Dear Parents/ Carers,
We hope you have all had a wonderful summer holiday and that you are all healthy, safe and well. We are pleased to welcome back all the children to Regents Park from Wednesday 4th September at 8.40am.
Below is some information for parents at the start of the new school year 2024-25:
Changes to school leadership this year:
- Just a reminder that Mr Beale is reducing his working week this year and will now be working 4 days per week
- On most weeks, Mr Beale will be working on Tuesdays to Fridays
- On Mondays, Miss Paddem will be the acting Headteacher and will be available to speak to parents if you need to do so
New staff to Regents Park
- We have two new staff joining us this year at Regents Park and we hope they will be very happy at our school and you will be able to welcome them
- Miss Ashraf will be working in Y1 and her class is 1A
- Miss Ikhlaq will be working in Y2 and her class is 2I
New class locations
- We are now 2-form entry across school and, as such, we have been able to change where classes are located so we can better use space around school.
- Our Nursery class is now located in the main building where the Y1 classes used to be. We hope to be able to lease out the Nursery building to support the school budget as a result
- Reception classes are located in the same place but now the two classes have access to all 3 classrooms giving them more options to use space indoors and outdoors
- Y1, Y2 and Y3 are now located in the 6 classrooms near the school office and are now known as Lower School
- Y4, Y5 and Y6 are all located in the 6 classrooms upstairs and are now known as Upper School
School start dates:
- School reopens for all of Y1 to Y6 on Wednesday 4th September at 8.40am. Please note that there will be no Breakfast Club this week - this will restart on Monday 9th September (see below)
- Reception children have been given times to arrive on Wednesday and Thursday this week (4th & 5th September) and will be staying in school for part of the morning or afternoon. They will then do a full day starting at 8.40am from Friday 6th September.
- Nursery children have been given times to arrive at school during the week beginning Wednesday 4th September and will be staying in school for part of the morning session. They will then begin their full morning sessions from Monday 9th September.
Arriving at school
- Just a reminder that children can enter school at any gate (Arthur Street, Camelot Way or Dixon Road), although we advise you to drop Reception children off at Camelot Way and Y1 and Y2 children at the Arthur Street entrance.
- Children are expected to arrive at school at 8.40am so they can take part in Start of the Day activities in class although the gates will remain open until 8.50am. Please try to drop your child off as early as possible.
- Children should be accompanied by parents up to the gate. Children in Year 1 to Year 6 will then walk in to school independently.
- Parents of children in Reception and Nursery may wish to come in with their child during the first half of the Autumn term in order to help settle their child although we ask parents not to stop too long if possible as this can sometimes have the opposite effect. We hope that by the end of October, parents will be able to drop Reception and Nursery children off at the gates also.
- Please do not drop off children early and leave them waiting unsupervised at the school gates - children that are left unsupervised is a cause for concern and may be a safeguarding issue.
- Children should arrive at school on time at 8.40am. Any child that arrives after the gates are closed at 8.50am is late and should be taken by the parent to the school office where they will be signed in. Again, it is not acceptable to leave children at the gate on Arthur Street when they are late and ask them to walk in.
- Parents will be asked to come in for a conversation with a member of school leadership if children are often late.
Breakfast Club
- Breakfast Club will restart on Monday 9th September
- Breakfast Club will be available for children in Reception to Year 6
- There is a cap on the number of places available for Breakfast Club. The cap will be for 60 places and these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. We will keep a waiting list if there are more than 60 children wanting places.
- There is a fee of £1 per day for children who attend Breakfast Club to contribute to the cost of staffing and the cost of providing breakfast.
- However, there will be no charge for those children who are eligible for Free School Meals – this will be subsidised from Pupil Premium funding.
- Parents who wish to send their children to Breakfast Club will need to sign an agreement and will be asked to pay for each half term in advance, e.g. a 6 week half term will be £30 paid on sQuid
- We will keep a register of children that attend. If children do not attend regularly, their place may be allocated to a child on the waiting list instead.
- Parents that no longer wish their child to attend Breakfast Club will be refunded the remaining balance for the half term and their place offered to a child on the waiting list.
- Unfortunately, we will not be able to give refunds for children who are absent or only wish to use the Breakfast Club on certain days of the week.
- Breakfast Club will begin at 8.00am.
