1 Bengeo Primary School Foundation Stage Reception Information Leaflet for Parents
Welcome to our Reception Year Group Information Meeting We want your child to feel confident, happy and secure when starting school and hope this meeting along with this pack answers any questions, worries and fears you may have so that you too feel confident when they start school. 2 What is Reception? The Reception Classes are the second part of the Foundation Stage. This first Key Stage of learning is for children from birth to five years of age and has its own curriculum. This includes Pre-school, Nursery and Reception. The Characteristics of the Foundation Stage Curriculum Prime Areas: Communication and Language Personal, Social and Emotional Development Physical Development These are areas that children develop quickly in response to relationships and experience. They run through and support children s learning in all other areas. Specific Areas: Literacy Mathematics Understanding the World Expressive Arts and Design These are areas that include developing specific skills and knowledge. Both the Prime and Specific areas will be taught through Playing and exploring Active Learning Creating and thinking critically
3 In the Reception Classes we work closely with the Nursery; regularly meeting to discuss topics and curriculum matters. How long will they stay in a Reception Class? The children will not move to the next year group (Year 1) until the following September after starting school. Who are the staff in the Foundation Stage? Reception Teachers: Ms L Driver (Apple Class) plus Teaching Assistant Mrs S Day/Mrs J Bartlam (Walnut Class) plus Teaching Assistant Mrs S Norris (Hazel Class) plus Teaching Assistant There is an additional support worker allocated between the Reception classes for the first term the children are in school. Foundation Stage Leader/Nursery Teacher Mrs L Lodge Lunch Time Supervisors: A rota of MSA s support the Reception Classes. Lunch is eaten in the KS1 Hall.
4 The children will also have links with: Headteacher: Deputy Headteacher: Secretaries: Mrs D Purrett Ms S Potts Mrs C Hurley Mrs J Hope Mrs T Anderson What are the transition arrangements? Present Nursery children visit Reception during their Nursery sessions. The Reception Teachers also visit the Nursery children at play and story times. Nursery children have started to attend some of the Reception class assemblies as well. Children new to the school will be invited to visit their new class and teacher/s in the term before they start. As well as this Information Meeting in the summer term before they start, you will be invited to attend a meeting with their new class teacher in September to find out more about school and routines etc and there will also be opportunities to ask questions. What do I do when I bring my child in the mornings? You can bring your child into the school playground no earlier than 8:40am. We recommend that you wait in the KS1 playground as the path outside the Reception classes gets quite congested please remain with your child until the whistle is blown. A member of staff will be on duty in the playground from 8:45am. All children need to be at school when the whistle is blown at 8:55am. This is when you can make your way to your classroom door. The teachers will open the classroom door and welcome the children in.
Please say your goodbyes quickly, even if it seems really hard and the children are reluctant to leave you. They are much more likely to get upset if you make a fuss. 5 The school day finishes at 3:15pm and you may wait for your child outside the Reception classrooms. Please try to be on time as children can get upset if they think you might not be picking them up. What happens if my child is late for school? If you arrive after the start of the school day, you should take your child to the school office so they can be put in the register and their lunch choice sorted out. The school needs to know the exact number of children in school in case of emergency. We have to report lateness and absence to the Local authority. Always let us know if your child is unwell and absent from school. What do I do when it is not the usual person collecting my child? If anyone other than the usual adult is going to collect your child; please notify your child s teacher verbally, in writing or in the case of emergencies through the school office. There is a form available for you to list friends/relatives that may regularly collect your child. We will not hand your child over to anyone who we are not authorised to.
