About
Information for Parents
We have tried to pull together all the important information on this page to help you with the day to day life of the school. We hope you find everything you need here and around the website. Please let Mrs Carter have any ideas for how to improve the information available and if there is anything else you think is missing! Thank you.
AN A-Z OF GENERAL USEFUL INFORMATION
ACADEMY
St Thomas of Canterbury is part of the family of schools that comprise the Xavier Catholic Education Trust, an academy chain comprising 14 primary schools and 3 secondaries, including of course, St Peter’s.
We work very closely as a family of schools and feel stronger and better for being together. More information about Xavier can be found on their website: www.xaviercet.org.uk
ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY
Excellent attendance and punctuality is really important for children attending school – it has a direct impact on achievement and the child’s sense of wellbeing. It is our philosophy to ensure that all children have full and equal access to the curriculum and achieve their full potential across all areas of learning.
Parents have a vital role in ensuring that the children arrive at school promptly, to start the day at 8.50am. Children who continuously arrive late do not have the opportunity to establish good working patterns, they may miss essential information at the start of lessons and are immediately at a disadvantage. If your child arrives any time after 8:50am, please take them to the School Office where they need to be signed in.
If your child is absent through illness please let the School Office know (by phone on 01483 888388 or e-mail to info@st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk), no later than 9:00am every day that they are absent. As the school has to keep stringent records of authorised and unauthorised absences, it is essential that you let the school know the reason for your child’s absence. Sickness involving vomiting or diarrhoea requires that the child remain at home for 48 hours after the last bout.
Please contact the school Office (info@st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk) if you are not sure what to do!
We know that in certain situations medical and dental appointments need to be made in school time but we would ask that you try to make routine appointments in holiday time or after school. In the event that a child has to miss school for an appointment please inform the School Office and the class teacher prior to the appointment. Also, please try to bring them in before and return them to school after the appointment so that they miss as little school time as possible.
Requests of absence for non-medical reasons need to be put in writing and sent or e-mailed to Mrs Carter as far in advance as possible but can only be approved in exceptional circumstances. Holidays in term time cannot be approved.
Under current Government guidelines a child whose attendance is 90% or less is a “Persistent Absentee” and the Local Authority’s Inclusion Office will take action to follow up on continued absences. A child who is absent from school for a total of 19 days a year would fall within this category.
We follow up on all absences.
BUSENYA
We are proud to be partnered with the Busenya Catholic Primary School in Mukono, Uganda. St Thomas’ partnership with Busenya School started in 2007 as part of the Guildford Mukono Link set up by Councillor Tamsey Baker, amongst others, which was an organisation committed to the development of partnerships with the Mukono region of Uganda. Mukono is 100km east of Kampala.
The partnership was designed to foster links at all levels – Council to Council, School to School, Hospital to Hospital. Our partnership is very much a two-way learning experience so that children in Guildford can learn about the lives and challenges of children in Mukono and Mukono children can learn about the lives and challenges of children in the UK.
For St. Thomas’ the project is a tremendous learning experience and the children are developing their knowledge of the culture of a region that is so different from their own. The children are excellent advocates for the partnership and want to see the partnership go from strength to strength. There have been a number of reciprocal visits by staff from our two schools. The children are extremely keen that children in Busenya have the same facilities that they do and we have helped the school to construct three new classrooms and install a fresh water well. We have provided books and pencils for every child every year and helped pay for all the equipment and supplies the school needed to reopen when possible though the COVID pandemic.
The Headteacher last visited us in September 2018 and we hope to send a group of staff to Uganda as and when we can.
You can find out more here.
CLASSES
All our classes are named after saints:
EYFS: St Salvatore and St Henry
Year 1: St David and St Theodore
Year 2: St Dorothy and St Rose
Year 3: St Dominic and St Bernadette
Year 4: St Gemma and St Wilfred
Year 5: St Philippa and St Kea
Year 6: St Louise and St Mary
You can see who is who in each class here!
