General information for existing and prospective parents.
As a part of our continual review and improvement at Pooles Park Primary we are focused on increasing the punctuality and attendance of all of our students.
Research has shown that regular attendance and good punctuality are crucial factors in allowing pupils to achieve their full academic potential. Reducing attendance means a reduced chance for academic success and limited access to future endeavours. With such an important issue our procedures have been revised to allow us to be very clear about how we will be working supportively with parents and carers to ensure that your child attends school every day and on time.
We are always pleased to work in partnership with parents/carers and wherever possible provide support for parents that are experiencing difficulties in getting their child to school every day and on time.
More generally, there are a number of important steps that we expect all parents to take to ensure your child maintains a high level of attendance:
Ø Ensure your child attends every day, on time, equipped and ready to learn. The School gates open at 8:45 am and children are encouraged to come into school to visit the library or go to class for quiet activities until Registration at 9-9.10am. We also encourage parents to take advantage of the breakfast club, available from 8am every day, to ensure a positive start to the day. Details are available at the school office.
Ø Please make sure you telephone the School every day your child is absent. Once we are aware of a child’s absence from the school and the reasons for it, the Headteacher can then use their discretion to decide whether the absence shall be authorized.
If no contact is received regarding the absence, it is recorded as unauthorised which may result in the school requesting a meeting to discuss further support or referral to agencies.
Ø Ensure the School has accurate addresses and telephone numbers. We will contact you by text through parent mail or by telephone if your child is absent and you have not contacted the School. Please ensure you respond to these contacts.
Ø If your child is ill, contact the School and provide an explanatory note on their return to the School. You may be asked to provide proof that your child has visited a doctor or hospital in relation to ongoing medical issues. This may be especially so if your child has an annual record of poor attendance.
Ø Ensure that medical appointments are made outside of School time. GPs and other medical professionals are obliged to provide options for appointments that will cause as little disruption to school hours. Please aim to ensure appointments are after 3:30pm thus maximizing learning time within school
Ø Holidays should not be taken in School time and cannot be authorised during term time. This is a National directive from the Government. Ignoring this rule may result in penalty notice. In extremely exceptional circumstances all requests should be made in writing to the Headteacher prior to the absence.
At Pooles Park Primary School we truly value each individual child, and work hard to develop their whole person as much as possible.
All of our staff know the children really well, so we can identify their strengths, challenges, and the best ways of supporting them. We are always on hand to help with whatever is needed to ensure that our pupils feel safe, welcome, and cared for regardless of their needs.
We believe that children work best when they are happy, interested, and treated as individuals. We use Positive Behaviour Intervention Support to make sure that our school is a calm and happy place for children to learn, and we’ve worked alongside specialists from Windesheim University in Amsterdam and The Bridge Trust to develop this approach.
The three core values we focus on to embed positive behaviour are:
Pooles Park has the following dress code…
At Pooles Park, e-safety is taught alongside Computing lessons and through cross-curricular ICT links. Each year we have an e-safety week and celebrate ‘safer internet day’.
Staying safe on-line is a key message within the curriculum and our wider safeguarding work and communication with our children and families. It is our aim that children move on to secondary school with the information and tools that they need to be able to use ICT safely and creatively.
There’s a great deal of information available about how to use the internet safely. Here are a few useful links:-
If you have any questions or concerns, please speak to your class teacher or book an appointment with Ishamane John, our Computing Lead, or Maggie Ryan, our Pastoral Care Manager, for further information and support.
View our school dinners menu.
Please find our menus and more information below.
We have extended child care provision from 8am to 4:30pm, but our core school day is from 9am to 3.30pm.
The school offers a Breakfast Club for all pupils from Reception to Year 6. Breakfast is served between 8.00am and 8.30am. As well as a selection of cereals, juice and toast we offer games and activities.
A range of activities are also on offer after school, Monday to Thursday.