Applying for school and nursery places

 

A reminder that applications for school places – at this school for children moving from nursery, and at the Junior School for children moving from Y2, need to be made direct to the City Council – online at www.sheffield.gov/pupiladmissions.

 

School Uniform

 

Uniform at HNIS is compulsory for all children from F2 upwards. Children in nursery are encouraged to wear school uniform, however, it is not compulsory.  During the summer, children are able to wear black or grey shorts and girls are able to wear school summer dresses (in blue).  
Our uniform comprises:

 

·      Royal blue sweatshirt or sweatcardi (with or without logo)

·      Royal blue or white polo shirt (with or without logo)

·      Black, navy or grey trousers, skirt or pinafore

·      (Optional) Blue and white check dress

 

We also ask that children wear sensible shoes, and bring a suitable coat every day – we learn outside, whatever the weather!   F2 children will also need a pair of wellies.

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We have 4 suppliers of our school uniform - MyClothing Online, School Trends Online, Branded Uniform and Pinders at Crystal Peak.  Download more details here.

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Second hand School Uniform

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We also keep a stock of pre-owned logoed uniform.  Items (including sweatshirts, cardigans, jumpers, polo shirts, fleeces and coats) all cost £1 each, which can be paid online.  Please ask at the School or Nursery Office if you would like to have a look at what we have in stock.

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We welcome donations of logo-ed uniform in good condition. 

 

So, if you want to:

• Help save the planet by recycling

• Help raise funds for school

• Save money on your child’s school uniform

• Have a clear-out of too-small uniform

please consider buying from, or donating to, our second hand uniform ‘shop’.

 

(We also welcome donations of non-logoed uniform, such as trousers and skirts, and items such as socks, tights and pants; any items we cannot use or don’t have room for are donated to charity shops)

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Common Illnesses and Recommended Absence from School

 

Below is advice from the Health Protection Agency on recommended absence times for various conditions.

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Safer Internet Usage

 

Our Family of Schools holds special ‘Safer Internet Days’ to promote the safe and responsible use of technology!  Our children learnt how to stay safe on the internet, and we looked at child friendly search engines, internet rules and safe communication. 

 

We have a set of school rules relating to children’s use of the internet:

 

• We only use the internet when an adult is with us.

• We can click on the buttons or links when we know what they do.

• We can search the Internet with an adult.

• We always ask if we get lost on the Internet.

• We can send and open emails together.

• We can write polite and friendly emails to people that we know (with our teacher’s permission).

 

The framework which governs how we use the internet in school is set out in full in our E-Safety Policy, which can be downloaded here.  There is also excellent guidance on safe use of technology on the Thinkuknow website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk. 

 

Term Time Leave and Holidays

 

Headteachers are no longer permitted to authorise holidays/term time leave unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’. This includes holidays that have already been booked. You may also be aware that if holidays are taken which have not been authorised, parents may be fined. From this point forward, our family of schools has agreed that any unauthorised holidays/term time leave taken which spans 5 or more consecutive days will be subject to a fixed penalty notice of £60 if paid before 21 days, and £120 if paid between 21 and 28 days. This is in line with Sheffield Local Authority’s policy on term time leave.  Please remember that all holiday/term time leave requests need to be made in writing using our leave of absence request form available from the school office or our website.  These must be submitted 20 days before the start of the planned holiday.

 

You can download here a letter from all headteachers in our family of schools setting out arrangements for leave of absence (which includes holidays).  The letter sets out the consistent approach being applied across our family of schools.  The application form requesting exceptional leave of absence during term time can be downloaded here. For any further information, please see Mrs Shepherd, executive headteacher.

 

Head lice

 

Head lice are one kind of visitor that we do not want in school!  Unfortunately, as in any other place where there are groups of children, there are occasional incidents of head lice in school. Fortunately, they can be kept at bay if we all take action as soon as we notice them. Please read the following and help us to keep head lice out of school.

 

When we notice head lice in school we will…

 

• Sensitively speak to the parents/carers of any child identified as having head lice;

• Send a text to all the parents and carers so you can check your own child carefully and treat if necessary;

• Send out leaflets giving advice on the best way to get rid of head lice.