CLASS NOTICES
We send all important information by email using Scopay emails and our newsletter, the St Thomas Weekly News. This comes to you each Friday via email (from Mailchimp) and is then available to read at your leisure on the school website. Please do take the time to read this each week!
CLASS REPS
The Class Reps across the school are a vital part of the PTA and for Reception parents it is a fantastic way to get to know the parents of the children in your new class. It is typically a role for one year and we have two reps per class so you can help each other out.
For the Reception year it is useful if one of the Class Reps already has another child/children in the school, as they will be more familiar with what to do, however, this is not an absolute pre-requisite. There are no hard and fast rules about being a Class Rep, it is how you would like to do it. It is a fun and sociable role and a good way to get to know other parents.
The Class Rep
- Is a friendly face to new parents
- Compiles a list of parent contact details and emails it to the rest of the class.
- Acts as a communication link between the parents.
- Organises social events, for example coffee mornings, drinks at the pub, meal in a restaurant, ‘Bring a dish’ night at someone’s house or whatever activities you think people might like to do.
- Organises parental support for PTA school events, for example organising a cake sale and running a stall at the Christmas Fayre.
You can find out much more about this important role in the life of our school here.
If you are interested in becoming a class rep, please get in touch with the PTA direct (see below).
CLOTHING AND BELONGINGS
We don’t have very much “Lost” property but far too much “Left” Property! Please label all clothes and personal belongings clearly, i.e. PE kit and uniform plus water bottles and lunch boxes, pencil cases etc, as many get left behind around the school and we can easily return named ones but struggle if there is no name! Also, certainly for our youngest children, please make sure your child’s coat and school jumper has a loop that your child can use to hang it easily over the coat pegs. We only keep un-named left property for a couple of days before disposing of it!
CLUBS
We are very proud of the wide range of clubs and activities that are available to your children at lunchtime, and, more usually, after school. A full list and booking information is available from the School Office and will be sent to all parents by email before the start of each term. Bookings are all on a first come, first served basis through scopay and details are sent out in plenty of time so can you plan. Details are also available on the school website. We would encourage you to allow your children to be a part of one or more of our clubs as it is an important way of making new friends across the school and learning new skills in a happy and relaxed atmosphere. Please do, however, be prepared for disappointment if the club you are after is full – places are obviously limited.
More information about our extended school and the current range of co-curricular clubs can be found here.
Breakfast and After School Club
Wrap around care is available through our breakfast and after school club provision. Breakfast club starts from 7.30 every day and after school club runs every day from the end of school until 6pm Monday-Thursday, 5.30pm on Fridays (except on the last day of each term). Details of booking and costs are available from Mrs. Foster in the School Office – office@st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk (01483 888388)
COMING IN TO SCHOOL AT THE START OF THE DAY AND COLLECTING CHILDREN AT THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY
The gates open at 8.30 – children MUST NOT be left on site any earlier than this unless they are booked in to the Breakfast Club – and the children should go straight into class.
Registration starts at 8.50 and so all children should be in class by then. Any child arriving in school after that time must be signed in at the office and they will be taken to their class from there.
Access to classrooms
On arrival from 8.30, the children should go straight to their classrooms. There will be an adult in the room to supervise the children who should wash their hands on arrival, sort their belongings out and then there will be an independent task or challenge for the children to be getting on with – it will be fun based and very informal.
Year 5 will continue to enter the school via the Savio side door to reach their classes and Year 1 by the old main entrance doors by the Infant Hall.
Independence
Please do consider whether or not you need to enter the School site with your child or whether they can be independent enough to get to their classes without you. Certainly Year 5 and 6 children (and no doubt many in the years below that) can safely find their way in to class and save you the time and effort of walking around the site to drop them off.
