General Information for parents: PLEASE READ
12th September 2011
Dear Parent/Carer
IMPORTANT - Your child’s Information
I hope you all enjoyed the summer holidays and are back in your routines!
At the start of every academic year we ask that you ensure that we have the latest information about you and your child. It is extremely important that we can contact you in an emergency and we also by law have to inform you about the types of data that the school holds and therefore there is some information attached from the council to explain this.
As a reminder to how we can support you at Parkhead we have included some useful information in this letter about our school’s procedures as well as information about other services that we can direct you to.
Contact Information
It is very important that we have up to date information about you, your child and your family so that in the event of illness, an accident or any emergency we can contact you quickly. You will find enclosed with this letter the information that we currently hold on file for you and your child. Please amend this if there are any changes and return it to the school office. Forms are available on our website or from the school office. The government conducts a census every October and we are asked to collect additional information now such as first language and ethnicity and we ask you return the attached form to school by the end of next week so we can update our records.
From time to time we go out of the school grounds to visit local amenities such as the church and library. The contact information form asks you to sign to say you agree to local walking visits so we do not need to ask your permission for short visits such as these all the time. Please note the children in KS1 and KS2 are visiting the local library in the next few weeks and if you do not want your child to attend please speak to their class teacher.
The School Office
The main contact at the school office is Claire Hunter and Michelle Lane. The office is situated at the front of the Key Stage 2 building. Michelle and Claire can help you with the contact forms, dinner money, school visit information, after school clubs and any general query you may have. School visits are an important part of school life and we do ask for voluntary contributions throughout the year to support some of the exciting trips that we offer to the children. Please remember that this is voluntary and we need your authorisation for your child to go on the visit so it is important that you do return the visit slip promptly with a signature for health and safety reasons.
We have 10 members of staff trained in paediatric first aid so we have plenty of support around the school as well as for visits that your child attends. The designated contact in the school office is Mrs Hunter. Mrs Hunter has been trained in all issues surrounding medical legislation and first aid and is responsible for those around school. To ensure we offer the highest level of care it is important that you fill in the health care plan that is included in this pack to ensure we know about any medical conditions or allergies etc. that your child may have Mrs Hunter is particularly clear about, asthma, diabetes and epilepsy and can discuss any medical issues with you should you wish to. Please remember we will only administer medicines to children when you have signed a consent form so it is imperative you come in to the office and sign a medical form should you wish us to administer new medicines. If your child has to attend a dentist or doctor appointments please ensure that the appointment card is shown to the school office and children must be collected and dropped off by a named adult from the Key Stage 2 office and signed out by them.
School Uniform
Our school uniform is red and either a school jumper or cardigan with the school logo on can be purchased from the school office. Polo shirts are white and can be purchased from school with the logo on or from any other retail shop. School trousers and skirts are grey and we ask children wear sensible shoes (not trainers). Claire and Michelle are responsible for school uniform and they place orders on a Wednesday each week.
School Lunches
Our school lunches are very healthy and meet all the government nutritional guidelines. Every day there is a selection of hot and cold choices including vegetarian choices, sandwiches and baked potatoes. We strongly encourage children to eat school meals and dinner money can be paid weekly, monthly or termly to the school office or to your child’s class teacher. There is an envelope enclosed in this pack and you can pick up envelopes from the school office at any time. School meals are £1.90 a day or £9.50 per week. If you choose to provide your child with a packed lunch we ask that you do not include chocolate bars or fizzy drinks. Our school has passed the healthy schools award and it forms part of our whole school food policy. The school office need to know each term whether your child is taking school meals or packed lunch so the kitchen can plan their menus unfortunately we cannot switch children between the two choices each term due to this. All children in Foundation Stage get piece of fruit and milk under the schools milk and fruit scheme. Please indicate your child’s lunch choice for the term on the tear off slip below.
Extended Services
At Parkhead we offer a range of Breakfast and ‘After school clubs’ which offer a variety of activities with school staff and external coaches available to all children from aged 3 upwards. The clubs operate between 7.45am and 9am every morning and between 3.20pm and 6pm every evening. There is a charging system for the clubs for different times and further information can be obtained from the breakfast club and after school staff. Please make your bookings my speaking to the staff directly or by leaving a message on the 0191 433 5618 option 2.
