SAMUEL WHITE'S INFANT SCHOOL

STARTING SCHOOL

BOOKLET

Information for Parents

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CONTENTS

Introduction Page 3

School Times Page 4

Beginning of School Day Page 5

End of School Day Page 5

Lunchtime Arrangements Page 5

School Uniform Page 6

Things your child daily needs to bring to school Page 7

Useful Hints Page 7

Home Visits Page 8

Induction Period Page 8

Settling into School Page 9

Learning through Play Page 10/11

Helping your child at home Page 12

Curriculum afternoons for Parents Page 13

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Welcome to Samuel White’s Infant School. The information in this booklet will help prepare your child for their first year at school. Our aim is to work together in partnership to make this transition to school a smooth, pleasant and happy experience for you and your child.

Samuel White’s Infant School

School re-opens on Wednesday 2nd September 2015 and your child’s first day at school will be on Tuesday 8th September 2015 following

one INSET day and four days of home and school visits.

Please refer to your induction programme.

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School Times Your child’s teacher will open the class door (in Reception playground) at 9.00am. Access to the Reception playground is via the main playground at the back of the school. When the teacher opens the door, she will greet your child and you can bring your child in and help them with their belongings on their first morning/afternoon. Your child will then be gradually encouraged and supported to independently find their name badge, put their book bag in the correct place, put their water bottle in the water tray, hang up their coat, and if appropriate put their lunch box in the correct place, self-register and start their day at school. Please try and help your child at the beginning of the day by being in plenty of time, so there is a smooth, anxiety-free start to the day. Similarly, when collecting your child from school at the end of the day at 3:10pm (in Reception playground) please let your child and your class teacher know -

Who is meeting them (if it is different from the person who brought them to school);

To wait with the class teacher if, for some unfortunate reason, you are not there.

Please inform the school office of any changes to who will be picking up your child at the end of the day.

Please help your child by not being late, but if you are late in the morning, then please take your child to the school office, so they can be signed in. If your child is ill, please telephone and leave a message with the school office on the first morning of illness.

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Beginning of school day The class door is opened at 9.00am

On wet days, the class door will be opened at 8.55am

End of school day The class door is opened at 3.10pm

Lunchtime

Lunchtime is 12.00 – 1.00pm

School Meals Children have a cooked school meal, or a packed lunch prepared at home. Since September 2014, all children of infant school age receive a free school meal. You may wish your child to have a free school meal every day or just sometimes, your child will just need to tell the teacher in the morning during registration. The Government gives money to schools to help children from lower income families. This funding is called ‘Pupil Premium’. The money has previously been used to cover the cost of a free school meal for qualifying families. However, as all children in our school will now receive a free school meal we would like to ask all families who qualify to register for this ‘Pupil Premium’. Once your application has been approved you will receive a ‘Starter pack’ voucher from us to spend at Initially Yours, our school uniform provider. The ‘Starter pack’ will cover the cost of a school jumper or cardigan, a bookbag and a PE bag. Please speak to the school office for further information.

Packed Lunches At Samuel White’s Infant School, we promote healthy eating. All children have water with their packed lunch or they may bring a carton of 100% fruit juice/smoothie. Please send a named plastic cup for this water in their lunch box. We also ask for support in not providing your child with sweets, chocolate, fizzy drinks. We encourage your child to return all uneaten food in their lunch box, so you can monitor what they have eaten. To ensure the safety of children in the school with nut allergies, please do not include any food that may contain nuts in packed lunches.

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School Uniform

Children should wear sensible clothing and shoes and should be able to dress and undress themselves. We like to see our pupils wearing uniform and having a clear Samuel White’s identity. We would ask parents to provide children with sensible black shoes.

Girls’ Uniform

Grey pinafore, grey skirt or grey trousers; White blouse or red or white polo shirt; Red sweatshirt, jumper or cardigan; Red/white check dress (summer); Red Fleece (optional). Girls may wear black leggings under dresses and skirts if preferred.

Boys’ Uniform Grey short or long trousers; white or red shirt or polo shirt; Red sweatshirt or jumper; Red Fleece (optional) Parents may purchase red sweatshirts, cardigans, fleeces and white polo shirts embroidered with the School’s name and logo from ‘Initially Yours’ on Hanham High Street

PE kit White t-shirt, black shorts to be kept in school in a PE bag. Daps are not required for Reception children. Children may keep trainers in school for outdoor PE, alternatively, they may wear trainers to school on the day that they have PE.

Waterproof Clothing Wellington boots, waterproof jacket and trousers to be kept in school, for Reception children only. Please label all items of clothing with your child’s name – It is helpful to put their name on the hanging label (especially coats) as this helps children/adults to identify items of clothing quickly.

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Things your child needs to bring to school on daily basis Book bag (for reading books, newsletters, home/school book, letters and

sounds book, letters – please encourage your child to bring every day); Back backs and ruck sacks are not suitable as they do not fit the drawers provided.

Water bottle (named and kept in classroom) – taken home each day for refilling;

Lunchbox (if required) with named plastic cup for water.

