We welcome your child to St Augustine's School
All that we do is underpinned by our Mission Statement:
GOD IS THE HEART OF OUR SCHOOL
RESPECT OURSELVES, EACH OTHER AND THE ENVIRONMENT
OPEN OUR HEARTS AND MINDS
WORSHIP AND WONDER
INSPIRE EACH OTHER
NURTURE THE BEST A PERSON CAN BE
GROW AND LEARN TOGETHER
SCHOOL ROUTINE
The playground gate opens at 8.45am (children should not be left unsupervised before the gate opens). When the gate opens, please walk your child into the school playground, and then they should then enter into their classrooms.
The main gates will be locked at 8.55am and will remain locked during the day. If your child is late bring them to the front entrance and sign them into the ‘late book’. For security reasons, we ask that you do not accompany them through the school to his/her class. They will be taken by a member of staff while you sign the late book, located in the front porch.
At the end of the day, parents/carers should wait on the pathway until the gates are opened at 3.15pm. Children will be dismissed by their teacher from the playground at 3.25pm. At 3.35pm the wooden playground gate will be locked. At this point, any child who has not been collected from the playground will be taken to the office and you will have to press the call button to gain access to the main entrance. If you are later than 3.40pm then your child will be sent to Eden Club and you may incur a charge. Please do let us know if you are running late and we can reassure your child.
In the morning, all clubs and Eden club will continue to use the call button and enter through the main entrance. The children will be dismissed from morning clubs straight to their classrooms.
The main car park gates will only be open to allow access for staff and will be closed when the children are coming into and leaving school. Please do not walk down the driveway to gain access to the school and remind your children to dismount and walk their bike or scooter down the footpath. Our pedestrian and vehicle areas are clearly fenced off from one another, to ensure the safety of all visitors.
WRAP AROUND CARE
We offer wrap around care for the children of St Augustine's, every weekday during term time (excluding INSET Days) from 7.30am – 6.00pm. Booking forms are available from the school office. Please return booking forms to the school office no later than the date stipulated on the form. Booking forms handed in after this date are not guaranteed to be upheld and your child may be placed on a waiting list.
Money to be paid in full, termly in advance via your Parentpay account no later than the date stipulated on the form. Bookings are only guaranteed once payment has been received. A full copy of our Wrap Around Care Terms and Conditions can be found on our website.
ORGANISATION OF THE SCHOOL
There is a total pupil admission number of 30 children for Years R and Year 1
There is a total pupil admission number for 45 children in Years 2-6.
Key Stage Two
SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM 2023-2024a of Responsibility
Mr Jonathan Crozier ~ Headteacher, Looked After Children (LAC), Assessment Leader
Miss Simone Curry ~ KS2 Lead, Deputy Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Judith Taylor ~ Assistant Headteacher, SENCO/Inclusion Lead, Designated Safeguarding Lead,
Mrs Katrina Liddle~ KS1 and EYFS leader. Deputy Safeguarding Lead
PICKING UP
In order to keep your child safe it is essential that we know with whom your child is going home. We are unable to release your child to anyone other than the child’s parents without written authorisation. Please let us know who has permission to collect your child by completing our Going Home Arrangements form and returning to your child’s class teacher. If occasionally you are unable to pick up your child on a particular day, let your class teacher know in writing in advance the name of the person who will do this. If there is an unexpected change of pick up for your child and the adult is not on your permission list, please contact the school office.
CARS AND PARKING
We request that you follow these rules:
Do not park on yellow zig-zags either side of the school entrance for safety and legality
Ensure that your child gets in or out of the car from the pavement side not the road.
Do not drive into the school to pick up or drop off your child or after school clubs.
Drive with great care along Wilman Road.
Ensure your child is aware of road safety.
Do not use the school entrance for turning or reversing.
Please walk down the pedestrian pathway .
Be considerate of our neighbours when parking and do not park over residents driveways or block access
EMERGENCY CONTACTS AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS
It is essential for us to have emergency contacts and telephone numbers, should your child have an accident or be unwell during the day. Please give an additional contact other than parents and please ensure that they are correct and updated as necessary.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL
We use ‘Parentpay’ for almost all communications home to parents delivering letters and notes electronically to your email address(es). Payment for school trips and permission slips may also be requested by Parentpay. For parents who do not have internet access, paper copies will be sent home.
The school website www.st-augustines.kent.sch.uk is also updated regularly, and the homepage is often used for important announcements (especially in times of snow or other events). Every week, a newsletter is also sent home via Parentpay. This contains important information about things happening in school and is also published on the website.
If you wish to speak to your child’s class teacher you could see if they are free to talk before or after school by approaching the teacher directly or contact the school office first. For a more lengthy discussion with your child’s teacher, you can make a mutually convenient appointment by telephoning the school office, writing to your child’s class teacher, or emailing the office.
HEALTHY, SAFE AND SECURE
We value and respect all our children and families equally and recognise that chidren learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure. If you have any concerns about their learning, safety or welfare please feel welcome to contact us.
