1. Archive Newsletter 14.09.17
Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome to the new and improved SPS!
After years in the planning and the summer holiday spent unpacking and setting up, we are finally in. There is the anticipated snagging list of small faults to work through and we are still tweaking a number of our procedures but we are absolutely delighted with our new school.
The first day was very special and the children were extremely excited to be finally stepping inside. It is very different to the previous building and a number of children and staff emerged looking lost from various parts of the building. This may continue for the first few weeks but it will not be long before the memories of the old school fade and this building will feel like home.
Reaching this stage has required a monumental amount of effort and we are indebted to Bowmer & Kirkland, our contractors, who have been truly amazing. Throughout the entire process they have been so supportive and gone out of their way to help and respond to our requests, which have been numerous.
I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the staff of SPS. The site team (Dan & Tom Gadd), led so ably by Briony Wood our departing bursar, spent the entire summer firstly packing up and moving the contents of the old school into the new and then ensuring that everything was in place ready for the children.
This was an onerous task (imagine moving house and multiply by a hundred!) but they can enjoy an enormous amount of pride in what they have achieved.
My thanks extend to the whole staff team who devoted a considerable amount of their summer holidays preparing the school for the new academic year. I am wary of identifying individuals because it was very much a team effort but in addition to Dan, Tom and Briony, I would also like to thank Ann Williams, our network manager.
The building is brilliant but without the IT infrastructure up and running, it would be very difficult for the school to function. Ann was here most days during the summer holidays, and it is down to her considerable hard work that we were operational from day one.
The fabric of the building may have changed but it remains very much Sevenoaks Primary. It is the people that make a school and we are incredibly lucky at SPS to have such a talented, committed and dedicated team of professionals who have produced a new school we can be proud of.
New Staff
I am delighted to welcome a number of new staff to our fabulous team. Sarah White is our new Assistant head teacher. In additional to her leadership responsibilities, she will also be teaching in Year 3.
Sam Hafford-Robson has joined the staff and will be teaching in Year 4 this year.
We have two new members of staff who will be joining the Phase 2 team. Kathryn Edwards has a long association with the school as a parent and a member of staff and she will be working as a teaching assistant in 3A. Emma Stuart is a new appointee to the team. She will also be working as a teaching assistant in 3C.
Last but not least, we welcome Natalie Houston to SPS. Natalie is the new School Business Manager and she will be replacing Briony Wood who will leave at the end of Term 1.
I am sure you will want to join me in welcoming all of the new staff to SPS at such an exciting time.
Alan Duffy
Good attendance
Sevenoaks Primary School is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our pupils. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them.
Only the Headteacher can authorise absence for approved reasons. Schools have discretion to allow absence in term time for special circumstances only such as:
- For service personnel and other employees who are prevented from taking holidays outside term-time if the holiday will have minimal disruption to the pupil’s education
- When a family needs to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis, such as death or terminal illness of a person close to the family
- For attendance at a funeral
- For attendance at a wedding of a close family member
Absences from school
You can report your child’s absence from school via the following email address: absence@sevenoaks.kent.sch.uk
Once you have emailed your child’s absence from school, there will be no need to follow up with a letter to the class teacher when your child returns to school. However, please note that we are unable to accept any other messages to the class teachers, school office or club leaders via this email address.
The telephone answer machine will still be in use to report absences (01732 453952, Option 1) or alternatively please call in to the school office.
Medical Reminders
- We would like to remind parents/carers that following a bout of sickness or diarrhoea, children must not return to school until 48 hours after their final episode of illness
- Should your child (or their siblings) contract an infectious disease (particularly chicken-pox or cold sores) please inform the school office as soon as possible, as we have a child in school with a weakened immune system
- Should your child have asthma, please ensure that you supply the school with an in-date inhaler as soon as possible. Parents/carers will need to bring the inhaler into school in its original packaging with the prescriber’s information label attached and to complete the necessary paperwork
- PLEASE NOTE THAT WE OPERATE A ‘NO NUTS’ POLICY IN SCHOOL
- Polite notice – NO MEDICATION SHOULD BE BROUGHT INTO SCHOOL BY A PUPIL. Should your child be prescribed medication by a doctor that requires administration during the school day, it is the responsibility of the parent/carer to bring in that medication (such medication to be in its original container, complete with dosage instructions). As before, prescribed medication will also require parents/carers to complete the necessary paperwork
- ONLY PRESCRIBED MEDICATION CAN BE ADMINISTERED BY A MEMBER OF STAFF
- If your child has any changes to their medical information, please email the details to manager@sevenoaks.kent.sch.uk.
BOOT CAMP IS BACK!!!
