Starting School Booklet
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Welcome to Stanford Infant School! Below is a translatable copy of our Starting School Booklet. This is the A-Z of everything Stanford! To view each page, please click the headings below.
Starting School at Stanford Infants
Coming to ‘big school’ is an adventure when you are four.
You have enjoyed your time at nursery and now you want more.
Excitement can lead to nerves when September comes, especially for those anxious grown-up ones!
But stress and tears there need not be…
Starting School is as simple as A - B – C!
Welcome from the Reception Teachers
Dear Stanford Infant Families
Welcome to Reception at Stanford Infants! Starting school marks a new and exciting stage of life for both a child and their family. We are looking forward to a long and happy partnership with you.
We are a hard-working team who believe that learning should be fun as well as meaningful and plan the curriculum with this in mind.
We hope that this booklet contains all the information you need to make your child’s days at our school as happy and worry free as possible. If, once you have read it, there are still questions you would like to ask, please let us know and we will be happy to help.
We very much look forward to meeting you soon.
With best wishes from the Reception Teachers
Mrs Gray & Mrs Rees (Palace Class Teacher & Early Years Leader)
Mrs Chapman & Mrs Ely (Pier Class Teachers)
Welcome from our Head Teacher
Dear Stanford Infant Families
Welcome to Stanford Infant School. This booklet is to give you information about our school and the school day, and some ideas that will help your child settle in to school happily. Our children come to school with a huge range of pre-school experience so if you feel any of the information is not appropriate for you and your child please feel free to disregard it!
The start of your child’s school career can be a very emotional time and worries can develop very quickly. We understand that and will always try to sort out any concerns as quickly as possible. We operate an open-door policy and, unless otherwise engaged, a senior leader will always see parents/carers either immediately or at the earliest possible moment.
We send general school information home to parents/carers in the form of a Newsletter, which includes a reminder of key dates. Newsletters are also on the School Website; however, please do not hesitate to ask any member of staff if you need clarification on anything at all. Our priority in the first few weeks is to ensure a happy and carefree start to school for you and your child.
We hope you have a very happy summer with your child. We look forward to seeing you in September.
Yours sincerely
Jenny Stratton Emma Remnant
Head Teacher Deputy Head Teacher
Welcome from our Governors
Dear Stanford Infant Families
We are very pleased to welcome your child to our school. Stanford Infant School is a creative and inclusive school and we are committed to providing the best possible education for your child in a caring and happy environment.
The Governors understand and value the importance of effective communication between families and the school and we encourage parental and carer involvement in all aspects of school life.
In most cases, should you have any queries or concerns, you can talk directly to your child’s class teacher or the Head Teacher, but the Governing Body also welcomes feedback from parents/carers so please contact us via the school if the need arises. You can do this through the School Office or via email: governors@stanford-inf.brighton-hove.sch.uk.
We look forward to meeting many of you during your child’s stay at the school, but in the meantime, we would just like to wish you a very warm welcome to Stanford Infant School.
Yours sincerely
Lauren Cole and Susie O’Neill
Co-Chairs of Governors
Contents
A-Z of things you need to know about starting school at Stanford Infants
A
- Absence
- Admission Arrangements
- After School Clubs
- Arrival
- Assemblies
B
- Birthday Treats
- Book Bags
- Breakfast Clubs
C
- Celebration of Learning Assembly
- Child Protection & Safeguarding
- Classes
- Classlist
- Class Reps
- Coats
- Communication
- Communications Code of Conduct
- Complaints
- Contact Details
- Curriculum
D
- Daily Routine
- Diary Dates
- Dogs
J
- Jewellery
L
- Lateness
- Learning Journals
- Lost Property
- Lunchtime
- Lunchboxes
O
- Online Safety
- Open Days
- Open Door
- Our Values
P
- Parent Consultation Evenings
- Parent/Teacher Chats
- Parent/Carer Helpers
- PTFA
- Painting & Messy Activities
- PE Fun Afternoon
- Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA)
- Playtime
- Poverty Proofing
Q
- Questions
R
- Readiness for School
- Reading Together
S
- School Council
- School Meals
- School Milk
- School Travel
- School Trips and Visits
- Snacks
- Staff
- Staying Safe and Happy
- Supply Teachers
- Sun Safety
T
- Term Dates
- Toilets
- Toys
- Trays
U
- Uniform
W
- Water Bottles
- Writing
Y & Z
- You!
- Zzzzzzzz
Absence
Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for children to maximise the opportunities available to them. Children should attend school unless they are truly unwell (or there is another acceptable reason, for example, religious observance). If your child is absent from school, please telephone the school (01273 555240) or email office@stanford-inf.brighton-hove.sch.uk on the first morning of absence – please make sure you clearly state your child’s name and class.
If communication from home is not received regarding the child’s absence, then a member of the Office Staff will contact the parents/carers to request an explanation. It is Government legislation that we have a reason for any absence in writing; therefore, an email or hand-written note will need to be provided on your child’s return, explaining the reason for their absence. We are required by law to mark this in the register.
Admission Arrangements
In the first week of school, you are invited to visit with your child to meet their teacher. This enables the Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant to have time to talk to new parents/carers and children individually, so that each child is helped to settle into the class as easily as possible. The classes are grouped to give a balance across the age range. At the end of each year, new classes may be created. Often this involves splitting the classes to create new ones in order to achieve the best educational balance.
After School Clubs
Outside providers provide a variety of After School Activity Clubs for children at the Infants.
‘Pioneer Childcare’ operates an After School Club and Holiday Club at Stanford Junior School. Children from Stanford Infant School use both the After School and Holiday Clubs.
More information about all After School Clubs can be found on our School Website.
Arrival
At the beginning of the Autumn Term, the parents/carers of Reception children are welcome to bring their child into school from 8:45am onwards. The teacher will begin to register the children at 8:55am so please try to leave the classroom by then.
Assemblies
Assembly is held several days a week. It is an important part of the school day, where we meet together as a community. It is a time where we place emphasis on the development of values and attitudes towards each other and the world around us. Assemblies are non-denominational and although they are of a broadly Christian nature, due consideration is given to the multi-cultural society in which we live.