Using the drop off lane
To ease congestion along Horseshoe Lane West, we operate a drop off lane in the mornings. If you wish to use this facility, you can drive into the school through the top gate (the gate nearest the Epsom Road), observing the speed limit of 5mph maximum and let your children out onto the pathway at the side. There will be staff on hand to ensure the children reach class safely.
When exiting the school by car, you should only use the bottom gate. This is an automatic gate. Please drive slowly towards it and its sensors will detect your vehicle and open.
You should always turn LEFT when exiting. Your co-operation is needed to try and alleviate the congestion on Horseshoe Lane West. It is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that our children are safe coming to, and from, school.
What if we’re late?
If you are late for school start then please bring your child to Reception and the office staff will take your child to their class – we will sign them in for you.
Pick up arrangements
EYFS finishes at 3.10pm
Years 1-6 at 3.20pm
At the end of the day, the children should be collected from the designated collection points shown on the map below. Again, if your child is older and able to walk home on their own or walk to an agreed meeting point off site that means that you do not have to come on to the school site then please do make that arrangement. If you do make such an arrangement please ensure that written permission for your child to leave the school unaccompanied is given to your child’s class teacher.
What if I have children in different year groups?
We suggest you collect your youngest child first.
If you are going to be late for any reason, please notify the School Office by 3:00pm. Your child will then be taken to the office at 3:20pm. (Please ring on 01483 888388)
If your child is being collected by someone other than yourself you must inform the School Office with the name of the person collecting them. Otherwise, the teacher will not release your child to that person.
CURRICULUM
We are always looking to improve the learning opportunities that we can offer to our children. Our curriculum is intended to be engaging, varied, fun and as hands-on as possible! Full details of the curriculum can be seen on the website. Each term you are sent Curriculum information booklets which explain the topics and how they are connected across the various subject areas for the coming term. Each week the website is updated with “Learning at a glance” for each year group so you can keep in touch with what your child will be learning that week.
What your child is learning this term
What your child is learning this week
Each subject focus is taught as a Learning Journey and culminates in a S=P+A+C+E day at the end of each term – a day of challenge and celebration based around the topic. Our curriculum covers the content requirements of the National Curriculum with additional opportunities for cooking and gardening, music and many other areas besides. French is taught from Year 1 onwards.
CYCLING and SCOOTING
Our cycle and scooter racks are open for those of you wishing to cycle or scoot to school – we suggest accompanying your child(ren) until they have had recognised training. Please remember to ensure your child(ren) wear a helmet and ensure the bike has a padlock and key!
Cycling proficiency classes (Bikeability) in school are offered in years 5 and 6.
REMEMBER – no cycling or scooting on the school grounds, please dismount at the gate.
DINNER MONEY
Meals are currently free for all EYFS Reception class children and KS1 children. Other children may be entitled to free school meals – to help us help you, please ensure you complete the Pupil Premium form supplied to you on joining the school and return to the School Office as soon as possible.
The School is very fortunate to have the convenience of school lunches prepared and cooked on the premises. There is always a choice and the cooks follow the Healthy School Guidelines. The catering service is owned and run by Surrey County Council. You can see menus and dietary information on their website: https://itstwelve15.co.uk/
For KS2 pupils, dinner money is paid on a half termly basis in advance. Payments can be made online via your Scopay account. School meals are currently £2.80 per day, £14 per week.
If you believe that your child would qualify for the Pupil Premium (‘free’ school meals), please contact Mrs Simpson in the School Office and she will be able to confirm your eligibility very quickly and in confidence.
Please give us two weeks’ notice if your child wishes to change from hot dinners to packed lunches, or vice-versa, because the kitchen always has to order the food supplies in advance. You can find the request forms at the School Office.
EDUCATIONAL VISITS
We look to provide as extensive a range of learning opportunities for our children as we can. This includes offering a range of Educational visits each year and residential trips in Years 4, 5 and 6. The trips and visitors are organised through every year group with our EYFS children walking to the Post Office and having various visitors including a Police Officer, Doctor, the Fire Engine, Palaeontologists and the Minibeast Man!
