Information for Parents
School times
Playground entrances to school are open at 8.50am to allow parents to bring their children in to the building.
Session times are -
9.00am to 12.00pm (includes a 10 minute break)
1.05pm to 3.30pm Juniors (includes a 10 minute break)
1.10pm to 3.30pm Infants (includes a 10 minute break)
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Home learning
Regular home learning is given to all year groups in school. A timetable is issued to parents at the beginning of each school year.
At Whittaker Moss we feel that the importance of 'quality family time' cannot be overstressed and to that end we always provide a few days before each piece of homework need be returned to school.
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School Uniform
The wearing of our school uniform is compulsory for all our children, with the exception of Nursery Class
Grey trousers or a grey skirt (not black)
Pale Blue Polo Shirt (not white)
Optional pale blue and white check summer dress (not other colours)
Burgundy sweatshirt or cardigan with school logo (available from Mrs Margaret Howard, P.T.A.)
Ordinary black shoes (not coloured or striped shoes and not trainers)
Optional black sandals in warmer weather.
If girls wish to wear boots in winter, these should be black please.
The P.T.A. order and sell school sweatshirts, cardigans, pump bags and book bags which include the school logo, at cost price.
(an order form is available on the P.T.A page).
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P.E. and Games kit
All children should have a change of clothes and footwear for P.E. eg. a tee shirt, pair of shorts and pumps.
Key Stage 2 (junior children) also have games, usually outdoors and will need a tee shirt, shorts,an extra jumper or sweatshirt, tracksuit bottoms for cold weather and football boots or trainers for football.
We encourage children to leave their kit in school and take it home regularly for washing. Please note that we strongly discourage the wearing of jewellery at any time in school and it must not be worn for P.E. or games.
Please read the section about our policy on jewellery carefully.
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Parents evenings and reports
We hold two main parents evenings each school year
- early in the Autumn term and at the end of the Spring term.
In addition, we hold occasional curriculum information evenings for different age-groups.
An annual report is sent out on each child, usually at the end of June, which details their progress in all curriculum areas. Parents of children in Years 2 and 6 receive an additional more detailed report providing information on their child's performance in the national SAT tests.
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Out of School Activities
Regular walks around the locality are planned, particularly in the early years.
All classes in school have one main visit/trip each year. These visits are carefully planned to combine educational benefit, interest and fun.
Year 6 children have the opportunity to take part in a residential stay at an activity centre - a very popular activity with children and parents!
During the school week, there are after or before school clubs held almost every day. We currently offer a Football club, Netball club, Athletics club, Rounders club, Handball club, Choir, Dance club and ICT club. Outside sports specialists also offer additional after-school coaching at certain times of the year (see below)
Using the expertise of the Rochdale Instrumental Music Service, lessons are available to children in Key Stage 2 in either Brass, Strings and woodwind.
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Outside specialists
We take advantage of additional opportunities provided by specialists who come into our school on a regular basis, for example,
- Each year Year 4 have a course of Swimming lessons. The course is very successful, almost all non-swimmers are able to swim by the end of course and 'improvers' benefit greatly as well.
- We are currently using an outside sporting agency called Kidz in2 Sport to provide after-school athletics coaching to Key Stage 2 children.
- Kidz in2 Sport are also currently providing specialist football coaching during football club training sessions.
- We also use an agency called 'Team Theme' who provide blocks of after school football coaching for all ages from Year R to Year 6 at times during the school year.
Of course sport is not the only area in which we take advantage of outside specialists.
- Teachers from Oulder Hill School, as part of their Primary School Liaison work, come here at different times of the year to provide Year 6 with taster lessons in Languages (French, Spanish and German), lessons in Science and in Maths.
- The Young Shakespeare Company visit each year to provide a workshop for Years 5 and 6. In 2008 the workshop was based on the play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
- Robinwood Activity Centres Ltd. provided the accommodation and the tuition during our annual residential visit in June 2008 involving 33 children from Year 6. For 2009 we have again booked the Robinwood Activity Centres for our residential visit. The venue will be Alston in Cumbria.
The above are just a few examples with many more taking place across the whole school from Nursery Class to Year 6 throughout the year.
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Jewellery
In the interests of Health and Safety, the Governing Body has decided to ban the wearing of all forms of jewellery by children in Whittaker Moss School, with the exception of watches and small studs/sleepers, if ears have been pierced.
The ban will apply to all other forms of jewellery such as earrings, bracelets/bangles, rings, necklaces, chains etc.
As you are aware, school staff are not permitted to remove or replace ear studs for children. Therefore if ear studs are worn, the child needs to remove them before any P.E. or Games activity. Alternatively, a parent could remove the studs before school on P.E. or Games day.
