Welcome to Binstead Primary School

General

Absence from School

If your child has to be away for any reason, we need to know in order to meet legal requirements.

Please telephone the school between 8.30am and 9.30am on the morning of absence. You will be asked to send an email or note to confirm the absence.

Please do not send your child to school if he or she is unwell.

Family holidays should be taken within the school holidays, rather than term time. Parents must complete an application for authorisation of absence. Forms for this are available from the office. We aim for a 95% attendance.

Where attendance falls below 90% the situation is monitored by the Family Liaison Officer.

Equal Opportunities

Every member of the school is valued equally, irrespective of their race, gender, sexuality, background, age or level of ability. Every child has an entitlement to equal access as far as is possible and participation in all aspects of school life. As a community, we recognise and value diversity of cultures, languages, religions, opinions and beliefs in our society. We seek to engender an atmosphere of respect and sensitivity so that at Binstead we are all conscious of the needs of others, both in school and in the wider community.

Accessibility

Our accommodation is all on ground level and we have a disabled toilet and shower room. Teachers differentiate activities to cover the range of needs of all pupils.

It includes:

Improving the physical environment of the school, mainly ensuring that as areas are repainted consideration is given to needs of visually impaired eg contrasting colours for doors. Ensuring any redesigned areas allow wheelchair access and consider needs of other disabled users within our community
Improving delivery of written information as needed to respond to needs of families to include the development of large print information or other formats which respond to needs of current pupils and their families and their preferred means of communication
Using IT where needed to support disabled pupils and those within our school community

Our accessibility Plan is incorporated into the School Improvement Plan

Medical Services

There is a school nurse allocated to Binstead Primary School, who can be contacted through the school for advice, or if need be, directly on 0300 123 5224

The medical service provides:

Inspections for school entrants
Inspections for other children on request

The school nurse does not inspect for head lice. We ask you to check your child's hair regularly and treat if necessary. Head lice are a considerable nuisance, but we have a collective responsibility to keep this to a minimum. If your child has active head lice we may ask you to treat them so that they do not pass to other children. We have adopted the Policy on Head lice agreed by all Isle of Wight Primary Schools.

Staff do not normally administer medicines in school, though in exceptional cases it may be possible to arrange this - this is normally for conditions such as asthma. We require parents/carers to complete a consent form available in the school office.

Communication

We communicate:

Weekly - The Binstead Buzz Newsletter
Annually - Parents/Carers & Pupils questionnaires, which form part of our self evaluation process (We will consult on specific issues throughout the year)
Electronically through Arbor and e-mail. Most parents/carers opt for information this way