Information for Families Joining Us | Brightwalton C.E Primary School

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Information for Families Joining Us

Welcome to our school...

School Day

School Arrival Time: 08:35 - 08:45 am

The doors will be opened at 8:35am, allowing the children plenty of time to be in the classroom for registration before 8:50am, when lessons start. Children arriving after 8:50am will need to be signed in via the School Office and will be marked as late. There is limited space in the cloakrooms so we ask parents to say goodbye to their children at the external doors. Messages for teachers can be left with the member of staff on the door or with the School Office.

School Finish Time: 3.15pm

Children should be collected at the end of the school day unless attending a club or they have permission to walk home. If you are late to collect your children, please let us know as soon as possible and we will ask them to wait for you by the School Office.

What to bring to school

Shoulder Bags and Rucksacks are not allowed in school, due to limited cloakroom space – PE and Book Bags only please.

P.E. kit

P.E. kit must always be available in school every day, kept in a drawstring bag. All kit must be clearly named, preferably with woven name-tapes as pen fades quickly.

Book Bags

If you join our school in Reception, the Friends of Brightwalton will provide your child with a book bag, which should be brought to school daily. Replacements are available from the uniform page of the website.

Water Bottles for Years 1 – 6 only

Water is available at lunch and for Reception children throughout the day. Children in Years 1 – 6 should be provided with a small water bottle (300ml is ideal) which is clear, named, and has a non-spill, sports-style top.

Sun Cream

In the summer months, please apply sun cream to your child’s skin before school. Staff are not able to apply suncream to your child.

Money

Money brought to school must always be in a clearly labelled, named envelope stating the amount and purpose and given to your child to give to their teacher.

Pencil cases are not allowed in school

Pens, pencils, pencil sharpeners, rulers, rubbers and coloured pencils are provided by the school, so please do not send your child into school with a pencil case.

Toys

Children may not bring toys into school unless they are specifically asked to do so.

Healthy Eating

At Brightwalton we strive hard to teach the children about living a healthy lifestyle and would value your support in this matter. Children in Ash and Elder Classes are provided with a piece of fruit or vegetable as a daily snack. Older children may bring in snacks of fresh or dried fruit or vegetables only to eat at morning break, so please do not send in biscuits, cakes or crisps. Sweets are not allowed in the school at any time; do not send your child to school with them.

Lunches

We are most fortunate that we have our school lunches prepared on site every morning by our cook. All meals are nutritionally balanced, with a vegetarian option available daily. Children in Ash and Elder Classes are currently provided with a free lunch, children in Years 3 – 6 will be charged £3.24 per day. School meals are paid for directly via the website of Dolce, our provider. If you need help with this, please contact the school office.

If you decide that your child will bring a packed lunch, it should not contain sweets, chocolate bars,drinks or nuts, due to several children having severe allergies. All packed lunches should be in a small lunch box or bag and be put on the trolley provided, by the pupil door.

Water is provided at lunchtime and throughout the day in Early Years. Children in Years 1-6 take their water bottle into lunch.

Communication

The school communicates with parents in a variety of ways to suit different purposes. Please check the website regularly, as it contains the school diary and nearly all the information you will need. We send out a weekly briefing on Friday, letters, individual and class messages as well as urgent information via Schoolcomms, an electronic school communication system, so please make sure that you sign up for this.

You will

Receive letters more reliably and promptly
See letters in your inbox like any other email
Get a short text message if we need to contact you urgently
Still get paper letters if you don’t have email

We can

Send more letters and information regarding your child/ren
Save money on admin time, printing and paper
Contact you urgently when necessary

The school will use the email address and mobile number that we hold for you in our database. This is always the Priority 1 contact you registered with. If you change your contact details please let the school know as soon as possible. Your details will not be used for any other purpose than school business. You will not receive any spam or marketing material.

Emergency Contact

If we need to contact you urgently during the school day, we will do so by telephone, so please ensure that we have your most up to date contact details and also those of one or two back up contacts, whom you would trust to collect your child. In the event of last minute club cancellations, or emergency school closure, we send a Schoolcomms text message. If we are unable to open the school due to circumstances beyond our control, eg very heavy snowfall or no basic services, this information will be sent via Schoolcomms, published on both our website and West Berkshire Council’s website and also broadcast on BBC Radio Berkshire.

Contacting us…

We welcome parents into the school and teachers are happy to discuss any concerns you may have. Please do make an appointment through the School Office so that we can ensure the teacher is available, preferably avoiding first thing in the morning, as we want to begin the day promptly.

Information – check the website first

Enquiries – phone or email the School Office

Sickness – we need to be informed on each day of absence, so phone/email immediately (answer phone is on 24 hrs a day) and always before 9:30am
Concerns about your child – speak to your child’s teacher directly at the end of the day or make an appointment to see them through the School Office.

Information on how to book clubs and make online payments for clubs/trips/donations/swimming

Activate your School Gateway account. It’s quick and easy to do. All you need are your email address and mobile number that school holds on record for you. If you are unsure which ones these are, please contact the School Office.

Download the app: If you have a smartphone, please download School Gateway from your app store (Android and iPhone). The app shows the same information as the website PLUS it saves the school money when we send you a text message.

or: Visit the website: www.schoolgateway.com and click on ‘New User’. You’ll receive a text message with a PIN number. Use this PIN to log into School Gateway.

If you’re having trouble logging in, it may be because the school doesn’t have your current email and mobile phone number on record. Please call the school and we’ll update the details on our system. There is a School Gateway link on our website and we hope that you will find School Gateway to be a fast and easy way to pay for school items.

Once you are logged in you will see that there is a ‘CLUBS’ option and a ‘PAYMENTS’ option. Please use the ‘CLUBS’ option to book your child onto the club you require and it will automatically take you to the payment options. DO NOT just pay for a club without booking your child in as the system will not record the booking. Click on the ‘PAYMENTS’ to pay what is required when requested.

Booking a Parents Evening Appointment

For booking a Parents Evening appointment we use an online booking system. All you need are your email address and mobile number that school holds on record for you. If you are unsure which ones these are, please contact the School Office.

Please visit https://brightwalton.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/ to book your appointments when instructed to do so.

Your First Name (Forename)

Your Surname (Surname)

Your email address (Email address)

Child’s First Name: (Forename)

Child’s Surname: (Surname)

Child’s Date of birth (Date of Birth – dd/mm/yyyy)

If you do not have access to the internet, please contact the school office and we will be happy to add appointments on your behalf. If you are booking on your mobile phone, please ensure that you can see the whole screen and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see all options.