School information

• Drop off and collection times as well as information on walking and driving to school  are detailed below. Please note that we will still be operating our 'drop and go' system in the Spring Term 2022. 
• Breakfast club will run each morning from 7.45am until 8.15am in the Library. The cost per session  is £2 which will be added to your school bill. There is no need to book this service. 
• To report an absence please email or call the school receptionists on tel: 01225 310 837 and also email your child's class teacher. 
• Family holidays should be taken during scheduled school holidays. All requests for holidays/leave during term time should be directed to the Head's PA, Susie Rees-Jones
• If your child is being collected by another parent, relative or friend, please inform our receptionists by email. 
• Our school caterers are Palmer & Howells, and a delicious healthy cooked lunch is provided each day at school. The weekly lunch menu can be found here.
• Information about fixtures, swimming lessons and sporting events can be found here.
• Wraparound care is provided until 6pm each evening by SuperPirates. Further information about their awesome after-school club and booking details can be found here. 
• The current after-school Clubs List can be found here

*On Friday afternoons, Years 5 and 6 attend Prior Park College for afternoon sports and finish at 3.45pm, when they may be collected by parents from the College or return to school on minibuses and collected from the school lawn. 

Morning and afternoon drop off by foot:  Pupils can arrive on foot or by car each morning and afternoon.  If arriving on foot, children should be dropped directly to the classroom door (Squirrels-Y4) or to the front door of Lyncombe House (Y5&6).   If collecting on foot, parents should collect directly from the classroom door (Squirrels – Y4) or from the front door of Lyncombe House (Y5&6)

Morning and afternoon drop off by car: If arriving or collecting by car, a ‘drive-through drop and go/collect’ system is in operation.  There is some casual on-site parking for parents. Children in SQ – Y2 arriving by car will be accompanied to their classroom by the Pre-Prep 'Ferry' staff.

Walking to School: We are keen to reduce the amount of traffic entering the school and encourage parents to car share, walk to school or use the minibus services from Prior Park College. Parents may also park at Prior Park Garden Centre in the morning, and walk into school.  If walking into the school grounds, please enter through the MAIN ENTRANCE, then turn right through the gate and walk through The Dingly Dell or enter through the MIDDLE GATE (ask receptionist for code). For safety reasons, it is important that parents and children do not walk through the staff car park but go through the gate and follow the designated pedestrian paths which are clearly marked around the site.  Please do not enter the grounds through the exit gate. The gates which lead onto the back drive should remain locked at all times. 

Parents are not required to confirm each day how they will collect their child, however we do ask that parents keep to the timings above, to ensure smooth operation of the system. 

If parents are dropping off by car and have a meeting scheduled with a staff member, then a limited number of visitor parking spaces are available which can be booked by prior arrangement with Reception. 

If you arrange for your child to be picked up by someone else in advance, please inform the child’s class teacher. Any late changes of arrangement will be relayed to the teacher via the receptionist. In the latter case, please contact the receptionist, by phone or via email, detailing who is picking the child up and at what time. Children can only be collected by their parent unless the school has had specific instructions that their child will be collected by a third party. Parents may provide a ‘blanket’ permission email if someone else regularly picks up their child. 

Collecting your child during the school day: When collecting your child during the school day, please go directly to the reception desk. The receptionist will check that permission has been granted and arrange for your child to come to the reception desk to be signed out. Parents must not take their child from the playground or classroom.

Pedestrian Crossing: Parents are requested to be mindful of the safety of all pedestrians in the school grounds,  particularly the children, when dropping off and picking up. Children must always use the zebra crossing. Please do not drop off and pick up on the drive and, if entering the school as a pedestrian, turn immediate right after the entrance gate and walk through the dell.

One way system: As we are situated in a residential area, we follow a one-way system through the school grounds and surrounding roadways which we hope minimises any inconvenience to the local residents. Arrival by car should be via Lyncombe Vale, and exit via Lyncombe Vale Road which forks to the left when you have exited  via the electronic gates. The map below indicates which routes to take.

Minibus Service 

A free minibus ferrying service is in operation from Prior Park College pavilion in the mornings. The shuttle runs at the following times from the Cricket Pavillion at Prior Park College:

Bus 1  - 8.00am, Bus 2 - 8.20 am (please arrive at 8.15am),  Evening shuttle from Paragon to Prior Park College - 5.10pm (Mon - Thurs) and 4.45pm on Friday. 

 In order to help us provide the required amount of buses, please email our receptionists if you would like your child to use this service: reception.paragon@priorparkschools.com.  We hope to re-introduce the morning minibus, including a 'walking bus' from Prior Park Garden Centre in due course. Watch this space!

Prior Park College runs a daily, chargeable transportation service for its pupils, covering a number of local towns and villages. Paragon pupils may also use this service. Details of the routes are available on the Transport Services section of the Prior Park College website. Please email Wendy Paradise and Tony Jenkins for further information (both are based at Prior Park College) wparadise@priorparkschools.com, tjenkins@priorparkschools.com. Please inform the Paragon receptionists once your child has been booked onto this service, for their records. 

We encourage parents to car share whenever possible. The owner of Prior Park Garden Centre has kindly agreed to allow The Paragon parents to use the garden centre car park at drop off. Parents may park there and walk their children to school - please display the school crest on the dashboard of your car. Please note this arrangement is only applicable at the start of the day and is only for parents who are walking their children to school. 

School uniform is supplied by John Moore Sports which is situated on Argyle Street in the centre of Bath. Please click here for the full uniform list. Our PTA also run a well stocked second hand uniform shop which takes place each Wednesday in the Lodge, from 3.15 - 4.30pm.  Please contact the school to make an appointment.

