School Day

Opening and Closing Times

Our school day starts at 8.45am (with gates opening from 8:30am) and finishes at 3.15pm.  Our school week comprises of a total of 32.5 hours.

Our staff welcome our children into the school gates every morning at 8.30am, with a smile and a wave.  Parents often comment on how lovely it is to see their children run into school as they are so eager to get in!

We have two school gates which are open at drop off and pick up times – our main school gate at the front of the building and a pedestrian gate at the back of the building, next to the staff car park.  Often, our older children choose to come in via the pedestrian gate as they can be dropped off here by their parents.

It is really important that all of our children are in school every day that they are well and that they are on time to start their learning at 8:45am.  Being in school and on time means that children do not miss 'chunks' of learning and that their lesson sequences, which our teachers plan meticulously, make sense to them and allow for maximum learning opportunities.

Assemblies

Every day we have an assembly.

These take a variety of forms:

• Class assemblies, where we discuss relevant topics and dedicate time to exploring ‘life skills’ with our class family.

• Phase assemblies, where we further explore relevant topics within our Phases.

• Achievements Assembly, where we discover our ‘Stars of the Week’ and share their amazing learning. 

• Our parents are warmly invited to join us for Celebration Assemblies held each Friday, which are led each week by a different class.  Our children enjoy leading these assemblies as they provide them with an opportunity to share their exciting learning with their parents and with the rest of the school.  During this assembly, we also sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to any children, staff and parents who have celebrated their birthday that week (we even give out birthday presents!). Additionally, we use the assembly to celebrate ‘Good Fridays’. This is an opportunity to recognise children’s achievements outside of school (e.g. children who have taken part in great sporting achievements, supported a local charity, achieved a grading in a musical instrument or supported a family member in an emergency).

Morning Playtimes

We believe that it is important for our school family to play together at various points throughout the day.  Children in Year 1 to Year 6 have a morning break from 10.30am to 10.45am. Our Teaching Staff lead this playtime and we have a variety of play equipment available to the children during these times.

In the Summer term, Reception children join the children on the playground, to help them with their transition into Year 1.

Lunchtime

Children in Reception have their lunch from 11:50am until 12:50pm. During their time in the hall they are supported by members of the EYFS team.

Year 1 and Year 2 lunchtime starts at 12.00pm and finishes at 1.00pm, Year 3 to Year 6 lunchtime starts at 12.30pm and finishes at 1.30pm.

We have a wide variety of school dinner options available to our children and we have a ‘serve yourself’ salad bar, which is available every day.  

Each class eats their lunch together and then our children are free to enjoy a playtime.  Our Teaching Assistants lead this playtime, organising a range of fun and exciting games and activities, which are suited to our children’s interests.  Our Rainbow Room (ICT Suite) is also open to our children at lunchtime for art, craft, music, reading and computer use if the children would like to come inside.

Drop-off and Collection

Parents are encouraged into the school at the beginning and end of the school day.

Class Teachers will always endeavour to make themselves available for parents to chat to after school.  This helps to build up a close relationship between home and school – we want to have good links with all parents.

If normal arrangements have to be altered (for example, you are delayed or another person is collecting your child), please let us know via the school office. This avoids any confusion or upset for our children.

Some of our children are allowed to walk to and from school by themselves and their parents will have signed an electronic permission form to allow this.

Travelling to and from School

Walking is definitely the best option for getting to and from school! There are many benefits: it’s healthier than travelling by car, it improves the safety of pedestrians and road-users, and it respects nearby residents and parking regulations. Alternatively, we have bike and scooter racks at school.

If you do need to travel by car, we are lucky enough to have been offered free parking for our families at the local Waitrose store.  We urge parents to make use of this kind offer as it avoids traffic congestion in the road immediately outside of our school.  Our front school carpark is only open to Blue Badge holders we are afraid, and so we ask all other vehicles users to please park considerately to our local residents.