As part of our commitment towards promoting a healthy schools approach and being a nut and egg free school we no longer hand out birthday sweets at the end of the school day but welcome Birthday Books or donations towards a book instead.

If your child decides to bring in a book they will get a personalised plaque with their name and the date of donation so that the gifted book can be treasured and shared for many years to come by children in our school community.  They also get to see the Headteacher (Miss Bains) and share their book with her, receive a Birthday sticker and their picture in the school newsletter!  School staff and governors are also invited to engage in this initiative. 

Following parental feedback, please find suggestions below for diverse children’s books that we would love to see in Knebworth School as part of the children’s reading curriculum.  These books can be purchased from most bookshops or online retailers for example: Amazon, Waterstones and some local supermarkets. 

We hope that these book lists will support you to find books that might be suitable for your child’s class.  We want our children to be part of making a choice on the texts we share and read at school.  Furthermore, the diverse characters within these books allow all children to feel even more represented in the books they find at school.  It is our aim to inspire and motivate all children to enjoy reading for pleasure and to see themselves in the books they read.

We are so looking forward to seeing and celebrating all the wonderful new books that will be joining our school libraries this year.

EYFS Best children's books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for EYFS (booksfortopics.com)

Year 1 and 2 Best children's books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for KS1 (booksfortopics.com)

Year 3 and 4 Best children's books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Lower KS2 (booksfortopics.com)

Year 5 and 6 Best children's books - Diverse & Inclusive Books for Upper KS2 (booksfortopics.com)  

At Knebworth School we use Class Dojo.  This is a free website/app, which enables teachers to communicate with parents to share messages, reminders, photos and celebrate the children’s learning.  It is also a fantastic way to further develop the home-school link which is so important to us at Knebworth.  This platform will be set up in September for you to access with further information given during the home visits.

Please note that the messaging function on this site should only be used for short, non-urgent queries.  The normal school channels should be used for any other queries as discussed during our home visits.  In order for staff to maintain a healthy work life balance messaging is set so that messages will only be received and answered between 8am-5pm. 

Additionally, please note that the page will abide by the same high standards of e-safety and mutual respect as we expect in school; anything deemed inappropriate or not in line with our school values will be removed and reported to the Senior Leadership Team.

Knebworth School provides a milk scheme that is available to all pupils in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.

Mid-morning milk provides a much-needed nutritional boost and keeps children hydrated between breakfast and lunch. Children receive free milk until the age of 5. After that, they can continue to reap the benefits of fresh mid-morning milk at a subsidised cost. If you’d like to opt in, simply register your child at www.coolmilk.com/parents. If you register by 25th August 2026 you could win a supermarket voucher or free milk for a year once your child turns 5!

If your child is under five:

• Register online at www.coolmilk.com
• Register by a Tuesday at 5pm for your child’s free milk to start the following week
• Free milk will continue until the Friday before your child’s fifth birthday. You will receive a payment request four weeks before their birthday - if you wish your child to continue to receive school milk, simply make a payment

If your child is five or older:

• Register and pay online at www.coolmilk.com
• You can pay Cool Milk either online, over the phone or at a local PayPoint in half-termly, termly or annual instalments.
• Please pay by a Tuesday at 5pm for your child’s milk to start the following week

If you have any questions regarding school milk please visit www.coolmilk.com or contact Cool Milk directly on 0800 321 3248. More information on milk is also available from the school

At present, research shows that there are an estimated one to two children with allergies in every school classroom in the United Kingdom. (Source)

Administration of an adrenaline auto-injector pen (AAI) can be lifesaving, but studies have found that almost half of those with allergies don’t carry their own pens as they are either forgotten or out of date.(Source)  In addition, anyone can develop an allergy to anything at any time in their lives and 20% of serious anaphylaxis incidents that occur in schools across the UK happen to children that didn’t know they had any allergies. (Source)

After a student named Karanbir Cheema died as a result of a severe allergic reaction to cheese at his school in 2017, legislation in the UK changed allowing schools to purchase spare AAIs which can be used by anyone, for anyone, in an emergency (Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017.)  As a result of this change in legislation, Zak Marks, Co-Founder & CEO of Kitt Medical who lives with a severe nut allergy created the now multi-award-winning 'Anaphylaxis Kitt' service, to be ‘just like a defibrillator, but for allergies’.

