A new system has been put in place for any family wishing to apply for leave of absence for their child/ren for exceptional circumstances. Parents/Carers will need to complete an ‘application for leave of absence for exceptional circumstances’ form which can be obtained from the school office or from the school website (under current parents - useful forms). Once this form has been completed and returned to the school, Mr Perkins will then consider the reasons for the request carefully and will notify you of the decision. He may contact you to discuss your application further. Applications should be received at least two weeks in advance of the required leave (unless the situation is urgent). 
 

Thank you for booking a phone call with your child’s class teacher next week. You will appreciate that class teachers will need to stick to a conversation just short of ten minutes to keep to time. If you feel that this is not long enough, please request a call at another time by messaging the office team the following day. Teachers will call as close to the allotted time as possible. If they have no luck reaching you, they will try twice more (after a minute and then five minutes). I am sure you’ll understand that the call may have to be shorter if a teacher has not been able to get hold of you straight away. Please note that if you haven’t booked a slot, one will be arranged on your behalf and your child will have this appointment in their school bag. Thank you for your support in adapting to this new way of conducting consultations.  
 

Santa Stork provides gifts for those who really need a helping hand at this difficult time of year.    Unlike their (Stripey Stork)  regular donations, these gifts are new and in some cases will be the main or only present they’ll receive this Christmas. Santa Stork’s aim is to ensure they have enough funds to buy presents for every child and parent referred to them this Christmas. This year they have a real challenge. In a recent survey sent to referral partners, 50% expect to be making requests for more families as a direct result of the pandemic. With this in mind, they are scaling-up to respond to 2,500 children and 1,250 parents/carers gift requests this year. In order to work as efficiently as possible and within a safe environment, they are pleased to announce the opening of their virtual Santa Shop - the new way to pledge money to buy a Santa Stork gift.  Working in partnership with local toy supplier Toy Barnhaus, they are asking their supporters to choose a present from the   options available in their virtual shop. The money donated from the cost of the item will then be used to buy a gift and give these families the Christmas they deserve! If you would like to purchase a gift to support Santa Stork, please follow the this link https://stripeystork.org.uk/santashop/  
 

Although primary schools are asked to promote the wearing of face masks in school, we have decided to ask adults to wear masks in shared areas from Monday (ie adults not in class or the place they usually work). This is in line with guidance given to secondary schools. Unfortunately, we are stopping face-to-face meetings with parents in the school building for the period of lockdown. This does not stop us arranging telephone or video calls should these be needed. Thank you to parents, carers and grandparents who are wearing face coverings at pick-up time.