Useful hints It is helpful if your child wears clothes that are easy for them to put on and take off, and shoes that do not have laces. Please label all items of clothing with your child’s full name, and show your child where their name is on their clothes. Remember there will be 29 other red sweatshirts/cardigans and 29 other white polo shirts that all look very similar! It is also helpful if your child can:

Dress and undress him/herself use a tissue or handkerchief use a knife and fork (if school dinners) wash hands and dry carefully tidy toys share toys and take turns use the toilet independently

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Home Visits Before your child starts part-time on Tuesday 8th September, you will have an opportunity to have a home visit. The Class Teacher and a Teaching Assistant will visit you and your child at home to get to know you both better and discuss any issues or any individual needs that may be a concern for you. If you would prefer, you can choose to have this session at school to discuss any issues or concerns.

Induction period

In September, all children at Samuel White’s start school on a part-time basis for 2 weeks. This is to support your child with settling into the school routine and enabling them to get to know all the practitioners in the early years setting (Teachers, Teaching Assistants and Dinner Ladies). Your child will be in group A or B, and each group will have morning or afternoon sessions for the first week. During the second week of induction, the children will all have lunch at school. Our starting school process gives a greater opportunity for your child to feel secure and the practitioners to get to know your child well.

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Settling into School

Remember all children respond differently to starting school. As the practitioners working with your children, we endeavour to make their experience of school fun, familiar and secure. As a parent/carer you can help us by reassuring your child, being positive about school and being careful that your own anxieties do not influence your child. Remember some children will tell you every detail of their school day. Other children tell you nothing! If you or your child has particular worries or concerns, just have a chat with the teacher (sometimes out of earshot of your child may be appropriate). The best time to do this is at the end of the school day once the teacher has safely handed over all the children to their parents/carers. Remember your child is only four years old and may have ‘misread’ situations. Set your mind at rest and chat to the practitioners. On the other hand you’ll be surprised how independent your four year-old can be when allowed.

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Learning Through Play

In year R at Samuel White’s Infant School your child will be in the final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). (birth to age 5). This very special time for your child at Samuel White’s continues the journey from home and preschool and is the foundation of future learning and success. The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning through play and learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. There are 3 prime areas, these are

Communication and Language (Listening and Attention, Understanding,

Speaking)

Physical Development (Moving and Handling, Health and Self-care)

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (Making Relationships,

Self-Confidence and Self-Awareness, Managing Feelings and Behaviour)

As children develop these prime areas they will also develop skills in 4 specific areas

Literacy (Reading, Writing)

Mathematics (Number, Shape, Space and Measure)

Understanding the World (People and Communities, The World,

Technology)

Expressive Arts and Design (Exploring and using Media and Materials,

Being Imaginative)

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These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. At Samuel White’s Infant School the practitioners (adults working with your child) support your child and make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs and interests. At Samuel White’s the three classes will be working on the same topics but individualised to support the different classes’ interests and needs.

Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creating and thinking critically. Their learning and experiences take place both indoors and outdoors.

In the summer term of the Reception year the practitioners complete an assessment which is known as the EYFS Profile. This assessment is carried out by the practitioners that work with your child’s class and is based on what they, have observed over a period of time. Alongside this will be your observations of your child’s learning through Home News, WOW stickers and Focus Children Letters and things the child has shared with the class such as Me boxes and Bear Diaries.

At Samuel White’s we observe your children’s learning through ICT programs. These can be accessed at home for you to look at and add to on a termly basis.

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Helping Your Child At Home

Play and communication are key ways in which children learn with enjoyment and challenge. At home with your child, you can provide opportunities both indoors and outdoors for learning through play. As a parent/carer you can encourage your child by switching off the TV and providing:

Dressing up clothes (pieces of material for a range of characters) and

props for imaginary games and role play

Cartons and boxes to build and make models and instruments with

Large boxes to make into vehicles, dens, whatever they imagine

Playdough to manipulate

Small world play e.g. Duplo, Lego, Brio, cars, trains

Puppets, soft toys, dolls, different size clothes

Pencils, pens, crayons, paints, chalks, different size paper

Mark making tools – to encourage children’s own attempts of writing

Greetings cards, magazines, catalogues for your child to cut up, stick,

sort, discuss

Natural materials, e.g cones, leaves, pebbles, shells to sort, compare

Water and sand play with different size buckets, containers, etc.

Wheeled toys, balls, bats for physical activity

Cooking together

Toys in the bath

Opportunities to plant seeds and bulbs

Observe the growth of living things

Encourage your child to talk about what they are doing and play and chat

to them.

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Curriculum Afternoons for Parents of Reception Children Each week your child takes home a home/school book, in which we inform you about the learning and activities they have been doing at school and provide you with ideas to imprint this learning at home. We have meetings throughout the year which give you more insight into your child’s typical day in the Reception and the YR curriculum. We will let you know when these events take place. We hope you will be able to attend these meetings. Your enthusiasm and encouragement help to make the teacher’s task easier and more manageable. We hope that this booklet will be helpful in preparing your child for their time at Samuel White’s Infant School.

If you have any further questions you may wish to ask, please do not hesitate to contact the School.

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