Welcome to all our new families joining Alconbury C of E Primary School this September. We are looking forward to being part of your child's learning journey.
Important Information
Starting school is a major milestone in your child’s educational journey and our job is to ensure that all the children have a happy and successful transition into “BIG” school. In order for this to happen here are a few reminders of what they will need to bring and some general information that might be helpful to know . However, if there is anything that is unclear please do not hesitate to speak to us and we can answer any questions that you may have. All the team look forward to working with you and your child over the coming year.
Children will be expected to have these things in school EVERY day:
- named bottle of water – no juice please. (Please ensure bottles are not placed inside book bags as they have a tendency to leak!)
- named coat
- book bag with reading diary and book* (school will provide this)
- PE bag containing shorts, T-shirt, jogging bottoms , and a spare pair of pants and socks. This will be sent home every half term for washing/checking.
- Please make sure that everything is named .
If you would like your child to have milk this is requested on a Monday morning, at registration, and the children will have it every morning for the rest of the week. Milk is provided at a cost of 15p a day, paid via Scopay. Snacks are provided for all children in Reception, Years 1 and 2 so it is not necessary for children to bring in additional snacks. School will provide everything else. Unless we specifically request it, we ask that children do not bring in toys from home.
Reading
We follow the Little Wandle scheme for reading. Your child will being three books home over the course of a week.
A “Guided Reading” book – This is a book that your child will have read three times during the week at school with an adult. This book will be sent home on a Wednesday and needs returning to school on a Friday.
A “reading book” – This will be a book which only has the sounds and tricky words which your child has learnt at school. This book can be changed as required – just pop a note in your child’s diary and it will be swopped for a new one.
A “Book for pleasure” – This will be chosen during our Library time session and will be changed once a week. The expectation is that the children can enjoy listening to you reading them a story. (It is not an expectation that they will be able to read it!) Please remember to return this to school every THURSDAY
PE & Forest School
Our main PE day is on a FRIDAY but the children will also have the opportunity for physical activity on a daily basis using a range of equipment in our outside classroom. All children will be expected to change for PE and will need to have a white T-shirt and black shorts. As we will sometimes be working outside during general curriculum activities it is also advisable to put in some jogging bottoms, a fleece/jumper and a spare pair of trainers. Please continue to allow your child to be as independent as possible at home – it really will help them as they will need to be able to change independently, and quickly, at school.
Forest School will start as soon as the children are settled into the routine of school life and these sessions will take place on a Monday afternoon. Every child will be expected to join in with these sessions and we ask parents to send in appropriate clothing for the session. The children ideally need a waterproof coat and wellington boots.(All-in-one suits are fine as well) Children will spend the whole afternoon outside, even if the weather is poor, so please send in extra layers in the weather forecast dictates! We appreciate that sometimes the children do get a little muddy so it is advisable to send their Forest School clothing in a separate named carrier bag if possible.
Homework
There is no formal homework but the children are expected to share books and reinforce their phonic/tricky words when these are sent home. However, if you wish to reinforce some of the activities that you see via your child’s Tapestry account (their online learning journal) then please do!
Parental support
We believe that you are the best educators that your child has. You provide them with countless life experiences and we want you to share some of these experiences with us so that we get a fuller picture of your child as a whole person. Each child has their own “Tapestry” account and we encourage parents to add/upload any significant achievements using this platform. Please also take the time to share your child’s Tapestry account with them from time to time as they love seeing pictures of things that they have done and achieved.
We also have “WOW” certificates. If your child does something amazing you can write a note on one of the certificates, send it in via your child’s bookbag and then we will share it with the whole class. This is an ideal way to promote self esteem, speaking skills and boost confidence levels. We will then display their certificate on a noticeboard for the week, before filing them in their paper learning journey file. Copies of the certificates will be put in your child’s bookbag to get you started.
Letter and Number Formation
EYFS Links with National Curriculum Subjects 2023.docx
EYFS links to the National Curriculum
Baseline Information for Parents
