Welcome Back

11th September 2018

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to our new school year, the academic year 2018/19.
It has been good to see the children again and catch up on all their news. Whilst there was clearly some initial anxiety and nervousness, the children appear to have settled well and seem excited and pleased to be back.
A few gentle reminders:

The School Day
The school is open from 8:30am for children, unless they are attending Breakfast Club, which starts at 7:30 am. Details of Breakfast Club are available from the office.

Key Stage 1 finish school at 3:05pm and Key Stage 2 finish school at 3:10p.m.

Please ensure that you collect and drop off your child/ren promptly. We recognise that on occasion there may be genuine reason why you may be late and we would always be understanding of this. That said, there are some children who are consistently collected/dropped off late on almost a daily basis and this is not ok.

There is considerable volume of parents and children in the playground at the end of the day and in the interests of safety please ensure that your children stand with you rather than running around.

Please also note that dogs are not allowed into the school playground – and please note that some of our children have a genuine fear of dogs and therefore, please make sure dogs are always attended by an adult if left outside the playground gate.

Parking
PLEASE be considerate and safe in the way that you park, not just in Carters Lane, but in the village as a whole. Some of the attitudes that are displayed by adults collecting and dropping children from school are wholly unacceptable and do not model appropriate behaviour to the children. Regrettably the school has little, if any, jurisdiction over the way people drive, park or share expletives and therefore it is your conscience I appeal to when parking.

Please can I also remind you that we do not have any permission to park down the Copped Hall track.

Healthy Schools

At Epping Upland, we try very hard to be a ‘Healthy School’, mentally, physically and in what we eat and drink. Please can I therefore remind you that children are allowed water only in their drink bottles. Can I also remind that break time snacks should be healthy, preferably a piece of fruit or sticks of carrot, cucumber, celery, cheese, crispbread or crackers – or something similar. Please do not send in crisps, chocolate or sweets – or anything that is particularly sugary. If your child has a packed lunch we would also request that this be as healthy as possible.

Absence
Registration is taken at 8:55a.m. each day. Arrival after this time will be marked as late.

Holiday requests for during term time will not be authorised unless there is an exceptional circumstance. Please note that Headteachers are able to request evidence to prove an exceptional circumstance.

I would also remind you about how honest your children (and their fellow classmates) are in telling us where they have been or where they are going, both with holidays and appointments.

If you take your child out of school without authorisation, it is likely that your absence will result in a Penalty Notice and fine issued by Essex County Council.

Whilst we obviously do not want any child to be in school when they are poorly, we also do not want them to be absent for very minor ailments. We will always notify you or call home if we think your child is not well enough to be in school.

Uniform
Please can you ensure that your child/ren adhere to our school uniform policy for both their everyday wear and their PE kit. If you are unsure about the specifics of this, details are on our school website or you can ask for clarification in the office. Please can we also request that any children wearing tights to school could add a pair of socks into their PE bag as PE cannot be done in tights. Please ensure all uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s name.

As reminded at the end of the summer term, uniform also applies to footwear. School shoes should be shoes and not trainers.

Monies
We would be grateful if any money that is required to be paid is done so as promptly as possible. This particularly applies to dinner money. This must be paid as requested. The school budget is not able to sustain the amount of money that we are in arrears. Late payment on dinner money also causes us problems when we are audited.

Please could you ensure that all money sent into school is in a sealed, clearly named envelope, with details of the amount enclosed and the reason for payment.

Apologies for the many reminders, but such things help to facilitate the smooth running of school life.

As always, please do not hesitate to speak with me should you have any concerns or queries.

Yours sincerely

Sarah Hurwood
Headteacher