A charge is made for School trips and, whilst your contribution is voluntary, without sufficient money these opportunities may be affected, resulting in cancelled trips or lessons. The teachers visit the venue prior to the trip day, to undertake a risk assessment. All payments are made through Scopay and we pull all the costs together for each term to allow you certainty over the costs and also the opportunity to pay by instalments if that helps.
EMERGENCY TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS
It is essential for the School Office to have one or more emergency numbers where you can be contacted, should the need arise. Please ensure you update the school of any changes.
GOLDEN RULE and THE GOLDEN THREADS
We only have one rule in school which is that we treat others as we would like to be treated.
To help our children understand better what it means to treat others as we would like to be treated and what that looks like we have developed our Golden threads. All of these require the same S=P+A+C+E skills to develop and nurture and to become embedded and so we need to ensure that we teach them through worship and in class:
These concepts are explored each week in worship and are reinforced at every opportunity by all staff. All staff award these Golden threads (as HousePoints) whenever they witness a child showing any of the 10 attributes during the school day – especially at play and lunch, the awards are collected centrally and the whole school will celebrate our success collectively.
The Golden Threads encourage the children to have a sense of identity: to work and play safely and to behave in a courteous, responsible and friendly manner. The children are very aware of what they are through positive reinforcement across the school.
GOVERNORS’ FUND
The Governors Fund is a fund created by entirely voluntary contributions from parents. Prior to St Thomas’ becoming an Academy in 2019, the Governors’ Fund was required to cover the 10% shortfall in state funding for capital projects which was imposed by the Government because we were a Catholic school. As an academy that funding “penalty” no longer applies but, in common with all schools our budgets remain excessively tight each year which makes our drive for constant school improvement more of a struggle.
We continue to ask parents to contribute to the Governors Fund with a suggested (but in no way binding) contribution of £54 per year per child – the equivalent of £4.50 a month. If you can afford to give more that would be fantastic but, equally, if you can’t afford to give that much then any donation would be very gratefully received and every penny counts. The request to donate sits on Scopay and annoyingly doesn’t disappear unless you pay the full suggested amount (or more) but obviously you can ignore it!
Please do contribute to the Governors Fund if you can. We don’t look to save and accumulate large balances for a distant future but, rather, we spend the money raised by today’s parents for today’s children. Today we use the Fund to help cover capital costs for maintenance and improvement works to the school and any curriculum costs not otherwise met in our ongoing budget.
What have we used the Governors’ Fund for recently?
The Fund has been used alongside grant monies, funding from Xavier and from the PTA in the following ways since 2016:
- Building the new Year 5 classrooms and library.
- Replacing the heating system – boilers and pipework in the older part of the school.
- Improved security fencing to help keep the children safe.
- Renovating all the children’s toilets and washrooms in the school.
- Updating the fire detection and alarm systems.
- Renovating the Early Years and Key Stage 1 areas of the school – the oldest parts of our building.
- Putting up the two large canopies that we have to enable more outdoor learning opportunities whatever the weather!
- Renovating the Early Years and Year 1 outdoor learning areas.
- Establishing Forest School.
- Installing the all new physical training equipment and area at the top of the school field.
HOME SCHOOL LINK WORKER
Our Home School Link worker works with our families when the need arises. At any point if you feel you would benefit from their help, please contact the HSLW direct or Mrs Carter in total confidence. More information on what our HSLW could do to help you can be found here www.st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk/learning/home-school-link-worker/
The website also has lots of useful links and information on how we can all look after our mental Health and wellbeing and our Home School Link Worker is also our Mental Health Lead.
INSET DAYS
These are in-service teacher training days for staff and the children do not come to school on these days. The dates are shown on the term dates information and are on the Annual Calendar for parents and in the newsletters.
