Prospectus Guide to starting school 2022 PDF

SOMERVILLE FEDERATIO SOMERVILLE PRIMARY SCHOOL Your Guide to Starting School Taking Safeguarding Seriously N

The School Da School starts at School starts at 8.55 am, please arrive at 8.50am. (Be on time at ve to nine!) Late arrivals interrupt the smooth running of the classroom and your child will miss the start of a session. Children struggle if a routine is not set and it is stressful for them missing part of a lesson. School nishes at School nishes at 3.15 pm for Fs2 and KS1, For Key Stage 2 children school nishes at 3.20 pm. Please be on time when picking your child up. It is distressing for a young child when they are picked up late Aiming High Together .ifif …if if … y

A Welcome Note from the Executive Headteache Dear Parents and Carers Firstly, may I take this opportunity to thank you for choosing Somerville Primary School. I would like to offer you and your child a warm welcome at the start of your child’s school journey with us and the beginning of a strong partnership between home and school. Starting school is a very important time for both child and family and a happy successful start lays the foundation stone for a successful school career We care deeply about the children here at Somerville and are passionate in our endeavours in providing a well rounded education for every child. We provide a warm and caring environment within our safe and secure Foundation Stage setting We believe the education a child receives in their early years sets them up for success throughout their schooling and helps them develop a love for learning. Our early years team are all highly skilled and dedicated practitioners who put their heart into ensuring your child has the best possible experience during their rst year at primary school We look forward to working with you and ‘aiming high together’ Michael Forbe Executive Headteache Aiming High Together r r . .if . . , r

How does Somerville help my What advice can you give child prepare to start school? me on how I can support my child? In the summer term we will STARTING SCHOOL write to you with a date for our ‘New Parents’ meeting. At this There are lots of ways you can support your child in meeting you will be given lots being ‘ready’ to start school. Little tips that can help of important information that take the anxiety away from them and you. It is will help your child settle into important that your child's start to school is as school. You will have the smooth and happy as we both can possibly make it. chance to put faces to names and meet the Headteacher and Get your child into the routine of attending F1 and your child’s class teacher. nursery regularly so they are used to having to go somewhere at the same time and same place and At this meeting you will be that they are used to leaving you. given dates for some stay and play sessions. In these We will hold an information meeting in the summer sessions your child will term before your child is due to start and some stay become familiar with their new and play sessions to allow children to be familiar classroom, teacher and with their new classroom and teacher before they teaching assistant start on their rst day. Please do your best to attend these. We will give you a pack of activities to do with your child, There are also other activities you can do with your at home, during the summer child to help with their development Personal Skill • Encourage your child to dress and undress themselves, practicing fastening and undoing buttons and zips •Encourage your child to wipe their own nose, go to the toilet independently and to wash their hands •Practise using a knife and fork •Encourage your child to help tidy up their toys •Practise applying suncream. We spend a lot of time outside so ideally they need all day sun protection on before coming to school. See www.sunsmart.org.uk. for more information.
 Aiming High Together . . . . . . s . if

Baseline Assessmen English Skill During the rst few weeks of • Sing nursery rhymes together and read lots of term we assess all Foundation 2 children to nd out what they stories already know to determine what we need to teach them • Recognise and practice writing their name using the We use a range of ongoing name card given by new class teacher assessments to make a decision on where on the • Play I spy, memory games and matching games Foundation Stage Pro le your • Share books together and nd time to talk and child currently sits, children will also complete the national listen to each other ‘Baseline’ assessment. Mathematics Skill We will share with you at parents’ evening (or before) • Count together frequently, for example: count the our judgements and see if we are in agreement. This will stairs up to bed, the number of sweets in a packet help us work together to support your child • Let them lay the table for dinner, get the right number of forks, knives, cups etc • Do some baking together, weigh the ingredients count the spoonfuls, mix and pour • Play lots of games like snap, dominoes and board games • Practice with money, involve your child at the check out in the shops • Talk about the time e.g. it is three o’clock, we need to go and pick your brother up from school Physical Skill Encourage your child to do some of the following: • Tracing and colouring - hold a pencil, crayon, felt tip properly • Playdough and plasticine modelling • Doing up fastenings on coats and shoes • Hopping, jumping, climbing • Cut up their own food. Finally Don’t worry! Children are very quick to pick up on how you are feeling. They are most likely to come happily into school and settle, if you give them a kiss and wave them goodbye with a smile on your face Aiming High Together . … . . . . - s . . . . . . s .if . . . s . if .ifif t

