Junior School Parent Information

The Hub | Term dates | Find us | Contact us | Stay informed | School day timings | Breakfast club and after school care | Uniform | Absences | Medical | Club attendance | Junior school association

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Term dates

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Find us

In order to promote safer routes to School and to help protect local air quality we strongly encourage all visitors to Alleyn's Junior School to consider how they travel to our site, and to choose active travel or public transport whenever possible.

Alleyn's is well served by overland rail and TfL bus routes, and we have generous provision for bicycle and scooter parking. If you are travelling on foot, you may wish to refer to the Dulwich & Herne Hill Safe Routes to School map which shows walking routes and safe crossing points.

Roads around Alleyn's are subject to a range of traffic and parking control measures including timed restrictions, so please consider whether you do need to travel by motor vehicle and pay careful attention to road signage and directions. Hillsboro Road has designated "School Street" status and as such is closed to motor vehicles during School peak times (8.00am to 8.45am and 3.15pm to 4.00pm weekdays, term-time only).

Visitors to Alleyn's Junior School are requested to make their way to the Junior School main entrance on Hillsboro Road. Please note that there is no access to the School via Lytcott Grove / Playfield Crescent. All visitors to the School during the school day will be asked to sign in and will be given a visitor's badge.

View a map of our location

Alleyn's Junior School contact details

* The Chair of Governors can be contacted in writing: c/o the Clerk to the Governors, Mrs M McGregor, Alleyn’s School, Townley Road, Dulwich, London SE22 8SU, or by email: [email protected].

Stay informed

We keep parents up to date through a range of channels, from more formal structures such as parents' consultation evenings, Alleyn’s Post emails, letters home, through to our engaging and informative weekly bulletin, Newsfeed.

Parent’s also have access to our school intranet The Hub, which gives you more information on who’s who in the Junior School, what’s on the menu for lunch and much more.

Sports Fixture listings can be found here and parents can access their child’s reports through our Parent Portal.

You may also wish to follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @AlleynsJunior, or Instagram alleyns_junior which provide a regular insight into activities that are happening at the school.

Every term there are coffee mornings at drop off for different year groups and through the year there are parent forums to which a parent from each class is invited to share their thoughts on particular topics. 

School day timings

The Juniors can be dropped off from 8:00am and will be supervised from that time. They go to their classrooms at about 8:20am. The Infants are handed over to their form teachers and teaching assistants from 8:15am.

All children should be in their classrooms by 8.30am when registration is called. There then follows an assembly or a period of form time or DEAR (Drop Everything and Read).

The day continues with two lessons of 40 minutes each, a morning break of 20 minutes followed by another two lessons. The school community eats lunch together at 12.00pm and the children usually are in the playground or on the fields from 12.20pm until 1.00pm.

Afternoon registration is at 1.00pm followed by a form teacher led story time slot before three afternoon lessons. Reception children often take a rest period after lunch (especially at the start of the year) and all Infants have a 20 minute afternoon play. Lessons finish at 3.20 pm and the children then spend ten minutes back with their form teachers when they organise their homework and bag for the end of the school day at 3:30pm.

There are a great many lunchtime and after-school clubs, as well as a small number of pre-school clubs.

The School runs a flexible After School Care scheme for any child from 3.30 pm until 6.00 pm. Children have the opportunity to complete homework tasks, play board games, use the Library or play outside with members of the after school care staff.

Breakfast Club and After School Care

From September 2024 and operating from 7:30am in the Dining Room, the Alleyn's Junior School Breakfast Club provides breakfast for Junior School pupils of any age.

Parents are able to drop off and register their children at the Dining Room from 7:30am and we ask that any pupils attending arrive by 8am, so as to allow time to eat breakfast before 8:15am. Children who travel to school unsupervised can register themselves.

The cost of the club is £7 per session and this is added to school fees, irrespective of how long a child is at the session or what they eat. The children are able to have a juice and a choice of two things to eat, such as a cereal, yogurt, pastry or a piece of fruit.

Junior pupils remain supervised at the club until 8:15am, when they are released to go down to the playground (or they may go to the playground earlier after they have finished their breakfasts, if their parents and they wish). At 8:15am, supervising staff bring the Infants down to their classes for handover direct to their teachers.

