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Welcome to Reception, Rainbow Class at Shalfleet Primary

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome to Rainbow class. We are really looking forward to working with you and your child this year. 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).

 Staffing

The teachers in Rainbow Class are Mrs Hedley (Class Teacher Mon,Tue, Wed and Fri), Mrs Munn (Class Teacher Thur ), Mrs Cox (TA Mon, Thur & Fri), Mrs Whittle (TA Tue & Wed) and Mrs Brett-Hill (Thur PM) Mrs Smith (PSHE) Miss Gates (Forest School)

Please see below for key information.

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

Local walk linked to children’s interest

Autumn 2

Visit from people who help us

Visit to local Church/visit from church – Christmas tree festival

Spring 1

Sharing afternoon linked to interests of the time – Looking for nature – Parents invited in

Spring 2

Island based trip linked to themes & children’s interests

Fire person visit

Summer 1

Federated mainland trip

Walk to Copse

Sharing afternoon linked to interests – Parents invited in

Summer 2

Dental Nurse/Vet visit

Walk to scoops and beach 

Yarmouth Castle Inspire Day – Crabbing 

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 Friday 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. We also award a certificate for 10 stamps in their own notebooks linked to their hard work.(Rainbow Awards) Golden Awards are given out to individual children and one parent can attend our Friday Collective Worships. We will start attending the worships as soon as we feel they are ready to be in the hall, happy and settled.

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. There are lots of children this year with identical shoes which will make it difficult to match the owners once we start to wear wellies.

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.

Change Bags

Messy play is also a big part of our time in Early Years and this means children will often get very wet and muddy.  We therefore encourage all children to have a spare change of clothes – including pants and socks – on their peg which stays in school until needed.

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.  We also recommend children have a coat each day – our school site is particularly windy being so close to the river and we all know how changeable our weather can be!

PE

Rainbow Class will have 2 PE sessions a week with Mr Pilcher on a Tuesday morning and Mrs Hedley and Mr Pilcher on a Wednesday 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.

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 5th 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, 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

You will have received your log on details for our online payment and ordering system SCOPAY.  (Reception children have free school meals).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 our 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 bring a book of their choice, initially and a reading diary before the end of the second week. 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. Once your child has been introduced to their first phonics in class, a reading book linked to the Little Wandle sounds will be coming home with your child. 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 first thing on morning each Monday. 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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For a free guide to school readiness please click here https://www.hub.primarysteps.co.uk/courses/steps-to-school

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