Dear parents,

I hope you had a super summer and managed to see family, friends and some sunshine! Firstly, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new Nursery and Reception families joining us, as well as to other families with children joining in other year groups. We look forward to working with you and know that your children will very much enjoy their time at WP. The staff team had INSET days for the first three days and school never feels the same without our wonderful children, so it was great to see them back on Thursday and Friday last week.

Nina from Hackney Outdoors and the volunteers, both parents and corporate and Claudia from Growing Green have done a fantastic job over the summer preparing the Project ReWild garden space and it is looking amazing so far. It is nearly ready for the children to use. I am delighted to say that Nina will be working with us every Thursday during lunchtime and for the 2 hour afternoon session, sharing her enthusiasm and knowledge with the children, which is brilliant news!

As we start a new academic year, I would like to remind you about our school guidelines for health, hygiene and safety.

We are a NUT FREE SCHOOL at all times – this includes lunchtime and packed lunches (no Nutella, chocolate hazelnut spread, peanut butter sandwiches or coconut products) as well as food for trips, end of term parties, club snacks, snacks for swimming, the fairs and cake sales.

Attendance and Punctuality

As you will know, good school attendance is crucial to ensuring a child reaches their potential. Regular attendance supports not just academic learning, but fosters the forming and maintaining of friendships and social and emotional development, as well meaning children enjoy all opportunities provided.

School starts at 9am, with gates opening at 8.53am. Please ensure your child attends school regularly and that they are on time. Regularly missing days here and there, impacts on progress and can lead to gaps in the foundations of their reading, writing and maths skills and knowledge, which then impacts as they move through the school.

With this in mind we would also remind you that children should not be taken out of school during term time for holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Any absence would need to be agreed in advance with Karen.

Illness

If your child is unwell, please ensure you call the school by 9am to let us know what is wrong with them if they are not able to come in. You can leave a message on the answer machine if calling before 8am or you can email. You should call the school each day a child is not in attendance, not just on the first day. If we do not hear from you, Jane will call to ascertain the reason for absence. This is in line with our safeguarding and attendance policy.

Appointments during school hours

Should your child have an appointment (dentist, doctor, optician etc.) during school hours he/she should bring their appointment card to school for entry in the appointments file. The absence will be authorised if proof is given. It is of course preferable that they have these appointments outside of school time.

Collection at the end of the day

The end of school is 3.30pm. Children not collected by 3.40pm will be taken to the KS1 library. Parents will be asked to sign out their child when they collect them from here.

Nursery and Reception children will only be allowed to go with their named adult or the adult who has the parental pass card.

Sweets, chocolate, biscuits, fizzy drinks and flavoured water

These are not allowed in school at all, including lunchtime. The only time that these items are allowed in school is for the end of term parties or very special events. If children have these items in their packed lunch, staff will ask that they are put back in their lunch box and the child will be offered fruit or bread as a replacement. Water or milk would be offered to replace any inappropriate drink. Children who have packed lunch may have a packet of crisps on Friday only.

Lunch

All children in Reception – Year 6 are entitled to a free school lunch. The children need to be either school lunches or packed lunch for the term. Children cannot change for random days or weeks. This allows the kitchen to plan and budget. The only exception is for special occasions such as Christmas lunch, Chinese New Year lunch etc when packed lunch children can opt to have that meal for the day.

Water bottles

Children are encouraged to bring a reusable water bottle to school. They can be topped up throughout the day as each classroom has a sink. Classes have cups and water is available in each class.

Jewellery

No jewellery is to be worn for school unless it is of religious significance. This includes friendship bracelets and other festival type bands. Children can wear small flat, stud earrings.

Clothes

William Patten does not have a school uniform and children are free to wear whatever they would like. Football shirts (local, national and international) are not allowed. If we see a child wearing a football shirt, we will remind them not to wear it again.

If the clothes are inappropriate, we will call home and ask for parents to bring in a replacement. It is very helpful if clothes are labelled with the child’s name. if they lose it, it is more likely to be returned much more quickly, if we know who it belongs to.

Bags

Children must not bring very large rucksacks to school. They are too big and heavy and take up too much space! Books should be in the William Patten bookbag and packed lunches in a small bag. Any other items need to be in a small bag. We know that there will be some occasions when children will need to bring a larger bag – if they are going swimming after school for example.

Bookbags

Please do not attach keyrings or toys to bookbags. A piece of ribbon or coloured string can be tied on, so children can recognise their own bag more easily.

Administration of medicines

If a child needs to take medication (e.g. antibiotics, Calpol, antihistamines etc) the medicine will be kept in the downstairs office. The parent must sign a parental consent form, which is available from the school office and give the form and medicine to Rita or Jane.

The medicine container should be clearly labelled with the child’s name, class, dosage and timing. Please note that this includes inhalers for asthma.

No child will be allowed to take or be given medication in school without the above being carried out.

Dogs

Dogs are not allowed in the school or the playground even on a leash. If you bring your dog to school, they must be tied up outside the gates (SLT are very happy to look after them!) or if they too young to be left outside, they must be carried in then playground.

Bikes and scooters
Children and adults are very welcome to bring their bikes and scooters to school, but they are NOT to be ridden in the playground. We would ask that everyone dismounts from their bike / scooter and walks with it into the playground to the appropriate rack. This includes after school and when collecting from clubs / JAG.

Electric scooters

These are NOT to be brought on the school site.

Headlice

We would ask parents to check their child’s hair on a weekly basis and let school know if their child has headlice. We can then send out a letter to the whole class.

Emergency contact numbers

As you know, it is essential we have an emergency contact number in the event your child is ill or injured and we can’t contact you. If your emergency contact changes during the year, please let us know of a change in details or contact the office. It is very distressing for a child and worrying for the school, if we cannot contact a parent, if a child is unwell.

Arrangements after school

Our office staff make every effort to help you with messages to your children. They do though find it impossible to pass on messages that arrive in the office just before the end of school. If you are going to be late please ring the school early enough for us to get a message to the child, i.e. before 3.00pm

Gates to use
Dynevor and Lancell Street are the gates to use for children and families to come into school in the morning. The gate on Church street should not be used as an entry gate in the morning unless your child is late.

At the end of the day, Dynevor Road, Lancell Street and Church Street can be used to exit the playground. Please do not use the Daycare gate at any time.

If you have any other questions, please email admin@williampatten.hackney.sch.uk and we will do our best to help.

We are looking forward to another fabulous year!

Best wishes

Karen

Karen Law

Headteacher