Starting school at HJS
Everything you need to know about joining our school can be found on our Joining HJS page.
On this page:
The School Day
Before school
From 8:00am there is a Breakfast Club available at Henleaze Infant School, on our campus.
School starts
at 8:50am
We open the gates ten minutes before the start time. Children come straight in to their classrooms, wash their hands and get stuck in to the morning's Thinking Starter, ready for registration.
The morning
During the morning, on most days, all classes have a literacy and a numeracy lesson.
Morning break - Children have a 20 minute break in the morning.
Lunchtime - Children have a one hour lunch break.
The afternoon
There is no break in the afternoon, although classes may stop for a breath of fresh air (especially in Year 3).
School ends
at 3:25pm. Parents meet their children outside the green fence on the front lawn.
After school
Children may attend after school clubs or our after school childcare provision.
The total length of our school day is 6 hours 35 minutes. The school week is 32 hours 55 minutes, which exceeds the minimum requirement of 32.5 hours which will be the compulsory minimum in all schools from September 2023.
School Uniform
Children have a choice of colours and styles to wear which ensures that they are comfortable and smartly turned out!
Uniform with the HJS logo can be purchased online from MyClothing. Click their logo to visit their HJS shop.
Polo shirts in white or grey, sweatshirts or hooded tops in black, navy or burgundy, trousers, shorts or skirts in grey or black, can be combined into many different ways so that children can both represent the school and maintain their own individuality.
For PE, children wear T-shirts in the colour of their Team.
Lunches
Children may choose each day to have either a packed lunch or a school dinner. Some children like to eat school dinners every day, whilst others like to examine the menu first and book their lunches accordingly.
At lunchtime, each year group is called from the playground in turn, and they line up at the srvery and collect the dinner they have ordered - either a choice of hot meals, including vegetarian option, or a sandwich or wrap. They sit at long tables, and our Lunchtime Leaders encourage them to eat their food, adopt good table manners, and enjoy the social aspect of dining together without too much noise or mess.
School dinners
Our catering contractors, Edwards and Ward, provide a choice of hot meals and salad every day. All of their meals are prepared according to the latest nutritional standards, using fresh produce, and avoiding unhealthy additives such as salt and sugar. They cater for any special dietary requirements. Every day there are three choices, including at least one vegetarian option, and children can always help themselves to salad. There is always fresh fruit available as well as a dessert choice.
School Lunch Menu
Packed lunches
Children may bring their own packed lunch, or, during the summer season, they may order our packed lunch option.
We ask parents to think about the nutritional content of the packed lunches they provide, but we do not impose restrictions. We encourage children to think about healthy food choices.
Some of our children have food allergies, the most common being nut allergies. We ask parents not to include obvious nut-based products in the packed lunches they provide, but as we cannot guarantee that all elements of every child's lunch will be free of nut traces, we ask children not to share their lunches with their friends.
Drinks provided with packed lunches should not be packed with sugar and additives. Fruit juice or water, but no fizzy drinks and no products marketed as "energy drinks".
Snacks
Children may bring a healthy snack, such as a cereal bar or a piece of fruit, to eat at morning break time. Sweets and chocolate are not allowed, and chewing gum is a definite No!
We encourage all children to bring a water bottle to school, which may be refilled at any time from the taps in the classrooms. We ask children to use practical bottles on which they can write their name: something that will not break or make a loud noise when it falls off the desk! Please do not use empty branded product bottles, such as Prime, as we need t be sure that the contents are appropriate for school.
Attendance and absence
Regular attendance at school is the key to every child achieving his or her maximum potential.
We expect children to arrive on time every morning and be in the classroom ready to work at 8:55am.
If a child is unwell we ask parents to phone the office first thing in the morning and leave a message on the "absence line". If a child is not present when we take the register and we have not heard from parents, we will follow up with a phone call. If a child is still unwell after a week, we would expect a doctor's note to be sent in.
Planned absence
If parents wish to request a planned unavoidable absence, they can pick up a form in the school lobby or download a form from the Documents page or use the online Absence Request Form.
We do not authorise holiday absence during term time except under exceptional (and we mean exceptional) circumstances. Holidays are not unavoidable!
Term time holiday absence means:
- Missing parts of the National Curriculum which may be repeated in your child’s school career
- Disruption for the pupil
- Disruption for the rest of the class
- Disruption for the teacher
We ask parents to consider the impact on a class of several children being absent either on the same day or on different days, particularly at the start or end of term when parents may wish to get away early to miss traffic, or return a day late because of the availability of flights, or because they thought it might be an INSET day.
Please note that school will not provide work for children to complete while away from school, save in exceptional circumstances.