Welcome to Primary School 2020-2021

School Lane, Rockland St Mary, , NR14 7EU

Tel: 01508 538345

Executive Head Teacher: Mrs Julia Humphrey

Head of School: Mrs Helen Norris

Email: [email protected]

Rockland St Mary Primary School is proud to be part of the Sapientia Education Trust which we joined in September 2017.

‘The Sapientia Education Trust was established in 2016 with the purpose of bringing like-minded schools together to work in partnership to deliver the highest standards of education to young people in and Suffolk. The term Sapientia comes from the logo of the founding school, College and means wisdom.’

We have three class bases; Maple class teaches Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 and they have a dedicated outside play area. Years 3 and 4 are in our Oaks Class and Redwood class is where you can find Year 5 and Year 6.

The children have use of the playing field and playground during break times and for PE lessons. We make full use of our outside area for curriculum work and have now established our Outdoor Learning classes for which we have set aside a designated area of our playing field.

The Margaret Mack Room adjacent to the school is used daily for breakfast club, assemblies, physical education, lunch and after schools clubs.

We are proud to have a nurture and intervention hub, known as the ‘Nurture Nest’ where children have the opportunity to develop their social and emotional skills outside of the usual classroom environment.

We believe that the stages of development between age 4 and 11 are precious and it is our task to harness the natural interest and enthusiasm of each child to build the foundations upon which academic and social life can continue.

‘A place where your child can flourish and grow’

Starting School in September

Your child will start school on Monday 7th September 2020. Initially they will come in from 8.50am to 1pm on 7th, 8th and 9th September and then from 10th September they will join us on a full time basis. As your child will be staying for lunch, please let us know if your child would like to have a school hot lunch, a school packed lunch or whether they will be bringing in their own packed lunch. Currently, children in Reception and years 1 & 2 are entitled to free school meals.

If you feel your child is not ready for this and needs a more gradual introduction, please talk to the class teacher. We want everyone to have the best possible start to their school life. The legal requirement is that children are in full time education in the term after they turn 5 years old.

Daily Routines

Our school day begins at 8.50am. Children in Maple Class should be taken to the back door of the classroom. If your child wishes to bring in a packed lunch from home this can be left on the trolley in the playground.

During the morning we have snack time and we provide fruit for the children. Children under the age of 5 will also receive a drink of milk at snack time.

Children will have a morning break at 10.45 to 11.00am.

Lunch break is from 12 noon to 1pm. Children will be taken to the Margaret Mack Room for their meal and then they can spend the rest of the lunch break on the field and playground.

School finishes at 3.15pm when parents/carers collect their child from the back door of Maple Class. Children will only be released once a parent/carer/other authorised adult has been identified by the class teacher. If you cannot pick your child up for any reason, please ensure that you notify the class teacher or school office and advise who will be collecting your child, preferably in writing where possible. Without prior permission we will be unable to release your child to an alternative adult for safeguarding reasons. A form is attached which will enable you to list all of those adults who have authorisation from yourselves to collect your child.

Parental Contact Information

It is important that we hold at least two emergency contact numbers for parents/carers, eg your work number, mobile number and the number of at least one relative or friend. Due to the new GDPR regulations, please ensure that you have permission from any friend/relative that you list as an emergency contact, to enable us to hold their details on file (please refer to our Privacy Notice on the School website). Please ensure that we are informed if any contact/number changes so that we can update our records.

Email Consent

Communication by email is preferred as it is quicker and more cost effective. We will email reminders, messages and updates and endeavour to only send home paper copies if a reply is required.

If you ever require a paper copy of a specific letter, please do not hesitate to contact the school office and we will send a copy home with your child.

School Lunch

All children in Reception, year 1 and year 2 are currently entitled to free school meals. As we do not have a kitchen on site, meals need to be booked in advance (currently booked by the end of the previous term) using the online Wisepay booking system. We offer the option of a hot meal, vegetarian hot meal, jacket potato or school packed lunch.

If you prefer you are welcome to send a packed lunch from home, or you can choose a mixture of home packed lunches and school meals.

