Headteacher's Blog

Week 2

Dear Parent,

The first 'full' week back and the weather has tested us a little, do make sure that your children always come to school prepared for the conditions with coats, etc. We will always try to get children out for some fresh air at break unless it is unsafe to do so.

So, following on from last week, some other reminders of protocols:

Supporting us on Facebook: We remind all of our community that the use of our  own Facebook page and the 'Parents of Chickerell page [ not endorsed by the school] is to share information about our school. Our social media provides a little window into our world, for parents, carers and our community to see and share our achievements,  and celebrations . We do not publicly criticise anyone; we hope for the same respect in return from our community. 

Children using Social Media: You may already be aware that the use of mobile phones is closely monitored in school; we have a blanket expectation that all mobile devices that belong to students are now expected to be switched off before entering  school  and that they are placed in and remain in the school office during the school day. This approach protects our pupils from potential distractions to learning and from unkind behaviour that can easily be created and fuelled by unpleasant social media. If your child has a mobile phone, laptop or easy access to the internet (games consoles such as Playstation or XBOX), we actively encourage you to check your child’s usage on social media and text communications between them, their peers and anyone else. Please check this regularly through each week and have full access to your child’s device. If your child is worried about being added to any social media groups, please encourage them to remove themselves and to block numbers or people that persist in adding them back into groups. Remember that as parent and bill-payer, you hold the power over your child’s access to their device/s. Through proactive parenting and support in school, together we can  encourage safer and more positive online behaviour between children.

Have your  financial circumstances changed recently? : Children from families who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) will receive financial help from the school for uniform, including school shoes, additional learning resources, financial support for both curriculum and residential trips along with free hot meals, provided by Local Food links. To check if you are eligible for free school meals please click on this link—it only takes two minutes! https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/education-and-training/schools-and-learning/atschool/free-school-meals

Correspondence with School Staff: As I put in last week's email,  our staff  are always available for communication with parents and carers. To help in managing expectations, we wish to be clear with parents and carers that teachers are expected to respond to correspondence from parents and carers within 48 hours when working.[ we have several teachers that work part-time, therefore  some of their emails might not be responded to within 48 hours of being sent] We will always endeavour to reply to any parent or carer that contacts us. If you need to contact us with an urgent matter please call the school office.

Parking around the school: This is already an issue this term,  there has been lots of inconsiderate parking over dropped kerbs, mounting pavements, and unfortunately, at least 4 parents been spotted by off duty police officers using mobiles whilst driving. If this continues, please understand that I or they will have no option but to report number plates. 

We have had lots of visitors from First Federation MAT this week, who have wanted to come and see what we do and how we do it - and we have had some lovely, positive comments from them about our school. Although staff are getting used to a few different procedures, we are hoping that the changes that will be made over the year will definitely improve children's experiences further.

Enjoy your weekend- let's hope for at least 1 dry day..

Miss Harris

Miss Harris,

Headteacher

Dear parent,

A belated welcome back to all of you, it's so lovely to see the children  - and you - again.

I am going to bombard you in this email - sorry- with some relevant reminders about uniform, attendance and such like, just so we are all aware of the expectations right from the get - go.

Uniform: All pupils must wear either the Chickerell sweatshirt, v-neck jumper or cardigan , or a  plain maroon jumper, as some form of jumper. Children must wear the school tie with a shirt. They then can wear grey or black trousers or shorts , or grey/black skirts/pinafore of an appropriate length .The summer dress can also be worn during the warmer weather. Shorts are not really appropriate for colder weather, even with tights underneath, but if they are worn, then they too must be knee length. Shoes need to be safe, comfortable and of a dark colour, not boots. Plain black trainers are acceptable.

For PE, all pupils will have either the Chickerell logoed PE t-shirt in maroon or white,  or a plain white or maroon T shirt ,they can wear this with shorts [inside PE] or tracksuit bottoms and either the Chickerell hoodies or a dark coloured jumper/tracksuit top. On the days that children have PE, they will come to school in  their proper PE kit.

Long hair must be tied back for practical subjects, a small, plain headband can also be used. We are also looking to discourage an 'overuse' of hair gel and any hair style that is deemed too 'severe'- this will include hair shaved too short for fashion reasons, designs shaved into hair for fashion reasons, hair too 'pointed' and such like.  Hair colour must be natural, or at least looking natural. Any colour obviously not a natural shade is forbidden. Equally, no make-up is to be worn under any circumstance, including nail varnish.

Our school champions the right of staff and students to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black staff and students’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance.

Attendance: Common sense tells us that the more a child is in school, the more they have capacity to learn. Inevitably, children will be ill, and on those days, of course, it is entirely appropriate that they stay at home to be looked after by a parent/carer. Appointments for doctors or dentists that fall in school time must be kept to a minimum- local GP's and healthcare professionals work very closely with schools in this respect.  For any other absence, for weddings, holidays, family events- please be aware that unless I deem it to be a truly one off, exceptional circumstance, then it will be unauthorised which may result in a fine.  Can we also respectfully ask that you are honest about reasons for absence- your children will inevitably tell us why they really have been off and we aim to encourage honesty as a key learning skill for them .

