7 September 2018
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome to Galley Hill Primary School’s Reception classes. Please speak to any member of staff if you have questions, we are here to help. I have included in this letter information that you may need for the year.
All children do need a waterproof coat at school every day (unless we are having a heatwave of course). They will go outside in the morning, at lunchtime and during the afternoon.
Every week the children will spend time outside at either woodland school or gardening. In all weather the children will have their lesson in the woodland area. So they do need a waterproof coat. If they have a pair of waterproof trousers, then please send them in for them to wear. A pair of their own wellies and waterproof trousers can hang on their peg all year. This means they can keep dry whenever they wish to go outside.
Reception’s PE day for the autumn term is a Thursday. We will start PE lessons with our PE coach on 20 September. Their PE kits should be on their peg every day.
Please label all your child’s clothes, PE kit, coat, hat, gloves, etc. Please be aware that if you have written their name in with pen, it might wash off after a few washes! We do try our best to find all lost items.
Children can bring into school their own water bottle to drink from. Please make sure the bottle is named and contains water only. Children should also bring their book bag into school every day.
Children will be given a home reader book when they are ready. This could be at any time during the school year. We will not give them books before they can blend together all letters confidently. Once your child knows all the sounds that single letters make you can help them at home by writing simple three letter words and practise blending the sounds together to read the word e.g. cat, dog, bin, pin, peg, etc.
In Early Years we plan our topics every week due to the time of the year or the interests of the children. Every Monday we place the week’s topic and lesson headlines on the classroom window and on the Reception website page. We also place the nursery rhyme of the week on the classroom window.
We place all dates on the school website calendar so please check throughout the year.
Reception Open Lessons
Every class in the school has three lessons a year when parents can come along and join in with their child’s learning. Our open lessons are
Phonics- Wednesday 3 October 8.50am until 10am.
Maths- Wednesday 7 November 8.50 until 10am.
Writing- Friday 22 March 8.50 until 10am.
Parent Consultation Evenings
During the autumn and spring terms all parents are given the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher. During the summer term you receive a written report. This term the consultation will be on Wednesday 17tOctober 3.30-6pm or Thursday 18tOctober 5 - 7.30pm. A letter will be sent home nearer the date for you to make time and date choices for the meeting.
Christmas Play
Reception put on a Christmas play for their family to watch. Our performances will be on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 December at 2.15 - 2.50pm. A letter will be sent out nearer the date so you can ask for the date of tickets that you would prefer. We can offer 4 tickets for each family. This can be 4 for one date or 2 for Wednesday and 2 for Tuesday. A family cannot have 4 tickets for each performance. There just is not enough space in the hall!
Sports Day
Morning Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and 2 sports day will be on the morning of Wednesday 19 June. 10am until 11.30am. You are all invited to come along and watch the children taking part in sporting activities on the school field.
Please read the school newsletter when it is sent to you via email on a Friday. This will let you know all information you need and keep you up to date with dates and events.
Children always like to bring in a toy from home. But children are not allowed to bring in toys or items from home into school. I am sure you can understand the sharing and losing issues this creates if all 30 children bring in a favourite toy from home or sneak it into their bag!
Thank you
Mrs Parsons, Mrs Turner and Mrs Cook
Reception