SCHOOL UNIFORM

SCHOOL UNIFORM

In support of many parents’ wishes, South Lanarkshire Council encourages all pupils to wear a school uniform. The wearing of a school uniform helps promote the identity of the school in the local community and helps create an ethos of sharing and pride in the school.

In addition, the wearing of a uniform helps towards increasing the protection of all pupils. The wearing of a uniform helps staff and the pupils to distinguish between who belongs to the school and those who may be visitors. This enables staff to approach and identify visitors more readily and helps in trying to offer a safer environment for pupils and teachers alike.

Equality of opportunity is an important aspect of the life of the school. Any proposals on the dress code and on what constitutes the school uniform will be the subject of discussion with the Parent Council and where appropriate consultation with parents, pupils and staff.

These are forms of dress which are unacceptable in all schools such as;

* the wearing of football colours

* clothing with slogans that may cause offence (anti-religious, symbolism of political slogans)

* clothing which advertises alcohol, tobacco or drugs

* clothing which can be deemed unsuitable in terms of Health & Safety grounds such as shell suits, dangling earrings, combat style clothing, loose fitting clothes particularly in practical classes.

*excessive make-up and jewellery are not considered appropriate for school.

*aerosol and perfume sprays which can trigger allergies and asthma attacks.

* articles of clothing that could be deemed to inflict damage on other pupils or be used by others to do so

* footwear that may damage flooring

Clothing Grant / Free School Meals
In certain circumstances the Council provides support to parents/carers for the purchase of school wear and free school meals.
We would encourage families if they are eligible to apply for these benefits.

Application forms for clothing grant are available from the website: www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk. If you are required to submit evidence of your Tax Credit income, it is important that a copy of this evidence is attached to your online application. Should you require further information or you are unable to submit an application online then please contact the helpline number 0303 123 1011 (option 5).

St. Kenneth’s School Uniform is as follows:-
Name of Supplier:
Grey trousers or skirt/pinafore BE Schoolwear
Blue shirt/blouse 35 Argyle Street
Grey pullover, cardigan or sweatshirt Glasgow
School Tie G2 8AH
Purple Blazer / Fleece Telephone No: 0141 221 4472
Head office : 01361 810 304
www.border-embroideries.co.uk
In the interests of safety, soft gym shoes MUST be worn for games and P.E. activities. Shorts (preferably black) and blue tee-shirts should also be worn. Jewellery of all kinds can be a hazard and should be removed before taking part in such activities.

St Kenneth’s Primary School
Cost of the School Day Position Statement

At St Kenneth’s we recognise the need to reduce the Cost of the School Day for all our pupils and particularly for our pupils who are already experiencing poverty.
We examine the School Day through the following headings:
 Uniform
 Travel
 Learning
 Friendship
 School Trips
 Eating
 Fun and Fundraising
 Clubs
 Home Learning

Uniform
Our current uniform consists of a blue shirt, grey cardigan/jumper, grey skirt/pinafore or trousers, purple blazer and/or waterproof jacket. Purple summer dresses are also worn. We ask that plain black footwear is worn.

As we do not insist on badged jumpers/polo shirts, uniforms can also be purchased at any appropriate retail outlet.

Any items handed into school are sold at our school fairs at nominal costs. All P1 and S1 pupils are gifted a tie by the PTA.

When attending sporting events pupils are provided with school tracksuits and strips.

All families are informed and supported in applying for Clothing Grants.

Travel
Almost all of our children are within walking distance to school, however a large number are dropped off and picked up by car. 4% of pupils are entitled to school transport. To ensure as many children as possible experience ‘extracurricular’ events we have lunch time activities as well as after school clubs. If children experience difficulty attending afterschool clubs due to transport, arrangements can be made for this.

Learning
Children at St Kenneth’s Primary do not need to pay for any core learning activities. All stationery is provided and young people do not need to bring their own equipment to school. The use of in school IT equipment is available during the school day to help with any research or topic related homework.

We provide all Primary 1 pupils with a purple homework bags and gym bags, funded by PTA fundraising.

Friendships
Our strong pastoral care and knowledge of our children, ensures that if any pupil ever experienced poverty-related bullying they have a way of reporting this in confidence.

We will continue to teach young people about poverty related issues as part of our Health and Well Being curriculum through whole school and stage assemblies and the promotion of our nurturing ethos.

Through our Pupil Voice groups, we will consult with our pupils about ‘The Cost of the School Day’.

We will continue to gather views and opinions of our staff and Parent Council on ‘The Cost of the School Day’ and to involve them in decision making around this.

School Trips
Currently we plan an annual residential 5 day trip to Ardentinny. The cost of transport for this is subsidized by the school fund and other concessions are made such as: children entitled to free school meals pay 40% or less of the cost, parents with twins only pay for one. Staff are always mindful to ensure that poverty is not a barrier to children’s participation.

As a school we plan educational outings across the year and endeavour to keep this cost to a minimum by subsidising the travel costs through our PTA fundraising committee.

We do have a policy for families with more than one child and support them by charging only for the first two children with all others going ‘free’.

Eating at school
Our pupils have the option to attend our free Breakfast Club that is organised by South Lanarkshire Council and runs from 8.15 am to 8.45am each day.

Last school year, 20% of our school roll attended the Breakfast Club daily. 15% of pupils who were in receipt of Free School Meals attend the Breakfast Club.

Healthy snacks/fruit are provided for those pupils who do not bring a snack to school for interval.

Our pupils are not permitted to leave the school building unattended for lunch removing the pressure on families to provide cash for lunch from local shops.

Fun Events and Fundraising
St. Kenneth’s Primary School recognises that events planned for enjoyment and fundraising can actually put added financial pressure on to families. We currently look carefully at attendance and participation in these events in order to see if there are any poverty-related patterns that require action. As with school trips, our Fun Events and Fundraising are planned by pupils, staff and our PTA.

When young people cannot afford to take part in any activity, we ensure they can still experience it by using funds provided by the PTA or school fund. We ensure that this is highly confidential and the individual children have no knowledge of this.

No child is excluded from any activity for non-payment.

School Clubs
At St. Kenneth’s Primary School we have a wide range of lunchtime and after school clubs. We do not charge for any club run by school or active schools staff.

Although some clubs may require specialist equipment, such as football boots, pupils are not required to wear these items.

Home Learning
We do not have a p
olicy in the school about lending equipment for pupils who may struggle and we ensure that any homework activity can be completed by all pupils no matter their family circumstances. We try to reduce the cost of learning at home as much as possible by promoting no or low cost activities for families to participate in.

We are very clear that ‘The Cost of the School Day; is an area that requires constant vigilance and will not be ‘fixed’ by any one action. Our Improvement Planning process prioritises this by:

 Consulting with our pupils
 Working with our staff and Parent Council to consider how best to provide support to lower ‘The Cost of the School Day’ in particular any events that arise throughout year
 Communicating with parents / carers about the “Cost of the School Day.”

Your Child Deserves The Very Best in Primary Education

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