Paper copies of all policies can be requested from the school office, with translations arranged as required.
Charging and Remissions Policy
Parent / Carers Privacy Notice
Relationships and Behaviour Policy
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
For safeguarding purposes we need to be aware of the whereabouts and safety of all the children who attend New Islington Free School, during school hours.
Absence through illness
If a child is unwell and will be staying at home, we need to be informed before 9.30am. Notification can be given in person, by phone call to or by email to [email protected]. Please note that we need to be informed by an adult family member. If a child is not in school without prior notification, we will contact parents to ascertain their child’s whereabouts.
Time out of school for medical/dental appointments
Appointments for dentists, doctors, hospitals etc are better made out of school hours or during holidays. We are aware that this is not always possible and so appointments either at the beginning or end of the school day can avoid too much disruption to children’s learning. For all appointments where a child may miss any time in school, we request that an appointment card or letter is brought to the school office in order that the time out of school can be authorised.
Punctuality
Children should be brought to school in time for collection from the playground at 8.50am. Although unavoidable on occasion, being late can be upsetting and disruptive to children, as well as being distracting to the rest of the class.
Holidays during school time
Following recent legislation and national guidance that applies to all schools, we cannot authorise any holidays taken in school time except where there are exceptional circumstances. Please be aware that parents who take their child/ren away in school time may be issued with a penalty notice and this could also lead to prosecution. As well as holidays taken mid-term, this also applies to sessions missed on the first or last day of term.
Attendance expectations COVID-19
In March 2020 when the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was increasing, the Government made it clear that no parent would be penalised or sanctioned for their child’s non-attendance at school.
Now the circumstances have changed (August 2020) it is vital for all children to return to school to minimise as far as possible the longer-term impact of the pandemic on children’s education, wellbeing and wider development.
Missing out on more time in the classroom risks pupils falling further behind. Those with higher overall absence tend to achieve less well in both primary and secondary school.
School attendance will therefore be mandatory again from the beginning of the autumn term 2020. This means from that point, the usual rules on school attendance will apply, including:
Much more is known now about coronavirus (COVID-19) and so in future there will be far fewer children advised to shield whenever community transmission rates are high. Therefore, the vast majority of pupils will be able to return to school. In the case of a very small number of pupils who may still be unable to attend in line with public health advice because they are shielding or self-isolating and have had symptoms or a positive test result themselves; or because they are a close contact of someone who has coronavirus (COVID-19), absence will not be penalised.
All other pupils must attend school. We are mindful of the potential concerns of pupils, parents and households who may be reluctant or anxious about returning and put the right support in place to address this. This may include pupils who have themselves been shielding previously but have been advised that this is no longer necessary, those living in households where someone is clinically vulnerable, or those concerned about the comparatively increased risk from coronavirus (COVID-19), including those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds or who have certain conditions such as obesity and diabetes.
If parents of pupils with significant risk factors are concerned, we enter into positive and supportive dialogue to discuss their concerns and provide reassurance of the measures we are putting in place to reduce the risk in school.
We will however be clear with parents that pupils of compulsory school age must be in school unless a statutory reason applies.
Prospective parents are most welcome to visit the school. An appointment can be made by telephoning , where our office team will be happy to help you. You can view our Admissions Policy here
Alternatively you can email us at: [email protected] or you can get in touch via our website.
We adhere to the Local Authority’s Admission Policy which can be viewed via the Council website:
https://www.manchester.gov.uk/schooladmissions
The Local Authority’s Admission Policy explains:
• The application process
• The selection process
• The over subscription criteria
Admissions to our Reception class are administered by the local authority admissions section according to the following criteria:
1. Children in care.
2. Children considered to have highly exceptional medical/social needs.
3. Children resident within the catchment area of the school with a sibling at the school at the time the younger child starts.
4. Children resident within the catchment area of the school.
5. Children resident outside the catchment area of the school with a sibling at the school at the time the younger child starts school.
6. Other children.
7. Applications received after the closing date (ordered by the criteria 1 to 6 above).