Welcome from our Head Teacher

Hello and welcome to our school community! A very warm welcome to our school. I loved school and I still love learning. That is

what we aim for at Someries Infant School: a real love of learning, extending

beyond school into each child’s life.

We want children to be excited about coming to school, engaged purposefully in

their learning and able to articulate their views in polite, respectful and positive

ways. I expect learning opportunities to be irresistible and will work closely with

colleagues to continue to develop and enhance what we do and how we do it.

Our clear vision is built on the principle that anything is possible. Drawing from

extensive educational research into high quality learning and teaching, our

curriculum intends to provide an education for the whole child and is informed by

strong values which emphasise equality, compassion and community in which everyone’s voice is welcome and

valued. It is through our inclusive, warm and caring approach that we know our pupils will flourish, reach their

academic and social potential and move along their learning journey confidently, with courage and with humility.

Being an educator is a privilege and a great responsibility. My team are aware of this and work hard in partnership to

ensure that every child is prepared to meet life’s challenges. I want Someries Infant School to continually challenge

thinking about learning and teaching so that we are a place which inspires learning through the principles of

discovery, exploration and creativity and we are respected and admired because our youngsters live our values and

abide by our two simple rules: work hard, and be nice to people.

I am pleased you have chosen to be part of our journey and I look forward to meeting you.

We are Someries Infant School. We discover the new. We explore the world. We create and achieve.

With kind wishes,

Mr. Michael Scott

Head Teacher

Our vision and aims

At Someries Infant and Nursery School we believe anything is possible. We know that

children have the right to be provided with a creative, innovative and exciting education

that will inspire them to become lifelong learners who are enthusiastic and proud of

everything they do. We want every child to excel in all aspects of their learning within an

immersive, imaginative, expressive and inclusive environment. We want children to

become confident discoverers, explorers and creators who live our values. We keep

children at the focus of everything we do.

As a school, our aims are to:

become a unique school which meets the needs of the Twenty-first Century child

support and challenge children so that they become happy, engaged and

independent learners

ensure children are leaders of their own learning to satisfy their natural curiosity

ensure children receive a creative, immersive and innovative education

be a truly inclusive school where children have the same opportunities to excel in

their learning

be an effective team

live our values in everything that we do

inspire new learning and create awe and wonder

provide a rich and purposeful learning environment

develop effective relationships with families and the community

be the best that we can be

Our school rules

At Someries Infant School we have two very simple rules that any person who steps into the school abides by, and

that we fundamentally believe are of the upmost importance: work hard, and be nice to people.

Our values

At Someries Infant and Nursery School every individual is valued for who they are and what

they contribute to our school community. Our values-based provision supports the

spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of every pupil throughout the school. Our

staff and pupils are involved in promoting values and recognising where others are ‘living

the values’. Our core values have been selected as those which are important within our

school community and which will prove important throughout life.

Learning at Someries Infant and Nursery School is underpinned by our values of:

respect determination responsibility patience hope belonging

honesty excellence cooperation courage inspiration friendship

Through our values-based provision we aim to:

improve behaviour and conduct by developing strong values within and amongst our

pupils

develop pupils’ understanding of what values are and why they are important in life

encourage pupils to ‘live our values’ in all aspects of their lives, both in and out of

school

promote values to pupils in every aspect of school life

promote values in the way in which adults interact with each other and with pupils

display our school values and encourage all visitors to take account of them during

their time in our school

encourage parents and carers to support our values at home

Learning together

Being a parent is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. We believe that you are your

child’s first and most important educators.

By this time of year, many children are ready to begin school. They may already have experienced pre-school education and will have learned many skills and will understand a great deal. During their first years of life, your child has already learned skills that will help them to make a flying start at school such as:

feeling good about themselves

listening carefully

talking about their thoughts and feelings

knowing many stories, songs and rhymes

knowing what their own name looks like

recognising and knowing about letters and numbers

knowing about the different reasons for writing

wanting to learn

All of these things continue to be important at school, especially the ‘wanting to learn’. When your child starts school, the support you give them, and continue to give them over the years, will have an enormous influence on their achievements. Here are some of the things you can do with your child that will make a real difference right from the start:

sing lots of songs and rhymes and rhymes with your child

play listening games

play with shapes

draw and colour

practise dressing and undressing in the correct order

practise putting shoes and socks on correctly

practise zipping or buttoning up their coat

encouraging your child to use the toilet independently

But, perhaps most importantly, share a book every day!

