FAQs

All pupils should adhere to our School Uniform Policy. www.hewittsofcroydon.com ,  Hewit & Son Ltd, 45 -51 Church Street, Croydon.CR9 1QQ. Contact No: 020 8680 4555.

Rutherford House School is a local school that serves the local community, a large proportion of parents walk with their children to school. An area for scooter & bicycle parking during the school day is available.

Class sizes at the school are maximum 30 pupils per class with an equal split of boys and girls, depending of the gender mix of the cohort.

Pupils from Reception take part in discrete Physical Education lessons, delivered by specialist teachers. The children will take part in swimming from Year 2.  When pupils reach Year 3, children will be given the opportunity to take part in fixtures with their peers at other local schools.  The school makes full use of the local surroundings, including organising activities such as nature walks on Tooting Common.

The school offers specialist Music teaching from Reception.

Spanish is taught from Reception.  French is offered as a club with further language clubs being established in the future.

The school has a dedicated Information Technology suite. In addition to this, children al so benefit from the use of mobile IT devices and the use of Information Technology throughout the curriculum. All classrooms are fitted with Smart Boards with interactive screens and Internet access.

The school has a Specialist Room where from Reception, provision is made in the curriculum for children to enjoy discrete Art lessons.

The classrooms are generously sized and have access to an outdoor play area. Children in Reception have a dedicated outdoor learning area, offering a wide variety of learning and play opportunities.

The school will communicate with parents in a variety of different ways. We operate an ‘open door’ policy and welcome communication with parents.  When children are in our Reception class, parents/carers are giving the opportunity to be actively involved in their child’s learning, contributing to their child’s profile. In addition to the day to day contact with the class teacher, one school report and two parent consultation meetings per year. In Reception parents receive weekly newsletters via email.

Currently there is no limited catchment area.  However admissions are selected on proximity to the school.

• If your child is ill or suffers an injury we will do all we can to make them comfortable whilst we contact a parent or other designated adult.
• It is essential that parents inform us whenever emergency contact numbers are changed.
• Please let us know if your child has a particular health problem and whether special arrangements have to be made in school.
• Please do not send your child to school if they are unwell.  They will not be able to cope with the activities of the day.
• Medicines will be given, if the appropriate form has been completed.
• Medicines should be labelled with the child’s name and correct dosage.
• All medication should be kept in the school office.

Every year we produce a plan detailing what we are going to focus on during the forthcoming year.  As stated by Ofsted, we are continuing with Maths and the development of opportunities for SEN/D children. In addition, we will be looking at the development of Punctuation, Grammar, Spelling and Handwriting, in line with the new Government focus.  A full list of school policies can be found on our dedicated page.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

At Rutherford House School our stated goal to have excellent attendance and punctuality.  It is the duty of the parent/carer to ensure their child arrives in time for the start of the day.  It is extremely unsettling for a child to arrive late and they will feel like they are catching up all day.   Initially the class teacher will arrange to meet with parents to support with punctuality and attendance.  If your child’s level of absence or punctuality is of serious concern you will receive a letter advising you about improving attendance.  After this, any further unauthorised absence/ late arrivals may result in the school and the Local Authority taking legal action. As a high achieving school, we look for a minimum of 96.6% attendance.

If your child has good attendance none of this will be of concern to you. We also understand that children do get ill, so please ensure you notify the school of any absence due to illness.   If we have any concerns or attendance drops below an acceptable level, we have to ask for documentary evidence from a medical professional to confirm that the absence is genuine.

We also ask parents to telephone explaining the absence on the first day by 8.40am.  If your child needs to leave for any reason a written request in the school diary would be appreciated at least one day beforehand.  If a child is not present at registration then he/she will be marked as being unauthorised absent unless there is a reason given beforehand.  We ask that children needing to go home outside the usual times should be collected by the parent/carer and the class teacher informed by the diary.

Absence from school (other than illness or health appointments) is at the discretion of the Head teacher. LEA, Wandsworth Council, advice indicates that the Head teacher should consider exceptional circumstances or the needs of service personnel.  From September 2013, the Law relating to school attendance became much tougher.  As there are 14 weeks of holidays we believe that there is no reason to take children out of school for excessive periods of time.  If for any reason it is your intention to take your child away during term time please fill out an absence request form.  You may also be requested to make an appointment with the school. The Head teacher will not authorise any form of absence for children who have an absence level of below 95%, unless there are very exceptional circumstances.  If permission is not granted the absence will be unauthorised, referred to the Education Welfare Officer and could be the subject of a fixed penalty fine or court action.  For further information please refer to the Attendance Policy.