Parent Handbook

School Day timings

Our school starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.15pm. For more information on the school day, please click here

Nursery (Morning Sessions): 08:45 to 11:45

Nursery (Afternoon Sessions): 12:30 to 3.30pm

Collection at the end of the day

Your child needs to be collected my their parent or by someone that we are expecting. If someone new is collecting your child then you will need to phone the school office to make this arrangement, you will be given a password for them to use. Anyone collecting your child must be 16 or older.

If your child is in Year 5 or Year 6 then you can give permission for them to walk home alone at the end of the school day by filling out this form:

What your child needs

Your child will need to have a PE kit for their PE lessons, a water bottle and a bag to keep any reading books or home learning in.

The children need to be wearing school uniform at all times. More information about school uniform and PE kit requirements can be found here

Your child’s day

We are sure that you will want to know what your child’s day will look like at school. 

Children in Year 1 to Year 6 have a timetable of lessons that are taught across the week. Mornings are usually focused on reading, English and maths lessons, with some PE sessions. There is a breaktime mid morning where the children go outside for some fresh air, a run around and time to spend with friends.

Lunchtime is an hour and this gives time for the children to eat, and to have time to play and socialise with friends. The children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 come into the dining room first, and are assisted with food choices by members of staff. The older children come in at a time of their choosing, and this means that they are mixing and eating with children from all of the classes, not just their own.

In the afternoons the children have a wide variety of lessons throughout the week – music, history, geography, art, computing, Spanish (KS2), PE, PSHE, science, RE, DT.

Each term classes focus on a different unit of work. More information about this can be found on the curriculum area of our website.

Children in nursery and reception classes have a much more fluid day – all their learning is based around playing, and they will be spending time in both the inside and outside environments. The adults in EYFS play and work alongside the children, using all opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge. This includes small group and individual focus activities at points during the day.

School Meals

In Newham, all primary aged children receive school dinners free of charge. There is a three week cycle of menus with three choices of main dish each day, so that you know what the children will be offered each day. You may find it useful to talk to your child each morning about what the choices are to help them to decide. Link to menus

You can decide to provide your child with a packed lunch if you so choose. If you do this, then we ask that you follow the guidelines set out for healthy packed lunches in this leaflet (link)

It is important that you know that we are a NUT FREE school as we do have children with serious allergies. This means that you cannot send in anything that is nuts or contains nuts.

We also follow the guidelines around being a Healthy School. This means that children cannot bring in anything that is unhealthy – cakes, crisps, chocolates or sweets. It also means that we do not allow birthday cakes or sweets to be brought into school.

Your child will have one or two PE lessons each week, taught by Mr Murphy, our PE teacher. Please ensure that your child has their PE kit in school on these days.

Educational Visits

Our amazing curriculum is built around the children’s experience, and providing them with as many different experiences that we can. This means that your child will go on many educational visits. Wherever possible, these will be free, but we do occasionally ask for a small contribution towards the costs of these visits. Fundraising throughout the year enables us to keep costs as low as possible. 

Information about these visits will be sent to you via SchoolPing. Giving permission for your child to participate in these will be done using electronic forms linked in these messages to you.

Attendance

Good attendance is absolutely crucial in helping to ensure that your child does as well as they can in school. The aim is that your child’s attendance stays above 96% over the course of the year. This means your child missing less than 8 days of school over the whole year.

We do understand that sometimes children are too unwell to come to school. If your child will not be in school then please report this absence by phoning the school office between 8:00 and 8:30am to explain the reason why they will not be in school.

The school is not permitted to authorise any holiday or leave taken in school term times. If holiday is taken then you are likely to be fined by the Local Authority.

Information about the school term dates can be found here 

Extended School Day

We run a range of after school clubs each term. These run throughout the term from 3:30 – 4:30pm. Information about the clubs on offer is sent out each term, and you need to sign up and pay for the clubs at the school office. Clubs change termly. Please check the clubs page of the website and communication sent via schoolping.

Wraparound Care

We know that many of our working parents appreciate our wrap-around provision – Breakfast Club and After school provision.

Breakfast Club runs from 7:30am.

After School Provision runs from 3:15 – 5:45pm.

For more information about the costs of these provisions, and how to book your child in, use this link. You can also book through the school office.

Payments

If you are making payments to the school for anything, this needs to be done through the school office. They are able to take payments in either cash or by card and contactless methods. Receipts are emailed. We continue to accept cash as well as card and contact methods for your convenience.

Online Accounts

When your child joins the school they will be set up with accounts to use a range of online learning platforms depending on the year group they are in.  The children will be familiar with these websites, and will be using them in school, as well as part of their home learning.

Information about their login details will be given to you. If at any point you need a reminder of these, then please contact the school office and they will be able to resend them. 

Parents are supplied with log in details for our communication app, SchoolPing. It is essential that you download the app and use it regularly as this is the main way we send out key messages about school life. If you have any issues with the app, please see the school office urgently. 

Home Learning

We have expectations about what your child needs to be doing at home to help to reinforce and extend their learning in school. These home Learning expectations are set out here. These expectations vary according to the age of your child. If you would like any information or advice about how to best help your child at home then please speak to a member of staff who will be able to help you.

Please make sure that you are reading as much as possible with your child – both them reading to you, and you reading to them. We know that children who are enthusiastic readers, and who enjoy books, do better in all other areas of their learning.

Anything else?

If you have any questions or concerns then please do come in and talk to a member of staff. Alternatively you can phone the school on 020 8534 2238, or use the email address for parents which is contact@manor.newham.sch.uk