We are pleased to inform you that Knebworth School has partnered with Kitt Medical's Anaphylaxis Kitt service and have purchased this kit in order to add a further safeguarding measure in school.  Through this service, our school now receives a yearly supply of adrenaline pens, stored in the accessible wall-mounted emergency ‘Kitt’, alongside online CPD-accredited training.   All Knebworth staff undergo annual anaphylaxis training which includes how to administer any emergency treatment (including AAIs) in the event of anaphylaxis

In an emergency scenario, if a pupil is experiencing anaphylaxis but does not have the required authorisation/consent for a spare adrenaline pen to be used (perhaps they weren’t even previously aware they had an allergy) or they need an additional dose of adrenaline then a trained staff member who believes it to be a life-threatening scenario will act accordingly and use a spare adrenaline pen from the Kitt. (We will always call 999 in an emergency).

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Q. What happens in an allergic reaction?

Allergy is a condition where the immune system overreacts to a normally harmless substance, such as pollen, dust mites, or food.  When this happens, an immune response is produced which releases chemicals, such as histamine, causing inflammation and irritation in the body.

You can be allergic to anything, and develop an allergy to anything at any time in your life. Allergies are very common, and they can cause a wide range of symptoms.

Q. What is Anaphylaxis?

A. A severe and often sudden allergic reaction is called anaphylaxis, which can progress into a life-threatening reaction within minutes. (Source)

An adrenaline auto-injector should be used without delay as soon as anaphylaxis is suspected because the onset of anaphylaxis can be very fast. This should be immediately followed by dialling 999 to summon emergency medical help.

Q. What are the signs of Anaphylaxis?

There are a number of possible signs of anaphylaxis. Any one of the following signs/symptoms is enough to warrant the immediate use of an adrenaline auto-injector:

Airway (A): swelling in the throat, tongue or upper airways (tightening of the throat, hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing)

Breathing (B): sudden onset wheezing, breathing difficulty, noisy breathing

Circulation (C): dizziness, feeling faint, sudden sleepiness, tiredness, confusion, pale clammy skin, loss of consciousness

Do not delay in administering an adrenaline auto-injector if you have any of the above signs or symptoms, even if you also have signs that you would normally associate with a milder reaction (such as an itchy throat or swelling of your lips).

For more information on this from Anaphylaxis UK, please click here.

Q. Can you use an adrenaline pen without a prescription?

Yes.

As a result of the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 schools have been permitted to buy AAI devices without a prescription, for emergency use in children who are at risk of anaphylaxis but their own device is not available or not working (e.g. because it is broken, or out-of-date) - or case they require a further dose of adrenaline.  In an emergency scenario, anyone can administer any adrenaline pen on anyone for the purpose of saving a life.

Q. Should I use adrenaline if I'm not 100% sure it's anaphylaxis?

Yes.

Hesitation around using adrenaline pens is a huge problem.  As leading allergy Professor Adam Fox says, “It's not harmful at all. It's a very, very safe drug.  If you suspect that anything severe is happening - that's the time to get on and give it (adrenaline). And the great thing is, is that as well as being really safe, it's extremely effective. So even if it wasn't that bad a reaction, then you're still going to feel a lot better a lot quicker as a consequence of using it.” (Click to watch full interview).

Therefore, based on the current evidence, the benefit of using appropriate doses of intramuscular adrenaline far exceeds the risk in an allergic emergency. 

Working in partnership with HCL (Hertfordshire Catering Ltd), SchoolGrid is an ordering and payment system that allows children to choose meals they want from home. You will receive an email with login details for this website shortly.

Pre-ordering can be done online with your child at home in a simple, user-friendly manner.  You can order for a day, a week or a whole term.  The cut-off for ordering is 8:55 am on the day.  Children with allergies can order online using their paper menu and their choices will be adapted by the kitchen.  Please ensure any allergies are registered directly with HCL at www.HCL.co.uk

At Knebworth, we use an online system (Tapestry) as a way of recording part of your child’s learning in Nursery and Reception.  Tapestry is a website which can be accessed on a computer or laptop, and also on any Apple or Android device such as a tablet or smartphone.  We have chosen this company because they are a secure and exciting way of keeping track of your child’s development and their time with us.  Instead of using the paper book style way of recording, we will be able to instantly upload photos, videos and observations of your children.  You are then emailed to alert you that something new has been added to your child’s Learning Journal and you can log on and view what your child has been up to.  An advantage of this system is that you can instantly add your own comments to entries and can show your child’s online journal to members of your family.

