Hello and welcome families and children of 24/25!
I am thrilled to welcome you to The Prince of Wales School and hope all of you are just as excited as I am to start this next step in your child's learning journey.
This blog will contain all the information you need for the beginning of term.
Since our last Parent Information Session in July, the Reception learning environment has had a small makeover, including some new furniture.
In preparation for your child’s first day, it would be really helpful if you could show these photos to your children so they are familiar with the space and feel confident when playing and exploring.
I can appreciate that you have lots of questions about the day to day running of the class and the first few days, so I will try to answer these now (but do feel free to contact me if you have any further questions).
Snack: We have a designated Snack Station which opens between 9.30 - 10.30, where children can choose to sit down at a table and have their snack. An adult will be closely monitoring the Snack Station to ensure all children have an opportunity to access it before we return to learning after break. Water bottles will be refilled throughout the day and children will receive reminders to drink water regularly. In addition to this, there will be multiple short designated calm times where children will have their water bottles on the carpet.
The Government states that the snack in EYFS should be a healthy snack, such as fruit and vegetables; it should not be high in sugar or fat such as chocolate biscuits, crisps, breakfast bars or dried fruit rollups. We will provide fruit each day and strongly encourage children to eat this. If you would like to provide a snack from home that is absolutely fine, but please ensure it fits with our healthy eating ethos. There is also free milk for children under the age of 5; children over the age of 5 can access this for a small charge - please see the school office for details.
Welly boots and spare clothes: Please provide your children with a pair of welly boots to leave in school (clearly labelled) - children will always have access to water play and the outdoors in all weathers. We will always encourage children to wear wellies to protect those all important school shoes!
It is very helpful to have a spare set of school uniform to keep in children's lockers, for 'little accidents', mud, sand and water! We have extremely limited extra clothes and would not wish children to be wet and soggy!
Please ensure that EVERYTHING is labelled it takes children time to learn how to look after their jumpers, water bottles and lunch boxes and this process is much easier if staff can support them in finding misplaced items. Labelling items also supports children in having ownership over their own belongings.
When collecting your children, we will put a box outside with drinks bottles and snack boxes in; please collect these for your children, (this becomes vital over the winter months when they have big coats and hats etc.). Over the year, children will build up independence to collect all of their hometime belongings but we will update you on this as and when.
Lunch time: Children will be supported by the Reception Team at lunch time, and will be eating in the lunch hall earlier than other classes at this early time in the year. We encourage children to eat the meal provided by Local Food Links or the lunch you have provided. However, please ensure you have chosen food your child has eaten before or feels confident eating; we will offer feedback if we have concerns about the amount of food your child is eating. At the beginning of the year, feel free to order both a school dinner and bring in a ‘back-up’ packed lunch if you are concerned about how much your child will eat.
PE: Children should attend school on FRIDAYS dressed in their PE kit. They will have PE in the afternoon, and this term we will be practising our Ball Skills with Coach Luca. Please ensure children wear clothing appropriate for the weather; jogging bottoms and trainers are acceptable in the colder months.
Toys from home: Toys from home are not permitted in school; it is very difficult for children to distinguish school toys and equipment from those which may have come from home and we would be sad if something special was to get lost or broken. Please support us in ensuring that these situations don't arise. If children need a ‘comfort’ (blanket or soft toy) for these early days then the child will need to be responsible for this item - Please only bring this comfort if it is absolutely necessary!
School Day: Doors open at 8:45 and registration is at 9:00. I strongly recommend that your children arrive at 8:45 wherever possible; this will enable them to take part in our Linked Provision which gives children the opportunity to practise their pure skills such as counting, writing and fine motor. It is a really lovely calm way to start the day.
During drop-off, some children find this initial transition to school quite daunting and there can sometimes be tears at the door. We understand this is hard to see and can make it difficult to leave your child at school, but I would like to reassure you that many children settle quickly and I can provide phone call updates on children who we feel may find this transition particularly difficult.
We finish at 3:30; please arrive promptly to pick up your child. In the early days they can become upset if they can't see their grown up immediately at the end of the day.
I will be putting a weekly timetable for parents to see what children are going to be doing each day on the window where the children come in. We fully understand that this is a significant new chapter for your children and your family. We take things very slowly during the first few weeks of term whilst we all get to know each other. All aspects of school life will be introduced at the correct pace for the children and we pride ourselves on our Child-led and Children-focussed approach which includes a significant amount of ‘play’ where children will learn through experiences using continuous provision. We will spend the first week exploring key components of our learning experiences such as Drawing Club, Power Maths and Read Write Inc.
The blog will usually be updated on Friday or over the weekend and all key information will be shared through the blog, as required. Children love looking at the pictures in the blog and it is a great way for them to recall their learning, so we would encourage you to share the blog with them.
Phew! What a huge blog,- well done for getting this far!
Please do not hesitate to get in touch over the first few days to discuss any concerns you may have.
My email address is f.godden@theprinceofwales.dorset.sch.uk
Miss Godden, Mrs Rogers, Mr Long and Mrs Smith.
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