Friday 28th May 2021

 

Dear parents and carers of Stepney Park Primary School.

Finally, just in time for the half-term holiday, summer seems to be on its way!

After a very busy half-term, we are all looking forward to a nice (and hopefully sunny) break. School will finish at 3.30pm today, but we are already looking forward to welcoming you back on June 7th.

Coffee mornings:

We hope we will be able to invite you to a year group Coffee Mornings in the playground soon.  We will wait to hear if restrictions are going to be lifted after June 21st.  If they are, we will ensure that we invite parents to a coffee morning, which we will call ‘Meet and Mingle’. 

Packed Lunches in Yr 3 to 6:

A few parents have contacted us to say they would like us to go back to providing a hot meal for every child in every class.  Currently, children in Yr 3 to Yr 6 are receiving a packed lunch every other week, and a hot lunch the other weeks.

Some parents assume that this is due to the amalgamation:  I can reassure you this is not the case.

The reason for offering packed lunches is that we have been told we need to keep year groups away from other year groups in ‘bubbles’.  It takes around 45 minutes for a whole year group to be served a hot lunch and for all the children to eat it.  This means that there is not enough time for three ‘sittings’. 

I am aware that some children do not like the options that are available to them.  We have experimented with a variety of different options, and over time have learned that the three most popular choices are tuna, cheese or egg mayonnaise; we always serve those three options.  Occasionally one of the options runs out, so we ensure that classes are rotated to get their first choice.  We have tried to make more sandwiches of each choice, but have found that this can lead to a lot of food wastage.  Children also get yoghurt or fruit.  There is always enough food for seconds, so no one needs to go hungry.  All they need to do is ask a member of staff if they can have another sandwich or piece of fruit. 

We know that this situation is not ideal; as soon as we are allowed, we will go back to serving a hot meal for everyone by breaking year group bubbles and starting a ‘continuous’ service. 

Other schools may be able to offer a hot meal to children already, because their buildings are designed differently, or because their school is smaller and therefore year group bubbles will be finished much quicker. 

I would like to appeal to your patience and remind children that we are very fortunate to receive a free meal every day, and to tell them that it shows resilience to occasionally eat things that are not their favourite food.

Thank you for your understanding. 

Road dangers at the start of the day

I was very concerned to hear that there had been an accident last week involving a car and a child in Smithy St at drop off time. Thankfully, the child in question did not receive any serious injuries, but a visit to A&E was required. 

 I would like to appeal to parents once again to show responsible behaviour by:

• Parking cars in safe places, before letting children leave the car

• Following all legal driving rules 

• Cross the road using the zebra crossing

• Show patience and consideration to all other road users

Enrichment Clubs:

We will start our after school clubs after the half-term.  Places are filling up fast, but there are a few more places available, in particular in Year 5 and Year 6.  Please let us know if you need another sign-up letter and return the letter as soon as possible.

Masks:

Can I please kindly remind parents to wear face coverings when entering the school grounds until the government guidance to school changes?  I will notify you when requesting visitors to school to wear face coverings is no longer recommended. 

School uniform:

As you know we would like all children to wear the correct uniform.

Particular issues are:

• Boys wear tracksuit bottoms instead of trousers

• Girls wear leggings instead of trousers or without a skirt or dress

• Children wear white t-shirts instead of purple T-shirts with the school logo.

Some parents have told us they are not able to find trousers with the correct waist size. Here are some links to online shops where a range of different sizes can be found:

• https://tuclothing.sainsburys.co.uk/c/kids/generous-fit-school-uniform 

• https://www.sturdykids.co.uk/for-boys/plus-fit-school-trousers/generous-fit-junior-trousers.html   

• https://www.next.co.uk/shop/gender-olderboys-gender-youngerboys-productaffiliation-schoolwear/category-shorts-category-trousers-sizetype-plusfit-use-formal-isort-score#1_0 

• https://direct.asda.com/george/school/fit-solutions/boys-plus-fit/D10M5G1C5S2,default,sc.html  

• https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/kids/school-uniform/shirts/fs5/plus-fit 

• https://www.tesco.com/zones/clothing/school-uniform 

• https://theschoolwearcompany.co.uk/for-boys/plus-fit-for-boys/generous-fit-school-trousers.html 

This is where you can find plus sizes as well as purple logo t-shirts:

SPP logo uniform and bespoke uniform plus sizes available at:

• Khalsa Schoolwear at Bethnal Green, E2 

• Ocean Designs at Watney Market E1

Go to the Uniform part of our website for any further information.

Emails to school 

Can you kindly send all emails with questions or concerns to the school admin email address instead of directly to staff members for example through Google classroom or by email?

It is our school policy to try to ensure all staff manage to have a good work/ life balance. We would like our staff to be able to switch off from work related matters in evenings and weekends, as we feel that this is good for their mental health and well-being.  Emails will normally be dealt with during school opening hours only.

We have a system for dealing with parental emails, so your concern will be dealt with appropriately. 

Our response varies depending on the circumstances:

• We may email you back with an answer

• A member of staff may call you and discuss your question/ concern with you

• We may be in touch to offer you an appointment to come and see us 

When you email, you should always receive a response to acknowledge that we have received your email and that the email has been passed onto an appropriate person, who should be named in the email. This may not always be me, depending on the circumstances.  A member of staff will respond to your email within a day or so, although this may depend on their working pattern (for example if they work part-time).  Occasionally a member of staff is absent from work and it may take a little longer.  If the matter is urgent or if you have not heard back, please call us so we can ensure that we do not miss any very important and urgent issues.

Kind regards,

 

Edith Philipsen

Headteacher- Stepney Park Primary School