Do I need to book in advance?

There is no need to pre-book places and, as with After School Care, pupils can just turn up on the day. However, children with allergies in levels 1, 2 and 3 (i.e. those who currently have pre-plated meals at lunch time) do need to book a week in advance so that suitable meals can be prepared. Otherwise, the same allergy controls and procedures will apply as at other times.

If you need to contact the Breakfast Club Manager, then please use the following email: [email protected]

After School Care

After School Care (ASC) is a service that we offer, to care for children between 3.30 pm and 6.00 pm, in a safe and comfortable environment.

It is run by our After School Care Team which includes a manager and three assistants. We also utilise the help of our Gap Year Students and link with the Alleyn’s Senior School Duke of Edinburgh Volunteer scheme students as part of their work experience.

Do I need to book in advance?

No, you do not need to book ahead. Every day when the class teacher takes the register they will ask your child what they think is happening at the end of their school day.  If they know that they are due to come to ASC the information will be passed on to the ASC staff and they will be expecting them.  If your child is in the Infant Department, we ask that you inform the teacher or teaching assistant of after school arrangements.

However, if you find you are running late, the traffic is bad, or your son or daughter has not remembered arrangements for the end of the day, then do not worry.  They will be collected from the playground by the member of staff on duty at the end of the school day. The children are then able to wait comfortably in ASC until you are able to come for them.

If your child is in the Infant Department, the teaching assistant will take your child to ASC and pass them over to the ASC team.

What happens at After School Care?

The children arrive in the Library (near the front entrance to the Fortune Building) and sign in with the ASC manager. They leave their bags in their Form Room and then visit the Library and/or Computer Room. Junior children are encouraged to start their homework in the Homework Room which is fully supervised. The younger ones find an activity that they like (Lego, board games, construction, drawing, or similar) and settle down to play. When the weather is dry, children are also able to play outside, supervised by a member of the ASC staff.

The children are offered a snack of fruit and flapjacks during their time at After School Care

What are the charges for After School Care?

All children known to be remaining in school after 3.30 pm, and children not collected from the playground by 3.50 pm, are to go to After School Care. Charges apply from 4pm.

• 2024/2025 Rates are £5.10 per half hour, or part of a half hour
  There will be a £20 fine for late collection after 6.00 pm, rising to £30 for collection after 6.30 pm and £60 after 7pm which will be added to your child’s end of term fee bill.

The emergency contact numbers for After School Care between 3.30 pm and 6.00 pm are 0208 299 8064 or 07715 960506.

You can email the After School Care team at [email protected] 

Uniform

Our uniform is available online from Schoolblazer at www.schoolblazer.com.

The AJSA Uniform Shop also sells a full range of good quality secondhand school uniform.  Sales are held on a regular basis.

Absences

On the day of absence, we would be grateful if parents could contact the school by telephone (0208 557 1519) or email [email protected] as early as possible, preferably before 8.30 am.

For absences of more than one day, this procedure should be repeated on each subsequent day.  If the absence is notified by telephone, we ask that an email is sent with more information so that we have a record of the absence.

Parents who wish their child to be absent from school for an event other than for a medical reason, must ask permission from the Headmaster, via an email to the school office at [email protected].

Registration is at 8.30 am in the children’s individual classroom. Children who arrive after 8.40 am will be registered as late. Any child arriving after 8.40 am should come to the school office where they will be registered by the school office staff.

If the school office has not received a telephone call or email from parents by 9.00 am each day explaining the absence, then we will telephone to enquire.  This is to ensure the safety of the child, especially if they are travelling independently to school.

Unexplained absences will be pursued in the interests of the child in line with our safeguarding policy, which you can read via the policies page.

Medical

If your child is attending school we expect them to be fit for all normal activities.

Pupils should not return to school:

• with a raised temperature;
• within 48 hours of the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea
• until cleared by their own doctors after infectious diseases
• until treatment is commenced in the case of head lice, impetigo, conjunctivitis or other transmissible conditions

Parents should telephone 020 8557 1519 or email the school office on the first morning of absence to inform us that your child will not be at school, and each morning of absence thereafter. An email or a written note giving the reason for their absence should accompany your child on their return to school.

