On this page, you will find the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions, along with links to useful parent resources and calendars.
All term dates, and our full school calendar, can be found on this page
Preparatory School pupils can arrive from 8.20am. Senior School students can arrive from 8.30am.
The Bell rings for Preparatory and Senior School (Years Reception – Upper G (Year 11)) at 8.40am every day. Lessons start promptly at 8.45am.
Please see this page
In Preparatory School, parents collect their children from the school field adjacent to the playground at the following times:-
Reception – Year 2: 3.20pm
Years 3 – 4: 3.30pm
Year 5 – 6: 3.40pm
On Fridays, the school day finishes at 2:30pm for all Prep pupils.
In Senior School, the school day finishes at 3.45pm on Monday – Thursdays, and at 2.40pm on Fridays.
Drop Off
Nursery parents will accompany their children through the Nursery Gate and into the Nursery building. They can drop off their child between 8.30am and 9am in the morning.
Preparatory School parents (Reception – Year 6) can drop off their children from 8.20am. Senior School students should arrive between 8.30 and 8.40am. The bell rings at 8.40am.
All Prep and Senior parents dropping off should arrive promptly and park in the Parents Car Park. From there, they and/or their child can follow the path to the ‘Green Gate’. Senior School students are expected not to accompany their child to the Gate – they will make their own way.
Reception and Year 1 parents walk into the school with their child, entering through the Green Gate, and leading their child across the playground to the Reception class / Prep building entrance, where they will be greeted by their teacher. You must be wearing a school issued security lanyard to gain entry to the school site.
Parents of Years 2 – 6 can drop off their child at the Green Gate up until 8.45am, and will not enter the school site on morning drop-off. However we do encourage parents to allow their child to walk down the path from the car themselves, rather than accompany them to the gate.
Collection
Nursery parents collect their child from the Nursery gate at the end of their session (Morning session collection is 11.45am – 12pm, full day collection is between 2.45pm and 3pm , or between 2.30pm and 3pm on Fridays).
Preparatory parents (Reception – Year 6) will enter the site through the ‘Green Gate’ for collection, which is open from 3.15pm. Please wait at the corner of the playground. See map here. You must be wearing a school issued security lanyard to gain entry to the school site.
On Monday to Thursday, Reception – Year 2 finish at 3.20pm, Year 3-4 end at 3.30pm and Year 5-6 end at 3.40pm. On Friday, all Preparatory Year groups finish school at 2.30pm.
Please keep your children with you at all times once collected, for example while waiting to collect a sibling.
Senior students finish school on Monday to Thursday at 3.45pm and on Friday they finish at 2.40pm.
Senior School Parents please note:
For those travelling to school by car, there is a one-way traffic flow system in operation at drop off and pick up times. Cars enter the site at the South Entrance near TruGym, and should drive slowly to the drop-off point at the crossing near the Exit Gate.
Students should alight cars at the crossing as quickly as possible. Drop-off and pick-up times can be very busy and so extra caution should be taken.
The Drop Off Zone is there to help ease congestion, and as such no cars can be parked and left unattended in the Drop Off Zone. Please be considerate to other parents and keep the traffic flow moving in this area.
Alternatively, parents may prefer to park in the main car park – at the South Entrance – leaving students to walk up to school. Students should enter the school by going through the ‘Green Gate’. These areas are marked on this map.
If you are collecting your child from School, please park in the Parents Car Park to wait for your child. We ask that you do not arrive early to help ease congestion.
If you do not arrive by 8.40am, the Green Gate will be closed. Please go to the main school office.
If your child is unwell or has a medical reason, such as an appointment, for not attending school, please report this via email to absence@thorpehallschool.co.uk. Please do so as early as possible (you can email this address at any time, 24 hours a day) and no later than 8:30am on the day of absence. The main school office is always busy at the start of the day, so please do email rather than phone where possible. If your child is unwell at school, we will contact you on the number/s we have on record.
If you would like to request authorisation to take your child out of school for a non-medical reason, please use the Advance Request For Authorised Absence form. This can be found in the Forms Zone of the Parent Portal. A minimum of 48 hours’ notice is required.
Please see our Communications Page for more information.
For Nursery and Preparatory School parents;
Please direct any concerns initially to your child’s key worker (Nursery), class teacher (Reception – Year 4) or form tutor (Year 5 and 6). They will escalate concerns where required to the Heads of Preparatory School.
For Senior School Parents:
All issues related to pastoral or behavioural aspects need to be addressed by parents via Form Tutors in the first instance. If required, concerns will be escalated to the Heads of Year. Only once all these avenues have been exhausted would a member of the Senior Leadership team become involved.
Heads of Year do not deal with academic related aspects e.g. sets, report grades etc. All academic matters need to be addressed to the Form Tutors, and if necessary will be escalated to the Subject Leader or Head of Department for that subject. Only once all these avenues have been exhausted would a member of the Senior Leadership team become involved.
The school gates are open from 7:30 am. Our #BestStart Breakfast Club is available from 8:15am in the Dining Hall. Please be aware that staff are not on duty until 8:00am.
Several sports and activity clubs take place before school and we will supply details of our extracurricular choices at the start of each term.
There are lots of different extra-curricular clubs to appeal to everyone, and taking part is a great way to make new friends and try new things. We will provide you with a full list of before-school, after-school and lunchtime clubs at the beginning of term.
Clubs for Preparatory School pupils are booked by the parents through the Parent Portal. Senior students register for clubs themselves.