General Information

School Timings

School timings for students are as follows:

Foundation Stage (F1 – F2)	8.00 am to 12.30 pm
Primary Years 1 to 6	8.00 am to 2.40 pm
Secondary Year 7 onwards	7.45 am to 2.40 pm

• We request that children are dropped off at their classroom between 7:45am and 7:55am to allow lessons to start promptly at 8:00am.
• Children arriving on the school premises before 7:45am MUST remain accompanied by their parent/carer until 7.45pm as there will be no Class Teachers or Teaching Assistants available to supervise your children before this time.
• Children arriving on the school premises after 8:05am must report to Reception on arrival and will be escorted to their classroom by a member of staff in order to minimise disruption to lessons.
• Children should be collected on time at the the end of the school day. After 10 minutes children may be taken to STAR Club and parents will be charged accordingly.
• Please inform the School Office if you are running late to either drop off or collect your child from school.

The School Office hours are as follows: Sunday to Thursday 7:30am to 3:30pm

Attendance and Punctuality

Regular attendance and punctuality at school is essential if children are to gain the maximum benefit from their school experience. Where these fall below acceptable levels then the Principal is obliged to follow up the school's concerns.

Children should be present on the first day of each term. It is especially important that children are present for all Assessments. These are ongoing throughout each school term and year. In addition Primary and Secondary Students (Y1-Y8) will usually undertake informal, summative assessments during the last two weeks of each term. Parents will be notified of assessment dates via school newsletters. If absence during these periods is unavoidable then the school must be informed in advance.

Absence

• If your child is ill we would ask you to notify the school by 8.30am on the first day of absence.
• If your child is absent due to illness for more than 3 days a Medical Certificate will be required.
• If your child is absent with a contagious illness, we request that you obtain written consent from your family Doctor before returning to school. This should be handed on to the School Nurse or School Office.
• Authorised Absence may be requested by completing a Leave of Absence Form which is available from the School Office.
• Authorised leave MUST be requested at least one week in advance.
• Any absence not accounted for will be classed as 'unauthorised'.
• Your child's report will contain all the leave of absence during the year and it's classification (ie. Authorised, unauthorised, sick...etc.)

Absence Request Form

School Snacks and Lunches

Meal times are seen as valuable social learning experiences and are given an important place in school. Our Children enjoy a mid-morning 'snack time' and Primary Children have their lunch shortly after midday.

At present, the School does not have on-site catering facilities and, therefore, Parents are requested to provide their child/ren with cold snacks and packed lunches as appropriate.

We would ask parents to give special thought when preparing food so that snacks and lunches are nutritious as well as delicious. With this in mind we ask parents not to provide children with fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolates.

All children should bring a water bottle into school with them each day as they are actively encouraged to drink regularly. A bottle with a 'sports top' is recommended in order to prevent unnecessary spills.

Snacks and lunches should be brought in a suitable container/bag. We would recommend insulated lunch boxes or bags with the addition of an ice pack in the warmer months in order to keep food fresh .

The school encourages a nut free environment but we cannot guarantee that all products brought to school by the children are free from traces of nuts.

School Transport

Our school transport is currently provided by School Transport Services LLC (STS) and covers most of the popular residential areas in Dubai. Star International School have selected STS as our preferred transport provider as a result of their commitment to high safety standards and care of our children. We believe that they meet both the School's and our parents' expectations in terms of safety, quality of care and service.

All of our bus drivers undergo professional driving and safety training provided by both STS and the RTA. They are also constantly monitored by experienced STS Supervisors. Every bus has one of our Teaching Assistants on board who have to undergo the required transport safety training. The Teaching Assistants supervise the children on their journeys to ensure that safety standards are adhered to at all times and that the children are delivered safely to school and back home again.

For more information on registering your child for our Transport Service please visit http://www.schooltransportservices.com or contact Mr Jayaraj on 0505843059 for further information.

Personal Belongings & School Property

• All personal belongings such as school uniforms, sports kits, lunchboxes and water bottles should be clearly labelled with your child/ren's name(s).
• We would ask children to refrain from bringing valuable items and their own toys to School unless it has been specifically requested by their Teachers.
• We are extremely fortunate to have fantastic facilities and resources within our School. We would therefore ask that every child takes pride and responsibility in looking after all school property so that we can all continue to enjoy the facilities and resources that we have available to us.

• Any damage done to school property, even by accident, should be reported to Class Teachers, Teaching Assistants or the School Office.

• Compensation for the loss or damage of School property may be requested in certain circumstances.

• Children are not allowed the use of Mobile phones in school

HOME-SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

Newsletters

Star International School, Umm Sheif is committed to openness and transparency and this is particularly true when it comes to nurturing a sense of partnership and accountability between Home and School.

Accordingly the School sends regular Newsletters home to its families. The intention of the letters is to keep Parents informed regarding dates, events, developments, invitations, staffing etc. It is only fit and proper that our Parents are well informed about their children's School.

Home School Diaries

While the school newsletters give general information from school to home, the Home/School Diary provides an opportunity for open communication between Class Teachers and families. Teachers may use the diary for sending home general information related to the class, as well as notes specifically regarding your child.  In turn, parents can also use the diary to send notes to the teacher. Diaries are checked daily and any new message from the parent initialed by the teacher to acknowledge that it has been read. Parents are encouraged to do the same. Please ensure that the Home/School Diary is returned to school daily in the book bag.

Parent/Teacher Meetings

Our School is a Community nurtured through the quality of the relationship and communication between home and school. This is encouraged at both informal and formal levels.

The informal can be as simple as the dropping off and collection from the classroom, at the beginning and end of the day, when the Class Teacher is available for the passing on of messages.

When a "discussion" is necessary then this needs to take place during a meeting arranged by appointment. The most regular examples of these are the Parent-Teacher Meetings that are arranged near the beginning of the school year and following the writing of the Children's Mid-Year and Annual Reports. Parents are always invited to meet with the Teacher to discuss the contents of the Report so that home and school can work together to support the Child's next steps in learning.

However, neither Home nor School need to wait for these regular meetings on the school calendar if there are concerns that arise inbetween. Both School and Home are mutually accountable and every effort is made to arrange a meeting called by either party in order to address those concerns.

Medical

The School Nurse communicates with families through telephone calls, written communication and being available for visits in her 'clinic'.

An up to date medical and immunisation record is maintained for each child. This record is kept confidential. It is compulsory that this record is completed and returned to the School Nurse prior to your child commencing school.

Emergency Contact Information

It is important that parents ensure that the School Office has up to date emergency contact details. It is also essential that the school is provided with at least one emergency contact other than the child's parents in the event that neither parent is contactable.

It is vital that you inform us of any changes to mobile/home numbers and email addresses.

You are welcome to contact our school nurse through nurse.ummsheif@starintl.ae for any concerns.