WELCOME
Dear Parents and Carers,
This handbook has been put together by your child’s year group to set out the routines, expectations and curriculum you and your child will experience in this year group. It tells you which days PE is on, details about homework….it is your one stop shop for essential information about your child’s year group.
We hope it gives you all the information you need to be confident in knowing what to do each day and how you help your child’s learning thrive.
It also tells you who is who in your child’s year group, so you know who to approach should you have any queries or questions.
Ms Thomas
SAFEGUARDING
St. Matthew’s Primary School is committed to creating a happy and safe environment for our children to learn.
This section will help you understand how we keep your children safe by telling you:
- How we identify possible harm
- What we must do to keep your child safe from harm
- What you must do as a parent to help your child be safe and enjoy school
CHILD PROTECTION
This is an important subject in which all staff receive training. Our priority is to work with you but there may be times when we have to involve other people.
Everybody has a responsibility to keep all children under the age of 18 safe. Harm is identified in four ways:
Neglect – This is when a child is not being taken care of by those caring for them. It can be poor hygiene, poor diet, not keeping appointments for additional support, not coming to school or being left home alone.
Emotional – This is when a child is made to feel frightened, worthless or unloved. It can be by shouting, using threats or making fun of someone. It can also be when children see their parents, or other adults fighting or using violence.
Physical – This is when a child is deliberately hurt or injured.
Sexual – This is when a child is influenced or forced to take part in a sexual activity. This can be a physical activity or non-physical, e.g. being made to look at inappropriate images.
SAFEGUARDING
St. Matthew’s Primary School is committed to creating a happy and safe environment for our children to learn.
This section will help you understand how we keep your children safe by telling you:
- How we identify possible harm
- What we must do to keep your child safe from harm
- What you must do as a parent to help your child be safe and enjoy school
USEFUL CONTACTS
Ms J. Thomas
Headteacher
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs V. Rayner
Deputy Headteacher
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Miss S. Gonsalves
Safeguarding Manager
ATTENDANCE
School attendance is an important issue for all schools. At St Matthew’s, attendance levels for most children are very good and contribute greatly to children doing well at school; for a minority, attendance levels need to improve.
As a school, we are required to work with parents to ensure children are in school for at least 97% of the time, which works out to an absolute maximum of 6 days of school a year. You will know how often your child is off school and whether their attendance could improve.
If children miss school on a regular basis their education suffers and how well they do is affected.
We are looking forward to improving our attendance rates even more this year and hope that we can rely on your support in getting your children to school every day.
At St Matthew’s Primary School, we believe that all children deserve the best education. In order for every child to achieve their full potential, it is very important that they attend school every day. We understand that on occasions your child may not be able to attend school due to illness, but on the days that they are well enough they must be in school.
We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing your children in school every day.
HEALTH AND MEDICINES
- Please inform us of any allergies or medical needs your child has
- We are only able to administer prescribed inhalers, long term prescribed medication and those connected to life threatening conditions. You must complete a medication form before we are able to administer any medication
- We are not able to administer antibiotics unless they are prescribed 4 times per day
- We are not able to administer any non-prescription medication, for example Calpol
- If your child has sickness or diarrhoea please keep them at home for 24 hours after the symptoms have ceased and remember to call us on 01582 723970 to report your child’s absence from school
- Headlice are sometimes found in school. Please consult a pharmacist for advice on appropriate treatment and please inform your child’s teacher. Children can return to school immediately after treatment. Doctors will prescribe headlice treatment if asked
Parents/carers are encouraged to make all medical appointments out of school hours.
LUNCH AND SNACKS
- We are a NUT FREE SCHOOL. NO NUT PRODUCTS are allowed in school, to protect children with serious allergies
- Children in Year 6 are given the option for a St Matthew’s school dinner or a packed lunch provided from home. All food is cooked freshly on the premises. Children eat their dinner in a relaxed, friendly environment around a table.
- Children receive a free piece of fruit each day as part of a government healthy eating initiative
KEY ADULTS
EAGLE CLASS
Miss Orchard
(Class teacher)
OAK CLASS
Mrs Ahmed
(Class teacher)
ORCHID CLASS
Mr Kirkpatrick
(Class teacher)
WOLF CLASS
Miss Khanom
(Class teacher)
SUPPORTING ADULTS
Miss Brown
Miss Brennan
Mrs Muumbo
Miss Jones
The Year 6 Team Leader is Mr Kirkpatrick.
P.E.
On their PE days, children should come into school wearing their PE kit. Our PE uniform is:
- Black shorts/leggings
- Plain white t-shirt (no designer logos or names)
- Trainers (any colour)
- Black/grey tracksuit or jogging bottoms and sweatshirt (no designer logos or names)
- No earrings
All items should be named to minimise losses.
Year 6 PE will place take place on the following days:
- EAGLE : Wednesday & Thursday
- ORCHID : Tuesday & Thursday
- OAK : Wednesday & Thursday
- WOLF : Tuesday & Thursday
HOMEWORK
In preparation for high school next year it is our expectation that children complete the homework that they are set on a weekly basis by their class teacher Homework in Year 6 will consist of three elements: reading, spelling and topic-related learning.
Reading – It is our expectation in Year 6 that your child reads at home with an adult on a minimum of three occasions, however daily reading is encouraged (and extremely beneficial for your child’s progress). It is expected that your child’s Reading Record is signed by an adult at least three times a week and children who complete this task will be given an additional house point to help them work towards special prizes that will be awarded throughout the year. When reading with your child, we encourage you to ask them questions about their books. These questions can be based around the plot of the story, the characters or even the language used within the book. If you feel unsure about the type of questions you can ask, there are some generic, example questions you can use within the centre of your child’s Reading Record or you can ask your child’s class teacher for more guidance. Once your child has completed their book, they can take an Accelerated Reading Quiz in school to test their knowledge and understanding of what they have read. This is a great way for the children to improve their comprehension skills and take some ownership of their reading progress.
Spelling – Each week your child will be given a list of 10 words (6 of which will be taken from the school’s Spelling Policy). Each week, these spellings will be either handed out as a paper copy, or uploaded to Google Classroom for you children to access as and when needed. If you feel that your child will not be able to access the spellings online, please ask your child’s teacher for a paper copy so that your child does not miss out on learning their weekly spellings. Spelling tests will take place each Friday and children who regularly score full marks on their tests will be awarded a special prize at the end of each half term. As mentioned above, the spellings will be taken from Spelling Policy which, in turn, have been taken from the Year 5 and 6 Spelling List. It is essential that your children learns these words and any spelling rules that accompany them.