15 Benburb Road, Moy, DUNGANNON Co. Tyrone. N. Ireland BT71 7SQ.
( 028 87 784489 Fax 028 87 789908
30 June, 2016 /
Dear Parent/Guardian
We would like to welcome all the children back to school for the beginning of the new school term and in particular welcome any children starting this school for the first time. Please read the following information carefully. We apologise for the long list of instructions and information but we believe it is necessary for the smooth running of the school.
SCHOOL STARTING TIME
Children must not enter the school building before 9.20am as there is no supervision provided until this time. Children should then line up in the Assembly Hall. Class will begin promptly at 9.30am. It is the responsibility of all parents to ensure their child/children arrive safely on the school premises each morning.
COLLECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SCHOOL
Due to security and the general safety of children there are arrangements for the collection of children at home time.
P1, P2 and P3 children.
All P1, P2 and P3 children are to be collected at 2.25pm by those responsible for collecting them. Would parents please wait at the entrances at the rear of the school when coming to collect the children. Children walking home with parents should use the main front entrance. Please note that due to safety reasons doors/gates will not open until collection time at 2.25pm.
P4, P5, P6 and P7 children.
Those children being collected by car or taxi must be collected at the entrances at the rear of the school. These children will be supervised by teachers for a brief period until the person collecting the child/children comes to the exit door. Children will not be allowed to go into the car park on their own. Children who travel by bus will line up in the Assembly Hall and will be escorted to the bus by a teacher. All children walking home must leave by the main entrance at the front of the school.
These arrangements have been made as a result of concerns for the health and safety of children. Thank you for your anticipated co-operation in these matters.
NB Please inform the school of any change in travel arrangements for children at home time.
READING/MORNING CLUB (Opens at 8.30am each morning)
This club was set up to accommodate parents who need to leave their children in to school early in the morning. The cost is £7.00 per child (£12.00 per family) for a full week or any part of the week. This is to pay wages of the classroom assistants employed (Maximum number permitted is approx 35 children).
SCHOOL UNIFORM/DRESS CODE
Girls: Navy skirt/pinafore or Navy dress trousers
Navy sweatshirt with school logo
Pale blue polo shirt with school logo
Navy tights
Blue/Navy socks
Boys: Navy trousers/short Dress trousers
Navy sweatshirt with school logo
Pale blue polo shirt with school logo
It is important to mark your child’s name clearly on every item of clothing. All children are now required to have a PE kit for school. A round necked white T-Shirt. Plain navy sports shorts (no logos please) and plimsolls for P1 and P2. Other classes wear trainers. These can normally be bought in Tesco’s or Asda.
Parents /Guardians deserve great credit for making sure their children wear the correct uniform and are neat and tidy. Please make sure sweatshirts, polo shirts, coats etc have your child’s name clearly marked on them otherwise it is impossible to identify ownership. Girls may wear navy dress trousers if they wish but tracksuit bottoms are not allowed. No jewellery (with the exception of watches) is allowed and shoes with a heel higher then two-three inches should not be worn (these rules are purely in the interests of the health and safety of all the children). Hairstyles should be neat. Any cut less than a number 2 is not allowed.
SCHOOL TRIPS
We will notify parents of all the dates of cross community activities/school trips during the year. If a parent objects to their child going on any school trip/activity please inform the school in writing.
DINNER MONEY
After recent problems associated with school dinner monies in the Southern Education and Library Board area they are insisting that dinner monies are collected and lodged early each week. Please ensure that when paying cash for your child/children that THE MONEY IS PUT IN AN ENVELOPE WITH THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF MONEY AND CLEARLY MARKED “DINNER MONEY” WITH THE CHILD’S NAME ON THE ENVELOPE (£2.30 per day or £11.50 per week). We would prefer if payment was made by cheque to cut down on expensive bank charges incurred by the school. PLEASE SEND THE ENVELOPE IN ON A MONDAY MORNING. Much time is presently being wasted by teachers trying to count and keep track of the money coming in from some children. The staff would greatly appreciate your co-operation in this matter. If a child’s dinners has not been paid for in the previous week they will not be permitted to take dinners the following week until full payment has been received.
Please note St John’s Primary school now provide dinners in line with the SELB healthy eating policy.
