The School

The school is situated in the village of Wittering, close to RAF Wittering.  It is a School for children aged 4 - 11 yrs and mainly serves the villages of Wittering, Thornhaugh and Wansford (North of the River Nene), although children living outside this area may also be admitted. 

The school is quite large with 21 classrooms, two halls, it's own kitchens, a large library, sensory room, music room and pleasant grounds. 

Times of the School Day

• School gates open 8.35am
• Whistle blown for children to line up in classes at 8.45am
• Morning lessons finish 11.55am
• Afternoon school begins at 12.55pm and ends at 3.15pm
• Children should not arrive at school before 8.35am and they should not return before 12.50pm if they go home for lunch
• Children should have gone home by 3.25pm

Communication

The main form of communication between school and parents is 'Class Dojo'.  This enables you to quickly send a message to your child's teacher but does not replace calling the office in the case of absence.  Please ensure school has your current email address.

School Meals

Cooked lunches are available at a daily cost of £2.50 for key stage 2 pupils.  Payment is made via ParentPay. It is school policy that meals are paid for in advance so please ensure that sufficient funds are credited to allow for any meals you wish your child to take. Any funds not used can be credited back to you. Children in key stage 1 are entitled to a free government funded school meal.

If preferred children may bring a packed lunch and drink (cardboard carton or plastic containers only please). Hot drinks, glass containers and cans should not be sent for safety reasons.

School Uniform

Most of the items of uniform can be purchased at various chain stores and local clothiers. Red sweatshirts with the school motif are available at the school.

The uniform is:-

• Girls grey skirt or pinafore dress, white blouse, plain red crew-necked sweatshirt preferably with the school motif, and black or brown shoes. For the summer, red gingham dress. (Grey or black plain trousers may be worn as an alternative to the skirt).
• Boys grey trousers, white shirt, plain red crew-necked sweatshirt preferably with the school motif, black or brown shoes.
• For PE children come to school in their PE kit on the nominated PE days. PE kit is a white T-Shirt, black shorts/leggings/jogging bottoms, plimsolls or trainers and a plain black hoodie/sports sweater.
• All items of clothing must be clearly marked with your child's name (this helps us when things get misplaced.)
• Pupils are responsible for the security of their personal possessions.
• Children should avoid make up, bright nail varnish, etc unless it is part of a themed day or production.

School sweatshirts and book bags are available to buy from the school office. Sweatshirt prices start from £10.50 and book bags £4.50.  Cash payments only.

A selection of good quality, used uniform is available via the Families Centre.

School Policy on the Wearing of Jewellery

Please follow this policy for the safety of your child.

• Children should not wear jewellery to school other than watches and ear studs. Please do not send children to school in hooped ear rings.
• On days when a child is to be involved in Physical Education activities either:
• The child must wear no jewellery whatever or studs may be left in place if covered by tape (eg First Aid Plaster) applied at home before the day starts or by the child just before the activity. (No member of staff will apply tape/plasters for the purpose of complying with the policy).
• School staff and volunteers will not allow, or assist in, the removal and replacement of jewellery or looking after jewellery.

Lost Property

It is very difficult for young children to identify their own items of uniform clothing, plimsolls and wellington boots etc., which are often of a very similar design. It is a great help if such items are marked with your surname. Any items found which are not labelled will be kept in a 'Lost Property' container near the main office from where items can be retrieved by their owners.

Looking after your children

All the staff, teaching and non-teaching, will try to make sure your children are safe and happy at school. Sadly accidents do happen. First aid will be given to any child who needs it. If the accident is more serious every effort will be made to contact you as parents before taking further action. If hospital treatment is required an adult will go with the child and stay until a parent arrives. So we can contact you quickly if the need arises please keep us informed of an up-to-date emergency telephone number and address.

Medical Matters

If your child has been unwell overnight, or before school, please keep him or her at home until he or she can cope with quite a strenuous day before returning to school (children get little from a day in school if they feel unwell and the illness may spread to others). Children should not return to school for 48 hours from the last episode of illness. If a child becomes ill during the school day or has an accident requiring medical treatment beyond minor first aid we will contact you. Please keep us up-to-date with contact numbers.