We are very grateful for the continued support of parents in this matter.
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Term time absence
We receive requests from time to time, from parents wishing to take their children out of school during term time for holidays. This is sometimes due to parents' own holiday patterns at work but also to tour companies who charge, often, hugely increased prices during school holidays, making the situation much worse.
Whilst we may understand the reason for the request, term time absences inevitably cause problems as children will always miss vital 'blocks' of teaching and often assessments, which cannot be repeated.
This school (and all other state schools) is bound by Government regulations relating to such absences and I thought it would be useful to provide you with a brief summary of those regulations below,
- all absences from a school must be authorised by the child's school.
- application for an absence should be made to the headteacher of the school well in advance - please note that this should be an application, not simply information that an absence will take place.
- schools must not grant absence in excess of ten school days in any one school year except in very unusual circumstances eg. for the opportunity of a lifetime.
- schools must record any absence (other than illness) which has not been applied for and granted in advance, as 'unauthorised absence'.
Please note that at Whittaker Moss, where approval for a 'holiday absence' is given, the school can not provide worksheets, books, homework or other materials for children to take on holiday.
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Recording of absences due to sickness
Below is a reminder of our procedures regarding the recording of children’s absence for reasons of sickness.
The procedures were updated following the introduction of the Government’s new ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda, which we wholeheartedly support at Whittaker Moss.
They also follow the very tragic case of the little boy in Scotland who was dropped off near to school by his mother one morning but never actually arrived in school. As you are probably aware, nobody realised this had happened until granddad arrived to collect him from school in the afternoon. The family assumed the boy was at school – the school assumed the boy was at home poorly.
We would like to remind you, please, to make sure you ring and let us know as early as possible in the morning if your child is not going to attend school for any reason (and I thank the great majority of you who always do this now).
The phone call should also be followed up by a note when your child returns to school. The note is kept in the register as a record for when routine checks are carried out by the Education Welfare Service or Council Auditors.
Registers are checked daily, after registration, by the office staff and if no reason for an absence that morning is known to us, the office staff will contact a parent, on one of the given contact numbers, to establish the reason.
We are sure you will all fully understand the importance of these procedures and we thank you in anticipation of your support and cooperation.
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Children requiring medicines in school
Children requiring medicines in school
Below is a reminder about our policy for the administration of medicines to children at Whittaker Moss School.
In the interests of everyone, children who are unwell should be kept at home until they are well enough to return to school and in order to prevent the spread of their illness to others.
We understand that children may sometimes be well enough to attend school following an illness but may need to finish a course of prescribed medicine. Whilst we would want to be as helpful as we can with regard to this, it is important that all parents understand the following –
Whittaker Moss Primary School does not have staff that are medically trained. ·
Parents must complete and sign a form requesting the school to administer medicines to their child – available from Mrs Elsdon (Mon – Thursday) and Miss Warburton (Fri) for Classes 1,2,3 and 4 and from Mrs Woods for Classes 5,6,7 and 8.
Only medicines which are prescribed by a doctor can be administered by the above staff and only those which are given 4 X daily
The above staff are available to administer medicines between 12.00 and 1.00 pm as they are working with children in class throughout the school day at other times. If you wish your child to have any other type of medication (non prescription) or if the above times are unsuitable, we would be happy for you to come to school at any time to administer the medicine to your own child.
Children must not keep medicines in their bag or administer their own medicine eg. Calpol melts, cough sweets for obvious health and safety reasons.
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Parking on the school site
We ask all parents to work with us on this issue that may well save the life of one of our children.
Parents, carers and childminders who walk to school with young children and use the Elmsfield Avenue playground entrance have often expressed extreme concern about –
- The way that cars are ‘double parked’, often on the pavement and the ‘zig zag markings’ in this area whilst children are being brought to or picked up from school. This obviously makes crossing Elmsfield Avenue with children, on foot, potentially very dangerous.
- The way that cars are manoeuvred about in the ‘turning area’ whilst parents with young children and often prams are walking to the playground.
We are told that cars even reverse out of there on to Elmsfield Avenue whilst parents and children are walking in to school!.
We also receive regular complaints from local residents about the difficulty in getting to and from their houses by car and their worries about not being able to see children crossing the road.
Unfortunately, as you know, the turning area does not belong to the school – I’m sure that if it did, the Governors would immediately close it to vehicles in the interests of safety to children.
In addition, obviously, the school has no control over the way people drive or park their cars – we can only appeal to everyone before a child is badly injured or even killed.
We ask that if it is not essential, please don’t bring a car at all.
