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The Staff | Organisation of classes | Admissions | Early Closure | Dinner and Break: Play arrangements Medicines, Medical and Dental Treatment | Dress | Absence | Discipline | Serious Breaches | Safety Before and After School | Insurance | Extra-Curricular Activities | Transfer to Secondary School How you can help the school | Complaints Procedure
The School Community Head Teacher : Morag Miller Class Teachers : Isobel Kennedy Marlene Finlayson Support Teacher & Carole Fothergill HT Relief : Nursery Teacher : Barbara Merriman PE : Susan Ferguson Art : Dave Grieve Music : Frank MacKinlay Instrumental : Rhona Casey Nursery Nurse : Fiona Manson Janitors: Maureen Johnston, Hazel Walker Auxiliaries: Donna Hibbert, Kathleen MacDonald Classroom Assistant: Heather Balfour Kitchen Staff: Barbara Grieve, Margaret Scollay Art, music, PE and instrumental tuition(fiddle) is delivered by the members
of staff above on an itinerant circuit. Your child will join what is known as a composite class ie. he/she will share a classroom with up to three other year groups. The three classes are - P1/2 P3/4 P5/6/7 The maximum number of pupils in a composite class is 25. Everyone within the school community is expected to work to the best of their ability and to show goodwill and good manners to all people at all times. Care is taken to ensure that children have equal opportunities to participate in activities eg. home corner, construction toys, computer. Children are encouraged to - a) develop self esteem and self confidence b) accept and develop a responsibility for self c) be open minded d) recognise that every person is a unique and worthwhile individual e) respect the opinions of others f) be sensitive to the needs of others g) develop a critical awareness of the stereotyping and bias in books and in the media Your co-operation would be appreciated as activities can only be effective
if they are supported by parents, visitors and the community. The parish boundary delineates the catchment area of the school. Pupils may be enrolled at the beginning of a session in the August preceding his/her 5th birthday if the birthday occurs before the end of the February following enrolment. On enrolment a pupil must be 5 before the end of February. By arrangement with the local authority, parents resident in the parish have
the right to send their children, at their own expense, to any school out with the parish boundary. In exceptional weather conditions the school may close early. Parents are
advised to telephone the head teacher if, in their opinion, the school should
close early. If possible, all parents are telephoned to warn them of early
closure and it is in the parents' interest to ensure that the school has an
emergency telephone number in addition to the home number. For bad weather closure, we expect the emergency contact to be in Stenness. Statutory transport is provided. In the Autumn and Summer Terms, pupils up to the age of 8 are required to walk up to 2 miles, for pupils over the age of 8 this is increased to 3 miles. During the Winter and Spring Term, no pupil is required to walk more than a mile and a half. In practice, because of the organisation of the transport, most children are transported. By special arrangement with the Community Council no child on the main Kirkwall - Stromness road is required to walk at any time of the year. The cost of transporting all main road children who do not qualify for local authority transport can be met from Community Council funds, if needed. Entrants to Primary 1 in the Autumn Term are provided with transport home
after lunch. Always encourage your child to wait at the correct pickup side of
the road even if the shelter there is not so good. In this way we hope to avoid
a last minute dash for transport. Because of insurance cover children can be
delivered only to their own address by school transport. Pupils may bring packed lunch or may pay for the school meals provided.
Children are normally given a choice of savoury and sweet course. Your
child/children may be entitled to free school meals if you have a low income. If
so, refer directly to the Education Office where the matter will be dealt with
confidentially. Dinner and Break: Play arrangements Pupils have free access to the school during breaks but unless the weather is inclement, all pupils are expected to play outside. As the pupils are supervised at all break times then the final decision of whether a break is outside or not rests with the staff member/s responsible for the supervision of pupils. During indoor playtimes, pupils are expected to remain in their class bases, finding games/toys to play with there. We co-operate with the Schools’ Dental Service in discouraging children
from bringing sweets and chocolate to school. Chewing gum is not permitted.
