New Starter Info

Information for new starters 2024/25

We’re delighted that you have chosen Marleigh Primary Academy for your child. Please take the time to read through all of the documents available to download below. The documents contain important information about the school day and a guide to ordering school meals.

If you have any questions please contact the office at enquiries@marleighprimary.org

Information about breakfast club and after school clubs.

Times

8:40am – Playground gates open. All children enter via the gate next to the Newmarket Road Park & Ride site. All children will enter their classrooms via the playground door. The gate is locked at 8:50am, if you arrive after this time please go to the front office where your child will be marked as late in the register and taken to

8:50am – Playground gates close. Register taken. If you arrive after 8:50am, you will have to sign your child in via the school office.

1:30pm – Afternoon register is taken.

3:15pm – End of school day for all children. All children will exit their classrooms via the playground door.

School Uniform

At Marleigh Primary, we expect all our children to wear school uniform and be equipped with the appropriate kit for PE to promote a sense of unity and cohesion amongst pupils. We strongly recommend that all clothing is named.

The uniform is as follows:

• Grey or black skirt/pinafore dress/shorts/trousers or Purple and white gingham dress
• Purple sweater (without hood) or cardigan (with or without Marleigh Primary Academy or Marleigh Nursery logo)
• White or purple polo shirt or blouse/shirt
• Purple, white, grey or black socks or tights
• All children are required to wear flat, black shoes without logos. Children need to be able to do up
  shoes on their own. No platform soles, high heels or trainers

No items of clothing with hoods or other large logos please.

We use a company called “Price & Buckland” to provide our school uniform, and they operate an on-line ordering system. You can also purchase uniform from other providers without the school logo, but this should still be in the same uniform style.

If you are struggling to purchase school uniform for your child, please speak directly to myself or a member of the Executive Leadership Team and we will support you.

Long hair should be tied back.
Children should not wear jewellery other than small earring studs in pierced ears (these need to be removed before PE lessons).
No makeup or nail varnish should be worn.

Entering the school

Pupil’s enter and exit the school from the gate nearest to the Park & Ride. They will enter their classrooms from the doors onto the playground.

Bikes & Scooters

Pupils travelling to school on bikes and scooters will need to walk them through the gates and onto the playground. Pupils in Reception and KS1 should use the bike racks near the gate entrance. Pupils in KS2 will need to wheel their bikes across the playground and use the bike racks near to the carpark. Please note that no electric scooters will be allowed on the site. If pupils are attending Premier’s after school club, they will need to leave their bikes and scooters in the bike racks near to the carpark regardless of which year group they are in.

Absences

Illness

If your child is going to be late into school or absent through illness or medical appointments, the school office needs to be informed before 9:30am on that day by a telephone call. If no explanation for absence is given, the school office will make contact with parents/guardians to establish a reason for absence. For cases of diarrhoea and vomiting, 48hrs absence must be observed after the last episode of D&V.

If your child has an infectious illness, please let the school know as soon as it is diagnosed. There are recommended guidelines from County and the NHS that school has to follow if a child has an infectious illness.

Holidays

A child’s absence during term time disrupts continuity of learning. Not only does the child miss the teaching provided on these days whilst they are absent, but they are also less well prepared for subsequent lessons which build on prior learning. If you need to take your child out of school for any reason you need to complete an absence request form. The Executive Headteacher will consider the application and, depending on the stated reason, will either authorise the leave request or not.

PE Lessons

The timetable below indicates the days that your child will have PE lessons this term. Each class will have PE on 2 days a week. On the days that your child has PE, they will need to come to school dressed in their PE kit. Children will stay in their PE kit all day and do not need to bring a spare change of clothes.

Children should come to school on PE days wearing the following:

• White T-shirt (different to the one worn daily as part of their main uniform)
  Black shorts
• A pair of plimsolls/trainers (for outdoor P.E.)Black jogging bottoms or leggings and school sweatshirt (no hoods) for outdoor lessons in cold
  weather
• We ask that all long hair is tied back with small and discrete hair bands
• Children should not wear jewellery, other than earring studs in pierced ears – these must be removed
  during PE lessons

End of School

Our school day ends at 3.15pm and children should be picked up from outside the Reception classroom. If your child is going home with someone other than yourself/usual person collecting them, please let the school office know, and if this is the case we will ask for a password. We also ask that anyone bringing a dog
should leave them outside the school premises.

Parking

Unfortunately, we do not have facilities for parent parking.

Free School Meals Eligibility

All families are encouraged to check eligibility for free school meals even if you do not think you would qualify at this point. Once you have completed the form the Education Welfare Benefit Team will be able to continually check eligibility throughout your child’s school years using the ECS checking system. You would then be notified if you become eligible in the future. If you have difficulty accessing the form or completing it, please email the office and they can support you with your application.

Please Note: For pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 who automatically receive Universal Infant Free School Meals must also complete this form. Parents with children already in receipt of Free School Meals do not need to fill in the application form again.

Mid-morning snacks

The Early Years and KS1 pupils are provided with a mid-morning healthy snack through the Government initiative. It is usually an apple, orange, carrot, tomato or banana. If your child would prefer to bring in a healthy snack from home that is also fine but it must be nut-free.

My Child At School

The school has an online payment system which parents should use to pay for trips, clubs and other school activities. We hope you find paying this way much more convenient and from the schools perspective it saves us time and reduces the chance of money being lost or stolen. We use a system called My Child At School (MCAS) which is very easy to use and you can make online payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week safely.

Once your child starts you will be sent an invitation code to activate your child’s MCAS account.

Lunches

School lunches are available and free for pupils in Reception up to the end of year 2. Menus are circulated each term. Lunches must be booked in advance using the Innovate online ordering system. If you prefer to send in a packed lunch, you may do so, but we request no fizzy drinks or glass bottles and no nuts
or nut products. Please remember that we are not obliged to provide school meals for those who have not booked in advance. Register on Innovate here.

Private property

Personal and private property, e.g. toys, games, cards etc. should not be brought into school. We cannot take responsibility for any personal property should it be lost or damaged at school.

Medication/medical conditions

If your child has a specific medical condition requirement, please do let the school know in advance and include the details on the Admission Form. If your child is asthmatic please arrange with your GP to have an inhaler left in school at all times.

In accordance with County Council guidelines, our staff are not allowed to administer medicine, except in extreme exceptional circumstances. If your child is on antibiotics you, or an adult designated by you, can come in at break time or lunch time to administer the medicine. However, if the dosage is 3 times a day we
suggest you give one dose just before the child comes to school, another as they get home, and the third later in the evening. If the dosage is 4 times a day, then we will require you to complete a medical administer form, which are held in the school office. The school can only administer prescribed medicine from the
doctor which has the child’s details on.

Computer data – personal information

You will be requested to complete a pupil data form (Admission Form). Please can you complete the form and return it to school as soon as possible. The forms are extremely important as they provide us with parent/guardian contact numbers, medical information etc. We also ask for additional emergency contact numbers, such as a neighbour, childminder or grandparents who would be willing and ‘fit’ to take your child home during the day if they are feeling unwell. Once again this information is Strictly Confidential and our office practices comply with the Data Protection Act.

Emergency closures

In the event of a school closure for snow or other circumstances we will communicate this information by the following means:
Parent mail, notice on the School Website and Social Media.

E-Safety

We take E-Safety very seriously. You will receive regular updates and reminders of how to keep your child safe online. It is important we work in partnership with protecting children online in this ever changing digital world.