Our school uniform

Our uniform is an important part of our school identity and we expect parents to support our high expectations. If

you have any difficulties in meeting any of our uniform requirements, please talk to us as we can often help families

to resolve this type of issue.

All of the items displayed below can only be ordered and purchased online through your ParentMail app.

Our school uniform

Winter uniform Summer uniform variations Grey trousers, tunic or skirt

White shirt, blouse or polo shirt

White, grey or black socks or tights

Someries Schools sweatshirt or red

Someries Schools cardigan

Black shoes

Red and white gingham dress

Grey shorts

P.E. kit Additional items

Someries Infant School P. E. t-shirt

Plain black shorts

Plimsolls (or trainers for outdoor lessons)

Someries Infant School book folder

Someries Infant School gym bag

Water bottle

Water bottles are available to purchase from the school office.

Children are not permitted to bring rucksacks, handbags or satchels to school. Only Someries Infant

School gym bags and book folders are acceptable.

All articles of clothing, including shoes, must be clearly labelled with your child’s name. It is important that

shoes, especially plimsolls and trainers, are marked. If your child has lost something, please visit the school

office.

Shoes

All children should wear black shoes that are strong, safe, practical and sensible. High-heeled shoes or

boots are not acceptable or appropriate for school. Similarly, open-toed sandals, slip-on shoes and ballet

pumps are not appropriate as they leave feet unprotected.

Hair

Long hair must be tied back at all times. We do not permit extreme hairstyles, dyed, gelled, spiked hair or

hair with patterns or lines shaved in.

Jewellery

No jewellery is to be worn in school, with the exception of small stud earrings (which must be removed for

P.E. lessons). Hooped earrings and larger stud earrings can be very dangerous and are unsuitable and

inappropriate for school, as are necklaces, rings and bracelets.

Key skills

When your child starts school it would be helpful if they could do these things:

Take off their coat and hang it up

Put on their coat and fasten it

Change their shoes Dress and undress

themselves

Use the toilet correctly and flush it

Use a handkerchief Share toys and take

turns Wash and dry their

hands correctly

Use a knife and fork correctly Help to tidy toys away

Making a flying start Getting ready for school

Your child will be well on their way to being ready for school when they are comfortable with:

sharing books

communicating well

listening carefully

talking to other people outside their family

respecting and getting on with other people

using good manners

asking questions

accepting a routine

saying what they would like

coping with surrounding noise and activity You can help your child to practise these things at home.

Flying Start transition resources

Luton Borough Council have produced a range of useful resources and links to websites where you can find helpful information to support your child’s transition to school. You can access these resources by visiting www.flyingstartluton.com/transition/parent-transition-resources/.

Making a mark Learning about writing

The process of learning to write is a gradual one which takes a lot of effort and concentration. Before your child is ready to begin writing, they must first have sufficiently developed their gross motor skills (the larger movements our bodies make) and fine motor skills (the smaller movements our hands make).

To develop these skills, your child should practise:

running

playing catching games, including throwing and catching large and small balls

climbing

drawing, painting and colouring

using play dough

cutting and sticking

threading

building with large and small blocks

Once your child has developed these important skills, they will be ready to:

hold a pencil

how to use the piece of paper

how to make their marks go in one particular direction

These basic skills help your child to become a fluent and effective writer.

Drawing and colouring are an important part of this process, which helps to develop the strength and co-ordination needed to control a pencil as well as confidence in making marks.

How parents and carers can help

You can help by:

praising and encouraging your child’s attempts at writing

showing an interest in what your child has written by asking them about it and joining in

listening seriously when they explain what their writing says; you could scribe their message next to their own writing, if your child asks you to

drawing attention to letters and words all around them, for example, mail through the door, letters and words in shops, in books, and on the television

letting your child watch you write: reading what you have written to them and telling them who the letters and messages are intended for

Joining the library Public libraries have many wonderful books for young children and always welcome young members for free. Children have their own library card and borrow picture books, story books and information books. Libraries often have a free story time and special events. Joining a library early in a child’s life can make a real difference to their later learning.

