YR Beach - The Federation of Church Schools of Shalfleet and Yarmouth

Welcome to Reception, Beach Class at Freshwater & Yarmouth Primary

We hope this page will answer questions that you may have but please remember Dojo is always there as a communication tool to ask questions and share concerns with us (as well as face to face chats too).

Class Name and staffing

This year Reception Class will continue to be called Beach Class to link with the locality theme that across all year groups. The teaching staff will consist of Mrs Haisell (Class Teacher Monday to Thursday), Mrs Westhorpe (Class Teacher Friday) and Mrs Sampson (HLTA each morning and all day Friday), Miss Bristow (Class TA each afternoon). We are delighted to welcome Mrs George to the team too, who joins us to support as a 1:1 in class.

Please see below for key information.

Click to download the following planning documents

YR Beach Welcome Letter 2023-24

YR Beach Timetable

YR Beach Long Term Plan 2023-24

YR Beach MTP Autumn – Finding your way through play!

YR Beach MTP Spring – New Beginnings

YR Beach MTP Summer – Exploring Nature

Please find below information on this years planned events/trips – please note these may be subject to change.

This years class charity is MacMillan

Autumn 1

Macmillan Coffee afternoon – Parents invited in

Blackberry picking walk

Autumn 2

Visit from people who help us

Walk around Freshwater – post letters to Father Christmas

Freshwater library visit

Visit to local church – Christmas tree festival

Spring 1

Local trip linked to current interests – Parents invited in

Spring 2

Amazon World or Alpaca Farm

Visit to local church – making Easter gardens

Summer 1

Federated Mainland Trip

Walk to Copse

Sharing Afternoon linked to current interests – Parents invited in

Summer 2

Dental Nurse / Vet Visit

Beach visit

Inspire day – Crabbing and cooking hot dogs for picnic

Class Dojo

Thank you for signing up to dojo so efficiently as this is our main communication tool with parents during the school day. Class stories will be posted each Thursday to give you an insight into the children’s learning that week. You will also see what dojo awards your child has been awarded each day – when children reach 25 dojos they will be able to choose a prize from our dip box before the counter is reset to 0 to begin again. Dojo monsters are randomly selected for children but they can be personalised at home with you via the app/website. Please remember to check admin dojo too as these are important updates from the office.

Uniform

An important plea to save things getting lost – Can you please ensure that all items of clothing, including shoes and all personal items including water bottles, lunch boxes/bags are named so that if they get misplaced or forgotten they can quickly be located with their owner.

Book Bags

We actively encourage all children to have a book bag which they bring to school each day. This usually houses children’s reading books and reading record and allows children to become independent with taking home letters and work to share with you. With all book bags looking identical, we also encourage children to choose a small key ring or distinguishing feature (sometimes children replace the strap) to help them identify their book bag more easily. Please do not transport water bottles and wet items in book bags as this can damage the paperwork and books within.

Change Bags

This year we are making change bags optional for parents as we will be keeping a small selection of spare clothes in class which children can use if they need a change of clothes during the day. We do ask parents to return spare uniform as soon as they can so that it can be put back in the cupboard for its next use. If you think your child will benefit from their own spare pants / socks etc in class, these can be brought in a named bag and stored in your child’s box in class.

Wellies and coats

Due to the muddy nature of parts of our outdoor classroom, we recommend that children have a pair of named wellies in school each day – ideally stored on our welly rack to save unpacking each day. We do have some spare wellies but children do seem to like to have their own wellies that they can easily identify. Children will also require a coat each day as we all know how changeable our weather can be!

PE

Beach Class will have 2 PE sessions a week with Mr Westhorpe on a Monday morning and a Friday morning. On these days children should come to school dressed in their PE kits and they will spend the whole day in PE kits. Please consider the weather and have a tracksuit for colder days as many PE lessons will be held outside. Shorts and a T.shirt are better for warmer days. Trainers are the most universal footwear which will be best for most PE activities. PE t.shirts can be a purchased via Pendle (see transition pack for further details) but we do recommend a non branded navy blue PE shirt with black shorts.

Food & Drink

Snack time

Children will be offered a piece of fruit from the class fruit bowl each morning during our snack time, alongside a glass of milk (milk is free until a child’s 5^th Birthday – you will receive information regarding the Cool Milk Scheme). However, children are also invited to bring their own piece of fruit or healthy snack each day. Suitable items include fresh fruit, bread sticks, flaked fruit, dried fruit. Unfortunately biscuits, crisps, sugary snacks will need to be eaten at lunch time and not during our snack time. We ask that snacks are clearly named if brought in a pot – children will be helped to pop these in their trays when they arrive in class of a morning. In line with our Healthy Schools initiative too, we ask that children bring water in their class water bottle – juice can be part of a child’s lunch drink. The new EYFS curriculum has a huge push on teaching children about how to keep their teeth as healthy as possible.

