Welcome back to school everyone,

 

It’s been lovely to chat with so many of you this week.  The children have settled so well.  They’ve picked up the new routines easily and have made a super start to their learning.

Over the summer, we’ve had new flooring on the ground floor which looks great.  We’ve had new broadband cabling around the school which should help with the speed we can access our lessons.  Teachers have also had new computers as the old ones were over 12 years old and ran very slowly.  Too slow for our children’s needs.

I thought I’d put a few reminders on this letter, mainly linked to safeguarding and health & safety.  If you would like any further information just pop in and ask.

 

Jewellery
Only a watch and a pair of small stud earrings are allowed.  No jewellery at all is allowed for PE / swimming.  Your child must be able to remove the earrings by themselves for PE as staff can’t do this.

 

Grass Banks
Please be aware that these are really slippy in the mornings.  We’ve had some children slide down and hurt themselves before school has started.

 

Beginning / end of day

Doors are open from 8:40 - 8:50am.  Gates close at 8:50am.

Early Years (Nursery and Reception classes) starts at 8:45am and finishes at 3:15pm.

We will open the gate at 3:10pm for collection at the end of the day.

(If you’re collecting from Nursery, please ring the buzzer on the gate at your chosen time)

 

Coming into school
If you’re coming into school throughout the day, please do not let any strangers through the gate.  Everyone needs to speak to a member of staff through the intercom before being let into the school grounds.

 

CCTV
We have CCTV cameras around the school for safety reasons.  

 

Visitors in school
Every visitor coming to Friarswood is asked to sign in and wear a lanyard.  Children are taught that our visitors wear lanyards, which shows we know who they are.  We teach children to speak to a member of staff if a visitor isn’t wearing a lanyard.

When we have family events (shows, open afternoons etc), we will not be asking you to sign in and wear lanyards.

 

Community Herb Garden
Over the summer, volunteers from DHL as well as our Academy Community Pioneer have been working on this garden.  You may have seen it; it’s next to the playground, by the side road.  We have had a gate donated to us from Wickes which will go on the outside of the fence.  The school grounds are fenced off so when this garden is up and running, nobody will be able to get into the school grounds.

We will have open times for the garden and hopefully many if not all of our families will use this area.  I’ll keep you posted.

 

Parking on Abbots Way
My regular plea for those of you who park along Abbots Way …. please park safely.  Please do not park in front of neighbours driveways or on the yellow lines.

 

Staffordshire County Council Hero Campaign

Staffordshire County Council have launched a new initiative that focuses on School attendance. The new scheme HERO helps to break down barriers that children may face when coming to school. If you have any concerns or struggling to get your child to school please come and speak to Mrs Dean. 

 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any worries or concerns.

 

Everyone at Friarswood hopes that this is the start to another fantastic year.

 

Have a lovely weekend.

Take care and stay safe.

Mrs Wilmer