Enjoy, Respect, Achieve
Please bear with us! We are currently making changes across our website - contact the school office if you cannot find the information you need.
Key Information
REMOTE EDUCATION
NB Remote Education for Reception children will be provided via Tapestry.
THE SCHOOL DAY
TAPESTRY
Click here to log into your Tapestry Account.
At Great Totham create individual ‘learning journeys’ for your Reception child through educational software called ‘Tapestry’.
By logging on with your secure username and password you can view all of your child’s observations, photographs and videos from their time in Reception. This is unique to children in Reception due to the specific nature of the curriculum in this phase of education.
In addition to viewing our contributions, we encourage you to add to it by uploading photos and comments about your child and their achievements at home.
Here is a video showing you how to do this:
FAMILY SUPPORT TEAM
At Great Totham Primary School we understand how children can be affected by life's challenges and we strive to support our children, and their families, through these difficult times, giving them skills and advice that lasts much longer than the time they are with us.
Who are the Family Support Team?
Amanda Wilson: Family Support Worker
Lisa Cleghorn: Deputy Head Teacher
Liz Lawrence: SENCo
What does the Family Support Team do?
THAT'S A HARD QUESTION - ANYTHING THAT COMES OUR WAY!
We don't profess to be magicians and we are not counsellors or therapists; we cannot solve everyone's problems but we can listen, talk things through with you and offer advice or signpost you to other services who can help.
As a team we are slowly but surely up skilling ourselves to be able to support a wider range of children and families using skills and techniques such as promoting positive mental well-being, using therapeutic art and stories, bereavement support activities and using talk time.
As a general overview, the Family Support Team can support you, your child and your family during bereavement, illness, times of emotional unrest, divorce, toileting issues, during transition to another school or at times when something isn't right and you don't know what it is. We can also help you to become more active in your child's learning and support you to improve your child's attendance.
If you or your child need support and you think we can help, please contact us. If there's something you're struggling with but don't think we can help, contact us - we might just surprise you. Sometimes just talking things through, with someone you can trust, can be the most helpful experience in dealing with life's challenges.
Contact us to see what we can do for you:
01621 891091 and ask to speak to a member of the Family Support Team
or email us
Amanda Wilson: Family Support Worker
a.wilson@greattotham.essex.sch.uk
Lisa Cleghorn: Deputy Head Teacher
deputy@greattotham.essex.sch.uk
Liz Lawrence: SENCo
PARENT MAIL &
+ PAY
Payment for School Meals
Payment should be made by +Pay on ParentMail2. If in exceptional circumstances you need to pay by cheque, these should be made payable to ‘Great Totham Primary School’ and the name(s) of the child(ren) for whom the payment is made, written on the reverse side.
The cost of a school meal is £2.20 per day. Payment for meals should be made in advance, weekly or half termly. Many parents find it convenient to place some money on credit for their child’s dinners and then top this up as required.
Please sign up for ParentMail +Pay, all school communication and transactions go through this system.
ParentMail now has a mobile App you can download FREE.
The App has been developed to make it easy for parents to see and respond to school requests. It will help you to keep on top of all your children’s activities, in and out of school, in the most accessible and convenient way. With the App you can:
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Receive messages from the school and any other organisation that uses ParentMail
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Pay for items
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Top-up dinner money
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Authorise trips
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Keep up-to-date with the school calendar
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View and organise calendars for each of your children and much more, all from your mobile phone.
PTFA
The Great Totham Primary School PTFA is a charitable organisation. Its purpose is to work alongside the teaching staff to enhance the education of each and every child at the school. The PTFA is dependent upon the support of the Parent Body for giving time and donations to make events a success.
"One of the things I value most highly about our PTFA is the fantastic community spirit it generates."
Miss L Cleghorn, Deputy Head Teacher
WHY DO WE NEED A PTFA?
We work with the school and the Parent Body to arrange events through which we build a greater sense of community and raise money to be able to enrich the learning opportunities for the children.
In recent years the PTFA has made a significant contribution to the school being able to fund site improvements and opportunities that all children across the school have benefited from.
We depend on you to help us to do this through support through a range of events such as
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Summer Fete
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Christmas Market
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Golf Day
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Sponsored Walk
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Bouncy Bonanza
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School lottery (ask the office for more details)
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Film Nights for the children
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Quiz and comedy nights
Your support can be a personal or corporate donation, giving up your time to help on a stall or at an event or coming along to an event and having fun.
The organisation of events is a key aspect of how the PTFA functions and without volunteers this could not happen. Let us know how you would like to be involved as Great Totham Primary School needs you! Why not come along to a PTFA meeting or contact us via the school office?