Welcome Reception

Class Stories

Owls

Squirrel

Foxes

Hedgehogs

Welcome Reception 2022!

It was lovely to see so many parents at our Welcome Evening last Thursday!

The Kittens are coming!

Many of you have signed up for our Kittens sessions, which start next week! (Week beginning 16^th May). Staff will be looking forward to greeting you and showing you where to go on Tuesday and Friday at 9am and 1pm, depending on the sessions you have booked., in the middle area of the school site, just outside the junior school. Our lovely PTA (parent helpers) and FLO team, are offering tea, coffee and cake after you have dropped your child off. at Kittens, they'd love to see you too.

The Tuesday and Friday Kitten sessions are for those parents who have already signed their children up to come and sadly there are no spaces left on these days. However, we have now opened up a Monday morning session. This starts on the 23^rd May. You will need to call us if you would like a space.

Which class will my child be in? – Monday 13th June

We have four Reception or Early Years Foundation Stage classes (EYFS). We will send you and your child a letter to say which class they will be in at this time. The letter will be addressed to your child and it will have a photograph of their teachers on it.

“Me ‘n’ my Grown up!” - Thursday 16^th June, 3.30 – 5.15pm

This is a fun session for you and your child in the school hall. There will be face painting, art activities, packed lunch making, school dinner tasting and lots more. The activities will be run by the Reception team of teaching staff so this is a great opportunity to come and say hello and get to know your child’s teachers and teaching assistants. This is a ‘drop in’ session so you can pop in at any time.

Class Visits for Children and Information Sessions for Parents – Thursday 23^rd June, Monday 27^th June, Thursday 30^th June and Monday 4^th July, 3.30-4.30 pm

Your child will visit their new class and get to know his/her teachers whilst you attend information sessions in the school hall. Towards the end of the each session there will be an opportunity for teachers, children and parents to all work and learn together in a workshop. The information sessions will enable you to find out more about what we teach, how we do it and how you can support your child with their learning.

There are two out of the four sessions offered to each family we will let you know which ones you should attend nearer the time. It is important that your child attends both sessions offered.

Home Visits – 5^th, 6^th, 7^th September

Your child’s class teacher and teaching assistant would like to visit you and your child in your home. Our aim is to get to know you both and in particular your child on ‘home ground’. Teachers get very excited about the prospect of playing with dinosaurs, cars, dolls etc! Apart from this our aim is to form the beginnings of a strong and positive relationship between teacher and child. Research shows that young children feel most happy and confident in familiar territory where they can share familiar experiences with those that matter to them. The visit will also give you the opportunity to talk freely with the teachers and teaching assistants. It will last for about half an hour and we ask that you stick to the time we give you due to the large number of children we have to see. Visit times will be allocated and given to you at the end of June.

Starting School

Your child will start school on Thursday 8^th September either in the morning or afternoon. He/she will continue to attend a morning or afternoon session for five days. On Wednesday the 14^th September your child will have lunch with us and Thursday the 15^th will be his/her first full day at school. The morning and afternoon sessions your child initially attends will be of equal length, 8.50am – 11.45am in the morning or 12.35 – 3.30pm in the afternoon. Dividing the children between morning and afternoon sessions over this short period also creates smaller groups and this helps children and adults to get to know one another quicker. Our experience is that initially children get very tired during their first few weeks of school, even if they have attended fulltime Nursery provision. The children have so much to learn, new routines, friends and surroundings.

A phased starting school plan enables us to make the whole experience a positive one.

Acceptance of your School Place

We hope that by now many of you have returned the acceptance of your child’s school place. If you have not already done this we ask that you can as soon as possible. If you are delivering your acceptance by hand to the school office we ask that you also bring along your child’s birth certificate with a copy of a utility bill as proof of address. We are required by law to ask for these documents. If you are not able to bring these documents to the school office, we ask that you bring the documents to the Welcome Evening on the 5^th of May.

Other Events

There is always something going on at Willesborough! We offer a wealth of opportunities for parents and carers to share and celebrate their children’s school experiences. Here are some school events that you are warmly invited to attend;

Guys'r'us - We regularly open the school up on Saturday mornings for 'Guys R Us. Our next Guys R Us is on Saturday 21^st May, 10 - 11.30 on the Junior School site. All dads, grandads, uncles, significant men are welcome to come along with their children. There are arts, crafts, games, sports and all sorts of things to do. No need to book, just come along.
Willesborough School’s Reunion – An evening for parents and carers who used to attend Willesborough themselves – Friday 10^th June, 6.30-9pm
Tea, coffee and cake for parents and carers – Tuesday 17th May, 9 – 11 am and 1-2.55 pm, Friday 20^th May, 9-11 am