Primary Parent Handbook

Integral our Primary curricular offer are the trips and residentials which are planned throughout the school year. For example, your child may have the opportunity to visit the temples of Luxor, learn about the Great Pyramids or experience team-building activities abroad, depending on their year group.

The experiences from these trips and residentials are then used back in the classroom to enhance and deepen learning throughout various aspects of the curriculum. As such, day trip participation is not optional and we expect all children to attend these.

High Performance Learning (HPL) is an acclaimed accredited programme which follows the underlying principle that every single child can achieve success at school and beyond if they are given the right language, tools and support.

The HPL framework gives exactly that support, so it means that every single student can achieve highly in all different areas of the school curriculum.

NCBIS is a HPL World Class School, meaning we have achieved HPL accreditation. As a school we have invested in the HPL programme and we are already seeing changes in attitudes, self-belief and results from the way we have embedded HPL in the classroom so far.

If you want to learn more about High Performance Learning, please visit: www.highperformancelearning.co.uk

Key dates for the school year will be shared with you via the whole school calendar which is always available on this website. These are also posted in the Upcoming Events section in the NCBIS Weekly Bulletin and shared on Engage via the parent calendar.

Please do note that as Egypt, our host country, is a predominantly Muslim country, many of the public holidays are determined by the phases of the moon. This also means that holidays are subject to change at late notice. NCBIS follows the bank holidays and announces the dates at the same time as HSBC bank.

We are proud of our whole school and Primary specific events calendar, including International Week, residentials and seasonal performances. Details of these will be shared throughout the year and parents will be given plenty of advance notice about dates, times and details.

Our uniform shop is open from Sunday to Wednesday 7:30 am – 3:00 pm and Thursday 7.30 am – 2.30 pm. It is located to the left of the main reception area.

Primary School Uniform

School trousers, short or skorts (girls)
School polo shirt (long or short sleeved) – any vest or t-shirt worn underneath should be white or black
School jumper or cardigan
Plain, back shoes (no boots or open-toed sandals)
Black, white or grey tights (no leg warmers or leggings)
Hat/cap with a brim/visor for sun protection

Primary PE kit

House t-shirt
School PE shorts
Tracksuit (optional)
White, grey or black socks

Primary Swimming kit

One piece (girls)
Swimming trunks or shorts (boys)
Towel
Goggles
Swimming hat
Towel
Poolside footwear
SPF swim tops (optional)

Please purchase NCBIS school uniform from the school uniform shop. Please ensure all items are clearly labelled with your child’s name and class. Permanent pens for labelling are available at the main school reception and the Primary Office.

Hair: Should be kept neat, of natural colour (not bleached), appropriate for school.
Makeup: No makeup or nail varnish is allowed.
Jewellery: One pair of studs in the lobe of each ear may be worn. No other piercings are permitted. Jewellery must be removed before the start of PE lessons.

Please ensure that all items are labelled with your child’s name and class in permanent pen.

Please provide your child with a sturdy and suitable school bag which contains the following items:

• Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children: a spare change of clothes
• Reusable water bottle
• Swimming/PE kit (on appropriate days)
• Healthy snacks as well as a healthy lunch/canteen wristband
• Reading record/planner
• Reading book
• Library booksPlease note, children are not allowed to bring any toys or electronic equipment to school.

Children are required to bring their own lunches and snacks from home, or – from Y1-6 – to eat from the school canteen.

Children eat their lunches outside in our pergola area. All lunch boxes and water bottles should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and class.

If children bring their lunch and snack from home it is vital NOT to bring any kind of nuts, or nut-based products. NCBIS is a nut-free school as some children in our school have severe allergies to nuts.

Snacks, including fruit juices, water and other hot and cold lunches can be purchased in the school canteen during break times.

The school uses a cashless service involving pre-ordering and pre-paying online. This system uses an electronic digital wristband as a payment method for all canteen purchases. Please do not send your child to school with money to buy from the school canteen.

If your child is having lunch from the canteen, please ensure that they have their watch in school and that they still have a healthy snack and drink available in their school bag.

We strongly encourage children to eat healthily in school as

there is a direct link between nutrition and academic performance. Therefore, please ensure that you provide your child with a balanced variety of food in their lunch box and do not provide sweets (candy).

