Dear Parent / Guardian,

Welcome to Reception! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, I’m Mrs Gaffney- Jones, the Reception Teacher. I’m very excited to be working with you and your children during their time in Reception. We’ve had an excellent start to our week and all the children have settled well into their new class and routines. I will be working alongside two excellent TAs, Miss Gibbs and Miss Richards so please let any of us know of any questions you may have.

Our topic this term is ‘Play, Learn & Grow’ where we will be meeting Dr Gabbles – The famous Dinosaur Expert! We will be taking a trip in his time machine and stepping back into the past and driving into the future. We will be having a visit from a Dinosaur on Thursday 22nd September. Your child can dress up as a Dinosaur or a Dinosaur Expert/ Scientist- how exciting! 

Reminders:

1. Please label everything, yes we mean everything – socks, shoes, pants, bags, drink bottles etc.
2. Please provide your child with a healthy snack each day, which is labelled in a container as we will be collecting all snacks at the start of the day. Children will need to bring their own bottle of water/squash in each day.
3. Please remind your child if they are having dinners in school each morning, as we will be asking your child when planning their orders for that day. Please click here to find the school dinner menu. Free School Meals are now available for all Reception children.
4. When your child is ready and blending words, they will receive their first reading book. This will be staggered to meet the needs of each child’s development.
5. Children will have homework on Friday and are asked to return it by the following Wednesday. Children will receive homework books and all homework will be on our class page on our website.
6. PE. Your child will need to bring in their outdoor PE kit every Tuesday for them to get changed in school. This will allow children to learn how to get themselves dressed. They will need black shorts or joggers, trainers and a white T-shirt or their school colour.
7. Welly Wednesday! The children will be spending some, or all of the morning outside carrying out a range of activities and experiences, linked closely to our topic. The children will experience all weathers therefore on a Wednesday they will need warm clothing, a waterproof coat, wellies/ old trainers and gloves, scarf and hat if particularly cold. As the children will get a little messy, you may want to send them to school in old trousers, jeans or tracksuit bottoms along with their school T-Shirt, Jumper or Fleece.
8. No equipment, pencil cases or toys are to be brought into school. We will provide everything that is needed.
9. Please visit our school website where we have an exciting class page. I will upload information, photos and activities in this area to keep you up to date with all the wonderful things that are going on in Reception. This is where you will find the children’s weekly homework.
10. In order to maintain up to date records, please could you inform your class teacher of any medication, dietary requirements or allergies.

I hope this letter answers any queries you have, however if you have any questions please just ask.

We sincerely hope that your child has a wonderful time in Reception and we look forward to working with you to build a strong, positive partnership.

Kind regards,

Mrs Gaffney- Jones.

Please see the Reception Transition Presentation below: