School Office Opening Times

The school office is open from 8.30am to 4.00pm.

An answer phone is available for you to leave messages outside of these hours.

Alternatively, please send an email with any information or questions to: office@wilstead.school. Please be aware that emails may not be read immediately and important information should be conveyed via a telephone or in-person discussion. 

The Wilstead School Day

KS2 Pupils are expected in school at 8.45am, ready for a prompt start to the day. We encourage KS1 pupils to also be in at 8:45am, although we practice a 'softer start' to their day and will not take the register until 9:05am.

Reception finishes at 3:25pm, the remainder of the school at 3:30pm.

Year 5 and 6 children are allowed to leave the school site alone provided that a parent/guardian has completed the neccessary paperwork. All other children are to be collected from school premises.

Morning break begins at 10.30am and lasts for 15 minutes

Lunch time is from 12 noon and lasts for one hour

Assembly is at 10.15am on Mondays and Wednesdays.

On Friday afternoon we have a Special Mentions Assembly to celebrate the week's achievements. Parents are welcome to attend if they would like to do so.

Late Arrivals and Reporting Absences

The school Absence Line is available 24/7 on: 01234 302303, selecting option 1.

We need to know about both planned and unplanned absences. It is the school's legal responsbility to ask where a child is if they are absent.

Please ensure that you contact the school absence line on every day of your child’s absence. Clearly state the pupil’s name, class and the reason for absence, which again, we must ask for and record. We may also request copies of any medication given and/or doctor’s/hospital appointment letters.

If you are unsure whether to keep your child off school, please refer to the Department for Education guidance on infection control:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522337/Guidance_on_infection_control_in_schools.pdf

If we have not received a reason for an absence, parents/carers will receive a phone call asking for information. There may be an occasion when a parent is called despite the pupil being in school, usually because they have come in late and missed the registration period, or a register has been erronously completed. If this happens, we do apologise!

It is the parent/carers' responsibility to report to the office and sign the pupil in the Late Register.

Taken from the General Information Document below:

SICKNESS/DIARRHOEA

If a pupil is physically sick or has diarrhoea in school it is requested that they are collected as soon as possible to avoid the spread of infection. They must remain off school for a period of 48 hours after the last episode of vomiting/diarrhoea.

Term Time Absence

Wilstead Primary School does not authorise term time absences for holidays. In exceptional circumstances, absences may be authorised by the Headteacher. This is usually in the case of family bereavements or illness and each case is considered on merit. More information can be found below.

Children are expected to be in school every day unless ill, and attendance is carefully monitored by the school and overseen by Bedford Borough Local Authority. Where there are concerns that a child's attendance is falling below acceptable percentages, parents and carers may receive letters of warning, be asked to meet with senior leaders or the school's Attendance Officer or in exceptional circumstances be issued with a fixed penalty notice. This is in line with the Local Authority and National guidance and expectations.