Frequently Asked Questions

We appreciate that parents/carers who are new to our school will have many questions and concerns. Staff at the school are often asked questions in relation to children’s education, school timings, procedures and a myriad of other topics.

We won't have answered them all here, but we have provided answers below to our most commonly asked questions in the hope that parents are able to find information they are looking for quickly without having to take time out to contact the school.

If your particular question is not answered here, then please do contact the school via the office either in person, by telephone or email.

ATTENDANCE AND TIMEKEEPING

What are school opening and closing times?

8.45am - 3.15pm

What do I do if my child is late to school?

Take child to the main office and sign them in. One of our Office Staff will then let your child into school, collect information about why the child is late and organise their school lunch order, then they can go to class.

What do I do if I am going to be late in collecting my child?

There are times when parents are late collecting their child from school through delays and circumstances out of their control. If this is likely to happen to you, we ask you to contact school and the expected delay is given. We can then make arrangements to let your child know what is happening and when they will be collected.

Can I send someone else to pick up my child?

If you need someone else to come to school to collect your children, please speak to the class teacher in the morning or leave a message with one of the office staff, who will pass on an allocated password for the person collecting to tell the adult at hand over.

How do I report my child's absence from school?

Telephone school on the day of the absence before 8:45 am and inform the School Office so that they can let class staff know. A message can be left on the answer machine if they are not available.

When are the school holidays?

Full details for the current and next year's term dates can be found on our calendar information page and our term dates page .

Can I take my child on holiday during term time?

The short answer is No. Attending school is a compulsory obligation that parents must adhere to and, therefore, you should avoid taking your child out of school. If you wish to have a special case considered, then you are required to complete a request for leave of absence form which can be requested from the school office.

The school has a policy around attendance where full details of the requirements and penalties can be found.

How will I be informed if there is an enforced school closure?

On the very rare occasion that the school needs to close (bad weather/extreme circumstances), we will inform all parents via Arbor, Seesaw and the school Facebook page.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Does school uniform have to be branded school uniform?

Parents do not have to purchase school-branded uniform. There are many supermarkets which stock appropriate school uniform in our school colours, and you are welcome to purchase from wherever you wish. Please see our School Uniform page for details of what should be worn. Uniform Page

Where can I buy branded school uniform from?

You can buy school uniform from the school or Kidzone. Please visit our School Uniform information page where full details on what pupils should wear as uniform and PE kit.

What can I do if I cannot afford school uniform?

The best thing to do is to let staff in the office know, and they will help. At all times of the year, we have a second-hand uniform where we recycle school uniform and any parent can ask for items. There are regular events throughout the year, but you may ask for items at any time. These items are FREE and include trousers, skirts, dresses, jumpers and cardigans.

Can my child wear jewellery in school?

We ask pupils do not wear jewellery in school. Small stud earrings can be worn but these must be removed or covered by pupils on PE days. If your child can not remove their own earrings we ask that they do not wear them. Schools are busy places and we find that jewellery can cause unnecessary accidents.

MEALS AND DRINKS

How long do the children get to eat lunch?

All children in school have one hour for their lunch. This allows plenty of time for them to eat and socialise with their peers.

How much is a school dinner?

Our school dinners are cooked in school by LTS at a daily cost £2.65 per meal. These can be paid on Arbor. Our menu is available on our School Dinners page.

How do I claim Free School Meals?

In EYFS, Year One or Year Two: if your child is starting EYFS, Year One or Year Two, you do not need to apply for free school meals. There is a government scheme for all Key Stage One children to receive a free school meal, regardless of parental income. Their free school meals will stop at the end of year two.

For Year Three and above and to register for pupil premium: To apply, complete an application form located on the leicestershire.gov.uk/ free-school-meals with details of your name, date of birth and National Insurance number. Miss Webb in the office can also help you too. You do not need to re-apply annually, your children will continue to receive free school meals unless you cease to be entitled, and the Council will let you know should that arise.

How much is milk?

Milk is provided by Cool Milk and is free until your child's fifth birthday. If you are in receipt of benefits which enable your child to have free school meals (not Universal Free School meals for all KS1 pupils) then your child will also receive free milk daily. Milk is available to be purchased for all other children at an approximate cost of £1.30 per week by registering. Parents – Cool Milk

Is drinking water available?

Drinking water is freely available throughout the school. Children should have a water bottle in school each day and it will be refilled as required.

What should I put in my child's packed lunch?

We are a Healthy School so encourage children to bring healthy items in their lunch to school. This could include items such as fruit, vegetables, pasta or rice salads and yogurts. We strongly discourage sweets and crisps as part of a daily diet as these exceed a child's weekly allowance of salt and sugar.

Children must NOT bring nuts into school, including peanut butter as some children in school have severe nut allergies.

HEALTH ISSUES

What do I do if my child is prescribed medication?

If your child needs to have medication at school, you must complete a form at the school office. We ask that medication at school is kept to a minimum and if antibiotics are prescribed for less than four times a day, we suggest this can be organised outside of school time. All medication held on school premises is kept locked and secure.

