Day To Day Routines

The School Day

900 a.m. - 12.00 mid-day (KS1)
9.00 a.m. - 12.15 p.m. (KS2)

Playtime: 10.35 a.m. - 10.50 a.m.

1.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.

The infants have an additional 15 minute afternoon break.

Arrivals and Departures:

Children may arrive at school from 8.45am to enter school at 9.00am; please do not leave your children before this time. The whistle will be blown at 8.55am in order to assist children coming into school and starting their learning promptly. Children will not be supervised on the playground until 8.45am and so should not be coming into school earlier unless accompanied by an adult. However, we do run a breakfast club to cater for children who need to be dropped off early. This club runs from 7.45am - 8.45am and costs £2.80 a session. This offers good value for money and children receive a hearty, well balanced breakfast and can undertake a range of activities prior to the start of the official school day. To book places, please contact the main school office.

If it is wet, children may come straight into classes from 8.45am - please do not send children into classes earlier as staff may not be in their classes to receive them.

If there are any problems with collecting children at the end of the day at 3.15pm or at the end of an after school club we ask parents to contact the school as soon as possible as there may not be anyone, out of school hours, to look after them.

If collecting children on foot, please be clear where you will meet your child. Older children may be met on the opposite side of the main road and will be safely seen across by our road crossing patrol. We recommend that you come into school to meet younger children.

Cars may only be driven onto the school site in the morning to drop children off onto the walkway. At the end of the day cars should be parked in the village hall car park. If it is necessary to drive onto the school site always drive very carefully and please do not park in the drive, which must be kept clear for emergency vehicles. There is limited visitor parking on site.

Please do not park in Southways or on the grass verges opposite the school. The local police have warned that cars that are parked illegally will be subject to fixed penalty notices.

There is a bus service for children who live in Langley and Chart Sutton areas. If you would like details of this service, please contact the School Office.

If your child is to go home from school with another parent or adult, or will be travelling home in a different way from normal, a written note or telephone call is necessary.

School Meals

School dinners are cooked on the premises. Mrs Cooper will be dealing with any queries relating to dinner money and can be contacted on 01622 843988 between 9.30am and 1.30pm. Payment for school meals must be made in advance on Mondays. The cost of a meal for pupils is £2.20 per day. Please make sure that cash is sent to school in a sealed envelope with details of the child's name and class and the amount enclosed. GS Plus now provide the school meal service and school meals can be paid for online at www.gsplus.org/kent/pay/.

A packed lunch may be brought from home in a container which the children are able to open themselves, but drinks should not be in glass or canned containers. In summer please ensure the lunch box/bag has a cool pack.

We ask for one week's notice when a child changes from packed lunch to school dinners or vice versa.

Absences and Punctuality

If a child is absent through ill health a telephone call is required on the first day of absence to be followed up with a note of explanation. Please keep your child at home if he/she is unwell as we do not have the staff or facilities for coping with sick children at school all day.

For other types of absence e.g. medical appointments/specific circumstances please contact the school by telephone to arrange.

We work very closely with the Educational Welfare Officer who makes regular visits to school to monitor attendance and support families in enabling children to attend regularly and make the most of the learning opportunities on offer.

It is our aim to promote good attendance and punctuality through celebrating good attendance with termly and yearly certificates as well as class based awards.

Whilst parents may wish to take children on holiday during term time, this is not recommended, and will only be authorised in specific circumstances after consideration of a child's previous attendance record. All requests of this nature should be discussed with the Headteacher.

School Journeys

These can only take place if there are enough voluntary contributions to cover the costs. A child cannot be prevented from going on a school trip solely because they have not made a contribution. If a parent has hardship difficulty we ask them to speak to the class teacher, so that a way can be found around the problem. Currently the PTFA has very generously offered to subsidise the cost of trips.

School Materials

A small charge is made for cookery and craft materials which the children take home.

Damage to School Property

Parents are required to pay for damage to school property caused by their child, where it is appropriate.

General Requests for Money

Individual photographs are taken in October and class photographs in June, but there is no obligation to purchase them.

There are occasional visits by theatre companies for which there is a small charge.

The Scholastic book fair is held at least twice a year in school. There is no obligation to buy books at this time.

The school takes part in a range of fund raising events to support school activities and other charities. The programme for this will be published with the yearly timetable shown on the News/What's On pages.

Voluntary contributions towards trips may be asked for during the year to help pay for transport to and entry fees to certain venues. No child will be excluded from such activities on the basis of ability to pay, however some trips may not be possible to achieve without these voluntary contributions. The PTFA supports many trips whenever the funding allows.

After School Clubs and Activities

We try and provide a wide range of extra curricular activities to enrich the children's experience with us. The sort of activities will vary depending on the age of the child and the season, some activities being more suited to summer months. Most clubs will be offered free of charge but parents may be asked for a voluntary contribution towards specialist clubs run by professional coaches or external teachers.

Please contact the school for further information on all clubs.

In addition to the clubs the school offers peripatetic music lessons in keyboard, piano and guitar. Please contact the school office for further details.

Medicines in School - Our Policy

Kent County Council has issued guidelines on the administration of medicines in school. We ask all parents to take note of the following details of our policy and to keep strictly to them in the interests of your child's safety and welfare.

1. Inhalers

Inhalers are commonly used by children with asthma and they may be needed regularly during the day, before exercise or when a child becomes wheezy.

To ensure easy access to their inhaler, and yet prevent improper use, inhalers must be labelled with the child's name and kept in the class teacher's desk drawer.

2. Bringing medicines to school

Only in exceptional circumstances will medicines be allowed in school.

Children must not carry medicine to and from school. Any medicine should be handed in to the School Office by the parent, who must also complete a consent form providing adequate written instructions stating the medication involved, circumstances under which it should be administered and frequency/levels of dosage. Without a signed and completed consent form, no medicine will be administered.

The smallest practicable dose should be brought into school with the pharmacist's label giving the child's name and dosage instructions. (A second dispensing bottle can be requested from the pharmacist for this purpose.)

3. First Aid treatment in school

Headache, toothache and earache will not normally be treated at school. The parent will be telephoned on the emergency contact number and asked to come to collect the child.

If a child has a medical condition which may require urgent treatment, outside the scope of simple First Aid, appropriate help will be summoned from the ambulance service/G.P if the parent cannot be contacted first.

4. Out of school activities

The class teacher will decide whether an out of school activity (trips etc.) is suitable for a child who arrives at school unwell, is taken ill at school, or has a recurring medical condition. (Any necessary medication will be carried by the class teacher if appropriate.) There may be occasions when individual children have to be excluded from an activity if appropriate safeguards cannot be guaranteed.