Health and Welfare

Treating-head-lice – advice for parents and carers

Routine checks for head infestation (headlice) are no longer carried out. Advice and treatment may be obtained from your own doctor or local Health Centre. We do ask parents to check their child’s head regularly and to continue checking for at least a fortnight, if headlice are detected.

The school has signed up to the ‘Once a Week Take a Peek’ national campaign and will regularly send home letters should an outbreak occur.

The Once a Week Website can be accessed here: http://www.onceaweektakeapeek.com

Absence

Please telephone us on the first day of your child’s absence to let us know that your child is unwell. All absences must be notified by a phone call or written letter, as these must now be recorded on the child’s annual report.

For any dental or doctor appointments please send a written request the day before, as these dates are often at ‘odd’ times of the day and your child will not then be counted as absent. All children must apply for a “pupil pass” which permits them to be absent from school for a set period of the day. Children must also be collected from school for appointments during the school day. No child is allowed to leave the premises on his/her own.

Family Holidays

The Department for Education (DfE) has amended the regulations governing requests for holidays in term time. With effect from August 2024, the DfE and Local Authority states that Headteachers MAY NOT grant any holidays or leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The requests relating to exceptional circumstances are extremely rare. Headteachers must determine what are exceptional circumstances and the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted. The Attendance Advisory Practitioner checks the registers regularly.

Also, from August 2024, the DfE amended the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 so that each parent/carer who receives their first Penalty Notice for taking their child out of school during term time has to pay £80 within 21 days or £160 within 28 days. Please be aware, non-payment of penalty notices, may result in prosecution.

Emergency Telephone Contact

A reliable emergency telephone contact number must be provided for each child, in case your child feels unwell during the day. Also hospitals are often unwilling to administer treatment if the parent is not present or cannot be contacted. Please update information regarding home, work and emergency telephone contact numbers at the earliest opportunity.

Medicines in School

The school is not able to administer medication to a child. Please speak to the School Office for further information. If your child is asthmatic or on other long-term medication, please seek the advice of the School Office.

Jewellery

The wearing of all forms of jewellery, such as rings, bracelet and necklaces are not permitted. Children with pierced ears may wear a small, short stud. For reasons of safety, it is essential that no jewellery whatsoever is worn during PE and games lessons and Forest School. We cannot be responsible for the safekeeping of jewellery brought into school with or without the knowledge of parents.

Educational Visits

Various educational visits are arranged during the school year in connection with projects, topics and festivals. The 1988 Education Act does not allow schools to charge for school visits. Instead, we must ask you to support us by making a voluntary payment. Without your contribution, it may be necessary to cancel visits, although no individual child would be excluded solely on the inability of parents to pay. Please contact the Headteacher if you do have problems in funding a school visit.

Raising Concerns and Resolving Complaints

From time to time, parents and others connected with the school will become aware of matters which cause them concern. To encourage resolution of such situations, the Governing Body has adopted a “General Complaints Procedure”.

The procedure is devised with the intention that it will:

  • Usually be possible to resolve problems by informal means
  • Be simple to use and understand
  • Be non-adversarial
  • Provide confidentiality
  • Allow problems to be handled swiftly
  • Address all the points at issue
  • Inform future practice so that the problem is unlikely to recur.

Full details of the procedure may be obtained from the School Office or from the Clerk to the Governing Body.

Equal Opportunities

The school is committed to the general principle of equal opportunities for all pupils and adults, regardless of disability, ability, race or gender. Pupils of both sexes have equal access to the whole curriculum and we encourage every child to achieve his or her maximum potential.