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Parents and carers are always welcome at Heartsease Primary Academy.

We see the link between home and school as a very important aspect of our pupils’ education. Parents and carers have various opportunities across the week to speak with staff about their child.

Communication

Parents receive regular updates through our reporting system, as well as a round up of weekly news in the School Newsletter. Parents are also kept informed by letters (usually regarding trips, visits and events).

If you have something of a more urgent or lengthy nature, we would ask that you contact the school for a specific appointment. Whilst these will be prioritised it is not always possible for longer meetings to happen during the school day, but will be accommodated as soon as is possible for both parties.

Home-school agreement

Attendance

Behaviour

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Home-school agreement

All parents and pupils are expected to sign a Home – School Agreement when they become a pupil at Heartsease.

The purpose of this agreement is:

To foster partnerships between the school and parents
To raise standards across all areas of school life
To make expectations clear on all side

We have high expectations of ourselves, our children and our parents and carers, so please make sure you read through the agreement carefully and discuss it as a family.

Attendance

Regular, punctual attendance is essential to the progress and success of every pupil. At Heartsease we expect all children to have 96% attendance unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Many parents believe that they have a legal right to take up to 10 days holiday during the school year but this is no longer the case. The Government and Norfolk County Council guidance is now that no holidays should be taken during term-time. As such, the school will not authorise any holidays during term time.

If there are other exceptional circumstances that require your child to be absent from school for a short period of time, please put your request in writing to the Head Teacher.

Absence and illness

If you know your child is going to be absent from school for a clinic visit or dental/medical appointment, please inform the school office and bring a copy of the appointment card. Wherever possible, appointments should be made outside school hours unless it is an emergency.

If your child is going to be off sick, please call the school office (01603 307820 – option 1) before 9.30am on the first day of absence. You will be asked for the reason for the absence and when you expect the child to return.

Punctuality

At Heartsease we place a huge importance on punctuality and it is vital that all children arrive at school in time for morning registration. If children arrive late this not only interrupts the lesson and makes it difficult for the class teacher to settle the children, but your child will also miss the lesson introduction which will make it difficult for them to understand what they are learning that day, and as the first lessons of the day are the vital literacy and numeracy lessons, this can have a big impact. We also schedule a lot of our small group interventions in the mornings so it is vital that your child is here to benefit from this additional provision.

Behaviour

At Heartsease we have a behaviour management policy which encourages pupils to recognise and respect the rights of others, assist them with developing self discipline and also enhances their self esteem. We aim to create an environment at all times that encourages good behaviour.

At the beginning of the new school year all class teachers establish the class rules with their class. These rules are displayed prominently in the classroom and referred to on a regular basis.

At Heartsease our emphasis is on rewards to reinforce good behaviour. This is achieved by:

Frequent praise of both work and behaviour
Stickers, certicards and stamps in books for good work
Showing good work to Senior Management Team
Awards in achievement weekly assemblies

Although we work very hard to ensure high standards of behaviour, there will be times when class rules are broken and it is essential that certain sanctions are used to show disapproval of unacceptable behaviour.

A stepped approach is used:

A verbal reminder is given e.g. ‘remember our class rule about putting your fans up, make sure you do that next time you want to answer question please’.
The behaviour is recorded on the traffic light system.
If the child continues to behave unacceptably they spend “time out” with Mrs Craig.
If the unacceptable behaviour persists, the child will be sent to a member of the Senior Management Team.

A positive partnership with parents is crucial to building trust and developing a common approach to behaviour expectations and strategies for dealing with problems. We will always inform you at an early stage if there are concerns about your child’s behaviour.

Bullying

Bullying is the repetition of unwanted behaviour towards a child over a period of time. We take bullying very seriously at Heartsease and work hard to make sure the children feel safe and secure at school. However, we are not complacent and know that bullying can happen in all schools and at all ages.

We want children to tell someone – a friend, a teacher, a parent or other adult, so that intervention and positive action can take place. Please help us by encouraging your child to tell someone if he or she is being bullied and please contact us straightaway so that we can deal with the issue as soon as possible. Similarly, if you suspect your child is developing bullying tendencies, please let us know so that we can talk and take positive action to remedy the situation.

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Complaints procedure

If you are unhappy about any aspect of your child’s education or experience at school you should initially discuss it with your child’s class teacher.

If you feel the issue has not been resolved, please contact the Headteacher or a member of the Leadership Team.

In either event, full details of how to complain can be found in our Trust Complaints Policy available here.

Ofsted Parent View

Parent View gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about your child’s school, from the quality of teaching to dealing with bullying and poor behaviour.

The survey can be completed at any time; you don’t have to wait until the school is being inspected.

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