Class 1

Welcome to Class 1. Here is some important information about our class.

In this Class there is 1 teacher:

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning – Miss Glaholm.
• Every Friday afternoon, Miss Glaholm has some time for PPA (planning, preparation and assessment). During this session the children will be having an art lesson with Mrs Shelton and a specialist PE lesson with ‘Total Sports’.
• There are 2 teaching assistants: Mrs Thomas is in class all week and Mr Beresford-Wylie who is in class every morning.

Times

The doors open at 8.45am. We welcome you to come into the classroom to settle your child but recommend you leave as soon as they are happy. Some children find it upsetting to begin with but we have seen this many times and can assure you tears usually dry up before you will have even left the premises.

The school day ends at 3.15pm, when the doors will open and you can come inside to wait for your child outside their classroom. If you have made arrangements for your child to go home with someone different, go with a friend or to after school club it is essential you let us know. There is a ‘going home’ book in the class (near the door) where you need to write this down. If it isn’t written in there we will not let your child go.

Clothing

We do not have a school uniform at Park Grove but please ensure your child is dressed sensibly and wearing clothes they can manage independently e.g. elasticated trousers, shoes with Velcro. Please ensure everything is named and it would be very helpful if they could practise dressing and undressing themselves, particularly putting on their own coat.

Children go out to play in all weather. Please ensure they have a warm coat/hat/gloves in winter and a sunhat and sun cream (applied at home before school) in summer.

P.E.

Each child needs to have a P.E. kit in school at all times. We have a dress code for this for safety reasons:

• White t-shirt
• Navy or black shorts
• Black plimsolls (Velcro or slip on)
• All to be contained in a fabric drawstring bag

Lunchtimes

Children may either bring a packed lunch or have a free school lunch. All children in Reception and Key Stage One are entitled to a free lunch as part of the government’s initiative to have healthy lunches. The three choices for school lunches are hot dinners, jacket potato or a ‘grab bag’ which is a cold lunch with a sandwich. If you choose to send your child with a packed lunch this should also be healthy and not include cans or glass bottled drinks. The school also has a strict no nuts policy due to allergies.

Water bottles

Please bring a water bottle, labelled with your child’s name into class. They encourage the children to drink water during the day. Any plastic bottle will do and they must only contain water. These will be sent home every Friday for you to clean and return the following Monday.

Snack

Children will receive a free piece of fruit and a drink of milk each morning. In addition we ask for a £2 contribution of snack money per half term, this will go towards extra snacks such as crackers and breadsticks etc. This snack will be available throughout the morning session.

Toys

Please do not allow your child to bring toys into school.  These can get damaged or lost which children find very distressing. We have lots of things in school to play with!

Book bags

Each child will need their own book bag which needs to come to school every day. Reading books, information and any letters will be sent home in this. Each child was given a free book bag and if a replacement is needed, you can purchase for £5.00 from the school office. Book bags are also used for reading records that are sent home with your child, please record in them when you have read at home.

Buddy the Bear

In Class 1 we have a special teddy called ‘Buddy’. He will take it in turns to visit the children in the class throughout the year. Buddy will go home with a different member of the class each Friday and needs to be returned by the following Friday. Buddy also has a diary with him so if you could have a go at

writing about what you did and include some drawings or photographs we can share this with the class when he returns.

Homework

Throughout the year your child will be sent home with two homework books. One is to practise consolidating the sounds we have learnt in phonics. Please practise writing the letters and also thinking of words with that sound in. We also have maths challenge books that will be sent home with a different maths related challenge that could include numbers, shapes, measurements or patterns. Both books are collected in on a Friday.

Library

Our class visits the school library each Monday and the children are able to borrow one library book that can be taken home to be read together. Please make sure you bring the book back each Monday so that you can swap your book for a new one. If you do not return your book your child can still visit the library but will be unable to bring another book home.

Forest Schools

All of the Reception children go outside for Forest Schools on Tuesday afternoon. Please make sure your child has a suitable waterproof jacket every Tuesday, warm clothing for in the winter and a pair of wellington boots that can be kept at school.

Thank you for your support,

Miss Glaholm and the Class 1 team