Hello everybody. 
On this page, we have included some key information for parents, and a video to share with your child showing the Reception classrooms, playground and corridor area. We hope this page will make starting school easier for you and your child.

We understand these are very strange times and will do all we can to make you and your child feel safe and happy in school. If you have any queries, please scroll down to the bottom of the page for our contact information and we will reply as promptly as we can.

We look forward to welcoming you all to Reception in September. It will be a fantastic year. 
We can't wait for children to have lots of fun, whilst we support and encourage as your child grows in confidence and independence. 

Miss Dodgson, Mr Kirkbride & The Reception Team.

 Information for Parents

There are two classes in Reception.

The class teachers are Miss Dodgson (RD) and Mr Kirkbride (RK). 

Our learning support assistants are Mrs Szelast, Miss Eaton, Miss Stead and Mrs O'Rouke. 

You should have now received a letter in the post inviting you and your child into school, in September, to meet the Reception staff and have a look around the Reception classrooms. At this time, we will give you the most up-to-date guidance for safety in school regarding coronavirus, your child's start date, and the class your child will be in. You will be able to have a chat with your child's teacher, and talk through any questions you might have.

School Uniform: Yellow, short sleeved polo t-shirt, royal blue school jumper, royal bue jogging pants and sensible school schools without laces.

PE Kit: School PE t-shirt, navy shorts, pumps, and a pump bag.

Book Bags: We encourage children to bring book bags into school everyday. These can be purchased from school, in September. 

School Times: The school day starts at 8:55am, and finishes at 3:10pm. In the morning, we would normally encourage parents to come into school with their child, to help them in the cloakroom and to find a friend or activity. Unfortunately this is no longer allowed due to coronavirus restrictions and parents must bring their child to the gate, where they will be met by their teachers. Once inside, staff will help children to find a friend and activity.

Lunch Time: Initially children will have a packed lunch in school. After the October Half term, they will be offered the choice of a hot dinner or packed lunch. In the first few weeks they may change from a hot meal to a packed lunch or vice-versa. After that children may only change at the beginning of a half-term as the school meals have to be ordered. Lunch boxes/bags from home need to have your child’s name and class on it.

Preparing Children for School

The best way to prepare children for a positive start at school is simply to talk to them about what will happen. When children know what to expect, they will not only be prepared but will also be excited to start school.

In a similar way that you might count the days until a celebration or holiday, start to count the weeks/ days with your child so that they will know when this will happen.

Also, over the coming weeks, take time to walk past the Reception yard (on Callow Road) at our school.

Look and talk about the play equipment (slide, climbing frame, house, boat, ) that the children will play with and also point out the doors where your child will enter school ie. the three blue doors facing the gate.

Encouraging confidence and independence

Lots of children will be starting to do things independently as they start school. Initially, this can be quite simple things like collecting a toy, a book or their coat for themselves. Later, they might try to help with getting dressed or fastening clothes independently. As children's independence grows they become increasing confident in their own abilities. When children are confident about trying to put on their coat by themselves, this later transfers to children being confident to try a maths problem or some writing by themselves. Equally, if children continue to wait for adults to help, then it is likely they will wait for help when completing tasks in school. 

Children will need help doing lots of things but it is important that we slowly wean children from adult support in doing simple things and we give children time/ the opportunity to try to do things independently. 

The Importance of Talk

For children to become good readers and writers, they must first be a good talker. A good reader can talk about pictures in the story and can listen for sounds in words to read. A good writer is able to think an idea and compose a sentence, as well as listen for sounds in words to spell.

When adults talk with children, they are developing the child's understanding and building their vocabulary.

When adults listen to children and show they have understood them, they are developing the child's self-esteem and confidence to share ideas. When adults struggle to understand a child, it is important to follow the child’s clues- actions/ gestures and/or facial expressions to develop some understanding. 

When talking with children, adults help children become fluent talkers, which is vital in developing knowledge and understanding and also developing relationships and social skills.

Physical Development

From birth, children are developing their physical skills. Children need to have lots of experience of movement (crawling, walking, running, jumping, climbing, dancing, wriggling, slithering) before they develop skills to control small objects including pens and pencils.

Playdough, putty/ slime, sand play, lego and other small toys all help develop finger strength. It is important to let children explore crayon and pencils and make large marks on paper. ‘Scribble’ is an important stage of writing and developing pencil control.                                                                               

When children’s skills are developed and they are ready to write their name we initially encourage children to over-write, ie write on top where an adult has already written the child's name.

Maths

You will be surprised at how much maths we use every day in our homes.

Good examples of opportunities for maths are: 

• counting the stairs going to bed
• talking about full and empty- drinking from a cup- do you want some ‘more’? Let your child play with plastic bottles (empty milk carton, shampoo bottle etc) when playing in the bath.
• sharing pizza or cake- who has the bigger/ smaller piece?
• sharing sweets- making it fair so everyone has the same amount.
• talk about times of the day- morning, lunch-time, night-time, bedtime.
• ‘how many do we need?’- biscuits, bags of crisps, cups etc.
• pointing out numerals on front doors, car number plates, clock, number dial on the oven.

Reception is the final part of your child's Foundation Stage, where teachers plan and assess around 7 areas of development to support children's learning. The 7 areas of learning are:

• Communication and Language
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development   
• Literacy
• Maths
• Understanding the World
• Exploring Art and Design

Click on the Nursery Star (on the previous page) and the 'Home Learning' Pencil to find more activities to entertain children and help them to remember the things they have learned in Nursery.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or require anymore information, before September, please don't hesitate to contact us. Please use the email addresses below:

Miss Dodgson (RD) - rd@lawrence-primary.co.uk

Mr Kirkbride (RK) - rk@lawrence-primary.co.uk

 
It would be lovely to hear from you!