We would be delighted to welcome you and your family to Greysbrooke School, and look forward to getting to know you. We understand how worrying starting a new school can be for both children and their parents/carers, but should you have any questions at all please do feel free to contact us. We’re a friendly bunch and always happy to help!

School Lingo

When your child starts at Greysbrooke School, there will be new terminology within school communication which you may not be familiar with.

These are the key references you need to know, but if there’s anything else you don’t understand, please do ask the class teacher.

EYFS

Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception)

KS1

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2 – although Reception are often included under this at Greysbrooke due to their location)

KS2

Key Stage 2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6)

TA

Teaching Assistants. We have a number of Teaching Assistants at Greysbrooke School who support the Teaching Staff in class

PPA

Planning, Preparation and Assessment (this is time that teachers are allocated at various points throughout the week)

FROGS

Friends and Relations of Greysbrooke School (P.T.A.)

School Communication

We know how important it is to feel well informed and in touch with the school, so there are lots of ways that school communicates with parents and help you stay up to date.

We now send nearly all of our newsletters and communication pieces via email or text message, so it is important that you ensure we have your correct email and mobile details. Here are a few things to look out for:

Greysbrooke newsletter (Grapevine)

Every two weeks you will receive Greysbrooke’s newsletter – ‘The Greysbrooke Grapevine’. It showcases events that have taken place during the term and tells parents what has been happening in school.

Text and online

The school uses Parent Text to send the occasional reminders or to inform you of changes to club arrangements etc.

You can follow us on Twitter: @greysbrookeATLP

Sign up to Twitter to view our tweets.

Letters from school

Sometimes, especially when replies are needed, you will still receive paper communications from the school.

Letters will be given out in class for things like trips, consent forms, fruit orders, after school clubs.

If you have missed any order forms or letters, go to the school office to collect one.

Talking to your child’s teacher

If you want to contact your child’s teacher you have a number of options. If you need to ensure the teacher receives the message on the day then you can:

• Give your child a letter to hand to the teacher (or hand it to them at the door yourself)
• Leave a message with the adult on the door as these are always are passed on
• There’s often a chance to have a quick playground chat with the teacher at the end of the day
• Phone the school reception and leave a message for the teacher – remember to say if it is urgent and they will call you back when they can

If it’s not urgent then you can simply write a note in their homework diary (KS2) as these are checked at least once a week or encourage your child to show it to the teacher.

Reading  

Each class visits the school library every week and will be able to choose a book to bring home from a large range of fiction and non-fiction books.

These are not necessarily for the children to read alone, especially in KS1 they are often for parents to read with children. Teachers help direct children to age appropriate shelves. They will also visit Shenstone library several times during their time at Greysbrooke.

Key Events

Children really do love having their parents come into school and there are lots of occasions where you will be able to come and visit.

Class assembly

Once a year your child’s class will put on an assembly. It is usually performed on a Friday and parents/relations are welcome to attend – look in the Grapevine for the dates.

Sports day

This is held in the summer term. Parents are welcome to come to cheer along their children. Children earn valuable points for their house in order to see which house will be the Sports Day Champion!

FROGS events

In addition to the above there are many activities organised by FROGS for your children, some in school time and some during weekends. These include our annual duck race, Easter egg hunt, Christmas Fair and discos.

Rewards & Recognition

Greysbrooke School promotes learning and good behaviour through praise, encouragement and by celebrating success.

There are a number of ways children are rewarded and recognised. These include merit points, house points, our ‘good to be green’ reward system and Privileges.

Children are rewarded for staying ‘green’ all week due to good behaviour with a sticker, and a certificate if they stay ‘green’ all term. Yellow and red cards are used to help children understand what is classed as inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour.

Money Matters

Dinner money

Dinner money should be paid in advance by uploading a minimum of £11.75 to ParentPay. School dinners cost £2.35 per day, and are free to all Reception and Key Stage 1 children. The link for ParentPay is http://ParentPay.com

Extra funding!

If your household annual earnings are under £16,190 (or you are eligible for certain benefits) your child is entitled to free school meals (even in KS2).

The school also receives £1,300 Pupil Premium funding for each child who is eligible, even if you prefer them to bring sandwiches or they are in KS1 and entitled to free meals anyway.

This money is spent on improving your child’s education in school and is used to support funding for residential trips and school visits for those children, so please pick up a form from the school’s office if you think this applies to you.

Get Involved

Parent, teacher and friends association (FROGS)

Friends and Relations of Greysbrooke School, or FROGS, helps to raise funds for school with a range of events throughout the year. They meet one evening every month.

Parent helpers

Parent helpers are parents who give a few hours per week to help in some way, for example they may listen to children reading. If you would like to get involved with any of the above groups, speak to the school office for more information.

Other Information

Teacher training days

There are eight teacher training days throughout the school year where school is open for teachers only, pupils have these days off! They are usually just before or just after a school holiday.

PPA

Teachers use 10% of their teaching time for PPA (Planning, Preparation and Assessment) each week. This gives the class teacher time to prepare their future lessons away from the classroom and allows specialist teachers to take lessons such as French and music.

Easyfundraising

Do you shop online? If so please sign up to www.easyfundraising.org.uk, link yourself to Greysbrooke Primary School and then whenever you shop online, open the site via the easyfundraising home page and Greysbrooke receive a donation each time.

It’s totally free for you, but raises money for school. Last year, one local primary school received over £2000 from easyfundraising. So whether it’s food, clothes, travel or insurance, whether you use ebay, Next, Amazon, M&S, Argos or Tesco, go via easyfundraising and help raise money for Greysbrooke for free. There are 100’s of different companies and retailers signed up, so have a look if the one you’re buying from is listed.