Parents
The parents and carers of the pupils of Westwood Farm Schools play a very valuable role in the wider community
We hope you will always feel able to speak to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns. For general communication such as returned forms or payments we have communication boxes at the main doors of each school building, these are emptied and checked on a daily basis.
School activities
Please find below a document showing approximate cost of trips and activities per year for your child.
Approximate cost of activities/trips for parents
The following websites will hopefully be of interest to you:
Parentview
Your opportunity to let Ofsted know what you think about our schools: https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/
Free Milk
To register your child for free milk (until your child's 5th birthday) or subsidised milk (after your child's 5th birthday):
https://www.coolmilk.com
General advice
General Government advice and information on education:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/education
The UK education system
More help about how the education system works in the UK:
http://theeducationwebsite.co.uk
Information about costing for school trips for parents
Approximate cost of activities for parents
The Prevent Strategy
All teaching staff have recently received training in the Prevent Strategy, aimed at safeguarding children against radicalisation. A leaflet explaining this Government led initiative can be downloaded here.
Health and Safety
Lockdown
At Westwood Farm Schools, we take safeguarding and safety very seriously. It is important that we continue to review all our procedures, taking into account even those events that are very unlikely to occur. As part of this process, we have a procedure called 'lockdown'
What is a lockdown and when would we carry it out?
A lockdown procedure is a standard health and safety procedure, similar to a fire drill.
Our lockdown procedure would be used when there is a threat to the safety of pupils, staff and others in the school, and when it is safer for everyone to remain in school rather than evacuate. The aim is to keep people safe by confining them to a secure place of safety. Situations where our lockdown procedure may be used include:
- A potentially dangerous person or animal on the school site
- A disturbance or dangerous situation in the local community that could affect the school
- A nearby chemical incident or other risk of air pollution
- An incident related to terrorism
Our procedure
During a lockdown, we ensure that all the children are inside the building and that they are accounted for. They sit calmly in class and, if appropriate, continue with their learning. The blinds to each room are closed, if possible so that the children are not distracted by anything that may be happening outside. All external doors are locked to ensure that the school building is secure and, if necessary, the emergency services are called.
If the school were to have a lockdown for real, we would contact you by parentmail or text to advise that it was taking place and not to come to, or call the school. This is because it may endanger yourselves or block our telephone lines to the services that we may need to help us. While this may all sound very serious, the need for a lockdown is extremely rare.
Following the drills, staff take the time to talk to pupils about lockdown procedures and explain why they are important. They reassure them after the drill that they were safe, and emphasised that practising procedures like this will make sure the school remains a safe place to learn. We will continue to practise this procedure regularly so that we are always prepared should the rare need occur to carry it out for real.