Birthday Treats
If you would like your child to celebrate their birthday with the class, then we welcome a book that can be shared and enjoyed, rather than teachers distributing 30 cakes or bags of sweets. This supports our Healthy Schools status and promotes a real love of reading at the school.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club is open daily in the school hall from 8am, the entrance is via the Hall Door.
Long and short-term spaces are available and you can also book adhoc sessions up to the morning of the required session.
Bookings can be made via our online system; Magic Booking. Simply follow this link or visit our School Website: https://stanfordinfantschool.magicbooking.co.uk/Identity/Account/Login
where you will be asked to set up an account. Bookings can then be made for individual sessions or long running repeat bookings.
Sessions booked online are £3.50, sessions paid for on the door are charged at £4.50 and are payable in cash.
Please note that breakfast is served between 8:00 and 8:30am to enable a calm eating environment and to ensure a smooth transition to the start of the school day at 8:50am.
Celebration of Learning Assembly
Every Friday we have a Celebration of Learning Assembly. We are passionate about promoting a growth-mindset culture at Stanford Infants and are committed to putting our children first. You will be invited to attend the assembly to celebrate their achievements. A timetable for the year will be sent to you in the Autumn term to ensure parent and families have enough time to prepare. We hope the children will increase their desire to learn by verbally celebrating the joy of learning and inspiring each other. Every child will have two opportunities to do this over the course of the academic year.
You will receive a reminder the week that your child is involved and, if possible, we would very much like you to attend to make it even more special for them. These assemblies will be each Friday from about 9am. If you cannot make the date given, please let us know; we are more than happy to rearrange.
Child Protection and Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and visitors to share this commitment. It is the duty of everyone to share any concerns regarding a child’s safety or welfare with the designated members of school staff; Jenny Stratton (Head Teacher), Emma Remnant (Designated Safeguarding Lead – DSL) and Kate Gray (Deputy DSL). A copy of our Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy can be found on the School Website.
Classes
There are two Reception classes taking up to 30 children in each class. Each class has a fully qualified Teacher and a Teaching Assistant.
Classlist
We use a system called ‘Classlist’ to enable our families to communicate easily with each other. ‘Classlist’s’ system offers high levels of security and privacy and is designed to comply fully with the new data protection regulations.
More information is available at www.classlist.com, including the Privacy Notice, which explains how personal information is managed and protected.
Classlist will enable you to contact other parents/carers safely and securely and to keep up to date with events organised by the Parent, Teacher and Friends Association (PTFA). All requests to join Classlist will be approved by the school or Class Reps before they are validated. Please note that you will still receive mailings from the school in the usual way. Classlist is purely for parent to parent communication and there is no expectation for you to join.
Class Representatives
Each class will have two Class Representatives. Their role is to act as another form of communication between the school and the families.
They will have termly meetings with Ms Stratton which will be a forum for them to feed back your views and ideas, and for her to enlist your opinions on various aspects of the school.
We will ask for volunteers for these roles at the beginning of the school year.
Coats
Please make sure that your child can put on and fasten their coat. It can save time at playtime and home time. Ensure your child has a coat with them every day, as we do go outside every day. It is most important that their coats and all other items of clothing are named.
Communication
Our School Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk holds a wealth of Information about the school and all our activities and can be easily translated into any language. Therefore, if you have access to the internet, we would encourage you to refer to it regularly to see what we have been up to, check the diary for upcoming events, read our Newsletter and much more! It is updated on a daily basis.
We use ‘SchoolPing’ for all of our communication. This free-to-download app will provide an individually tailored home page containing only information relevant to you and your family. We believe the app streamlines our communications, providing a ‘one stop shop’ for all things Stanford Infants; including Newsletters, Parents’ Evening bookings and school trip consent forms.
Once downloaded, you will receive an alert once any communications have been sent to you, meaning important school messages reach you quickly and efficiently. Make sure you have your alerts switched on so you know when a new message has been sent – we promise not to bombard you!
If you would prefer not to download the app, you will still be sent our messages via email. You can also login to the ‘SchoolPing’ web page using the link: https://stanford-inf-brighton-hove.secure-dbprimary.com/ where you will only need to login the first time.
You will be sent an invitation to join School Ping once your child is enrolled in September.
Communications Code of Conduct
Our ongoing aim is to work in partnership with our families. We developed a ‘Code of Conduct’ to set out clear guidelines for how we expect parents/carers to conduct themselves on social media and when using messenger apps, such as WhatsApp. This is so we can continue to work together in an atmosphere of open collaboration and mutual understanding. We expect ‘Classlist’ to negate the use of other social media apps when discussing anything related to Stanford Infant School.
Complaints
The school has a detailed Complaints Procedure. It is important that you talk to the Class Teacher or Head Teacher in the first instance if you have a problem. Hopefully the issue can be addressed instantly. A copy of our Complaints Policy is available via our School’s Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/. Obviously, we hope you have no cause to use this but in the unlikely event that you do, please follow the guidelines within it.
Contact Details
A contact form will be circulated electronically for you to complete - please keep the School Office informed of changes to telephone numbers where you can be contacted should we need to. We will also send a SchoolPing to request regular collection arrangements, e.g. clubs or other adults who you give permission to collect your child from school.
Curriculum
In the Reception classes, the children’s curriculum will be based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework which make up the Foundation Stage for children who are four and five years old.
There are seven areas of learning and development: ‘Communication and Language’, ‘Personal, Social and Emotional Development’, ‘Physical Development’, ‘Literacy’, ‘Mathematics’, ‘Understanding the World’, ‘Expressive Arts and Design’. In addition, opportunities are provided for the children to develop the three Characteristics of Effective Learning, which are playing and Exploring (their engagement), Active Learning (their motivation) and Creating and Thinking Critically (their thinking).
Four key themes permeate our curriculum:
- A Unique Child
- Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Positive Relationships
- Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
- Enabling Environments
- The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children's development and learning.
- Learning and Development
Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected.