All medication that needs to be brought into school should be clearly labelled with the pupil’s name and full instructions for use and handed into the office for safe keeping. Our Junior School Nurse or a nominated first aider will administer the medication if a request is made in writing stipulating the dose, the time, your child’s name and the duration of the treatment. If we do not have your written permission, we will not be able to administer your child’s medication.

Almost all antibiotics can now be prescribed on a twice-daily basis: it helps us if you would ask prescribing doctors for twice-daily prescriptions so that medicines need not be brought to school.

When they are older (Years 5 and 6), children who suffer with Asthma are encouraged to be responsible for their own inhaler themselves. However, we do ask that parents supply a spare named reliever inhaler to be kept in the first aid room.

All pupils’ medication including inhalers and EpiPens will be kept in the First Aid Room. They will be sent home at the end of the Trinity term. If these medications expire before the end of term we will inform you to replace them.

Children who are involved in accidents or taken ill at school are referred to the First Aid Room where the extent of their injuries or severity of their illness is quickly assessed by our Junior School Nurse. Any treatment that is needed is provided in our First Aid Room, this area ensures the children have somewhere quiet to rest if necessary. All illness or incidents are recorded on our school database and parents will be contacted if necessary.

Sometimes it may be appropriate to administer Paracetamol or Ibuprofen at school. Your permission will be sought before it is given and we will email to confirm the administration of any medicines given.

In the case of all head injuries (defined as any injury to the head area) parents will be informed by email on a standardised form with our head injury advice sheet. For more serious head injuries, as well as sending an email, we would telephone to provide additional information.

In accordance with Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) regulations, Reception class parents are informed of every injury or accident involving their child. In addition, for EYFS pupils, the school is obliged to seek written permission for each occasion that medication may need administering and so EYFS parents will always be consulted should medication be required. The only exception to this would be where to take time to consult with parents may endanger the child’s health, for example in the case of an EpiPen or reliever inhaler.

Please ensure that you declare all medical details and emergency contact numbers to the school on the appropriate forms, and advise the school whenever there is a change of details.

Read the full Junior School First Aid policy here

Club attendance

Clubs take place before school, during lunch times or after school.  For morning clubs, start times range from 7.30-8.00 am.  Lunch time clubs commence at 12.30 pm and finish at 1.05 pm.  After school clubs commence at 3.30 pm and run until 4.30 pm unless otherwise specified.  For all early morning sports clubs, pupils are welcome to bring in a suitable breakfast snack (nut and sesame free) to eat in the Exhibition Area, between their club and school registration time.

Club timetables vary from term to term and, except for team practices and musical groups where continuity is desirable, are all voluntary, although we do expect club members to commit themselves for the duration of the term.

Alleyn's Junior School Association

The Alleyn's Junior School Association (AJSA) was formed to offer parents the opportunity to interact with the life of the School by promoting an inclusive community atmosphere. Membership of the AJSA is automatic for parents when their children join the School. 

The AJSA not only supports various school events but also organises social functions for parents and families. The AJSA Uniform Shop is a particularly well-used facility that sells second hand uniform and encourages sustainability and recycling.

The Association is run by an annually elected committee of parents which includes a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Parent Representatives from each class and the President (the Head). Committee meetings usually take place twice a term and cover a range of subjects such as planning social functions, receiving news about the Junior School and information from the Senior School. These meetings provide an excellent forum for feedback between parents and the School. 

Committee meetings, after a sociable drink, usually last for about an hour and a summary is sent to all parents via their Year Representative with minutes posted on the parent section of the Hub (the School's intranet). 

There is an Annual General Meeting which takes place in September to which all parents are invited. The AGM is followed by a drinks reception. 

AJSA activities include: parents' year parties, Christmas parties and children's discos, the Holly Fair, social events such as quiz nights, running the AJSA Uniform Shop, Founder's Day activities, and organising Parents' Talks where topics have included e-safety, first aid, children's mental health and healthy eating