We would love to welcome you to one of our Open Mornings for new starters in September 2024. These are on 8th and 21st November and 5th December. Please contact the office on 01522 820099 to book a place. You need to choose a school by 15th January 2024.
Starting School September 2024
If you have a child due to start school in September 2024, we really hope that you will consider choosing our school. We are already looking forward to meeting you and your child next year.
We have put together some information on this page specifically for new starters, to support you with this decision and we will be updating it as new information becomes available. In addition, we also have a Facebook page that will give you chance to see the wonderful learning that the children have enjoyed @allsaintslead which we hope that you will follow.
Please take a look at the videos below that we have made for you and we hope that you will share these with your child.
The FAQs will be added to and if you have any questions not answered, please email them to [email protected]. We will get back to you personally if the information is only relevant to your child, but in most cases we will add them to the FAQs, so that everyone has access to the answers.
Applications for a place are made to Lincolnshire County Council who manage this process. https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/school-admissions/apply-school/2
Welcome to our Foundation Stage
There are many different names for your child’s first year of school:
- Early Years
- Reception
- Foundation Stage
As a school, we call the first year Reception, but sometimes use Foundation Stage or FS.
When we say ‘the FS team’, we mean the teachers and LSAs (adults) that work in Reception.
What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?
- It covers children from birth to 5 years
- During this phase children learn through playing and exploring, being active and creative and through critical thinking.
- It involve both indoor and outdoor learning experiences
- It follow the children’s interests and individual needs.
The Foundation Stage Framework is made up of 7 Areas of Development:
Prime Areas
- Communication and Language
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understand the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Teaching Reading
If you want to start teaching your child to read and the letter sounds, you can find some useful information that will support them here:
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
FAQs
Which areas within school will the Reception children access during the school day?
Our Foundation Stage area consists of 2 classrooms, an indoor area and an outdoor area. We also have 6 playhouses that are themed throughout the year, and used for role play experiences. The children will rotate throughout the 4 main areas during the day, so that they are able to access a range of resources and experience a variety of opportunities.
In Reception, the children also have access to a variety of areas in school including the playground and field, the hall, library and studio.
What are the options for lunches?
You have the option to apply for free school meals for your child, whilst they are in Reception. Our lunches are provided by a company called Good Lookin’ Cookin’, who provide a range of high quality food. Alternatively, you may provide your child with their own lunch box from home. If you are providing a lunch box, please note that we encourage healthy eating. Please ensure that there are no nut based products sent, including peanut butter and Nutella as we have children in school that would have an allergic reaction to this.
Can my child bring a snack into school?
Your child can bring a snack into school to eat during their morning break time. This will need to be a healthy snack and can include fruit, cereal bars, raisins etc. Snacks such as chocolate, crisps or anything nut based will not be permitted, and will be sent home again with your child.
Do children get a drink in school?
We ask that your child brings a named water bottle to school. We encourage water only, although juice or squash can be drunk with their lunch. Water bottles can be refilled if required.
My child is a fussy eater. What would you advise for this?
We would strongly encourage you to try school meals at the beginning of the year. Once children are in school, we introduce them to a range of foods and different tastes and often find that they want to eat the same things as their peers. If you feel that your child is still not eating enough lunch each day, you can send them in with a lunch box from home. It is interesting, that children will often eat things with their friends that they would not normally eat at home. So it is worth trying to take advantage of this.
How are the classes organised?
Your child will come into school for their two initial visits, before September. They will not be allocated a class for these visits. During these sessions they will spend time with the whole year group to enable them to build relationships with every adult that works in Reception. At the end of the second visit, your child will have been allocated a class and they will bring this information home with them.
My child is not yet toilet trained. What do I need to do?
If your child is not yet toilet trained, do not worry, but do what you can to support them to be in the best possible place to start school. Over the summer, continue to work on training strategies at home, building up their independence and encouraging them to be ‘school ready’. At school, we have a range of strategies to encourage independent toileting. We ensure regular toilet timings so that all children go regularly throughout the day, and they can also go to the toilet when they need to, outside of these times.
We ask that all children bring a spare set of clothing with them, so that if they do have an accident we can ensure that they have dry, clean clothes to wear.
My child is achieving highly for their age. What will be put in place to challenge them?
The beginning of the Reception year is used as a settling in period and we will be completing a baseline assessment of each child’s knowledge, skills and capabilities across all of the developmental areas. Once these baselines have taken place, we then adapt our provision to provide learning experiences and challenges that are targeted at the children’s abilities and developmental needs.
What do we need to provide for PE?
As demonstrated in our Reception video, your child will need to bring a PE kit into school every week. This includes kit for both warmer and cooler temperatures. You can also find our uniform policy in your welcome pack, which details the PE kit. It is important that all items in your child’s PE kit and clothing are named, so that they can be returned to the correct child. There is always the risk that unnamed items may go home in another child’s bag and be lost.
The children get changed for a PE afternoon once a week, however this is not the only time that they work on their gross motor and movement skills. They have a wide range of opportunities to develop their skills, through using the outdoor environment, dancing and a variety of educational songs.
How do I get information from school?
Once your child starts you will receive messages via email and text. In addition you will be able to access information about their learning on ‘Tapestry’. For more general information there is the website www.all-saints.lincs.sch.uk and Facebook @allsaintslead
More Questions and Answers will be added as they are received.