Dear Parents,
Welcome back to school and a very big welcome to all our new families and children. I would like to say well done to all the children for settling back in so quickly in their new classes.
Morning Arrival at School
Just a reminder about our early morning routines. In the Reception classes the doors will open at 8.45am and children and parents are welcomed into the cloakroom where they can help their children prepare for their day. At 8.45am Year 1 children may go into their classrooms and the rest of the school will be met by their teachers in the playground. This is the time for parents who need a quick word to speak to the teachers, as they will not be available once they have taken charge of the class. If you wish to speak to a teacher after this, please come to the school office and leave a message and the teacher will contact you. All children will then be in class ready for registration at 8.55am, when all external doors throughout the school will be closed. If children arrive after 8.55am and the doors are closed they need to come to the school office so that they can be registered and confirm their meal choice. Please help your children to be in school on time and ready for learning. To enhance our safeguarding procedures we would like to lock the school gates by 9.05am and therefore ask parents to leave the school grounds as quickly as possible once children have gone into their classes.
Parking
Please take care when driving towards the school and slow down as you come around the corner into Gaping Lane, as there are children crossing. The school car park must only be used for dropping off and picking up from Playaloud or after school clubs; in these cases please use the top car park and park considerately. Please do not pull in alongside the school building and leave your car unattended. Parking permits for parents to use the upper car park, near Waitrose, are available from the school office. Under no circumstances should any parent be parking outside the school gate on the yellow lines.
Uniform
All long hair is to be tied up. Hairbands may be worn but should be discrete in school colours, no large hair accessories are to be worn. Items of jewellery should not be worn. In the interest of safety only one set of ear studs are permitted. These must be removed or covered during P.E.
Payments
It would be appreciated if any requests for payments for trips, school lunches etc. are made on time (preferably by Wisepay or cheque – if by cash please have the correct amount). Please send any cash payments in a sealed envelope with your child’s name on and indicate what the payment is for. There is a locked post box in the school office porch for parents to post any envelopes and payments for the office to alleviate any queuing in the school office.
Packed Lunches
If your child has a packed lunch, please try and supply a healthy lunch for them. Please do not send in anything with nuts (peanut butter included!) as there are several children with allergies. No solid chocolate items or sweets are to be included with packed lunches. If you include a yoghurt or an item that needs your child to use cutlery please send in a spoon or fork in their packed lunch. Also include a drink as their water bottles are kept in the classrooms.
School Website & Twitter
The school website can be found at https://samlucas.herts.sch.uk/ . Here you can see all the diary dates for the year, class blogs and lots of information including curriculum overview and also statutory policies for your perusal. You can sign up to your class blog and receive a notification whenever there is a new blog to read. The school also has a Twitter account, you can follow us @SamlucasJMI.
Messages Regarding Children’s Absence
If your child is ill and you need to leave a message to report an absence please include full details of your child’s illness. This enables us to keep a complete record of your child’s attendance and help us identify patterns of illness in the school. Please help us by not just reporting “my child is feeling unwell”.
Parent Consultation Evening
Parent consultation evening for the whole school will take place on Monday 22nd October and Tuesday 23rd October. The booking system will be available from this evening at 5pm via Parentmail. You will be sent a link to make a booking for a 10 minute consultation with your child’s teacher.
Playground safety
With our ever growing school there are more people in the playgrounds in the morning and after school. Please can you help us to keep our children safe by reminding your children to dismount from their bikes and scooters when they enter the school grounds. Please do not allow your children or their younger siblings to play on the playground equipment before or after school.
Reception Class 2019
Your child can start in Reception class in the September following their 4th birthday. Applications for Reception 2019 must be submitted to Herts County Council by 15th January 2019.
Prospective parents may visit our school on the following dates. Places MUST be pre-booked by either telephoning the school office on 01462 456737 or by sending an email to admin@samlucas.herts.sch.uk
Visit dates available are:
Monday 12th November 2pm Tuesday 20th November 9.30am
Tuesday 13th November 9.30am Thursday 22nd November 2pm
Monday 19th November 2pm Tuesday 27th November 2pm
Applying for a Secondary School Place
Applications for a secondary school place must be made by 31st October 2018.