School Lunches

Within the next couple of weeks, you will receive your log on details for our online payment and ordering system SCOPAY. This will allow you to order your child’s school dinners and let us know if you would like them to have a cooked dinner, baguette or jacket potato. In the meantime, we will ask the children each morning if they are having a packed lunch or school lunch. Please take time to look at the menu (and look out for menu changes which are announced on admin dojo) and these should help you work out with your child which dinners they will enjoy and which they are unlikely to enjoy. We will always let you know if a dinner hasn’t gone down well but we also encourage children to try new things. Children can switch between school dinners and packed lunch but please order dinners online once accounts are up and running.

Reading Books

All children will be given their first reading book and reading diary before the end of the first full week back at school. Please look out for leaflets and handouts which will support you in developing your child’s reading at home, alongside the work we will be doing in class. We cannot emphasize what a difference it makes to a child’s progress when children read with family at home as well as school staff. We hope you will use information we send home to make reading at home a positive, nurturing time with your child and something that becomes a time of the day to look forward to.

Outdoor Learning

We are delighted to let you know that our weekly Forest School session will continue this year and our allocated slot will be each Tuesday. To ensure Forest School is an enjoyable activity for children they will need a set of waterproofs in school because rain or shine, wind or sunshine, children will make the most of the school garden for this session. All in one suits or 2 piece outfits are fine for this – we recommend looking in the charity shops for these as children usually out grow waterproofs before they wear out. Forest School Kit should ideally be in a separate bag to their change of clothes bag as they will be stored in the cupboard until needed each week. Please name ALL items and bags.

Steps to School

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Beach Class Spring 2024

During the Spring Term we have enjoyed many child led themes in class. We are always excited to see where the children take our learning!

We started the new year by going on an adventure around The Isle of Wight. We learnt facts about familiar and new places on the island and enjoyed locating these landmarks and attractions on a giant map of the Island. Each child also followed a recipe to mix up an egg up sized amount of salt dough which was then used to make mini models of our uniquely shaped Island. During this topic we used the story ‘Letters from Felix’ alongside our learning and we were excited to write letters to Felix to encourage him to visit our Island on his travels. This was a perfect opportunity to take a look at the threats facing our beautiful landscapes, nature and sealife and the active role we can all take in protecting them. Children sewed under the sea mobiles as part of our cleaner oceans learning.

We always enjoy our collaborations with Little Stars Pre-school and Chinese New Year was no exception. We joined together to learn about the Lunar New Year, to take part in making different crafts, to sample some delicious Chinese food and to reinact the story of Nian the Dragon.

Last week we explored World Book Day and the children loved snuggling down to share books together, with teachers and parents. Story time is always a big part of our day in Beach Class and in the lead up to World Book Day the children had been inspired to become authors themselves. On World Book Day, the children took the opportunity to visit different adults and children around the school to read them their books.

Animals are a huge theme in class currently and we are excitedly anticipating our visit to Monkey Haven before Easter and a visit from one of their keepers to class. One of our amazing parents bought in some fascinating pets to class last week including guinea pigs, a rather huge snake and a uromastyx. Watch this space to find out more about where our learning takes us next!!

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Beach Class Autumn 2

This half term, the children in Beach Class have been learning more about celebrations which are taking place at this time of year. We explored Bonfire Night, Remembrance, Diwali and Christmas, taking time to use stories, songs, information books and real experiences to understand more about the significance and stories behind these celebrations.

In particular the children enjoyed gathering around the camp fire to pop popcorn and enjoy hot chocolate after we had listened to the story of Guy Fawkes. We also enjoyed our collaborative Diwali day with Little Stars when we got to taste some Indian foods and sweets and took part in some traditional customs including making rangoli patterns. We are now busily preparing for Christmas and our Nativity. In our child led learning, the children are imaginatively crafting the Elve’s workshop, Santa’s grotto and an inviting hot chocolate café, using their developing number and literacy skills within their play.

Today we had a very exciting letter from Father Christmas and a story book, ‘We’re Going on an Elf Hunt.’ We were asked to look out for a mischievous elf who was causing havoc around the village and children were inspired to look for clues, make traps and write letters and signs for the elf. We are hoping to find him so we can invite him to class and show him how to be kind and respectful.