Free School Meals Entitlement under the Pupil Premium Grant

If you are in receipt of certain benefits, your child may qualify for pupil premium status. This entitles the child to free school meals, regardless of their age or school year.

A form is enclosed which should be completed and returned to the school office. Please be assured that any application will be treated in confidence.

Although your child is entitled to the Universal Free School Meals for children in Reception to year 2, please complete the form as this has benefits other than for free school meals, such as assistance with breakfast club or music lessons.

Information Sources

The school office is staffed between 8.15am and 3.45pm term time only. We are always happy to hear from you so please feel free to ring, email or visit in person if you have any questions, concerns or updates.

Newsletters are issued regularly to keep you updated with important information and events.

Most letters to parents will be sent via email, unless we require a reply, in which case a hard copy will be sent home with your child. We hold a file of ‘letters to parents’ in the reception area near the office, if you wish to look up any previous communication.

We have a Twitter link: Twitter:@RocklandSurlin1

Our website can be found at https://rocklandsurlingham.org.uk/

Forms for Completion and Return to School

We have a number of forms which will require your completion, which can be found at the back of this information pack:-

Email Consent Form E Safety Agreement Form Photograph Consent Form Regular Offsite Visits Consent Child Pick Up Arrangements Free School Meal Application Form

School Admissions form (please complete so that we hold your details on file)

What does my child need to bring to school?

In Maple Class children are given a mid-morning fruit snack so children do not need to bring a snack to school. Children are encouraged to bring a bottle of water to drink during the day. Children up to the age of five are entitled to a carton of milk, which is given at snack time. After the age of five, parents can opt to purchase a milk drink through our Cool Milk Scheme.

Little Accidents!

Whilst we expect your child to be able to manage the toilet unaided, we also expect the odd accident. It would therefore be helpful if your child has a spare set of clothing left on their peg.

Toys

We do not encourage children to bring toys to school, however, when first starting school something special to cuddle sometimes helps.

Money at School

Children will not require money at school.

Payments to School

Any money required for trips, dinner money, music lessons, etc, should be put in a sealed envelope and taken to the school office. Cheques should be made payable to Rockland St Mary Primary School.

Payments can now also be made by BACS: Sort Code 60-24-52 Account No 15904741 Nat West – please ensure you always put a reference that can easily identify your payment by using your surname.

School Uniform

Our school uniform is available to order from Stevensons in Norwich. Links to their site can be found on our school website. The basic uniform is:-

Royal blue school polo shirt Royal blue school sweatshirt or cardigan with logo Grey or black skirt, pinafore dress, shorts or trousers Black shoes/trainers – no open toe sandals for safety reasons Plain blue, black, grey or white tights or socks Blue and white checked dress

PE Kit

PE kits should be stored in a named bag and kept on the school peg during the week. Please take home at weekends and holidays for washing. Our basic kit is:-

Plain t-shirt Black shorts Plimsolls (indoor use) and trainers (outside use) Tracksuit bottoms for use in cold weather

At Stevensons they will embroider our school logo, shown below, on to the tops.

Outdoor Clothing

Please ensure your child has appropriate clothing for the weather. This would be suitable outdoor coat during the colder months and a sun hat and sun cream during the warmer months. We are unable to administer sun cream to children so please put this on your child prior to school. If you wish to leave sun cream in your child’s bag they can administer it themselves if necessary. Children will also need a pair of welly boots/outside trainers that can be left at school for use on the playing field during wet weather.

Hair and Jewellery

If hair is longer than shoulder length it should be tied back, please ensure a spare hair band is kept in your child’s school bag, if appropriate.

If your child wears earrings, these will need to be removed during PE lessons or covered with tape, to avoid accidents. Please do not send your child to school wearing hoop earrings for health and safety reasons.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT ALL ITEMS OF CLOTHING ARE CLEARLY LABELLED WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME

For children just starting school, we appreciate that they may find it difficult to recognise their names. Therefore, we feel that an excellent way for them to identify their own items of clothing would be to sew a recognisable and distinctive button on to the inside label. If you purchase a set of identical buttons and sew these into your child’s clothing this will enable both child and staff to re-home stray items in the classroom.

