Arrival at School 

Our school day starts at 9.05am. Children should come into school via the front or back gate and assemble on the playground.  The back gate is located at the far back corner of the school and can be accessed via Green Lane (opposite Buxton Community School). The back gate is opened at 8.45am and 3.20pm, for access, and is closed at all other times, but it can always be opened from inside the grounds. We would encourage as many parents/carers as possible to use the back gate to ease congestion. Supervision is provided from 8.45am (this means that you have time to drop your child if you then have to go to the Infant School to drop a younger sibling.) Please do not arrive before 8.45am. We encourage parents to leave their child in the playground to encourage independence but of course in the early days of Year 3 you are more than welcome to come into school with your child. If at any point in your child's time at Buxton Junior School you are anxious about leaving your child, please feel free to come in to talk to their class teacher or to phone school to check your child has settled. 

Home time                                                                                                  School finishes at 3.35pm. Parents may collect their child from the playground, the front or rear gates, or children can walk home if allowed by parents. 

A member of staff is always on gate duty and will bring back to school any children that have not been collected.  We do expect that children are aware of their collection arrangements unless there is an emergency. 

Total School Hours

The total school hours during a typical week are 32.5 hours.

Travel to and from school 

Parking is very tight on Mosley Road and parents and carers are not permitted to drive onto school grounds. Please don't park on the white lines outside the school gates and turn off the engine while you wait. It would be safer for you to park further down Mosley Road, on Compton Road or on Green Lane.  Preferably, we would encourage all our children and parents to walk, cycle or scoot to school where they can. We have a bike and scooter rack in school. 

Break Times

Break time is 10.30am - 10.45am

Lunch time is 12.05pm - 1.05pm

School Meals                                                                                              Dinner menus are usually issued twice yearly by DCC.  Children may choose school lunches or to bring lunch from home and we also offer ‘flexi-dining’ where children can choose to have a school lunch on certain days only.  As well as the main choice, a vegetarian option, jacket potatoes or sandwiches are also available.   Any special dietary requirements can be catered for (a medical form will need to be completed if required).   If your child brings a packed lunch from home we ask that no nuts/nut products are included, as we have children in school with a nut allergy. The class teacher will ask children at morning registration whether they will be having a school lunch each day.

School meals for children are currently £2.30 per day / £11.50 per week.  You can also pay termly if you wish.  We recommend payment through ParentPay or alternatively by cash or cheque made payable to DCC.  Please ensure any monies are sent in an envelope marked clearly with your child’s name, class, amount enclosed and what it is for.

Snacks

Children can bring a healthy snack from home to eat at breaktime, such as fruit, cereal bar etc. Please ensure all snacks are nut free due to allergies in school which can be potentially life threatening for some of our pupils.  We do not allow sweets and chocolate in school.

Home/School Journal                                                                                Each child is supplied with a home/school journal which is used for any messages/ communication between school and home and as a reading journal.  Your child is expected to bring this to school every day and may cover their journal to make it personalised at the start of the year.

School Bags                                                                                             

All children are expected to bring a school bag every day.  Please ensure these are not too bulky as their peg will also need to hold their PE bag and coat! Pupils will be provided with a pencil case from school which will contain a pencil, handwriting pen, whiteboard pen, rubber, sharpener and a ruler.  Children are able to bring extra items in a personal pencil case if they wish.

Your Child's Health                                                                                   

If your child has any medical conditions (including asthma) we will ask you to complete a health care plan for your child. We try to avoid administering medicine in school unless absolutely necessary.  However, if your child does require medicine in school please fill in a medicine administration form available in the office.  

The majority of our staff have received First Aid training and are able to administer first aid to your child if they have an accident in school. Most incidents are minor but we will put a note in their journal or send a text if we feel you need to know what has happened, and will contact you immediately if it is more serious.

If your child is ill and you are unsure whether you should send them in, please feel free to phone for advice. Common sense is the best guide and it is important to contain the spread of infections where possible. For example, your child may need a couple of days off school if they have had sickness and / or diarrhoea.  We do however expect pupil attendance to be at least 96%, and therefore encourage children to be in to at least ‘see how they go’ unless they are really poorly.

Concerns                                                                                                 

If you have any concerns about your child’s schooling or welfare please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance. Please speak to the headteacher directly if you feel the issue is more serious or confidential. If you have a formal complaint which you feel can’t be resolved by the headteacher, please speak to our Chair of Governors, Johanna Beswick.  Information and guidelines about the complaints procedure are on the school website.

Absence                                                                                                   

We monitor pupil absence regularly and provide and analyse detailed reports on absence.  Please help us by telephoning before 9.00am on the first day of absence and again on any subsequent days of absence.  It is also important that you inform us in advance of any other appointments or meetings that will cause your child to be absent even if they are due in later that day or may need to leave early.                                         

Local authority guidance means that holidays will not be authorised during term time except for ‘exceptional circumstances’.  Unauthorised absences may result in a penalty notice being issued by the LA and a subsequent fine.

We aim for attendance of at least 96% and our Family Resource Workers will contact you if we are concerned about your child’s absence or lateness. 

Homework                                                                                               

All children have some work to complete at home during the week depending on what stage they are at in school. It may be reading, high frequency words or simple maths activities.    

PTFA                                                                         

We are lucky to have a very active PTFA who greatly support our school.  As a parent you are automatically a member of this group.  This group are school based and are very active in organising events and fundraisers for the children and families. Please try and come to any meetings; they are a very hardworking group who are always on the lookout for new ideas and another pair of hands!