We are very pleased to welcome and support all of our families at Hayfield Cross Church of England School. Thank you for choosing to join us as part of Team Orange and hope you are proud to be a member of our of our school community.
You are a very important part of our team in supporting your child’s journey through school. We believe that helping every child to be the best they can be starts with a strong partnership between school and home. We pride ourselves in being a friendly and open school and we want our families to feel involved in their children’s school and education.
*You will also find additional information and policies under the ‘Information’ tab on the menu bar above.
Working Together
Parent partnership is something that we believe passionately in and is an integral part of the Hayfield Cross family ethos. There are regular opportunities and events for you to join us in school, share in your children’s learning and celebrate their achievements through the year. You can also stay up to date with our fortnightly Hayfield Herald newsletter, weekly notices and our Facebook and Twitter accounts. We very much have an open door policy so please come and see us if there is anything that you aren’t sure or happy about so we can work together to put it right!
Please see the Home School Charter in the sidebar which provides information about how we work together between home and school.
Top Tips for Helping Your Child in School
- You are on time each day so that children are ready to start their learning and collected on time at the end of the day.
- Make sure they properly equipped and wear the correct school uniform and PE Kit and have suitable clothes in the winter (coats) and the summer (sun hats).
- Ensure that children do not have piercings other than single stud earrings that should be done during the summer holidays so as not to interfere with PE.
- Let the school know about any changes, concerns or problems that might affect your child’s work or behaviour.
- Support them in homework and other opportunities for home learning.
- Attend parents’ evenings and discussions about your child’s progress.
- Attempt to take routine medical and dental appointments outside school time.
- Avoid taking holidays in school time.
- We do not encourage children to bring in toys from home unless it is for show and tell and agreed with the teacher. This is because they can be easily lost or damaged and school cannot take any responsibility for these.
Attending School Events
We love bringing our community together and have many evets for parents and families to join us in school. These range from classroom showcases, parent workshops, Worship Wednesday, celebration assembly, class assemblies, school productions and many events by our parent’s association TOPS.
Whenever you are in school we ask that you ensure that you adhere to the following rules so that all of our events are safe and successful.
- All visitors must sign in on entering the school building.
- Parents/ family members must understand that any photos and videos taken in school are for personal use only and MUST NOT share or post on the internet any pictures including any other children.
- Pushchairs/ buggies are not permitted in school as they pose a fire- evacuation risk. They can be left securely behind the gate by the entrance if you ask a member of office staff to help you.
- Younger siblings must be kept with parents at ALL TIMES. If they are unable to sit quietly with parents, they must be taken out immediately so as not to disrupt the activity for the children and other parents.
Classroom Organisation
As a two form entry school both classes in each year group work closely together. Although children have their own class base and teacher, they may at times work across both classes with all members of staff from that year group team. This has a huge benefit for foundation subjects where teachers can plan exciting lessons and opportunites and repeat them with both classes. All 'Buzz Points' trips, vistors and events in the curriculum will be planned scross the year group and phase.
As the children move through the school they will swap classes so that they aren't with the same group for their whole seven years at Hayfield Cross. Wherever possible the children will have an input into who they would like to be with and we will consider carefully the new groupings based on our knowledge of the chldren.
Extra-Curricular Activities
In addition to the extended provision provided by LASK there are a range of before and after school clubs and activities that run throughout the year including a wide range of sports, Spanish, music and other activities, information for all our activities available from the school office.
During the school day we also offer peripatetic music teaching for woodwind, strings and guitar through the Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust. They also undertake a project each year with Year 3 where all of the children learn to play the Ukulele.
Further music tuition is provided by a company called Rock Steady where the children have the opportunity to play a range of instruments and learn to play in a band.
Nut Free School
We aim to be a Nut-Free school. The school aims to protect children who have allergies to nuts while also helping them as they grow to take responsibility for what foods they can safely eat and to be aware of what foods may put them at risk. We do not allow nuts or nut products in school lunch boxes or for after school club snacks.
Parents and carers must notify staff if their child has any known or suspected allergy to nuts and provide all medical and necessary information. This will be added to your child’s file and if necessary, a meeting organised with school staff. The most serious risk to allergic children comes from nuts, which can cause severe, life-threatening ‘anaphylactic’ reactions within seconds in a susceptible child.
Our “Nut-Free Policy” means that the following items should not be brought into school:
- Packs of nuts
- Peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches
- Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
- Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
- Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
- Hummus or houmous as it contains tahini which is made from sesame
- Pesto which contains nuts
- Cakes made with nuts
- Self-serve pastries covered in almonds – for example almond croissants
- Any home-cooked meals for packed lunches that are made from nuts
- Any shared food for after-school events with nuts or nut oils
Our suppliers provide us with nut-free products. However, we cannot guarantee complete freedom from nut traces.
The school requests that parents and carers observe the nut-free policy and therefore do not include nuts, or any traces of nuts, in packed lunches.
What types of food are nuts?
Almonds
Cashew nuts
Hazelnuts
Pistachios
Walnuts
Brazil nuts
Nut oils
Peanuts
All product packaging should be checked for warnings directed at nut allergy sufferers and if the following or similar are displayed, the product must not be used in school. Packaging must be checked for:
o Not suitable for nut allergy suffers;
o This product contains nuts;
o This product may contain traces nuts;
Staff
Our staff have EpiPen training and those who work in the class with any child who has an EpiPen have regular top-up training.
Children
Our children are regularly reminded about the good hygiene practice of washing hands before and after eating which helps to reduce the risk of secondary contamination.
Medicines and Medical Conditions
In general school cannot administer medicines but will do so for prescription medicines. These will only be administered during the lunch hour as they need to be centrally stored and recorded. Parents should ensure that they time the other doses so that this can happen (for example by giving a dose before school and on pick up if needed three or more times a day).
We keep a record of children with asthma or allergies and ongoing medical conditions and separate arrangements will be made individually for these children. If your child suffers from any medical condition, please let us know immediately.
Healthy Lifestyles and School Milk
We encourage healthy and active lifestyles and a healthy attitude to food. Our hot meal providers provide a balanced meal each day and we encourage all children to have a healthy lunchbox.
At break-times children are allowed to bring in a snack but this must be a healthy choice (no chocolate or crisps). In Reception and Key Stage 1 children are provided with a piece of fruit. Milk is also available to all pupils on a daily basis through a scheme run by ‘Cool Milk at School’. This is free for under 5’s and then becomes payable on a termly basis.
Being Green
We try to be as paperless as possible to save costs and to be kind to the environment. Most of our information is sent via text or email but paper copies can always be obtained from the school office if you need them.