SICKNESS/ABSENCE
If your child is ill, for whatever reason, we need to be informed by 9.30am on each day of the absence, otherwise the school will mark the absence as unauthorised. Absences can be informed by telephoning the school and leaving a message, sending a ‘communication’ via ParentPay or by emailing the school office: office@st-augustines.kent.sch.uk. In the case of sickness and diarrhoea, children should not return to school within 24 hours from their last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. If your child is sick at school, and sent home, they should not return the following day. The expectation is still 24 hours from the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea. Please notify the school if your child has contracted or come into contact with any communicable diseases such as Chicken Pox for example – we have children with low immune systems who are at a greater risk from these illnesses.
We expect at least 96% attendance for every child. If there are issues with ill health or other issues that reduce your child’s attendance below this percentage we will work with you to improve this.
We have a useful guide on our website called ‘Is my child too ill for school?’ https://www.st-augustines.kent.sch.uk/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ if you are in any doubt about sending them in.
MEDICINES
If your child needs to take any medication whilst at school, a ‘Parental Agreement for the Administration of Medecines' form will need to be completed and handed into the office (forms are available from the office, or can be downloaded from the website). All medicines must be handed in to the school office in their original container as dispensed by the pharmacist with medical instruction on its use.
If your child requires regular medication or has an inhaler we need a Medical Care Plan form to be completed. Please contact the office to arrange a meeting. All inhalers are kept in the classroom. It is essential for the class teacher to know if your child suffers from any medical condition.
UNIFORM AND BOOKBAGS
Most items of uniform can be bought from our online supplier School Trends, with the exception of school ties, these can be purchased from the school office along with book bags and sun hats.
To visit our uniform supplier’s website please search https://www.schooltrends.co.uk/ or by telephone on
0114 251 2501. Please ensure that all belongings are clearly labelled.
PE
For PE children will need a named PE bag, in which will go their named PE kit. During the winter months it is advisable to keep tracksuit or jogging bottoms and jumper in school for outdoor games. PE bags and kits are taken home at the end of every half term to be washed and brought back to school on the first day of the following term. The children start out-door games in September.
JEWELLERY/HAIR
Pupils with pierced ears should wear plain studs only, which will need to be removed by the children themselves for PE. Children are not allowed to do PE wearing earrings. New piercings should be left until the six week summer holiday to allow for healing. Hair must be tied back if shoulder-length or longer. All hair bands/clips etc. should be in uniform colours, blue, grey or yellow.
FOOD
Children often feel hungry at break-time, so we encourage you to send your child to school with a snack of fruit. We do not allow sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cereal bars or crisps and no nuts or food containing nuts please. We are a nut free school. We are involved in the Government’s free fruit scheme for infants; this means that they will be given an additional piece of fruit/vegetables to eat during the day.
If your child has a birthday, you are welcome to send in small individual treats to share with the class although this is by no means an expectation so please do not feel any pressure to do so. These treats will be shared at the end of the day. Please do not send in cakes that require cutting up or chocolates/sweets that contain nuts. Thank you
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
You may also be entitled to claim ‘Free School Meal’ status which secures important additional funding for the school. Your child does not have to have school lunches for the school to receive the additional funding. This funding is used to benefit your child’s learning for six years, whether your child has a school meal or not. Please see the enclosed letter for further information.
MILK
Every child under the age of five is entitled to a free serving of milk whilst in attendance at a registered day care provider for two or more hours a day. Upon starting school your child is registered to receive their portion of free milk with our milk provider Cool Milk which will continue until their fifth birthday. After their fifth birthday you may choose to continue with the milk scheme at a subsidised rate, please visit https://www.coolmilk.com/ to register your child if you wish for them to continue receiving milk after their firth birthday. If your child is entitled to ‘Free School Meals’, your child will automatically receive a free serving of milk paid for by the school.
LUNCHES
School lunch is at 12.00 for children in Reception and KS1. In KS2 lunch begins at 12.15pm. School lunch sample menus can be found via a link on our school website: https://www.st-augustines.kent.sch.uk/school-meals/ From September 2013 the Government pledged funding to all schools in England to provide every child in Reception and Years 1 and 2 with a meal at lunchtime, known as Universal Free School Meals. If you choose for your child to have a packed lunch it must be a healthy one. This should be a named lunch bag\box and must not include chocolate bars or sweets, fizzy or energy drinks, nuts or products made with nuts. We are unable to store packed lunch food in a refrigerator so please keep this in mind when choosing what to give your child.
We do not insist that children eat all the food on their plate but we do encourage them to eat as much as they can. If we think that there may be an issue about not eating sufficient food, we will tell you.
We have some children in school who are likely to suffer from anaphylactic shock if they come into contact with any nuts. Please do not use peanut butter or chocolate/hazelnut spread as any part of your child’s lunch.
MONEY/CORRESPONDENCE
We are a cashless school, therefore all money for trips, lunches or saving schemes should be paid via your Parentpay account.
SCHOOL PTA (PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION)
As a parent or carer of a child at St Augustine’s you’re already a member of our PTA. Your skills, or even just your presence, are very much appreciated. Not only can you make a real difference but a child’s extended family (aunties, uncles, grandparents) can also get involved. Children love seeing their families in school and we strongly believe that school and families’ working in partnership is the most positive way to raise money and secure the best educational experiences for our children. You can benefit them, improve their educational environment and make friends too. The varied work means there's something for everyone - it's not just about being on the committee. More families involved with their PTA means more money raised through more fun events, benefitting everyone.