East Sheen Primary School Reception Parent Booklet
Welcome to East Sheen Primary School We have compiled this booklet in order to provide you with some information about your child s early days at school. Here you will find answers to some of the questions which parents often ask about preparing their children for school and settling them into school life. Our first priority when children start at East Sheen is to make sure that they all feel secure and happy in their surroundings. As school becomes more familiar, the children gain in confidence, so they settle into their new environment and routines very quickly and have fun!
How can I prepare my child for school? Starting school is an important stage in your child s life. Please encourage them to feel confident about starting school and to look forward to this new experience. Adopt a positive attitude yourself and talk to your child about all the exciting things they will be doing and learning at school. Read and share books about starting school, including our own booklet about a day at school. School Visit Your child will be invited to come to school for an afternoon, during the summer term before starting. They will meet some of the other children in the class and their class teacher. This visit will help them to become more familiar with the school environment and activities. The dates of the visits are included with you class list. Home Visit You also have the opportunity to sign up for a home visit. These take place at the beginning of September. Home visits are a fantastic opportunity to ask your child s teacher any questions you may have and it is a wonderful way for us to get to know your child before they start. The class teacher and teaching assistant will come to your home and stay for 15-20 minutes. Parents in the past have found these visits very useful and the children love having their new teacher come to their home! We really recommend that you take up this opportunity.
Our School Day Where do we go when school starts? The school day begins at 8.50am. The children line up with the rest of their class in the Sheen playground, outside the Reception classrooms. The class teacher will collect the class from the playground and the children will walk into school. There is always adult help available to assist the children with their coats and bags. Please say goodbye to your child in the playground. This eases the transition between home and school and encourages your child to become more independent. It is important for children at this early stage to settle in their own time. We know all children are different in this respect, but they all do soon settle with plenty of reassurance from their teacher and with the distraction of new surroundings. If you are worried that your child is not settling in as quickly as you had hoped, do speak to your child s class teacher. Some children take a little longer to adjust to new situations and usually just need to be given time. Where do I collect my child at home time? RC children are dismissed from the front door of their Reception classroom, RG and RK are dismissed from the back door of their classrooms. Please wait outside to collect your child. If for some reason you are late collecting your child, they will be looked after by the school office in the entrance foyer. It is reassuring for your child if you can ring the office to explain your delay. If your child is being collected by someone else, you must let a member of the Reception team know. We will not allow children to go home with another adult without parental permission.
Outside Play Children in Early Years have exclusive use of their own fenced-off playground. At different times throughout the day we offer a free flow policy, which means that the children can choose where they want to work and play. It is therefore a good idea if your child has a rain coat and wellington boots in school every day as we use the outdoor area in all weathers throughout the year!
Clothing The uniform for Reception is a school polo shirt, a school jumper or cardigan, black track suit bottoms and in the summer months grey shorts or a summer dress. In Reception the children are very active learners and much of their learning takes place in the outside environment or on the floor. Therefore, it is important for the children to wear appropriate clothing for comfort and protection. Please send in an outdoor kit of wellies, warm hat, gloves, warm socks and sun cap in a named drawstring bag and a P.E kit of school P.E tee-shirt, black shorts and trainers in a second named draw string bag. Please note we do not have peg space for large bags or ruck sacks. During the weeks before starting school we recommend that your child has practise putting on their school uniform. It is helpful for us and the children if they can achieve a level of independence when dressing and undressing; please encourage them to do buttons, buckles and zips. We would recommend that you buy shoes with velcro fastenings. All clothing should be clearly marked with a name, even socks! There is always someone to help if your child has any difficulties or worries with regard to dressing and undressing for P.E or outdoor play.
Food and snacks Food East Sheen Primary School is a NUT-FREE school. We have a small number of pupils in school who suffer from a severe allergy to nuts. The specific nature of the allergy is very complex; the children react to close contact with nuts and foods made with nut oil. The allergy can be brought about not just by eating nuts, but also simply by coming into any physical contact with them. The reactions can be life threatening. We ask parents to ensure that snacks, packed lunches and birthday treats that you provide do not contain any nuts, nut oil or nut derivatives. Snacks and Drinks We are a healthy eating school. The children are able to have a mid morning drink and fruit snack. The government provides a piece of fruit for all Reception and Infant children on a daily basis. Your child may bring in their own piece of fruit if they prefer and we recommend that all children bring in their own bottle of water. Please name bottles and any snacks brought from home, for ease of distribution!
Lunch times at East Sheen Packed lunches / School lunches We encourage all children to take up our school meals service. The majority of our children eat a hot meal provided by the school. In 2006, our school kitchen had a full make over and the results have been fabulous. We have a dedicated team in the kitchen, led by our fantastic chef, Wil. The standard of our school meals is very high and we have become a flagship school within the Richmond Borough. However, if you do decide to provide your child with packed lunches, there are strict guidelines to follow in keeping with our Healthy Schools policy and National Guidelines. Please send the food in a suitable named box or container. It is a good idea if your child practises opening the box, as well as different kinds of wrappers, but there is always an adult on hand to help. We encourage healthy eating and children are not allowed to bring in sweets or chocolate bars. No fizzy drinks or glass bottles, satay/cocktail sticks or nut products are permitted. A member of staff and lunchtime supervisors care for all the children eating their lunch. If you have any concerns about your child at lunchtime, then please speak to a teacher or welfare assistant.
