The School

The school is organised into three year groups – Reception, Year One and Year Two.  The children can start in Reception at the start of the school year (September) they will become five years old.

 

The school day is from 8:50am until 3:15pm.  We have a morning break at 10:35am and a lunch break from 12:00 until 1:15pm.  The teacher will open the classroom door at 8:50am and take the register at 9:00am.  A child will be marked late if they arrive after the register has closed.  You should collect your child from the classroom door at 3:15pm.

 

We share a secure and spacious site with Oakway Children’s Centre and Oakway Junior School.  The grounds are an asset with a large playground, a big playing field, a wooded nature area and a heated, indoor swimming pool.

 

Oakway is an extended school and we work in partnership with the Junior School to provide activities and services for families outside of the normal school day.

Snacks and Lunches

We encourage children to make healthy choices for snack and for lunch.  This is an important part of their education and can also improve their concentration, behaviour and energy levels.  There is a £1 charge for the week for a healthy snack which children will eat with their class before assembly.  Fruit and fresh water is available free of charge for all children.  Please do not send any snacks to school.

For lunchtime you can send your child with a packed lunch or choose a meal from Cygnet Catering that serve hot and cold food at the school. The menu choices and payment forms are available from the school office.  Free School Meals are provided for those families who receive specific benefits.  Please ask at the school office for more information.

If you send your child with a packed lunch we ask you follow our school food policy:

 

 

• Sandwiches, roll, pitta bread or wrap with a filling your child enjoys
• Salad, rice or pasta
• Fruit – aim for 5 a day!
• Yogurt
• A small cake or biscuit
• Drink

 

We do not allow fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate.

We reward children who make healthy choices for their lunch and also those who have a ‘green’ lunch box and reduce the amount of un-recyclable packaging they use.

Home:School Partnership

The partnership between home and school is very important.  We welcome all parents and carers to be actively involved and support their child in any way they can.  Children will bring home homework such as reading books and words to practise.  We hope you will share these activities with your child.

You are welcome to speak to your child’s class teacher about any issues but ask that you do this at the end of the school day as the morning can be very busy. 

We will also invite you to two parent:teacher meetings over the year where you can discuss your child’s progress.  You will also receive a detailed written report towards the end of the summer term.

Our home school liaison officer, Aggie Houghton, is available during and after the school day to meet with you if you have any concerns or need support with any aspect of being a parent. 

Our school nurse visits once a week so we are able to refer any medical concerns you may have.

We welcome volunteers to the school should you wish to help with any activities.  To help in the school you will need to have a CRB check completed at no cost to yourself.

Special Educational Needs

We have a very experienced group of staff who work with children who have special educational needs.  This team is led by the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO).  If we have any concerns about your child’s learning or development we refer them to Mrs Dickerson or Miss Munday. You are welcome to do the same and can contact them through the school office. 

If we feel your child requires extra support then we will write them an Individual Education Plan (IEP) with targets to support their learning and development and provide them with the additional help they need.  This will be reviewed regularly and you will be involved at every stage.

Oakway Children’s Centre

Oakway Children’s Centre is an important part of our school community and provides activities and services for families.  There is always a member of staff on hand who can help you with enquiries about childcare, job opportunities, adult learning etc.  Every time we run a course for adults we provide a FREE crèche. The Children’s Centre is open from 8am until 6pm for 50 weeks a year.

Attendance and Absences

We are very proactive in ensuring our pupils have attendance above 95%.  If your child is going to be absent please contact the school office to leave a message.

We follow a first-day response policy and will contact you if we do not know why your child is absent. 

If your child is regularly absent from school we will invite you to attend an attendance clinic appointment to discuss the reasons and set a target to improve it.  If there is no improvement we will contact the Education Welfare Officer to support us in ensuring your child attends regularly.

Late marks are counted as absences in the registers.  We see punctuality as very important as it ensures the children can make the most of their learning and settle into the school day.  Registers close at 9:00am, so if you arrive at school after this time you must take your child to the school office to be registered.  They will be marked as late.

We do provide lots of rewards and incentives for children who have good attendance.

 

Holidays

If you intend to take your child on holiday during the school term it is essential you complete a holiday form which is available from the school office.  A maximum of 10 days can be taken with authorisation from the head teacher.  We understand the pressures of the cost of holidays and believe that children can have valuable experiences during family holidays.  We do however, have the right to refuse permission and you could be subject to challenge by the Education Welfare Officers should you choose to take your child out of school without permission.

 

Parking

We take the safety of our children very seriously and include road safety in the curriculum.  We hope you will support us with this and ensure your child keeps to the paths and zebra crossings to and from school.  We encourage all children to walk to school where possible.

Please do not park your car on the yellow zig-zag lines outside of the school, across the school gates, in the turning circle or across our neighbours’ driveways.  The head teacher monitors the parking regularly and works in partnership with the Police to ensure nuisance drivers are punished. 

Only permitted cars are allowed to use the school car park.  If you have a disabled badge or have any other reason why you think you would be entitled to use the school car park, please contact the school office who will request a parking permit from the head teacher.

 

School Uniform

We do like all our children to wear school uniform.  This part of our security measures as well as encouraging the children to take pride in their school.  We have a school uniform shop on site which is open on a Tuesday and Thursday from 8:45 – 9:15am. Order forms are also available from the school office.

 

Lost Property

To minimise the amount of lost property we have, please ensure ALL your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their full name.  Children should not bring in items of any value to school.

 

Health and Safety

The school has a health and safety policy and a committee of staff and governors who make regular checks.  We liaise closely with the Fire and Police services.

It is our policy to insist that no jewellery other than small studs should be worn in school.  Children are not permitted to wear earrings during PE or swimming lessons.  It is your responsibility to ensure they are removed before the session.

 

Security

Security is very important to us.  We are pleased to welcome you to the school at any time but you must enter by the main entrance and sign the visitor’s book.  Regular visitors and volunteers must have a CRB check.

If your child is to be collected by another adult we ask that you contact the class teacher or the school office giving full details.  If you are unavoidably delayed in collecting your child please phone the school office.

Medication

Many children are well enough to attend school whilst needing to take regular prescribed medicine.  In such cases you should contact the school office to make arrangements regarding the administering of the medicine.  Medication will be given at the discretion of the head teacher and with the agreement of the member of staff administering it.  A consent form will need to be completed.

 

 

Active Learning

We believe valuable learning takes place outside of the classroom which is why we often take the learning outside.  There may be times when your child comes home a bit muddy or dirty but it is because they were having fun and learning outside the classroom and not sitting still filling in worksheets.

Also there may be times when your child comes home with wet clothes or paint marks on their uniform.  We do try to protect the children’s clothes but sometimes getting messy is part of the learning experience that we feel are important for all children.

We ask all parents to provide waterproof clothing and wellington boots.