SCHOOL INFORMATION 2020-2021 - Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School

Bispham Endowed Church of England Primary School
                               Headteacher: Mrs J Hirst

                    Bispham Road, Bispham, Blackpool, FY2 0HH
          Telephone Number: 01253 354672      Fax Number: 01253 596732
                  Email: admin@bispham-endowed.blackpool.sch.uk
                    School Website: www.bisphamendowed.co.uk

               SCHOOL INFORMATION 2020-2021
School Information
We have gathered together a wide range of useful information from our school prospectus
and from school newsletters to compile this information booklet. Please keep it handy and use
it as a reference and guide to our school routines and procedures throughout the school year.

Bulletin
This is our weekly newsletter which is published on the ‘Home Page’ and in the ‘Latest News’
section of our school website (www.bisphamendowed.co.uk) usually on a Friday. A text
message is sent to all parents and carers containing the link to the newsletter. The Bulletin
aims to keep you up to date with school events and news and other important matters.

School Website
Our school website is easily accessible via the internet at: www.bisphamendowed.co.uk
The website is designed to keep parents and carers and the wider community up to date and
informed about Nursery/school news, events and celebrations. Our blogs, the weekly Bulletin
and other letters that are sent home can be found on the ‘Latest News’ page.

School Twitter and Facebook Account
Our school Twitter account is @BisphamEndowed. Our Facebook account is Bispham Endowed
Church of England Primary School. As a school we reserve the right to remove posts which
are deemed to be inappropriate, disrespectful or unhelpful. School also reserves the right to
block individuals who are posting inappropriately on our account. Please do not use our
Twitter or Facebook account to ask a question or raise a concern or log a complaint about any
matter to do with school – to do this please contact your child’s class teacher or a member of
the Senior Leadership Team or the School Office.

School Staff and School Governors
A full and up to date list of all the staff who work in school and all the members of our
School Governing Board is on our school website. Parents and carers are also informed of
staff changes during the school year, either by letter or via the Bulletin.

Home-School Partnership

We really value the very positive partnership we have with our parents, carers and families.
Any ideas or suggestions you may have are always welcome. We are happy to keep in touch
with you via personal contact, telephone calls or email via our school website.

Worries or Concerns
If you or your child has a worry or concern about anything in Nursery please do let us know.
A good person to talk to first is your child’s teacher as they know most about your child and
their routines and activities. You are also welcome to speak to Mrs Warburton, our
Headteacher or Miss Haslam, our Deputy Headteacher or Mrs Bell our Assistant
Headteacher about any matter to do with your child and school.
.

Emergency Contact Details
Please could you let us know immediately of any changes to your child’s emergency contact
details – particularly mobile telephone numbers. It is vital that we can contact someone easily
at any time of the school day.

Change of Address
If you move house or change telephone numbers during the year, please complete a ‘Change
of Information’ form which is available from the School Office.

Paying Money to School
To help the School Office Team please could we ask you to:
 Put dinner money, visit money etc. in separate envelopes clearly marked with your child’s
    name, their class, the item e.g. dinner money and the amount enclosed.
 If possible, please send the correct amount of money.
 Please do not send loose money into school with your child; sometimes it gets dropped or
    lost and this is very upsetting for the child concerned.

School Meals
Dinner money day is MONDAY and the cost for meals is £11:00 per week. (£2:20 a day) for
junior aged children (Year 3 to Year 6). This must be paid in advance. If there is dinner
money owing for more than one week, then we will ask you to provide a packed lunch for your
child until the ‘debt’ is cleared. Due to a government subsidy, children in Reception and Years
1 and 2 do not pay for school meals. [Information correct at time of going to press.] Cheques
should be made payable to Blackpool Borough Council. Dinner money can be paid in advance for
the whole half term or even a term. If you do choose to pay in this way and your child is
absent from school, you are ‘credited’ with any meals not eaten. The Local Authority have
asked us to remind parents and carers that if your child is entitled to a grant for school
meals and you have not already applied for this, please could you collect the forms from the
School Office and complete them as soon as possible. Families who completed the forms in
the last school year need not reapply this year.

Changes to Meal Arrangements
If your child wishes to change from school meals to packed lunches (or vice versa) then we do
need one week’s notice in writing. Please see Miss James in the School Office if you do wish

to arrange to change your child’s meal arrangements. If your child forgets their packed lunch
then we will try our best to contact you; if we are unable to contact you then we will provide
a lunch from the School Kitchen instead and ask you to send in the cost of the meal the
following day.