Years 1 and 2 have more structured English and Mathematics lessons and cover all the other subjects in the National Curriculum; Science, Computing, Geography, History, Design Technology, Music, Physical Education, Religious Education, Art and Design and Personal, Health, Emotional and Social Education including Citizenship, through our half termly Learning Journeys.
Each half term you will receive a copy of a ‘Learning Journey’, which will give you information on what your child will learn.
Daily Routine
School begins each day at 8450am. On Tuesday and Friday mornings, the children meet together with the rest of the school to have whole school assemblies, usually taken by Ms Stratton.
Once a week, Reception children meet for a Year Group assembly, which is taken by a Reception teacher.
Lunchtime is from 11:45am until 12:45pm and the school day ends at 3.15pm.
Diary Dates
At the start of every year, we provide parents/carers with a list of Key Diary Dates. Sometimes these change slightly as the year progresses but we always inform parents/carers with enough notice. An updated school diary of events can be located on the School Website.
Dogs
We know that many of you have canine friends at home too. However, we would ask that you leave them at home on your journey to and from school. Please do not tie them to school gates or our neighbour’s property. Our young children can be frightened of these unattended animals. We also receive regular complaints from our local residents.
End of the Day
We ask parents and carers to collect their children from outside their classroom door at 3:15pm. Please discourage younger siblings from looking through the doors and windows as this can disrupt our nice, quiet ‘end of the day’ activities! As a security measure we ask you to please inform the teacher if your child is going home with somebody else, each class has a book for you to write daily pick up arrangements. Never take your child during the day without ensuring that the teacher knows and has seen you.
Equal Opportunities
All children at Stanford Infants are valued and appreciated for who they are and what they can do. The curriculum and daily planning will ensure that all children can access the learning opportunities at their own level and gain a sense of achievement and pride. Our Equalities Policy is available on the School’s Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/.
Fears and Worries
We know that children can develop irrational fears and worries about all manner of strange things! Please do tell their teacher if you know that this is the case for your child. It means that we can be ready to reassure if we know that they are likely to become unsettled. Please impress upon your child the importance of telling their teacher or adult in school if anything is worrying or upsetting them. We can only sort things out if we know there is a problem.
Free School Meals
Are you eligible to claim Free School Meals for your child? Although Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children automatically receive a free meal, if you get any of the means-tested benefits listed below, we will be given extra funding. This is used to help with your child's education.
Your child might be able eligible for this additional funding if you get any of the following:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit - if your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)
If you think you are eligible there are many ways you can apply; please visit www.brightonhove.gov.uk/onlinefreeschoolmeals to apply online, download a form from our Website (in the School Meals section) or request an application form from the School Office.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
As you will probably know, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), came into effect on 25th May 2018. A copy of our Privacy Notice for families, along with our GDPR Data Protection Policy, can be found on our School Website or a copy can be requested from the School Office. The Privacy Notice communicates how we process personal data relating to pupils and their families.
Golden Choices
We believe that children should be rewarded for upholding the Golden Values and our Golden Choices time provides exciting and enriching activities for children that they hopefully won’t want to miss!
Golden Choices takes place on a Friday morning for approximately 45 minutes, straight after our celebration assembly. It is a real community event, with children across the school celebrating our positive ethos. Each grown-up in the school offers an enriching activity for the children to choose from.
In the Autumn Term, the Reception Team design their own version of Golden Choices to get the children used to mixing between their classes before they are part of the whole school celebration from the Spring Term onwards. More information will be circulated home.
Golden Values
At Stanford School we have a set of Golden Values which are based on fundamental principles that everybody who works and learns in the school can understand and follow. These values are part of everyday life, so it is good to reinforce them at home too!
These are our Golden Values in school:
- ü We are kind and friendly
- ü We are respectful
- ü We are creative
- ü We are courageous
When we uphold all our values, we are proud!
Our ethos is shared through a safe and happy learning environment that promotes a culture of creativity, mutual respect, improvement, diversity and equality.
Goodbye
Many years of experience have taught us that children’s tears dry as if by magic when their grown-up has gone! Please make your goodbyes as quick as you can. We promise that almost before you are out of the gate all will be fine. If you are worried, please feel free to phone later on in the morning to put your mind at rest. However, we know that every child is different and if a child is really not settling we will work closely with you to devise the best strategy
Governors
The role of the Governors is to oversee the management of the school. The members of the Governing Body are drawn from parents/carers, staff and the wider community.
Governors work with Senior Leaders in the strategic development of the school and in raising standards and achievement.
Handwriting
It is very important that your child begins to write using correct pencil grip and letter formation. Please could you always demonstrate writing to your child using lower case letters and encourage them to write using lower case. Capital letters should only be used to begin sentences and for proper nouns/names. You can view a copy of our Handwriting Policy by visiting: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/ alternatively, please ask to view a paper copy from the School Office.
Health
Your child will have a health check during their first year at school.
Please let us know about any specific health problems your child may have. The School Nurse Team will hold regular drop-in sessions at the school; these will be advertised in the School’s Newsletter.
Head Lice
Alas these appear, from time to time, to be part of school life.
Please try to check your child’s hair regularly to ensure your household and our school remains ‘nit’ free: www.onceaweektakeapeek.com! If your child does get head lice (and most do at some point!) please treat immediately and continue to check and treat as long as lice or eggs are visible, usually two weeks. Please inform us if your child has head lice, as we will send a head lice letter to jog families’ memories. If we are all vigilant it prevents the lice from spreading around the class.
Head Teacher
Ms Stratton is always pleased to see parents/carers. Please feel free to pop in with any worries or concerns you may have. She also welcomes suggestions as to how you can develop our partnership and also feedback on how things are working for you and your child.
Although she has an ever-open door, if you have a matter which will need time to discuss, it is best to make an appointment to see her.
Holidays
The current law does not give any entitlement to parents/carers to take their child out of school during term time. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 prohibits Head Teachers granting leave of absence to a pupil except where an application has been made in advance and the Head Teacher considers that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. If the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case will be referred to the Behaviour and Attendance Team, who may issue a Penalty Notice for £160 (or £80 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school. A copy of our Attendance Policy can be found on our website.
One or two weeks’ absence is a substantial time away from school for any child and when added to absence through illness (and children starting school do not have the immunities acquired later) can mean a total half term absence in a year. This can and does impact on learning and progress and does give the impression to the child that attendance at school is something of a moveable feast.
Home School Agreement
Children achieve more when home and school work together. Our Home School Agreement has been drawn up in collaboration with Children, Parents/Carers, Governors and Staff. This reflects what the school expects from you and your child and what you and your child can expect from the school.
Home/Remote Learning
Your child will receive varying amounts of home learning tasks dependent on the year group they are in.
Please see our Home Learning Policy for more detail; available on our School’s Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/.
Your child will be given home learning to reinforce work they have been doing in the classroom and this gives you another opportunity to gain an insight into how we approach learning.
It is very important you are positive and encouraging. Please do not over-pressurise your child to succeed as this can ultimately work against them, undermining their self-confidence. At school we would prefer a child to be confident to ‘have a go’ at anything and try their hardest rather than be afraid to be wrong and therefore afraid to try.
In Reception, Home Learning will consist of:
- Little Wandle letter phonemes (sounds)
- Learning ‘tricky’ words
- Sharing books and reading together
- Reading their e-book
- Completing Learning Journey question and review sheets
- Ideas of maths games to play at home
Once your child has enrolled and you have access to School Ping, we will send you a message with all of the login details for our online learning platforms.
Illness
From time to time children are sick (vomit) either at home or at school. Unfortunately, it is not possible to distinguish between the causes, and therefore it is essential that the same rule of exclusion applies in all cases of vomiting or diarrhoea. In the Health Protection Agency document, ‘Guidelines for the Control of Infection and Communicable Disease in School and Early Years Settings’, the guidance is: Diarrhoea and/or vomiting commonly affects children and staff and can be caused by a number of different germs, including viruses, parasites and bacteria. Infections can be easily spread from person to person (by unwashed hands), especially in children. In general, it is recommended that any staff member or child with diarrhoea and/or vomiting symptoms must stay away or be excluded from the school or early years setting until they have been free of symptoms for 48 hours (the ‘48-hour rule’) and feel well. Personal hygiene whilst ill must be very strict.
If your child is sick at school, we will ask you or your emergency contact to take your child home. They should not return for 48 hours. We appreciate that this is inconvenient in many cases, and you may not believe your child is ill, but you will appreciate that we do this in all cases and it should reduce the risk of infection for all children in school. As an example, if your child is sick at lunchtime on a Tuesday, they should not return to school until after lunch on Thursday, provided there have not been any further episodes of vomiting or diarrhoea. Thank you for your understanding with this. Further guidance on infection control may be found on the Health Protection Agency website.
If your child uses an inhaler, epi-pen or any other medication please obtain an information sheet from the office to fill-in and return it to your child’s teacher. We will ensure that children who have medication take it when necessary. All medication must be named and will be kept in a safe and appropriate place according to need.
We have members of staff who are fully trained ‘first-aiders’ and tend to cuts and scrapes with tender loving care and plenty of plasters and wet paper towels!
We believe that we should work in co-operation with families to ensure maximum pupil attendance at school. In some cases, this may mean the administration of routine medication for minor ailments. It is essential that you complete the relevant Administration of Medicine form available from the school office. Any routine medication must be handed into the school office so that it can be kept safely in the medical room. A copy of our ‘Administration of Medicines’ Policy is on the School’s Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/.
Inclusion
The class teachers keep ongoing records on children’s progress. Regular discussion takes place between the staff, the Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher on the development of each child. Occasionally we find that, for some reason or another, a child does not make the progress we expect. If it were felt a child would benefit from some additional help, we would try to arrange for them to receive the support necessary. In some cases, it may be necessary to seek outside advice, in which case the concern would always be discussed with the parents/carers and their permission sought beforehand.
Any child who needs regular additional help will be planned for by their teacher in consultation with our Inclusion Leader, Miss Remnant. Families would always be informed.
Our Inclusion Team includes a Learning Mentor as well as a School Counsellor one day a week. Our Inclusion Leader also regularly accesses support for children from outside agencies where appropriate. If you ever have any concerns about your child, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Miss Remnant via the School Office.
Children who are very able are given learning activities that are more challenging and aimed to stretch them.
Independence
This is the key to how quickly children make progress in the very early days of school. Right from the very start we encourage the children to be independent. Please help us by starting this at home. Let them dress themselves in the mornings (you may need to leave lots of time for this!), tidy away their toys and do as much for themselves as they can. The more independent they are the easier it is for them to settle quickly into school life.
Jewellery
We would ask that your child does not wear any jewellery at all. It can be dangerous when worn and easy to lose when removed. It is Brighton & Hove City Council’s Education policy that jewellery must not be worn for P.E. If your child is wearing jewellery, they must remove it and put tape over their earrings or they will not be allowed to take part in the lesson. For safety reasons, we are not permitted to remove earrings. At the Reception stage we would discourage the wearing of watches
Lateness
Please try to get to school on time; it can be very worrying for little children to be late. It is really important that children are in school on time ready to start the day ahead; our doors open at 8:45am and all children are expected to be in school by 8.55am ready for registration. Teachers plan exciting morning starters to engage the children as soon as they come in and therefore we expect all children to participate. If for any reason you arrive after 8.55am please go to the School Office to ensure your child is registered – this is a health and safety requirement - and signed in for lunch. Registration time is a legal requirement and a time when teachers can ensure that the children are settled and prepared for the day ahead.
We would also appreciate it if you can ensure that you or your child’s carer is at school promptly at 3:15pm to collect them. Children can become very distressed if there is no one there at home time and staff often have meetings to attend and always have plenty of work to do. If you do arrive after 3:15pm your child will be waiting for you in the School Office area where they will be supervised.
Learning Journals
At Stanford Infant School, we use electronic Learning Journals, to help staff and families celebrate their children’s learning and development. From September, we will be using Tapestry, and you will shortly receive information about this.
