All posts by Alison Macaskill

General Supervision
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Primary Department: there are 1 or 2 members of Auxiliary staff on duty to oversee playtime activities during the morning break and lunchtime periods. Their role is low-key in nature in order to give the children ownership and independence in developing friendships and their ability to get on with each other in a safe and secure setting. As will happen in any school playground from time to time, incidents and accidents will occur. Playtime supervision allows for a quick alert to any such situation.

The staff on duty will deal with non-serious incidents themselves but will always pass on more serious matters to the class teacher and/or Depute Head Teacher immediately or at the end of playtime depending on the nature of the situation. Accidents will be referred to one of the school’s First Aiders. All P6 and 7 pupils have a role as a ‘buddy’, helping others during breaks and taking some responsibility for games, safety, fairness etc.

Secondary Department: the Head Teacher will carry out a “walk about” at morning break and both the Head Teacher and Depute Head Teacher alternate lunchtime supervision to ensure a presence amongst the pupils and also to be available should any incidents occur. There is also an auxiliary on duty during lunchtime. At this stage of the school we would expect our young people to show more maturity and responsibility in their interaction with one another. A number of lunchtime activities provide a focus for some pupils and thus reduces low level misbehaviour.

Senior pupils, who are willing to take on prefect duties, carry out break time supervision.

During periods of inclement weather, primary pupils will use their classrooms for activities whilst in the secondary department each registration class is allocated a classroom. Senior pupils have the option of using the Balcony as a social seating area.

Pupils are encouraged to use the outdoor areas if the weather is at all reasonable and it is important that pupils come to school with appropriate outdoor clothing.

School Meals
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Cafeteria

A wide range of healthy cold and hot foods and snacks are available during interval and lunchtime from our self-service cafeteria. All items are individually priced and paid for using our Cashless Catering System. Pupils use a pincode or finger scan to make any purchases. Crediting your child’s cafeteria account is done by the any of the following methods: at the school office or by using the online payment service www.parentpay.com, or at any retail outlet which has a PayPoint service. Applications for ParentPay are made through the school office.

Primary and Secondary School Menus offer healthy and tasty meal options, which reflect the Scottish Government food and drink legal requirements for school lunches. Children of parents in receipt of Income Support are entitled to free meals.

Canteen menus are issued to Primary parents to inform them of what choices are available. Children who bring a packed lunch eat them in the cafeteria.

Parents should let the school know in advance if their child has any special dietary requirements.

There is also a morning break facility for primary and secondary pupils offered by the cafeteria – primary pupils receive milk and toast /fresh fruit while secondary pupils are able to purchase filled rolls and other snacks.

Further information and application forms can be obtained from the school or from the Catering Officer, Education Department, Comhairle nan Eilean, Sandwick Road, Stornoway (01851 822 733).

Only when the school receives authorisation from the Catering Officer can free meals be provided.

Access to the Village at Lunchtimes

Please note that primary pupils and S1-S4 pupils who do not go home for lunch are the responsibility of the school for the whole of the school day, including the lunch break, and are not permitted to leave the school grounds unless the school has received a written request from a parent or guardian. Secondary 5 and 6 pupils are exempt from this rule.

Attendance & Absence
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Attendance and Absence

If your child(ren) is/are to get the most out of their time in Sir E Scott School, it is important that they attend regularly. You will be aware that attendance rates for schools are now published nationally. The government has given schools guidelines on how absence should be recorded which is reflected in the following advice:

If your child is absent you should inform the school office before 8.50am on the day of absence.

If the absence is liable to last for some time, a note should be sent to the Head Teacher as soon as possible. Arrangements will then be made to cover the absence period, including sending homework which the pupil might attempt.

If you wish your child to be off for a special reason (e.g. to attend a wedding) a note seeking permission should be sent to the Head Teacher. Parents are discouraged from taking their children off school and should be aware that this kind of absence is recorded as an unauthorized absence on your child’s attendance record. Likewise, holidays during term time should be avoided: even if a pupil takes extra work home, the teaching that has been missed cannot be made up.

GroupCall

GroupCall is an automated message service, which informs parents when their child is absent from school without reason. The messaging service is linked to our morning registration system and a recorded GroupCall message or text will be sent out automatically to the contact telephone number to inform you that your child is absent from school. Please listen to the complete message before responding to it. If you know that your child is to be absent then please inform the school before 8.50am and this will avoid a GroupCall message being sent out.

Latecomers

A note or telephone call must be supplied by parents/carers to explain why a pupil is late; however, this does not apply if buses are late.

