Autumn Letter from Reception Teacher
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Year R. This letter is to inform you about routines this year which we hope you will find useful.
We will start the year with a topic about Ourselves. We will be looking at letters and sounds and developing pre-reading skills. The children will start tracing and writing their names and developing handwriting skills. We will be counting numbers to 10. Our main focus will be settling the children into the routines of school life and making sure that they are happy and confident in their new environment.
PE days are Monday and Friday. Please send PE kit in at the start of term and we will return it at half term for washing. The children only need a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Please ensure that t-shirts, shorts and all uniform is named. Plimsolls are not needed until the summer term. Please send PE kit in a named drawstring bag. It would be helpful if you would remove ear-rings on these days for safety reasons.
Fruit or vegetables will be given for morning play snack. If you want to send in your child’s preferred choice, please put it in a named container and encourage your child to place it in the box by the door.
We like to share fruit to encourage sharing / turn taking. We rely on parents for these contributions to the fruit bowl. Please give your contribution to me at the door in the mornings. A bag of apples or oranges would be perfect during the term.
Please send dinner money in on a Monday in a named envelope. The children can put it in the box on Table 1 or it can be given to me at the door. Please give any letters to me at the door in the mornings.
We have a “Going Home” book on the door. If your child is going home with anyone other than yourself, please write this in the book on a daily basis.
We are always grateful for recyclables such as shiny sweet wrappers, 2 for 1 pasta, dried bean offers etc as we can always use them. Please send in anything that you think we can use!
Please ensure that all clothes are named so that we can return them to you. Should “accidents” occur, we have spare clothes and underwear. We will send any wet clothes home in a bag and would be grateful if you would wash and return any spares as soon as possible. If you have and socks and underwear that your child has outgrown, we would be grateful for any donations!
We also ask parents to help with our weekly wash on a rota basis – a few towels. Please sign up if you are willing to help with this. It usually works out to be once per half term if enough volunteers sign up. I will put a list on the door.
We will send out information about the Jolly Phonics letters and sounds as we start to use it. Reading books will come home in the next few weeks, as soon as the children are settled.
The children will come home with well done stickers on their sweatshirts. This is to celebrate their achievements. These are given for personal success in any area. When they have 10 they have a dip in the treat bag for a prize. They will also have smaller stickers for other successes.
As part of my Deputy Head’s leadership responsibility, I have two days release time each week. This will be covered by Mr Tony Shepherd on Thursday and Friday. As we plan together and have regular meetings everything will remain as consistent as possible for the children.
You are always welcome to come in after school with your child to have a look at their work and classroom together. If you need to speak to me, please write it in the Going Home book by the door or let me know. I will then arrange to meet with you after school. If you have something that we need to know urgently, please write it in the Going Home book with your phone number if you need a response. The book will be checked during the morning and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If there’s a worry or a problem, please don’t hesitate to contact me. In turn, if there is a concern in school, I will always contact you.
Yours sincerely,
J. Foster