Car Parking Please note that the school car park MUST NOT be entered for parking or dropping off by parents. Pedestrians and very young children coming and going from school, use this area. Please use the small zebra crossing to cross the service road between KS1 and KS2, as this sets a good example to the children on road safety. 6 What uniform do I need to get for my child? The children will need to have shoes and outdoor coats that they are able to fasten and unfasten themselves. We encourage independence at all times. Children are not allowed to wear jewellery, make up or nail varnish at school and children with long hair should wear it tied back. Please ensure all your child s belongings (book bags, clothing, shoes, lunch boxes etc.) are named with their full name. School Uniform is available from Kids Connection and we have enclosed an order form in your pack. School uniform is: GIRLS White Polo Shirt Navy School Sweatshirt/Cardigan Navy Skirt or Pinafore Dress and navy tights /white socks Yellow Summer School Dress and white socks Navy Trousers Black sensible school shoes [winter] *White low heeled sandals. BOYS White Polo Shirt Navy School Sweatshirt Navy Trousers Navy School Shorts for the summer
7 Navy/dark socks Black sensible school shoes [winter] *Black sandals *optional Sandals must fit securely on the foot, no slip-ons crocs or pumps. Do I need to provide a PE kit? Children will need a PE Kit This should be brought to school on a Monday and taken home for washing on Fridays. Navy Shorts White School T-Shirt Plimsolls (Elastic or Velcro) School PE Bag EVERYTHING MUST BE NAMED CLEARLY Where do I go if my child loses something? If your child loses an item of clothing or property and is unable to locate it in the classroom, please look in the lost property box located inside the Key Stage 1 Hall. We discourage toys to be brought to school due to the fact they become lost or broken, unless they are linked to show and tell or a class topic. Will my child go to assemblies? The children will attend some assemblies so that they feel part of the school, but will not be expected to go to long assemblies until the class teacher feels they are ready.
Will my child need a snack? We provide a healthy snack each day in the Reception class continuing the practice of the Nursery. The fruit and vegetables are provided under the School Fruit and Vegetables scheme introduced by the government, which provides a piece of fruit or vegetable for each child in Foundation Stage and KS1 free of charge. 8 Contributions towards cooking and activities We ask for a donation of 1 at the start of the year towards the making of play dough and cooking activities. Further donations may be asked for throughout the year if we need help with funding cooking and other practical activities. Can my child have milk? Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children have the opportunity to have drink in the morning. If your child does not want milk, there is water available. The milk is ordered and paid for termly. An order form/envelope showing the cost is in your pack and should be returned to us as soon as possible, this will usually be issued at the end of the previous term. Milk is free until the beginning of the term your child is five years old. What happens at lunch? Children may bring a packed lunch or have a school dinner prepared by our cook. A menu for the term is enclosed in your pack. Please indicate if you would like your child to have school meals when returning your forms to the school office. Meals currently cost 1.95 per day or 9.75 per week (due to increase in September). You can pay weekly or for the whole half-term. Cheques are to be made payable to Herts County Council, please write your child s name & class on the reverse. Our school offers Pupil Choice and dinners rotate on a three-week basis. You will be asked to choose your child s meal choices in advance. At the start of lunchtime, the children are given a wrist band to indicate their choice of meal.
9 Parents who wish to change from school dinners or packed lunches must give the school written notice of half a term. If you choose to provide a packed lunch can you please put a small ice pack in your child s lunch box in warmer weather to keep the lunch cool. We also ask that you do not send in products containing nuts, chocolate coated biscuits, sweets, fizzy drinks or glass bottles. Please make sure your child can open all their food packets and that it is not too much for them. The children sit together in the dining area, supervised by midday supervisory assistants (MSA s). The children will be encouraged to eat as much as possible of their main dinner before starting on any desserts. School dinner children are given a drink with their dinner. The children ask permission to go before leaving the dining area, so the MSA s can make sure they have finished or had a reasonable amount of food and drink. Where do the children go after they have eaten their dinner? The children play in the FS playground where they are supervised by midday supervisory assistants (MSA s) for the first term and they are allowed into the KS1 playground after Christmas. What happens if my child is absent from school? Please keep your child at home if they are unwell. Please phone the school (01992 582765) if your child is going to be absent and on their return could you please send a letter to their teacher explaining their absence. After a bout of sickness or upset tummy, your child should remain at home for 48 hours.
10 What do I need to do if my child needs medication? We cannot give medicines in school unless your child has a chronic condition such as asthma etc. If this is the case, you will need to see your class teacher for details and obtain a consent form from the office to give us permission for administering medication. What happens if you want to take your child on a holiday in school term time? No holiday unless in exceptional circumstances will be authorised by the school. Any that are taken will be shown on your child s absence reports. Overlapping holidays with the beginning of term also has a negative impact on children as during the first half term of starting school or starting a new class important friendships are made. Continuous sporadic absence also seriously affects children s ability to make and keep friends as they are often not around to play with. Please keep the school dates handy when booking holidays. What will my child be doing at school? Much of the work is organised in topics. During their time in school some of the children s learning will be structured play as it is in the Nursery. There will also be periods of teacher directed learning. The time spent on this more formal learning will increase through the year so by the end of their time spent in reception they will be used to daily literacy and numeracy in line with the rest of the school. School Routine SELF REGISTRATION: Children find their own name and add it to the registration board. This is to help them recognise their name and also to let staff know children are in school. [We do check this too!]
