Please find below some information to help you with the daily routine of the school.

Our School Day

• Doors open 8:45am
• Registration closes at 9:00am
• End of school day 3:30pm 

KEY PRINCIPLES

• Class Teachers are responsible for the orderly dismissal of pupils from their classrooms.
• Class Teachers must be sure that pupils’ leaving arrangements are SAFE
• Class Teachers will not allow children to leave with unknown persons
• Children in Year 6 are only allowed to walk home alone with written permission from parents and agreement from the Headteacher that it is safe to do so.
• Parents must inform school who will be collecting their child from school by completing the Form online at the beginning of the term the child joins st Francis’:
• Where changes to a child’s normal pattern of home time occurs, the school expects to be informed by the parent on or before the day.
• Teachers will not release a child to an adult that is not on the list provided on the Form.
• Parents will arrange for children to be collected punctually – if parents are late then the children will be placed in Treetops and there will be a charge. Please note there is an expectation that you collect promptly at 3:30pm (or at the end of a club if your child participates in an extra – curricular activity)
• Late collection is monitored.

Drop off

1. The gates open at 8:45am and children go straight to class, this is our soft start, lessons do not begin until 9:00am. Parents are asked to drop their child at the gate and allow them to walk to class. Reception Class children should be taken to the gate nearest their class and handed to a member of staff. No adults are allowed into school through the back doors without permission. If you need to speak to a member of staff please make an appointment at the office or pass a message to the staff at the gate.
2. The school day starts at 9.00am when all children come into school – we expect all children to be in school at this time.
3. Registers are taken by 9:10 am and your child will receive a late mark if they are not in by 9:10am
4. Children arriving after 9.00am are required to come into school via the school office. If accompanied by a parent/carer they must sign them in and provide a reason for their lateness which is recorded.

Collection

5. End of school day is 3:30pm
6. Yr 3 to 6 will be dismissed from the Junior Playground, adults collecting the children should wait on the playground.
7. Larch Class will be dismissed from the double doors to the cloakroom, parents should wait under the shelter near these doors.
8. Beech Class will be dismissed from the front gate, parents should wait outside the front gate.
9. Year 1 will be dismissed from the gate on the infant playground
10. Reception Classes will be dismissed from the gate to their classes.
11. Yr 6 pupils will only be allowed to walk home alone with written permission from parents and agreement from school that it is appropriate and safe to do so.
12. In addition, teachers will risk assess with the Headteacher, individual circumstances where extra supervision is thought necessary.
13. If a child is not collected by 3.30pm,  parents will be contacted. The expectation is that parents collect at 3.30pm unless there is an extenuating circumstance.
14. All late collections will be monitored and logged and where applicable the late drop off and collection protocols will be implemented. (See below)
15. Regular late collection may result in school not allowing a child to attend a club.
16. Children will not be released from school with someone if they are showing signs of distress or anxiety.
17. Children will not be released if the teacher feels that the parent is not in a fit state to ensure their child’s safety. This will be immediately reported to the Designated Safeguarding Lead in school.

Attendance

It is very important that children attend school every day, unless they are unwell. Attending every day means they can access all the learning opportunities available to them, providing them with a great foundation for their future.

If your child is unwell and cannot come to school, please phone or email absence@stfrancis.surrey.sch.uk It is vital that you inform us as soon as possible. Sometimes it can be difficult to decide if your child should be kept at home or sent to school if they are feeling under the weather.

Children who suffer sickness or diarrhoea must be kept off school for 48 hours from the last incident in order to avoid spreading any infection. If a child has been sick due to car sickness or a specific, non-contagious medical condition, please contact the school office to discuss their return to school.

The school will monitor lateness. We will offer support where appropriate. However, parents who persistently drop children off late despite support from school will be referred to the Surrey Inclusion Services. 

Infectious Illnesses

We ask parents to inform the school of any infectious illnesses so we can inform and protect any child or member of staff who could be particularly at risk from them.

Please click HERE to visit the Public Health Agency website for further guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings. 

If you feel your child should be kept at home please see the information below regarding procedures for notifying the school of your child's absence.

• Parents/carers should contact the school before 9.30 am on the first day of their child’s absence and on each subsequent day of absence.
• When parents/carers notify us of their child’s absence, it is important that they provide us with details of the reason for their absence. This information is used to determine whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised.
• Where a child is absent from school and we have not received any verbal or written communication from the parent, then we initiate 'first day calling procedure'. If you would like to view a copy of this procedure, there are copies available in the school office.

Exceptional Leave of Absence

The Department for Education allows a Headteacher the discretion to consider authorising a leave of absence in term time only in “exceptional circumstances”.  To request an exceptional leave of absence, the ‘exceptional leave of absence’ form must be completed and sent to the school at least 2 weeks before the absence. 