JEWELLERY
Jewellery must not be worn in school, with the exception of small ear studs, sensible watch and a crucifix worn inside shirt. Items are worn at your responsibility and must be removed for PE/Swimming lessons.
If children wish to have their ears pierced, this should be done at the beginning of the Summer Holidays please, to allow time to heal and for the child to have the confidence to remove their ear studs when necessary.
KEEPING IN TOUCH
There will be circumstances when you may need to let the School know of changes in family circumstances, or concerns regarding your child’s time at school. Please feel free to make an appointment to see the Class Teacher in the first instance to discuss any of these matters. This can be organised directly with the class teacher on the playground after school or via email – all of the teachers emails can be found on the year group pages of the school website. If you need to take the matter further you can always make an appointment via the School Office to meet with Mrs Carter or email her direct using mrscarter@st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk
KEY STAGES
The School is made up of the Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception or EYFS), Key Stage 1 (KS1) and Key Stage 2 (KS2). KS1 covers Year 1 and Year 2; KS2 covers years 3 to 6.
KS2 is often split into Phases – Years 3 and 4 as Lower KS2 and Years 5 and 6 as Upper KS2.
LAST DAY OF TERM
Our curriculum continues to be delivered each and every day right up until the last day of term. There is always a whole school celebration on the last day (it may be Mass) and the day finishes after lunch at 2pm. (EYFS leave at 1:50pm) There is no after school club provision on the last day of term.
LEFT PROPERTY
Please see Clothes and Belongings above.
MEDICINES
We are bound by Health and Safety Regulations to limit the number of medicines kept on site. Whilst we recognise the need to hold medicines for life threatening illnesses, such as anaphylactic shock etc., the school cannot be responsible for administering any un-prescribed medicine (like Nurofen or cough medicine), apart from Paracetamol (Calpol). If your child requires medication during the school day please fill in the relevant form and speak to Mrs Farage or Mrs Read in the School Office.
For children with a medical condition requiring on-going medication, arrangements will be made for these to be given in school upon completion of a Healthcare Plan, a copy of which is issued to all new starters. Please complete and return to the School Office if appropriate.
MUSIC AND INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS
Music is central to school life at St Thomas’. Children have weekly Music lessons and over the course of their journey through the school they have the opportunity to learn a range of instruments. This year, year 5 is learning to play toots (a precursor to learning to play a flute) and Year 6 the violin. We have a school choir and a Concert Band and there are regular opportunities for children to perform.
Surrey Arts provide peripatetic Music Lessons in most instruments including piano, violin, singing and cello, which can be booked directly (http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/recreation-heritage-and-culture/surrey-arts/music). It is advisable to book early as there are often waiting lists.
NEWSLETTERS
We use our weekly newsletter to keep parents informed about what is going on in school. Please make sure you read these as they always contain important information.
NON UNIFORM DAYS
At various times in the year we have non uniform days when the children can come to school in their own clothes or themed costume. These are usually to celebrate a special national event, part of a curriculum theme or as part of a whole school fundraising effort.
NUT AND OTHER ALLERGIES
Please note that our school is a Nut Free school, which means no nuts are allowed. Please also remember this on the cake sale days (see the PTA section below), as there are children and staff who have a nut allergy in the school and are in danger of going into anaphylactic shock after being in the presence of these foods.
ONLINE SAFETY
We take online safety very seriously and all the children have lessons in this important area of personal safety every half term. We also run parent workshops and expect all new parents to attend these sessions. We have an authorised use policy which has to be signed by all adults working or volunteering in the school and all visitors are also required to follow its terms.
OPEN AFTERNOONS
Open afternoons are usually held on a Friday each half term, and the Annual Calendar and newsletter will confirm the dates. From 3.20-3.45pm, your child’s class will be open for you to view their work with them. This is not a formal event, simply a chance to see your child’s work, with your child, if you can. The children love to be able to show you what they have been doing; and it provides a great chance for you to come into the classroom and look around. You can also take the opportunity to visit The Canvas, our school Art Gallery.