11 READING: During this time there will be shared reading group with adults. WHOLE GROUP TIME: The children come together as a whole group to share a story and be introduced to the next session. Here they gain a sense of whole group identity, enjoyment of stories and singing games together. This helps them to develop a level of concentration for a short period of time. SMALL GROUP TIME: Children are split into smaller groups for specific planned activities. These are based on observations made by the practitioners and are normally planned to meet specific skills or needs and are planned with previous knowledge of the children s abilities and interests. CHILD INITIATED LEARNING: This is the time of the day where the children choose what activities/resources they want to explore. It is during this time that practitioners observe and take time to extend the child s skills and knowledge based on the child s interests. Will my child take reading books home? Your child will start bringing picture books home to practise storytelling. Then when they can recognise and sound out some words we will introduce reading books. Lots of reading together at home helps children achieve well in literacy in school. Your child will be given a reading record which should be signed and dated. Please add comments when your child has read their book, and return book bags daily. You are welcome to come into school to change your child s book when they have finished reading it. Please see your child s teacher if you have any queries about your child s reading. Book Bags: Your child needs to keep their reading books and reading record in a book bag these are available to buy from Kids Connection in Hertford. Don t forget to check the book bags
12 regularly for letters and messages. Please remember learning to read is not all about reading schemes. It is also about helping your child to love reading stories and reading any book together and enjoying it will help your child in many ways to begin to read. Assessment We make regular assessments via observation in adult-directed and child-initiated learning. The assessments form the Foundation Stage Profile, which is submitted to the Local Authority in the final term of the academic year. Learning Journals: Learning journals are the fundamental way we record your child s progress through the Foundation Stage. In these books we record and notate observations, achievements and photographs. At times we will ask you for your contribution to the journals, by writing about what your child has done in the holidays or if they have been somewhere exciting or achieved something special. What should I do if I am worried about my child? It is always better to sort out any problems sooner rather than later. In the first instance make an appointment to see your child s teacher, or secondly the Headteacher, who will always be happy to discuss any problems. The time available before school is limited and hectic so issues are better addressed at the end of the school day. During the year there will also be occasions when parents are invited into school to discuss how their child is progressing. Do you offer before and after school provision? A high quality Breakfast Club from 7:45am and an After School Club until 6pm, is offered in our Dining Room by the Time Out Club for further information please contact them by email on ac.squires@ntlworld.com There are also flyers available in the foyer for Kids Camp, who provide wrap around care based at Bengeo Cricket Club.
How can I get involved with my child s school? The teachers are always looking for parents to help them in their classes and feel it is a very valuable experience for all. If you could spare a couple of hours each week please let the school know. We will help with the CRB process. You can also help from home and we are always grateful to parents who save materials to be used in art and craft work, e.g. buttons, yoghurt pots, corks, lids, shiny bits, foil, ribbon, wool, small boxes, material, cardboard tubes and anything else you think will be useful (Please, nothing too big as storage is a problem). These can be sent in when requested. We also have an excellent Parents Association that organises a wide variety of activities for parents and children. If you would like to help, please complete the enclosed form. 13 We hope this booklet has answered many of your questions about your child starting school. We would be pleased to hear feedback about the pack and suggestions for inclusion in the future. For further information, please refer to the handouts or school prospectus in this pack or which are available from the school office or speak to any member of staff. Please make sure that we have all your contact details and also your current email address as we publish a weekly Newsletter every Friday by email. Thank you for taking time to read this information and we look forward to welcoming you and your child to the Bengeo Primary School Family. Forms to return to the school office prior to your child starting school: Data Collection Sheet including meals requirement Home Information Sheet Ethnicity Sheet
First Language Sheet Email Address School Milk Envelope (with payment if required) Parental Permission Slip for school outings Photo Permission for school website (only return if permission is declined) Menu choice for pupil choice meals [only if your child is having school meals] 14