We are very much looking forward to your child joining Year 3. This booklet is intended to provide parents with information about the year ahead. If you have any further questions once term starts, please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance.
Year 3 Class Teachers Miss Hannah McKenzie
hMcKenzie@cliftonhigh.co.uk
Junior Teaching Assistant Mrs Kiran Ganpatlal
Mrs Caroline Pope, (Mon-Wed) cpope@cliftonhigh.co.uk
Mrs Jemma Halstead (Wed-Fri) jhalstead@cliftonhigh.co.uk
Please refer to the Uniform Policy, linked here, for detailed information, including images, on your child’s uniform and equipment. There is a change in uniform between Year 2 and Year 3 and detailed below is a condensed list of what your child will need, in addition to the main uniform. Items marked with an asterisk must be bought from our uniform supplier’s online shop; www.schoolblazer.com
Sports
Kit
*White PE top, crested
*Mid layer (quarter zip), crested
*PE shorts, skorts or training pant, crested
Trainers in any colour
Kit bag (no drawstring bags)
Black swimming costume or trunks
Goggles, towel, *branded swimming cap
*Soft shell active jacket, crested (optional)
Daily Items
Water bottle and breaktime snack
Pencil case see items below
Art Overall (kept in cloakroom)
Backpack one that can fit an A4 file and stationery items (HB pencils, erasers, 15cm ruler, pencil sharpener, glue stick, colouring pencils)
All items, including shoes, must clearly be labelled with your child’s full name.
You will be given a timetable at the beginning of term that will tell you which days your child will be having Swimming, PE (on-site) and Games lessons (at Coombe Dingle). On days where your child has PE, they can wear their PE kit to and from School. On days where they have Swimming and Games, they should come dressed in School Uniform, and bring the relevant kit with them. There will be no swimming or sport on the first day of term.
Children will be assigned a peg in the cloakroom where they can keep their belongings. We encourage families to go swimming for fun during the summer holidays to help them feel confident in the water. Useful tip: to prevent the swimming hat sticking together, put a little talcum powder inside it.
Year 3 attend fortnightly Adventure sessions. Children should wear their Adventure or PE kit to School on these days, ensuring they have long trousers. They should also bring in waterproof trousers and coat, wellies, hat and gloves for cold conditions, and sun cream and hats for when it is warm. Children follow a main pursuit each School term Rock, Snow or Water where children complete a progressive course in activities such as Caving, Archery, Canoeing, Tobogganing.
Further details about the activities taking place can be found on the Adventure pages on the School website.
In Year 3, your child will be assigned 20-30 minutes of homework per day. In addition to their homework, children should be encouraged to read for a minimum of ten minutes every night. The expectation is that children will make a genuine effort to produce their best work. However, if after making such an effort, a child is finding a task too challenging or if there is a particularly sound reason why the homework could not be completed, please inform the class teacher via email.
Typically pupils are given the selection of homework tasks at the beginning of the week, and have the whole week to complete the tasks, at a time that is convenient to your family.
A variety of visits and visitors will be arranged throughout the year to support the Year 3 curriculum. In the Spring or Summer Term children have their annual visit to a residential activity centre. Further details will follow throughout the School year.
We regularly assess the children and track their progress. As well as formal assessments, teachers work very closely with the children which enables them to informally assess, through questioning and discussions, throughout each lesson.
If there is a concern that your child might have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, after consultation with parents, the Enhanced Learning Department will screen the child using a computer-based programme called the Dyslexia Screener Digital. This can then be followed up by a further assessment and discussion about appropriate support strategies if necessary.
In Year 3 you will receive the following communications:
• Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st October 2025 Infant and Junior Parents Evening
• December 2025 School Report published on the Parent Portal
• Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th March 2026 Infant and Junior Parents Evening
• July 2026 School Report published on the Parent Portal
Throughout the year parents also have the opportunity to attend parent assemblies as well as ‘book looks’. Further details of these events will follow in due course.
The ‘Year Ahead’ evening will take place on Wednesday 3rd September 2025 and is an opportunity for you to meet your child’s class teacher, who will deliver a presentation of what to expect during
your child’s time in Year 3. If at any time during the year you would like to meet the class teacher, please email them directly to arrange a meeting.
There are a number of means by which communications may be shared between the School and parents. Whilst we aim to streamline this process, a comprehensive guide to communications at Clifton High School can be found here. In summary, below are a few of the ways in which the School will update Year 3 parents:
• Formal letters, invitations and class/year group wide information will be sent via email to parents.
