Friars Information
Annual Report to Parents 2022
To read more about the achievements and successes across the curriculum in our Annual Report to Parents, please click on the link below.
Friars Annual Report to Parents 2022
Access to Documents
Parents have a right of access to certain documents created or held in the school. These are:
- The school prospectus
- Curriculum policy statements
- Statutory Curriculum Orders and Circulars
- Inspection reports on the school
- Details of complaints procedures
- Details of exclusion procedures
- Minutes of governors meeting (excluding confidential items)
- Newsletters
- Your child’s personal and academic record, paper and computerised.
Most of these documents are available on this website.
Accidental Injury
When a child is hurt with a scratch, minor cut or bruise, it will be dealt with in school We will send a brief letter home with your child, to tell you what the injury is, how it happened and what action has been taken. All open wounds are washed and covered with hypoallergenic dressing or plasters.
If a child receives a knock to the head, we always telephone parents irrespective of whether the injury is thought to be serious. Parents are always welcome to come into school to see their child in these circumstances, and to take them off to their GP or casualty for a check up if they feel it is warranted. The school will of course call an ambulance and notify parents immediately of a (or illness) requiring urgent medical attention. The school has trained first aiders.
Assemblies
Assemblies are a key part of the school day and provide opportunities to enhance the community life and atmosphere of the school and to promote children’s spiritual, social, moral and cultural development.
All pupils participate in daily assemblies that reinforce the school’s core values of compassion, creativity, endeavour, resilience, respect and responsibility, interspersed with assemblies that celebrate diversity, religious festivals around the world and specific significant dates (i.e. remembrance day). When appropriate we also link assemblies to our RE curriculum.
The weekly newsletter informs parents of the theme to be considered the following week and a termly overview for assemblies can be found by clicking on the link below. Our assemblies recognise and discuss all faiths, particularly at their festival times. We have many children of other faiths in school and respect and tolerance are at the heart of what we teach in assemblies.
The weekly structure for assemblies is as follows:
- Monday – Celebration assembly
- Tuesday – assemblies that relate to the weekly theme
- Wednesday – music and singing
- Thursday – Reading Buddies or Class Assembly (Spring Term)
- Friday – Inspirational texts
PE Kit
All classes have two sessions of PE each week. Children should wear navy or black, non baggy shorts or plain sports trousers and a white t-shirt. Football shirts, logos or overly patterned clothing are not permitted.
“Be Fit Be Fun Be Friars” t-shirts are available from the school office at a cost from £4.70. Children sometimes do not wear anything on their feet during indoor PE but must have pumps or trainers for outdoor PE. Children who are going swimming need to provide their own trunks or costume, hat and towel.
Code of Dress
Our school uniform consists of a red sweatshirt worn over a white shirt. Trousers or skirts should be black or grey. Summer dresses are red check. Year 6 pupils are given a black hooded sweatshirt.
Sweatshirts, polo shirts, fleece and waterproof coats with the Friars logo embroidered on can be bought at school. We also sell red hats for warm weather and cold weather, both embroidered with the Friars logo. You can buy red tops, red and white summer dresses, grey or black trousers and skirts that match the school uniform (without logos on) from most big clothing shops.
Uniform is sold at the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please make sure that all clothing including sweatshirts, shirts, hats and coats are clearly marked with your child’s name. Unlabelled clothes may be labelled by the school with a laundry marker pen. Shoes should be sensible and appropriate (and ideally black). Trainers can be worn if a child does not have school shoes.
Items of clothing that are not suitable for school:
- Football tops or any clothing with brand logos
- Jeans
- Open toed sandals, Jelly shoes, sling-backs, clogs, fashion shoes or boots with high heels (for safety reasons).
- Tracksuits
- Brightly coloured leggings/trousers/tracksuit bottoms etc.
Concerns and Complaints
The Education Reform Act 1998 sets out an established procedure for parents who find it necessary to make a formal complaint about the school. If you any have concerns or problems, you should first speak to your child’s class teacher. Please make an appointment to do this so the teacher can be sure to have enough time to deal fully with your concerns. If the matter is urgent, please make this clear to the office staff when you make the appointment. Everyone will do their best to make sure a meeting takes place as soon as is practicable.
- The vast majority of parents concerns are ironed out between the parents and the class teacher.
- However, if you are not satisfied after this meeting, you should then take the matter to the headteacher.
- If you remain dissatisfied after discussing the matter fully with the headteacher, and allowing time for appropriate follow-up action to take effect, your next step is to write to the Chair of Governors. A panel of governors would then consider the complaint. It is important that you do not try to speak to parent governors in the playground as the panel considering the complaint must not have prior knowledge of the matter from either side.
- If you feel your complaint still has not been adequately or fairly dealt with governors, you can then appeal to an independently chaired committee
Please do not discuss any problems with other children or their parents directly. Experience shows that this is apt to create many more problems than it solves. It is in any case inappropriate for an adult to speak on a difficult subject to someone else’s child. Please see the following policy for further guidance: Behaviour of parents, carers and visitors
Coming to school and going home arrangements
In the interests of pupil safety we have clear guidelines about coming to school and going home arrangements. It is essential that the rules are observed at both ends of the school day.