At the end of the year we hold a Celebration Evening when you have the chance to walk through the school to see each class room and samples of our learning from across the year.
OUTSIDE LEARNING
The Outside Classroom for our EYFS children is an integral part of every day school life. It is the area directly outside the Reception and Year 1 classrooms. It is used as a classroom area to support and extend the curriculum. The Reception classes will use the area at playtimes and lunch-time activities when they first start school. It gives them a chance to ‘bond’ and get used to school playtimes until they are ready to move into the large play areas.
The resources that are left outside are for learning and we would ask that you do not allow your children to use them for playing, before or after school.
Similarly both Year 1 classes have their own outdoor learning areas.
As a school we seek to learn outside as much as we can and have dedicated teaching areas around the grounds.
PARENT PRAYER GROUP
The parents’ Prayer Group meets once a month (normally the first Friday) and all parents/carers are always welcome. We meet to pray for the whole school community, remembering any events and trips, and Prayer requests from the children’s classrooms.
PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS
In the Autumn and Spring terms you are invited to meet your child’s teacher to discuss your child’s progress and learning. This is also a chance to view your child’s work. All the classrooms are open and your child’s work will be left out for you to look through before or after speaking to the teacher.
Apart from the children in Year 6 who are invited to attend the meetings with their parents, this is an evening for parents only.
We also offer remote online consultations.
PARKING
Unfortunately, there are no facilities for parents to park on the school site, unless you are a disabled-blue badgeholder.
When parking in the surrounding area, especially Horseshoe Lane West and Greencroft, please remember:
- Keep the yellow zig-zag lines clear at all times
- Do not park on the yellow lines or in the restricted areas
- Do not cause an obstruction or double park
- ALWAYS park with consideration for our neighbours
Some of the above are enforceable traffic offences and you may be fined or gain points on your licence!
REMEMBER – DRIVE and PARK SAFELY – with the safety of ALL children in mind.
PRIDE
We take great pride in our School, in our uniform and in our appearance – it says a lot about our attitude to learning and to school life – look smart, feel smart. Accordingly we have some ground rules which we ask everyone to respect:
- If a child’s hair is long enough to be tied back, it MUST be tied back using sensible hair accessories in navy blue or white can be worn – NO decorative clips or hairbands please.
- No highlights or coloured hair please and no hair gel. Any ‘holiday’ hair, i.e., braids, or henna tattoos should be removed for the start of the new term.
- Children should not wear nail varnish in school and the only jewellery permitted is small ear studs. Children can wear sensible watches and a crucifix or cross is fine (but worn inside the shirt). Please note that all these items are worn at owner’s risk and must be removed for PE/Swimming lessons. If children do have their ears pierced, this should be done at the beginning of the Summer Holidays, to allow time to heal and for the child to have the confidence to remove their ear studs when necessary.
PTA
As a parent of St Thomas of Canterbury School, you are automatically a member of the PTA. As a member of the PTA, you do not need to make any commitments; all we ask is that you support the events that the School runs by taking part and having fun! Our PTA is AMAZING!
St Thomas of Canterbury has a friendly, active PTA group who organise events throughout the school year. Our primary aim is to raise money for school projects, equipment and for the school’s nominated charity project, a partnership with Busenya School in Uganda. Typically the PTA raise between £20,000 to £25,000 a year, all of which is invested back into the school. This money is raised through events ranging from cake sales and children’s discos to a summer ball, adult social events and the Christmas Fayre and also schemes such as Shop with the School and Easy Fundraising. However we are not solely about fundraising. We hold a number of events for parents, children and families which are more focused on inclusivity and contributing to memorable childhood experiences for our children. The Christmas shopping day and Easter Egg hunt always prove very popular.