Road Safety

Children are encouraged to walk or cycle to school. If you travel by car, please park at the Black Horse Dyke car park next to the Parish Room on the main street and then walk down School Lane to school as there are no parking facilities outside the school. This helps to make School Lane a safer environment for children while travelling to and from school. Please note that the church car park is privately owned and should not be used for parking whilst visiting the school.

Absence and Attendance

If your child is ill and unable to attend school, please ensure you inform the school office by 8.50am. If using the telephone answering service, please ensure you give a full explanation of the absence.

If a child has sickness and/or diarrhoea they should be absent from school for a period of 48 hours to ensure they are clear of the illness prior to their return to school.

Please update us on a daily basis if your child’s absence extends beyond one day.

If your child is absent from school for any other reason other than illness, you will be required to complete a Pupil Leave of Absence form, available from the office.

In cases of illness, any prescribed medication that needs to be administered to your child following their return to school must be clearly labelled in the original packaging and taken to the school office. All medications kept at school will need a signed permission form from parents to allow staff to administer the medication to your child.

To enable a child to reach their full potential at school, a high level of at least 95% attendance is essential. Attendance is monitored monthly and any child falling below the 95% target will be highlighted and parents will be contacted to discuss the situation.

Medication at School

If your child needs any prescribed medication such as inhalers or epi pens, these should be kept in a suitable container and left in the school office for emergency use. Following an illness, the same applies to any prescribe antibiotics which will need to be taken to the school office where staff will administer as authorised by parents/carers. An authorisation form must be completed by the parent/carer to allow school staff to administer any prescribed medication to your child. Unfortunately, we are unable to give over the counter medications such as Calpol to your child. If these are necessary, you are welcome to come in to the school and administer these to your child as and when required.

Accidents at School

Should a child have an accident or become ill at school, if we feel it is a serious issue parents will be notified immediately. If we are unable to contact parents immediately, your child will be cared for at school until we can contact one of your named emergency contacts. Therefore, please provide at least two emergency contacts, other than yourself.

In cases of serious illness or injury the child will be taken to hospital or the local doctor’s surgery, if necessary. We will continue to try and make contact with parents/carers and leave messages regarding the incident.

All accidents and injuries are recorded on an accident form and your child will be given a badge to alert parents to the injury. In the case of head injuries, parents will be notified at the time so that the child can be taken for medical treatment if required.

Emergency School Closure

If the school is closed unexpectedly, ie adverse weather conditions, information will be broadcast on local radio or you can visit www.schools.norfolk.gov.uk and select Emergency School Closure. This list will be updated regularly.

Breakfast Club

We run a daily breakfast club from 7.45am to 8.50am in the Margaret Mack Room. Places should be booked and paid for in advance using the Wisepay booking system. Once booked, we can only give refunds in cases of illness.

Sessions cost £4 for the first child and £2 for siblings for a full session, including breakfast. Half sessions are available from 8.15am which do not include breakfast and cost £2.50 per child, £1.25 for siblings.

After School Clubs

We have a number of after schools clubs currently which are subject to change on a termly basis as they are dependent on attendance figures so cannot be guaranteed, but at the moment we are offering:-

Archery on Mondays (years 3 to 6)

Aem Hai Martial Arts on Tuesdays which is held at Primary School

Multi-Sports on Thursdays (years 1 to 6)

Clubs cost approximately £3 per child per week payable direct to the club leaders.

Poringland Xtratime offer after school child care and can be contacted on 01508 492947 or 07587 154725, email [email protected]. They also provide a service where they can collect your child from school.

FORMS (FRIENDS OF ROCKLAND ST MARY PRIMARY SCHOOL)

Our parent fund raising group is a highly valued and important part of the school. Funds raised by the group are used to purchase resources and treats for the children throughout the year. Examples of the way the money is spent are as follows:-

Coach travel for the year 5 and 6 residential held in the Summer

Entertainment and snacks for the end of year disco for all children

Small Christmas gift to each child

Leavers gift for each year 6 child

Class resources, such as ipads, books or cameras

Coach travel for Christmas trip to a pantomime or similar event

In 2018, FORMS very kindly funded a whole school trip to the Hippodrome Circus which was a very special treat for all the children. They had a fantastic day out and it was an opportunity for some children to experience something different.