PARENT SUPPORT GROUP
We greatly value the help and support we receive from the Parent Support Group who do so much to help improve the educational and social experiences on offer within the school. All parents are invited to the Annual general meeting of the Parent Support Group (usually held in October – all parents will be notified). I assure you all parents are most welcome to become involved in the group. We would particularly like to see parents of families who have children who recently started in St. John’s and parents of families of our Eastern European children.
HEALTHY EATING
We operate a healthy eating policy at break time. Please ensure your child brings fruit or vegetables with either milk or water. No crisps, chocolate or fizzy drinks are allowed. This does not apply at lunchtime but we would appreciate if parents made a special effort to provide their children with a healthy lunch. We thank you for your anticipated co-operation.
CONDUCT ON BUSES
Parents are asked to remind their children of the importance of good behaviour on the buses. Children are expected to sit quietly in their seats for the entire journey. If there are seat belts available the children should wear them. This will ensure a safe journey for all.
PASTORAL CARE POLICY
It is important that all parents/guardians are aware of and are familiar with procedures in our Pastoral Care Policy. These are in the school prospectus and in our annual report to parents. A summary of our procedures is provided. Please visit our school website www.stjohnspsmoy.com which contains most of our policies for pastoral care, Inspection Reports and other important information/events.
ATTENDANCE
A high level of attendance is extremely important. Please inform the school by telephone and then in writing when a child is absent from school. Please note attendance is now monitored by computer by the SELB Welfare Service. If attendance falls below a certain level the attendance officer will make a visit to your home. The average attendance for last year was almost 96% (an improvement of 1%). We would like to improve on that figure this year. We would like to thank parents for helping us maintain high standards of attendance. Congratulations to those children who received certificates/stickers for excellent attendance at the end of last year.
AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS
The senior children P4-P7 will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of after school clubs throughout the year. This year we also hope to be able to provide a good range of after school activities.
HOME-SCHOOL LINK CARD
Normally this will be issued on a Friday. It is important you read and sign this on a weekly basis. This is important as it enables the teacher and parent to communicate in a positive way/ or raise any issues in relation to the behaviour of their children.
NON – UNIFORM DAY
The last Friday of each month will be non-uniform day organised by the Parent Support Group. Children are asked to bring in £1.00 and give it to the class teacher.
Again I remind you if you have any concerns to firstly contact your class teacher or myself by making an appointment with the school secretary. Please do not engage in meetings or long conversations with teachers in the classroom as this often disrupts the class or interferes with teaching/preparation time.
Finally, I thank you for your continued trust, support, co-operation and generosity. Be assured that we, the staff at St. John’s Primary School have a firm commitment to ensuring the best educational opportunities for all.
Yours sincerely
John Kilpatrick (Principal)
St. John’s Primary School Moy
PASTORAL CARE AND CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES
In order to achieve the full potential of each pupil, the school recognises that it has a responsibility to do everything possible to care for each child’s physical and emotional well being. The school will endeavour to provide a comfortable and safe environment for learning.
Due to the nature of Primary Education it will be the responsibility of each class teacher to look after the pastoral needs of the children in his/her class, though a female teacher will be responsible for any problems of senior girls and a male teacher will be responsible for any problems of senior boys. Class teachers will attempt to resolve the worries of new pupils and relieve their anxieties. The Principal will be grateful for information about any difficult home circumstances, which may be causing distress or anxiety.
ALL STAFF, both teaching and non-teaching will work together to limit the opportunities for BULLYING in both the school and the playground.
One aspect of our Pastoral Care policy outlines arrangements that we have in place for dealing with child protection.
If you have any concerns about your or another child’s safety please follow the guidelines below.
I have a concern about my/a child’s safety.
Talk to the child’s class teacher.
I can also talk to the designated teacher for child protection Mrs S McLaughlin or if Mrs McLaughlin is unavailable, contact the deputy-designated teacher Mr J Kilpatrick (Principal).
I can also talk/write to the Chairman of the Board of Governors Mr Conal Hamill.
Policies
The school’s policies on both Pastoral Care and Child Protection are available to parents by contacting the school principal or visiting the school website. Newcomer parents can also request a copy of these policies in their own language by contacting the school principal.
AT ANY TIME I CAN TALK TO THE SOCIAL WORKER OR THE POLICE
In the event of a complaint the designated teacher for pastoral care Mrs S McLaughlin or the deputy-designated teacher Mr J Kilpatrick will keep parents informed on the progress and outcome of the complaint as soon as possible.