Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you have had a lovely summer break and the children are looking forward to returning to school. It’s normal to be apprehensive after a long break, we feel it too as staff but we will quickly settle into our familiar routines and be there to support you all.
We are really looking forward to welcoming the children back and have been working hard getting the classrooms ready for the children. Our Classroom pages on the school website have all been updated and you may like to familiarise yourself with the new faces that will be working with your children. I write today with some important reminders regarding the first week back at school:
Timings
- School re-opens to all children on Tuesday 3rd September.
- The corner gate will be open at 8:30am for families participating in the Daily Dash and then 8:40am as normal for pupils entering school. Please ensure that your child is dropped off between 8:40 and 8:50am as this is when our day begins. Please be aware of the continuing road closure (School Street scheme) outside school.
- On the first day, please enter school via the corner gate or the main gate and make your way to your child’s new playground. (The arrival/collection points can all be found on your child’s Classroom Page on the website.) Teaching Assistants will greet and supervise your child until the Class Teacher arrives. At 8:50am, your child’s new class teacher will meet their new class and take them into school for the register.
- If you arrive to school after 8:50 am your child will need to enter through the front door where they will be greeted by our Office ladies so that our school gates can be secured.
- Reception children will be attending school mornings only for the first week and should be collected at 1.15pm outside of their classroom.
- We will send out a Walking Home Consent to Year 6 Parents/Carers on the PD Day so please keep a look out for this.
Road Closure (School Street scheme)
- Greyfriar’s Rd outside school remains CLOSED to traffic from 8:30-9:00am and 3:00-3:30pm.
- When the road is closed, only residents’ vehicles and emergency vehicles are allowed, by law, to use the road for access purposes.
- Please DO NOT park outside school before the road is closed unless you are able to wait for the road to reopen. Please make sure that anyone else dropping off or collecting your children (grandparents, family friends etc.) are aware of this.
- The school office can provide passes allowing you 30 mins free at St Julian’s car park.
- Please do not block Salter’s Lane or the Staff Car Park.
- Please remind you children to be aware that vehicles may occasionally be moving in the road, despite the closure.
School Lunches
A hot school lunch is provided free to all pupils in EYFS, Year 1 and 2. The School menu is available on here and costs £2.50. You have flexibility to choose each day if you would like a school lunch, your child simply lets their teacher know at registration. We ask that you pay for meals in advance and keep your Arbor account regularly topped up so it does not go into deficit.
PE Days
PE and Woodland Work days are listed on your child’s classroom page on the school website.
Please can all children wear uniform on the first day of school.
New PE Kit
As you know our school PE Kit is changing and the details are available here.
It has just come to our attention that some of you have been struggling to purchase the new PE top. We apologise for this, had we known of any potential issues or a pre-order process we would of course communicated this with you all. We have been in contact with the School Shop today and have the following information.
School Shop Direct have been working to fulfil orders of the new PE Kit and have processed many Coleham orders but some sizes remain outstanding and will take 2-3 weeks to arrive in store. This is disappointing but stock will arrive soon. School Shop Direct confirmed that a number of outstanding pre-orders are being processed for families. The School Shop Direct Website is live and currently lists the sizes and colours that are currently in stock. These must be purchased online or bought in the shop if still available. School Shop Direct are no longer taking any phone or email orders. For items out of stock, it will be 2-3 weeks before they arrive in store and we are assured they will be listed on the website for purchase straight away. If you have not been able to purchase one as yet then please do not worry or rush out to buy plain navy t-shirts, children may wear a plain t-shirt from home in the meantime until you can source one in the coming weeks. We are told this delay will only affect the PE tops now as it is a new stock item and soon there should be plenty of stock for top ups available online and in store. We apologise about this, had we known about a delay for new stock items we would have of course communicated with you earlier. We will keep you updated.
Breakfast and After School Clubs
Our Breakfast and After School Clubs will start on the first day of school and our staff look forward to welcoming your children at 7:45am. Please make sure you have paid for all Breakfast and After School Club Sessions for the first week prior to school starting and ensure your account is regularly topped up and in credit. School can not afford to accrue any debt and accounts must be in credit at all times otherwise places will need to be reviewed. Miss Nash will respond to any email enquiries on our PD Day.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
Our Clubs will start week commencing Monday 9th September and will run up to and including Wednesday 23rd October (October half term)
Please have a look at the Club Schedule here.
Clubs will be released at 6pm on Tuesday 3rd September 2024. Please visit Arbor to book on or look out for the external club letters sent via email.
Inhalers/Medicines
If your child is asthmatic/has a medical condition please bring in your child’s inhaler/medicines on the first day of school and pass to a member of staff.
Save The Date
We have planned a big welcome back to school event on Saturday 14th September! The September Social is fun for all the family, a great opportunity to catch up with friends after the holidays and show your relatives our fantastic school community. We hope to see lots of you there!
I will look forward to seeing you and your children on the first day of school. We have lots in store for 2024-25!
Kind regards,
Mr T Larkham