In Primary, learning starts at 7:50 am. Children that are late to school miss out on key parts of the curriculum at this time (e.g. times tables practice, phonics revision, catch up reading). Please work with us to make sure your child is in school on time.

In addition, we have a target of 97% attendance for each child for the school year. Research shows that school attendance lower than this can significantly impact a child’s academic progress.

Therefore, please try to avoid taking holidays and other absences that could be rearranged, during term time and the school week. We request that medical and dental appointments are also made outside of school hours wherever possible.

7:30 – 7:50 – Morning drop off
If your child arrives at school late (after 8:00 am) they must sign in at the Primary Office before going to their classroom.
12:50 Nursery collection (for children who attend mornings only) 14:35 – Nursery to Year 6 collection
15:50 – ECA (first session) collection
16:50 – ECA (second session) collection

You may drop your child off at the main school gate from 7:30 am onward. Please note that staff are not on duty in school until 7:30 am and so children are not supervised on site until this time.

The car drop off point is controlled by our security staff and cars must only stop in the dedicated lane ensuring the road remains clear for other road users. Cars must not wait here – if your child needs to be accompanied they should use the field gate where parking is available and they can be brought into school by you or their driver.

At the end of the day, our school session ends at 2:35. If your child is not in an ECA, please ensure that they are picked up on time. Our teaching staff are committed to after school training sessions, meetings or leading ECAs after school and, therefore, it is essential that your child is collected on time.

Children must be collected from the school field via the field gate by parents, their driver or childminder. All adults entering the school must wear their school issued ID/lanyards.

If you forget your lanyard, please obtain a red visitor’s lanyard from security. If you have lost your lanyard, please email the Primary Office at primaryoffice@ncbis.co.uk

Please supervise your child at the end of the school day and note that the school playgrounds and play equipment are not to be used at this time.

Any changes to your child’s normal end of day arrangements (e.g. they are not going home by bus, going home with a friend, not attending an ECA) must be communicated to the school by completing the Daily transportation changes Google form. A separate form must be completed by the parent for each child.
Please do not email or call the school, your child’s class teacher or the Primary Office to arrange transport or to notify the school and staff of changes to the end of day arrangements.
Please note that:

• Changes to morning bus arrangements must be made before 6am on the day of the arrangement using the google form above.
• Changes to end of day arrangements must be made before 12pm on the day of the arrangement using the google form above.
• Changes for the end of day will not be accepted after 12pm.
• The form is closed for submissions daily between 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm.

The school has its own Transportation Office on site and the day-to-day operation is run by our transportation team. School bus fees are paid in advance every year.
Students are picked-up and dropped home directly to and from their residential address at scheduled times. Care is taken to ensure buses use the most efficient routes.
Each bus has a bus monitor whose primary duty is to ensure the safety of the children whilst using the bus service, meet children, help store the school bags (for Year 3 and below) and ensure the child is properly seated with safety belts on.

The bus monitor will stay with the children under all circumstances. In cases of poor behaviour and discipline issues whilst on the bus, parents will be informed and may be asked to come to school to discuss the matter. If a student’s behaviour is consistently compromising to the safety and comfort of other bus users, access to the bus service may be withdrawn for a specified period. If it is felt that a student’s behaviour continues to endanger the trip or other passengers, a permanent ban may be issued.

At the start of the new academic school year, the Transportation Department will inform parents of the route and pick up times for the students. During the term, the Transportation Department will advise you of any changes. Where the bus is significantly delayed, the Transportation Department will inform the parent and update them of the expected arrival time.

Should you have any queries about the school bus service, please contact the Transportation Department at: transportation@ncbis.co.uk

To avoid losing any property, please ensure that all clothing, lunch boxes, hats, water bottles, and any other items brought to school, are clearly labelled with your child’s name using a permanent/indelible pen.

However, if you find that your child has lost a belonging, we advise you to first check the classroom and check with the class teacher. If you do not find it here, then you can visit the school’s lost property office.
This is located on the left hand side of the main school entrance gates.

We take safeguarding our students and staff very seriously at NCBIS. Therefore, all staff, parents and visitors must wear school issued ID badges and lanyards at all times whilst on campus.
Visitors should not enter the school during the working day unless they have a prior appointment or are attending a school event.