Tapestry is hosted in the UK on dedicated, secure servers.  These servers conform to very high safety standards and are proactively managed by a central security team.  We would like to reiterate that the safeguarding of our children is of utmost importance to us.  Everything that is added to Tapestry will be added to our school account and can only be viewed by school staff that use the system, and by yourself using your personal log on.  However, children in the class will sometimes be photographed with others as they perform in assemblies or plays, take part in class visits or work or play together.  For this reason, we would like permission for your child to appear in photographs within other children’s  Learning  Journals. 

You will only have access to your child’s Learning Journal, and this cannot be seen by other parents.  Once the Learning Journal is set up, it is crucial that you do not share photos or videos from your child’s Tapestry Learning Journal on social media or through other online platforms.  The photographs/videos taken and uploaded to Tapestry by the school are the property of Knebworth School and you do not have permission to upload them onto any website hosted on the internet.  We ask that you protect the images of your own and other people’s children by viewing and using them carefully.  Any incidents where this confidentiality is broken will be dealt with extremely seriously in line with school policy and will result in your access to the system being withdrawn.

Your child will have one or two observations each half term, which will contribute to the overall assessment of your child’s learning and development, alongside teacher judgements and other in-school assessments.  We encourage all parents/carers to add your own observations to your child’s account to share with us the magical things they are doing at home.  This will help build a full picture of your child’s learning journey throughout their time with us and the children really love sharing this with their class.

We have included some Frequently Asked Questions about the system below for your information. We would also like to signpost you to Tapestry’s website where you will find lots of information and videos: http://eyfs.info/tapestry-info/introduction

Also below are details regarding permission and information about the consent required which will allow us to set up a Tapestry account for your child.  Please log in to your child’s Arbor account to give your consent as soon as possible.  You will be given your account details once setup is completed.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the EYFS team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use an online system?

Handwriting observations, printing out photos, cutting out and sticking all of these into a paper book is very time consuming.  By taking photos and videos that can be instantly uploaded this increases the time that staff can spend with your children, supporting their learning.  We were also impressed with the way in which parents can instantly see what their child has been up to and can also share it with family members such as grandparents.

How do I get onto the system?

If you consent to us using Tapestry for your child, school will set up an account for you and provide you with log on details.

Tapestry can be accessed online at: http://eyfs.info/tapestry-info/introduction

It is available as a free app from the Apple Store and also on Android devices.

We will ask you to provide us with an email address so that we can set you up a personal account.  This will be a secure way of logging in, and you will only be able to see your own child’s account.

I don’t have a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone.

If you are unable to access the Internet on any device at home, then you will still be able to access your child’s account by arranging a mutually convenient time with your child’s teacher / key person to come into school.  You will be provided with access to your child’s account and support if needed.

I am not very confident with computers or the Internet. How can I access Tapestry?

One of the reasons for us choosing Tapestry was ease of use.  It is a very easy system to use, but should you have any problems, a member of the EYFS team will be happy to support you.

Why do you need my email address?

Your email address is required in order to set you up with access to your child’s account.  It is to ensure security on the site and also so that we can email you when a new entry has been added for your child.

Tapestry – EYFS - An Online Learning Journal - Permissions

By giving consent on Arbor, parents and carers:

• Understand that their child will have an electronic Learning Journal set up on Tapestry.
• Understand that images of their child will be uploaded to the Learning Journal as a way of documenting their progress, achievements and important events.
• Will be able to view their child’s Learning Journal from home.
• Give permission for their child’s photo to appear in any group photos or video used in Learning Journals.
• Understand that their child’s image will be seen by all parents/carers of the pupils featured in the particular photo or video.
• Agree not to electronically share, by social media or other platforms, any part of their child’s Learning Journal that feature children’s images or video (both their own child or others) and are aware their access to the site may be withdrawn if this confidentiality is broken.
• Agree to keep log in details safe and secure.

This consent will be recorded on your child’s records and will continue to apply throughout your child’s time in Early Years at Knebworth Primary and Nursery School. If you wish to make any amendments, please do not hesitate to contact the Early Years Team or the School Office Team.

Our school uniform is compulsory from Nursery upwards and celebrates our Knebworth community.  Our uniform is smart and sets the tone that we have high expectations and that learning is important.  It helps establish the identity of the school and develops a sense of belonging.  The school expects that all children will wear the school uniform based on the guidance below.

EYFS School Uniform Guidance -  Nursery & Reception

As the majority of the EYFS curriculum is play based we ask that children wear black trainers for regular footwear and wellies for their outdoor learning.

Children are also invited to wear navy blue joggers or shorts instead of grey trousers/skirts so they can make their play more comfortable especially in Nursery.

Please see below for all other uniform guidance

All information regarding Knebbers Crew,  our wonderful extended care provision, can be found here.