE kit in school at all times, in a named bag hanging on their peg. It will be sent home at the end of each term to be washed and checked. Whilst not listed, children may require additional items of sportswear should they opt for particular after-school sports activities, such as shin pads for football; this will be communicated to you as and when the need arises.


http://www.schooltrends.co.uk/

Swimming:Both Infant and Junior are taken to Ashbourne Leisure Centre, by bus, on a weekly basis to receive swimming tuition from a Derbyshire Council County Swimming Instructor. This provision is made to all junior pupils across the county. The swimming timetable varies, and you will be made aware when our school will be swimming.

Swimming costumes are required for both infant and junior pupils. The girls should wear a one-piece item and not bikinis or tankinis (as per Derbyshire County Council rules for Ashbourne Swimming Pool), preferably dark in colour to enable the swimmer to be seen clearly under water. Please ensure the towel is named, and both items are placed in a named waterproof bag. No goggles are necessary for infants, and for juniors it is optional. Swimming hats are encouraged, and long hair should be tied back. We discourage the wearing of tights on swimming days as these cause great difficulties for pupils when they are trying to get dressed quickly.

Jewellery:For Health and Safety reasons, pupils are not allowed to wear jewellery at school, and this also ensures that precious items do not get lost, as we cannot accept responsibility for any items brought onto site. If earrings are worn, they must be plain studs, which can either be removed or taped over for P. E. this must be done by the child – we are not allowed to remove or cover earrings. If your child is unable to remover earrings themselves, please provide them with micropore tape to cover the earrings. Children may wear a watch, as this assists with learning the time.

Nail varnish or make up should not be worn to school.

6. School Activities

School Council:We have a very active School Council. Each year group chooses their own representative who is then able to put forward their views and opinions. The Council discusses issues relating to school, makes suggestions for improvements and works towards implementing their ideas. Mrs.Edge facilitates the running of the school council.

Reading Buddies:All children in the school will be paired up with a reading buddy to share books with, and read to each other on a weekly basis. Not only does this give them a different audience to read to, other than their parents and teachers, but equally it helps to foster friendships with children of differing ages.

Church Services: As mentioned previously in this booklet, the pupils will attend church regularly and take an active part in the service. Family members are welcome to come and watch the pupils do this, and join in our celebrations. Our Vicar Reverend Phil Mitchell is welcoming to everyone.

For our Harvest Festival celebration, which is usually held mid-September to early October, the children are requested to bring in a small box (e.g. shoe box) of food items, which can be decorated, that the church


council then either raffles off to raise money for the church funds or donates to local people in need. Please note these items may remain in church for a few days after our school service, so non-perishable items are recommended. If you are unsure what to provide, please ask an ‘experienced’ parent, who will be able to offer advice. Please ensure that items donated are ‘in-date’. Thank you.

Some of our services may be in the evening to allow more parents to attend. If this is the case, we will endeavour to provide you with as much notice as possible, to ensure you can make the necessary arrangements. An example of this is our Christingle Service at Christmas.

Our Christingle Service at All Saints’ Church

School Visits:We believe school visits are an important aspect of your child’s education and provide a rounded experience relating to a particular topic area they are studying at the time. All visits are fully risk assessed and the required level of adult supervision is arranged.

We attempt to find suitable locations within a reasonable travel distance from school, and will arrange transport where necessary. There are times when children will be expected at school before normal start times, to enable them to spend as much time as possible at the location, and they may arrive back at school slightly later than normal. If this is the case, you will be informed.

Junior pupils making an outdoor shelter in our local woodland


We will always seek your written permission prior to taking your child off school premises for visits. You may also be asked for a voluntary contribution towards the cost of the activity and travel. If you have concerns about this, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss.

Where a child is usually provided with a lunch from school, a packed lunch will be made by school and provided to the pupils during their excursion. Any children who usually bring in their own food from home will be required to bring in a packed lunch for the trip. School uniform may or may not be worn for the trip, depending on the nature of the activities the children will be undertaking. We will advise you of this in the letter at the time.

Each year, we take our junior children on a residential trip. This is a very valuable part of the child’s education, not only in terms of experiencing different locations and activities, but also for the valuable social skills learned whilst being away from home. We hope that every child can participate in this. You will be informed of the planned residential visit well in advance, when we will ask you for a deposit to secure your child’s place on the trip. From September onwards, contributions may be made in instalments and a payment book will be provided to each child to record this. Prior to the residential, parents will be invited into school for a meeting to have explained what the pupils will be doing and what they are required to take. As is the case with all schools, our requests for contributions to activities and school visits are voluntary, however, if too few parents contribute, as requested, regrettably the visit may not go ahead.

