Starting School

Starting School

Welcome to Wynstream Primary School, we are delighted you are joining our school family.

We have put together this page specifically to provide information for parents/carers of children who are due to start in our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Reception class. We hope to answer some of the questions you might have about the following –

  • Who will be teaching my child?
  • What happens on the first day?
  • What do they need to wear?
  • What happens at lunch time?
  • How can I help my child be school ready?
  • What is the EYFS curriculum?
  • How can I help and support my child?
  • How do I contact my child’s school?
Reception Class Teachers 

There are two Reception classes in our Early Years Foundation Stage. Ladybird Class is taught by Ms Sarah Vickery and Butterfly Class is taught by Mrs Carol Willis. 

Each class has its own carpet base, but the rest of the learning environment is shared. The children stay in their class groups for teaching inputs (phonics, literacy, maths, story time) and then the classes mix for the rest of the time. So, if your child is not in the same class as their friend from Nursery or pre-school setting, it will be okay as there will be lots of opportunities to play together.

There are additional teaching assistants who support the children and also stay with them at lunchtimes.

The First Day

The first day of term is Tuesday 7th September 2021.


Gates will open at 8:30am. The gate to Ladybird and Butterfly Classes is to the right of the main school entrance.


You will be able to take your child into their classroom and help find their coat peg. You can settle them on their class carpet before saying goodbye. Our staff team will be available to talk with if you need to let us know anything. Please bring a waterproof coat with a hood, PE kit and school book bag. 

Children do not need to bring a snack or a drinks bottle. We provide a morning and afternoon snack every day. There is always water or milk available to drink throughout the day. 


Pick up is from your child's classroom door at 3:10 pm. You will be able to speak with your child’s class teacher at this time. If you need somebody else to collect your child you can let us know by adding their name to the admission form, or call the school office so admin staff can inform your child's class teacher. Only adults named by you are permitted to collect your child. 


Timetable
A typical day looks like this – 

8:30 - 8:40am Come into school, hang up your coat and settle on carpet
8:40 - 9:00am Register and Wake Up Shake Up
9:00 – 9:30am Phonics whole class input
9:30 – 10:30am Group learning and continuous provision
10:15 – 10:30am Snack time – milk/water and fruit
10:30 - 10:45am Maths whole class input
10:45 - 11:30am Group learning and continuous provision
11:30 – 11:45am PSED whole class input
11:45am – 12:45pm Lunchtime and time to play in big playground
1:00 - 1:20pm Literacy whole class input
1:20 - 2:30pm Group learning and continuous provision
2:30 – 3:00pm Story time
3:00 – 3:10pm Get ready for home routine.

Children have PE once a week in the hall or outdoors. Currently, children come to school wearing their PE kit on the days they have PE lesson. We will let you know when their PE lesson is when they start.

Uniform

Uniform WILL get dirty so please be warned we are a messy, hands on, creative and active EYFS!

Please write your child’s name on all of their uniform. Using a Sharpie pen is the best method. 

  • School sweatshirt / fleece with logo
  • Red/royal blue polo shirt with logo
  • Black trousers, skirts or shorts in summer
  • Royal blue or red check dress (summer only)
  • White or black socks or black tights
  • Sensible school shoes (no trainers) with a closed toe and velcro/buckle fastening. If the weather is wet, children may come to school in wellies and bring another pair of shoes to change into. 
  • Spare underwear 
  • A waterproof coat with a hood (brought to school every day)

 


PE Kit
  • Black or blue shorts       
  • White T-shirt in a named draw-string bag
  • Trainers or plimsolls
  • Tracksuit bottoms and sweatshirt for cold weather 

Book Bags
We will provide your child with a book bag, there is no need to buy one. 
Lunch
All EYFS children are entitled to a universal free school meal. You do not have to apply for this. There is a choice of hot meal, vegetarian hot meal or jacket potato every day.

The children and their class teachers eat altogether in the atrium.

If you choose to provide your child with a packed lunch, then 3 to 4 things to eat is all that is needed. For example - sandwiches, fruit or veg, biscuit, yogurt. They will need a named lunch box with a non-fizzy drink. 

