Welcome to Ravensdale Junior School

At Ravensdale Junior School, we are committed to creating a vibrant and nurturing environment where every child can thrive. Guided by our vision, We are KIND, we strive to be inclusive, ambitious, and proud of everything we do. Our goal is to ensure that every student leaves Ravensdale ready, respectful, and confident, prepared to face the future with enthusiasm.

Our core values, developed in collaboration with our pupils, staff, and wider community, are at the heart of everything we do:

• Knowledgeable: We foster a love for learning, encouraging our students to explore, inquire, and grow into well-informed, curious individuals.
• Inclusive: We celebrate diversity, ensuring that every child feels valued, respected, and included, regardless of their background or abilities.
• Never Giving Up (Ambitious): We instill resilience and determination in our students, empowering them to set high goals and work persistently towards achieving them.
• Daring: We inspire our students to be bold and creative thinkers, encouraging them to take risks in their learning and to embrace challenges as opportunities.

At Ravensdale, we believe in the power of community and collaboration. Our recent and ongoing improvements to our school environment, including the development of shared spaces and the exciting new Forest School project, are a testament to our commitment to providing the best possible learning experience for our children. We are proud of our school and excited about the future, as we continue to build a place where every child is given the opportunity to excel and grow.

We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our school, our vision, and the exciting opportunities we offer our students. Together, we can ensure that Ravensdale Junior School is a place where kindness, knowledge, ambition, and daring drive every child’s success.

 

Our School's Context

Ravensdale Junior School is a cornerstone of the Mickleover community, proudly serving families in the surrounding areas for over six decades. Located in the heart of Mickleover, our school has recently celebrated its 60th birthday—a milestone that highlights our long-standing commitment to providing quality education and fostering a warm, inclusive atmosphere where every child can thrive.

As part of our 60th-anniversary celebrations, we are excited to showcase our school’s rich history through our ‘Memory Lane’ collection. This exhibition features a fascinating array of school uniforms from different eras, photographs, artefacts, and cherished memories from Ravensdale’s six decades of educating generations of young learners. It’s a wonderful opportunity for our community to reflect on how far we’ve come and to celebrate the lasting impact our school has had on so many lives.

Today, Ravensdale Junior School is nearly at full capacity, with 352 pupils enrolled out of our 360 available spaces. We are proud to maintain a welcoming and kind culture that extends to all students, families, and staff, ensuring that every member of our community feels valued and supported.

In September 2023, we received a Good rating from Ofsted, which is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our staff, the enthusiasm of our pupils, and the support of our families. This achievement reflects our commitment to continuous improvement and our determination to provide the best possible educational experience for every child.

Ravensdale serves a diverse community, with 30.4% of our pupils eligible for free school meals. This statistic underscores our commitment to inclusivity and our role in supporting all students, regardless of their background. We are dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed, and we pride ourselves on the strong, nurturing relationships we build with our pupils and their families.

At Ravensdale Junior School, we look to the future with confidence, knowing that our rich history and solid foundation will continue to guide us as we strive to make our school an even better place for the generations to come.

School Opening

School is open in the morning from 8:45am and children need to be in school by 9:00am.
Lunchtime is 12:00pm -1:00pm.
School ends at 3:30pm.

Total teaching time in a typical week is 32.5h.

The School Day
 

Attendance

We have a ‘soft start’ to the day and children can enter school between 8.45 and 8.55am via the door off the rear playground. Our morning session is 9:00am – 12noon with a ten-minute break. Children may bring snacks, though these should be either fruit or vegetables.
The afternoon session runs from 1.05pm until 3.30pm without a break.

Please contact school before 9am to let us know if your child will be absent that day: 01332 512373 or admin@ravensdalej.derby.sch.uk. Our school attendance lead will be in touch if you have not let us know or if we have any concerns about your child’s attendance. They also carefully monitor late arrivals. If your child is late coming into school, please accompany them to the school office. If you do not inform us about absences, we have to record them as unauthorised.
Under government regulations, holidays during school time are not permitted and the Local Authority may prosecute parents who take their children out of school when this is not authorised. Occasionally, in exceptional circumstances, absence during term time may be permitted. A form requesting ‘leave of absence’ must be completed for all such absences from school. We would encourage parents to ask for a meeting with the head teacher before bookings are made.
Absence at the beginning of a new term or during SATs week in Y6 will not be authorised under any circumstances. If your child is sick in the night or unwell in the morning, please keep him/her at home for 48 hours after the last bout of sickness.

Should a child need to leave school during the day for any purpose, please let us know in advance with the reason.  Where possible, please arrange appointments outside of the school day.
Please inform us if:
• there is a change in your child’s health or medication is being taken (a form may need to be completed)
• there is anyone who should not be allowed to collect your child from school
• there is any unusual occurrence at home which may upset or worry your child.
Unless your child is very unwell, please dose them up and send them into school! A good attendance is vital for a good education; we monitor this very carefully and aim to have at least 97% attendance as a school over the year.

