All You need to Know

The school gates are open at 08:45am and the end of the school day is 3.35pm. This totals 33 hours and 20 minutes per week. All children will have a morning break and one hour for lunch.

Parents and Carers are asked to respect these times and to ensure that children arrive and leave punctually. Teaching time starts at 9am. Children will be welcomed into school by a member of staff and should enter via their class door. At the end of the school day they will also be collected from their class door. If your child is late, please sign your child in at the school office.

In the past, messages from school to home have relied heavily upon ‘pupil post’. At Alfred Lord Tennyson School we have developed a range of modern ways to keep you informed. Alfred Lord Tennyson is looking to create an effective partnership with parents/carers by providing an open and communicative environment, forming a positive link between school and home.

We are hoping to provide you with full visibility of your child’s interests, strengths and commitments – as well as information about school events and developments. The following methods are utilised by the school to help create an inclusive community, where information is communicated and exchanged regularly.

Please find a list of our Home School Agreements that are currently in place at Alfred Lord Tennyson for all pupils and Parents/Carers.

At Alfred Lord Tennyson School, we are committed to providing a full and efficient education to all. For a child to reach their full educational potential, a high level of attendance is essential. Please see below the absence procedures and the School and Local Authority responses to poor attendance.

Why is good attendance important?

Students will:

• Keep up with work
• Understand the lessons
• Get better qualifications
• Have good friendships
• Expect to get higher paid jobs and careers

Impact of poor attendance

Students will:

• Not understand lessons
• Fall behind with their work
• Achieve less
• Get poorer qualifications
• Lose friends
• Be more likely to get into criminal activities
• Cause court action for their parents

How does attendance impact upon attainment?

• 90% attendance in a year means over 100 lessons have been missed.
• 90% attendance every year means that one year of schooling is missed.
• Absent from school means absent from learning

What is considered poor attendance?

Ofsted set a target of achieving 96% attendance. Anything below 90% is classed as persistent absence and is a serious cause for concern.

Attendance Monitoring and Reporting Procedures

We regularly monitor attendance, and when attendance falls below 96% we issue a letter informing parents. If the attendance continues to be of concern, an attendance target is set.

Persistent concerns may result in a referral being made to the Educational Entitlement Service. It is a criminal offence under Section 444 of the 1996 Education Act to fail to secure the regular attendance of a child who is a registered pupil of the school. On conviction, the Magistrates' Court may impose a fine or imprisonment, or both.

Northamptonshire County Council also require us to refer all children who have 5 days (10 sessions) (either consecutive or within a six-week period) of unauthorised absence to them. The outcome could be a Penalty Notice payable directly to the Local Authority. The Penalty Notice is £60 per parent/carer for each student if paid within 21 days, increasing to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days of issue.

Types of Absence

Each absence is classed as authorised or unauthorised. Absences are coded as authorised where reasons are considered valid and exceptional and unauthorised where no explanation is given, or unacceptable reasons are given.

Authorised Absence

• Genuine illness resulting in unavoidable absence
• Religious observance
• Close family bereavement

Unauthorised Absence

• Looking after relatives
• Staying at home for deliveries/workmen
• Shopping
• Having a birthday
• Oversleeping
• Holidays
• Days out
• Parental illness

Government guidelines prevent Head Teachers from granting any leave of absence during term time, unless there are exceptional circumstances. (A family holiday during term time does not fall into the category of exceptional circumstances.)

Medical/Dental Appointments

Wherever possible, please aim to arrange these outside of school hours. However, we know that this is not always possible. Where children need to attend such appointments, please complete a request for absence form and indicate in advance whether he/she will be returning to school. Medical and dental appointments count as authorised absences, so we ask that, where possible, you bring evidence of the appointment e.g. text confirmation, appointment card/letter.

Procedures to follow if your child is absent from school

1) Please telephone the school office on the first day of absence before 9:30am, leaving the child's name, class and reason for absence. This needs to be done every day your child is absent from school.

2) Messages regarding absence may be left on the school's answer phone, sent via ParentAPPS, email or delivered in person.

3) We record all reported absences, so a letter from parents/carers is not required.

