Prospectus
UNIFORM
We have a school uniform and expect all children to wear it. The uniform requirements for children are listed below.
- Black or grey trousers, skirts or pinafore dresses (no jogging bottoms, track suits, leggings or jeans).
- White, black or grey tights or socks.
- White polo shirt (with school motif wherever possible and no designer labels).
- Red sweatshirt or cardigan (with school motif wherever possible).
- A pair of black sturdy trainers or shoes without any obvious markings. (No fashion shoes/high heels).
- A summer dress (blue and white or red and white gingham).
Uniform can be purchased from:
- Whittakers Schoolwear, 5 Low Street, Airedale Centre, Keighley, BD21 3PJ. Tel 01535 611211
- Embroidery in House, 182 Highgate Road, Clayton Heights, Bradford, BD13 1DS. Tel 01274 889299
- Term Time Wear, 5 Saint John's Road, Huddersfield, HD1 5AY. Tel 01484 453534
Term Time Wear order forms for sweatshirts, cardigans and polo shirts, as well as P.E. kit and name tapes, are available at the school office.
Bulk orders are sent every half term, but we are always happy to place ‘one off’ orders if required.
Remember to clearly mark all clothing and personal property with your child’s name.
P.E.
On the day your child has PE, they should come to school in their PE kit. This minimises time spent getting changed, and maximises learning time.
Reception/Nursery - Friday
Year 1 - Friday
Year 2 - Thursday
Year 3 - Monday and Wednesday
Year 4 - Friday
Year 5 - Tuesday
Year 6 - Wednesday (until half term)
Our PE kit includes:
- Black tracksuit bottoms (no logos)
- Black jumper/hoody (no logos)
- White or red t-shirt – planner currently says ‘or a polo shirt’ – however we would like to phase this out as we want to distinguish between normal, and PE uniform. We have a lot of red t-shirts from when we gave all children PE kit pre covid, so we will redistribute these – please don’t buy a red one yet.
- Plain black shorts (when warmer) – or under tracksuit bottoms as some activities such as gymnastics don’t suit tracksuit bottoms.
- Sturdy black trainers (no logos). (Depending on what children are doing week to week, they may have bare feet for PE)
Please note that for safety reasons we ask all children with long hair to tie their hair back during P.E. and games lessons and when using some specialist equipment in science, art, food technology etc. Hair should be neat and tidy, hair gel should not be used and any hair accessories such as clips, slides, beads etc should be kept to a minimum.
Jewellery and make up (including nail varnish) should not be worn in school. Earrings are not allowed, except for children with pierced ears, who may wear studs on those days when they do not have swimming or P.E. On swimming and P.E. days studs should not be worn. The only exception to this rule is if a child’s ears have very recently been pierced, in which case they may wear their studs provided they have been covered with tape (by a parent) before coming to school. Once the lesson is over the child may remove the tape.
Children may wear an ordinary watch when they are able to tell the time but responsibility for its safe keeping belongs to them, and the school will not be held responsible for any losses.
Bookbags/Rucksacks
Nursery and Reception can bring a bag with spare clothes.
All children from Reception Class through to Year 5 should have a bookbag, that they bring to school every day. These can be purchased from the office at a cost of £6.75. Children from year 1-5 should not be bringing any other kind of bag to school.
Year 6 pupils are allowed to bring a backpack/rucksack if they wish to, otherwise, they should bring a school bookbag.
For anyone entitled to free school meals who are in receipt of certain benefits, there is also a fund in school to help with school uniform costs. If you would like to know more about this, ask at the school office.
THE SCHOOL DAY
Morning 8.45 a.m. to 12.00 noon (doors open at 8.40 a.m.)
Afternoon 1.00 p.m. to 3.15 p.m.
There is a morning break of 15 minutes. Children in Y1 and Y2 also have a 10 minute break in the afternoon.
