FAQs from parents
What does the school day look like at Windmill?
The official school day starts with morning registration at 8:45am and ends at 3:15pm. This includes breaks but not optional before or after school activities. The total time this amounts to in a typical week is 32.5 hours.
Please note, Nursery has a different timetable to the main school including start/ finish times.
Even if gates are open, parents will be required to sign in late pupils after 8.45am.
8:35am Gates open for school pupils
8.45am Gates close for school pupils, class registers are taken by teachers.
12:00pm Lunchtime
1:00pm Afternoon registers are taken.
3:15pm End of the school day. Teachers dismiss all children into the care of their parent/carers, and release children with written permission to walk home alone. Children attending after school clubs will be collected by club coaches.
Where can I find key information about the school?
The school information booklet below is a must read for new parents and holds a plethora of information including school day timings, uniform expectations, methods of communication, how to report absences, and much, much more.
What happens if my child loses something?
We now have a lost property trunk outside the main entrance to the office.
- Labelled clothing and items are always returned to children.
- Staff try to reunite unlabelled clothing and items with children, if these items still go unclaimed they will go in the lost property trunk.
You are welcome to check the trunk for any items your child/ren may have lost.
How do children celebrate birthdays in school?
We celebrate birthdays in school in the following ways:
- Birthday celebrations are shared in assembly
- Children wear their own clothes on their birthday. If your child's birthday falls on the weekend, or during the holidays, then children can wear their own clothes on the next school day
- If families would like to share something with the class, we would love it if children brought in a book to gift to the class. This is, of course, completely optional and only a suggestion.
Some members of our community do not celebrate birthdays and we respect this. If your child does not celebrate their birthday and does not participate in birthday celebrations, please inform their class teacher, who will mange their participation and customs with respect and sensitivity.
Can children bring mobile phones to school?
In order to safeguard all of the children, we DO NOT allow children to have access to mobile phones or smart devices in school. We recognise that some families would like their children to have access to a phone on their way to and from school. Therefore, we allow phones to be brought to school, subject to parents completing a permission form which will need to be sanctioned by a member of the leadership team before permission is granted. Once permission is granted, phones should be handed into the school office in the morning and collected at the end of the school day. The phones will be safely stored in the school office, but we accept no liability for loss or damage.
If phones or smart devices are discovered in school without the relevant permissions in place they will be stored in the school office and parents will be informed and asked to come and collect them.
Paper copies of the permission form are available from the school office.
