Dear Parents/Guardians,

At School drop off and collection time please remember to drive and park legally and be considerate to our neighbours.

Thank you.

Dear Parents,

As we approach the half term break, I would like to take this opportunity to provide some important information and reminders relating to our expectations as a PE and Games department here at Ralph Sadleir School, in particular to the equipment your child will require. I would also like to highlight the procedures the PE and games staff will follow should your child forget equipment or be unable to participate fully in PE/Games.

Firstly I would like to mention that the PE and Games department has always been well supported by pupils and parents alike. The subject area is a popular one and pupils enjoy their lessons. We have seen excellent achievement across the subject and this has been carried through into extracurricular clubs and into matches, competitions and tournaments at a range of levels. Recently however, a few issues have risen which have prompted this reminder letter and I do hope that it will provide the necessary information and clear up any confusion for parents and pupils.

With regards to kit and equipment, the health and safety of the pupils here is a priority and as such we as a school will not allow your child to participate within a PE or games session without the appropriate equipment. With this in mind, your child will need to have a pair of football boots for rugby, football and hockey activities undertaken within the games curriculum. This is so that your child will have the adequate traction on the field so as to avoid any slips or falls which could result in serious injury. Trainers and astro turf style trainers do not provide enough grip on a wet/muddy field and therefore are not suitable for your child to take part safely in games lessons. Pupils who do not bring appropriate footwear for the activity will still change into their kit and take some part in the lesson.

Pupils in Years 7 and 8 will not be allowed to participate in contact rugby sessions without a gum shield. This is a required piece of protective equipment and no child will be allowed to participate in contact rugby practice games or matches without one. If your child does not have a gum shield, they will still fully participate within practices and drills. For rugby purposes only, pupils are allowed to wear additional protective clothing under their games kit including sports base layers, padded shirts suitable for rugby, rugby caps or suitable rugby gloves which can be purchased at many sports outlets including sports direct. These items are not suitable for other activities.

All pupils taking part in football and hockey activities are required to wear shin pads. This is for the protection of your child as both activities have a high possibility of contact to the lower legs which could cause minor injury if your child is not wearing them, particularly in game or match situations.

Pupils who do not bring the appropriate kit to participate safely in PE/Games activities will not participate in the active part of these lessons but will complete another task such as officiating and in addition will be issued with a 10 minute kit detention.

Your child will be asked to remove all jewellery, watches and ear studs for PE and games activities. If your child is unable to remove their studs, then they should cover them with tape. In certain activities it will not be safe for your child to participate fully should they be unable to remove their ear studs even if they are covered in tape.

Finally with regards to kit and equipment, we have seen a large rise in the amount of lost property from KS2 pupils and we are working hard to return items to pupils. This is made much easier if the items of kit are clearly named and we can return them quickly to your child.

In the event of your child being unable to participate in PE due to an injury, we will require a written note from you to indicate that this is the case. The pupil will still be required to have their PE kit and to get changed (unless unable to do so due to a cast or immobilisation). This is so that they can complete another task within the lesson such as officiating, coaching, timing or something else related to the activity. Should the lesson take place outside, wearing their kit is more appropriate for them than getting their school shoes and uniform wet/muddy.

Lastly, aerosol deodorant sprays or perfumes are not permitted in school. Use of these sprays in confined areas such as the changing rooms can potentially cause irritation and breathing difficulty for our asthmatic pupils. Roll on deodorant is perfectly acceptable.

I do hope that the above information is clear and that we can count on your continued support for Ralph Sadleir School and the PE and Games department in the future and should you have any questions relating to any of these rules and procedures, I can be contacted at school.

Yours sincerely,

Mr S. Morgan
Head of PE

Dear Parents,

Parents new to the school, or who have never attended the Parents’ Forum may be asking, ‘What is the Parents’ Forum?’ and ‘Who attends the Parents’ Forum?’. Hopefully the next few lines will answer both questions.

One of my key aims as headteacher has always been to have excellent communication with parents. Parents’ Forum is one way of helping achieve this and over the years has proved to be a very effective two-way communication system.

When Ralph Sadleir’s Parents’ Forum was first started the purpose was to create a group where parents could

• discuss school related issues with other parents and members of the school staff
• help review policies and procedures that affect parents / pupils
• improve communication between home and school
• improve mutual understanding of current issues affecting parents, pupils and the school

To date we have succeeded in all these aims and hope to continue to do so. In fact we have been so successful in what we have tried to do that other schools in the area have copied our format.

Agenda for the forum are generated by issues that are current to the working of the school and by matters put forward by parents. The forum is open to all parents and those attending usually cover all years in school so discussions usually reflect opinions of parents with children throughout the school.

Notes from the meetings are posted on the school website where they are accessible to our whole school community. I often receive emails from parents commenting on items that are being discussed.

In order to facilitate consultation with as many parents as possible, forum meetings are held in an afternoon and then repeated in an evening. Parents expressing interest attend one or other as the agenda is the same for both sessions. This year meetings will alternate between Mondays and Wednesdays. I hope this will enable more parents to be involved.

The first meetings will be on Monday 7th October 2013 at 1.45pm and 7.30pm.

Parents can attend as many or as few of the forum meetings as they wish; attendance at one does not mean you have to attend the next!

Discussions and subsequent work over the past years have included:

• Communication between home and school
• School prospectus
• The local pyramid of schools
• Transition from year 4 into 5 including the development of a comprehensive handbook for parents
• Healthy living
• Freman College
• School policies
• Reporting pupil progress to parents

From the points raised by parents a number of changes and improvements to our working practices have been made. We hope this will continue this year as our partnership with you strengthens still further.

If you are interested in attending the forum and would like an item discussing at the forthcoming meeting please email me at admin@ralphsadleir.herts.sch.uk

I look forward to meeting with many of you and discussing how we can move Ralph Sadleir forward together.

Yours sincerely

Mrs E M Hinton
Headteacher

Dates for 2013/14

• Monday 7th October 2013
• Wednesday 27th November 2013
• Monday 20th January 2014
• Wednesday 5th March 2014
• Monday 12th May 2014
• Wednesday 18th June 2014
• Monday 23rd June 2014 – joint meeting to welcome parents of incoming pupils

Please sign in at the school office from where you will be taken to the appropriate room for the meeting.