Starting School

Welcome

The majority of children start their life at Burbage Primary School in the 'Reception' year, otherwise known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).  This page contains information for parents and carers with children due to start school and is written with EYFS in mind.  However, the information will also be of use to parents and carers of children in other year groups across the school.

What is EYFS?

The Early Years Foundation Stage is known as EYFS. This is the curriculum followed by nurseries, childminders, pre-schools and Reception classes in school. It starts at birth and ends when your child joins Y1 and your child begins to follow the National Curriculum.

Our curriculum

Our curriculum has 7 strands.

The prime areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Speaking and Listening
• Physical Development (fine and gross motor inc. writing and PE)

 The Specific areas:

• Literacy (phonics, reading and writing)
• Mathematics (number recognition, counting, calculation and shape, space and measure)
• Understanding the World (Geography, History, RE, Science inc. outdoor learning)
• Expressive Arts and Design (Art, Design and Technology, music, drama, dance)

The ‘prime’ areas need to be in place in order for the ‘specific’ areas to be successfully taught.

In Reception, we know that many children have high levels of attainment in the prime areas and so we are generally able to focus on all 7 areas when the children are settled and happy in school.

EYFS is a play-based curriculum with lots of opportunities to develop the children’s interests in our own way. We will assess the children using observations and focused activities. This will sometimes be done through Tapestry (our online learning journal) which you all have access to as parents and carers.

Assessment & ELGs

During the first few weeks, we undertake our own in-house baseline assessment in conjunction with the new statutory national baseline. The children will be unaware that they are being assessed during this period. Evidence gathered during this period will help inform our planning over the next few weeks.

At the end of Reception, we will report whether your child has met the Early Learning Goals (ELGs). Reporting the ELGs is a statutory requirement and results are reported to the Local Authority. The ELGs are a group of statements linked to each area. We make a decision on whether or not a child has achieved the ELGs by using a ‘best-fit’ approach. You will be informed of your child’s progress towards the ELGs throughout the year (usually at parents’ evening) and in your child’s final report in the summer term.

Some children may not achieve ELG in one or more areas. We will let you know if your child is not on track and offer additional support in class. If children are showing signs of needing significant additional support we may have a conversation with you about adding them to the school’s SEN (Special Educational Needs) register. This will enable our SENCO (SEN Leader) to prioritise intervention for your child as they progress through the school. Your child may not be on the SEN register permanently as children all make progress at different rates. Any children that reach the ‘expected level’ for their year group would be removed from the register.

Children who are working beyond the ELGs will be provided with opportunities to further develop his/her understanding in those areas.

At the end of the year we do a handover with the next teacher/s in which we discuss your child’s strengths and areas of difficulty.

Our Values 

To us, the most important thing is that your child is safe, happy and confident in school. Without these secure foundations they cannot learn. Our school values are happiness, independence, kindness, love of learning, resilience, aspiration, empathy and self-belief. As a school, we believe that children should develop these skills as priority and they will be focused on throughout your child’s time with us at Burbage.

General advice 

What children need to bring to school

Water bottles

The children need regular access to water throughout the school day.  Please remember to send a named water bottle into school as we encourage the children to drink frequently.  We will send the water bottles home every night to be washed and filled with fresh water.  This helps us to reduce the spread of viruses amongst the children.  Please do not send juice or flavoured water to school. Thanks.  

Book bags 

Your child will need to bring their book bag with reading book, reading record, phonics book and phonics cards to school every day. 

Please do not put your child’s water bottle into the book bag.  They often leak and we have lost many books due to this.  Although relatively inexpensive to replace (£2-3), the number of books we lose each year really adds up and is a large expense to school.  You can buy a ‘bottle buddy’ from the PTFA to help transport the water bottle. 

Uniform 

Winter uniform – navy school sweatshirt or cardigan; white polo shirt or shirt; grey or black trousers, skirt, skort or dress; white, grey or black tights or socks and grey or black school shoes.  Please try to match hair accessories to the school colours. 

On cold days please ensure that your child has a warm, waterproof coat; a scarf; hat and a pair of gloves.  Wellington boots or snow boots should be worn on snowy days to enable your child to access the outdoor area.  

Summer uniform - as winter or blue gingham dress or grey or back shorts.  Sandals can be worn on warm days.  In sunny weather please ensure that your child has a sunhat.  We sell legionnaire hats on the school website.  You may wish to apply sun cream / sun block before school each morning and teach your child how to apply it so that they can do it independently at lunch time.  Please see full details of our uniform policy here.

 

PE Kit  You will need to send your child to school dressed for PE on specific days.  We recommend children wear joggers rather than shorts for the majority of the school year as they will spend a large amount of time outdoors on these days.  PE uniform should be white t-shirt, black or navy joggers, school sweatshirt or fleece and trainers (no laces please!) 

All clothing must be labelled with your child's name as your child will inevitably misplace an item of clothing at school.  Please check regularly that the name is still visible as we have many jumpers and cardigans that are the same size in class and it is hard to identify owners easily once the labels are faded.