4) If we have not heard from a parent/carer by 9:30am as to why their child is absent from school, we will telephone the contact numbers we hold on file until contact is made. If no contact is made, we may carry out a home visit as part of our Safeguarding procedures.

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance, please come in and talk to us. We are always happy to meet with you in person to ensure positive outcomes are achieved.

When the school day ends , the Class Teacher or member of staff will be on the playground for parents/carers to collect their children from their classes, unless you wish to make alternative arrangements for your child. Children in Years 3, 4 and 5 are not permitted to walk home alone. For those children who will be safely collected:

Children will leave the building via their designated exit. We ask that parents/carers wait in the centre of the playground to enable the Class Teacher to bring the children out and line them up.

Please do not take your child/children until the Class Teacher has directed your child/children to go, as it is important that the Class Teacher is aware of each child being collected. We also ask that parents/carers do not try to engage staff members during this time, as it will delay the process for other parents/carers. If you need to speak to a member of staff, please wait until the member of staff has released all of the children or contact the School Office before 4:00pm to arrange to speak to them.

Please note that it is the parent/carer's responsibility to ensure the safety of their children once they have been collected from the Class Teacher.

Children may be collected by a known adult or older sibling. These arrangements must have been agreed with the parent/carers and the School Office notified. Please complete the attached form indicating what the usual collection arrangements will be for your child/children.

If there is to be a different arrangement from the usual, and your child/children are to be collected by somebody else, it is the parent/carer’s responsibility to inform the School Office or Class Teacher of the change. If the Class Teacher has not received any such message from the child/children’s parent/carer or the School Office, then the child/children must stay with the Class Teacher until their parent/carer has been contacted to verify any change of arrangements. If any circumstances change for the end of school arrangements, we ask that you notify the School Office immediately so that we can update our records and inform the Class Teacher.

If, for any reason, you are unavoidably delayed, please contact the School Office with an estimated time of arrival. Children will then be taken through to the School Office to wait for collection.

After School Clubs

If children are staying for clubs, the adults in charge of the club will ensure that they are collected by an appropriate adult. Parents/carers must inform the club of the name of the person collecting.

Late Collection/Uncollected children

In the event of a child/children not being collected at the end of the school day/club session the school wishes to cause as little distress as possible to the child/children and to parents/carers. At the same time the school needs to ensure the health and safety of the child/children is not put at risk.

If the pupils are not collected the procedure will be as follows:

• Attempts will be made to contact the parents/carers at home or work as appropriate.
• If the above is unsuccessful, attempts will be made to contact the emergency numbers as advised on the Data Collection form. Please ensure that we have a minimum of two contacts on the Data Collection form.
• Staff will not allow any child to leave school with anyone other than those specified by parents/carers.

If none of the above procedures are successful, Social Services may be contacted.

Your support is vital in ensuring these procedures are effective. Once members of staff become familiar with parents/carers, the process will run efficiently.

 The End of School Day Handover Arrangements form is available on our Home School Agreements section on this page here or from the School Office.

All pupils are expected to wear school uniform. We feel that it brings pride in the school and aids positive behaviour.

Uniforms featuring the school badge can be purchased online by using the link below.

Visit School Uniform Supplier Website

Alternatively, non-logo uniform, trousers, skirts and polo shirts can be purchased from supermarkets and other clothing retailers. Please note, upon opening second hand uniform will not be immediately available. As and when this changes we will update accordingly.

School Uniform

The expectation is that children wear the following:

• Red sweatshirt, jumper or cardigan (plain or with school badge)
• Grey school trousers or skirts
• For summer, grey school shorts (optional) and red and white checked school dress (optional)
• Pale blue school shirt or pale blue polo shirt (plain or with school badge)
• Black school shoes
• Minimal hair accessories in neutral colours

It is really helpful if all items of clothing, including coats, are clearly named.

Please note denim, jeans, leggings, jeggings, hooded sweatshirts, and trainers are not school uniform and should not be worn to school. Trainers may be changed into at playtime.

Thank you for supporting the school by ensuring your child/ren are wearing the appropriate uniform.

PE Kit Expectations

All pupils are expected to wear PE kit for their active lessons and any extra-curricular clubs they attend at school.

