Welcome to Bickerton Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School.
By bringing your child into our school, not only is it your child who is becoming a part of our community, but your whole family.It is the beginning of your involvement with everything that goes on, and we hope that you will enjoy being a part of the community and all that our school has to offer.
The children, staff, governors and parents at Bickerton Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School are very proud of our school. We expect a lot of the children.All members of staff work very hard to ensure that all our children achieve the best they can in all areas of the curriculum. Parents are welcome to come in to talk with the staff and to see their children's work.
Whenever you come to this school, there is a lovely atmosphere. Children are happy, polite, courteous and well-behaved, reflecting the respect that the teachers and other staff have for them and for each other.Our staff set high standards to which the children respond. The governors are fully involved in the school, meeting regularly to discuss its development, helping on a day-to-day basis in the classroom, seeing what the children are doing and contributing to the life of the school.
As a Church of England Voluntary Controlled primary school, we have close links with the local church. The values and teaching of the Church of England play a central part in the ethos of our school.
The PTA organises and runs social and fundraising events which are very popular and great fun, and which help to improve what we offer to the children in our care.
Paul Sweetnam
Head Teacher
Our School Prayer
This is our school,
Let peace be here,
Let it be full of happiness.
Let love be here.
Love of one another,
Love of everyone,
Love of life itself,
And love of God.
Amen
Mission Statement
Respect for oneself and others is central to our mission of giving every child in our school the highest standard of education and care within a Christian community.
Our School Rules
- Respect and take care of each other.
- Treat others how you would like to be treated.
- Share and use the school's equipment carefully.
- Listen to each other and to adults at school.
- Help others to learn.
Our Values and Ethos
The happiness and well-being of everyone in our school are paramount.
At Bickerton, we:
- treat every child as an individual;
- promote a Christian ethos and an understanding of other religions and cultures;
- nurture high standards of behaviour and politeness;
- foster mutual respect throughout our school;
- provide the highest standard of education to each child;
- encourage parental and community involvement.
To achieve these:
- we provide opportunities to experience a broad and interesting curriculum so that all our children can achieve their full potential;
- all the staff teach the values of the Church of England and provide opportunities to learn about the beliefs and customs of other cultures;
- Christian values underpin every aspect of school life; Mutual respect is fundamental, resulting in very high standards of behaviour and politeness from everyone;
- throughout the day in lessons, breaks, lunch and assemblies, there is an expectation that children and adults treat each other with respect, honesty and sensitivity;
- we create a family atmosphere where caring, consideration and conscientiousness are vital;
- we value the involvement of parents and members of the community in school life;
- all staff welcome parents to discuss their child's work, progress and happiness.
Useful Information
The School Day
The school day runs from 09.00 to 15.30. To enable us to make a good start to the day, parents are asked to ensure that your children arrive at school well in time. (If you arrive after 09.00, please come in to sign the ‘Late Book’ situated on Mrs Weaver’s desk.)
Children are welcome to arrive from 08.30 onwards. From the time your child gets to school, the staff aim to help them to develop their independence. Parents are requested to leave their children at the main school door and to allow them to make their own way through the school and into their classrooms.
(For more detail, please refer to the Safeguarding Children in School Update on the school’s website.)
If you are unexpectedly delayed at the end of the day, please ring us to let us know and we will keep your child safely at school until you get here.
Parking Procedures
We have a very effective staggered system for parking at the end of the day which relies on everyone adhering to their time slots.
If your youngest child is in Class 1, please arrive at school between 15.25 – 15.30. Your Class 1 child and any older siblings will be brought to you.
If your youngest child is in Class 2, please arrive at school between 15.35 – 15.40. Your Class 2 child and any older siblings will be brought to you.
If your youngest child is in Class 3, 4 or 5, please arrive at school between 15.40 – 15.45. Your children will be brought to you.
If you are early or late for your time slot, please park at the Village Hall until after 15.40.
In the morning, with arrival being between 08.30 – 09.00, the system is naturally staggered.
Absence
If your child is poorly and you need to keep him or her off school, please let us know in person or by telephone before 09.00. If we are unsure of a child’s whereabouts, Mrs Weaver will phone you to confirm the reason for absence.
If your child has suffered vomiting or diarrhoea, they must be kept off school for 48 hours after it has finished, even if they appear to be fine. This is very important to prevent infection of other children. Please respect this so that other children and families do not get ill unnecessarily.
Leave of Absence
Sometimes there may be exceptional circumstances which mean that you need to take your children out of school during term time. If this is the case, parents should apply for ‘leave of absence’. (An application form is available for this.) It is not automatically granted – it is entirely dependent upon the circumstances. (Please note that requests for holidays in term time will normally be refused.)
(Please refer to the Attendance Policy on the school’s website.)
Administration of Medicines
If your child requires prescription medicines on a regular basis such as medication for asthma or diabetes, or as a one-off such as antibiotics, please complete an ‘Administration of Medicines Request Form’ which can be found on the website. Staff are very happy to administer such medicines.
(Please refer to the Administration of Medicines Policy on the school’s website.)
Please note that members of staff are not able to administer non-prescription medicines.
Opportunities to Talk with Staff
In the Values and Ethos section of this document, you will have seen that staff welcome parents in many ways. If you have any concerns about any aspect of your child’s life at school, or if you wish to talk with a member of staff, please do so.The best time is after school once the majority of cars have gone after 15.45. Unless there is a staff meeting or we are involved in running a club, all staff are available and very happy to have an informal chat. (Each teacher’s ‘Curriculum Brochure’ will let you know the best times so see them.) All members of staff will always be polite and will listen to you very carefully, and take seriously any concern or issue.