LATE ARRIVALS
The late arrival of children to school causes unnecessary disruption to learning and creates difficulties with regard to registration and dinner numbers, etc. Any child arriving after 8.45 a.m. must enter school via the main entrance and sign in using the Inventry system. They must then let a member of the office staff know what they would like to order for their dinner. Please note that children arriving late will be given a “late mark” and parents will be informed if the frequency of “late marks” is too high.
Late arrivals for medical appointments are perfectly understandable but it would help if you could let the school know in advance if at all possible.
Any child who has to leave school before the end of a session, eg to attend an appointment, must sign out using the Inventry system.
OFFICE HOURS
The school office will normally be attended between 8.15 a.m. and 4.15 p.m. Monday to Friday.
CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES
Should your address or emergency contact numbers change or pick-up procedures differ from usual, please inform the school immediately so that our records can be updated. It is important to maintain accurate information on every child. If you think our records might be out of date please contact the office.
EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF THE SCHOOL
In the event that the school has to close at short notice we will make every effort to contact parents in order that they may take their children home. If such arrangements can not be made, your child will be cared for until you can collect them.
Information on closures will, as far as possible, be broadcast by local radio early in the morning, although this is generally only used for severe weather, or through our text messaging/email service. Also check the school website where information will be regularly updated.
ABSENCES
Pupils attend school for a maximum of 190 days each academic year. Full attendance is vital for your child’s educational progress. Bradford Council expects all parents/carers to ensure that their children attend school whenever possible. Absences due to holidays taken during term time can seriously impact on a pupil’s academic attainment. Amendments made to Education (Pupil Registration (England) Regulations 2006) remove references to family holiday and extended leave, as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make it clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. This does not include holidays.
Each parent who fails to ensure their children’s regular attendance at school may have to pay a Penalty Fine of £60 (per parent, per child) issued by Bradford Council, if they pay within 28 days; or £120 if they pay within 42 days.
The Governing Body will not authorise any holidays in term time. Leave of absence will only be granted if there are exceptional circumstances. Such circumstances will be determined by the school’s Senior Leadership Team and a member of the Governing Body. Each case will be dealt with on an individual basis.
Please ensure you use the request form for leave of absence if it is your intention to take your children out of school during term time. However, we do ask that you consider the issue carefully before taking your children out of school, particularly in years 2 and 6 when the National Curriculum Assessment Tasks are undertaken and at important times such as the beginning of the school year.
All absences, both authorised and unauthorised will be recorded and reported to parents in July of each year.
In the event of absence from school, parents MUST contact the school office as soon as possible giving the reason for absence and an approximate estimation of how long the absence is likely to last. This can be done by telephone, text message, email or by sending in a note to school.
When your child has had a stomach upset and sickness it is important that you allow a period of at least 48 hours to elapse after the sickness has finished before sending him/her back to school. Such action will help to prevent the infection spreading unnecessarily to others in the school.
Any unnotified absence will result in a call/visit from our staff to verify the reason. Frequent absence or patterns of absence will be reported to the Education Social Work Service for them to investigate and may also lead to penalty fines being issued.
ADMISSIONS
Children’s names for nursery places are taken as soon as possible and children are admitted to nursery, if a place is available, the term after their third birthday. Application forms are available from the school office. The Nursery teacher arranges admissions to Nursery and home visits.
Attending our nursery does not automatically guarantee a place in school.
The Admissions Team at the local authority process the annual allocations to reception and year 7, in-year applications and also the appeals process.
Information is available on bso.bradford.gov.uk in the following area: Site Content | Admissions | About Admissions.
Please click here for further information about admission to Denholme Primary School.
SCHOOL MEALS
Children staying for a school meal are given a choice of three hot meals and one cold option each day.
Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are provided with a school meal at no charge so there is no need to bring a packed lunch. Water is also provided for children to drink at lunchtime. The school kitchen can meet most special dietary requirements – please let us know if this is the case for your child. We will provide menus in advance so you can choose at home with your child.
Research suggests that having a school meal encourages children to be less ‘fussy’ eaters and parents then see the benefits of this at home.
