School Information

Our school ethos is:

A colourful journey where we all become the very best we can be

Our Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) is our Acting Head, Melissa Hendry.

Red Gates is a primary special school catering for the needs of pupils with severe learning difficulties and autism.

All of our policies and curriculum information relate to meeting these complex individual needs.

The following documents contain all the information required about the pupils in our school, their needs and how we meet them.

All of these documents can be found on our website along with a wide range of other information explaining our inclusive ethos and all the work we do to maximise the potential of all of our pupils.

The school office is open between 8:00 am and 3:45 pm. Outside of these hours you can leave a message on the answering machine.

Children arrive at school at 9.20am and leave school at 3:25 pm.
End of term children leave school at 2:30 pm

If your child is away from school unexpectedly because, for example, they are sick, you must phone the school office on 020 8651 6540 to let us know the reason on the first day of absence. If you child is transported to school, you must telephone BOTH the school and the Transport department on 020 8686 2215.

If you know beforehand that your child is going to be away e.g. for a medical/dental appointment, religious holiday etc you must write in your child’s home/school diary, let the class team know and telephone the office.

If your child is going to be away for part of a day e.g. hospital appointment, it is vital that we are informed as to whether they are going to be in school for lunch. The kitchen need to know by 10:30 am each morning which children require lunch. If you do not inform us, there may not be a lunch for them when they arrive.

When your child has diarrhoea and/or vomiting, you must keep them at home for a full 48 hours after the last bout of diarrhoea and/or vomiting. This is a directive from the Health Protection Agency so that the spreading of infection is minimised.

Currently all government funded primary schools are required to offer Free School Meals to all Reception Year 1 and Year 2 pupils. We still need to as certain which families are in receipt of certain benefits as the school receives extra funding based on benefit entitlements. The Welcome Pack contains a free school meal application form which we would ask you to complete regardless of whether your child will be taking up the school meal or not. Thank you for your cooperation.

Pupils are charged £2.30 per day if they are not eligible for free school meals from September 2019.

Please contact the office in the morning if your child is off school due to sickness or any other reason or if your child has an appointment and will be coming into school late. It is vital that we know in advance whether lunch is required or not.

Milk is available to all children for a mid-morning break provided by a company called ‘Cool Milk’, at a cost of 22 pence per day for children over 5 years of age. However, if your child is under 5 or you are in receipt of certain benefits (please check first with the school office) you can order milk at no cost. If you would like to order milk for your child, please complete either the free milk or paid milk form, available from the office and return it to the FREEPOST address on the form (not to the school). You can also register on their website www.coolmilk.com or telephone them on 0844 854 2913.

Parents will be provided with a login and letter of explanation to set up an account once their child is a pupil at Red Gates School. Whilst students in Reception/ Year 1 and Year 2 are eligible for Universal Infant Free Schools Meals (UIFSM) and will not use this for payment of dinner money, the system could be used in the future for payment of other items such as snack money and class trips.

Branded uniform can be purchased from Marks and Spencer using the link below. Our school uniform consists of the following which you are welcome to purchase elsewhere:

- Navy polo shirt
- Navy trousers, jogging bottoms, skirt or shorts
- Navy Jumper

Click Here for M&S website

Pupils can wear whatever shoes they are most comfortable in.

We a small selection of second hand uniform available at school, please contact Julie at juliemuir@redgates.croydon.sch.uk for more information.
​
We understand that for some of our pupils wearing uniform can be challenging. Children being in school is our priority and if your child refuses to wear uniform please do not worry. You are welcome to send their uniform in their bag and staff will support them to be comfortable and tolerant of wearing it.

Please make sure all of your child’s uniform and any spare clothing, school bags and overnight bags are clearly named. This helps to ensure that you get all the correct clothing and bags sent home again should we need to change your child during the day.

Uniforms

During the day, apart from milk, we like to be able to offer the children other drinks such as orange squash, particularly to those children who do not drink milk, and healthy snacks such as raisins and fruit. Obviously this can be quite costly, so we do ask parents to contribute £1 per week to help with this. The £1 contributions are also put towards birthday parties and treats for the children so please do send it in if at all possible. This amount can be paid weekly or half-termly and can be handed to your child’s escort, in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name. Do not put money in your child’s bag.

If you need to send any prescribed medication into school for your child this must be clearly marked by the dispensing chemist/Dr. with your child’s name and the dosage. Any medication which is not correctly marked cannot be given to your child.

Please give medication to your child’s escort who will hand this over to the school. Do not put medication in your child’s bag. Please keep the school informed of any medical appointments or health issues.

The school uses Teacher 2 Parent system, as well as messages in the home/school contact book and telephone, to communicate with parents. The Teacher 2 Parent system is a text and email system which is used as a reminder for appointments, events held at the school and any unavoidable changes to the school day

If you are visiting the school for an appointment or school event you will need to park in Farnborough Avenue or surrounding roads. You can only park on the school site at the pupil entrance, if you are picking up your child from school due to illness. You can park in the bus bays and collect your child from the school office.

However, there is no parking available on the school site when the buses are dropping off and picking up children during the hours of 9:00am-9.30am and 2:45pm-3:30pm.

Accessibility Plan 2020