Dear Parents/Carers
I hope you all had a good holiday and on behalf of the Governors and Staff I welcome you all back to school for the spring term.
I’m pleased to announce that the school’s performance results remain impressive this year compared to the local authority and England averages. This success, after what has been unprecedented times in education brought about by the pandemic, has been achieved by working in partnership with you, our dedicated staff and of course our amazing pupils. Please note that The Department for Education (DfE) will not be publishing school performance ‘league tables’ for 21/22.
Punctuality
The School gates open at 8:45am every day so you can bring your children into school nice and early ready for the morning challenge. We start teaching immediately at 8.55am so if your child is late they could miss out on essential learning and may be required to miss playtime to make up for lost learning time. The school gates will close promptly at 8:55 and any child arriving after this time will be marked as late.
(Nursery: morning children start at 8:45am and afternoon children at 12:15pm)
School Uniform
Children should arrive at school in full uniform every day. Please ensure your child has smart black school shoes and a waterproof coat with a hood. If your child wears wellingtons/boots to school please ensure they have a pair of school shoes to change into on arrival. Children are not allowed to wear scarves during playtime and are not allowed umbrellas in school. If your child is in year 5/6 they will need an old pair of trainers/footwear to wear to go onto the field at lunchtimes as it can get very muddy. They will not be allowed onto the field if they do not have footwear to change into. Children in Year 1 and 2 will need to keep their PE plimsolls in school for use when it is their turn to play on the climbing equipment.
In addition to this the Governors have decided that on PE days your child can come to school dressed in their school PE Kit and on Forest School/Outdoor learning days they can come to school in appropriate clothing. Please note that PE and outdoor learning are part of our taught curriculum and as such your child is required to take part unless you supply a medical letter from your GP explaining the medical reason that your child is unable to do so.
Equally, in accordance with DfE guidelines stating that all children must be able to swim 25 metres unaided by the time they leave primary school all children in Year 4 are required to attend swimming lessons and learn how to swim and therefore they must have suitable swimwear in school on swimming days.
School Open Afternoon
A reminder that on Thursday 26th January 2023 we have a School Open Afternoon to enable parents to visit the school and see their child’s work in their classroom. During the open afternoon your child can show you around our school. Please put this date in your diary as we will be running two sessions for you to book into 1:30pm-3:00pm & 3:00pm -4:30pm. On this day the school will close at 1:15pm to all children in Reception – Year 6. Nursery will be open as normal.
The open afternoon is an opportunity for you to come into school with your child, see your child’s classroom and to share your child’s learning, look at their work in their books. Please note that this session does not include a meeting with the teacher formally, therefore if you have any concerns or wish to speak with your child’s class teacher then please contact the school office.
School Website
Please continue to regularly check the school’s website (www.devonshirehill.com) to keep up to date with events on the school calendar. This is our main source of communication with parents/carers and the wider audience and is populated with lots of essential school information.
Before School and After School Clubs
After school clubs are running and some clubs still have spaces. Please speak to the office if you would like to register your child for a club, or if you are interested in running an after school club.
Holidays / Time off during Term Time
Please note that children should be in school every day unless they are very unwell, high temperature and therefore unable to learn. Common coughs and colds are not reason enough to keep your child away from school. Please send your child into school every day so they do not miss out on learning. As a reminder the term dates for this academic year are available at www.devonshirehill.com/parents/term-dates/ for your reference, these dates have been updated to include the recently appointed May Bank Holiday.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support.
Yours sincerely,
Julie D’Abreu | Headteacher
