NewsletterAutumn Term - Friday 6th September

We have loved welcoming the children back into school, and meeting the new children who have started in Reception. It has been a really positive start to the term and the teachers have all been impressed with how well the children have settled back into school.

Class newsletters will be going out early next week, which will provide you with information about topics and key learning for this term.

We are in the process of finalising some key dates for this term, which will be sent out to you soon. 

Thank you

Mrs Ryan

Head Teacher

Following my promotion to Head Teacher in April, and the retirement of our SENDCO, Mrs Marshall, there have been some changes to our staffing.

Mrs Pilborough is now our Assistant Head Teacher. She has worked at the school for 10 years and has been a vital part of our school development, having worked as our English and Key Stage 1 leader for a number of years.

Miss Holt is taking on the role of Special Educational Needs and / or Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCO). She has worked at our school for over 3 years, with the last 2 working as the Deputy SENDCO.

Last year, we also welcomed Mrs Wilson as our School Business Manager.

                  Mrs Ryan                              Mrs Pilborough                               Miss Holt                                       Mrs Wilson

              Head Teacher                   Assistant Head Teacher                   SENDCO                         School Business Manager

In response to feedback from our parent survey, we are planning to move the majority of our communication to Tapestry, so that information can be found in one place. There are occasions when we may need to email information out, particularly if it is from the office (such as an email linked to Schools Buddy, our system for booking access to our wrap around care at Robert Miles Club), but mostly it will be shared on Tapestry, particularly regarding class / school events.

Please ensure you have access to Tapestry and that your account has been activated. There will soon be a test post, where you will be asked to like the post so that we can check at least one parent / carer in each family has an active account.

For now, until we have confirmed this, some information will be sent via both Tapestry and email to ensure it reaches all parents. I will update you when we are moving to Tapestry for the majority of communication.

Please remember to always communicate any absence via the school office, rather than Tapestry. Teachers may not see your message in time and so the school office may contact parents if they haven't been informed about the absence, even if it is on Tapestry.

As promised, the children are having their lunch in year groups, so they get to eat with and play with their friends in the same year group, who may be in another class.

Please follow this link to a copy of our menu for the first half of the year. School dinner menu - Sept 24

We will send out dates for our first 'Family Dining' session of the year soon.

We offer wrap around provision from 7.30am in the morning until 6.00pm in the evening. Because the sessions are run by members of staff well-known to the children, it is a smooth transition from school to the club and vice versa.

From now on, please ensure all bookings are done through the Schools Buddy system, even for short notice bookings. 

If you would like your child to attend and do not have a Schools Buddy account, or if you are having trouble accessing an existing account, please contact the school office:  office@rmischool.co.uk    01949 837422

All children wear school uniform at Robert Miles Infants. It helps them to feel a part of the school community and makes them easily identifiable on school walks or outings. 

Our school uniform consists of:

• Blue sweatshirt or cardigan

• White polo shirt

• Black/grey trousers or shorts

• Grey skirt/pinafore – blue check summer dress may be worn in warmer weather

• Black/white/grey socks or tights

• Sensible black shoes

School Uniform can be purchased from S and A Uniforms – order forms and sample sizes are available at the school office. Alternatively, many of the larger supermarkets and department stores stock most of our school uniform. There is no expectation that children should wear branded items of uniform.

Contact details:

S and A Uniforms: Compton Acres, West Bridgford, Nottingham

Telephone: 07970 875671

Website: www.sauniforms.co.uk            Email: s-a.uniforms@ntlworld.com

Please ensure all items of clothing are clearly labelled.

If your child should lose any of their belongings, lost property is located near to the main entrance.

Forest Schools, with Ms Allin, our trained Forest School teacher, will be starting again next week.

Hazel and Elm classes will have their session on a Wednesday afternoon.

Reception (Willow and Maple) and Pine class will have their session on a Friday afternoon.

On those days, please send your child with wellies in a clearly labelled bag and ensure they have a waterproof coat. If you are unable to provide wellies, please let your child's class teacher know so that your child can borrow a pair for that day.

Ms Allin

Forest School Teacher

This information is copied over from one of our summer newsletters, to ensure our new parents are aware:

As you may have heard in the news, the government are bringing in new regulations to improve school attendance. In February 2024, the Department for Education (DfE) published ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, which provides statutory guidance for schools. It applies from 19th August 2024.

Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed school for unauthorised reasons. As term-time holidays are counted as unauthorised absence, except for in exceptional circumstances, they will be included in this. Although many other schools already have this in place, we have not yet referred any families to the local authority for fining purposes. However, we need to ensure our procedures are in line with the new statutory guidance.

You can find out more information in the DfE’s guide for parents on school attendance.

You can also download a full copy of the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ document here.

There will be separate letter clarifying how Fixed Penalty Notices for unauthorised absences work soon. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you

Mrs Ryan

Have you checked if your child is entitled to additional funding? This money comes into school and makes a big difference to what we can offer. Please click on the link to see if you are eligible.

https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/education/school-meals/free-school-meals-and-milk

It should only take a few minutes. If you are successful, you will be able to claim ten free sessions at our before / after-school provision (Robert Miles Club) and a free book bag!

Please contact the school office if you would like some support to complete the form.

As some of you may have seen, we have made the local news for the second time this year. Here is a link to the recent article, regarding our community litter-picking session: https://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/news/school-pupils-team-up-to-clean-up-town-9377368/

The roofing project has continued throughout the summer. Thank you for your patience whilst it is going on - we know the playground has been limited and lining up positions have been temporarily altered. We are hoping for the project to be finished soon after half term. In the meantime, we are pleased that we will be able to gain some of our playground back from next week, as the skip has now been moved to the front of the school, in the car park.

Please see the poster below for dates of open days for parents / carers looking for a Reception school place for September 2025.

Please feel free to spread the word!

Please use these links for information regarding the Rushcliffe Family Hub's Children's Centre timetables:

• Family Drop-in Sessions (Sept-Dec)
• Universal Timetable (Sept-Dec)