The PTA committee comprises of a small number of volunteer parents who are then strongly supported by a much wider network of active parents and teachers from throughout the school. Each year, we have a variety of volunteer parents/groups of friends who decide to get together to organise a particular event such as a summer ball or the Summer Fayre. We aim to limit the holding of certain committee posts to two years. This helps to keep our PTA vibrant with new ideas and means parental involvement is shared among a wider network of parents.
All of our parents are members of the PTA but we need your active support!
Catch up with the latest PTA news in the weekly newsletter and here.
READING PROMISE
Daily reading is such an important part of learning right through primary school. At St Thomas we ask for your support with this and all parents and children are asked to sign a reading promise which highlights the importance of reading.
SCHOOL OFFICE
The School Office is open from 8.30am to 4.00 pm for information and support.
Letters, consent forms etc should be put into an envelope, and clearly marked with the child’s name, amount and description of the contents, and handed to your child’s class teacher. Please encourage your child to remember to hand these in. It is an exercise in responsibility. Alternatively, hand them straight into the School Office.
SCOPAY
To pay for dinner money, trips, extended school, Governors’ Fund etc we use Scopay. To access Scopay – the week after your child starts school, you will be given a secure online account, activated using a unique activation username and password; you will be prompted to change these and to keep them safe and secure as your Username and Password for future logins. You can then make payments for school items using your debit or credit card, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – safe in the knowledge that the technology used is of the highest internet security available.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (SLT)
The School is lead by a Senior Leadership Team (SLT) comprising the following staff members:
Kate Carter Headteacher
Amy Grove Assistant Headteacher, Teaching and Learning Leader
Esther Sharpe Assistant Headteacher, DSL, Data and Assessment Leader
Mark Jones Assistant Headteacher, Behaviour, Extended Schools and Educational Visits Leader
Caroline McNiff Inclusion Leader and SENDCo
Nikki Davis RE Leader
Sam Sumsion EYFS Leader
S=P+A+C+E
Making S=P+A+C+E at St. Thomas
Our focus is on bringing out the best in everyone. To do that, we look to the children’s emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing and the major impact that that has on every aspect of life including of course, our learning! This is all part of our promise to make S=P+A+C+E, where
Success comes from
Perseverance,
a positive can-do Attitude,
Confidence in ourselves and, of course,
Effort.
At St Thomas, we look to:
Make S=P+A+C+E for learning…
… applying these habits of mind to everything we do in class and beyond – not giving up when we find something tricky, learning from our mistakes, keeping positive with a growth mindset, being confident that we can do it and putting in the effort.
Make S=P+A+C+E for ME…
… as a school we are very much focused on the mental health and wellbeing of everyone in the school family. We have developed our own programme centred around five key elements of Resilience that make up our S=P+A+C+E for ME initiative: Belonging, Responsibility, Learning, Communication and Coping. You can read more about this on the Looking after our Mental Health and Wellbeing page of the website and view the material from our various Parent workshops around this tremendously important area of our children’s lives.
Make S=P+A+C+E for EVERYONE …
… being absolutely inclusive, respectful of everyone’s unique self and celebrating what makes us special in the eyes of God.
S=P+A+C+E for ME TIME
On a given day each week whilst in Early Years (and often in KS1 classes too), your child will have a chance to bring in an interesting item or toy to show to the class and to talk about it. It is preferably something that relates to the children’s topic and that the other children can learn about, it could be anything. This is very popular with the children, as they love to bring in something from home. It is to encourage children to speak clearly and to listen to others – part of the “Speaking and Listening” criteria for Early Years.
SNACKS
Don’t forget to bring a small piece of fruit (no nuts) in to school each day. In EYFS these are put together in the snack bar to which the children have access at certain points during the day. All children also need a water bottle full of water (only please). The children will be shown where to put their snack/drink and their lunch boxes in the classroom and should be encouraged to do this independently as soon as possible! Additional fruit/vegetables are provided for free for snacks for Early Years and KS1.
SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS
We are focused on providing the best for every child in our school and look to provide a fully inclusive curriculum for every child whatever their special educational needs or disability. Our Inclusion team is led by our SENDCo, Caroline McNiff.
