Helping children be the best they can be Dear Parents, Governors and Children, OUR NEXT HOLIDAY BREAK

K UP TODAY We break for half term tonight, Friday 15th February at 3.30 p.m. and re-open on Monday 25th February at 8.45a.m. There are NO training days attached to this holiday. SCHOOL MEALS STATEMENT FROM METRO CATERING We thought it may be useful to update you on the response by Schools Catering to the on-going scare over horse meat entering the food chain. In brief, we wish to reassure you, your parents and your pupils of the quality of our meals. Over the years we have been carefully built up a well sourced and checked supply chain that focuses keenly on fresh local ingredients that come from reputable suppliers. In addition, our meals are almost exclusively cooked on site using raw produce and are certainly not the mass produced or highly manufactured meals as featured so heavily in the news at the moment. For information, below is a link to a news article Metro Catering has placed on the website. We would like to share this with parents so you can be confident that our meals are safe. http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/sections/educationandlearning/pupilandparentinformation/schoolmeals/index .aspx SCHOOL MEAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR NEXT TERM Please can we remind you that you will need to make a decision regarding your childs arrangements for the next half term, from when we return on Monday 25th February until Thursday 28th March when we break for Easter. It is not possible to swap and change within this period. The school needs to be informed of your childs preferences/or change of preference at the start of each half term. Money needs to be sent to the office in a named envelope preferably on Mondays but if this is not possible then by Friday of the week the meals were taken at the latest. If you feel you may be eligible for free school meals please contact DMBC at the Colonnades in Duke Street. Even if your child does not wish to eat a school meal it is helpful to school if you take up your eligibly as current government funding for schools is linked directly to the amount of children in receipt of free school meals. TOCKs AFTER SCHOOL CLUB YEARS 5 & 6 We have looked carefully at whether we can sustain the after school TOCKs club and have concluded that the club will finish for the current membership from February half term. Based on information collected the club will re-open for children who indicated that they still wish to attend until the Easter half term we will then review the success of the club and its membership again. If you responded to the questionnaire then your child will have received a letter indicating they have a place. There is a charge of 1.00 per week. LOST PROPERTY The School Council would like to inform parents about lost property. We have a large amount of clothing in our lost property so we would like you to come in and collect your childs belongings as soon as possible. It is helpful if property is named so it can be returned. If property is left uncollected, we will have to dispose of it.

MOBILE PHONES The school has a clear policy relating to mobile phones being brought to school by pupils. The main point it makes is that school will take no responsibility whatsoever for the safekeeping of any devices. There are no circumstances when a child would need to have a phone turned on at school. The school office is staffed from 7.45 until 4.45 every day so messages can easily be communicated if urgent. In line with our policy, if your child brings their phone to school it needs to be turned off and left in their bag out of sight. If children are seen with a mobile phone it will be confiscated and will then remain in the school office until it is collected by an adult. School will accept no responsibility for any phones damaged or stolen. A full copy of the policy is available on our school website. Thank you for your co-operation MEDICINE The school has a clear policy on the administration of medicines at school. Medicine will only be administered if it would prevent the child from attending school if it could not be administered during school time. The policy is based on recommendations from health professionals. Only medication prescribed by a doctor clearly labelled with the childs name and detailing that it needs administering four times a day will be given to a child at school. Medicine required 3 times daily can be managed outside school hours. There is a consent form which will need completing for any medication which is requested four times daily. A full copy of the administration of medicine policy is available on the school website GATE SUPERVISION We are supervising the gates at the Main Entrance and Stevens Road at the end of each day there are concerns regarding safety when children are allowed to run on ahead unaccompanied. It is important that when you collect your child from their classroom you supervise them until they leave the school premises - especially our younger children. If young children are seen leaving without an adult then they will be stopped and asked to wait at the gate until an accompanying adult arrives. NEW NOTICE BOARD As you will have noticed, we have a super new notice board at the main entrance of school, complete with a current newsletter on display and the menu for the week, as well as notices about different events in and around school. If you have any suggestions regarding what else you would like to see included on the notice board, please call in at the school office with your suggestions. Thank you. HOLIDAYS IN TERM TIME Please be aware that holidays in term time of up to 10 days can only be authorised when a holiday form has been completed. For a holiday in term time to be approved, your childs attendance must be 95% or higher. The Local Authority requires schools to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (fines) to parents if they take their children out of school on holidays that have not been authorised. If you would like to know what percentage attendance your child currently has, please contact Natalie Smith (Attendance Assistant). ABSENCE DUE TO ILLNESS Coming to school on time, every single day means that no important lessons are missed; therefore your child will have the greatest opportunity to learn. Regular attendance and punctuality are essential. Not only will they help your child to be successful, but they are also important lifelong skills. You can help by sending your child to school every single day unless they are really poorly. If your child is going to be away due to illness, it is important that you contact school to let us know as early as possible. Please support the school in its efforts to raise standards and improve attendance.