Monday 2nd September 2024

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School.

Welcome back to the school year 24-25. I hope you have all had a good break and that you are ready for the new school year.  We certainly are, and are looking forward to welcoming you all back.

Start of the autumn term

You may remember I wrote to you with our new start of year picking up arrangements at the end of the last school year. Here is a reminder:

Dropping off

• The 2024-2025 school year will start for children at 8.50 am on Wednesday 4th September. 

• Please drop children off at one of the four playground gates at that time. 

• Children in Reception need to be dropped off by the gate near the caretaker's house on Redman’s road, where staff will be waiting to welcome them.  

• We ask that our Yr 1 children come to the Redman’s Road gate for the first few days, so that staff can easily direct them to their classes. Teachers will be waiting in the playground for them for the first few days, to help them find their way.  From next week, Yr 1 parents are welcome to choose any of the four gates that suit them best.

• Nursery children need to be dropped off in the south car park by the nursery gate.

Picking up

• Please go and find your child in the year group lining-up area in the playground, staff will be there to help you find the correct location.

• First week picking up safeguarding arrangements: 

  • The first week is always a difficult time, as class teachers do not yet know who the parents are and we want to make sure children go home with the appropriate adults only.

  • Therefore: in order for class teachers to get to know the children and parents in their class, we would like children to be picked up by their parents only.

  • We will assume that only parents are picking up in the first week, and we will ask children to confirm that the person who is picking up is in fact their parent. If this is not the case, we will ask the person who is picking up to wait and we will call you on the number you have given to us to confirm that you have given permission for someone else to pick up instead. Thank you for your patience with this.

  • All children will get a letter with a form in the first week, please complete and return it to us if:

    • You wish for your Yr 5 and 6 child to go home alone 

    • You wish to give permission for others to pick your child  

    • If you have a legal arrangement in place which may forbid the other parent from picking up your child. You may wish to contact us directly if this is the case.

• Yr 5 and 6 children who have written permission can go home alone in the second week of term. 

Our communication promise to you

We will always try to do our best to make time to speak with you upon your request. If there is something you need the class teacher to know or if you would like to ask them something, there are several ways you could do this;

• You could give a message to the staff members who are at the gates in the morning or you could go to the admin office in Smithy Street in order to communicate this. Messages will then be passed on.

• If you would like to speak to the teacher yourself, you could approach them at the end of the day, once all children in the class have been picked up, and ask to have a quick word with them. 

• If the conversation needs to be a bit longer, you can ask the teacher to arrange a mutually suitable time to see you. 

• You are also able to send our admin team an email, which will then be forwarded onto the teacher. The email is: admin@stepneypark.towerhamlets.sch.uk. Please state your name, your relationship to the child, your child’s name and your child’s class within this email. 

• If you have a complaint or concern, we will ask the relevant Assistant Head, who is a member of the senior leadership team, to call you or to arrange a face-to-face meeting with you. They are:

  • Yr 5+6: Maroulla Miltiadous

  • Yr 3+4: Dee Kallmann

  • Yr 1+2: Anna Willis

  • EYFS: Louisa Beringer 

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

Our aim is to respond to any concerns and complaints within the next working day and where possible, sooner. 

Medical Needs:

Please come and see us in the school office tomorrow, if your child has any new medical needs that we are not yet aware of. 

Please ensure that your child has up-to-date medication, including asthma pumps in school from the first day of their attendance.

Meet the Teacher

We would like to invite parents to a year group ‘ Meet The Teacher’ meeting during the next two weeks. This will be a great opportunity to find out what your child will be learning and what their routines and timetables will be like. It will also be a good opportunity to ask the teachers general questions. Parents can come into the school playground by the small Smithy Street entrance and wait there to be taken to the relevant hall, where the meeting will take place. All meetings will start just after 9.00 am and will last about 30 minutes.

Details are as follows:

• Mon 9th: Y1

• Tue10th: Y2

• Wed 11th: Y4

• Thur 12th: Y3

• Fri 13th: Y5

• Mon 16th: Y6

• Tues 17th: Rec

• Wed 18th: Nursery

I am looking forward to what is promising to be another enjoyable and exciting school year and hope to see you all Wednesday, when the school reopens. 

Kind regards.

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School