There is lots more information about the team and its work here.
SUNCREAM AND SUNHATS
Please make sure your child is wearing suncream and a sunhat on sunny summer days.
UNIFORM
We are proud of our uniform and believe that it has a good influence both in and out of school. It fosters a good collective and community spirit and a sense of responsibility. All children attending the school must wear the correct school uniform. Please encourage your child to wear their uniform with pride. Every item of uniform should be clearly marked with the child’s name.
We have worked hard to keep the cost of our uniform as low as possible with almost every item being available form any high street clothing store or supermarket. The Uniform policy can be found here.
The PTA second hand uniform shed is available to buy second hand items of uniform. It is always worth checking before buying new.
VOLUNTEER HELPERS
The school enjoys a great wealth of support from parents and grandparents in the classroom, helping with hearing the children read or with activity mornings – we benefit greatly from this generous support. Please think about whether this is something that you would like to do, even one hour a week is a great help to the teachers and to your children.
Please note, however, you cannot help at the school or on school trips until:
- You have an Enhanced Disclosure from the DBS (Disclosure Barring Service). Ask at the School Office for the DBS information.
AND
- You have completed safeguarding training and what to do in an emergency as well as our expectations of each other. You will then be asked to sign our Partnership Code before starting to help in class.
WATER BOTTLES
We encourage all the children to have water bottles and to use them regularly through the day to ensure they keep themselves hydrated. Drinking water is available from the various drinking fountains around the School. Children are encouraged to re-fill their bottles at the fountain, once they are empty. PLEASE ENSURE WATER BOTTLES ARE NAMED
WEEKLY NEWS
Our weekly newsletter which comes out each week on a Friday with news about the week that has passed and dates and information for the week ahead – required reading!
WORSHIP
There is an act of worship every day in school.
Monday it is the whole school together following the weekend Gospel and making links with our daily lives.
Tuesday there is class based worship lead by the class teachers and the children themselves or a Phase has a separate Phase Worship picking on a theme related to current events or school life and linking it to our faith.
Wednesday there is class based worship lead by the class teachers and the children themselves or a Phase has a separate Phase Worship picking on a theme related to current events or school life and linking it to our faith.
Thursday there is Praise worship through singing with the sharing of hymns and songs in Phase celebrations.
Friday there are separate Phase Celebration worships focussed on recognising special awards made each week to children from across every class – they appear in the Roll of Honour in our Weekly News.
At the start and end of each term and on other special occasions there are whole school Masses celebrated in the school by the Parish Priest.
YOUNG CARERS
We run our very one Young Carers group, STOC and Chill, and have been awarded Surrey’s Young Carer’s Angel Award for our work in this area. If you feel that your child has additional responsibilities as a young carer in your family please contact our Home School Link Worker.
AND FINALLY…
Who to ask?
We really do want everything to be the very best that it can be for your children. Inevitably there will be times when we won’t get it right or haven’t told you everything you needed to know. In that event please don’t be afraid to ask
- If it is a safeguarding matter, please raise it immediately with either Mrs Sharpe (our Designated Safeguarding Lead) or one of the Deputy DSLs, Mrs Carter, Mr Jones, Mrs Scott or Mrs Simpson
- If it relates to your child’s progress, behaviour of friendships, speak with their class teacher
- If it is an SEN matter, speak to Caroline McNiff, our SEN coordinator and Inclusion Leader
- If it is about clubs or trips please speak to the Office or Mr Jones who is the senior leader with responsibility for both
- If it is about admissions to the school, speak to Mrs Tahouri
- If it is an administrative question, ask at the Office
- You can always speak to Mrs Carter about anything!
If you have any ideas for additional information that we should have included in this Guide, please email Mrs Carter on mrscarter@st-thomas.surrey.sch.uk. Thank you!
Making S=P+A+C+E for learning