Using photos, videos, and diary entries, we will develop a holistic picture of each child and how they are growing and developing. The Tapestry platform then works seamlessly to enable these memories to be kept as a permanent record of each child’s unique journey. All information held in the platform is stored securely and can be downloaded and shared as required. Parents or carers are able to view their child’s progress, the activities provided for them, and how much fun they’re having, whilst also uploading their own comments and media.
This communication helps us to build a shared understanding of how every child can reach their full potential. An introduction letter to Tapestry can be found in Appendix A.
Lost Property
Items of lost property are kept centrally and we will hold regular ‘identification parades’ to try to reunite things with their owner! Please do remember to name everything then it need not be ‘lost’ for long!
Lunchtime
Lunchtime is from 11:45am until 12:45pm for Reception children and 12:15pm and 1:15pm for Years 1 and 2. Children in the Reception classes are taken to the hall first to give them more time to settle down and begin to eat. Once they have eaten their lunch they will have a short playtime before afternoon school begins.
Lunchboxes
Please choose a lunchbox and drink that your child can manage to open by themselves and give them plenty of practice at opening and closing it. Maybe you could practise by having a picnic in the garden using the lunchbox?
You know your child’s appetite best but please do try not to overdo it. In our experience, new parents/carers are sometimes inclined to provide enough lunch to feed the whole class! If they have too much in their lunchbox, children will sometimes decide that if they can’t eat it all they won’t eat anything!
If your child does not finish the food in their lunchbox, we will not dispose of it as we do not have the facilities for this, but more importantly, it allows you to see exactly what your child has eaten.
When preparing your child’s packed lunch please be aware that we have several children with a severe allergic reaction to nuts. Therefore, we do not allow packed lunches containing nuts or products that are nut-based, e.g. Peanut Butter and Nutella.
Online Safety
We are fully committed to keeping our children safe online and support our families to ensure this happens at home too. A copy of our Online Safety Policy can be found on the School Website and there is also a wealth of information under our ‘Online Safety’ page.
Open Days
From time to time, there will be opportunities for parents/carers to come into school while we are working, to see particular aspects of the curriculum in action and to explore the children’s learning environment. At the end of the Summer 1, all Year Groups offer two ‘Celebrations of Learning’ afternoons, where you are invited to visit your child in their learning environment and celebrate their achievements over the year. Dates for these are shared at the beginning of each academic year.
Open Door
Our door is always open. Please feel free to pop in after school to look at a piece of work that your child is particularly proud of or to see something in the classroom they talk about a lot.
Our City, Our World
We are part of the Brighton and Hove Our City, Our World programme which enables us to provide effective learning about sustainability, climate change and the environment so that as a school community we can develop skills and understanding about how to address local and global environmental challenges.
Through termly key themes the whole school is involved in promoting sustainable practices; with children and families encouraged to take up similar practices at home, where appropriate.
We currently hold a gold level award in recognition of the work we have done so far with our children and families.
Parents’ Consultation Evenings
During the Autumn and Spring Terms you will have the opportunity to make an appointment to see your child’s teacher on a more formal basis. During the first term you will be able to discuss how they have settled into their new class.
However, please don’t wait until a Parents’ Evening if there is something on your mind – we are always there to help.
Parent/Carer & Teacher Chats
If parents/carers would like a chat with their child’s teacher, they can either arrange it directly with the teacher or send an email/or telephone the School Office requesting this. The teacher will then arrange a mutually convenient time for a 10 minutes’ consultation.
Parent/Carer Helpers
We always need extra help in school, sometimes it may be around the school (labelling books or helping in the library for example) and sometimes it can be in the classroom.
If you do have some free time and would like to help, please let us know.
However, we do prefer it to be a fairly regular commitment if you would like to help in the classroom. Our days are tightly planned and we would be planning for you to work with a small group of children, so we would also be grateful for as much notice as possible if you are not able to make a particular session.
We do not have parent/carer helpers in the classroom for the first half of the Autumn Term, as the staff need to get to know the children in their class and settle them into the new classroom routines.
All adults who help in school are required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. This is to make sure that our safeguarding practices are met, to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in the school. Please speak to the School Office if you would like to help in school.
Parent, Teacher, Friends Association (PTFA)
The PTFA is our Parent/Teacher/Friends body. All families and staff at Stanford Infants are automatically considered members of the PTFA. It serves an essential role, firstly by providing a sense of community and secondly by organising fantastic events that raise funds for the school to buy the extras that we would not be able to afford from the normal school budget. Please see Appendix B for more information.
Painting and Messy Activities
We always ensure that the children wear aprons when taking part in potentially ‘messy’ activities. However, accidents can happen and sometimes children fear you may be cross or upset if they get paint, glue or clay on their clothes. Please try not to make your child feel anxious about this. Everything we use in school, we have been reliably informed, washes out!
PE Fun Afternoon
Towards the end of the school year, sometime in July, you will be invited to attend our PE Fun Afternoon.
This will involve the children in a variety of sports activities that will be fun to do and watch!
Planning, Preparation & Assessment Time
All teachers are entitled to 10% non-contact time. This roughly translates as an afternoon a week out of the classroom for class teachers to prepare for their class. During this time your child will have the opportunity to learn Music from our specialist teacher, engage in multi-sport activities and spend time learning outdoors in our Forest School area. From our previous experience the children thoroughly enjoy these opportunities.
Playtime
There will be many other children in the playground. However, there will always be someone to look after them even if it is not their own teacher. The teaching assistants will be on duty with a teacher so there will always be a familiar face. Please reassure your child and encourage them to tell the teacher on duty if there are any problems at all. We can only deal with problems we know about.
Poverty Proofing
We strive to remove any barriers to children’s learning; ensuring pressures on household income do not have a negative impact on any child’s education. We aim to ‘poverty proof’ the school day and encourage our families to support us with this.
Praise
We use a range of rewards to show the children how pleased we are with them, whether it is for a piece of work, their behaviour or just for being themselves! Verbal praise and stickers are used to reward children’s efforts. There is also the opportunity for children to celebrate their achievements with other staff and the whole school as a part of our weekly Celebration of Learning assembly.