These are just a few examples of the way the FORMS donations are used in the school. Funds are raised throughout the year through cake sales, Christmas fayre, sports day and raffles.

Our main fund raiser is the annual school fete. This is our biggest and main fundraising event of the year and is extremely popular.

Generally, on the last Friday of each month, FORMS hold a Community Café at the Parish Rooms on the main street in Rockland. This is open throughout the day for local residents/visitors to pop in for a bite to eat and a chat. In order to run the café, FORMS ask parents to bake/purchase cake/biscuit donations. Children are their families are welcome to visit the café on their way home from school.

FORMS are always looking for new members so please introduce yourself and get involved if you can. Feel free to come along to their meetings to share fund raising ideas. The more members they have, the more fundraising ideas will be available. You may also bring along skills and knowledge that are valuable to the group and you may even wish to take on a more proactive role in helping to run FORMS.

NURTURE NEST

Our Nurture Nest is a place where children are encouraged to develop their social, emotional and mental health wellbeing outside of the classroom. The Nest is open to all our children and provides a quiet place to allow them to reflect on issues either inside or outside of school. They can work in small groups if they wish or alternatively our Nurture Lead is always available for them to speak on a one to one, confidential basis.

Our gardening group has been working hard throughout the year to create the beautiful garden seen outside the Nest. They are currently working on a vegetable garden.

The nest has been furnished specifically to make it a relaxing, peaceful environment for the children.

A peaceful haven for children to relax and learn outside of the classroom

OUTDOOR LEARNING

As part of our curriculum, we now have an established outdoor learning class where children have the opportunity to explore and learn about their local outdoor environment.

We have a dedicated area of the playing field which is used as the base for this session. Children explore and learn about the creatures, features and plant life living on their doorstep and the surrounding areas. Where possible, these sessions will always be taught outside so suitable outdoor clothing will be required during the winter months.

Fun in the mud kitchen!

SCHOOL TRIPS

At Rockland Primary School we understand and value the importance of school trips to enhance your child’s learning experiences. Maple have visited many places in recent months, including the Hippodrome Circus, Observatory, , Highball Climbing and sporting competitions.

As you will appreciate, trips come at a cost and whilst we endeavour to keep these to a minimum we are reliant on parental support to cover these costs. On occasion, some of our trips are funded by our Sports Premium grant such as our Highball Climbing sessions when Maple class had the opportunity to learn to climb in a safe and secure environment over a five week period and the only contribution required by parents was a small donation to cover the travel costs.

Of course, we also understand that at times we find ourselves stretched financially. If any parent finds themselves in such a position please contact the school office where a payment plan can be organised.

Maple Class exploring

Amazona Zoo

SCHOOL STAFF

Head Teacher Mrs Julia Humphrey

Head of School Mrs Helen Norris

Maple Class Teacher Mrs Zoe Marsden

Oaks Class Teachers Mrs Jennifer Howes

Redwood Class Teacher Mrs E McCarthy/Mrs L Sinclair

Teaching Assistants Mrs Jo Carter

Mrs Yvette Bell

Secretary Mrs Julie Brown

SENDCo Mrs Helen Norris

Nurture & Intervention Mrs Kirsty Lane

Midday Supervisors Mrs Yvette Bell

Miss E Galter

Breakfast Club Mrs Yvette Bell

Mrs Jo Carter

Cook Miss Lynsey Dye

Kitchen Assistant Miss Emma Galter

Caretaker/Cleaner Mr Stephen Gildersleeve

Rockland St Mary Primary School

SCHOOL GOVERNORS

We have a panel of school governors as follows:-

Chair of Governors Mrs Louise Cornell

Vice Chair Ms S Wollerton

Co-opted Governor Mr Ernie Green

Mr N Steven-Jones

Mrs N Green

Mrs L Linford

Parent Governor Mrs Anna Harvey

Staff Governor Mrs Helen Norris

Mrs Julie Brown

Clerk Alleisha Dixon