It would be extremely helpful if you would provide your child with: 

a spare pair of pants,  

socks or tights  

trousers or skirt  

in a bag to hang on their peg if they need them.   

Medical information

Head lice 

Please check your child's hair on a weekly basis for head lice.  A cheap head lice comb can be bought from a local pharmacy.  It is not school policy to inform you if your child, or anybody else in the class, has head lice, threadworms or any other contagious disease.  

Medical information 

Inhalers can be kept at school.  It is worth asking the doctors for a duplicate inhaler (and spacer) to be kept permanently in the classroom.  If your child has any health problems, please make an appointment to speak to Mrs Baker as in some circumstances individual health care plans need to be devised. 

If your child is unwell in the night (e.g. sickness or diarrhoea), please do not send him or her to school until 48hrs have past since the last bout as these bugs pass around the class very quickly! 

Please inform school if your child suffers from any allergies.  We currently have a number of children in school with nut allergies and, as a result, it is imperative that you do not send nuts or nut-based snacks into school. 

Sorry, but we are not able to administer any non-prescribed medication.  Please speak to the school office about any medication needs as we will require you to fill in some forms.   We can help to administer medication that is prescribed 4 times a day. 

Other important information

Celebration 

Your child may bring in certificates and awards they have achieved to be presented in class.  On Fridays we hold a special whole school celebration assembly to reward children for in-school achievements. 

Outdoor Learning 

The children have a weekly outdoor learning lesson and will need suitable clothing for this session.  We recommend a pair of wellies and waterproofs kept in a drawstring bag.  Unfortunately, due to lack of space, this cannot be stored at school so will need to be brought into school every Friday. 

Fruit scheme 

The children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 (4-7 years) all get a free piece of fruit every day that we hand out mid-morning.  This varies on a day-to-day basis, usually between apple, pear, satsuma and banana.  We do not encourage the children to bring other snacks in but they can bring fruit in their book bags if they do not like the fruit on offer. 

Milk 

All children in the EYFS receive a daily glass of milk free of charge.  We provide this milk as an option at lunchtime. Water is available to those children who do not like milk. 

Toilet 

The children have immediate access to the toilets at all times of the school day, however, sometimes accidents do happen.  We only have a limited supply of clothing at school and rely on these clothes being washed and returned to school as soon as possible.  

Routines

The morning… 

You may bring your child to the playground at 8.40am.  We will open our doors from 8.45 and the bell rings at 8.50am.  Children can make their way into the classroom between 8.45am and 8.50am.  On rainy mornings the children may enter the classroom from 8.40am.  In the event that you arrive at school after 8.50am please register your child at the school office where a member of the office staff will escort them to their classroom. 

After school… 

EYFS children are dismissed via the school playground. Please help us to identify you by standing in view of the classroom and waving to us as there will be lots of faces to get to know! 

If you are going to be late, please ring the school office as soon as possible so that your child does not worry that you are not there.  Please ensure that your child knows who is picking them up after school each day and where they will be collected from.  Please ensure that your child knows that if they cannot see you then they must report to the adult on duty (usually wearing blue hi-vis jackets). 

Breakfast club 

This is run by our school.  It is a drop in when needed facility and you do not need to book.  It runs between 7.50am and 8.50am. 

Afterschool club 

There are a number of after school clubs that collect from school and take children to their own premises (Playdays, Burbage Pre School Nursery and Woodlings).  Please enquire through the settings should you require after school care.  

How can I help?

You can help by... 

• ensuring your child has a regular routine, particularly in the morning.  All children approach the start of their school life in different ways, some with excitement, some with a touch of nerves.  A regular routine, with no surprises, helps children feel settled quickly and ensures that they make the best start to their school life. 
• making sure that your child has a decent night's sleep.  You may find that your child needs more sleep in the first few weeks of school.  Some parents find it useful to cancel after-school activities for these first few weeks. 
• letting your child's class teacher know if there are any changes to your child's home life.  A death of a pet, parents splitting up, or even a late night due to a birthday celebration can all have an effect on your child's approach and attitude to school. 
• keeping your contact details up-to-date.  If your child is sick or needs your attention we want to be able to contact you as soon as possible, causing the least stress to your child. 
• encouraging contact with new friends out of the classroom.  Inviting other children round for dinner or to play can really help your child to settle in and make friends quickly at school. 
• encourage independence.  Your child needs to be able to dress and undress with little help; go to the toilet and look after his or her own personal hygiene; make choices at dinner, carry a tray and select and dish up salad items; eat a whole piece of fruit with peel on and zip up his or her own coat!  The summer period is a perfect time to practise these skills 

We hope that this pack has answered most of your questions.  If you need any more advice then please do not hesitate to ring the school office on 22278 or make an appointment to speak to Mrs Peters (EYFS leader) lp@burbage.derbyshire.sch.uk