Grange Park Infant & Nursery School invite you to our Early Years Open Morning!

Tuesday 11th October at 9:30am until 11:30am

Will your child be joining Nursery in September 2023, or are you looking for a school Nursery place?

Come and visit our wonderful classrooms and see why:

"Pupils meet, and often exceed, the national standards"

"Typical comments from parents include 'very happy with the progress my child has made'"

"Pupils are proud to be members of the Grange Park Infant & Nursery School community"

Ofsted inspection report, March 2019

You will have an opportunity to visit our Nursery and Reception classes, and speak to our Early Years team. You can also visit Grange Park Junior School and have a tour there.

There is no need to book - just turn up at the school at 9:30am and you will be shown where to go.

Please use our Nursery gate on Balmoral Drive to enter the school - just opposite Whittington Avenue. (The gate at the roundabout, leading to Burns Close, will not be open).

We can't wait to meet you and your child!

The Year 1 teachers held Welcome Meetings on Tuesday 27th September to discuss what is expected of children in Year 1, and to give parents an opportunity to ask general questions about children’s learning. Thank you to all parents who came to the meetings.

You can find the slides from the presentation below and if you would like to discuss anything in detail, you are welcome to speak to your child's class teacher.

Dear Parents,

EXTRA SUPPORT FOR YOUR CHILD – PUPIL PREMIUM FUNDING

Pupil Premium is extra money that the UK Government gives to schools to help disadvantaged children catch up with their peers. We use this money to provide focused support for eligible children, and to provide a free Breakfast Club place if you wish to accept it.

If you receive certain benefits, your child could be entitled to Pupil Premium funding:

• Universal Credit - your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

(If you still qualify for Working Tax Credit, then your child is not entitled to Pupil Premium.)

You can check your eligibility by going to pps.lgfl.org.uk. All you need to apply is:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your National Insurance number, or your National Asylum Support Service (NASS) number

Alternatively, you can come to the School Office for help to apply and check eligibility – staff will be available on Tuesdays just before the end of the school day (2:45pm to 3:15pm) each week. Please bring the information above to apply.

Yours sincerely

Mrs K Thapar

Head Teacher

We are very sad to learn that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has passed away.

An assembly was held this morning to reflect, and the children sang a song to commemorate her life. Children have been given the opportunity to ask questions if they want to, and additional support for the children is available.

Dear parents,

I hope you are all safe and well. We’ve had amazing sunshine throughout the holidays and I hope enjoyed the long Summer break. The children return to school on Monday 5^th September. We had two training days on 1^st and 2^nd September. Staff have been in during the holidays to prepare their classrooms ready to welcome the children on Monday.  

Some staff news

Congratulations to Miss Commerford our school Special Needs Co-ordinator who got married on August 14^th and will now be called Mrs Sheppard.

Ms Virdee, teacher of Crimson Class, will now be known as Mrs Pandhare.

Mrs Ashby is our new school Bursar and Business Manager.

Mr Meagher is our Site Manager and he has made sure the school is ready to receive the children.

Mrs Watson deals mainly with admissions, children’s records and general enquiries.

Mr Watson will be calling you if your child is absent and general enquiries.

Mrs Kirk (Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday) and Mrs Sprake (Monday and Friday) are the school Welfare Assistants and deal with all medical concerns and records.

Ms Lindsay is the Nursery Manager

Ms Jenkinson is the Reception Manager

Mrs Pandhare is the Year 1 Manager

Miss Clark is the Year 2 Manager

A complete list of staff will be updated on the school website.

Communication

Visiting the school / Contacting the school office

• To avoid being confused on return to school arrangements please take the time to read all the information sent to you. We are often overwhelmed with telephone calls on the first day back because parents have not read information sent to them.

• I want staff in the school office to keep the telephone lines open for real emergencies. All letters sent home are published on the school website.

• If you need to speak to Mrs Kernoghan, (Deputy Head), Mrs Kirk or Mrs Sprake (medical and welfare), the class teachers or me, then just email the school and someone from the office will get back to you as soon possible by telephone or make an appointment for you.