Packed Lunches
Packed lunches must be put in a proper plastic or material lunch bag/box and not a plastic
carrier bag as these are easily squashed on the packed lunch storage trolleys. All packed
lunch boxes should be clearly marked on the outside with their owner’s name and class.
Drinks should be in a carton or small, screw top, unbreakable container (no cans or glass
bottles) and should not be fizzy pop or fizzy water. If your child has a yoghurt or dessert in
their packed lunch, please include a spoon to eat it with. We promote healthy eating in school
and would be grateful if you would encourage your child to have a healthy packed lunch too!
Please avoid sending sweets or chocolate bars. As we have children in school who have severe
nut allergies, please do not send any items of food in your child’s packed lunch that contain
either nuts or peanuts e.g. peanut butter or Snickers bars.

Healthy Eating and Drinking
As a school we encourage and promote healthy eating and drinking. Blackpool Council
currently provides all children in school with a ‘bakery item’, a piece of fresh fruit and a
carton of milk for their breakfast/mid-morning snack. Nursery and Infant children are also
provided with a piece of fresh fruit through the Government’s National Fruit and Vegetable
Scheme. All children are also encouraged to bring a named plastic bottle or drink container
of still, unflavoured water to drink. We would recommend the ‘sports type’ bottles with non-
spill tops as being the most suitable for the children to use as water bottles. Our own
‘Bispham Endowed water bottles’ are available from the School Office, price £1 each. Please
talk to your child about the importance of taking their bottle or container home to be
cleaned each day as we do not have facilities in school for washing out bottles.
All children have a drink with their lunch, either brought from home as part of their packed
lunch or provided as part of their school meal. At all other times of the day both Infant and
Junior children have access to fresh water through our very efficient school water fountain
system. Please do not send any other food, snacks or drinks into school with your child.

School Times and Supervision
(Due to Covid-19 there are currently staggered start times and finish times please speak to
your child’s class teacher or telephone the office staff about this)
The school day officially begins at 8:55 a.m. but we ask the children to be in the playground
by 8:45 a.m. ready to come into school, so that we have a smooth start to the morning. We
are required to ‘take over’ supervision of the children ten minutes before the school day
begins and so teacher supervision time is from 8:45 a.m. Children who are on the school
premises before 8:45 a.m. are therefore unsupervised and are the responsibility of their
parents or carers and not the school at such time. Children who are not in their classroom,
ready to start work, by 8:55 a.m. are regarded as being late for school. Please could you also
make sure that your child is collected on time when the school day ends at 3:15 p.m. as
children, particularly younger ones, do get very upset if all their friends have gone and they
are ‘left behind’.
School Entrance and Exit Doors

The external doors around the building are for use by the children ONLY. Parents and
carers who wish to speak to their child’s class teacher MUST report to the School Office
first and should not at any time enter school and go straight to a classroom. This is for the
safety and security of all children and staff which, as you will appreciate, is of great
importance to us.

School Security
For the safety and security of the whole school community, the whole school site is sealed
off with locked gates from just after 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Access to school between these
times is through the main school entrance door only.

Visitors to School
All visitors to school should use the main entrance and not the doors by which the children
enter and leave school. Please report to the School Office on arrival.

Collecting Children from School
Please inform us (preferably in a letter to your child’s class teacher) if your child is going to
be met from school by a person who does not usually collect them. This mainly applies to
infant children who are collected directly from their class teacher. If you have a child in the
juniors please could you remind them that if for some reason there is no one at school to
collect them at the end of the day, they should go back into school and report to the School
Office. They should not go home by themselves or go home with another child and their
family until their own family has been contacted.

Appointments in School Time
If an appointment in school time for the doctor, dentist etc. is unavoidable, please send a
written note to your child’s class teacher on or before the day of the appointment,
confirming the time at which your child will be collected and who they will be collected by.
Children must be collected for appointments by an adult; they cannot leave school by
themselves.

Absence from School
Please telephone school (01253 354672) on the morning of the first day of your child’s
absence – between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. if possible. This will allow the class teacher to be
informed and an accurate register entry made. On the day your child returns to school,
please send a letter to your child’s class teacher explaining the reason for their absence.
Absences which are not explained cannot be ‘authorised’ by school and therefore have to be
legally recorded in the register as ‘unauthorised’ i.e. the child is ‘truanting’ – which is not
normally the case!! We do operate a system of ‘first day absence calls’ for all our children; if
your child is not in school and we have not been informed about why they are absent, then
the School Office will contact you.

