Parents
Meadowside Academy Parent Communications Strategy
Our aim is to develop warm, respectful relationships with parents as well as children. We are continually responding to parent feedback and are very keen to further improve our communications with parents.
At Meadowside Academy we are proud to offer an Open-Door Policy: All teachers are available to speak to parents in the classroom before or after school. If teachers are not able to speak to you at drop off or pick up, they will be happy to arrange an alternative meeting time. Similarly, appointments to speak to class teachers can be made by emailing or phoning the school office. The Headteacher or the Assistant heads are also available if more support is required.
- Tapestry app for EYFS (Reception class)
- Weekly blog updates (Years 1 – 6)
- Facebook posts
- Half termly Class Newsletters detailing the previous and next learning and how parents can support at home
- Half termly Update from the Headteacher
- Launch and Landing events for parents to attend (at least termly)
School uniform
Our School Uniform
We celebrate high standards at Meadowside, and love to see the children smartly turned out in their school uniform, ready to learn. The Meadowside sweatshirt can be bought from:
The School & Dance shop, 3 Chapel Street, Knaresborough HG5 8AN (01423 860447).
You can buy everything else from high-street stores or supermarkets.
Our uniform is:
- Shirts, blouses or polo shirts in white or pale blue
- School sweatshirts or cardigans (with no motifs except the school badge)
- Trousers, skirts or pinafore dress in grey
- Sensible black school shoes (no trainers please)
- Grey, white or black socks, or grey tights
Option for the summer:
- Plain white T-shirt, blue striped or ‘gingham’ dress for the girls
P.E. kit:
- Plain white T-shirt, black or navy shorts
- Strong training shoes
- Black PE pumps are an optional extra for indoor work
Other information
Jewellery, make up, nail varnish and extreme hair styles are not allowed in school. Small stud earrings are permitted (at the discretion of the Headteacher) but must be removed for P.E. We would be grateful if children have their ears pierced at the beginning of the summer holidays to ensure that they can remove earrings for PE lessons.
Please be aware that gel, hair spray etc can present a health risk in school so please do not put them on the children’s hair.
School Meals at Meadowside Academy
All our school meals are freshly prepared on-site by our catering team. They use regionally produced fresh meat and poultry, fruit and vegetables from suppliers based in North Yorkshire providing local and regional produce when in season and also Yorkshire free range eggs.
North Yorkshire County Council School Meal Service provides our school meals that meet the Government's new guidelines in Nutritional Standards.
Since September 2014, all children in Reception, Year One and Two are entitled to a free school meal.
View the NYCC school meals food policy here
The price of a school meal is £2.50
Click here for further information on NYCC’s School Catering Website
To pay for your meals via Parent pay, click the logo below
Free School Meals at Meadowside Primary School
Statutory free school meals are available to children whose parents are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
- income support
- income-based job seeker's allowance
- income-related employment and support allowance
- child tax credit with an income of less than £16,190 and not in receipt of working tax credit
- support under part VI of the immigration and asylum act 1999
- guarantee element of state pension credit.
Where parents are entitled to working tax credit during a four week "run on" period immediately after their employment has ceased, or after they have started to work less than 16 hours per week, their children are entitled to free school meals.
Children who receive income support or income based jobseeker's allowance in their own right are also entitled to free school meals.
If your child is entitled to a Statutory free school meal, then it's important you claim for it even if they are in Reception, Year One or Year Two and already receive a free school meal. This is because the school will receive additional funding for your child that will be used to support their learning and development, including payment for trips and activities, support from our Parent Support Advisor and extra intervention sessions.
Links
- For an Application form please call into the School Office
- For more information about free school meals click here to go directly to the North Yorkshire County Council Website
Parent Pay
ParentPay is our online payment system, making your payments to school easier and more efficient. Dinner money, trips and swimming lessons can be paid in this manner. Ace Club will be added later. ParentPay offers a highly secure payment site, where you can see the history of payments made and gives you the freedom to make payments to school whenever and wherever you like.
Getting started
The ParentPay web-site is easy to use. You will be given an activiation letter containing a temporary username and password by the school office team. During the activation process you will be guided through changing your username and password to something more memorable. If you would like to use the system but don't have internet access, then a PC will be made available in the school office for use and the school office staff are able to help with any difficulties or queries. If you prefer to pay using PayPoint then please see a member of the office staff.
Useful Links
Parents' Evening Bookings
We use schoolappointments.com for parents to book suitable appointments directly.
https://meadowside.schoolappointments.com (opens in a new window)
If you have any problems using this service, please contact the school office.
We value a strong parent and school partnership. We know that at present life is challenging for many families and have put together this document to support parents. As the document reads, we here for you and all you need to do is get in touch.