• Here’s the school email address:

grangepkinf@gpin.school

• The school website address is:

www.gpin.school

• The school telephone number is:

0203 886 0887

You can use the school email and phone:

• to report your child absent
• to let the school know if your child has a medical appointment
• to make an appointment with the head teacher
• to report any health and safety concern
• to lodge a complaint

We are trying to be more environmentally friendly and avoid sending paper communication.

Some letters will be emailed at short notice and when urgent we will send you a text message aswell to remind you to check your emails. 

If you do not have an email address then please set one up as it will make it easier to keep in touch. I will be sending out a text message to remind parents to do this.

If you have changed your contact details, then again let the school know as soon as possible.

There is also a direct email that you will be given to contact your child’s class teachers directly about non-urgent and general matters, for example if you have forgotten which day your child has PE.

Please do not use the Class Email to report your child as absent, or any medical issue as they are not monitored by the School Office and the class teacher is not likely check the emails during the day.

Update on Arrangements

Covid 19 and Variants

As the children have been absent from school for such a long time, the children are more likely to have had wider social contact than normal, travelled further and with the restrictions being completely lifted and everyone will have been exposed to less cautious behaviour.

In order to protect everyone when we return, let’s all self-regulate and remember to keep ourselves and others safe by keeping our distance.

• Children will wash their hands when they arrive at school.

Uniform / bags/ water bottles/ coats

• Children must come to school in a clean school uniform every day.

• Children should come to school in black shoes that fit them properly and NOT trainers. Do not send your children to school in boots unless it is required due to the cold weather.

• Please do not overdress your children. They just need to wear a clean vest, pants, blouse / shirt and a trouser / skirt, a school jumper / cardigan with the school logo and one pair of socks or tights. We will ask the children to remove tights/ pyjamas if they are worn under long trousers. We want children to be as comfortable as possible.

• We will send a reminder about the days your child is having PE and the information will be displayed in the class window.

• Children should come to school in their outdoor PE Kit from home; shorts, joggers, t-shirt, sweatshirt and trainers as before.

• Send your child’s black plimsoll shoes in a named plastic bag which will be kept in school. Plimsolls are available from most supermarkets locally. We want to minimise the number of things children have at school.

We will let you know if there is a change to this arrangement.

Things to remember for Monday 5th September:

• Bring all the children’s reading books back in the child’s blue reading bag.

• Wash the blue reading bag before sending it to school.

• Bring all the children’s home learning they have completed during the holiday.

• Send in any projects they have completed. We are looking forward to receiving them.

• Send in a water bottle. Label your child’s water bottle clearly with their first and surname as well as their class. Try and send in a small water bottle please. They can always refill the water bottle.

• Children will not need a coat unless the weather turns cold suddenly.

• Do not send any rucksacks into school unless they are the Grange Park rucksacks. We will ask you to take the rucksack back home if you do send it. This is because we don’t have the space to hang the huge bags we often get from home.

• Please do not send pencils, rubbers, sharpeners or pencil cases. The children have everything they need to complete their work at school.

Presentation

• Impress on the children that we wear our school uniform proudly.
• Long hair must be tied up securely, with instructions to your child not to take it out.
• No fancy hair clips or hair bands. A simple black or blue hair band is permitted.
• Head scarves should be royal blue, black or white.
• No long earrings, only studs; no other jewellery
• No nail varnish.
• Girls should wear grey tights and white socks. Boys should wear grey or black socks.

Tissues

• Please send in a box of tissues at the beginning of every term.

Birthday celebrations

• We will acknowledge your child’s birthday in class but please do not bring any party bags, sweets or cakes to give out to your child’s class as many children have allergies. This includes giving sweets and cakes outside the classroom.

Lunch

• All children will have a school lunch. If your child has a medically recognised allergy then please email the school and we will arrange a meeting with Mrs Kirk or Mrs Sprake. You will need evidence of your child’s diagnosis from the hospital or your doctor. Also let your child’s teacher know as soon as possible.

• Please help your child choose their lunch for each day, the menu is on the school website and displayed on the class window.

I hope you are all having a restful weekend with family and friends and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday. Please check the start and finish times at the end of this letter.

Kind regards and best wishes

Kiran Thapar

Head Teacher