Holidays in School Time

Parents and carers are respectfully reminded that holidays in school time seriously disrupt
their child’s learning and progress. As of 1st September 2013 schools are no longer able to
authorise holidays in school time. In order to meet our safeguarding responsibilities, we
would ask that parents and carers who do choose to take a holiday in school time still
complete a ‘holiday form’, which can be obtained from the School Office, informing us of the
dates on which their child will not be attending school; a copy of the form will then be
returned to you. Please note that as of September 2015 our Governing Body has agreed that
penalty notices for non-attendance due to unauthorised leave i.e. holidays in school time may
be issued by the Local Authority.

Assessment in School
Year 1 children take part in the National Phonics Screening Check in June each year. Year 2
children usually have End of Key Stage 1 Assessments from April to the end of May each
year. Year 6 children are usually preparing from the spring term onwards for Key Stage 2
SATs which usually take place in the month of May. Children in Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 are
also involved in a number of important assessments during the whole of May. It is vital that
holidays in school time are avoided during these important times in your child’s education.

School Uniform
All children should wear our full correct school uniform. School shoes should be sensible, low
heeled and black. Socks should be either grey or white ankle or knee length socks and not
‘trainer’ socks or ‘sports’ socks. Short or long length boots, trainers and pumps are not part
of our uniform and, together with nail varnish, false nails, tattoos and make up should not be
worn in school. Please could you ensure that any items of clothing which your child is likely to
remove or put on during the school day are clearly named.

PE Kit
(Due to Covid-19 restrictions children currently come to school in their PE kit on PE days.)
All children should have their PE kit in school every day. Please send P.E. kit in a clearly
named drawstring bag and not a large sports bag or plastic carrier bag. P.E. kit should be
taken home at the end of each half term for washing.

Jewellery
Children may only wear plain, stud earrings in school and these must be removed for PE and
games for health and safety reasons. It is not acceptable for earrings to be left in and
covered with plasters. As the staff are not able to remove children’s ear-rings, please could
we ask that you make sure that your child’s ear-rings are taken out at home on PE (including
dance), games and swimming days and on any days that your child is taking part in an
extra-curricular club which is for PE or sport. We would advise that your child does not take
out their ear-rings themselves whilst they are in school; if they do so they are responsible
for these items themselves as staff are not able to look after ear-rings. Analogue (not
digital or fitness tracking) wristwatches may also be worn, but a permission form, available
from the School Office, should be completed first as school cannot take responsibility for
watches that are lost. No other forms of jewellery such as bracelets, charity wrist bands
and necklaces may be worn, unless for medical or religious reasons, and then only after
discussion with the Headteacher.
School Bags

Our school cloakrooms have limited storage space and we ask the children not to bring a large
bag or rucksack to school. School reading bags which are ideal for homework, letters and a
reading book can be bought from the School Office at a reasonable price.

Lost Property
Items of un-named clothing and other belongings found in school are placed in the lost
property bins in the infant, lower junior and upper junior areas of the school of the school.

Personal Belongings
Children are asked not to bring magazines, personal pencil cases or toys of any kind (including
stickers and cards) into school as items can get lost, swapped or go missing. Valuables such as
money, cameras, electronic games, portable music systems (such as I-Pods and MP3 players),
I-Pads, mobile phones and fitness trackers such as ‘fit bits’ should also not be brought into
school. We cannot accept responsibility for any such items which the children do bring into
school.

Hair
Children with long hair should have it tied back and fastened with small, discrete hair
accessories, preferably in school colours. Scarves or wide head bands should not be worn to
cover hair unless agreed with the Headteacher for a medical reason.

Headlice
Please check your child’s hair to keep this highly contagious condition at bay. The School
Nursing Team do stress how important it is that ALL parents and carers check their child’s
hair regularly as the Health Authority no longer has a system for children’s hair to be
checked in school by the School Nurse as it did in the past. The School Nursing Team can be
contacted on 01253 951740 for advice, support and further information.

Medicines in School
Please do not send any form of medication including prescribed or over the counter
medicines, treatments, creams, lotions, cough or throat sweets, lip balms etc. into school with
your child as we are not able to administer medication or supervise your child self
administering any medication during the school day. Parents and carers are welcome to come
into school during the day to give medicine or treatment to their child. Specific
arrangements can be made for children who have long term medical conditions [such as
epilepsy, diabetes, eczema or a severe allergy which requires ongoing, daily treatment] to
have and use medication in school.

