This page provides information that we at Brimsdown Primary School will benefit and support our Parents and Carers. If you have any questions about the information below please contact the school office.

Sections on this page:

(click on the text to navigate to the chosen section)

Assistance

The local authority recognises that parents may not be able to meet all the costs involved in providing for their children’s needs at school. Consequently, if your child attends a school in the Borough and you are resident within the Borough, you may be entitled to various grants and other types of assistance. These are, depending on financial circumstances:

• Free school meals
• Free travel to and from school
• Assistance towards the cost of instrumental tuition

Further details, application forms and advice regarding the above forms of assistance are available from the Assistance to Pupils section, phone number available from the school office.

Uniform

Lost property

It is very easy for children’s clothes, bags and lunch boxes to get mixed up. Please avoid this by clearly marking your child’s belongings with their name and class in permanent ink or via a sewn name label.

The school has a ‘lost property’ box which is located near the welfare office. The office staff, your child’s class teacher or teaching assistant will be happy to show you where it is but will not be able to search for items that are lost without names.

The lost property box is emptied at the end of each half-term, tables will be set out in the playground so that parents can sort through the labelled items, but also allows an opportunity for unnamed school uniform items to be sold a small cost. A few school uniform items without a name are kept as ‘spares’. Please be aware that any lost property that isn’t collected will be either given to charity or disposed of depending on its condition.

The school is unable to take responsibility for lost property (including uniform items, coats, shoes, bags, lunch boxes, mobile phones, jewellery items and watches, hats, gloves, scarves, personal stationery, etc.)

If your child accidentally brings home an article of clothing belonging to someone else, please immediately send this back to school so it can be returned to its rightful owner.​ Thank you.

School meals

We believe that Lunchtime should be the highlight of the day for everyone at Brimsdown Primary School. We want to help children gain a real appreciation for good quality food, where it comes from, how it’s produced and why healthy food is important.

School meals are provided by Cambridge-based specialist schools caterer; The Lunchtime Company www.lunchtime.co.uk. They provide delicious, nutritious and healthy meals every day.

Together we offer children a wonderful choice of hot food, fresh vegetables, freshly baked bread, fresh fruit, yogurt, jacket potatoes… there really is something for everyone.

All meals are cooked from fresh ingredients every day, sourced locally (where possible within a 60 mile radius of the school), and prepared on-site.

Over the course of the academic year we provide an array of theme days, activities, cookery classes and charity events – these are advertised around the school and on the website.

We would really love to invite parents, grandparents and carers to come and dine with your children and experience first-hand the amazing food. Just let us know when you would like to come in. We look forward to sharing with you.

Lunchtime Company Flyer.pdf

Click on an image below to view the week’s menu.

Breakfast at Brimsdown

At Brimsdown Primary School, we are proud that we provide breakfast for all our pupils. This benefits them in numerous ways but most importantly means that they start the day with a healthy meal which helps their concentration and ensures that they have a positive start to the day in a friendly nurturing environment.

The breakfast provided is toast, porridge and cereal. These are swapped around on a rota basis for each year group over the school year.

The breakfast process includes all pupils and duties are shared e.g. making breakfast, serving, washing up etc. We hope that this will teach our children that taking responsibility for washing up is part of the process. Sitting together calmly, sometimes with background music, encourages plenty of speaking and listening skills whilst creating a nurturing environment.

Keeping your child safe

‘Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, every day’.

Our first and foremost priority is to keep your child safe and healthy. Under the new OFSTED framework safeguarding is a key indicator of what constitutes a good school. Keeping your child safe means:

• The health and safety of all children
• Making sure that the adults who work here have undergone safety and security checks
• Protecting children from deliberate harm
• Being an anti-bullying school
• Being proactive against racist behaviour
• Being proactive against attempts to indoctrinate children in to any form of extreme ideology
• Protecting our children from harassment and discrimination
• A positive approach to behaviour management including the use of physical intervention safely, when necessary
• Meeting the needs of children with medical conditions
• Providing first aid
• Protecting children from drug and substance abuse
• Children enjoying safe educational visits
• Caring for children’s personal needs
• Keeping children safe when using the internet and making sure they are aware of cyber bullying.
• Making sure our school is secure and safe
• Being a ‘listening school’.
• Ensuring they know who to go in school if they have a problem​

Parents concerns

Parents with any concerns can fill out the form by clicking on the image below:

Welfare

The Welfare Team are:

• Christine Robinson (Welfare Officer)
• Helen Dalby (Welfare Deputy)

We try to make the Welfare room a friendly area so that the children feel comfortable when they visit us if they are hurt or unwell, or if they just want a chat.