Illness and Medication Medicines, Illnesses and Absences If your child is ill, and unable to come to school, it is helpful if you ring the school to make them aware of the absence. Often in school, like nursery, illnesses can be quickly passed from one child to another. If your child has had sickness or diarrhoea, we would ask that they are absent from school for the following 48 hours. Please fill in a form in the office if you would like the Welfare Officer Maxine Bushell to administer any form of prescribed medication. Medicine cannot be sent to school with a child and must be handed to an adult by an adult for health and safety reasons. It is important that we have up-to-date emergency contact numbers in case your child becomes ill or has an accident. Please inform us of changes to mobile numbers or home telephone numbers when necessary. It is also helpful to have a friend or neighbour s contact details on your child's emergency list. Absence in Term Time The law states that parents/carers do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays or occasional absences during term time. The policy of East Sheen Primary School complies with current DfES regulations and does not authorise absence for holidays during term time. However, when there are exceptional circumstances, the Headteacher may consider giving permission for absence on compassionate grounds. In these circumstances, parents must complete a special form and have it signed by the Headteacher before the holiday/occasion of absence at least two weeks in advance, otherwise an unauthorised absence will be recorded.
The Foundation Stage Curriculum at East Sheen Primary When your child first begins school, they will follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum. This is a continuation of nursery education. The curriculum is organised into seven areas of learning: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical development; Communication and Language; Literacy; Numeracy; Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Primarily, young children learn best through play, exploration, real life experiences, talk and stories. At first your child will learn through structured and investigative play experiences. They will gradually be introduced to a more formal approach to learning (reading, writing and recording practical work) during the year. Self-confidence and a positive self-image play a vital role in helping children learn and to reach their full potential. Children need opportunities for problem solving, repetition and independence. They should to be encouraged to make choices and decisions for themselves; to concentrate, listen, ask and answer questions and to acquire information and skills in all areas of learning. It is important to remember, however, that all children are individual and grow and learn at different rates. When given time and space, they learn in depth and quality. Through careful monitoring, ongoing observations and assessment, we aim to help your child progress to the next stage in their development. We take into account their ideas and interest and provide a curriculum that is varied and balanced, enables questioning and thinking and, most importantly, is matched to their individual needs.
The Foundation Stage Profile During the first few weeks of school, we will be observing the children to help us identifying the specific needs of each child. The teacher will be observing, asking questions and setting activities to find out what your child already knows and can do and what type of activities spark their interest. Observations are normally made in group activities, which are part of the curriculum and are enjoyable for the children. Informal observations are carried out throughout the year as your child makes progress. The Early Years Foundation Stage works towards the children progressing to achieve the Early Learning Goals. At the end of Reception the class teacher will make a teacher assessment on each child. This is a national requirement and is shared with parents at the end of the year.
How can I help in school? After autumn half term, once the children have settled into their new classes, teachers will welcome parental help, especially if you have a particular talent or skill you would like to share with the children. This may be help on a regular weekly basis or occasional visits, helping with classroom activities such as reading with children, playing counting games, art and craft work and cooking. Every parent/carer that helps in school at any time must have a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). The procedure is as follows: 1. Email Lorna Major on l.major@eastsheen.richmond.sch.uk 2. Lorna will then email you a link that will enable you to begin the application. 3. Once you have completed your application please make an appointment to see Lorna to have your documents verified to complete the process. The DBS check costs 17.00 (paid by the volunteer). Additional information and guidelines can be found on our school website under the information tab and then in the policies section.
Things to do over the holidays How can I help with writing? Before they begin to write, children need lots of play activities to develop hand / eye co-ordination, for example, cutting and sticking, pouring sand and water, threading beads and building with bricks. Children also need to understand what writing is for. You can help by encouraging them to write shopping lists and notes letters and cards to family and friends At first, their writing may simply be mark- making but you can show an interest and encourage your child to read to you what they want their writing to say. When they are beginning to make shapes that look like letters, they are ready to be shown how to form letters correctly. It is advisable to avoid capital letters at first and it is important to check that your child is holding the pencil comfortably between the thumb and the first finger. How can I help with maths? Maths is all around us. It is about shapes and sizes, time and space, matching and measuring, as well as numbers and counting. Children are learning to use mathematical concepts during everyday family situations, such as laying the table, sorting and tidying the toys, playing board games, counting up and down the stairs, recognising numbers from the front door, numbers on buses and on birthday cards. Children begin to learn about time when you talk about yesterday and tomorrow and begin to acquire the necessary mathematical vocabulary when you talk of things being big or little, high or low, heavy or light, full or empty.
How can I help with reading? Enjoying and fostering a love of books is the best introduction to reading. You can encourage an interest in books and stories by reading to your child and sharing picture books together at home. You can talk about the story and what is happening in the pictures. Learning and enjoying nursery rhymes and nonsense rhymes is also an important stage in learning to read. Children will gradually begin to notice words around them and you can help by pointing out labels and street names as well as your child s own name. We will give a talk about reading to parents after the October half term. This will explain the approach the school uses when teaching reading and how you can help your child to read at home.
The P.T.A and Class Reps The school has a very active parent / teacher association. One of the P.T.A s main functions is to raise money for resources in school, as well as other charities. They organise a Christmas and Summer Fair and social events during the year. They would welcome any offers of help or volunteers to help with committees. Each class usually has two parents who volunteer to be class reps for the academic year. Their role is to help organise support for the fairs at school, to liaise with the class teacher and to produce a class list of addresses and telephone numbers. Often they will hold a coffee morning for parents to meet each other. There is also a termly discussion forum for class reps to attend, where they can discuss on your behalf any comments, queries or concerns. School Clubs In the Spring and Summer terms, the children have the opportunity to take part in clubs before and after school. The morning club on offer is karate and the after school clubs are gymnastics, multisports, art and French. All these clubs are on offer at a reasonable price.