If using a car, please use the official car parks via Highwood - additional spaces have been provided in our main entrance car park and along the driveway beside the hall. - then walk around the building to the playground.
We have discussed the matter with the police and they ask that if anyone sees a car either being parked or manoeuvred in a dangerous manner, to note the registration number and report the matter to them.
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School Trips and Visits at Whittaker Moss
We believe that well planned trips and visits from school are a very important part of what we provide both educationally and socially for children.They provide us with an opportunity to supplement and enhance our curriculum provision in ways we could not possibly do at school.
School trips and visits are also very enjoyable and memorable experiences for children – indeed many adults have fond and lasting memories of trips they had when at school.
However, we are also acutely aware of the potential health and safety implications of taking children off-site and also the cost implications.
Bearing this in mind, our policy is that in most classes, children will be taken on one main school trip each year. This may be supplemented by a second trip if particular curriculum benefits would result and also by occasional shorter visits eg. local studies walks.
Year 6 children are also offered, in addition, a residential stay at an activity centre (usually late May or June).
Health and Safety Considerations
- Parents will always receive details well in advance of any planned school trip,
- Parents will be asked to sign a consent form and fill in a medical details form for their child prior to the trip,
- Pre-visits are carried out by staff to all day trip venues,
- Risk assessments are requested from venues,
- Only LA approved coach firms are used,All coaches used will have individual seat belts for children,
- Staffing levels will always at least meet and usually exceed the recommended levels.
- Staff are in regular contact by mobile telephone with a senior member of staff at school throughout the trip/visit.
Charges
Any trip or visit involving the use of a coach incurs considerable cost nowadays – recently, these have been as much as £500 - £600 per coach per day, and this is before admission costs are considered.
Consequently, we can only operate our current system of, usually, one trip per year by requesting donations from parents to cover the costs.
When donations are requested, they are always of the minimum amount necessary just to cover transport and admissions.
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Supporting of Charities at Whittaker Moss Primary School
We feel it is very important that our children grow up with an appreciation of how fortunate we are in comparison to a great many other people.
We also feel it important that we encourage children’s desire to help those less fortunate than themselves, wherever we can.
To this end, we have carefully selected a small number of charities that we support on a regular basis.
As you will see, the charities, listed below, represent local community (Rochdale) issues, national issues and wider world issues.
Whenever donations/collections/sponsorship of money is involved, we always stress that –
- a small amount of a child’s own money means more than anything!
- children must never knock on doors in an attempt to collect donations or sponsorship – ask immediate and extended family by all means and see if, perhaps, a parent could make a collection at work.
Charities we support
- British Legion Poppy Appeal (October / November). This also forms part of our History and PSHCE curriculum work – particularly in upper Key Stage 2.
- Samaritan’s Purse ‘Operation Christmas Child’ – Shoebox Appeal (October / November). This has become a firm favourite with the children of Whittaker Moss and provides little toys, warm hats/gloves and other basic essentials for poor children in Eastern Europe at Christmas time.
- Jeans for Genes Day. Children and staff wear their Jeans to school on this day and make a donation to the appeal which provides money for medical and other sorts of care for children in this country who suffer from a range of genetic disorders.
- Harvest Festival. Here we ask children to donate dried, preserved, tinned food gifts which are collected by Rochdale Family Service Unit and distributed to local needy families, in times of crisis, throughout the year.
- Springhill Hospice Rochdale. We have had a long and close association with our town hospice. Our choir has attended every ‘Children’s Voices for Hospice’ concert since they began many years ago. Each year the choir also raise money in sponsorship. We also raised money towards the 'Friendship Wall Appeal' in 2005, money which went towards the building of some overnight accommodation for relatives visiting patients.
- Marie Curie Cancer Care.
This organisation visited school during ‘Healthy Week’. Daffodils are left in school for the children and staff to buy.
- Sponsored Skip for the British Heart Foundation. This very popular event takes place usually during ‘Healthy Week’. It is designed to show children the importance of regular exercise, to encourage health through a fun activity and to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
- Comic Relief ‘Red Nose Day’ – Bi-Annual
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Water in School
As you will be aware, there is increasing evidence to suggest that many children do not drink enough water.
Health experts across the country claim that they are having to treat children for symptoms of dehydration such as headaches, tiredness, irritability, poor concentration and reduced mental performance. Low fluid intake, they say, is also a cause of short and long term kidney and urinary tract infections.
As a result, many schools have been looking at how they might improve children’s access to drinking water and also promote the more regular drinking of water during the day for health.
It is important to note that it is the drinking of water that is being encouraged and not ‘just any drink’. This is because most soft artificial drinks contain varying amounts of sugar, sweeteners, additives and caffeine which we already know can contribute to various dietary, dental and even behavioural problems.