• A weekly Parent Bulletin will be sent every Friday at 5.00pm to the whole School, containing the latest useful information about the coming weeks.
• The School calendar, term dates, policies and much more is available on our website. Information on your individual child’s timetable and activities can be found on the parent portal, linked via our website.
• If the School requires parental permission, for instance, for an upcoming trip, electronic consent forms will be sent to parents via email.
If parents need to contact their child’s class teacher, they can email them directly (contact details are on page 1) or a member of the School Office will be able to assist in more general enquiries: 0117 973 0201, schooloffice@cliftonhigh.co.uk.
Details of pupil absences or other queries should be emailed to: absence@cliftonhigh.co.uk or notified by phone to 0117 973 0201.
If your child is starting at Clifton High School in September, please continue to direct any enquiries to the Admissions Department until they join the School.
We encourage all communications to be sent directly to the School. However, parent-led WhatsApp group chats are often created for each year group. If you would like to join these groups, please contact the Admissions Team via email: admissions@cliftonhigh.co.uk or call 0117 933 9087. Each class will also have a parent representative who has regular contact with the School.
The Healthcare Team is based in the Medical Room (in the basement of Woods House) each day from 8.30am-5.00pm.
All medicines brought into School should be taken to the Medical Room for safekeeping. They should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and instructions for administering. Permission for a School Nurse to administer the medicine should be written in an accompanying letter.
The School Nurses can be contacted directly via email: medical@cliftonhigh.co.uk
The School day begins officially at 8.45am but children are encouraged to arrive in their classroom from 8.30am, when staff will be there to greet them. Please drop off your child in the Infant School Playground on Clifton Park, and children will walk to their relevant classrooms. Children who arrive before 8.30am and wish to attend our Early Birds provision, should be escorted to the Junior Playground, using the entrance via The Hive Pre-School Gate on Clifton Park where they will be registered by a member of staff.
They will be supervised from 8.00am, but prior to that time there is no supervision available and children should not be in School.
The School day officially ends at 3.30pm. Children may be collected at this time from the Infant School Playground or book into one of our supervised wrap-around care options detailed in the sections below.
Please email your child’s class teacher each week to let them know if your child will be attending Late Room, The Hub or going home with someone different to usual.
Late Room runs from 3.35-4.05pm. The children are registered, escorted to Late Room by a teacher and are supervised throughout, having the opportunity to complete homework or quietly read. Parents must inform the class teacher via email if they wish their child to attend Late Room as a register is kept. Please ensure that your child is collected promptly at 4.05pm from the Infant School Playground. Children must either be collected at 3.30pm or 4.05pm and cannot be collected mid-way through the session.
The Hub runs from 3.35-6.00pm Monday to Friday by Clifton High School staff and operates in the Woods House building. Please find linked here a copy of The Hub leaflet for full details. Children attending The Hub are collected from The Hive Pre-School entrance on Clifton Park.
Available as a half or full session, a variety of indoor and outdoor activities are offered, tailored to meet the children’s needs, and each child is provided with a healthy snack. Places are available to book via SOCS. our online portal, in line with the required adult : child ratio.
At break time children can bring in their own healthy snack, that does not contain nuts. Children are expected to bring in water in a suitably named reuseable bottle, to have available in the classroom and during breaktime.
Our catering staff make every effort to provide a healthy and varied menu. Menus are displayed in the entrance to the dining hall and the current week’s menu is sent home via the weekly Parent Bulletin. Should your child have any special dietary requirements please advise us and an appointment can be arranged with our Executive Chef.
Some children enjoy attending clubs after School. At the start of each term you will receive a communication offering your child the chance to join a variety of co-curricular clubs. These change each term as we aim to provide a wide range of experiences for our pupils. Clubs can be selected via our online portal, SOCS.
New parents can activate their accounts as per guidance from the Admissions Department will be provided at the start of the academic year.
Please note these dates may be subject to change at this stage and dates will be added. For a comprehensive
Wednesday 3rd September
Friday 5th September
Saturday 6th September
Tuesday 7th October
Friday 17th October
Monday 20th October
Tuesday 21st October
Friday 7th November
Saturday 29th November
Wednesday 3rd December
Monday 8h December
Wednesday 4th March
Thursday 5th March
Thursday 5th March
Friday 6th March
Monday 16th March
Tuesday 17th March
Friday 13th March
Thursday 19th March
Saturday 20th June
Monday 23rd June
Wednesday 24th June
July
July