School Dinners

We run our own kitchen in school and have a delicious 3-week menu with a choice of a meat, fish and vegetarian option on a daily basis. The menus are on our website. Most items are cooked fresh on site (the quiche is a favourite of the staff) and there is a salad bar from which the children can help themselves. The children use plates (not flight trays) and they eat the main course before collecting their dessert. For dessert, there is always a choice of yogurt, fruit, or a pudding. Alongside the cake or pudding, the children can take a small piece of fruit such as slice of watermelon or half a banana. Drinks are available on the tables for children to help themselves. Children order their choice of dinner that day on a tablet in the classroom and are given a coloured band just
before lunch to hand into the kitchen staff to indicate their choice of lunch.
Payment for dinners may be made online: login details to Eduspot (School Money) will be provided once your child is registered with us. We encourage all parents to pay in this way. Alternatively, money can be sent to school on Monday mornings whether a child is staying for the whole week or for only part of the week. Please ensure you send dinner money in a named envelope.
Children of parents who receive certain benefits are entitled to free school meals. You can get the necessary application form from school and you should return it to Children and Young People’s Services. Children having free school meals are not treated any differently from those who are paying for their dinner and this information is kept confidential to school staff.
We make provision for children who wish to bring a packed lunch to eat at lunchtime. It is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that food and drink are brought in suitable containers marked with the owner's name. Please do not send fizzy drinks or sweets at lunchtime and ensure that there is a healthy balance of food to enable the children to be wide awake for learning in the afternoon. Children eating lunch at school, whether a school dinner or packed lunches are not allowed to leave the premises during lunchtime. Pupils may choose to have a combination
of packed lunches and dinners over the week and the pattern does not need to stay the same each week. Children can choose who they sit with at lunchtime and those on sandwiches and dinners can sit together if they are in the hall at the same time.
 

School Uniform and Equipment

School provides each child with a pencil case and all the equipment needed (pencil, rubber, pencil sharpener, pencil crayons etc), including a 30cm ruler. 
Items to bring into school
• Waterproof coat with a hood
• Sun hat and sun cream (preferably applied before school) when necessary
• Named water bottle -only water is allowed
• Home-school diary and reading book/library book
• Lunchbox if needed.
Please ensure that all items and clothing are clearly named as we end up disposing of many unnamed and unclaimed items each term.

Uniform

 

Uniform is required in school and can be worn all year round.  Grey or black knee length skirt/long or short trousers, white blouse or polo shirt, blue sweatshirt/cardigan, blue check school dress, grey school pinafore dress. Black, white or grey tights or leggings if worn under a dress or skirt. Tie - royal blue with white stripes. (optional)
For PE, the required uniform is black or dark blue jogging bottoms and top (this should be plain with no logos or stripes), black shorts, white T shirt and trainers.
Please ensure that children have a warm, waterproof coat with a hood for the winter, as they will be going out to play in cold and sometimes drizzly weather. In the warmer weather, please ensure that they always have a light waterproof in their bag, unless you are very sure of the forecast! In the summer, please send a sunhat into school with your child and apply sunscreen before they come to school. Children should not bring any other hoodies or tops in place of school uniform. They need a school sweatshirt/jumper and a coat.
Uniform can be ordered through Simply Uniform (www.simplyuniform.co.uk) or uniform direct www.uniformdirect.com though all items of school uniform can be bought on the high street as it is not necessary to have the school logo. Governors do not expect school uniform to cost any more than would be spent on any other everyday clothing. Please ensure that all uniform and personal property, such as a lunch box is named.
Jewellery is discouraged in school and should be limited only to small stud earrings and a watch. Watches should be basic and not be able to take photos or linked to the internet or another device. Fitbits can be worn as long as they have no internet or cameral capability. The only exception to this is jewellery which is worn for religious reasons.

On PE/Games days please ensure earrings are removed at home as school staff are not allowed to help a child either remove or replace their earrings. Religious items should either be removed or safely covered up e.g. with a sweat band. Nail varnish and make-up is not allowed. Long hair should be tied back at all times.

Footwear 

Pupils should wear either black school shoes or black trainers. No flashing lights or stripes are permitted. Sandals may be worn in the summer months and plain black waterproof boots may be worn in the winter. Children should not wear high heels, platforms.

Lost Property

Items that are named will be returned to your child. Valuables must be kept at home. Unmarked items are most difficult to return to their owner, especially sweatshirts, and considerable distress can be caused when they are left in the wrong place. Lost property is stored on a hanging rail which is kept next to the school’s back entrance.
We will dispose of lost property on a regular basis as we have limited storage space in school.

Medicine in School
If your child is prescribed medication, wherever possible this should be given at home. If this is not possible because the medication needs to be taken four times a day, please complete an administration of drugs available from the office. We cannot administer medication if the form is not completed. If your child needs an inhaler for asthma, ensure it is named and a form is completed. We advise one is permanently at school in the care of the class teacher.

Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are not permitted in school. The only time we would consider such a request for a year 6 child, is if they live outside our usual catchment area and they are walking home alone. The request must be made in writing by the parent. Phones are handed in to office staff for the day.