*Blazers: Please note that blazers will be a required item of uniform for pupils in Years 3-6 from September 2021*   

If you have any questions about uniform then please contact our school Registrar and Head's PA Susie Rees-Jones 

For a full list of equipment required for each year group, such as stationery and water bottles, please click here. 

For a detailed list of teaching and support staff, our Senior Leadership Team, Finance and Board of Trustees, please visit our Contacts page.

The main emphasis of homework is to reinforce learning taught in school. We encourage parents to ask their children about their learning and where possible, spend time listening to them read. They may also help by practising spelling words and multiplication tables to support with embedding these important skills. Homework tasks are designed to allow children to access them independently.

In addition to daily reading, times tables practise and weekly spellings, homework tasks will be organised as per the table below. It is important note that Homework tasks will vary in subject content focus and the time set to complete, therefore, it requires the children to be adaptable and well organised: skills they will continue to develop as they transition through school.

We encourage the children to speak to their Class Teacher should they have any questions or problems with their Homework tasks. Parents are encouraged to communicate with their child’s Class Teacher via email or the Pupil Planner should they wish to discuss any aspect of Homework.

The Paragon's school nurse is Ms Vicky Matthews. If you would like to discuss any medical matters with Vicky, please email her using the following email address: vmatthews@priorparkschools.com.  Please complete a medical form for each child attending The Paragon before Friday 3rd September 2021 using this link: Medical Form for pupils at The Paragon School (office.com). Further information can be found on our Minor Ailments Medical Policy, 

Curriculum Evenings

Early in the Autumn term, as part of the School Information Evening, class teachers present to groups of parents in the classroom, sharing key information and curriculum highlights for the year ahead. The presentation will also deal with routines and expectations, relevant homework schedules and educational visits. Of course, you are encouraged to make an appointment to see your child's teacher at any time if you have questions or concerns.

In the Summer Term, parents may make an appointment to see their child’s class teacher if they have any concerns, having received the end of year report. 

Reports and Parents'  Evenings - the schedule for reports and parents' evenings is detailed below. Our Autumn Parents' Evenings are scheduled for Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th October 2021.

Every Friday, parents will receive our weekly Bulletin, which is sent by email at the end of the school day. The Bulletin features a message from the Head, an update from each class teacher, and specialist teachers as well as PTA news and  important dates for your diary.

If you would like to speak to your class teacher, please email them in the first instance. Teacher's email addresses can be found on the 'Contact Information' tab within this section. 

We believe that excellent pastoral care is at the centre of an outstanding school. We have many systems in place to reward children for good behaviour, as well as support children who make mistakes in their behaviour. Further details can be found in The Paragon's Positive Behaviour Policy.

The school has a pastoral team whose responsibility it is to ensure every child feels valued, safe and secure. 

The Pastoral Team: 

Sarah James – Assistant Head, Pastoral: sjames@priorparkschools.com  

Emily Murphy – Key Stage 1 Lead: emurphy@priorparkschools.com

Gareth Millar – Key Stage 2 Lead: gmillar@priorparkschools.com

If you have a pastoral concern, please contact your child’s teacher in the first instance. 

BULLYING 

There is zero tolerance of any bullying behaviour at The Paragon. We deal firmly, yet fairly, with any behaviour which could be seen as bullying and ensure all children involved received support and understanding. The Trust-Wide Counter Bullying Policy can be found here.  

Our school values are illustrated in The Paragon Wheel, a diagram which is used extensively in classrooms for reflection and aspiration.  We strive to foster the attributes illustrated on The Paragon Way in both children and staff - these behaviours are nurtured in every child at The Paragon throuought their education with us. 

The Paragon Wheel

The Paragon Way

We supplement the curriculum with frequent trips around the local area and further afield to make learning relevant and fun for the children. Detailed risk assessments are always undertaken to make such times as safe as possible.  

These educational visits - some of which are residential - develop independence and provide a wealth of academic and social benefits, and they are an important and integral element of our educational programme. Therefore, we encourage parents to allow their children to attend these trips. 

Year 3 pupils have an enjoyable week of activities during the summer term. They have the opportunity to take part in a number of drama and environmental activities based in and around the school. 

Children in Year 4 enjoy an activity week featuring environmental tasks, art projects and  sport activities. For many, the highlight of the week is two nights away, camping at an activity centre. 

In Year 5, children spend three nights away on a residential, where great emphasis is placed on developing social skills and, in Year 6, children spend a week in France, reaping the benefits of their study of French throughout the school.  

Parents are informed about the cost of visits in advance and the cost is added to school fees.  

A house system operates from Year 3 upwards. All children in Years 3 to 6 are allocated to one of the four school Houses: Abbey, Crescent, Holburne and Milsom.

Houses compete against each other in sports and other events. Stickers awarded to children for behaviour and effort count towards the weekly house total and a cup is awarded to the house with the most points each half of term, with the house earning the most points at the end of the year being awarded the House Shield.  

Each house has a House Captain and Deputy who are voted in by the members of the house on a termly basis. House assemblies, led by the House Captains, are held each half term. Occasional house activity sessions take place, during which the children participate in team building tasks, working alongside members of their house from other year groups.  

The Paragon is part of the Prior Park Schools Group, which is presided over by an active Board of Trustees, chaired by Mr John Shinkwin. Details about the members of this body, their background and experience can be found on our Governance and Leadership page. This body provides governance and support for the Head Teachers and their schools via a Local Board,  an Education Committee and a Finance, Audit, Investment & Risk Committee (FAIR).