Handwriting and letter formation

Your child will be taught to form each letter in the following ways.

The lower case letters

The capital letters

It is essential that your child is encouraged to use these letter formations in any writing

they may complete at home, but please ensure your child:

is always taught lower case letters first

is taught to use a capital letter only at the beginning of their name (children should

not write their name entirely using capital letters)

practises writing letters in lots of different ways, including

- using crayons, chalk, paint

- using their finger in flour, glitter or sand

- using sticks in mud

Starting reception

Starting school can be an anxious time for you and your child. First days at school for young

children are a mixture of all kinds of emotions. At Someries, we aim to make this transition

as smooth as possible so that your child has a happy start to their education.

We believe that it is vital that staff and parents and carers work together and value the

importance of this partnership. As a parent or carer, you have significant knowledge about

your child and we ask you to share this with us. Similarly, if there are any important events

taking place in your child’s life they will affect how they are at school.

If there are troubling or routine changing events going on we need to be informed so that

we can be sensitive to your child’s needs and help support them. Communication is very

important and, of course, we will treat any information with professionalism and sensitivity.

In the same way, we will always keep you informed of school issues concerning your child.

At Someries we encourage parents to come into school and help support learning taking

place in the classroom. If you have a special job, interest, or area of expertise, we would

welcome you to come in and talk to the children about it. This is a great opportunity for you

to become involved in your child’s education.

Clothing

Please remember that many of our activities are practical and can be messy. Whilst we will

do our best to be as clean as possible, if your child has been doing everything expected of

them they will come home messy. Please recognise this as a sign that your child has had

fantastic day of learning at school!

Please make sure you label everything. Every piece of clothing your child wears has the

potential to get lost!

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Keeping safe and healthy

Illness

If your child is ill we ask that you phone the school office before 8.50 a.m. to let us know. If

your child has a vomiting or diarrhoeal illness, please make sure that they do not return to

school for 48 hours (two whole days) after it has stopped. If your child is ill at school, you

will be contacted to come and collect your child.

Accidents

As is the nature of children, accidents do happen at school. These mostly involve bumps

and bruises, scratches and scrapes. If your child does have an accident they will be taken to

a first-aid trained member of staff for treatment. If your child’s injury is more serious, you

will be contacted immediately to talk about what has happened and come and collect you

child, if necessary.

Medicine

Staff are able to administer medicines for children with long-term medical needs and any

antibiotics or medicines that have been prescribed for up to 4 times a day. Please make

sure that any medicines you do bring in are well-labelled and contain written instructions

from you about when and how much medicine needs to be administered. You will also be

asked to complete an agreement allowing us to administer medicine.

Emergency contact numbers

Please make sure that your addresses and contact numbers are always up-to-date. This

information is held electronically by our school office. Please inform us immediately of any

changes in circumstance.

Collecting your child

We kindly ask that you notify classroom staff if someone different is to collect your child at

the end of the school day. If changes to pick-up arrangements change at the last minute,

please ring the school office and this information will be passed to your child’s class

teacher. Our priority is keeping your child safe and we will never allow your child to leave

school with someone different without notification.

High frequency words

The following words appear most frequently in the books your child will read throughout their time in

school. As your child learns these throughout the reception year, it is helpful if they practise reading and

spelling these on a regular basis.

Keeping in touch

There are lots of ways to keep in touch with what is happening in our school.

Weekly newsletters Every week, a newsletter is sent out to parents and carers which keeps you informed about what your child is learning in school.

Website

www.someriesinfants.co.uk We are very proud of our website and regularly update it to keep you informed of all the range of activities and events that go on in school. Please visit our website to find out more about what goes on in other areas of school life.

Twitter

@someriesinfants The school uses Twitter to keep parents and carers up to date with what is happening in school on a daily basis and to celebrate children’s successes and achievements. Please follow us to find out more!

We hope that you have found this booklet informative.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Discover much more at

www.someriesinfants.co.uk