1st September 2022
 

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School,

I hope you have all had a good summer and that you are safe and well.

We have been busy getting ready for the new school year and are really looking forward to welcoming you and your children back to school on Monday Sept 5th.  I would like to extend a very special welcome to all of our new parents - we hope that your child’s time at Stepney Park will be a fantastic one! 

A reminder that Nursery families have Home-Visits this week and Nursery children will be starting school on a settling timetable from Monday 12th September - letters were sent to all families over the holidays. Please contact admin if you need more information. 

Dropping off and picking up:

Children from Year 1 to Yr 6 can be dropped off at any of our four playground gates from 8.50 am onwards.

Once the settling period for children in Reception and Nursery is finished, children in Reception need to be dropped off at the Redman’s Road gate in the North playground and children in Nursery need to be dropped off by the South Nursery Playground gate (through the carpark), so staff can be on hand to take the EYFS children to their classes. 

Children from Yr 1 to Yr 6 can be picked up from the playground from 3.28 pm, whilst Nursery and Reception children need to be picked up from their class. To ease congestion, we ask all parents to enter the playground through the large Smithy Street South playground gate and to leave via either the North playground alleyway gate or the North Redmans Road gate.

School Uniform:

Please remember to send your child into school wearing the following, labelled uniform clothes:

• Purple T-shirts and jumpers or cardigans with school logo 

• Grey trousers or skirts/ dresses (not black)

• No tracksuit bottoms (not even on PE days)

• Tights or leggings allowed if under a dress or a skirt 

• White shirts allowed if under a purple jumper or cardigan 

Further information on how to purchase uniform can be found here on our website.

Punctuality and Leave in term time:

Lessons start at 9.00 am; please make sure that your child arrives well before this time, so that they are there for the start of the lesson.

As you know, we follow the Tower Hamlets ‘Holidays and Leave in Term Time Policy’, which means that almost all requests for holidays or leave in term time will be rejected and will be subject to a penalty notice (fine). It is very rare for leave to be essential during term time, but if you think your child qualifies, please ask us for an application form and wait for a response before booking your trip. More details can be found in our Attendance and Punctuality policy and in our Homepage/ Term Dates section on our website.
 

Communication between school and parents

You will receive an invite to a class meeting in the next couple of weeks. Whilst the meeting will be face to face, parents are able to join via Meet if they prefer or if they are unable to attend due to other commitments. The class teacher will be able to give information about the year group curriculum, the class timetable and give you suggestions on what you can do to support your child at home. They will also be able to answer any questions.

We will have two Learning Review Parent/Teacher meetings this year. The first meeting will be around November and the second meeting will be in March. You will receive a detailed written report about your child’s progress and achievement just before the second meeting. We would prefer to have these meetings face to face, but will make and facilitate remote meetings where appropriate. 

We understand that there might be times when you would like to ask us a personal question or would like to raise a concern, and we are more than happy to speak to you about this. Please follow the guidance below:

• For quick questions/ comments: please feel free to approach the class teacher at pick up time and ask to speak to them. They may be able to talk to you once all the children have left, or they will offer you a time to meet instead. Please be prepared to wait until all children have been picked up.

• Members of our Pastoral Care Team: Khaleda; Shipa; Shapna and Tom, are available by the school gates in the morning, and will also be able to answer questions or pass on information. 

• For more serious concerns: please approach one of the members of SLT in the playground at the end of the day and ask to talk to them. They will try their best to speak to you as soon as possible. They may direct your concern to another relevant member of SLT where appropriate, as they would know you, your child and their needs best.

• If you are not able to come to school, you may like to email your question or concern to school instead. Please email: admin@stepneypark.towerhamlets.sch.uk. Your email will be passed by admin onto the relevant staff member, and you should expect a response from them in 2 working days or less.  Always make sure you tell us the name and class of your child.

• You may also speak to the school office staff and give them a message or ask them to pass on messages to a teacher. This can be done by phone or in person.

• If you have any worries about special needs, you can contact Nathalie Palacio, who is our SENDco (special needs co-ordinator) 

Working on Partnership with parents 

Naturally, we take working in partnership with parents very seriously, and we know it takes commitment from both sides to make the partnership effective for the benefit of the children.

Below are the expectations for parents and what we will do in return to support you with this:

Parents are expected to: 

• take the time to read with their child daily, to share books and help us to develop a love of reading;

• support their child to engage with their homework and provide them with space and time to succeed;

• model and promote behaviours which allows their child to communicate positively, develop healthy relationships and succeed with their learning;

• uphold the school’s values;

• approach the school for help to support their children’s learning or to raise concerns;

• read school newsletters, emails and text messages in order to keep up to date with procedures, processes and news; 

• ensure that their child attends school unless sickness prevents this, does not take their child on holiday during term time and that medical and dental appointments are made outside of school times where possible.

Stepney Park Primary School will: 

• provide the guidance and resources needed to support home learning;

• keep parents informed about their child’s progress and celebrate success;

• organise and communicate workshops and events 

• keep parents informed of school procedures, processes and other  news via newsletters, emails and text messages;

• aim to respond to all queries and concerns within 2 working days;

• communicate respectfully, compassionately and provide support and guidance where needed.

School Values 

Our School Values are: Respect, Resilience and Independence. 

This is what this means for our children:

• Respectful children: are aware of and celebrate the religious and cultural diversity in the community and beyond; they welcome new arrivals to the school and support them to become part of our school community; they display good manners with polite use of language. 

• Resilient children: have an ability to cope with change; they are able to take on challenges both physical and mental, not giving up easily, persevering and taking risks in the process

• Independent children: display active learning; they are not over-reliant on adult direction and are not led by peers; they show engagement in their learning, taking responsibility, creating and welcoming opportunities; they have their own interests which in turn are valued by the school community. 

This is what this means for our parents:

• Respectful parents: communicate politely and positively as role models for their children.  They treat all staff with respect.  They share their thoughts and opinions using the correct methods of communication.  They show tolerance and respect towards other families and children within our school community, supporting us to recognise and celebrate differences. 

• Resilient and Independent parents: develop their relationships with the school.  They ask for help and advice to help provide the best opportunities for their home life and their children.  They attend parent teacher evenings and workshops (where possible) and use the resources and techniques modelled to them.

Website:

Remember, our website is a great source of information. It has been updated over the summer, and now you can find even more detailed information about our curriculum in different subject areas, including what children learn and when. In our Year Group Overviews section here, we have provided the same information organised by year group, which will provide parents with a clear overview of what their child is learning each year.  
 

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Kind regards,
 

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School.