If there is anything we can do for parents to help, or give advice, please come and see us. If we are not available to talk to you when you come in, then please ring or speak to the office staff about making an appointment.

There are a number of First Aiders in our school who are trained to administer First aid to our children in addition to our Welfare Officers.

We can administer children’s medications in our school if requested, however there is a procedure of completing a form and answering some questions beforehand. We have a list of medications that we do give in school and some we give with recommendations.

If your child had a medical need, we will ask that you come in and see one of the Welfare Team to complete a care plan to support your child in school.

We regularly work with other NHS professionals. The school nurse visits to help with children’s needs. The children have medical checks e.g. hearing tests and dentist visits during their time in school, which is organised by the NHS. Parents receive a letter before these checks take place.

If your child becomes ill or sustains any injury at school, they will be cared for by the Welfare Assistants. If it is deemed necessary parents will be asked to come to the school to collect their child.

In case of an emergency, please make sure we always have up-to-date phone numbers where you can be contacted.

Parents/carers will be informed of any head injuries sustained and for serious accidents we follow the procedures laid down by the London Borough of Enfield.

If your child has sickness or diarrhea they must be absent from school for 48 hours after being unwell.

If your child has head lice, we can give you advice on how this can be treated.

There are some useful links to websites below that may be of interest.

Headlice advice:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Introduction.aspx

NHS advice line:

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pages/NHS-111.aspx

Jargon

Glossary of common education and related terminology

Academies – Academies are independent state-funded schools. These schools have more freedom over their finances, the curriculum they teach and teachers’ pay and conditions. These schools are funded directly by central government rather than by the local authority. Some academies are sponsored and these sponsors can come from a range of backgrounds (businesses, other successful schools, universities, charities and faith bodies). Sponsors are held accountable for improving the performance of their schools. You can complete your induction year in an academy. Find out more on the DfE’s Academies pages.

AfL – Assessment for Learning – From September 2009, all UK schools were expected to implement an assessment for learning program. Day-to-day assessments would include effective questioning; observations of children during teaching and while they are working; holding discussions with children; analysing work and reporting to children; conducting tests and giving quick feedback.

APP – Assessing Pupils’ Progress – APP is a structured approach to periodically assessing maths, science, reading, writing and speaking and listening skills.

AT – Attainment Target – Sets out expected standards of pupils’ performance at the end of each key stage.

BESD – Behaviour Emotional and Social Difficulties

BSL – British Sign Language

CAF – Common Assessment Framework: a form to co-ordinate all the agencies working with a family with problems.

DfE – The Department for Education – They responsible for education and children’s services in England.

EAL – English as an Additional Language – Refers to children whose first language(s) is/are not English and who may not yet be speaking English fluently or even at all.

EBD – Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties

EP – Educational Physiologist

EWO – Education Welfare Officer – Person employed by the Local Authority to help parents and the LA meet their statutory obligations in relation to school attendance.

ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages or English as a Second or Other Language – If English is not your main language you can take part in a course to help you improve your English. These courses are called ESOL.

FSM – Free School Meals

G and T – Gifted and Talented

HI – Hearing Impairment

HLTA – Higher Level Teaching Assistant

ICT – Information and Communication Technology

IEP  – Individual Education Plan – A document that outlines specific learning objectives for a student and how those objectives will be carried out.

INSET – In-Service Education and Training -Training for school staff, which takes place during the school year.

ITT – Initial Teacher Training

KS1 – Key Stage 1 – 5 – 7 years old

KS2 – Key Stage 2 – 7 – 11 years old

LA – Local Authority

LSP – Learning Support Plan

MFL – Modern Foreign Languages

MLD – Moderate Learning Difficulties

NQT – Newly Qualified Teacher

Ofsted – The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills is an independent organisation, which reports directly to Parliament. Ofsted inspects and regulates services, which care for children and young people and those providing education and skills for learners of all ages. Ofsted sets out to raise standards in British schools through regular inspections.

PE – Physical Education

PPA – Planning, Preparation and Assessment Time

PPF – Pupil Premium Funded

PSHE – Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

PSP – Pastoral Support Plan

QTS – Qualified Teacher Status 

RE – Religious Education

SATs – Standard Attainment Tests/Tasks – National Curriculum Tests and Tasks which take place at the end of Key Stage 1 and at the end of Key Stage 2.

SEN – Special Educational Needs Provision – Support for pupils with learning difficulties.

SENCO – Special Educational Needs Coordinator

SLD – Severe Learning Difficulties

SLT – Senior Leadership Team 

SMSC – Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

TA – Teaching Assistant