Welcome Back Letter

Dear parents and carers,

We hope that you have had an enjoyable summer break and that the children are all ready to return back to school. We are looking forward to welcoming them back and also meeting any children who are joining us for the first time. Please find some information below about the return to school for September. 

Nursery

Our Nursery children will return on Monday 4th September. Nursery children will need to arrive from 8.30am and can be picked up at the Nursery gate for 3pm at home time. 

Reception class

For parents of our new Reception class children, the children will be able to attend their half day sessions on Friday 1st September and Monday 4th September. Our Reception children will then start full time from Tuesday 5th September. If you have any questions about the children starting in Reception class, please contact the academy office. 

Morning Drop off

Our children in Years 1 – 6 will return to school on Friday 1st September. 

Our school gates will open at 8.30am on both sides of the school as normal and will close at 8.45am for morning registration. Any child that arrives after this time will need to be signed in by a parent or carer through the office. If a child is left unattended at the office after being dropped off late, parents will be phoned and asked to come into the office to sign them in.  We will be sending out more information about attendance and lateness in due course. 

Just a reminder that the Year 2 children need to go into school by the KS2 gate. 

End of day pick up

At the end of the day, all children (apart from Nursery) will need to be picked up at 3.15pm from both side gates please. Reception and Year 1 pupils will come out of the KS1/EYFS Gate. Year 2 pupils will come out of the KS2 gate. We will be opening two gates to ease the flow at home time for the KS2 side. 

PE days 

Children will still be able to wear their PE kit into school on their PE days (please see below). 

• Children should be wearing the PEPA yellow PE t-shirt and a navy or black tracksuit.
• Children should not be wearing glitter or sequined PE kit, as well as no big slogans. 
• Earrings are not to be worn on PE days. Parents are able to send their children in with tape over the ears if they cannot remove the earrings, or provide written permission for the Office staff to do so. If a child wears earrings with no tape, they will not be allowed to take part in the PE lesson, which would mean they are missing out on part of their required learning.

If teachers deem PE kits to be inappropriate, children and parents will be spoken to and children may have to change into their kit in school rather than attending school in their kit.

As the weather is now changing, can we please ask that the children bring a waterproof jacket/coat with them on PE days to ensure that we can make the most of the outside facilities. We believe it is important to get them outside as much as possible for their PE lessons, however, if the weather is really bad then please be assured that we will move the PE lesson indoors.

PE Days

Mr Paton is released from The Hundred of Hoo and will continue to work with us this year every Tuesday. This will mean that every Tuesday KS2 will have a PE lesson with Mr Paton. Year 4 will have PE together as a whole year group with Mr Paton.

Uniform expectations

All children from nursery to year 6 should be wearing the appropriate uniform as stated on our website. If there are any difficulties in obtaining any of the appropriate uniforms, please do approach a member of SLT so that we are able to advise or assist. If children do not wear appropriate school shoes, they will be asked to change into school plimsolls during the day and parents will be informed. 

As per our policy, please ensure that hair is neat and tidy. Long hair should be tied back (past shoulder length). If long hair is not tied back, pupils will be asked to tie their hair up and parents will be informed.  We expect moderate hair styles, no extreme cuts or colours such as shaven markings, skinhead. If in any doubt please ask a member of SLT.

With regards to jewellery, one pair of stud earrings and a wrist watch may be worn. Smart watches are banned due to safeguarding concerns and further information can be found on our website. Children will not be able to attend school if they have eyelash extensions, spray tans, acrylic or painted fingernails and will only be able to return to school once these are removed.

Pupils should have an appropriate coat in school. We endeavour to get our children outside on the playground as much as possible, and it is important that they have a waterproof jacket/coat to keep them warm and dry. 

Minibus

We will continue to pick up and drop off at the local bus stop in Stoke as we did last academic year. The first pick up is at 8.20am and the second pick up is at 8.35am and the office will inform you as to which bus your child will be on for both the pick up in the morning and for the journey at home time.

Co-curricular clubs

We will be writing to you next week in regards to signing the children up for any co-curricular clubs this term and the clubs will start from the week beginning Monday 11th September.

Breakfast and afterschool club 

Breakfast and afterschool club will resume from Friday 1st September and if you would like to sign your child/children up for a place to attend either of these then please contact the academy office as soon as possible. Both run from Monday to Friday each week.

For breakfast club, you can drop off your children from 7.45am each morning or before the start of the school day.  Food and drinks for the children will be provided.  Children will be able to complete a range of different activities in the morning and may also want to do some reading or look over their homework. We are happy to accommodate different weeks and days as required. You will be sent an invoice for payment at £4 per day.  If payment is not received within the requested timescale, then your child/children will no longer be able to attend.

Our after school club runs from 3pm-5.30pm Monday-Thursday, and 3pm-4.30pm on Friday. Children will be provided with drinks and snacks, including a sandwich/wrap as well as a range of activities. The cost will be £10 per full session per child and if they only stay for half the session then this will be charged at £6.50 per child. You will be invoiced for payment and if payment is not received within the requested timescale, then your child/children will no longer be able to attend. Children can be picked up at any time after 3pm until 5.30pm (4.30pm on Fridays) and do not need to stay the whole time.

Bromcom payment and My Child At School (MCAS) 

A reminder that we are no longer using Parentpay and payments for meals, trips, breakfast and after school club will now be on your MCAS app.

From the main app menu click on PEPA Online Payments.  This will then show the products that are available for you to purchase for your child.

Select the product that you wish to purchase (e.g. Breakfast club), clicking “more info” shows some basic information about the product, clicking add to basket adds the product to your basket.  Some higher cost products may be payable by instalments and this choice is shown if the option is available.

Once you have added products to your basket, you can checkout and follow the instructions to select your preferred payment method.

If you have any difficulties using this new system, please speak to a member of the office staff.

Please remember that all of our main communication, attendance, letters and your child’s end of year report will all be sent through the MCAS app so you will need to access this and download it on your mobile device. If you do not have this set up on your device, can you please speak to the staff in the academy office who will be able to assist you with this. 

Key stage 2 Break time snacks

In KS2, children will need to bring in a snack from home to eat in morning break time if they do not do this already. They are able to bring in fruit or vegetables and healthy snacks. Children will not be able to bring in chocolate, sweets, nuts or dairy products for their snacks. This is due to pupils and their allergies. If these are brought into school, then the children will be asked not to eat them and their class teacher will inform their parents. 

Senior Leadership team

A member of the Senior Leadership Team will be on the school gates every morning. We have an open door policy for you to come to speak to us, however there will be occasions where appointments will need to be made. Mrs Drogomirecki is our SENCO so please ensure all queries related to SEN are directed to her. We value hearing feedback from the community on how we can further develop the academy. 

Mrs Rimmer – Principal

Mrs Champ – Vice Principal

Miss Brading – Assistant Principal

Mrs Drogomirecki – SENCO and Assistant Principal 

There will be some further information coming out to you in the first few weeks back from Mrs Drogomirecki and other middle leaders so please watch out for these letters as well as dates for both terms 1 and 2 so that you have events such as Christmas Nativities well in advance. 

Kind regards,

Mrs L Rimmer