Questions
If you have any worries or questions, please don’t suffer in silence. We are always happy to help and can often quickly reassure you. Although we will always have time to listen in the mornings, we will have more time after school.
Readiness for School
Children come to school at different developmental stages and our job is to take them on from the stage they have reached.
We do not compare them with each other but will compare where each individual is now to where they were when they very first came to school or to our class.
Do not try to compare your child with another, they are all individuals and, at this early point in their education, they can make a great deal of progress in a short space of time.
Reading Together
Your role in helping your child to read is a vitally important one. During the first half of the Autumn Term, your child will start to bring home a ‘sharing book’ in their book bag, for you to read and share with them at home; these are then changed twice a week. After the autumn half term your child will also have access to a weekly reading book online which will build into their own personal e-library of books. These e-books will be the reading book that they have been working in school all week. More information about this will follow. Above all, we would encourage you to read to your child as much as possible as this lays the foundations for reading skills and develops a love of reading and books. We look forward to developing a reading partnership with you.
School Bags
These are available to buy from the School Office. You should check for the current price. Please make sure that your child brings their book bag to school every day. Apart from the all-important books, we also use them to send home notes, some school letters, birthday invitations, etc, and if a child does not have a book bag to put it in the letter could easily get lost. Please make sure you check them regularly for letters, etc.
School Council
Stanford Infant School has a very proactive School Council who act as the ‘ears’ and ‘mouths’ of the student body. The Council is made up of two members from each class, from each year group. The Council members meet once a half term to discuss topical issues arising in school and make suggestions or offer possible solutions to improve their school.
School Meals
All Infant School children are entitled to receive a Free School Meal at lunchtime.
We offer a choice of School Meals. If your child has a specialised diet, or you have any questions or queries, please speak to your child’s teacher at the Welcome Chat - the kitchen can accommodate most diets! You will be provided with a School Meals pack, including the current menu. Your child will be encouraged to indicate their dinner choice each morning on the class dinner chart, either dish of the day (usually a meat option), vegetarian dinners or packed lunch. Your child’s class teacher or teaching assistant will show the children how to do this and support them during the first few weeks as needed.
Parents or carers of children who have allergies or intolerance’s or cultural or religious dietary requirements need to complete and return one of the two forms, which can be downloaded from the School Meals page of our School Website or requested from the School Office. Please note that for allergies and intolerances a meal will not be provided until the form has been received and the menu agreed.
School Milk
In line with the School Food Plan legislation, we are legally required to ensure milk is available for any children who would like it. We will be offering milk to the children during morning break.
For children under five, milk is provided FOC, for over 5’s, the cost per child is subsidised at 20p per day for a cup, payments will be administered by Cool Milk. Children in receipt of Free School Meals will be offered free milk. Please see Appendix C for more information.
School Travel
We encourage our families to choose safer, more active and sustainable travel options as an alternative to driving. If you need to drive your child to school you have a responsibility to park legally and considerately, for the safety of your child, their friends and the local community. All families will receive a copy of ‘How do you travel to school?’
School Trips and Visits
From time to time, the children will visit places in the locality. This will be part of the Learning Journey we are doing and we may ask for parents/carers to come along to help with supervision. Each year group may go on a visit to a local place of interest. In order to do this, we will ask for a ‘voluntary contribution’. This covers the cost of travel (where appropriate), entrance and insurance. Sadly, the school budget is such that we do not have funds to pay for such trips, therefore if parents/carers do not pay we will not be able to go. We will always seek your permission before we take a child off the school premises.
Snacks
Every child is entitled to a free piece of fruit at school. This is consumed in the classroom before going out to play. The fruit will vary on a daily basis. However, if you wish you may provide a snack for your child to eat at morning break. In order to encourage healthy eating our policy is that this is a ‘healthy snack’ for example one small sandwich, a snack bar or a rice cake. We do have a strict ‘nut’ free policy due to several children in school with severe allergies, so please check labels. We know that children in Reception can get very hungry in the afternoon; therefore, if there is enough school fruit left over - we provide them with the opportunity for an extra snack time in the afternoon. There is a copy of our School Food Policy on the School’s Website: www.stanfordinfants.co.uk/policies/.
Staff
An up to date list of our wonderful staff team can be found on our School Website.
Staying Safe and Happy
Our most important job is to make sure that everyone is safe and happy in school every day. There are lots of strategies we encourage the children to use to help themselves to stay safe and happy; these include ‘Stop it, I don’t like it’, ‘Bubble Time’ and ‘Ready, Steady Go!’ We will send some information home about these strategies when your child starts with us.
A copy of our ‘Behaviour Regulation Policy’ and ‘Anti-Bullying Policy’ is available on our School Website or from the School Office. You will also receive a leaflet designed by the children at the school. The leaflet explains how children at Stanford Infants can stay safe and happy at all times and what to do if they are ever concerned or affected by bullying behaviour. We encourage the children to talk to us about anything that is worrying them; therefore, please do not feel offended if your child talks to a member of school staff rather than you – children sometimes see their school life as completely separate from home and will want to sort out any school issues at school. We see this as a positive reflection of the equal trust they have in grown-ups at school and their confidence in dealing with any worries/difficulties themselves. Obviously, we will share any key concerns with families too.
We want our school to be as safe as it can be and we can only make things better if you tell us if things are not quite as good as they should be. Please make an appointment immediately if you have any worries, no matter how small, with a member of school staff.
Sun Safety
We encourage our children to enjoy the great outdoors whilst staying sun safe. When it is hot and sunny we would encourage you to apply sunscreen to your child before school and provide them with a sun hat and water bottle. We will ensure they drink regularly and provide shady spots.
Supply Teachers
From time to time, there will be a Supply Teacher teaching the class. This is because the class teacher is either sick, on a professional in-service course or carrying out the multitude of behind-the-scenes tasks and responsibilities that teachers have to undertake. We have a group of regular Supply Teachers that we use. In all eventualities, Supply Teachers are always very well briefed and carry out the programme of work planned to be covered on that day.
