• Things to be brought into school

A book bag, labelled water bottle, labelled PE kit in a drawstring bag to be kept in school, labelled wellies, a coat and a packed lunch if that is your lunch choice for your child at lunch times.

• PE – Friday afternoon

Your child will be getting dressed and undressed in the classroom with support from us when it is our PE day. This helps with building independence as well as gross and fine motor skills. Please ensure all jewellery is removed at home and hair is tied back. We cannot provide tape for earrings or to cover any other type of jewellery. Please label all PE clothing and uniform with your child’s name to avoid lost clothes. Your child needs a plain white t-shirt, plain black shorts or jogging bottoms and plimsoles in a drawstring bag.

• Reading

When your child receives their first reading book, it is really important that reading is continuous at home. Your child may get a picture book from which you can discuss with your child what is happening on the pages, encourage your child to speak in full sentences when talking about the pages and encourage your child to point and name common pictures. Some children may receive a word book and it is important that you encourage your child to say the sounds first for one word at a time and then read the word. This will encourage recognition of sounds and practise the skills of segmenting and blending.

We advise for you to encourage your child to read their school book 3 times a week to make progress. Any time you have read with your child, please date, sign and write a comment in the diary which we will then check. They do not have to finish the book in 1 day. They could read 1 page on one evening, 2 pages another evening and back to 1 page on the third evening. We will move your child’s face on our reading chart every time you hear them read at home. If your child has read 3 or more times in a week, they will receive 1 house point on their sticker chart. We also advise that your child reads their book twice, in order to develop fluency. We will hear all children as often as we can.