Please note that sweets or chocolate bars are not permitted.
Being School Ready
Being able to do the things on the list below will help your child be school ready. Please note we do not expect your child to be able to do all of these things, the list is for guidance only.
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
The EYFS curriculum is divided into 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas 

Prime Areas 
  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Communication and Language
  • Physical Development
Specific Areas 
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World 
  • Expressive Arts and Design
Helping Your Child To Learn
Personal, Social and Emotional Development (P.S.E.D) 

It is important that the children are happy when they are at school. Learning cannot take place unless all children feel safe, secure and confident. We encourage children to look after their own belongings, change independently and go to the toilet by themselves. They are also encouraged to take turns, share and join in activities with other children and adults.

Leaving your child for the first time
If your child has never been anywhere without you, practice leaving them with a friend for short periods of time – progressing to longer periods. To promote trust, always come back at the time agreed. Talk to your child about how they feel when you leave them. Expect tears and tantrums, but don’t be put off trying again.

Becoming independent
Don’t do everything for your child. Explain how to ask for help politely and not to interrupt when others are speaking. Provide opportunities for them by asking “What do you want me to do?” rather than, “Do you want any help?” Try not to take over just for the sake of a ‘quiet life’.

Behaviour
Teach your child acceptable behaviour. At Wynstream the children are expected to take responsibility for their own actions and to be aware of their effect on others.
Model good behaviour at home, particularly at mealtimes. Show your child how to hold a knife and fork correctly and not speak with a mouth full of food. They should sit still whilst eating and not leave the table until the meal is finished. All of this will be reinforced when the children stay at school for lunch. 

Communication & Language

Communicating with your child plays a huge part in their learning and you can help at home in lots of ways.
  • Share stories with them - asking questions and encouraging them to talk about their experiences.
  • Talk with them about what you are doing – explaining what is happening and predicting what may happen next.
  • Play games to stir their imagination - joining in with their pretend play.
  • Encourage them to listen to others and take turns in conversations.
Once at school the children will be encouraged to take time to listen to others and share experiences. They will take part in activities to develop their listening, understanding and speaking skills.

Physical Development

It is important that children take part in whole class P.E. sessions and for this they will need a full P.E. kit.  

Getting Dressed - encourage your child to get dressed and undressed independently from the earliest age possible. Practice putting clothes away at home, perhaps in a ‘special place’.

Children will also be encouraged to develop fine motor skills that will help them when writing and drawing. Activities that help develop these skills are threading and weaving, making play dough models, completing jigsaw puzzles and using scissors.

Reading

Learning to read is going to be an exciting experience for your child. Children will progress at their own pace and it is important that your child reads comfortably at their own level. If your child is already able to read when they start school, every opportunity will be given to extend their reading skills.

There will be a wide variety of books for your child to read at all times, both at school and to take home. When they start at Wynstream, they will be given a reading book as well as some of the EYFS high frequency words to learn. Your child will have their own reading record diary, for both you and the teacher to use, to comment on your child’s reading. Encourage your child to bring this to school every day as this provides a useful communication between the children, parents and teachers. All books must be kept in a book bag that should be brought into school every day.

There are many ways that you can help your child to learn to read:
  • Set aside a special time each day when sharing a book can be fun and relaxing.
  • Switch off the television and find somewhere quiet and comfortable.
  • Take time to talk about the book, its cover, the author, the characters etc.
Your child may wish to share a story with you and join in the reading when they feel confident. Encourage them to read any familiar words or phrases when appropriate. They will soon make connections between the writing and illustrations on each page.

Encourage your child to work out the text by:
  • Guessing at the meaning of the sentence.
  • Looking at the pictures.
  • Trying to ‘sound out’ the initial letter of particular words.
  • Try to encourage your child to predict what might happen ‘over the page’.
Remember to ask questions about the story and explain new words when necessary. Try to boost confidence with constant praise and encouragement however small the initial achievement may seem.

Regularly looking at a variety of books together is the essential key to happy and successful reading.