Should you wish to speak to any member of staff, however briefly, please make an appointment through the Primary Office and we will be happy to arrange a mutually convenient time and location for a meeting.
In case of emergency, it is vital that we are able to contact parents without delay. Please ensure that your contact details are up to date on Engage and that you provide at least two main contact telephone numbers and at least two additional contact telephone numbers. These phone numbers must be Egyptian and we request that phones are left switched on at all times.

Hot Weather
During hot weather, we enforce a ‘No hat, no play’ policy whereby children who do not bring a hat will need to spend break times in the shade. Please ensure your child brings a water bottle and hat to school every day, with their name labelled on the items, especially during the water months.

Unfortunately, we are not able to apply sun block in school so please do ensure you apply sunscreen to your child in the morning before school, and we highly recommend that your child wears sun protective swimming clothes for their swimming lessons.

Healthy Eating
For learners, breakfast is an incredibly important meal to have. Please make sure your child has a healthy, filling breakfast before they come to school in the morning.

Although we have break times in school and, for younger children, our ‘munch and crunch’ sessions, making sure your child is full before school starts will help sustain them throughout the morning and, therefore, help them learn better.

In addition, we strongly encourage children to eat a variety of fruit, vegetables, healthy proteins and carbohydrates as part of a balanced diet. Please help us in this by ensuring your child’s lunch box contains a balanced selection of food.

Illness
If you are unsure about whether your child is well enough to be in school or not, do not hesitate to contact our school clinic who will be happy to help. Our medical team is also able to give advice on how much time children must stay away from school in the event of sickness and/or diarrhoea.

Please help your child get into the habit of washing their hands regularly to prevent regular infections and/or spreading infections to others, as well as throwing away tissues in the bin when used.

If your child is unwell during the school day, the school clinic will assess their needs and contact you if necessary.

Below is an example of a Primary timetable.

The Inclusive Learning department at NCBIS Primary provides support for individuals and groups of students who may, at any point, need support with their learning to overcome barriers to their progress.
The Inclusive Learning department works closely with class teachers and parents to ensure a collaborative approach to meeting each child’s needs, whether it be an additional, special educational need or your child is new to learning English.

Staff, parents and children collaborate to create targets and meet to review progress.
If you are new to NCBIS Primary and your child has previously received learning support, or has an Educational Psychologist report, please communicate that with us so that we can put additional support into place. Early identification of need, and appropriate support to overcome any learning barriers, significantly impacts upon your child’s progress.

If you have any concerns about your child, please do contact the Inclusive Learning department to arrange a meeting

Daily reading: We expect that every child reads at home everyday. Parents and teachers use the Pupil Planner to record what the students read each day.
Mathletics:

Weekly activities will be set by teachers on the Mathletics platform that will complement the teaching objectives for that week.

Google Classroom:
Weekly English – teachers will upload weekly an appropriate piece of work that will consolidate what has been taught in class that week. Students will complete the activity in their ‘Home Learning Book’. The work will be marked.

Weekly spellings – teachers will upload weekly spellings using a look cover write check spelling practice system.

Optional topic enrichment activities – At the beginning of each topic, teachers will upload a range of activities, outings, book suggestions, HPL dinner discussion topics that will complement and enhance the Topic curriculum. These activities are optional and will not be marked.

Home learning will be set by teachers on Google Classroom on a Thursday each week. Students will need to complete home learning for the following Wednesday morning.

At NCBIS, phonics is taught from Nursery to Year 2 (and in Year 3 if needed) using the Twinkl Phonics Programme. There are 6 Phases (steps) to the system. Phonics Parent workshops are delivered so that you can support your children at home.

In Nursery, children are exposed to Phase 1 & 2 from our phonics program which focuses on listening skills, rhythm and rhyme, alliteration and oral blending and segmenting.
Students work through the remaining 5 Phases (which focus on learning the sounds and using them to read and write) at their own pace.

The children are grouped for phonics according to their individual stage of learning. Please ask the class teacher if you wish to know which group your child is in. Phonics lessons are delivered in school daily.
You can read more about phonics here at:
www.phonicsplay.co.uk

At NCBIS we use Class Dojo from Year 1 to Year 6 to collect achievement and behaviour points. Achievement points are converted to House Points at the end of the week.

ClassDojo is a behaviour management tool for the classroom. Each student has a profile – complete with their own avatar – to which teachers can assign positive (achievement points) and negative points (behaviour points).

