Good attendance and punctuality are really important to everyone at Parson Street Primary School as we know that good attendance not only affects learning outcomes but also wellbeing.
Some useful information:
- The school day begins at 8.50 am and registers are taken at 9 am.
- The school day finishes at 3.30 pm, although EYFS children may be collected from 3.20 pm.
- If your child is unwell and unable to attend school, please inform the school office by calling 0117 903 0226, using the school app, or via Class Dojo.
- This guidance is very useful in advising you about illness and school attendance: Guidance on Illness and school attendance
- The office team monitors attendance and punctuality closely and Kim Harris, the school’s Attendance Officer or Karen Cousins, the school’s Family Support Worker will be in touch with you if we feel we can work together to improve your child’s attendance in school.
- The school’s attendance policy can be found here: Attendance Policy 2024
- Below, you can read about how we foster a sense of belonging in our school. This is important to us as we know this sense of belonging helps to improve attendance in school.
Belonging in Our School
You are welcome here….
- We ensure a warm, welcoming start to the day by saying good morning to everyone at the school gates, using children’s names.
- According to a Y6 child, “staff will have a nice chat with you in the morning…..and look after you.”
- For anyone who is new, we provide tours by Opal Ambassadors and ‘classbuddies’ to help you settle in and learn how we do things, like our Gem learning powers.
- We start the day with calming activities and time together.
Keep learning….
- We have a school environment which is calm and helps everyone to feel comfortable and ready to learn.
- We send home knowledge organisers so that learning can carry on at home.
- Teachers provide a weekly update on Dojo so you can hear what we have been doing.
- If you are more into learning Englishthen we will help you with sessions in school and at home on our app, and by using visuals in class teaching.
- We use apps to support learning at home: Numbots, TT Rock Stars, Spelling Shed
Make friends….
- If you are new to our school, a buddy will sit with you and help you settle in.
- We learn how to say your name correctly.
- We use our Ruby gem, learningpower, to invite people to play if they are alone.
- We have our own PSHE curriculum, which is designed to address themes from our school community and deliberately teaches about positive relationships with others.
- You can read our anti-bullyingstrategy on our website.
Have fun….
- We have lots of trips and visitors into the school each term, including a camp for Y5/6 and trips to local museums, theatres and places of worship.
- We take part in lots of sports competitions in the local area, including football, cricket, hockey and swimming. We even have our own pool to practice in!
- We have lots of different clubs which the adults have planned depending on what we would like to do.
Support for families….
- We hold regular coffee mornings with speakers including the school nurse team, SEND specialists, online safety advisors and more.
- Our Family Room (Willow) is open daily which includes a free pantry of dry food goods, and free second-hand school uniform.
- Our Family Support Worker can help families to access a range of local services and support.
- Our Attendance Officer supports families to ensure children are in school everyday and on time.
- We use the app Dojo, which allows families to translate our communication, and we book interpreters if necessary.
Listening to pupils and parents/carers….
- In school, we have a school council, elected by peers and staff each term, who represent their class during school projects they are working on.
- We teach oracy skills from Nursery all the way to Year 6 so that children have a voice, can listen to others and be heard.
- We organise a parent/carer voice survey each year to gather your feedback.
- We have a feedback policy where we encourage conversations with us regarding things which are going well, or things we can improve. Please come and talk to us!