Term Dates
A copy of the term dates for the academic year can be found at the back of this booklet – Appendix D.
Toilets
Being independent about using the toilet is crucial to a child’s early days at school. It is helpful if the children are confident about managing their clothes, wiping their bottoms, washing their hands and flushing the toilet. The boy’s toilets all have urinals in them, so a ‘crash course’ in using them from a known male grown-up will help.
Toys
Please discourage your child from bringing toys to school. We love to see these but they can so easily get lost or broken and so we would rather not take responsibility for them and avoid the obvious upset that this will cause. Occasionally the children may be asked to bring things in from home as part of their Learning Journey.
Trays
Every child will be given a labelled tray in the classroom for their belongings, e.g. book bag.
Uniform (correct at time of print)
We aim to get the children to be as physically active during the school day! With this is mind, we encourage the children to wear our more relaxed uniform to school. The children are invited to wear leggings, skirted leggings, tracksuit bottoms or shorts with a t-shirt and/or sweatshirt. The only uniformity is the colour theme - items worn can be grey, black, white or green. Trainers or plimsolls can be worn - they should be plain and non-branded, ideally black or white. We strongly discourage you from allowing your child to wear open-toe sandals to school as their toes can easily be hurt in the very busy playground. For younger children, particularly Reception, please try to send your child to school with shoes that fasten with Velcro and not shoe laces. Shoe laces can easily come undone and this can be dangerous in a crowded playground. It also takes valuable teaching and learning time for us to do them up time after time!
If your child still likes to wear the more traditional uniform, it is really important that they are dressed appropriately on their PE Days. A copy of the current timetable is always posted on our School Website.
Uniform items can be purchased throughout the year from the School Office. We are able to accept cash and card payments for uniform in the office, or we can send a payment request online via ‘SchoolPing’.
- Green sweatshirt (current price £9.00) and/or green fleece (current price £14.00) with embroidered School Logo. This can only be purchased from the School Office
- Plain grey or black jogging bottoms, trousers, shorts or skirt OR
- Plain grey or green tracksuit trousers
- Summer school dress i.e. green and white check or stripes
- Green or white, short sleeved ‘polo’ type top (100% cotton polo shirt with School Logo, current price £6.50)
- Book Bag - a waterproof bag with School Logo for carrying reading books back and forth to school (current price £5.00)
- P E Kit - white short-sleeve t-shirt (100% cotton t-shirt with School Logo (current price £4.50) and plain green shorts (current price £4.00); can be black or white shorts
- Plimsolls (for the summer term)
- Green sun caps or green baseball caps (current price £3/£4)
IT IS VITAL THAT EVERY ITEM OF UNIFORM IS NAMED!
It can be very difficult to identify individual sweatshirts from the yogurt stains left from lunch (and believe us we’ve tried)! In the early days it helps the children to become more independent if they can quickly find their uniform by reading their own name. If you need to buy nametags 24% of anything you spend on Mynametags.com with our school code (19125) will be donated to the PTFA.
Water Bottles
We encourage all children to bring a plastic bottle/flask full of water into school every day. This must be clearly named and will be placed centrally in the classroom. The children have constant access to this throughout the day. At the end of the day they will be sent home for washing and re-filling
Writing
It is great if you encourage your child to ‘have a go’ at writing before they come to school. It would be really helpful if you can ensure your child has a correct pencil grip and forms their letters as we do here at Stanford. Please do not use capital letters (except for the first letter of their name).
YOU…
…the most important person/peoplein your child’s life. We work best if we can work together as partners in your child’s education. Please keep us informed of anything, no matter how small, that you feel may affect your child and influence their time at school.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
…the end result of a good school day!
Be prepared when your child first starts at school that they may be pretty exhausted and may not be quite the ray of sunshine you said goodbye to at the beginning of the day! This will soon pass, as they become accustomed to their new routine – we promise!
If you have any questions about what is in this booklet or indeed anything not in it, please come and ask us straight away. We are here to help.
Appendix A
Dear Reception Families,
At Stanford Infant School, we use online learning journals, which enable your child’s Teachers and Teaching Assistants to make observations of your child’s learning. We use Tapestry as our online learning journal provider.
Tapestry allows you to login with a secure username and password so you can view all your children’s observations, photographs and videos. You can like and comment on observations that we add for your child and it is also possible for you to add your own observations. Your comments and own observations will allow us to find out about which activities your child really enjoyed and the learning they get up to at home.
Tapestry has lots of exciting features, but the main features that we will be using will be:
- The ‘Observations’ feature, where we will share your child’s learning journey through observations, photos and videos.
- The ‘Memos’ feature, where we can share news and updates relevant to your child.
All data that is entered onto Tapestry is stored securely on their servers. If you are interested in finding out more information about this, you can go to https://tapestry.info/security.
We will set you up on Tapestry using the email addresses that you provided on your child’s registration form. You will then receive an activation email from which you can set up your own password to login. We will send this out on Friday 27th June. Do remember to keep an eye out on your spam/junk folders for this email. We will appreciate you activating your account as soon as possible, so that we can get it up and running in time for your child’s Taster Visit to school in early July.
You will be able to login using any web browser from tapestryjournal.com or by downloading the Tapestry app from the Play or App store, depending on what type of device you are using. Remember, if you are going to use the App version of Tapestry, to ensure auto updates are turned on for your device so you always have the most up to date version of the app. You will also be asked to set up a 4-digit PIN which you can use on the Tapestry app to quickly log back in once you’ve initially logged in.
In order to truly capture your child’s learning experiences, we would like to include photographs and videos of children involved in both individual and group activities. We therefore ask for permission for images of your child to be included in other children’s journals, linked to your child by first name only through observation notes. A permission document will be available during the new parents’ meeting and taster visits for you to read and sign if you are happy for this to take place.
We do hope you enjoy using Tapestry. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
The Reception Team
Appendix B
Stanford Infant School
PTFA
(Parents, Teachers and Friends Association)
With school budgets being constantly cut, the PTFA funds are more vital than ever. Last year we raised over £20,000 and children and parents had a lot of fun raising it.