 

We will not…

 

• Exclude any individual child from school;

• Make children feel uncomfortable in any way about the fact they have head lice – it can happen to anyone!

 

To help us achieve a head lice free school, we would like you to…

 

• Let us know straight away if you notice head lice or nits (eggs) in your child’s hair.  This will help us to send out texts quickly and, hopefully, stop the head lice spreading;

• Check your child’s hair thoroughly. The eggs in particular can be small and easy to miss.  Please check your child even if you do not think he/she has them;

• Treat your child’s hair using a recommended method.  You can find advice on one of the leaflets we have sent out, or on the NHS website http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice , which outlines the best way to use either the wet combing method or ‘over the counter’ products. Continue treatment until the lice have gone, and check all members of the family.
   

Safety in School

 

Download a special supplement all about keeping children safe in our school.  It highlights some of the measures we take to keep children free from harm, and also gives some very useful reminders for parents/carers.  We hope you find these helpful.

 

Free School Milk

 

Do you think your child might be eligible for Free School Milk?

 

If so, please visit https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/education/information-for-parentscarers/at-school/school-meals.html

 

School receives additional funding for pupils whose parents have income levels which make them eligible for Free School Milk (and Meals from Year 3 onwards), called Pupil Premium. Although all meals for F2/Y1/Y2 children are now free, we still receive this funding which allows us to provide additional resourcing in school for our most vulnerable children.  Parents who think they might be eligible under the Free School Meal criteria should apply to ensure that the school receives its proper allocation of Pupil Premium monies.

 

Making School a ‘Mobile Phone Free Zone’

 

As a school, we are trying to make our school a ‘mobile phone free zone’. There are a number of reasons for this, the main one being to ensure the safety of children in school and the wider community.  As many 16mobile phones now have cameras incorporated within them, it would be very easy for any visitor to school to take pictures of children and then post them on social networking sites without permission.  Therefore, we are encouraging all parents/carers/visitors, whilst in school, to turn off their mobile phones and keep them safely tucked away.  We understand that there may be times when you need to make urgent phone calls, so please do feel free to come into school and ask to use the library or staff room.  This will give you more privacy.  We understand that this might seem to some an unreasonable request, but imagine if photos of your child ended up on the internet because visitors in school had used their mobiles to take pictures of them.  You would (quite rightly) then be asking me how this could have happened in school - hence our decision to try and become a mobile phone free zone.  This is now becoming common practice throughout many public services e.g. hospitals, doctors, dentists, and is a new welfare requirement of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum produced by the Department for Education.

 

Short Break Grants

 

Short breaks are designed to give the parents and carers of disabled children and young people a break from their caring responsibilities, whilst providing the child or young person with something fun and fulfilling to do.

 

You will be eligible to receive a grant from us if your child:

 

1. Receives high rate disability living allowance in either the care or mobility components.    
2. Does not receive high rate disability living allowance but received a grant from us last year following the submission of additional information, and approval was given less than 12 months from the date of this year’s application.
3. Already receives another form of assessed short break - for example, residential provision, snips etc.

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To apply visit:

https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/caresupport/carers/respitecaredisability.html

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Making a complaint

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Follow these steps in order.

Only move on to the next step if your complaint is not resolved.
 

1. Complain in writing to the headteacher.

2. Complain in writing to the school’s governing body.

The school complaints procedure should be published on the school’s website. It should tell you what kind of complaints the school will deal with, such as bullying or bad behaviour.

You may not be able to complain direct to academies or free schools if you don’t have a child at the school.

After you’ve followed the school’s complaint process, you can complain to the Department for Education (DfE) if you’ve followed all the ‘Make a complaint’ steps.

To complain about how a whole school is run

You can complain to Ofsted if:

• you think a school isn’t run properly and needs inspecting

• you’ve already followed the school’s complaints procedure, and have approached the DfE or EFA

Check what they can help you with before you contact them.

You should get a response within 30 working days. It will tell you if Ofsted will investigate or not, and why. They may decide the school you’ve complained about doesn’t need to be inspected.

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The School's Publication Scheme

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Download the school's publication scheme (based on the ICO model)

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