Complaints, Comments & Suggestions
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Complaints, Comments and Suggestions Procedure
We are keen that you should be completely satisfied about your child’s education and we encourage feedback from parents and pupils. We are, therefore, interested in feedback of all kinds, whether it be compliments, suggestions or complaints. If you have a complaint about the school, please let us know. It is better that these things are shared openly and resolved fairly rather than being allowed to damage the relationship between the family and the school. There will be no negative consequences arising from making a complaint and we will deal with the issue as confidentially as possible. If we have made a mistake we will apologise quickly and clearly and try to put things right.

There are some things which you should take note of in relation to making a complaint:

  • Please make any complaints initially to the Head Teacher. This makes sure that the school knows what is going on and has an opportunity to respond and resolve the issue.
  • If you are unhappy with the service or with our response then you will have the right to take the matter further. You can put your complaint in writing or fill in a complaint form. Completed forms should be sent to: Director of Education and Children’s Services, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Sandwick Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2BW.
  • If you are still unhappy after further investigation and reply you can take the matter up with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The reply will include the contact details.

We communicate with parents in many different ways: we hold parents’ evenings and information evenings (as per the school calendar) use GroupCall and send out termly newsletters; we also have regular contributions to the local newspapers. Parent Council meetings are held twice a term. Success assemblies and worship assemblies are held termly. We also send out letters for specific events to which parents are invited. Currently we are updating our website and welcome any suggestions you may have for improvement. We welcome communication and regularly phone parents and encourage them to e-mail and to phone us with any enquires or concerns.

Should you have any concerns then please let us know as quickly as possible. The contact number and email address are at the front of this handbook.

Parents should be aware that most communications between school and home will be done by email. It is important therefore, that you notify us of any change in your email address.

An email is usually sent to parents to advise of any letters that are being distributed by pupil post; these letters will usually be more important in nature.

Parental Involvement in School
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Our school welcomes parental involvement as research has shown that when parents are involved children do better in school.

We welcome parental involvement at Sir E Scott School (see Parent Council below). We also have parents’ evenings throughout the year and parents’ open days/consultation meetings and awareness raising workshops.

We involve parents as much as possible – for example through the use of the homework diary and year planner enabling parents to support learning at home. We are an open school, so if you have any questions then please feel free to contact us.

We send out regular newsletters (Nursery/Primary and Secondary) and we also encourage you to contact your son/daughter’s class teacher or Pupil Support teacher in the secondary department, if you have any concerns or to pass on success stories.

Pupil Diary and Homework

A diary is issued to all pupils at the start of session. It should be carried everyday and used to note down things done and to do both in and out of school. It is particularly important for recording homework issued by class/subject teachers. This is one of the ways in which we make sure we have direct and easy access to you and you to us.

These diaries are to be used to pass on information quickly and for you to write down any comments you have. We are increasingly trying to ensure that homework is creative, making full use of different resources. It will, at times, involve exercises but also research and personal investigations. Never believe that your child has no homework! There is always work to be learned, books to be read and vocabulary to be learned. Parents are asked to check the homework diary regularly and are welcome to write comments in the Notes section. Periodic checks will be made by the Head Teacher and other staff to monitor homework.

There are a number of very useful and informative websites should you wish more information:

www.educationscotland.gov.uk www.educationscotland.gov.uk
The new national body responsible from 1 July 2011 for supporting quality and improvement in learning and teaching from early years to adult and community learning
www.enquire.org.uk Enquire – the national advice service in Scotland for additional support for learning.
www.LTScotland.org.uk/Parentzone Parentzone – information for parents on all aspects of children’s learning.
www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence Latest information on the new qualifications.
www.hmie.gov.uk Information on inspection and evaluation of education provision.
www.employersandyoungpeople.org Making connections with employers to support learning
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/edandtrainingforyoungple

http://www.LTScotland.org.uk/supportinglearners/choicesandchanges/16pluslearnchoices/index.asp

  

16+ Learning Choices programme (learning opportunities for young people from age 16).
www.playtalkread.org Ideas to help parents of young children.
www.parentingacrossscotland.org/publications/top-ten-tips.aspx Top ten tips for parents series, including starting primary and secondary school.
www.homeworkelephant.co.uk / www.bbc.co.uk /schools/www.gridclub.com
http://www.channel4learning.com www.gaelic4parents.co.uk		 Homework/Learning at home
Formal Parent Representation
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The Parent Forum has elected a Parent Council that meets twice during the school term, with representation from nursery, primary and secondary sectors.

The role of the Parent Council is to:

  • Support the school in its work with parents
  • Represent the views of all parents
  • Encourage links between the school, parents, pupils, pre school groups and the wider community
  • Report back to the Parent Forum (all parents are members of the Parent Forum).

Parents/Carers are encouraged to volunteer or put themselves forward to be chosen as representatives of the Parent Council. The Parent Council meets 2 to 3 times per school term.  All meetings are open and parents are welcome to attend.