 ​ 

It is very important that all children arrive to school between 8.30-8.40am every day. We offer a 10 minute ‘soft start’ for those children who may find it overwhelming to come in at the same time as everyone else- we do not want this to be a barrier. We also offer a free breakfast club from 8.20 for children who may need more support to come in ,they can have a quiet breakfast with members of the pastoral team and then be taken to class.

If your child arrives after 8.40am, they are late and you will need to register your child at the school office. If your child is regularly late or absent, you will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss how punctuality/attendance can be improved.

Promoting and Celebrating Good Attendance and Punctuality

At Chickerell, we understand the impact good attendance and punctuality have on our children’s learning and we believe in acknowledging good attendance and punctuality to engage and motivate our children. Half termly letters of notice are sent out to those families struggling to meet 90% attendance, and, likewise, a congratulations notice is sent out to those still attaining 100%. Every term, we ‘wipe the slate clean’ and every child restarts on 100% to ensure that they keep motivated to attend regularly. Anyone on 100% at the end of every term gets 100 house points  .At the end of the school year, we reward the top 10 children in each class with a bespoke ‘medal’ for their attendance.

Monitoring Attendance

Attendance and punctuality is monitored daily. If your child is not in school and we have not heard from you, we will ring or parentmail you by 9.30 to ascertain the reason for their absence . We will continue to ring or contact you until we find out where your child is - this is part of our safeguarding responsibility. We cannot be complacent where there are instances of persistently low attendance or if children are regularly late to school.  Persistent absence will also be recorded on our safeguarding system, Myconcern, to build a picture of vulnerability.

Understanding types of absence

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical appointments and emergencies. An absence is classified as unauthorised if the reason is not recognised as acceptable. The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Education Authorities provide information for schools as what is acceptable and what is not. Families with regular unauthorised absence will be monitored by a Dorset Council Attendance Officer. 

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

·         A birthday

·         A shopping trip/Day trips

·         Brother or sister is ill so all children in the family stay off school

C       Car broken down

·         Not having uniform ready to wear or can’t find shoes/coat etc

·         Holidays 

Letting school know if your child is going to be absent.

If your child has a medical appointment or is considered too ill to attend school due to a minor illness you must: 

·         Contact the School Office (01305 783876) no later than 9:00am, informing them of the reason for your child’s absence and how long you expect them to be absent. Every ½ day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of absence is always asked for. We will also ask for proof of medical appointments i.e. medical appointment card, medical note from the doctor or proof of prescription.

Clubs will restart on the 23^rd September, all details will follow shortly with the ones available. 'Chattichicks'- our paid facility starts with immediate effect.

Communication: who to talk to? Our staff are always happy to talk to you regarding your child's educational progress, their friendships, and their emotional well being. To ensure a clear system of communication, we ask that you always try to talk to your child's class teacher first. After that, should you need further clarification of response, then do not hesitate to speak to any of the Senior Team: all email details can be obtained from the school office.

Mr Paul Walker CEO  of FIRST FEDERATION MAT

Mrs Claire Fegan Director of Partnership Hub for First Federation MAT

Miss Harris (Headteacher)

Mrs Llewellyn (Deputy Headteacher)

Mrs Saunders (Leader for Assessment)

Mrs Penn (Assistant Headteacher and Inclusion/SEN leader)

Mrs Bedford (Senior Leader for curriculum development)

Mrs Jolliffe (School Business Manager)

In addition to this, myself, Mrs Ingram- Richards and Mrs Smith(our family and nurture support workers) and Mrs Penn [ Sendco] are available on the gate from 8.20 am - 8.45 am every morning, and from 2.45pm-3.10pm every afternoon, for an informal chat about any other concern you wish to discuss. Please note the email queries@chickerell.dorset.sch.uk can also be used for communicating any non urgent concerns.

​ Raising funds for school-  from a parent who suggested I pass this on:

'I use the Asda rewards app when I do my weekly food shop. Yesterday, I had a notification pop up offering for me to nominate a school under their “Cashpot for Schools” scheme and from that they basically donate 0.5% of what I pay to my nominated school. I selected Chickerell but thought this was a brilliant idea for raising money and perhaps you could highlight this scheme to parents? ☺️Asda add £50 to every school cashpot to get them started as well (see screenshot below)

It’s only on for 90 days, which start on 1st September!'

 If anyone  else shops at Asda- please, can you get involved in this? It seems like a very hassle free way of raising funds for us!

Phew- a long one today. If, this weekend,  it transpires that there is anything about the first few days back that is worrying or bothering your child, do not hesitate to let us know, we can take away most barriers to anxiety if we know about them.

Enjoy the weekend

Miss Harris