School Policies for the 2009-2010 School Year

School Hours
AM programmes run from 8:30am-11:20am. Half day programmes run from 8:30am-1pm and 11:30am-3:20pm. Full day programmes run from 8:30am-3:20pm. Please make sure that your child is on time for school everyday as tardiness can be very disruptive to the whole class. Please contact the school if children will be late arriving or if parents/caretakers will be late picking up their children. The time between 8:00am-8:30am and 4pm-4:30pm is essential for teacher preparation and safety checks. If, on occasion you need to drop your child off earlier than 8:30am or pick up later than 4pm, please arrange this in advance with his/her classroom teacher. The school is closed according to the school calendar.

Tuition Fees and all other payments
All payments should be made directly to the school secretary. All parents should be aware of the schools re-imbursement policy and understand that there are no exceptions to this rule. If any family is having difficulties with paying tuition fees on time, they must contact the school principal to discuss. If payments are made later than one month after the first day of school and no contact has been made with the school principal, the child will not be permitted to attend class. Tuition fees paid on a monthly basis will be subject to a 10% handling fee and must be received by the school on or before the first day of each month.

Vacations and Absences
All holidays are in-line with the Chinese Government and the 180 school days per year standard set by International Schools in China. Any time taken off outside of our school holidays for family vacations, business trips or illness is done so at the expense of the parents, i.e. full tuition fees will be required and no refund or credit will be given in such circumstances. Because of the nature of the Montessori environment, it is essential that each child comes to school on a regular basis. Absenteeism can affect the flow of learning and often impede the child’s academic and emotional progress. Please contact the school if your child is unable to attend on any particular day.

Health
If a child has a cold or contagious symptoms such as a cough, runny nose, sore throat etc., please do not send him/her to school. If a child has a fever, vomiting or diarrhea, he or she MUST NOT return to school for 24 hours after the symptoms stop. For highly contagious illnesses including but not limited to chicken pox; hand, foot and mouth disease; conjunctivitis etc., the school must receive a letter from the hospital stating that the child is no longer contagious and safe to return to school. If a child is ill at school, parents will be called and asked to pick up the child as soon as possible. In case of medical emergencies, parents will be notified immediately and children will be taken to the nearest medical facilities. Please note that parents will be expected to assume all medical charges. If your child is sick and will not be in school, please call to inform us. Staff of The Children’s House CAN NOT administer any medicines to your child without a completed letter of release from you. If your child needs to take medicine during school hours, we highly recommend that you arrange for a family member or caretaker to come into the school to administer it.

Accidents
Parents accept that accidents are a natural part of growing up and all children will acquire bumps, scratches, cuts and bruises. As much as the school will do it’s best to avoid all accidents, by enrolling their child into the school, the parents agree that sometimes accidents are unavoidable. Upon registration, all parents must provide the school with proof of medical insurance and agree that any medical charges incurred due to accidents or illness at the school will be the sole responsibility of the parents.

Student Withdrawal
Upon completion and submission of the school application form for admission, the parents are expected to have read and agreed to the terms and conditions within including the school’s withdrawal and refunds policy.

Arrival and Departure
Please be sure to bring your child to school on time as late arrivals are disruptive to the classroom. If a child does come late, please let him/her enter quietly. Children may not be released to any persons other than parents, Ayis or permitted guardians. Within one week of your child starting school, we must receive photographs of any person’s permitted to collect your child from school (including yourselves.) If there are any changes to people allowed to collect your child, you must notify the school immediately, taking away photographs of anyone no longer allowed to collect and replacing them as necessary.

School Outings
Outings will be arranged periodically throughout the school year. Permission forms will be sent home for each child prior to an outing. This slip must be signed by the parent and returned to us before the child may be allowed to join any outing. As our children are very young, we need all of our staff to be present at school outings. No special arrangements will be made for children not wishing to join us on a school outing and he/she will be considered as absent that day.

Birthday Policy
Birthdays are a special time for each and every child here at the Children’s House. The celebration is both enjoyable and educational. Each teacher has her own variation and can plan with each parent in advance.

Candies
The Children’s House has a policy of NO CANDIES, SWEETS OR CHOCOLATES. With the exception of birthdays, we would be grateful that you do not bring these to school and do not offer them to other children. Thank you for also letting your ayis/caretakers know about this policy.

Nuts
Please keep in mind that we have children within the school with severe nut and seed allergies and DO NOT bring these or foods containing these into the school. This is especially important when choosing birthday cakes for your child.

Toys
The Children’s House has a policy of NO TOYS as they may interfere with the child’s learning path and may get broken. If any toys are brought to school, they are not the responsibility of The Children’s House.

What to Bring
The following is a list of items that your child may need to bring to school on his/her first day. The list is not exhaustive, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher to find out if he/she requires anything else.

Nursery
Daily Bottles of formula or Milk.
Nappies/Diapers
Diaper Cream
One or two extra sets of clothes
Blanket
Water Bottle
Indoor Shoes

Pre-Primary and Primary
One or two extra sets of clothes
Indoor Shoes
Toothbrush and toothpaste