Children may bring fruit drinks to school but they should not be brought in the
same bag as school text books. Pupils may buy milk which is available at
lunchtime. Medicines, Medical and Dental Treatment Staff will assist parents with administration of medicines but only after written agreement - refer to the leaflet ‘Administration of Medicines’. At the request of the Schools' Dental Service, fluoride tablets are made available to all children subject to parental approval. Dental inspection takes place on site annually but parental approval must be obtained before treatment is given. The Schools Dental Service is excellent and I commend it to you but parents are free to make private arrangements. All beginners and new pupils are, with their parents' permission, medically
examined. Hearing and eyesight are tested at intervals throughout the child's
primary career. There is no school uniform but during the session1998/99 the Stenness School
Board conducted a full survey of parents to consider adopting colours for
sweatshirts to be worn at school. The colours chosen were red and navy. Children
may bring indoor footwear if they wish. This would be particularly welcome
during wet or snowy weather. Children should not wear wellington boots in
school. All outdoor clothing should be named: school is a favourite place for
children to abandon unwanted garments, shoes etc which they subsequently declare
to their parents to be lost. Outdoor clothing should be fitted with strong loops
to encourage cloakroom tidiness. Any clothes still left in school at the end of the school session, i.e. June/July, will be disposed
of during the summer break. If a child is absent, a letter of explanation is expected on return to school. Otherwise, a perfectly legitimate absence may be marked down on record as
unauthorised. In our small rural school a community spirit is paramount. Everyone within this community is expected to: a) work to the best of their ability b) show goodwill and good manners to all people at all times If children feel that they are valued members of the school community many discipline problems are avoided. However, it is necessary to have a disciplinary system for difficult pupils who have special problems. As the class teacher has the greatest influence on pupil attitudes and behaviour, offences of a minor nature can be immediately dealt with using any of the following: 1. Visual signal 2. Verbal warning 3. Change of seat within the classroom 4. Detention during school day/working on a punishment exercise under supervision 5. Removal of privileges/ban on extra-curricular activities. If a child continues to behave in an unacceptable manner a "Complaints
Book" will be kept by the class teacher. Through this method frequent
defaulters can be spotlighted and a behaviour pattern identified. The
"Complaints Book" would then be submitted to the head teacher and
appropriate action taken. This would include interviewing the pupil, informing
the parents and applying an appropriate sanction. These would automatically result in contact with the parents and subsequently any of the following if deemed necessary: 1. Referral of the pupil to the Psychological Service 2. Discussions with the Social Work Department 3. Contact with any outside agency where appropriate 4. Exclusion as a last resort Within the school and the school grounds great emphasis is placed on safety.
The janitor/auxiliary is on duty in the playground during break time. In the morning the school is responsible for the safety of the pupils from
the arrival of the first bus which is approximately 8.55am. and after school
until the departure of their bus run. Any child at school outwith these times is
the responsibility of the parents. Public liability insurance is held in respect of all school children. Throughout the session the children are offered a variety of activities. These may include netball, football, writing and musical activities. Attendance at events out with school hours depend on parents providing
transport. Children within the catchment of the Stenness Primary School automatically
transfer to Stromness Academy at the end of the primary course. It is normal
practice for a member of the secondary guidance staff to meet Class 7 and offer
them a half day introduction to secondary school. 1. Alert us about any special needs, change in circumstances, medical issues etc. 2 . Communicate with us immediately if you feel your child/children has/have academic or social problems at school. 3. Help your child with homework which is set regularly. 4. Attend parents' evenings, PTA and School Board meetings. 1. Complaints relating to any matter should be made directly to the head teacher. 2. A second channel is through the chairperson of the school board. 3. If these approaches fail, direct contact should be made with the Director of Education. Transport queries should be addressed directly to Mr Kevin Balfour in the
Education Office. |
Send mail to mailto:enquiries.stenness@orkneyschools.org.uk with
questions or comments about this web site.
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