ARRANGEMENTS FOR BEGINNING & END OF DAY from September 2023
START OF SCHOOL DAY
8.45am
The main school gates open at 8.35am. Ideally children should arrive just before the start of the school day. The playground is not supervised before school. Children from Years 2 – 6 are collected by their class teacher from the playground.
Reception and Year 1 children enter through the reception playground. This gate is opened at 8.40am.
Chase games and ball games are not allowed before school. We also ask that children do not play on the climbing frame, climbing wall or steps and decking before and after school. Class teachers are available for brief messages.
END OF SCHOOL DAY
3:15pm – Reception and Y1
3.20pm – Years 2 -6
Reception and Year 1 children are collected by parents from the EYFS playground gate at the end of the day.
Year 2 children and KS2 are collected from the main playground.
The cloakroom areas and playground are supervised at the end of the day. A member of leadership team is on duty each day.
Children who are not collected are taken to wait in meeting & welfare room next to the school office. Children should not wait to be collected from outside the school. A record is kept of late collection. A reason needs to be given and children need to be signed out. For further information please see the late collections procedures in the Key Policies section of the website.
ABSENCES AND HOLIDAYS DURING TERM-TIME
We advise parents to take holidays outside of term time. Holidays during term time will only be authorised in
exceptional circumstances. Any requests for absence need to be made to the Headteacher via the pupil absence request form. Medical and other appointments wherever possible should be made for outside of school hours. If your child has an appointment, please notify the school office in advance by providing a copy of their appointment letter for our records. If your child is unwell please telephone the school office (or leave an answerphone message) to let us know before 9am. You may also send in a note so that we have a written record of your child’s absence. We are sorry but we are not able to authorise absences for family events during term time e.g. theatre trips, birthday outings. It is very important that your child attends school every day and all unauthorised or unexplained absences will be followed up as part of our safeguarding procedures.
LATENESS
It is very important that all children arrive on time. If your child is late for school they should report to the school office where they will be registered and receive a late card. Lateness is carefully monitored and regular late arrival is referred to the local authority's Attendance and Welfare service.
OFFICE HOURS
The office is open to parents at the following times:
8.00am – 9.30am
2.30pm – 4.00pm
It is helpful if enquiries to the office can be made at these times. If your child attends Horniman School you can also email queries or information to admin@horniman.lewisham.sch.uk. Please note this email is checked 3 times daily during term time only.
SCHOOL MEALS
The cost of a school meal is £2.80 a day. We use an online payment system - SCOPAY - which allows you to purchase dinners for one day or each half term and pay in instalments. The total amount for each half term is due one week before the end of that half term.
This year (2023- 24), lunches for all children in KS1 and KS2 are free, under the London Mayor’s Free School Meal initiative.
School meals are provided by Caterlink. They provide healthy meals, cooked on site by our friendly kitchen staff. They use fresh ingredients and meals are made with Red Tractor/Farm Assured fresh meat. Caterlink are committed to using sourcing ingredients with assured provenance from local and regional suppliers. We use produce with high standards of animal welfare – for example, Free Range Eggs, fish that complies with Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standards and a range of fair trade produce. There is always a vegetarian option and a range of dietary requirements can be catered for.
Children whose parents receive Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance, full rate Children’s Tax Credit or Asylum Seekers receiving regular payments from the Asylum Seeker Team or Social Services are entitled to free school meals. The process for applying is straightforward and confidential. You can check online using a ‘Free School Meals / Pupil Premium Service’ at www.fsm.lgfl.net. After entering essential details into the web site, the online application process links to the Department for Education system for checking eligibility and gives an immediate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response. If eligible, an application for free school meals can be made via your local authority's website (Lewisham/Southwark) If you need assistance to check your eligibility, please let the office know. All enquires will be treated in confidence.
Children in Reception and KS1 are automatically entitled to a free school lunch; however, registering your child for free meals will entitle them to additional support with the cost of school visits, PTA events and extra-curricular clubs, as well as raising additional funds for the school.
PACKED LUNCHES
Children who bring a packed lunch are encouraged to bring healthy options, no sweets or fizzy drinks. Children must not have any nuts or nut products including sandwich spreads.
NUT FREE
The school policy relating to food is strictly no nuts. This extends to all school events including social and PTA events.