For PE children must have available in their kit:

• Red t-shirt (plain or with school badge)
• Plain black shorts (warmer months)
• Black plimsolls
• Plain black jogging bottoms (for outdoor PE)
• Plain black jumper (for outdoor PE)
• Trainers (for outdoor PE)
• Hairband to tie up long hair

Pupils should come to school wearing their PE kit on their designated PE days, unless they are swimming when they will change at the swimming pool. If they are taking part in a sporting after school activity, pupils must bring their PE kit with them in a small named bag.

It is really helpful if all items of clothing are clearly named.

Please note, earrings are to be taken out for PE lessons.

Swimming

Each year group will have a series of swimming lessons at Freedom Leisure (Splash) at some point throughout the academic year as part of their PE provision. For their swimming lesson they will need:

• Towel
• One piece costume OR
• Trunks not Bermuda shorts
• Swimming hat which will need to be purchased from the pool

 Visit PE Kit Supplier Website

Early Morning Provision, Snack, School Lunches & Free School Meals

We run an Early Morning Club in school every weekday morning.

Early Morning Clubs run from 8:30am to 8:45am at both Alfred Street and Tennyson Road sites. They are available free of charge for parents who have younger siblings at Tennyson Road, to enable them to bring their child to school, where they will be safely looked after before the start of the school day. This provision ensures that neither child is late to school. Please note: we will require the name of the younger sibling to be able to check the information. The clubs are also open to those parents that do not have a younger sibling at Tennyson Road for a charge of £1.00 per child per morning.

Places are limited, therefore bookings will need to be made on our on-line booking system, PARENTPAY, with payment made via the on-line booking system on a weekly/monthly basis. If no payment is received for your child/children, then the school reserves the right to withdraw the place(s).

If you would like your child/children to attend, a permission slip will need to be signed. Attendance will be required to be notified for the half term, so that the school is aware of which children will be attending each morning. The permission slip may be obtained from the School Office.

If you have any questions or queries concerning this, please contact the School Office directly.

Terms & Conditions

HEALTHY EATING TUCK SHOP

We run a healthy tuck shop, which takes place every day during morning break times, which is extremely popular with both the children and the staff. Our year 6 monitors prepare and sell our produce, offering a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as dried fruit and rice cakes. Our prices range from 5p to 20p an item. If you would like your child to purchase something from our healthy tuck shop, please send them in with a small amount of money. We look forward to serving more children with healthy snacks.  

HEALTHY EATING SNACK OPTIONS

To comply with the Government's Healthy Eating in Schools standards, children are required to bring into school for their snack a healthy option such as fruit, vegetables or other healthy items such as raisins or other dried fruits. We are a nut free school and therefore do not wish to have any products in school that contain nut products. However, some products may contain traces of nuts or been produced in a factory where nut products are processed. These latter two items are permissible in school. Please see attached information on what is considered a healthy eating snack for children.

School Lunches

Children can bring a packed lunch to eat in school at lunchtime or they can have a pre-ordered hot meal from our dedicated foodservice providers Dolce (Tennyson Road site) and Love Food (Alfred Street site). Please be aware that we are a "nut free" school: this includes nut products such as Peanut Butter, "Nutella" and snack bars containing nuts. This is to protect children in school with allergies.

Each year group eats their lunch in the hall under supervision.

We are delighted to be able to offer your child a nutritious and balanced hot school meal provided by Love Food. Hot meals must be ordered in advance via the Love Food website

If you receive Income Support your child is entitled to a free school meal.

Free School Meals Application

School Clubs throughout the year

We aim to provide a range of extra-curricular activities during lunchtime or after school throughout the school year. These can include art club, language and culture club, crochet, gardening, choir and a range of sporting clubs. Please see below for the calendar for the sports clubs. Further details of each club are sent to parents/carers on a termly basis. We aim to provide these at a low cost to our families.

Extra Curriculum Clubs - Autumn Term 1

Here are the clubs on offer for Autum Term 1, and these will run until the end of the half term.  All sports clubs are free, but we ask for a contribution of £1 for choir and early morning club. You must sign up to clubs via ParentApp and pay via ParentPay.