When students gain certain numbers of achievement points they receive a certificate that will be given out during Celebration Assemblies.
In addition to Class Dojo, we use a range of other celebrations and rewards in order to promote positive behaviour choices and academic success.

Our Early Years teams also employ a bespoke system of rewards which are age appropriate and include House Points and HPL VAA and ACP certificates.

Further details of our positive behaviour approach can be found in our Primary/Dutch Behaviour Policy.
In order to showcase the student’s learning in our school, each class has the opportunity to lead an assembly once a year, which parents are invited to.

The NCBIS House system encompasses the whole school community. Students are allocated a House upon admission to NCBIS and siblings are placed in the same House. Students value the House system and are eager to earn points for their team via a wide range of House events and activities throughout the year including sporting, musical and academic competitions. Our house programme culminates in the presentation of the NCBIS House cup, which is awarded to the House which earns the most points by the end of the year. Our houses are: Air (yellow), Earth (green), Fire (red) and Water (blue).

All NCBIS students are given the opportunity to participate in a wide range of sporting and exercise activities and a range of competitions are available for all abilities. The Physical Education (PE) and extracurricular activities (ECA) sporting provision are closely aligned, and students are given the opportunity to participate in intra-school, inter-school, regional and international sporting competition.
NCBIS prides itself on its ‘Sport For All’ ethos and every student is offered the chance to experience, enjoy and excel at sport, whilst being given the tools and knowledge to live a healthy and active lifestyle. As part of this, we offer weekly swimming lessons during the warmer months. These are part of the curriculum from Nursery to Y6 and, as such, every child is expected to participate.
NCBIS Director of Sport:
Mr Shaun Banham shaun.banham@ncbis.co.uk

We offer a wide range of extra curricular activities for Primary children in Years 1-6. These take place after school. We encourage students to participate in at least one ECA each week and, once signed up, request that they participate fully and commit to attending every week.
The extensive ECA programme changes termly and options and details about how to sign up are sent to parents before each term starts.

Please contact our NCBIS ECA Coordinator if you require any further details at activities@ncbis.co.uk

NCBIS has a thriving music department which is always buzzing with activity. The school believes that with the right encouragement and guidance, the life of a child can be enriched through music.
There are some 160 individual music lessons each week, delivered by an outstanding team of visiting musicians, many of whom have impressive performing credentials. They provide motivation, direction and nurturing needed to any individual student, be it the beginner or the proficient.

Students are actively encouraged to pursue their interest in music and contribute to the group and solo activities available in our busy department. Our one-to-one support and instrumental tuition delivered up to Grade 8 provides the perfect environment for musicians of all ages to be challenged and to excel.
For further details, please contact our Head of Music:
rebekah.thompson@ncbis.co.uk

The Primary School has its very own student leadership body, which works alongside the Primary Leadership Team in helping to run the school and make improvements to student life.
The Student Council is made up of one elected student per class, from Year 2 to Year 6. Elections take place at the start of the Autumn Term and every student in Year 2 to Year 6 has the opportunity to apply for this role. Elected representatives are chosen by the children through a secret ballot.

We would like to remind parents that social media apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, Instagram etc are for children aged 13+.
These age-restrictions are in place because children at a younger age are not yet mature enough to understand how to use social media apps responsibly and may be exposed to inappropriate and unsafe content.
If you decide as a parent to allow access to social media before the age of 13, we would strongly encourage parents to limit use of social media for children and for parents to very closely monitor what their child is looking at and posting – either on social media apps or in 1-2-1 or group chats.

Parents are invited into school for class assemblies, where you can see the learning outcomes of the children, as well as Parent Teacher Conferences where you will be able to discuss the academic progress of your child.

As a parent, there are also a number of opportunities for you to get involved in other aspects of school life. For example:

Our Parent Class Representatives provide a link between academic staff and the parents of children in the class.
The NCBIS Parent Group organises meetings and activities such as the Christmas Fair and International Week.
Parent volunteers – to help with the running of the library, lead a cooking session, or hear readers in class.

We encourage parent support both in academic and non-academic activities in school. If you are interested in volunteering or feel you have an area of skill or expertise that you would like to share with us, please contact the Primary school office.

We also provide frequent parent workshops throughout the year. These may include, for example, workshops on phonics, home learning, positive behaviour management at home and in school, as well as many others. Please look out for upcoming workshops in our NCBIS Weekly Bulletin.