A residential visit to Llandudno, in Wales

School Productions / Concerts:

We aim to hold one large production per school year in the Summer term. The children will be requested to provide costumes for this in advance, which will mostly be items you have or can alter at home. We do not ask you to hire costumes, and do not expect them to cost much money to produce. Plenty of advance notice of this will be given. We usually hold these shows in our KS1 classroom and charge a small ticket fee to family and friends who wish to come and watch – this covers the performance licence, which we have to pay in order to stage a production. We endeavour to run the show at least twice, with one of these being in the evening, to enable parents and families who work to come along and enjoy the children’s hard work. We also hold various other mini -shows, open assemblies and open-classroom events throughout the year, many of which you will be invited to as and when they arise. Parent attendance at this is completely optional, as we fully appreciate many people work whilst their children are at school.

During the last couple of days of the summer term, we hold a ‘Leavers Assembly’ where we formally say goodbye to our Year 6 pupils and wish them success at their forthcoming secondary school. The whole school takes an active part in this assembly and we encourage parents, especially those with Y6 pupils, to


attend. Children make up stories, sing songs, demonstrate their musical ability and take time to reflect on the leaving pupils’ own time at our school.

Our year 2 pupils are given the responsibility of writing poems for each of our leavers, in recognition that they too are moving up to a new phase in the juniors of greater responsibility and demand. Being such a small school, all our pupils, regardless of age or Key Stage, know each other and the loss of a year group is a matter that we like to reflect upon.

Juniors at Music Practice

WOW Days:The whole school completes a carousel of activities, with pupils of different ages working closely together on larger projects not normally covered under the National Curriculum.

Art Work using Recycled materials


School Photographs:Tempest photography visit school twice yearly to take the children’s photographs. In October we have individual photographs, when younger/older siblings may attend if you wish for them to join in the picture – usually at around 8:30am. Proofs are then sent out and you can pick a variety of different sizes and return the order form, along with the required payment to school. There is no requirement that you have to purchase these photographs. We would expect the completed orders to be returned to us prior to Christmas, making them good presents for relatives.

In May/June we arrange for the photographer to take class photographs, which can also be purchased. Again, a proof will be sent home for your perusal and any orders should be returned to school, together with the amount due as payment.

After-School Clubs and Activities:During the year, we offer pupils the chance to attend a variety of sport or activity based clubs. There is a small charge per session for this activity.

Mrs. Edge usually runs a seasonal craft club and our student teachers often devise and run clubs specific to their strengths and the children’s’ interests, such as Knitting Club or Tea Time (cooking) club. Parents will be informed of any clubs when they arise, what is involved, the times, dates, and any costs or necessary requirements. All clubs are voluntary and pupils do not have to attend.

We are very lucky in that our feeder secondary, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS), actively promotes and arranges sporting opportunities with other primary schools in the area. These events, such as tennis taster sessions, mini-olympics, rounders, basketball etc. inter-school tournaments, are usually held after school on QEGs’ own pitches or in their sports hall. Whilst we will endeavour to provide a member of staff to attend these events with pupils, we cannot always do this due to our small staff numbers, and therefore parents are responsible for taking their own child and looking after them whilst there. We generally find that there are a group of children wishing to participate and those parents are willing to share lifts. All these activities will be notified to you via letter in advance, and your permission sought.

Cycling Proficiency:For Year 6 pupils, we arrange our local Police Community Support Officer to come into school to teach the children how to ride their bikes safely. It is usually in the Autumn term and we will inform parents in writing the dates and times that the children will need to bring their bike and cycle helmet into school. Please note this is about learning to ride safely on roads and not teaching them how to ride a bike.

Sports Day:Each year, usually late June or early July, we will arrange Sports Day. This is usually an afternoon, though the date may have to be altered if the weather is poor. Parents are actively encouraged to come along, watch and support their children in the various group events and individual year-group races.


Christmas Arrangements:In addition to the church service or concert/production that the school may run at Christmas time, there are a few other activities that align with the festive period that are tradition at our school.

On the last day of term before Christmas the pupils and teachers organise and hold a Christmas Party. Games are usually played and refreshments provided. Father Christmas usually pays a visit too, during his busy Christmas schedule!

Decoration Day – close to Christmas, usually in the last fortnight before we break-up, we are ‘off-timetable’ for one day, so that the children can get the glitter out of their systems! We usually try to make some spectacular decorations, and similar to Wow Days, the children work across year groups on a variety of projects. We always need extra pairs of hands on this day, and would welcome your help.