BIRTHDAYS
KS1 and Reception have a weekly birthday assembly and children in KS2 celebrate in their classes. Children are invited to select a small gift from the birthday box. Unfortunately, we are unable to share birthday cakes and sweets during the school day.
BOOK BAGS
These may be purchased from the office during opening hours and cost £4 for the essential book bag and £5 for the despatch bag (with strap).
VISITORS
All visitors are requested to sign the visitors’ book and collect a badge from the reception area. Sign in sheets and visitor stickers are available for parent workshops each Friday. Please sign in and out of the school.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
We value parents getting involved and have many parents and carers who help during the school day. Please see your child’s class teacher if you would like to help in school. Please note that unfortunately we are unable to accommodate younger siblings when parents are helping during the school day or on trips. We require parents who help regularly in school to have a DBS check. Please ask at the
office for details. A crèche is held on Friday mornings 9.00 – 9.30am so that parents can attend their older child's class parent workshop.
MONEY IN SCHOOL
We encourage children not to bring money to school. If it is necessary for a child to have money with him/her, it should be handed to the class teacher at the beginning of the school day, preferably in a named envelope.
TOYS AND PERSONAL POSSESSIONS
Children are encouraged to bring in items related to their topic work. In Reception and Year 1 children have the opportunity to bring special items to show on particular days. We ask that children do not bring toys or other personal possessions into school. Children should not bring pencil cases or stationary into school.
JEWELLERY
Children are asked not to wear jewellery (including wrist bands) in school (unless there is a particular religious reason). Children with pierced ears should wear small, plain studs only. Children may wear watches in school however, it is their responsibility and if removed, such as for PE, it should be given to the teacher.
MOBILE PHONES
A few of our older children bring mobile phones to school. Any phones should be handed in to the office at the beginning of the school day. We advise against children bringing mobile phones to school. If you do wish your child to bring a phone to school, please put the request in writing. Phones must be handed in to the office before registration and collected at the end of the day.
PE
All children are expected to wear the school PE uniform. Shorts or joggers, a school T-shirt in their house colour and a school sweatshirt (if purchased).
For indoor PE, children change to shorts and T-shirt and shorts/joggers and T-shirt for outdoor PE. All children must wear
trainers or plimsolls for outdoor PE. Your class teacher will inform you when the class PE days are.
Children must remove watches and jewellery (with the exception of small ear studs) for PE.
It is helpful if PE kits come in the school on Monday and go home on a Friday.
A school PE kit can be purchased from Wearabout - https://wearaboutsschoolwear.co.uk/product-category/primary-schools/horniman-primary-school/
MEDICINES IN SCHOOL (INCLUDING INHALERS)
The prime responsibility for a child's health lies with the parent/carer. It is important that we have sufficient information about the medical conditions of any child, particularly those with long term needs. Medicines should be handed to the school office and an ‘administration of medicines’ form completed by the parent/carer stating the dosage and time to be taken. Non-prescribed medicines cannot be authorised (with the exception of Calpol) and medicines need to be in the original bottle with a dosage spoon provided. Inhalers should be clearly labelled and handed to the school where it will be stored in the child’s classroom. Children in upper KS2 are responsible for carrying their own inhalers. It is the parent/carer’s responsibility to ensure all medicines are not past their ‘use by date’. Children should not bring any other medicine or cough sweets to school.
DRESS CODE
There is an optional uniform. School sweatshirts and other school wear can be ordered from Wearabouts - https://wearaboutsschoolwear.co.uk/product-category/primary-schools/horniman-primary-school/.
Children are expected to wear clothing which is easily manageable and suitable for all activities.
Footwear should be suitable for the playground, allowing children to run and play safely (no high heels, loose strap sandals or clogs).
In warmer weather we request that children wear tops with sleeves (no belly tops).
We also ask that children do not have slogans or big pictures on their clothes.
SAFEGUARDING
The school takes its safeguarding duties very seriously. All school appointments follow strict safeguarding procedures and regular volunteers to school, including parent volunteers, are asked to complete a DBS check. As a school, we are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children, to prevent concerns from escalating. It is our duty to promote the welfare of children, protect them from harm and to take appropriate action, working with other services as needed.