Coming to school (including attendance at breakfast club) at the beginning of the day:
EYFS/KS1 and Y3 must be brought into school by a recognised adult or a much older sibling. Y4 – 6 pupils can come to school on their own if parents have signed our hometime consent form (click here)
Going home (including from playcentre) at the end of the day:
EYFS/KS1 and Y3 children must be collected by a recognised adult or much older sibling. Y3 pupils are allowed to go home with a sibling in Y5 or Y6 if we have an up to date, signed hometime consent form. Y4 – Y6 pupils can only go home on their own if we have an up to date signed hometime consent form.
If a different adult is collecting a pupil from school other than those listed on our contact forms it is essential that a parent contacts the office to let us know beforehand. We will not release children to adults not listed on our contact forms and without consent from a parent.
Fruit and milk
Fruit or vegetables are supplied free to all children every school day.
Children under five can have a small carton of fresh milk each day free-of-charge. Children over five can also have milk but have to pay. The current cost is £8.00 a term, to be paid in advance. If you would like your child to have milk please speak to our office staff.
Homework
We set homework for all children from Nursery to Year 6. Our homework policy is to encourage children to work for a short time without assistance on areas of the curriculum, to develop their independence and their research skills, particularly in areas where parents may help with the revision of some of the basic skills .
The discipline of doing some work at home requires the support of parents. Homes can be distracting places, where family, television and computer games compete with the child’s needs to read or quietly.
We suggest that parents should their children in their learning by providing short but regular relaxed sessions when homework can be done. Children are provided with one homework book for all their subjects.
Download our current homework policy
Jewellery and other items brought in from home
Children are allowed to wear:
- small and sensible watches
Children are not allowed to wear:
- earrings (other than small studs),
- bracelets
- necklaces
- or rings in school.
There are safety risks if these items are worn. The school will not accept responsibility for lost belongings or for any injury sustained through wearing jewellery (including watches).
Also, unless asked to do so or unless given explicit permission by a teacher, children should not bring in items from home. This includes toys, trading cards, games and other items that are not to do with the children’s learning. The reason for this is so that personal belongings do not get lost, stolen, broken or become the cause of disagreements between children. As with jewellery, the school will not acceptability for lost, stolen or broken belongings.
Trips
Children go on trips as part of their work on the curriculum to see places of interest, exhibitions or museums. Many of these are free but some have a cost and for those we ask for a contribution from parents. Very occasionally it may be necessary to cancel a trip if not enough contributions are forthcoming.
We ask all parents for their consent before taking children out of school and you will receive detailed information about any planned trips involving your children. We always ensure that trips are well planned and we consider any risks and prioritise children’s safety before going on a trip. Children wear hi viz jackets and “emergency tags” with school contact details on should a child get separated from the group as a whole. We do sometimes get last minute invitations to visit shows and monuments through the various community groups and we always try to take advantage of these and will let parents know.
Parents are asked to take note of the limit on spending money children are allowed to take with them, the eating arrangements and the return to school time. All trips require parent helpers as we need one adult to every three children for the nursery, one to every 4 for the reception, one adult to 6 children for years 1 and 2 and one adult to ten children for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Parent helpers who act as escorts will have all their expenses paid. If you would be willing to help as a parent helper on a school trip, please let the class teacher know.
New building
In 2020 we opened our new building that adds additional facilities for the school including classrooms, an ICT suite, informal teaching areas, meeting rooms and offices and changing/showering facilities. These additional spaces are flexible in their usage and provide much needed space for art, DT, science, music and dance provision. As we only have one hall there are always timetabling issues for such provision. Also meetings are held more privately. In order to pay for these additional facilities, 8 residential flats were constructed above the new facilities and we partnered with Hambridge homes, a developer to take this work on. We were able to achieve this valuable addition to the school through our status as a Foundation school which means we own the land that the school is on.
In addition to the construction of the new facilities for the school, the project enabled a number of school improvement projects to enhance the environment of the school and the educational achievement and wellbeing of our children. These projects include:
- Substantial improvements, refurbishments and rebuilding of the main school play areas. This was completed in 2018
- Significant investment and upgrading of the school’s IT infrastructure including tablet access for all pupils. This was completed in 2020.
- The following two prioroties were delayed because of COVID but remain a piece of work that began in 2021:
- Extensive reconfiguration of the school’s reception area and administration offices to improve safety, security and communication.
- Extensive renewal of the Early Years play space and internal facilities in the Nursery classrooms.
Please CLICK HERE to see presentation slides. We also have an animation of the proposed project, which can be viewed below:
Parents and Partners
The school is committed to parental involvement that supports the progress of children. Parents meetings are arranged to explain or highlight specific parts of the curriculum or any changes in the work of the school.