At Whittaker Moss we have a policy of actively encouraging our children to drink more water, more regularly, throughout the day, in addition to our existing drinking water fountain facilities.
Each year, we provide our children with a water bottle for school use. The bottles are special ‘non spill’ type and have the child’s name written on them.Each child brings the bottle to school in the morning, full of water and brings it home to be washed each evening.
The bottle is available in class for the child to drink from during the day. It is made clear to children when this is appropriate and when not.
Please note only the school bottle should be used and only plain water.
We have had two additional water mains pipes with special taps installed in our activity areas. These enable the refilling of water bottles to take place at set times during the day.
We ask parents to contribute £1 when the bottles are given out at the beginning of each school year and would be very grateful if this could be sent in a clearly labelled envelope.
We are firmly convinced that our encouragement to drink more water, supported by parents of course, is of benefit to both the general health and the learning of our children.
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Concerned about Head Lice?
For information about Head Lice - what it is, how it's caught and how to treat it, the following is taken from the 'patient.co.uk' web site.
Head Lice and Nits
| Head lice are common. They can usually be cleared by treatment. |
What are head lice and nits?
- Head lice are tiny grey/brown insects. They are about the size of a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns). Head lice cling to hairs, but stay close to the scalp which they feed off. They lay eggs which hatch after 7-10 days. It takes about 10 days for a newly hatched louse to grow to an adult and start to lay eggs.
- Nits are the empty white egg shells which are left when the lice hatch. Nits can look like dandruff, but stick strongly to hair. Unlike dandruff, you cannot easily brush out nits.
Who gets head lice?
Head lice are common in children, but can affect anyone at any age. They are not a sign of dirty hair or poor hygiene. Close 'hair to hair' contact is usually needed to pass lice on. Head lice cannot jump or fly, but walk from one head to another. They soon die when away from hair, and do not live in clothes, bedding, etc. Most head lice infections are caught from family or close friends who are not aware that they have head lice.
What are the problems with head lice?
Most people with head lice do not have any symptoms. An itchy scalp occurs in about 1 in 3 cases. This is due to an allergy to the lice, not due to them biting. It often takes about 3 months for itch to develop after you are infected. So, you may not notice that you have head lice for a while, and you may have passed them on to others for some time. Head lice and nits do not wash off with normal shampoo. Head lice do not cause any other medical problems. In most cases the head is not 'crawling with lice'. Commonly, there are less than 12 lice present.
How can you tell if you have head lice?
Head lice are difficult to find just by looking in the hair. If you suspect head lice, it is best to do 'detection combing' (described below). Some people advise that you do this to children's hair regularly, about once a week.
- Wash the hair in the normal way with ordinary shampoo.
- Rinse out the shampoo and put on lots of ordinary conditioner.
- Comb the hair with a normal comb to get rid of tangles.
- When the hair is untangled switch to a detection comb. This is a special fine toothed comb that you can buy at pharmacies. (The teeth of normal combs are too far apart.)
- Slot the teeth of the detection comb into the hair at the roots so it is touching the scalp gently.
- Draw the detection comb through to the tips of the hair.
- Repeat this in all directions until you have combed all the hair.
- Check the comb for lice after each stroke. A magnifying glass may help.
- If you see any lice, clean the comb by wiping it on a tissue or rinse it before the next stroke.
- Comb over a white surface such as white paper. This is so that any head lice that are flicked out by the comb are easy to see.
- After the whole head has been combed, rinse out the conditioner.
- While the hair is still wet, use an ordinary comb to get rid of tangles.
- Repeat the detection combing in the rinsed hair to check for any lice that you might have missed the first time.
- It takes about 10-15 minutes to do detection combing properly, depending on how thick the hair is.
What are the treatment options for head lice?
Treatment is needed only if you see one or more live moving lice. Nits (empty eggshells) do not always mean infection. Nits stick to hair even when lice are gone (after treatment).
Treatment with lotions or cream rinse
You can buy various lotions or a cream rinse which kills lice from pharmacies. The active ingredient is malathion, permethrin, or phenothrin. You can also get these on prescription. Head lice shampoo does not work very well and is not advised. Lotions come in water or alcohol bases. Alcohol based lotions work slightly better than water based lotions. But, do not use alcohol based lotions if you have asthma, eczema, or broken skin.
Note: Alcohol based lotions are flammable. So, do not use near naked lights, cigarettes, fires, or flames. Be careful with children near fires who have alcohol lotion in their hair.
Some tips include:
- Follow the instructions on the packet carefully. This may include the following.