Extra Curricular Clubs Information 

Student Ambassadors

Our Student Ambassadors are true role models, setting high standards with regard to behaviour and learning. They lead by example and can be relied upon to uphold the school values and ethos. Our Student Ambassador roles include: promoting sports and fitness, well-being, anti-bullying and conservation of the environment. The Student Ambassadors work with a member of staff in school to promote their cause and lead on projects.

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors are trained, passionate young people who will stand up to bullying behaviour and believe they can change things for the better. Anti-Bullying Ambassadors believe that bullying behaviour is not acceptable and should not be part of everyday life at school. They support others and are upstanders against bullying behaviour and a support network for their peers.

Some of our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors have taken part in The Diana Awards training. Supported by HRH The Prince of Wales, The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign engages young people, parents and teachers to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations, both online and offline.

They are all excited to further develop their leadership skills, deliver a range of projects and ideas, to further enhance our anti-bullying policy and create a culture which promotes kindness, compassion and understanding.

Our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors have pledged to keep to the points they agreed on in their charter.

Their first project will be focused on developing posters to promote spreading kindness through actions and words to display around school, together with an assembly to introduce the materials.

Wellbeing Ambassadors

Our Wellbeing Ambassadors work with Mrs Appleby, our Senior Mental Health Lead, to champion positive mental health and wellbeing across the school. The Ambassadors drive positive messages around wellbeing forward and release the stigma around talking about challenging feelings. They encourage people to talk, which is a critical first step.

Our Wellbeing Ambassadors have created their charter for the year, where they will develop their leadership skills in promoting and supporting wellbeing in our school.

Sports and Fitness Ambassadors

A range of children from Years 6, 5 and 4 have been chosen to be part of the Sports Crew. They have been trained by Northamptonshire Sports Partnership and take responsibility for leading sporting activities for children at lunchtimes, in order to help get children active.

Our Sports Ambassadors are building their leadership skills by taking on the following roles:

• Being the voice for PE and school sport amongst their peers
• Promoting the positive values of sport
• Being role models for PE and sport in school
• Working to increase participation and healthy lifestyles for everyone in our school.

Our PE Ambassadors have an important role to play throughout the school, and have been carefully chosen for regularly demonstrating the following qualities.

• Must be approachable and have a good relationship with all children
• Be positive role models and have a good attitude towards learning and playing sports
• Be good team members
• Be able to engage and inspire others
• Must be organised.

Their first project is to encourage teachers and children to engage in active learning.

Eco Ambassadors

This group of pupils are responsible for the promotion of looking after the school environment and our role in looking after the wider world. Eco Ambassadors oversee the need to save energy in the class, and implement (with the support of their peers) ways in which they can reuse or recycle. They also ensure waste is kept to a minimum and that electricity/water is used wisely. They have an important job in promoting ways to save our world and in instilling a sense of eco awareness in all ALTS pupils that will hopefully develop with them throughout their lives.

Our school council provides a meaningful way for pupils to voice their opinions and have their views taken into account in decisions which impact upon them. It is an important and useful way to provide leadership and development opportunities for our pupils.

School council representatives are voted in by their peers to represent their class. They attend School Council meetings and take forward the views of their class. Two of our council members are also part of the Cluster Council who visit The Ferrers Secondary School termly to meet with student councillors from other schools in the Higham and Rushden area. Following this they lead on a project decided by the cluster.

Watch this space for more updates on their progress!

At ALTS we work closely with our colleagues at the Tennyson Road site to ensure the smooth transition, both educationally and socially for children moving to Alfred Street.

We recognise that moving up from Year 2 is a big step for most children and we aim to provide as many opportunities for Year 2 children to experience life with us as possible before moving to Key Stage 2. Year 2 children are invited to a range of events and transition activities are put in place in the Summer Term where they will spend time with their new teacher to help them settle and to ensure that they will be happy in their new environment. During the Summer term we will also hold a transition evening for parents. Here new parents will learn about the curriculum for the upcoming year, school routines and will have the opportunity to attend a meet and greet with their child’s new teacher in their new classroom.