Children should be dropped off and picked up at clubs and parents are required to sign their children in and out. The club entrance is now at the KS2 hall fire doors adjacent to the cycle shelter off the KS2 yard. There is a bell to gain access. (Exception Tuesday after school club is KS1 hall fire exit doors).
Communication
We are very keen at Parkhead to use ICT wherever possible and we encourage parents to communicate by email and text messaging with us wherever they can. You can ask Claire or Michelle in the office to put you on the mailing list for all school letters and our text messaging service and email if you prefer. We try to put as much information and photos on our school website as we can so please visit us at www.parkheadprimary.org to see the latest news and activities. We do however send letters home regularly and newsletters once a week. There are new notice boards going up on the main fencing outside the school in the next few weeks.
Parking
To ensure we keep the school safe we ask you not to park outside the school when dropping off and picking up children. Winlaton Rugby club offer free parking just around the corner so we encourage you to please use it.
Parent Volunteers
We operate a school parliament and have many parent volunteers who represent the voice of parents alongside the children’s voice. Parent volunteers offer us vital support during seasonal activities and provide excellent fundraising opportunities. We are always looking for parent volunteers particularly to help with our reading schemes. If you are interested please contact myself at any time and I will be able to explain a little more about what is involved.
As always, if you would like to contact me about any issue at all then please do not hesitate to do so.
Yours sincerely
Mandy Wilson
Head of Business and Strategy
Lunch choice for term commencing 12th September 2011
To help us plan appropriately please tick your meal choice for next half term:
Childs Name: __________________ Class: _______
Packed Lunch ______ School Meal ______
Please return to the school office asap.
Privacy Notice - Data Protection Act 1998
We Parkhead Primary are a data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect information from you and may receive information about you from your previous school and the Learning Records Service. We hold this personal data and use it to:
• Support your teaching and learning;
• Monitor and report on your progress;
• Provide appropriate pastoral care, and
• Assess how well your school is doing.
This information includes your contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information and personal characteristics such as your ethnic group, any special educational needs and relevant medical information. If you are enrolling for post 14 qualifications we will be provided with your unique learner number (ULN) by the Learning Records Service and may also obtain from them details of any learning or qualifications you have undertaken.
We will not give information about you to anyone outside the school without your consent unless the law and our rules allow us to.
We are required by law to pass some information about you to the Local Authority and the Department for Education (DfE)
If you want to see a copy of the information about you that we hold and/or share, please contact Mandy Wilson at Parkhead Primary School on 0191 433 4014.
If you require more information about how the Local Authority (LA) and/or DfE store and use your information, then please go to the following websites:
http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Education%20and%20Learning/Schools/plans/dataprotection.aspx
and
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schooladmin/ims/datamanagement/privacynotices/a0077959/what-the-department-does-with-pupils-and-childrens-data
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schooladmin/ims/datamanagement/privacynotices/a0064391/who-the-department-passes-pupil-data-to
If you are unable to access these websites we can send you a copy of this information. Please contact the LA or DfE as follows:
• Matt Wadidngton
Principal MIS Officer
Service Improvement
Gateshead Council
Regent Street
Gateshead
NE8 1HH
• Public Communications Unit
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
Website: www.education.gov.uk
email: http://www.education.gov.uk/help/contactus
Telephone: 0370 000 2288
In addition for Secondary and Middle deemed Secondary Schools
Once you are aged 13 or over, we are required by law to pass on certain information to providers of youth support services in your area. This is the local authority support service for young people aged 13 to 19 in England. We must provide both your and your parent’s/s’ name(s) and address, and any further information relevant to the support services’ role. However, if you are over 16, you (or your parent(s)) can ask that no information beyond names, address and your date of birth be passed to the support service. Please inform (Insert name of School Administrator) if you wish to opt-out of this arrangement. For more information about young peoples’ services, please go to the Directgov Young People page at www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/index.htm or the LA website shown above.
