Friday 10th September 2021

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School,

We had a great start to the new term. The children were so happy to be back and already are very settled. They are loving their newfound freedom in the playground, now they can use all of the spaces.

Staff are also happy to be back and are working very hard to give children a great experience being back at school.

Rainy days:

The weather is set to turn autumnal, which will increase the chance of rainy downpours at the end of the day.

Remember to ensure that your child has their rain poncho or a raincoat with them each day. We are able to sell rain ponchos if you would like a new one.

There may be times when we ask you to collect your child from their class, for example if the rain is too heavy at the end of the day.

Reception, Year1, 3 and 5 are in the North building and Nursery, Yr2, 4 and 6 are in the South building. Staff will be on hand to help you find the class when needed.

Soft Starts:

To limit waiting time in the playground and to maximise learning time, we will be introducing a ‘soft start’ from next Wednesday, 15th September. Children will arrive in the playground between 8:50 and 9:00am and will make their own way to class. Support staff will be in the playground to support and supervise, whilst class teachers will already be waiting in classes with some activities for children to do.

Parents will be able to speak to the Pastoral Care Team, admin staff and senior staff at the start of the day, between 9.00 and 9.10 am, entrance by the Smithy Street small gate.

Please ensure that your child is in school before 9.00 am every day  

Extra Holiday:

In recognition of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday, which will fall in the Summer half-term, the Government has decided that schools will be closed for one extra day.

We have added this day to the Christmas break, and the school will therefore re-open after the Christmas break on January 5th (not January 4th as previously published).  Our website has been updated to reflect this.

School uniform:

Sadly, we are still seeing a number of children dressed in incorrect uniforms.

Please remember that white T-shirts and tracksuits/ jeans are not part of the uniform. 

Check the website here for correct uniform information and order details.

Water bottles:

Please make sure your child brings in a water bottle each day, we have taps around the school to refill them. We have decided to keep water fountains closed for now, to limit the possibility of spreading infection.  Please clearly label these bottles.

Medical Appointments:

Medical appointments for children need to be made outside of school times as much as possible.  Children should not be taken from school for appointments for adults, as other child care arrangements need to be made for this.

Virtual Meet the teacher:

You will have received an email about our remote ‘Meet the teacher’ meetings running via Google Meet next week.  There is a Form to fill in with any questions you have for the teacher, to be returned by Monday 13th.  Meetings will be recorded for parents who are unable to attend and can be viewed at a later date 

Emails and phone numbers:

As all of our communication is now paper free, it is even more important that you have given us up to date email and phone number details. A form will be sent to you shortly, please provide us with correct details when prompted.

Clubs: 

A letter went out this week inviting children to sign up for After-School Enrichment clubs.  These start next week.  Please return this by the end of the day if you have not already.

Reception to Y6 parents have been sent a Google Form to sign up for the Childcare Clubs (every day, before and after school) which will be at a cost of £2.50 per hour - please complete this if you need this provision. 

We will be restarting our Breakfast Club in the next few weeks, and will be in touch with you about this when we are ready. This club will be for free; parents who need the breakfast child care club will be given a free priority place. 

RSE Consultation Feedback:

Zoom Online Meetings:

• We held 6 meetings for parents via Zoom on the following dates:

  • Year 1: May 17th, Year 2: May 18th, Year 3: May 19th, Year 4: Jun 7th, Year 5: Jun 8th, Year 6: Jun 9th 

• Meetings were all attended by David Banks, from the Tower Hamlets Healthy Lives team and by Linda Ewers one of the School Governors. 

• Parents were alerted to the dates in three newsletters.

• Parents were invited via email. 

• Attendance varied and was around 10 parents per meeting.

• There were no major concerns raised during the meetings. There were a few questions around clarification.

• Some year 6 parents said that they would use their right to opt out from the Sex Education lessons in Year 6.

• All parents who commented during the meeting were positive and some thanked us for the time. 

• Parents were invited to email questions.  A few parents did this and asked us to see some more resources.

• We arranged meetings with these parents via the Pastoral Care team to do this, and have allowed parents who were unable to attend the meetings to do this as well.  We arranged around 12 meetings with parents and the PCT.

Questionnaire:

• We asked 7 questions; questions were either multiple choice or open, but parents could leave an additional comment after each question if they wished.

• We had 12 responses.

• All responses were shared with and discussed by the Governing Body on Jun 30th.

• Questions, answers and our responses were as follows:

We will be sharing more news from across the school when we return to our fortnightly Newsletter next week.

Kind regards,

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School.