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Lady Joanna Thornhill (Endowed) Primary School

Learning for the Head, Heart and Hand

The School Day

CHANGES TO THE SCHOOL DAY FROM TERM 5 2024

DAILY TIMETABLE

 

School Site Opens For Staff 07:30
School Gates Open For Parents 08:35
School Starts08:45
Key Stage Assembly in Hall or Music Room09:00 -09:15
Morning Break 10:15 – 10:30
Lunch Break

11:40-12:30 (EYFS)

11:40 - 12:40 (Y1)

11:50 - 12:45 (Y2)

12:20 - 13:20 (KS2)

Afternoon Break (Key Stage 1) 14:00 – 14:10
School Finishes (EYFS/KS1)15:15
School Finishes (KS2)15:20
School Site Closes 18:00

 

The school is locked during break and lunch times (see above) and we do not let any visitors in to the school during these times.  This is for safety reasons, we wish to avoid visitors accessing the school whilst the children are on the school playground.  If you do need to visit the school, please do avoid these times.  

 

SCHOOL OPENING HOURS

The school site is open each day between 7:30am - 6pm,  for a total of 52 1/2 hours per week. This includes times when the school is only open to children attending wraparound care (Thrive) or after school clubs.   In general, the school is open to EYFS and KS1 pupils between 8:45am-3:15pm, which is a total of 32 hours and 30minutes.  The school is open to KS2 pupils between 8:45am-3:15pm, which is a total of 32 hours and 55 minutes

 

ORGANISATION OF THE DAY PROCEDURES

 

Organisation of the day

The school gates open at 8.35am and lessons start at 8.45am. The school day finishes at 3.15pm for EYFS and KS1 and at 3:20pm for KS2, and children should be collected at this time. Any children who have not been collected will be taken to the school office and parents contacted.

 

A calm, smooth start to the morning is important for learning. Class teachers want the opportunity to greet the children with a smile, start learning promptly and dismiss them safely. Outlined below is the detail of the arrangements for drop off and pick up. 

 

Morning drop off
•    Children will make their way directly to their classrooms when they arrive in the morning. There will be no need to line up. Class Teachers / Teaching Assistants will be waiting to meet them. (The only exception is Year R -  please see below)

 

  • All gates (the front gate opposite the village hall, Bridge Street entrance, the field entrance) will be open at 8.35am. All children should be in class ready for registration at 8.45. The front gate and Bridge Street entrance will be closed shortly after this. The field entrance will also be open and will be for late arrivals, who will need to report to the office. 
  • Reception children should enter via the metal gates outside Hedgehog classroom. 
  • Hedgehog class should enter via the metal gates outside their classroom
  • Rabbits and Fox class should enter via the playground gates near Bridge street. 
  • Squirrel class will enter via their classroom door.
  • If you need to share any key information with a class teacher in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2, you may speak to an adult briefly at drop off.  If you need a longer discussion, please wait until the end of the day, make an appointment or use the class email. 
  • Junior children can enter via the outside fire doors into their classrooms. If you need to speak to the class  teacher briefly in the morning you can accompany your child if you need to, otherwise they can be            dropped off at the gate. If you need a longer discussion please wait until the end of the day, make an        appointment or use the class email. 


Afternoon pick-up

  • All EYFS and Key Stage 1 children will be dismissed from school at 3:15pm.   Please enter the school grounds via the Bridge Street entrance.
  • Year R will dismiss from the metal gate next to Hedgehog classroom 
  • Year 1 will line up on their playground, outside their classrooms .
  • Year 2 will line up on the adjacent playground (Year R playground)
  • If you have children in EYFS or KS1, as well as KS2, please wait at the cones by the trim trail once you have collected your younger child until the children in KS2 have lined up for collection.
  • All Key Stage 2 children will be dismissed from school at 3:20pm.  You can use either the Bridge Street entrance or the Village Hall entrance at this time.
  • Years 3,4,5 and 6 will line up on the junior playground.
  • The gates will open at 3.20, once the children are lined up and ready. Class teachers will dismiss the          children once an adult has been seen. Please do wait to discuss anything with the class teacher until they  have dismissed the children safely. This way the class teacher can ensure a safe handover. 
  • Year 5 and 6 are able to walk home or meet adults off-site, if parental permission has been provided in writing (please use the form link https://forms.office.com/r/sGxhEHRKXH and also email the School Office office@ladyj.kent.sch.uk. They should always use the crossing to leave the school site on Bridge Street, where road crossing patrol is in place. 
  • If the weather is poor, children will be dismissed straight from classrooms to their parents.  Parents are requested not to stand directly in front of doors or block the entrance to the school office, to allow the children to exit safely.


It is essential for all year groups that if you have a change of plan, or a play date or someone else is picking up that you let the class teacher know in advance or call through to the office so we are very clear who is picking up.  We cannot release pupils to people who are not on the contact list where the parent/carer has not confirmed to us that a different person will be collecting.
 

NB:  If you arrive by car; the utmost consideration for others is essential.  We are lucky to have the village hall car park next to the school.  Please bear in mind that we use it courtesy of the Village Hall's Goodwill, and also that of our neighbours.  This goodwill needs to be matched by our consideration and sensitivity for others.

 

Parents are NOT permitted, for reasons of safety, to use the Staff car park at the back of the school, this also extends to parents dropping off for the Breakfast club.   with large numbers of children and parents using the staff car park exit, cars travelling in the opposite direction are an accident waiting to happen.  There are alternative places to park on Churchfield Way and in the village car park by the Co-Op, which have the benefit of allowing our children to use their legs!  you might also wish to consider, if you do live locally, whether the car is actually necessary at all.

 

Please remember that the disabled bays are for use by disabled badge holders ONLY - they are used on a daily basis.  Vehicles should not enter the school site from 8:30am - 3:30pm unless directed by a member of staff

 

LEAVING SCHOOL

During school hours pupils are not allowed to leave the school premises without the permission of the Headteacher. Permission is only granted if a request is made by the parent in person, by telephone or in writing and a form has been completed (available from the school office or downloaded  CLICK HERE).  A parent or guardian or other authorised adult must collect the child. Children should be signed in and out at the school office. During lunch break pupils must remain on the premises.

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