Dear parents/carers,

We are so pleased with how well the children have settled into Reception over this week and look forward to full-time school on Monday!  We hope the following information will be helpful…

Morning/Afternoon Arrangements

School hours are 8.55 - 3.15.  The class door will open at 8.50 and close at 8.55, then re-open at 3.10 pm. Our main priority is the safety and welfare of your child.

Please allow your child to come into school independently by saying goodbye to them before they come into the classroom.  If your child is anxious or distressed saying goodbye to you, we recommend that you don’t prolong the stress of separation longer than necessary - please trust that we will look after them and support them to feel secure in our nurturing environment and will aim to contact you to reassure you that they have settled.

Throughout the day the children are continually encouraged to line up, fasten and unfasten their coats and organise their belongings themselves to develop their independence skills. We would be really grateful if you could support this by encouraging your child to attempt to open their own snacks, fasten their coats and identify their name labels on all their belongings.

Home Time

 Our main priority is the safety and welfare of your child.   With this in mind, each child is directed to their carer individually and obviously this does take quite some time. Please be patient with us as we familiarise ourselves with the names and faces of all those involved in collecting your child from school.  We operate a password system on those occasions when your child is collected by somebody unknown to the staff or different to their regular carer. It is helpful if you inform the school office in advance of any changes before home time (0151 233 1414).

If your child needs to come back into school for anything they have left behind, please wait until all of the children have been handed over safely.

Lunchtime

The updated school dinner menu is available to view on the school website: https://www.emmausschool.co.uk/school-dinner-menu/ Please note: the menu for next week’s lunches will be Week 3 on the rota.  If your child is packed lunch, please ensure their lunch bag is clearly labelled with their name.

Homework

Children will bring home reading books in their homework bags every Friday, to be returned every Wednesday.  Books will initially be wordless picture books.  Daily reading for 5-10 minutes per day has a hugely positive impact on young children's reading development.  In addition to reading books, every Friday our homework sheets will be attached to their Learning Log book.  This will enable you to support your child to continue learning at home and embed their understanding of the topics taught in school each week.  

Please return your child’s Learning Log book in their homework bag every Wednesday.

P.E./Outdoor Kits

Please send in your child’s P.E. bag, wellies and outdoor waterproofs as soon as possible.  Please provide spare underwear, socks or tights to be kept in their PE bag, in the event your child needs to be changed in school.

Wellies are stored on the welly racks outside each home base in our outdoor area (please label wellies before leaving them on the racks).

Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled (including school shoes) and encourage your child to attempt dressing and undressing themselves at home.

Snack

We encourage the children to drink water throughout the day as regular hydration helps to maintain concentration. Your child may bring into school their own bottle of water or still fruit juice each day, labelled with their name.  In addition, please provide a healthy snack of fruit or a breakfast/cereal bar each day (labelled with their name).  It would be helpful if the children did not bring their snack in lunch bags or backpacks.  The children are also provided with milk on a daily basis and school fruit.  You can sign up for milk at www.dairylink-uk.com

We hope you find this letter useful.  We firmly believe in the importance of establishing positive home/school links and hope you will always feel able to share any worries or concerns with us.  Our Class Page on the school website https://www.emmausschool.co.uk/reception-10/ and social media will be updated regularly to keep you informed of whatever is going in over the year.  Please also check for notifications via the school app and if you need to contact us, our email address is reception@emmaus.liverpool.sch.uk

Please return any outstanding admissions paperwork as soon as you can to ensure we have all the information we need for your child.  We look forward to an exciting learning journey with you and your child this year.

Many thanks for your support,

Emmaus Reception Team