In the last few years we have paid for a new upper playground for 2025, and the lower playground has been re-vamped with a new climbing frame area.
We are now raising money to expand the amazing Forest school, build a sensory room and to fund school trips. Without PTFA funding, these resources would be impossible.
As well as raising money to enhance the school experience of our children the PTFA events are the best way to get to know other parents and get involved in our school community.
How does it work?
The PTFA works through a system of ‘class representatives’. Two or more parents from each class volunteer to help. They meet regularly with school staff to discuss issues and liaise at PTFA meetings to help organise fundraising events.
Children, parents/carers and staff have enjoyed Christmas Fayres, Film Nights, Discos, Quiz Nights and Summer Barbecues; great fun for all the family!
You are warmly invited to join us at our Summer Fayre on Sunday 29th June between 12-3pm in the School Playground.
How will I hear about the events?
The PTFA uses the Classlist app. The class reps use WhatsApp. The school uses School Ping. Please download Classlist and if you already have it please add your Reception child and look out for posters in the playground announcing events.
Could you help the PTFA?
The PTFA events raise vital money for the school and are fun for both the children and adults that get involved, but they need to be organised!
The PTFA needs new people. Could you help?
We have many roles that need your help. From volunteering on a stall to being chair please get in touch and get involved.
Most urgently for this term we need a Communications Person. This involves sending out a couple of messages a month via the Classlist app with dates and key information on what is happening. If you are interested, please get in touch with James on 07976 286223.
Could you donate now?
Please use the QR code to go to our Gift Aid enabled donation page
We looking forward to meeting you at the next event!
James and the PTFA Team
Email: stanfordinfantsptfa@gmail.com
Stanford Infant School Parents, Teachers and Friends Association (PTFA)
Registered Charity No 1049295
Fundraising from your armchair!
The School PTFA is a team of volunteer parents/carers who organise and coordinate fundraising events for children and adults connected to Stanford Infants. The additional funds raised (over £10,000 a year) are made available to the school leadership team in order to make much needed developments and improvements to the school facilities and resources. Past projects funded by PTFA raised funds can be seen all over the school – books, interactive screens, iPads, PCs, playground and Forest School equipment and covered outdoor areas to mention a few recent ones.
Everyone is welcome to join in with the PTFA on whatever level / capacity they feel comfortable with. This one pager has been produced following a number of parents asking “is there anything I can do to help that doesn’t require my hands-on attention” ... well the answer is yes, lots of stuff. On a ‘busman’s holiday’ level, the PTFA is always looking for digital creative skills and raffle prize donations ! In addition, there are a number of relatively small things you can do that will generate valuable donations to the PTFA. These are outlined below;
- Easy Fundraising (easyfundraising.org.uk)
Buying things online has become very common practice. The easyfundraising initiative generates donations to the PTFA for registered users who shop online with over 4,000 retailers in the easyfundraising scheme based on a percentage of the value of your purchase. The registration is simple and the app can prompt you when shopping online to activate a donation.
To date we have raised over £3500 through easyfundraising with only a small percentage of parents / carers signed up, so please join in and help us boost that number. Simply select Stanford Infants as your school beneficiary when signing up. It's a no brainer!
This link will take you to where you can register - www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stanfordinfants
- School Lottery (yourschoollottery.co.uk)
Our very own school lottery … dedicated to raising funds for replacing and restocking school books – the ones our children bring home every day as well as the books in the library. There is a weekly draw and tickets cost £1. The whole thing is managed by yourschoollottery.co.uk. They provide the platform to sign up to a monthly subscription, they pay the weekly cash prizes, the donations to PTFA and all the regulatory administration required to run a lottery.
Every week a parent / carer / uncle / aunt / grandparent / friend who has signed up to Stanford’s Lottery is guaranteed to win. The PTFA launched the lottery in March 2019 with 75 weekly tickets sold and to date has raised over £2000.
Signing up is super easy and you just need to select Stanford Infants as your elected school. Got to be in it to win it ! This link will take you to where you can register - www.yourschoollottery.co.uk/lottery/school/stanford-infants
- My Nametags (mynametags.com)
Want to avoid losing school uniform… want to actually find your child’s clothes when they end up in lost property? This is for you… a scheme whereby every name tag purchase creates a donation to the school (24% of order value). Launched in Nov 2019 we know many parents need labels so we hope they will consider mynametags.com as a place to buy. Simply go to www.mynametags.com and be sure to use the school ID 19125 for Stanford Infants for the PTFA to benefit from your purchase.
Appendix C
School Milk Scheme
Our school provides a milk scheme that is available to all of our pupils and we would like to invite you to register your child. School milk is free for all under-fives and is subsidised for pupils aged five or older at around 20p per cup.
Each pupil that registers with Cool Milk will receive a cup of semi-skimmed milk every day, which is delivered fresh and chilled to the classroom. Their school milk will not only provide them with essential nutrients, but as it is rehydrating and energy boosting it also bridges the gap between breakfast and lunch to help children stay focused.
Find out the top ten reasons to drink school milk at www.coolmilk.com/whyschoolmilk.
How to register
Milk is completely free for all children aged under five, or entitled to the Pupil Premium, and is subsidised for children aged five or older.
Simply register at www.coolmilk.com or complete a registration form available from our school.
My child is under five
- Just register by a Tuesday @ 5pm for your child’s free milk to start the following week.
- Free milk will continue until the Friday before your child’s fifth birthday. You will receive a payment request three weeks before this time - if you wish your child to continue to receive school milk simply make a payment.
My child is five or older
- Complete a registration form or register online as soon as possible. Shortly after registering, you will receive a payment request.
- You can pay Cool Milk either online, over the phone, at a local PayPoint or by cheque in half-termly, termly or annual instalments.
- Please pay by Tuesday @ 5pm for your child’s milk to start the following week.
If you have any questions regarding school milk please visit www.coolmilk.com or contact Cool Milk directly on 0844 854 2913. More information on milk is also available from the school.
Appendix D
Term Dates for Academic Year can be found by clicking this link.