World Book Day:World Book day takes place in March. Children are encouraged to come to school that day dressed as their favourite character and bring along their book. Activities are then arranged around this theme, as part of the wider ethos of igniting a passion for reading. Often we organise a book fair to take place during the same week – parents and children are invited to purchase books, and schools receives a percentage of all sales to buy books for the school.

Charity Fundraising and Enterprise Events:We find at Bradley School that our children are extremely community and charity minded. They often approach staff asking to hold fundraising events for wider schemes such as Comic Relief or Children in Need. We will support and encourage them wherever appropriate, so this may mean that a small fair or other event is set up in school at the end of the day to raise these funds. Family, friends and the village are invited along in an attempt to raise some money for the good cause. We believe this helps to instil in our pupils a sense of community spirit and understanding of the world around them, plus assists them in enterprise and business skills, such as handling money, making a sale and promoting their products. We do however recognise that there are many financial demands on families and we will limit our requests to a reasonable number, spread over the year. A recent Enterprise event has been the ‘Fiver Challenge’, where KS2 pupils run their own businesses with an initial sum of £5.00, they made a staggering profit of almost £200.


School Milk Scheme:Bradley C of E (VC) Primary School provides a milk scheme which is available to all our pupils. School milk is free for under-fives and is subsidised for pupils aged five or older. The cost is around £15 per term, which is just 22p per day and parents need to pay for this facility. If pupils wish to receive this, parents are requested to register directly with our provider Cool Milk. The pupil will then receive a carton of fresh semi-skimmed milk each day, which is delivered fresh and kept chilled in the classroom. We have a specific fridge to store the milk in, and it is handed out during morning playtime for the children to drink. To register for this please contact Cool Milk directly on www.coolmilk.com. If your child is under the age of five, by registering they will receive the milk for free. Full details are on the website and leaflets are available in school.

Provision of Fruit for Infant Children during morning break-time:Infants are provided with a piece of fruit each day at morning break, which is free.Toast Sales for Juniors:Junior children have the option to purchase a piece of toast each day at morning break at a cost of 10p per day.

Learning a Foreign Language:All our pupils, infant and junior children learn French. We are also introducing an afterschool Spanish Club.

Pen Licence:When pupils start with us in Reception, they write with a pencil. As their control develops, and their letter formations become clearer with fewer mistakes being made, we provide each pupil with a fibre-tipped handwriting pen. This is usually around Year 2/Year 3. We recognise this as a major achievement for our children, so we issue the child with a ‘Pen Licence’ in a whole school assembly; this is another opportunity to openly praise our students for reaching this level and skill.

7. Governing Body

Our Governing Body are made up of Members of the community, the church, the local authority and the staff. Together with the Headteacher, our governors ensure that the school is being run effectively and efficiently, helping to ensure that our children make the best possible progress.

You can contact our Chair of Governors, Mrs M Matthews via letter, left with the school office.We always welcome new parent governors, and if you would like to apply to join our governing body, we can put you in touch with one of our existing governors, who will explain the role to you. Further information can be obtained from Governor Support on 01629 535769 or via email at: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.coolmilk.com/

8. School Expectations of Parents

The relationships that are built between home and school are vital in helping your children to be happy and make the best possible progress. Just as you expect us to give your children the highest quality experiences in terms of teaching, learning and care, we expect you to help your child at home also.

We expect you to:

Listen to your child read daily, and record this in their Reading RecordHelp them to learn basic number facts, and vitally the times tables up to x12Help them to learn weekly spellingsAssist them with their homework – BUT DO NOT do it for themLet us know if your child is struggling with anything sent home from school.Let us know if you/your child is anxious about anything in schoolLet us know if your child is illEnsure they are clean and properly dressed and come properly equipped to learnCheck their book bags for any correspondence from schoolReply to our requests in a timely mannerEnsure your child arrives on time, and that they are collected on time.Attend parents meetingsLet us know if your circumstances or contact details changeBe patient with us – we will always try to respond to your questions, queries and requests as quickly as we can and can assure you that we always have your children’s best interests at heart.

9. How Parents can help

Variety of Help Required:Parents /Carers, or even family members, such as Grandparents can help in a variety of ways. As we are such a small group of staff at Bradley, we openly encourage our wider adult community to become involved. However, we understand that with work, younger siblings or family commitments this is not always possible. There are a variety of ways that you could get involved both during the school day and in the evenings, should you wish to do so. These include:

- School trips- Listening in school to pupils reading- Support during WOW days- Christmas Decoration Day (early December)- Making sets / props / costumes for our school productions- Assisting at after school clubs, such as Crafts or Gardening- Becoming a member of the PTFA (see section below)- Running a stall at our Christmas or Summer Fairs- Attending our fun and friendly PTFA functions, to raise important funds for school- Becoming a parent governor


If you are interested in supporting any of these activities, please call into the school office or call us to discuss. Your help is always extremely appreciated.

