Key Information for Parents

Total hours: 32.5 hours per week

We try to keep our school uniform as cheap and easy to buy as possible.

Required uniform

• Red jumper, cardigan or fleece
• White shirts or polo shirts
• Black or grey trousers or skirts
• Black shoes / all black trainers (no sports logos)

Optional uniform

• Croft logo items – these can be purchased here
• Red checked summer dress
• Wellies for Forest School

PE Kit

• Black shorts
• Black jogging bottoms
• White t-shirt (no sports shirts or logos)

At Croft we will always welcome our parents/carers and friends to be a part of our community; our Croft family. As part of that community we like to keep our community informed and keep in touch with them.

At Croft we keep in touch in many ways but the main source of information between teacher and child’s parent will be via ‘Class Dojo’ an online platform which allows us to send posts, letter, photos and evidence of your child’s achievements to you. On joining Croft you will be given a link to activate Class Dojo where you then have your own account and be able to contact your child’s class teacher and members of the Senior Leadership team.

As part of Class Dojo, you can also monitor your child’s rewards and sanctions which will come as an email to your account if they are given.

Our school website has lots of further information for example: list of policies, uniform requirements, term dates and your child’s year groups pages for information about the curriculum they will be learning.

Contact details and permissions

Please make sure you have given all contact details and permissions to our office when you join us at Croft.

• In case of emergency or needing to talk to a child’s family, we will use the contact details you have given to us in the order you have given them to contact someone.
• If your circumstances or details change, please make sure you let our office know as soon as you can on 01455 282643.

Who to contact?

Penalty Notice Update For Parents

What are my responsibilities for my child’s attendance?

As a parent, you are legally responsible for making sure your child gets a suitable full-time education, usually from the age of 5 to 16. For most parents, this will mean making sure your child is in school every day except when:

• Your child is too ill to go to school.
• You have permission for a leave of absence from your child’s school for them not to attend. You should only ask for this in exceptional circumstances.
• Your religious body has a day especially for religious observance.

There are also some other circumstances for example where:

• Your local council is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.

If my child needs to be absent from school, what do I need to do?

You should contact the school office on 01455 282643 as early as possible on the first day of absence to explain why (you can leave a message via our answer phone). If you do not, we will contact you on the first morning of their absence to find out why your child is not in school. We ask that you continue to let us know about their absence so that we can continue to support both you and your child.

My child has a short-term illness. Do they have to go to school, and will I be penalised if they don’t?

If your child is ill, read the NHS advice (online) to help you decide whether they can go to school. If they are too ill to attend, you are not breaking the law and will not be penalised. You should let the school know as soon as possible on the first day of absence and schools must record such absences as authorised. If the absence due to illness is ongoing or frequent you should speak to child’s school to see what support can be put in place.

Do I need to provide medical evidence to support my child’s illness related absence?

If your child is too ill to attend school, schools must record these absences as authorised. In the majority of cases medical evidence is not needed, but we may ask you for evidence where:

• Your child is regularly absent because of illness, to assess how we can help your child by putting the right reasonable adjustments in place.
• In a small number of cases where we have reason to believe your child was not too ill to attend and a conversation cannot resolve the issue.

If you are asked to provide evidence this does not need to be a letter from your doctor or consultant, and doctors will not usually provide such letters. It can, instead, be appointment cards, prescriptions, or notes of previous consultations (including from the NHS app).

Leave of absence

• Only exceptional circumstances warrant a leave of absence. We consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request. This includes the child’s current and past attendance figures and trends of previous holidays or other absence across the school academic year.
• If a leave of absence is granted, it is for the Headteacher to determine the length of the time the pupil can be away from school. We will notify you, via a letter, whether your request has been approved. If it has not been approved as an ‘exceptional circumstance’, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. This could also entail a penalty notice (a fine) or prosecution being issued.
• The Headteacher will only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.

Punctuality

• Not only is it important to come to school every day, but it is equally important to make sure your child arrives on time. Learning starts promptly after registration at 8:45am.
• If your child is 5 minutes late every day for a year this will add up to over 3 days of lost learning. If your child is 15 minutes late every day for a year this will add up to 2 weeks of lost learning! The school monitors and tracks children’s punctuality daily.

We are now a cashless school and ParentPay is our secure online income collection and management service. ParentPay allows you to make payments to school using your debit/credit card or by bank transfer. You could also pay in cash using a ParentPay top-up card or barcode at your local PayPoint outlets. You can make payments for school meals, trips, after school clubs and other items.

When your child joins Croft, you will be given ParentPay log in details. Once you have activated your account and set up a payment method you can pay for items quickly and easily using the ParentPay app or the website. This is completely secure. You are able to set up your account with low balance alerts as well as an auto top-up feature.

We do ask that parents keep their school meals account in credit at all times if your child has school meals on regular basis.

Mrs Barker in our school office can deal with any ParentPay issues / queries. You can make contact through Class Dojo, by phoning the office or via email admin@croft.embracemat.org

Children should not be given medicine from home to administer by themselves

1. If your child requires medication which needs to be taken during the day, we ask that you endeavour to make arrangements to do this yourself or by a nominated person. If you are unable to and are experiencing real difficulty doing this, please come to the office to see if a staff member would be willing to administer the medicine on your behalf.
2. To administer any medication at school, you will need to complete and sign the relevant form, giving your permission for a staff member to administer the medicine.
3. If your child has been given an inhaler or medication form to bring home for you to complete, please ensure you return it promptly.
4. Please let us know of any updates regarding your child’s health throughout the year

Please note: following NHS recommendations, children must not return to school until 48 hours has passed since the last episode of vomiting and or diarrhoea.

We would recommend the following healthy options for snacks and lunchboxes:

• Free piece of fruit in KS1 at morning break time
• Healthy snack for morning break – fruit is often available for the older children
• Full water bottle each day

No cycles or scooters should be used on school grounds: you will be politely asked to dismount if you do.

Car Parking – the staff car park is in constant use by vehicles so please ensure you use the footpaths where possible. Please be courteous and mindful of our neighbours at all times when parking by not blocking driveways or parking on pavements

Animals – no dogs or other animals (even if carried) are permitted on site, with the exception of guide dogs.