Clover Hill Primary School

Autumn 1 – 2024 – Reception Class

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are absolutely thrilled to report that our first week at school has been an enormous success! We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your children and see them settle into school life so well.

We are looking forward to working closely with you and your family in order to give your child a great start to their time at Clover Hill. We hope you find the following information useful but please do not hesitate to ask a member of the team if you need any clarification.

School Meals:

In order to help our morning routine, we will ask you, each week, to select your child’s meals for the week ahead. Forms will come home each Friday for you to share with your child and help them to choose their main course. Please ensure these are completed and returned each Monday morning. Thank you!

Snack and Water:

Your child will need a named bottle in school each day, one with a spout is preferred so children can open them independently. Please ensure that this contains water rather than juice etc. We will provide all children with a fruit snack each afternoon.

Topics

Our main priority over the last week has been to get the children settled happily into school; we are so very proud of them and know you must be too! We have many ‘firsts’ coming up and aim to make them exciting and fun for your child. Our first topic ‘All About Me’ will support us in this and enable us to use the children and their pre-school experiences as a starting point. We will look at the changes from babies through to adults; look at similarities and differences between each other - eye colour, hair colour etc; talk about our families and our birthdays and maybe even learn a little about the changing seasons. There is lots to do so we had better get cracking!

P.E.

We will be starting our P.E. sessions on Wednesday 18th September.  Please can children come to school ready in their kit which they will remain in all day. Black joggers/leggings/shorts with a round necked white t-shirt and Clover Hill hoodie.  Trainers with Velcro rather than laces are preferable! (Trainers can be any colour.)

Baseline

As we mentioned at our June meeting  all Reception children complete a Baseline assessment within the first six weeks of starting Reception Class.  This is to provide the starting point for a new measure to demonstrate how well schools support their pupils to progress between Reception Class and the end of Year 6.  Each child will spend time in the classroom working with one of the Early Years Team and will be asked to answer a variety of questions.  More information about this assessment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents

We will also be completing our own assessments which will support us in creating your child’s next steps. As soon as these assessments are over, we will start with our phonics and reading curriculum. More information regarding this will follow nearer to the time.

Entrance Gate

Starting from next week, when children are in school full time, please enter the school grounds, for drop-off and pick-up, using the main school gate.  Please walk up the yard and down the steps accessing our outdoor area via the small wooden gate.

A Couple of Requests!

We would be very grateful if you could send a box of tissues in to school for us to keep in the classroom for the children’s use. We seem to get through lots and, with colder months coming, we guess we will get through even more in the weeks ahead! Please can we also politely ask that you do not put water bottles into the children’s bags as reading books will soon be coming home and we have had a number of books damaged in the past due to leaky bottles!  Many thanks!

Spare Clothes

If you have not already done so please can we ask that you send a change of clothes in a draw-string bag that your child can keep on their peg in case of accidents (underwear, socks and leggings/joggers)  This does not need to be uniform.

Own Belongings:

At school, we have lots of pens, pencils and other stationery for the children to use so we do not need you to send pencil cases into school. We also ask that you support us in encouraging your child not to bring toys from home into school.

Please ensure all items of uniform are clearly named. Thank you!

Whole School Newsletter

Please visit the school website for our most up to date whole school newsletters - these are posted regularly and will also be emailed to you.

Dates for your diary

Thursday 24th October - Take it Outside Day - wear own clothes and bring wellies!  More information to follow.

Please speak to one of us if you have any queries or need further clarification.

Yours faithfully, Mrs. Gamble & Mrs. Johnson (Early Years Team)