Q. I am interested in the school. How do I find out more about it?
A. You may attend one of our Open Mornings (see website for details) or you can call the school to make an appointment to visit or request a Registration form.
Q. Do you have to be Catholic to attend the School?
A. No. Many of our pupils are not Catholics. We welcome pupils from all faiths. However, we expect all pupils regardless of their own faith or denomination to take part in religious education and attend religious assemblies and termly Mass.
Q. What does ‘Register’ mean?
A. It means that you have decided that Vita et Pax is a school you would like your child to attend and you have completed a Registration form and have paid the non-refundable registration fee of £60.
Q. What does the registration fee cover?
A. The fee covers all administration necessary before your child joins the school.
Q. What happens once we have registered our child?
A. The child’s name will be entered onto our database for the relevant academic year of entry to the school and will be eligible to be considered for a place.
Q. What is the entry procedure and criteria?
A. For pupils starting in the Reception class, parents will be invited to attend for interview with the Headmistress and Chair of Governors very soon after our cut off date of 1st November, whilst the child talks with the class teacher. Pupils who apply for occasional places throughout the school are invited to spend a morning with the class they may join to assess their suitability to work and socialise with the other children.
Q. How many pupils do you have in the school?
A. There are currently 185 children in the school which includes the Nursery class.
Q. What is the ratio of boys to girls?
A. We attempt to keep a balance of boys to girls in each class, though there are some years where this is not possible.
Q. How many pupils are there in a class?
A. The form groups are 24 pupils with a teacher and classroom assistant in all years up to Year 3. Thereafter, the children are taught by Specialist teachers in much smaller groups.
Q. Is there any special needs support?
A. We prefer to call this progress studies, as many of the pupils who receive additional support in the infants catch up as they mature.
Q. Is there an additional charge for support?
A. No, we consider it to be part of our role as a catholic school to meet the needs of all the community.
Q. What is your policy on bullying?
A. We do not tolerate bullying behaviour in the school. Our behaviour management policy has an anti-bullying section that sets out the procedures and the disciplinary aspect of any breach of this policy. We take all allegations of bullying very seriously.
Q. What is the school’s policy on homework?
A. There is a published timetable for homework in years 3 – 6 which includes the time allocated to each class. All infants are asked to read each evening and will be set homework at weekends which will include spellings and times tables to be learnt.
Q. What are the arrangements for school lunches?
A. Currently we do not serve school lunch. All pupils bring a packed lunch which they eat in class under the supervision of their class teacher.
Q. What is the policy on school uniform?
A. All pupils are required as a condition of being in the School to wear the regulation uniform at all times whilst on the school premises. A full list of uniform items can be found on the Parents & Pupils webpage.
Q. Is there a facility for before and after school care?
A. We provide a wide range of extra curricular activities on a daily basis until 4:30pm. Our gates open at 8:15am and the playground is supervised until the children are taken into the school for the start of the school day.