10. PTFA

Bradley School PTFA:Bradley School has its own Parent, Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA). They were formally re-launched in February 2014, by an enthusiastic group of parents, who wished to both raise funds for our school and create a number of fun, family-friendly social occasions for our school community.

The priorities for the PTFA’s fundraising are based upon the needs of the school at the time, and the Chairperson and committee work closely with our Headteacher to understand what these priorities are and how the money can be best spent.

To date, the PTFA has handed to the school over several thousand pounds, which was used to purchase part of a new reading scheme for our infant pupils. The PTFA at present continue to raise funds to meet the target of £3000 needed to provide the fully revised scheme.

The Committee:Our PTFA committee has a number of elected roles, plus general committee members. The roles are Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and Publicity. Full details of who currently holds these roles can be found on our website. Annual elections take place to decide who completes these roles, but general committee members can join the PTFA at any time. New members are always most welcome.

PTFA Events:

Beetle Drive

The aim of the PTFA’s fundraising events is to make them as fun, friendly and family-orientated as possible. Whilst they have fundraising in mind, there is also an appreciation that people don’t always have a lot of money to spend, so the activities or events organised tend to only cost a few pounds per person. Here are some examples of previous, currently planned and future activities:

Bingo Night – Held in school on a Friday evening, usually twice a year, entrance is £2 p.p. and all family members are welcome to attend.

Beetle Drive – Held in school on a Friday Night, entrance £2 p.p. All family members welcome to this fun, competitive game.


Barn Dance – Held at Hulland & District Millennium Hall, Hulland Ward. Dancing to a live caller, food and bar available.

Summer Fair – Held on the school grounds one Friday afternoon during the summer term. Parents and pupils manage stalls to include tombola, plant stall, refreshments, games and craft activities.

Christmas Fair – Held at school in late November / early December. Entrance free, with stalls hamper raffle, festive games and activities, second-hand school clothing, and white elephant.

Actively Supporting School:As well as fundraising, our PTFA plays an active role in our school environment. Each September, any available and willing parents spend a Saturday morning tidying up our outside school areas, to include trimming hedges, sweeping paths, weeding, maintaining our garden and borders, and repairing birdhouses. Since government funding has been reduced, this is an invaluable resource for our school and keeps our grounds looking as we wish our children and community to see them.

Other more physical activities are arranged as and when necessary. Our parent body recently came into school on a pre-arranged Saturday to move a large wooden shed from our playground onto the field. Others helped with tidying up the outside space, making the school a place to be proud of.

Grant and Funding Applications:The PTFA also work closely with the school to apply for a number of external funding opportunities that are available to schools. These include Sport England and Awards for All. We hope to be successful in our bids, which bring in valuable resources for our school.

Communication between the PTFA and Parents:The PTFA sends out regular newsletters to our parents, enabling you to be fully informed of current and future activities. The wooden noticeboard on the side of the school building is managed by the PTFA and contains all the latest information and forthcoming events. Our school website has a dedicated page to the PTFA and all information, including committee members, contact details, latest events and uniform sales are shown on there.

11. ‘Stay and Play’ Playgroup


Stay and Play Playgroup:Our PTFA run this friendly and informal playgroup for parents and children aged 0-5. They meet every Friday during term time from 2.00pm to 3.30pm in our Garden Room, which is situated in the school playground. It costs £2 for the first child and £1 for additional siblings, and includes a drink and biscuit for both the parent and children. Further information can be found on the website, or in the appendix at the back of this booklet.

The aims:The aims of Stay and Play, is to give both children and parents a chance to meet up with other parents and pre-school children in the local area, have a chat and relax. Children also get to spend valuable time in the school environment and can even join in the afternoon playtime with our infant class, helping in their transition to school when the time comes.

Toys, Games and Activities:Toys, games and books are laid out for the children to play with, plus weekly different activities are set up by the person responsible for the group that week. During spring / summer months or when the weather is fit, children can also play outside either in the playground or on the school field, so long as it does not interrupt lessons.

We hope you have found this Parent Handbook useful, if you feel anything is missing – please let us know. Thank you.

Remember you can access up to date information, forms etc. on our website:www.bradleyschool.co.uk

You can contact us by telephone or by email:01335 370292

[email protected]. Appendix

1. Advice for Parents and Carers Leaflet - Absence from School2. Text Message sign up permission form3. Privacy Notice4. Medication form 5. ‘Stay and Play’ poster6. Uniform & equipment list


http://www.bradleyschool.co.uk/

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