The cost of a school meal for children in Key Stage 2 is currently £2.10 per day (£10.50 per week.) Where possible, meals should be paid for via our Arbor system. Cheques should be made payable to Nurture Academies Trust.
We are all ever-more aware of the importance of a balanced and nutritious diet. All school meals are assessed by a dietician from the Health Authority and represent excellent value.
If your child has a school dinner and payment has been made for a week during which an absence occurs, a credit for any missed dinners will be recorded on the school meals register.
FREE SCHOOL MEALS
Currently all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 get a free school meal, regardless of the income of their parents.
There is a concern that parents on non-working benefits who would have qualified for 'eligibility based' free school meals will no longer apply as there will be no discernible benefit to them. This could mean a loss of Pupil Premium Funding to the school.
School could be missing out on extra funding for your child if you are eligible to receive free school meals and do not claim them.
Parents are entitled to free school meals for their children if you are in receipt of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Universal Credit
- Income based Jobseekers Allowance
- Child Tax Credit(but not Working Tax Credit) with an annual income (as assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) of less than £16,190
- Pension Credit(Guarantee Credit only)
- Support from NASS(National Asylum Support Services)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
For more information on Free School Meals please tel: 01274 432772, email: benefits@bradford.gov.uk or go to the following website: www.bradford.gov.uk/benefits
MILK/WATER/FRUIT
Milk is provided free of charge to all children in Nursery and Reception and to children in Key Stage 1 and 2 who are eligible for free school meals.
All other children can order milk, which must be paid for in advance. Parents will be notified of costs as these may vary termly.
Children should bring their own reusable water bottle from home each day, which should be labelled.
A piece of fruit is available for every child in Nursery, Reception and KS1 every day.
MEDICINES
We have a detailed policy about the administration of medicine in school. This can be viewed on our school website or a copy can be obtained from the school office. No medicine can be administered in school without prior written permission. Forms are available from the school office or on our website.
If children become ill during the day, the school will endeavour to contact parents and/or carers. It is essential that we have up-to-date contact numbers and addresses. If your child is injured, we will take steps to ensure that they receive professional help quickly.
The school has regular visits from health professionals. It is possible to contact the school nurse, Lorna Patchett, who is based at Haworth Road Health Centre, by ringing 01274 221203 and asking for the Haworth Road Team.
VISITS
At the beginning of each academic year, parents will be asked to sign a form allowing short environmental visits around the school and the local area (eg: around the village or to the local church). These will always be well supervised. For all visits that take place during and after school which require transport, entrance fees, etc, we will ask for a financial contribution from parents. If insufficient funds are received we may have to cancel the visit. Where necessary, payment may be made in instalments.
Families of children who are eligible for Free School Meals will not be charged for visits or activities during the school day that their children may take part in.
Our Charging and Remissions Policy can be viewed on our school website or a copy can be obtained from the school office.
PARENTS AND SCHOOL AND THE HOME/SCHOOL AGREEMENT
There is a Home School Agreement that sets out what parents can expect from school and how children and parents should help us. This is issued to all pupils in Year 1 to Year 6 through their school planners. Reception children will be issued with one separately. All parents are asked to sign the contract.
We welcome offers of help to hear readers, or to help in various ways. We would like mums, dads, grandparents and carers to come to school events as well as class assemblies, book fairs and sports matches. The Parents of Denholme School (PODS) organise excellent events throughout the year to raise money for items in school and they are always looking for willing and enthusiastic members.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Complaints should be brought, initially, to the class teacher, then, if necessary, to the Headteacher, who will listen and advise. A guide to the Complaints Procedure is available in school and on the website.
The Headteacher will, in most cases, be able to resolve complaints but may need time to investigate. A more formal route for more serious complaints is by letter to the Chair of Governors, c/o the school.
Disclaimer
The information above is believed to be correct at the time of writing (May 2023). There may be changes throughout the course of the year.