Organisation

School Hours
For term and holiday dates please see The Diary.

Illness and Absence
If your child has an accident or becomes ill during the school day, we will contact you to take him/her home. In the case of sickness or diarrhoea it is important that your child should remain at home for at least 24 hours. Please ensure that we have an up-to-date telephone number (home and work) for you and someone else who can collect your child in an emergency.

Please do not send your child to school with medicines (including cough sweets, lip salves etc.)as we are unable to give them to children, unless it is for a long term treatment (e.g. inhalers for asthma)

With regard to prescribed medicines such as antibiotics, please ensure that if a dose is required 3 times a day that this is administered at home outside of school hours. If the dosage is 4 times a day, parents or adult responsible may come into school to administer this, but the school office must be notified.

All infectious diseases must be reported to the school as soon as possible. If your child needs to be absent from school it would be appreciated if you would let us know by letter, telephone or e-mail as quickly as possible as unauthorised absences are monitored and published. If your child is unwell please telephone the school before 10am.

It should be noted that if we do not have a reason for absence an unauthorised absence will be marked in the register. Class registers are regularly inspected by our Educational Welfare Officer and an accumulation or pattern of absences or late marks will be investigated. Please address requests for special leave of absence tot he head teacher.

School Meals (Surrey Commercial Services)
The weekly school meals menu is displayed on the Diary page under School Meals Menu. Click here.

The current cost of school lunch is about £1.75 per day but this may vary each term so please check with the office or see the current newsletter. The money for the week should be sent in on Monday morning, with your child, in a sealed envelope or suitable container and clearly marked with his/her name. You can also pay by cheque weekly, monthly or half-termly if you prefer.

The meals are prepared and cooked in the adjoining kitchen. There is always a good choice for both first and second course. Salad, fresh fruit and vegetarian dishes are available.

Half a term's notice should be given to the school for a change from school meals to a packed lunch brought from home. Unless there is a need to change urgently. Packed lunches must be in a standard container clearly labelled with the child's name, preferably by the handle for ease of distribution and storage. If a drink is included, please make sure it is in a well sealed non-breakable container. Drinks of water are provided for all children at lunch time. No nut products or sweets are allowed. Several children have nut allergies.

In certain circumstances, free school meals are available. Enquiries should be made to the school secretary.

Free fruit is provided for the infants but you may send in your own apple, a carrot or a stick of celery. For Nursery snacks, please see Parent Guide under 'Starting Nursery'.

Playground and school grounds procedures and breaks
Infant children have a mid morning and mid-afternoon break. The time available for teaching infants during a normal school week, excluding these breaks, registration and collective worship is approximately 21.5 hours per week.

School begins at 8.55am. No children should be on the school premises before 8.45 am and no responsibility can be accepted for children brought to school before that time.

Children must not be left unattended in the playground but taken to their class doors. All children must be collected promptly at 3.15pm (see Parent Guide 'Starting Nursery' for Nursery times). If you arrive early, please wait outside the school gates.

The Junior School playground and car park are out of bounds for the infant children. You are welcome to wait in our playground for the junior brothers and sisters to come out, but the infants must wait with you. Neither school can accept responsibility if your child has an accident after being collected from the class. The children are aware of the school rules and know themselves what to do at the end of the school day. Please help us by seeing that your child behaves in a sensible manner while waiting in the Maple Infants' playground.

Office Hours and Security
Administrative queries, payments, etc., are best dealt with at the beginning and end of the day when the security system is not in place. Please note that the office is closed from 12.15 to 1.00pm. Please do not telephone the school at this time unless it is an emergency.

Road Safety and Car Parking
Please will parents who bring their children to school in cars park away from the entrances to the school. The roads in close proximity to the school are yellow lined and zig-zagged zones. The designated illegal parking times are clearly displayed. Do not stop or drop off children in this area. Please be prepared to walk a short distance to the school. Children should not cycle to school until year 6/7 when they have taken their cycling proficiency test.

All parents are asked to set a good example by using the pedestrian crossing in Maple Road. Our car parks should never be used by parents. This area is strictly for staff. Bicycles, scooters, etc, are not permitted on site.

School Uniform
We prefer the Nursery and Infant pupils to wear school uniform. The school colours are red and grey. School sweatshirts and polo T-shirts can be purchased from the school office.
For details of the Nursery uniform please see Parent Guide 'Starting Nursery'.