If children are taken out of school without authority for 5 or more days (which do not have to be consecutive), then the following will apply:

1. If you have not incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children in a rolling 3 year period since 19 August 2024, then the penalty notice will be charged at the rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80.00 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

2. If you have incurred a penalty notice relating to this child/children since 19 August 2024, the rolling  year period will be activated from the date of the first penalty notice and the second penalty notice will be charged at the flat rate of £160.00, per parent/carer per child, if paid within 28 days. There will be no reduction for payment within 21 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice will result in Surrey County Council considering legal proceedings against you in the Magistrates Court.

3. If you have incurred 2 penalty notices relating to this child/children in the rolling 3 year period since the first penalty notice was issued, then you will NOT receive a third penalty notice – Surrey County Council will have no option but to consider a prosecution, per parent/carer per child, in the Magistrates Court under s 444 Education Act 1996.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

Other information

Parking: With three schools on the site, it is obviously busy at drop off and pick-up times. 

 The school times are staggered to try and ease congestion. Audley school start early and finish their day at 3pm.

We ask our parents to be considerate at all times, but especially at the end of the day, please do not come on site too early to park. Coming very early to park and wait is unhelpful and inconsiderate to others.

All behaviour should be in line with the expectations of our school ethos. 

Parking is only allowed in the designated bays - please respect this for the safety of all, but especially the children. Do not park on the double lines or zebra crossings. Doing this can endanger all.

Drop Off Scheme & Volunteers: The PTA run a drop off scheme every morning with a rota of volunteers.  This enables parents to safely drop off their children to go into school and eases congestion and parking around the school and surrounding roads. Drop off can be used by anyone in the school as long as your child is able to get out of the car safely by themselves and is confident to go into school on their own. There are some general rules of etiquette:

• Drop off is available to any child in the school from Year 1 to Year 6. It is not normally used for Reception age children - if you have any questions with this please speak to the office staff.
• Volunteers will be available from 8:45am when the gate is opened and a teacher comes on duty
• Volunteers will, where possible, open your door and help your child exit the car
• Parents are asked to drive around the horseshoe to the farthest volunteer on the horseshoe before stopping and before any child exits the car – this ensures up to four cars can unload at the same time
• Children should be ready to exit the car and holding all their belongings
• Children should only exit on the passenger side not on the driver side – if this is not possible please park and walk your child to the gate. 
• Children should not be dropped off before the zebra crossing, as this halts the flow of traffic and can be dangerous.
• Adults driving should not exit the car to open doors or boots. Wait for the volunteers to assist.
• As soon as children have been dropped off please move forward to allow those behind to drop off, please do not wait until your child has entered the gates to move on
• If adults are being dropped off with children who require supervision please do not use the horseshoe area please do this elsewhere on the grounds

We also ask that you please note the following:

• Volunteers are giving up their time to do this voluntarily and they take no responsibility for children that have been dropped off, in particular those left before the gate opens. Please treat them with respect.
• Mr Brad Coyler the school caretaker and Staff are on duty on the gate to ensure children do not exit the school and that those dropped off go straight into school.

Please do try to follow the above guidelines and also pass this information on to anyone that may be dropping off on your behalf so as the system continues to move swiftly and not cause congestion in the mornings.

Scooters and Cycles: These should not be brought onto the playground - there are scooter and cycle stores right by the main playground gates. Adults with their own bicycles or scooters collecting children should either leave the bike/scooter at the bike store, or walk with their bike/scooter to collect their child. Adults should NOT be cycling or scooting through the playground at any time - this avoids accidents.

Motorised scooters and buggy cars are NOT allowed anywhere on the cul-de-sac/site or the playground. 

Trim Trails: Children should not be on the trim trails in either playground nor climbing on the play or gym equipment before or after school. The school is not responsible for accidents on these outside of school hours. 

Rainy Days: If it rains then children go directly to their classrooms, parents should drop them at the door. 

Snow Days: We do not close the school unless absolutely necessary! Please keep a close eye on the red banner on the school website. Once all risk assessments and health and safety checks are completed and we know that we have enough staff to open (many of our staff live a distance away from school), we will post on the website and our school Facebook page to confirm whether the school can be opened. Similarly, we will post if school is open and we need to close as snow is falling and there is a risk for pick up time. Please make sure if you work a distance away from school that you have an emergency plan - family member or friend who can pick up at short notice.

Contacting Teachers: Teachers are not available to talk to parents in the mornings as they are settling children first thing. If you need to get a message to the class teacher you can put a note in your child's book bag, write a note in the school planner/reading record, or email the class or the school office. Parents should avoid entering the school playground in the mornings - if you need anything please come to the school office where the staff will help. 

New Reception Parents: 

• Infant children have three breaks - mid-morning, lunchtime and mid-afternoon.
• They are given a snack of fruit in the morning.
• If it drizzles we still take the children out for a play and fresh air. Please make sure they have a coat or rain jacket in school. If rain is heavy they stay in the classroom and play games. 
• Spare Clothes - We do keep some spare underwear and clothes, but it is helpful to have spare clothes in school in case your child has an accident.  Speak to the class teacher if you feel this may be an issue for your child.