- For lotions: apply to dry hair. Part the hair near the top and pour a few drops onto the scalp. Rub well into the hair. Part the hair again a little further down and repeat. Repeat this until the scalp and roots of the hair are saturated. Apply down to where a pony tail band would be. Leave on for 12 hours (overnight) and then wash off. Each person needs about 50ml of lotion, and up to 150ml if you have long thick hair.
- For cream rinse: apply to damp hair so that the scalp and roots of the hair are saturated. One tube is usually enough. Leave on for 10 minutes and then rinse off.
- Do not go swimming before applying a lotion. The chlorine from the swimming pool may stop it working.
- Do not use a hairdryer to dry hair after applying treatment.
- Re-apply the same treatment after 7 days. (Although lice are usually killed by one application, not all eggs may be. The second application makes sure that any lice that hatch from eggs which survived will be killed before they are old enough to lay further eggs.)
- Inspect the hair by detection combing 2-3 days after the second application. If you find any live moving head lice, despite treatment, then see a doctor or nurse for advice.
Wet combing treatment using the 'bug busting' method
'Bug busting' is a way of removing head lice without having to use a lotion or cream rinse to kill them. The Bug Busting method in described in the section above 'How can you tell if you have head lice?' Do this on every member of the household who has head lice. (The detector comb removes the lice which cannot grip hair which is slippery with conditioner). You need to do the wet combing routine every 4 days for at least 4 sessions (2 weeks).
- The first combing session should remove all hatched head lice, but does not remove eggs.
- Any young lice that hatch from eggs after the first session are removed at the second, third and fourth sessions. This is why it is important to do the full 4 sessions.
- If you see full-grown lice at the second, third, or fourth session, this means that some had been missed on the first session, or you have become re-infected from someone else. If this occurs, you should increase the number of sessions. In effect, following any session where you find adult head lice, you should do 3 further sessions at 4 day intervals where you do not see adult lice.
Fuller details of wet combing treatment ('Bug Busting') can be obtained from:
Community Hygiene Concern, Manor Gardens Centre, 6-9 Manor Gardens, London, N7 6LA
Tel: 020 7686 4321 Web: www.nits.net
Do family and friends need treatment?
Only if they have lice. All people in the same home, and other close 'head to head' contacts of the previous 4-6 weeks should be contacted. Tell them to look for lice and treat if necessary. (It used to be advised to treat all close contacts even if they had no symptoms. This has changed to just treating people with definite head lice infection.) All people with head lice in the same home should be treated at the same time. This stops lice being passed around again.
What about school?
Children with head lice should carry on going to school. Contrary to popular belief, head lice do not spread quickly through schools. You need close head-to-head contact to pass lice on to others. Young children who are 'best friends' and play closely together may pass lice on. If your child has head lice, a common sense approach is to tell the parents of their close friends to look out for lice in their children.
Can head lice be prevented?
There is no good way of preventing head lice. Lice repellent sprays do not work very well. If you do detection combing of children's hair every week or so, you will detect lice infection early. So if an infection does occur, you can start treatment quickly and reduce the risk of passing them on to others.
Some other points about head lice
- Use an anti-lice lotion or cream rinse only when you are sure that you or your child have head lice. Do not use them to prevent head lice, or 'just in case'. Frequent use may cause a build up of small amounts of the active medication in the body. The risk of harm from this is very small, but it is best to use these treatments only when infected.
- A common reason for head lice to recur in one person is because close contacts (family and close friends) are not checked for head lice, and not treated if they are infected. The treated person is then likely to get head lice back again from untreated family or friends.
- After treatment and the lice have gone, it may take 2-3 weeks for the itch to go fully.
- Nits may remain after lice have gone. They are empty egg shells and stick strongly to hair. They will eventually fall out. If you prefer, a fine toothed 'nit comb' can remove them.
A final reminder - alcohol based lotions are flammable. Some children have been badly burnt as their hair caught fire whilst being treated. Keep children away from fires, cigarettes, flames, etc, whilst lotion is in their hair.
© EMIS and PIP 2004 Updated: August 2003 CHIQ Accredited PRODIGY Validated
Impetigo
Cases of Impetigo occur from time to time in schools. Impetigo is a very contagious skin condition which may require antibiotic treatment and a short spell away from school (contact with other children). If you suspect Impetigo, please contact your G.P. as soon as possible.
Further information and advice on diagnosis, causes and treatment can be found on the NHS Direct web site. Please click here.
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New regulations concerning child restraints in vehicles
A series of new requirements became law from 18th September 2006.
A useful source of information can be found by clicking the link to this web-site
www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk/campaigns/childcarseats.childcarseats.htm
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