Category: General Information

Older children may get free school meals if their parents or carers get any of these benefits:

• Universal Credit – if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The Guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit only, if your annual household income (assessed by HM Revenue & Customs) isn’t over £16,190. Anyone getting Working Tax Credit won’t get free meals regardless of income
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Children will get free school meals if they meet the criteria and are in school both before and after lunchtime.

Children eligible for free school meals on or after 1 April 2018 will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they’re in on 31 March 2022 even if your circumstances change.

• Apply for free school meals online

Our Electronic Checking Service might be able to confirm entitlement. If not, you’ll need to show recent proof that you qualify. Meals cannot be given until eligibility is verified.

If your child attends an East Sussex school, apply to us or to the school.

At Stafford we are committed to working with parents to help every child reach their full potential through regular school attendance. Any absence from school is a disruption to children’s learning. Children who miss out on teaching whilst on holiday find themselves unprepared for the sessions that build on this teaching.

Schools are expected by the Department for Education to only consider authorising a holiday in term time for ‘exceptional circumstances’. If you consider that your request for a holiday in term time is for exceptional circumstances, please request a form from the school office. You will be notified of the head teacher’s decision following the request. If it is not deemed to be exceptional circumstances, the holiday will be unauthorised. In the case of an unauthorised absence of 5 days or more, the Education Support, Behaviour and Attendance Service (ESBAS) will be notified and a Penalty Notice will be issued. Please note that Penalty Notices are issued to each parent for each child taken out of school. A Penalty Notice is a fine of £60 which increases if not paid within the first 21 days.

Thank you for your support in helping the children to achieve their best.

Regular school attendance is very important to ensure your child’s overall success and enjoyment at school. The school day at Stafford starts at 8.35 a.m. with the Register closing in class at 8.40 a.m. This means that children need to be in their class ready to start their learning.

The main school gates at Stafford will be locked at 8.40 a.m. and this means that children will need to buzz to be let onto the school site and then sign in at the school office. If your child walks to Stafford unaccompanied please ensure they know this.

Punctuality also plays an important part as children arriving late to school often miss out on the most important information of the day. It also causes disruption to other pupils’ learning when children arrive part way through a lesson.

If your child is absent from school for whatever reason, please telephone the relevant school office daily. Please send in a letter confirming their absence when they return to school.

If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance, please contact the Attendance Officer.

Thank you for your continued support.

Prams/buggies should not be brought into the school building. No scooters, bikes, tricycles should be ridden anywhere on the school site.

When your child is unwell, please keep them at home. It is not fair to send children to school unwell. Germs and bugs spread rapidly in classrooms and children cannot concentrate on their work if they are ill.

Children who are sick, particularly in the night, should be off for a minimum of 48 hours to ensure the germ has passed. If your child needs to finish a course of medication once back at school, you must fill in the relevant form before we will administer it. This is obtained from the school office, or you can download and print one here. All medicines should be brought to and collected from schoolby an adult. We will contact you if we think your child is ill so that you can come and collect them. Please ensure all contact details are up to date with the office.

Stafford does not run any Breakfast or After School clubs itself. If you are interested in childcare at either end of the school day, please contact:

The Bridgemere Centre Breakfast and After School Clubs
100 Bridgemere Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN22 8TY

Telephone / Fax Number: 01323 439700
Email: bookings@thebridgemerecentre.co.uk

Pupils are brought from the Bridgemere Centre to Stafford Junior School for the start of the school day and are collected at the end of the day.

It is important to notify the school on the first day of your child’s absence giving the reason for that absence. You can do this in two ways - either ring in early and leave a message on the answer machine. This message is alwaysreceived and entered into a book. We will not return that call and it is not necessary for you to phone to see if we received the call. Or you can ring the office as soon as you can, preferably before 10.00 a.m.

When your child returns to school, please confirm the absence with a letter.

It is important to keep the school informed of any absence. If your child is away for several days, ring in regularly to keep us updated. Any absence not registered will be unauthorised after all endeavours have been made to establish a reason for the absence.