- Children should be dropped off by parents at the Dixon Road entrance where they will be met by a member of staff.
- Please note that the Dixon Road gate will be locked at 8.15am and no children will be allowed to enter after this time until the gates reopen at 8.40am.
- Parents must make sure that children have arrived on time and that they have been met at the gate – please do not leave children outside the locked gates.
If you wish to reserve a place at Breakfast Club for your child this year, please contact the school office from Wednesday 4th September (preferably by phone or email) to put your child’s name down on the list. We will confirm places to start on Monday 9th September by Friday 6th September.
New for 2024 - Grab & Go bagels for ALL children provided by Magic Breakfast
In addition to Breakfast Club, we will be introducing an offer of "Grab & Go" bagels for all children when they come into school this year. The bagels are being provided for free from an organisation called Magic Breakfast and we are very grateful to them for doing so. Children will be able to pick up a bagel as they walk into their classrooms from 8.40am to eat in class during the Start of the Day activity.
Arrangements for collecting children at the end of the school day
We are continuing to ask parents to collect children at the end of the school day from specific exits in order to minimise crowding, make it more manageable and ensure children are collected safely.
As class locations have changed, there are some changes to where parents are asked to collect children from at 3.00pm.
Here is how we will organise the arrangements for collecting children at the end of the school day:
- All pupils with siblings in school will be released from the main playground; Parents collecting siblings may enter the playground from either the Dixon Road or Arthur Street entrance but are expected to wait behind the marked line until children are sent to them.
- All year 1 children will be released from the balcony outside the Y1 classrooms in the playground. We'd like to ask all parents to wait at the bottom of the steps until the children are released to you
- Reception, Year 4 , Year 5 and Year 6 pupils with no siblings will be released from the Camelot Way entrance. Please wait outside until you are called in to collect your child and then walk clockwise around the Reception playground to exit.
- Year 2 and Year 3 pupils with no siblings will be released from the Arthur Street entrance. Please wait in the car park area and children until children are released to you.
- Wherever children are collected from, the children should tell staff when an adult is there so they can be released. Please do not call children from one end of the playground to the other.
- Parents should collect children and then leave the school site as quickly as possible
- Children in Y5/Y6 classes can go home alone but only if parents have informed the office who will then pass on the message to the class teacher.
- Parents should make every effort to pick children up on time. Parents that are not collected at 3.00pm will be taken to the school office and parents will need to come to the Arthur Street entrance to collect them
- We will monitor late collection of children and, if necessary, we may charge parents who are regularly late £1 for every 15 minutes if their children are not collected from the office by 3.15pm.
Uniform
Just a reminder for parents that we expect children to start the new year wearing correct school uniform. Last year children were allowed to come to school in PE kit or in clothes to wear in the Forest School; however, some children took to wearing clothes which were not school uniform on days that they weren’t supposed to.
It is an expectation that children wear correct Regents Park school uniform and have at least a jumper/ cardigan/ sweatshirt with the school badge on to wear when on trips or off-site.
Please make sure that you have correct school uniform for your child at the start of the new term with your child’s name written or sewn into it:
- White shirts or polo shirts
- Bottle green jumpers, cardigans or sweatshirts with the school badge on
- Grey or black trousers or skirts
- White or grey socks
- Black shoes (not trainers)
- Bottle green, black or grey headscarves
- No jewellery
Children will be told on what days they should come to school in PE kit. They should still wear their school jumper/ sweatshirt/ cardigan on PE days. It is helpful to make sure that PE kit also has your child’s name written or sewn into it.
Correct PE kit is:
- A plain white t-shirt
- Plain black or grey shorts or tracksuit trousers
- White socks
- Plimsolls
Children in Year 3 also go swimming and so will need to bring a swimming kit and towel on swimming days. On swimming days, children will come to school in their school uniform and change into their swimming kit in the changing rooms at Sparkhill Swimming Baths.
Uniform such as sweatshirts, cardigans and shirts with the school badge on can be ordered and bought from the school office. Alternatively, parents can buy a sew-on school badge to attach to sweatshirts, cardigans or polo shirts bought elsewhere. Please contact the school office for more information.
We look forward to seeing children and parents and welcoming you all back to school this week.
Mr Beale
Headteacher