Welcome to Class 1

Dear Parents and Pupils,

We are in week 3 of the autumn term and many of you, and your children, are now familiar with some of the routines in Class 1, however, as I don’t always get to speak to you all personally I would like to warmly welcome you to Class One, and provide you with a useful point of reference in the form of this termly newsletter. I apologise in advance to those parents who have had this information last year, but a ‘belt and braces’ approach ensures that everyone is kept informed!

The EYFS Curriculum

In school we often use a range of acronyms and initials which I appreciate can be confusing. EYFS for example, stands for Early Years Foundation Stage which is the curriculum document which both Nursery and Reception children follow. The primary school curriculum is separated into 3 Key Stages; EYFS, Key Stage One (KS1) and Key Stage Two (KS2). EYFS comprises of Nursery and Reception, KS1 comprises of Years One and Two and KS2 comprises of Years Three, Four, Five and Six. In Class One we have Nursery, Reception and Year 1 children.

The EYFS classroom is set up to encourage child initiated meaningful play, which the children may refer to as ‘choosing’. By this they mean that they are allowed to choose an area or activity set out, in or outside of the classroom. These areas of learning and activities are carefully planned and arranged to encourage spontaneous learning opportunities. These areas are known as the Continuous Provision. The areas will regularly be enhanced with topic related activities and themes as well as resources to reflect each child’s personal interests throughout the term.

In addition to the Continuous Provision the children will be taught daily Phonics, Maths, Reading and Literacy lessons. Other lessons will be taught relating to the topic or identified areas of need. Initially these sessions will last no more than 10 -15 minutes, extending as and when the children are ready. The main topic we will be covering this term is: Rainforests of the world, which will cover lots of interesting mini topics such are jungle themed art work in the style of Henri Rouseau, creating  repeating patterns on fabrics, learning about the plants, animals and people who live in the varied rainforests, we will use our 5 senses to explore the world we live in and use these to understand how Hindus worship. We will bake and follow simple recipes, in PE we will explore balance, running and travelling in different ways, we will dance and play on the large apparatus. In music we will sing, play instruments and learn the Banana rap! We will learn how we can keep ourselves safe and healthy. We will also learn about the Christian celebrations around Harvest and Christmas. Phonics, Literacy and Numeracy will be planned thematically on a weekly basis. 

I think most children already have their water bottles, PE kits, waterproofs and wellies in school, so thank you for assisting us with this. If your child does not have waterproof trousers or a body suit, please send them in as soon as possible as we like to go out to play whatever the weather! Please can I ask that ALL items are clearly named and that you do not send in shoes or trainers with laces. Changing for PE and playtime is quite the challenge and the added complication of laces is a step too far for all concerned!

Routines

We open the class doors at 8.40am and parents are welcome to drop off the children any time after, school officially starts at 8.55am prompt. Children will come into the classroom and those with a reading book, will change their book ready for the day ahead. The Reception and Year 1 pupils place their book bags in the book bag box and during this time we will hear children read, share books and encourage children to take part in the ‘morning activities’. All Nursery children will have a named box, where we put any letters or items to go home. Please check your child’s box for things to take home. At 9am we will all come together to formally register the children and discuss any ‘news’. At 9.10am we have daily phonics.

At 9.30am a reading/literacy session will take place. At 10.10am we will stop for fruit and milk. I will use this time to reinforce good manners, good hand washing and sharing the fruit, once the routines are established this session will be a good opportunity for children to talk. Playtime starts at 10.30am. The children can, if they wish, buy plain biscuits or crackers. It is entirely up to you if you wish for your children to have snack money (biscuits cost 4p each). The simplest way to organise this is for your child to have a named purse/wallet with enough small change for a week or two and I will send it home to be replenished when the money has run out! Lots of children do love to buy a couple of biscuits and it is a good ‘real life’ experience of handling money and being allowed to make a simple choice.

After break we have our maths activity. The children in Class 1 will go for dinner 15 minutes earlier than the rest of the school; this will give the children 15 minutes of quiet, calmer hall time, plus additional time to eat. Either myself, Mrs Evans or Miss Simpson will be in the hall with the children. We never force children to eat all of their dinner or to have something that they do not like. I will try to encourage them to eat enough to sustain them for the school day!

Parents of Reception children will soon receive an invite to join your child for lunch so that you can see first-hand how lunch times work at school. (Tuesday 30th September or Wednesday 1st of October). The afternoon sessions vary depending on the activities, PE and Computing are timetabled due to resources. We recommend that PE kit is in school at all times to allow us to take advantage of the good weather when we have it.

Afternoon break is at 2.00pm and school finishes at 3.30pm

Homework and Reading.

Reception children

We give Reception children reading books, once they have had a couple of weeks of phonics. These books will initially be picture books, allowing children to tell their own stories, and once they are ready they will be given books with words that they should be able to decode. The reading books are changed daily and we ask you to make comments about the books you have shared. Reading underpins all other learning and, ideally, I would like the children to share their book with an adult every night, this should take no longer than 5 or 10 minutes.

Year 1 children

All Year 1 children have reading books and in addition they have one piece of homework and a set of phonic related spellings to learn and practise. I will give out spellings and homework on Monday and ask for both to be returned to school by Friday.

Class Assembly

On Thursday 6th November we have our class assembly for parents and families of children in Class 1 at 3pm. This a lovely opportunity for the children to share some of their learning. All the children who attend school on a Thursday afternoon will take part. They will have words to learn and say and we usually perform a simple song.

Communication.

We try to keep parents as fully informed about school, visits and anything extra happening in school via school letters. All letters are sent via email and information about meals, visits, dates etc are on the Arbor App. There will of course be occasions when we do not have an electronic version to send and so these will be sent home via your child.

Mrs Evans, Miss Simpson, Miss Jackson and I are always available for a chat at the start or the end of any day and we would urge you to come in and see us at your earliest convenience should you have any concerns, or questions about what is happening at school.

Equally, should you need to speak to us on the telephone, or arrange an appointment to speak confidentially to us, please leave a message with Mrs Lawson and we will contact you as soon as we possibly can. You can email me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If there is no one in the office, please leave a voicemail and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

As a teaching headteacher I must take non-contact time away from the class to fulfil my headteacher role and duties. I am not in class on alternate Thursdays and alternate Fridays. Mrs Blackley supports in class on these occasions.

Many thanks for taking the time to read such a lengthy introductory letter and I hope that you do find the information helpful. We are all really looking forward to the year ahead with your children and hope that they all enjoy the curriculum, visits and other exciting opportunities that we have planned for them.

Yours sincerely,

Lynn Harrison. 

Headteacher