All clothes should be clearly marked with your child's name.

Footwear: Sensible shoes or sandals please. Trainers, clogs, boots, 'jellies' fashion footwear etc. are not permitted.

Please choose clothing to suit the activities in school and the weather conditions. Choose clothing and footwear your child can cope with. This encourages independence and promotes self confidence.

All infants require plimsolls with elastic/velcro inserts for outside games and activities (trainers are not acceptable unless requested by a teacher for a specific sport). Please provide your child with a draw string shoe-bag or Maple bag and a chair bag which can be purchased from the office).

Long hair should be tied back at all times.

Sun Protection: Plain red and white beanie hats and Legionnaires caps can be worn. Baseball caps are not permitted at any time of year.

Tissues: We would be grateful if you could provide a box of tissues for your child. One box for the year is fine.

Jewellery: No jewellery should be worn at school (except for religious purposes). Watches, earrings, necklaces, bracelets etc. are best left at home.

Homework policy
National guidelines for homework were put in place in 2002 so that schools, parents and pupils realise its importance in raising standards. The guidelines will define:

• how much homework pupils of different ages should do;
• how much time pupils of different ages should spend on homework;
• what sort of tasks and activities make good homework;
• how schools can develop and implement successful homework policies, and
• what is expected of both schools and parents.

Currently at Nursery and Infant level homework is a voluntary activity. However, the Secretary of State’s perception of homework is that it is not an optional extra but an essential part of good education.

We have always encouraged what we consider to be an appropriate amount of homework to be carried out, albeit via an informal and encouraging approach, rather than a pressurised burden for the child or parent. NB. Time spent on homework should be quality time and fun.

We have, therefore, drawn up a Homework Policy that we feel is realistic and appropriate for each age band. Much of what we suggest, you as good parents, will be doing already. Homework will not be set on a daily basis. Each year group will clarify when specific tasks are set (eg. Home reading, spellings, research, etc.)

At the early stages homework will be based on parents encouraging and reinforcing our ideas and suggestions with occasional input from the classteacher.

We anticipate that parents try to enrich their children’s learning at every opportunity (eg. Visits to parks, museums, theatres, etc) but would suggest that in the early stages at least 10 minutes is set aside each day to work with your child in a purposeful way, extending to 15 – 20 minutes at Year 2 according to their ability, attitude and concentration span.

Birthday Treats
At assembly each Friday we celebrate birthdays for the week and the children are allowed a treat from the birthday cake tin which contains a selection of treats including dried fruits. Please do not send in treats on your child's birthday. If you wish to make a donation of a book, new or second hand, please do this instead. The class teacher will be happy to advise you of the schools present needs.

Pastoral care
The class teacher is responsible for the pastoral welfare of the children in the first instance, but problems can always be referred to the head teacher and more serious ones are referred as a matter of course.

Where necessary, there is a liaison between school personnel and outside agencies such as school welfare, health and social services. Children are referred to the Borough's School Advisory Service and or the Educational Psychologist whenever we feel in need of advice regarding a child's potential learning abilities.

The School Health Service looks after the developmental health of your child in school. The scholl's doctor makes regular visits to the school.
Our school nurse is available to any parent who has a health query about their child, either via the school office or telephoning Hawkes Road Clinic on 020 8546 5812.

School Outings and Special Activities
Our children have greatly benefitted from the various activities of an educational nature that we have been able to organise in the past.

In accordance with the Educational Reform Act 1988, parental contributions for such activities are voluntary. We should like to point out, however, that whilst we en devour to keep the cost of such activities as low as possible and are often able to receive a donation form a sponsor, we do rely heavily on parental contributions. We hope that we will be able to continue to receive your backing via goodwill and voluntary contributions.

Discipline and School Rules
Each child is expected to play his/her part as a member of a caring community. Anti-social behaviour is a disappointment and occasionally a child has to be temporarily withdrawn from the situation which has provoked that behaviour. Punishment may take the form of withdrawal of privileges i.e. loss of play time, lunch play etc. parents will be consulted if their child shows persistent behavioural problems.

Our staff work hard to establish self-discipline, to create a situation where children plan and organise themselves. It involves giving the children the opportunity to behave in a self-disciplined way and supporting them while they learn to manage themselves.

© Copyright Nov 2000