Hertfordshire County Council’s application form (online or paper) is the legal application to any maintained school or academy in Hertfordshire (including Year 10 applications for a place at UTCs). If a child lives outside Hertfordshire they must use their own authorities’ application form.
Voluntary-aided, foundation schools and academies, including free schools and UTCs, in Hertfordshire will not be able to consider an application to their school unless it has been made direct to Hertfordshire County Council, either online or on the paper application form. Completion of the school’s own SIF alone is not enough. The exception to this is new school/academies in their first year of approval that do not have to, or may not be able to, take part in the coordinated application process.
Paper applications must be returned direct to the Admissions & Transport Team. Parents are advised to obtain proof of postage.
We encourage you to make an online application. You can access all the information you need, and can make an application for a school place at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions
School information is available at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/schoolsdirectory
Diary Dates
| Date | Class | Event | Time |
| Wed 10th October | ALL | Bags to School Charity Collection | Bags in school by 9am |
| Wed 10th October | Reception Parents | EYFS Phonics & Maths Workshop | 6.30pm-7.15pm |
| Wed 10th October | Yr 1 & Yr 2 Parents | KS1 English & Maths Workshop | 7.30pm – 8.15pm |
| Mon 22nd October | Rec – Yr 6 Parents | Parent Consultation Evening | 5pm – 8pm |
| Tues 23rd October | Rec – Yr 6 Parents | Parent Consultation Evening | 4pm – 7pm |
| Friday 26th October | Yr 1 & Yr 2 Parents | KS1 Harvest Assembly for Parents | 9.30am |
| Friday 26th October | Yr 3 – Yr 6 Parents | KS2 Harvest @ Christ Church | 2pm |
| Mon 29th October | ALL | HALF TERM HOLIDAY |
Parentmail App
We are now trialling a new service from Parentmail called ‘Forms’. This will help the school to cut down on paper and photocopying and also administration time in collecting permission forms for trips and events. If you need any help in using the Parentmail system please contact the school office.
Harvest Foodbank Collection
During the week of 22nd October we will be collecting donations of food for the Trussell Trust Foodbank via the Hitchin Partnership. There will be special collection boxes placed in the school office porch for you to leave a donation of the following non-perishable food items:
Tinned Potatoes
Dried Potatoes
Tinned Rice
Tinned Custard
Tinned Fruit
Longlife Juice
Squash Drinks
Pasta/Noodles (ind packets)
Tinned Meat
Tinned Fish
Sauce for Pasta in Jars
Toilet Rolls
Message from the SLPA (Samuel Lucas Parents’ Association)
We have another exciting school year ahead, with lots of opportunities to enjoy time with the school community at our SLPA events, while also raising money to help support our Children’s learning experiences across the school.
We already have a number of SLPA event dates for you to add to your diaries.
Film night – Friday 16th November 2018
Winter Fayre – Saturday 8th December 2018
Disco – Friday 1st February 2019
Quiz Night (for adults only) – Friday 8th March 2019.
Egg Hunt – Friday 5th April 2019
Summer Fayre & Family BBQ / Picnic – Friday 12th July 2019
We would love to welcome any new people to the next Samuel Lucas Parents’ Association meeting on Tuesday 16th October at 8pm at school. We will be planning the Winter Fayre. Your support is really important to make these events as enjoyable and successful as possible for our school. Any support you can offer will be valuable and can be completely tailored around what works for you and your family.
We would also like to remind you all of the exciting SLPA Lottery. A ticket request form should have been sent home with your children in their bags already, but more can be obtained from the school office. For a bargain price of £12, you will be entered into monthly draws, with special Christmas and Summer Term draws. If we can get 100 members, the monthly winner will win £25 and the runner up, £10.
Finally…
Thank you to all of you who brought your slippers into school and your £1 donation, £300 was raised for Age UK.