Whilst working with our infant colleagues, we spend time finding out about the new children joining us both educationally and socially. We are keen to find out about the children’s academic abilities but most importantly to learn about each individual child and their needs to ensure their transition to Junior school is a positive and exciting journey.

Below are some documents that will also support your child with transition to the Juniors.

ALTS Awards

Our ALTS Awards are held at the end of each half term, where children are recognised for showing the Alfo R.E.S.P.E.C.T Values (Reslience, Empathy, Self-awareness, Passion, Excellence, Communication, Team work) . Each teacher selects a member of the class, who has shown a specific value. The red carpet is rolled out and parents are invited to the special celebration. Names are read from a golden envelope and children are presented with a once in a life time award.

CLASS DOJO POINTS

ClassDojo is a behaviour management tool for the classroom that promotes greater focus and encourages children to strive to achieve in many different areas.

Each class has this established as a way of rewarding individual children and groups of children for their hard work and manners. Each child has a profile – complete with their own avatar – to which teachers can assign positive points throughout lessons and throughout the day. Each time the teacher awards a point a distinctive sound plays to alert the class. All heads turn to see who was awarded a point!

What have your children received Dojo points for?

Children are collecting points for self-satisfaction but once they receive 50 Dojo points they will receive a certificate in our Fab Friday assembly. There is also a special cabinet in the main hall, where exciting goodies are presented. The children can trade in their dojo points for items from the cabinet. The more points they receive the more rewards they receive!

Not only are they individual, the children are part of a team (Lions, Panthers, Tigers and Leopards) and each week the total Dojo points from across the school are counted. 4 tokens are awarded to the team with the most points, then 3 tokens for 2nd and so on. At the end of each term the team with the most tokens will receive a special reward.

TEAM POINTS

Every child in the school is assigned to one of our Teams when they join the school. Children collect individual Dojo points and once a week some of the Year 6 children total all the points, to find out which Team has the most points for the week. The Team with the most points is awarded 4 bars on the chart, 2nd place is awarded 3 bars, 3rd place is awarded 2 bars and the team with the least points is awarded 1 bar. The chart is in the main hall and over the term it is added to and announced in our special assembly on a Friday. The Team with the most points at the end of the term receive a special reward.

FAB FRIDAY

Each week the class teachers choose a child who has worked extremely hard, completed some fantastic learning, shown an ALTS value or has just generally been wonderful! These children then take a special visit to the Headteacher’s office, share their successes and receive a precious golden sticker. Later in the day, during our whole school assembly, these children are awarded with a personalised certificate and we all celebrate their achievements together.

Who will be the next child to receive a certificate?

During these assemblies, we also celebrate any out of school achievements. Please encourage children to bring in certificates, trophies, photos etc of something they have recently achieved outside of school. We look forward to celebrating these with the children.

ATTENDANCE TROPHY

At Alfred Lord Tennyson, we recognise the importance of attendance. Each week, we review the attendance of each class and share the results with the children.

The class who has the highest attendance average receives the ‘Attendance Trophy’.

At the end of each half term, children who have attended school 95% or above receive an Attendance Badge. Those with 100% attendance are entered into a prize draw.

READING TROPHY

Reading is a high priority for children and staff at Alfred Lord Tennyson. Children are challenged to read as many times as they can each week and record it in their planners. The number of reads for each child is recorded and an average for the class is calculated. Each week, the 'Reading Trophy' is awarded to the class who has the highest reading average for home reading recorded in their planners over the week.

Children also receive 2 Dojo points for reading 7 times and 1 Dojo point for reading 3 or more times.

How many times will your child read in a week?

TIDY BROOM

To ensure our school always loos organised and tidy, to maintain the best learning environment for the children, we have introduced the ‘Tidy Broom’ award!

Each week, Mrs Munns keeps a record of which area/classroom in the school is the best looked-after. They then receive the 'Tidy Broom Trophy'. This is to acknowledge their care and respect for the school environment.

How is your child going to help respect our school environment?  

TT ROCK AWARDS

Times Tables Rock Stars is a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practise. Each week concentrates on a different times table, with a recommended consolidation week for rehearsing the tables that have recently been practised every third week or so.

Children take part in Battle of the Band tournaments each week and certificates are awarded to the most valuable players in each class.