Regular Parents’ Evenings, one each term, are an excellent formal opportunity for you to find out about your child’s progress and about their school life. These last ten minutes; if you need more time, please arrange a separate appointment at another time. We hold a ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening each September.
All the teachers will invite families into their classes on a regular basis to see some of the work the children have been doing. Again, these occasions are an excellent opportunity for informal conversation with staff. Children will also be asked to take their books home each half term for you to have a look at with them. They are proud of their work and will enjoy talking to you about it and showing you what they have done.
Complaints
If you feel you need to complain about something, we have a Complaints Procedure, the first stage of which is usually to come and talk with the Head Teacher.
(Please refer to the ‘Complaints Procedure’ in the policies section of the school’s website.)
The Curriculum
We strive to offer a broad and rich curriculum which your child will find interesting and challenging. Each class teacher publishes a ‘Curriculum Brochure’ at the beginning of each half term. (These can be found on the school’s website.) At the beginning of each brochure, there is a page which summarises the curriculum we try to offer. It is worth spending a little time looking at this. (A copy is also included with this pack.)
School Sport Funding is used to give each child at least two hours of high quality PE and sport per week.
Visits, Residentials and Out-of-School Activities
Day visits are an important part of our curriculum which enhance children’s understanding and learning. We try to run a couple of these for each class each year.
(Please refer to our Educational Visits Policy on the school’s website.)
Residential visits take place from Year 3 onwards. (For photosand more informationabout each of the residentials the children will take part in, please refer to the Residential Visits section of the school’s website.) In Year 3, the children go to Delamere Forest (Foxhowl) for three days and two nights. In Year 4 or Year 5, they stay at Castleton Youth Hostel for four days and three nights – Friday morning until Monday evening. In Year 6, they go to PGL for outdoor adventurous activities, again for four days and three nights – Friday morning until Monday evening.
There is usually a charge made for visits and residentials, (though for some there is not, eg local visits and many sporting competitions). However, families’ financial situations should not prevent children from taking part. The letters informing you of residentials and many visits will contain the following phrase: “If the cost is going to cause any financial problems to anyone, please come and talk with me confidentially as soon as possible so we can sort something out. No child should miss out on this great visitfor financial reasons.” This is a genuine offer of assistance with the cost of visits which is open to any family where it is needed.
Years 3 to 6 go swimming to Whitchurch Pool for an hour per week for one term per year. This means that in the course of the four years, the children will have approximately 40 sessions of swimming with school. Sometimes, Year 2 may be included in a few swimming sessions.
Class 3 children may also go to Wrenbury Gym for 10 gymnasticssessions. The children love these sessions and many of them take up gymnastics as a result.
Extra-Curricular Clubs
Extra-Curricular Clubs run from the end of the school day from 15.30 to 16.30. Most of them are run by members of school staff but some (for which there may be a charge) are led by outside providers. The clubs on offer depend on the time of year(for example Science and Nature, Frisbee, Magazine, Netball, Football, Athletics) but usually include a selection of sport-based and non-sport-based clubs. (For the up-to-date clubs timetable, please refer to the school’s website.)
An attendance register will be taken at the start of the club, so please let the person in charge know if there is an occasion when your child is unable to attend. At the end, please come into the main school entrance to collect your child so we can hand them over to the right adult.
School Organisation
We have five classes. Usually, there are two age ranges in each class, though sometimes there may be just one. Class 4 and 5 tend to work together, sharing a topic, and Class 3, 2 and 1 work together. A lot of the work the children do will be related to their topics and visits will often support them too. (Please refer to the school’s website for the rolling programme of topics.) We have five teaching assistants who support all the children’s learning who are deployed according to the needs of the children.
Children with Additional Needs
We welcome all children irrespective of their abilities. All children are individuals. Some may have additional needs over and above the needs that the majority of children have. We assess each child’s needs and put provision in place to try to meet those needs. This may simply be through our differentiated curriculum, allocation of teaching assistant time or through provision of support from external agencies such as school health, speech therapy, occupational health and others.
We work closely with the parents of children with additional needs, meeting frequently to discuss progress and identified needs, and to ensure that our provision is having a positive impact on each child’s learning.
Uniform
Our uniform is a school sweatshirt and blue polo shirt, with black or grey trousers or skirtand sensible black school shoes. Girls also have the option to wear a summer dress if they wish. The PE kit is white T / polo shirt, white shortsand trainers or pumps. Children are asked to bring in a pair of track suit bottoms or similar if it is cold. School logo items and PE kit are available from Whitchurch Sports.
(Please refer to the uniform section of the school’s websitefor details.)
Meals and Snacks
School meals are all home-made on the premises. Children in Reception to Year 2 receive free meals. There is a charge for children in Year 3 to Year 6. The menu is published on the website along with current prices. The food is lovely.
(Please refer to the school meals section of the school’s websitefor details.)
If you prefer, your child can bring in a packed lunch. We advocate healthy food in packed lunches.
The children are allowed to bring in a clear plastic bottle of water which they can drink at any time during the day. Infant children are given fruit every day; there is usually some spare which the older children are able to eat too.They can also bring in their own fresh fruit to eat at break-time if they wish. We do not allow any other snacks for break-times.
School Website
The school’s website is a very useful source of information. Latest letters will be posted on it along with the current calendar and lists and dates of clubs each term. Other things such as photos, details of visits and residentials, test results and curriculum information are all found on it. If in doubt, use the A-Z by clicking on the link on the Home Page.
Contact Details
Tel: 01829 720 240
Email:
Who’s Who – please see the website for details of staff, governorsand school organisation.