Schools are consistently advised by Health and Safety Officers and Union Officials not to accept the responsibility for administering medication. As a general policy the school will not administer medication nor accept the responsibility for administering medication. The exception to this is where a child has a serious medical condition and appropriate arrangements have been made with parents after discussions with school and the education medical services.  We realise this may cause some parents difficulties but all local doctors will prescribe medication that can be taken 3 times a day (or less) outside of school hours. They may need reminding of this.

If you do have any concerns about your child's health in school please do contact us and keep us informed. We do need to know of any special medical circumstances or allergies your child might have.

Data Protection

Wittering Primary School processes personal data about its pupils and is a "data controller" in respect of this for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. It processes this data to:

• support its pupils' teaching and learning;
• monitor and report on their progress;
• provide appropriate pastoral care, and
• assess how well the school as a whole is doing

This information includes contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information, characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information.

 

From time to time the school is required to pass on some of this data to local authorities, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF),  The data must only be used for specific purposes allowed by law.

The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007 requires maintained schools to supply basic contact information to ContactPoint

The Local Authority (LA) uses information about children for whom it provides services to carry out specific functions for which it is responsible, such as the assessment of any special educational needs the child may have. It also uses the information to derive statistics to inform decisions on (for example) the funding of schools, and to assess the performance of schools and set targets for them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual children cannot be identified from them. The LA is also required to maintain the accuracy of the information held on ContactPoint about children and young people in their area.
Further info can be found at www.peterborough.gov.uk   

The Dept For Education uses information about pupils to administer the national curriculum assessments portfolio throughout Key Stages 1 to 2. This includes both assessments required by statute and those that are optional. The results of these are passed on to DCSF to compile statistics on trends and patterns in levels of achievement. The QCA uses the information to evaluate the effectiveness of the national curriculum and the associated assessment arrangements, and to ensure that these are continually improved.
www.qca.org.uk    Data Protection Officer, QCA, 83 Piccadilly, LONDON, W1J 8QA;

Ofsted uses information about the progress and performance of pupils to help inspectors evaluate the work of schools, to assist schools in their self-evaluation, and as part of Ofsted's assessment of the effectiveness of education initiatives and policy. Ofsted also uses information about the views of children and young people, to inform children's services inspections in local authority areas. Inspection reports do not identify individual pupils.
www.ofsted.gov.uk    Data Protection Officer, Alexandra House, 33 Kingsway, London WC2B 6SE;

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) uses information about pupils for statistical purposes, to evaluate and develop education policy and monitor the performance of the education service as a whole . The statistics (including those based on information provided by the DfE) are used in such a way that individual pupils cannot be identified from them. On occasion information may be shared with other Government departments or agencies strictly for statistical or research purposes only. The LSC or its partners may wish to contact learners from time to time about courses, or learning opportunities relevant to them.
www.lsc.gov.uk    Data Protection Officer ,Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, Warwickshire CV1 2WT

Primary Care Trusts (PCT) use information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to monitor the performance of local health services and to evaluate and develop them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual pupils cannot be identified from them. Information on the height and weight of individual pupils may however be provided to the child and its parents and this will require the PCTs to maintain details of pupils' names for this purpose for a period designated by the Department of Health following the weighing and measuring process. PCTs may also provide individual schools and LAs with aggregate information on pupils' height and weight.
http://www.nhs.uk/England/AuthoritiesTrusts/Pct/Default.aspx   Information Governance Manager, Peterborough Primary Care Trust, 2nd Floor, Town Hall, Peterborough, PE1 1FA

The Department of Health (DH) uses aggregate information (at school year group level) about pupils' height and weight for research and statistical purposes, to inform, influence and improve health policy and to monitor the performance of the health service as a whole. The DH will base performance management discussions with Strategic Health Authorities on aggregate information about pupils attending schools in the PCT areas to help focus local resources and deliver the Public Service Agreement target to halt the year on year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010, in the context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. The Department of Health will also provide aggregate PCT level data to the Healthcare Commission for performance assessment of the health service.
www.dh.gov.uk     Data Protection Officer at Skipton House 80 London Road London SE1 6LH;

The Department for Education (DfE) uses information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to inform, influence and improve education policy and to monitor the performance of the education service as a whole. The DfE will feed back to LAs and schools information about their pupils for a variety of purposes that will include data checking exercises, use in self-evaluation analyses and where information is missing because it was not passed on by a former school.

Requests For Copies

Copies of our website content are available from our school office. Please contact us on 01780782336 or office@wittering.peterborough.sch.uk