What happens if my child has a medical/dental appointment?

Please try to arrange medical appointments outside of school time. If this is unavoidable, we ask that you bring the appointment letter to the school office so it can be recorded on the register.

How long before my child can return to school after an illness?

We ask that children remain at home until they are well enough to return to school.
Sickness and stomach bugs – we ask that children remain at home for 48 hours after their last bout of illness to ensure that infections do not spread.

What happens if my child has an accident at school?

All staff are first aid trained and can offer reassurance and first aid to pupils who are injured at school.

If the injury is significant, we will inform parents by telephone and appropriate first aid would be given and any serious injury would involve medical services as soon as possible.

What do I do if my child has head lice?

If your child has head lice we ask that you treat them quickly to ensure that they do not spread. If we notice that your child has head lice during the school day, we may contact you to inform you. If you would like to collect them, treat the head lice and return them to school, you are welcome.

TRANSPORT AND PARKING

Can I park at the school?

We very fortunate to have a visitors car park across the road near Mowbray Rangers Football Club. Parents are asked to park considerately and carefully around school while avoiding the zigzags.

Can my child cycle to school?

We have a limited number of bike racks available for children's bikes/scooters to be stored. These may be used if children ride to school with their parents.

HOME-SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

What do I do if I need to see a teacher?

Non-urgent messages can be left with the members of the school office or the headteachers who are on the playground each morning.

Class teachers can be contacted via school office. Please note, class Seesaw messages will only be monitored and responded to during school working hours and may take some time to get a response.

There are also regular opportunities for parents and carers to meet with class staff via Parent's Evenings as well as open morning/afternoon events.

How can parents get involved?

We ask that parents support school primarily by helping with their learning from home. This could be in the form of reading at home and practising times tables and number facts or accessing Seesaw and accessing current learning there.

We also ask that you familiarise yourself with newsletters, diary events and your child's class page where you can find all the information about the class teacher and teaching assistant as well as events going on at school. The pages also feature some photos of learning taking place in class.

There are many opportunities to engage with the school throughout the academic year with open mornings/afternoons and specific events. We also have a very active parent and staff group called the Friends of Asfordby Hill (FOAH). Their page link is here: FOAH.

How do you communicate with parents?

Across school, we use an app called Seesaw to share learning with parents. Parents can contribute from home to add observations and key learning points.

All office communications are shared through a platform called Arbor.

We hold regular parent drop-in/ celebration afternoons where parents can find out what pupils have been learning in class. There are monthly newsletters from Mrs Millward and Mrs Bailey to give parents information about the school and what we are doing. These are sent through Arbor, Seesaw and downloaded from the website.

Our website also offers opportunities to communicate with parents. We use Facebook to send out snippets of current/upcoming school information.

We have a calendar on our website that is populated with all major events from term times to day trips, parent evenings and any shows or events that pupils and /or parents are going to be involved in.

Do you have a school council?

We have a very active group of School Councillors and Eco Members who meet regularly with Mrs Heald. The school council are elected members of each class.

The School Council and Eco Members are elected annually, and all children take part in the nomination and election process.

How will my child be able to contribute their views?

We have a number of ways that children’s views can be heard and listened to.

School Council and Eco Committee Members meetings
Pupil Voice interviews
Class Council Meetings
No Outsiders Assemblies

Children are consulted about many major issues around school and play an active part in the decision-making process.

How much is after school club and how do I book it?

Asfordby Hill Primary School offer a Breakfast Club, After School Care Club. The wrap-around care information about this service can be found here.

EDUCATION

What should I do if I am worried about my child's progress?

If you have any concerns about your child’s progress, we ask that you arrange an appointment to talk to your child’s class teacher. This can be done by either ringing the school office on 01664 812244 or emailing the school office: admin@asfordbyhill.leics.sch.uk

How is my child prepared for moving on to Secondary School?

Due to Asfordby Hill Primary School's location, there is no one school our children move to when they leave us. For this reason, we have very close links with many local secondary schools, including (but not limited to) Long Field Academy, John Ferneley College, The King's School and Wreake Valley Academy.

The Year 6 teachers, SENCO and/or one of the Co-Headteachers meet with the Head of Year 7, Year 7 teachers and SENCOs and also have an opportunity to visit the school if needed.

There is a comprehensive transition programme for Year 6 children moving into Year 7, including visits to see the schools in action, meeting with their Year 7 Head of Years within Asfordby Hill and transition days/weeks organised by the individual secondary schools. For some children with additional needs, there may be opportunities for additional transition activities, such as enhanced transition sessions and meetings with new school staff with a member of Asfordby Hill staff for support. For more details about this for your child, please contact Asfordby Hill School's SENCO here. SEND Page

How can I protect my child when using new technology?

All children are educated in eSafety throughout their time in school. We share lots of online safety information.

We ask that parents are aware of online sites that their child is visiting and that they do not have access to social media accounts such as Facebook and Snapchat.