Asthma Inhalers
If your child needs to have an asthma inhaler in school please check that it is in good working
order, is clearly named with your child’s name and send written information to your child’s
class teacher as to how and when the inhaler should be used.

School Grounds

We are very lucky to have large, well kept grounds around our school. The children are
encouraged to always walk on the paths and go up and down the steps and not over the grass
and it would be much appreciated if adults would reinforce this and lead by example. Children
and adults should also always enter the school grounds though the pedestrian gates and not
through the main vehicle gates. The field, the Trim Trails, the outdoor play equipment and
the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) should not be used by our children, or younger or older
brothers and sisters, either before or after school.

Dogs on the School Premises
Dogs, except guide dogs and other support dogs, should not be brought into any area of the
school grounds, even if carried by an adult.

School Car Park
The car park should only be used by staff, visitors and drivers with a current disabled
driver’s permit. Parents and carers are able to park on the land (which belongs to Blackpool
Council) between school and the community centre.

Car Parking Outside School
The area immediately outside school is a ‘no parking or stopping’ zone from Monday to Friday
between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Cars should not stop to drop off or collect passengers on the
zig-zag markings between these times. Any complaints about parking outside school should be
referred directly to the police.

Smoke Free Premises
We are a ‘smoke free site’. This applies to all areas of the school building and grounds,
including the school car park, before, during and after the school day and also at out of
school events.

Discipline and Behaviour
We have high standards and high expectations for the children’s behaviour in school.
Sometimes problems do occur and then we involve parents and carers at an early stage. We
hope that parents and carers will let us know of anything at home which may be affecting
their child’s behaviour. The children are encouraged with rewards which include verbal
praise, table points, stickers and smiley faces, letters or texts home, badges, certificates
and many more. When necessary, consequence/sanctions are applied including removal of
privileges, losing playtimes, doing extra work or writing a letter of apology. Children in the
juniors whose unacceptable behaviour has upset other members of the school community may
be asked to undertake ‘Community Pay Back’ where they spend their playtimes or lunchtimes
doing tasks which help our school.

School Policies
As a school we have a large number of school policies which help us make sure that the school
meets all its statutory requirements. These include, amongst many others, policies for
Special Educational Needs, Inclusion, Disability, Equal Opportunities, Race and Equality,
Equity and Diversity, Child Protection, Zero Tolerance, Sex and Relationships Education,
Drugs and Drug Related Incidents, Anti-Bullying, Discipline and Behaviour. Copies of all our

policies are available to parents and carers on request and many can also be found on the
school website.

Bispham Endowed Care Club (BECCs)
BECC’s provides before and after school care for our children. Arrangements for places are
coordinated by Mrs Jayne Wilson, the Club Supervisor. The BECC’s Team can be contacted on
their own telephone number – 07852 108341. An answer phone is available for messages if
no-one answers the telephone directly.

Working with other Professionals
In all areas of the country, schools and other agencies are encouraged to work together for
the benefit of children and their families. As a school we do try to work very closely with
professionals in other agencies such as the Health Service and Social Care (formerly Social
Services). However, there are a great many children in Blackpool and sometimes we do not
always receive information from other agencies very quickly. If your child or family is
involved with any other agency which we might not be aware of, do please let us know. The
government’s drive to ensure that all professionals working with children and young people
share important information means that we are obliged to contact other agencies if we do
have any concerns about a child’s welfare, health or safety. Please be assured that if this is
the case, parents and carers will be involved at the earliest possible opportunity. In our
school the Headteacher (Mrs Warburton), the Deputy Headteacher (Miss Haslam) and our
Pastoral Manager (Mrs Farina) are the members of staff responsible for child protection and
safeguarding. As Designated (Named) Safeguarding Leads, Mrs Warburton, Miss Haslam and
Mrs Farina are fully trained and know what to do in the case of a serious or worrying
situation such as suspected child abuse. They are available at any time to speak to parents
and carers who have concerns or worries.

Many of the sections in this information booklet relate directly to the health, safety,
security and well being of your child and family and of our school staff. This is very
important to us as a school community. We are very grateful for your assistance and
co-operation in all these matters and we look forward to another busy and successful
year at Bispham Endowed. If you have any queries or questions about any of the
information given here do please contact the School Office or myself.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Warburton

Mrs Warburton
Headteacher