Writing

There will be opportunities for the children to write independently in all areas of the classroom, both indoors and outside. Children will also be taught how to build words in whole class Phonics sessions, in order that they become successful writers. 

You can help at home by encouraging your child to write shopping lists, birthday cards, letters and invitations, or just to make marks and talk about what they have written.
When spelling words for them, say the letter name such as ‘A’ as in ‘Amy’ and the sound it sometimes makes e.g. ‘a’ as in ‘apple’.

This is the letter font (Letter Join) we teach children in EYFS and it is continued throughout the school.
It would be helpful if you used it at home with your child whenever you do writing together. Please remember to only use capital letters at the start of names.

Mathematics 


Children have a daily mathematics input with follow up group work and maths themed activities in the learning environment.

We encourage questioning such as….

How long…?

How many…?

How much…?


At home your child can:

 

  • build with bricks or lego
  • sort animals, counters or shapes
  • make patterns with shapes or beads
  • order toys in size and shape
  • match sock and mittens
  • measure with different containers
  • count and share out biscuits or sweets
  • cut out different pastry or play dough shapes
  • lay the table
  • weigh ingredients when baking
  • count the stairs in your house

 

When Shopping your child can:   

 

  • handle simple money problems   
  • count objects bought
  • estimate how many items in the basket
  • look out for different shapes and sizes of containers

 

When out for a walk or in the car your child can:

 

  • count passing cars 
  • look for certain colours
  • find similar shaped objects
  • estimate distances
  • count animals in a field 

 

Playing simple games and puzzles:

There are many games that can improve your child’s observational and matching skills. Try playing simple card and board games such as:


Dominoes                 Happy Families                           Snakes and Ladders                                 Snap 


Understanding the World

The children will be given opportunities to talk about their own experiences out of school. We discuss families, friends and places the children are familiar with.

We explore the surrounding environment and will go on walks to local places of interest.  

The children have access to computers and use other ICT equipment in the class room.

You can help your child at home by talking to them about their day, visiting local attractions and encouraging them to bring photographs and artefacts into the school to share with the class.

Expressive Arts & Design

At Wynstream we encourage all children to use their imagination and be responsible for their own learning.

In the EYFS classes there are opportunities for the children to be creative in all areas of the curriculum including, art, music, dance and drama.

The children have access to the resources they need to experiment, investigate, construct and create.

You can help at home by allowing your child to use paints, felt tips, glue and scissors. Sing songs and nursery rhymes with them and encourage them to make their own music using things around the house. It may be noisy but it’s also very exciting!  
General Information

Illness - If your child is unwell please call or email the school office on either 01392 284990 or admin@wynstreamprimary.org.uk. Our school office is open from 8am - 4pm

 

Contact details - Please update details ASAP if you change mobile number/email address etc. 

 

Lateness - The register is taken at 8.40am each morning and this is digitally sent to the office. Please sign your child in at the office after 8.40am as the EYFS classroom doors will be closed.

 

Prescribed medicines / allergies - please inform your child’s class teacher if your child has a known medical condition or allergy so that all of the EYFS team can be notified. Prescribed medicines must be handed in to the school office staff.

 

Toys - We encourage children not to bring in toys from home as they can end up being lost or damaged.

 

Admission forms – These forms need to be completed before your child starts school with us.

 

  • Food Allergy Information Form – please alert us to any food allergies your child has
  • Data Collection on Admission 
  • Additional EAL information – please inform us of your child’s home language/s.
  • Photo Consent Form – we use the photos for the school blog, Tapestry learning journals and wall displays. Also children appear in Express and Echo’s First Class supplement.
  • Tapestry – this is our online learning journal. You will need an email address to access your child’s account.
  • SOE3 – In Foundation we feel that it is important to give the children the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom. Please fill in the SOE3 form so that your child can take part in local off site visits.

 


We will also provide you with information regarding Holidays and Absence, the school’s Privacy Notice and Term Dates. 


If you would like to know anything else, please contact Sarah Vickery (EYFS Lead Teacher) via email. 

sarah.vickery@wynstreamprimary.org.uk



Share by: