General Information

If your child is absent, please inform the school on the first day of absence by letter, email ,(office@wvps.northants.sch.uk)the CONTACT FORM on this site or by telephoning the automated absence line 01604-765037

If your child has to leave school for any reason, we ask that you come to the main reception to collect him/her. If you are going to be late collecting your children, please telephone us. Children are instructed to come back into school and tell a teacher, and wait in the entrance hall if there is no-one there to collect them at lunchtime or at the end of the school day.

On very rare occasions, it may be necessary to close the school at short notice. When this happens, an announcement will be made on the school’s website and via School PING. In almost all cases, one of the staff will be able to get to school. We do not send children home until we are sure that a parent or known adult is aware of what is happening. Please instruct your child that after leaving home, he/she should not return home unless sent by a teacher.

Children may have a hot lunch, bring a packed lunch or go home to lunch. As we cannot be held liable for breakages, we suggest that you do not send delicate items. Children must not bring hot soup, glass containers, or canned drinks because of the danger of accidents. Lunch boxes should also not contain any sweets or chocolate bars please. We expect children to be courteous and considerate to the lunchtime supervisors and to other children.

Children in Foundation Stage, Year 1 and Year 2 are provided with a fruit or vegetable snack in school. All children are allowed to bring a mid-morning snack of fruit or vegetable only. ‘Cool Milk at School’ is available to all children (provided free up to the age of 5) via the website www.coolmilk.com. Drinking water is always available.

Children are expected to care for and co-operate with one another and behave in a respectful manner. Clear guidelines for behaviour are given and children are praised when this is achieved. Children who fail to conform to behaviour guidelines are quickly brought to the attention of the Class Teacher and Senior Leadership Team. Behavioural difficulties are shared with parents at an early stage.

If a child has a problem, he/she will be encouraged to discuss it with a member of staff. If you hear of any difficulty with your child, please contact us promptly and sensitive handling is important.

Children who cannot follow the school rules whilst in the care of lunchtime supervisors may need to have lunch at home for a while.

The school’s Behaviour Policy is available to all parents via this website.

The staff and governors have created a Home-School Agreement. This document is distributed to all parents, and it is hoped that all parents and children will sign the agreement.

We prefer children not to wear jewellery for health and safety reasons. All jewellery must be removed for PE lessons and kept safe by the child. If your child is unable to remove their jewellery, they will not be allowed to take part in the PE lesson, which is a statutory part of the curriculum. Parents will be contacted if a child regularly fails to have appropriate kit for P.E.

Please see the school uniform policy for more details.

Most children will need a book bag and a PE bag.

Please note that, due to limited space, we are unable to store large bags.

All clothing and belongings should be named. We are prepared to help search for named items of lost clothing. All lost property is placed in the lost property box which we encourage parents and children to look in. All unclaimed property is given to charity at the end of each term.

If you child is unwell at school, we will telephone you to collect them. A record of home, work and emergency contact numbers is kept, along with details of any health problems. If there is any change in these details, please inform us so that our records are kept up-to-date. In the event of your child having a minor head bump, they will bring home a ‘bump’ note with them, and are given a sticker to wear for the day.

We ask you to keep children who are unwell at home until they are completely recovered. Teachers and staff are not permitted to administer medication to children. In exceptional cases the Headteacher and/or Administrative Officer might agree to a parent's request, if a consent form has been signed. Children with diagnosed asthma must have an inhaler available in school. It is our policy that children manage their own asthma so inhalers are kept in the appropriate classrooms.

The School Nurse will visit the school regularly and will be pleased to consult with parents if they have any concerns. Certain checks will be carried out in different year groups including height, weight, eyes and hearing.

It is possible to make contact with the school nurse by contacting the school if you have any concerns about your child’s health.

The children are taught Road Safety in school; please help us to keep them safe by keeping to the guidance. These are the arrangements for the safety of our children:

Children should use the side gates and walk around the side of the building not across the car park nor use the front door.

Please keep to the paths and do not walk across the car park with your child as this gives them the wrong message.

Parents must not use our car park or entrance by the gates to turn around, drop off or pick up.

Parents are able to use the Community Centre car park and designated areas in School Lane. Please be considerate of school neighbours and do walk to school if at all possible. If your child would prefer to cycle to school we do have bicycle racks to make these secure during the day.

Education Reform Act 1988 Charges for School Activities

The objectives of the charging provision in the 1988 Act are:

To maintain the right to free school education.

To establish that curriculum visits offered wholly or mainly during normal teaching time should be available to all pupils regardless of their Parent’s ability or willingness to help meet the cost.

To establish that there is no statutory requirement to charge for any form of education or related activity, but to give schools the discretion to charge for optional activities provided outside of the curriculum.

To confirm the right of schools to invite voluntary contributions for the benefit of the school, or in support of any activity organised by the school, whether during or outside school hours.

We value the benefit that pupils gain from educational visits, both day and residential, and arts related performances in and out of school. We recognise that these activities enhance and enrich the school’s curriculum. We are committed to all pupils having access to participate in these activities and acknowledge our responsibility in light of the 1988 Education Act.

It may be helpful to parents to know that the Authority requires Headteachers to report any obvious or suspected child abuse – which includes non–accidental injury, severe physical neglect, emotional abuse and/or sexual abuse. This procedure is intended to protect children at risk and schools are encouraged to take the attitude that where there are grounds for suspicion it is better to be safe than sorry. This does mean that Headteachers risk upsetting some parents by reporting a case which, on investigation proves unfounded. In such circumstances, it is hoped that parents, appreciating how difficult it is for Headteachers to carry out this delicate responsibility, would accept that the Headteacher was acting in what was believed to be the child’s best interest.