How do I get in Who’s Who touch if I need to speak to someone or pass a We are a large school and have a large workforce. message to my child’s The main people who can help you or you may need to speak to in your child’s rst year at Somerville are: teacher? Foundation 2 Tea You can ring the school of c Miss L. Murray- Is the Foundation Stage 2 team leader. Telephone: 638 5074 ———————————————— Option 1 - Use this to tell Mr M. J.Forber - Executive Headteacher until April 2 school if your child is absent Mrs N. Parry - Deputy Headteacher - Acting Option 2 - To speak to Headteacher from April 2 someone in the of ce School Leaders - Please make an appointment with You can leave a message on the school of ce if you wish to speak to either the the answerphone, if the line is Headteacher or his deputy busy. This is checked regularly throughout the day Mrs C. O’Shaughnessy- Assistant Headteacher for FS2 & KS E mail: Mrs C. Speight - Assistant Headteacher for KS schoolof [email protected] Ms L. Pike - SENDC If your child has additional needs and you need Your e mail will be forwarded advice or clari cation then you can book an on to the most appropriate appointment through the school of ce. member of staff Miss A Crampton - Social Inclusion Manage You can have a chat with your Miss Crampton is a wonderful listener and can often child’s teacher or teaching support families with a wide range of personal needs. assistant at the end of the Please do not hesitate to contact her if you need any school day support, advice or guidance. Ms G. Kirkham - Medical Needs Assistan Please contact Mrs Smith if your child has any medical or health needs school needs to be aware of. Mrs Smith ensures school meets the medical needs of all children and liaises with local health services Miss K. Houlihan - School Secretar Mrs G. Bennett & Miss L. Foran- School Administrator If you have any queries that need to go through the school of ce, they will be your rst point of contact Aiming High Together .ifif s y . t r ifif O 2 1 .if 2 2 — m -if ? . . kif . .if . eif

So what facilities do yo have at Somerville that will support my child’s learnin and well being? Our Facilitie Over the past four years we have heavily invested in improving our school building and the surrounding grounds. We have knocked down three sets of double mobile classrooms and have built modern, purpose built classrooms suitable for 21st century learning, in their place. We have a large, modern and attractive school hall where we have our assemblies, indoor PE, parent workshops, shows and performances and our lunch. The kitchen attached to the hall is new and stocked with the latest equipment helping our catering team cook healthy and nutritious meals. Our Foundation 2 classes share a large outdoor learning space that is well equipped, attractive and a fantastic environment in which to explore a wide range of curriculum areas outside of the traditional classroom spaces. We are a federation with Somerville Nursery School in Brentwood Street. Our nursery school has a fabulous outdoor ‘Forest School’ area which we visit regularly and make good use of making dens, cooking on camp res and exploring the wildlife. Aiming High Together g u if s

Our Facilities Continue Our Foundation 2 classrooms are extremely well resourced. Our Foundation 2 lead has spent a lot of time researching, sourcing and purchasing resources and equipment to ensure that every curriculum area can be fully explored by the children keeping up their interest levels across the school year Our IT facilities are extensive. We have a dedicated computing suite with desk top computers where we learn our computing skills, a range of laptop trolleys and I pad trolleys allowing mobile computing, keeping up with technologies that motivate and interest learners of all ages We have a well stocked school library from which pupils can borrow books and take home. Each classroom also has its own well stocked library area with reading corners designed by the class teachers Our science garden has tables and benches allowing aspects of science to be taught and explored in the outdoors. This allows our children to gain experience in the hands on element of learning about minibeasts, habitats and plants etc We have an outdoor classroom with whiteboard facilities that will house a large class of children Aiming High Together . . . . . d

Our Facilities Continue The adventure playground is enjoyed immensely by the children. It allows them to to develop their agility and physicality as they travel through school. Our muga pitch can house a football match or a basket ball match. The children appreciate the soft surface. Rainbow Wood is our nurture room. An artist hand painted the beautiful scenery. It is equipped with relaxed lighting schemes on the oor and ceiling and also has aromatherapy and sound systems. We are proud of our facilities here and our pupils make very good use of them. Aiming High Together lf d

The ‘Early Years Foundation CURRICULU Stage’ is organised into seven areas of learning and Communication and Language Developmen development, of which three We will be providing lots of opportunities for are “prime areas,” and four children to speak and to listen. This might be in “specific areas.” partner work, listening to rhymes and then stories that require more concentration. Children will be The prime areas are: encouraged to say why they think something is happening and to predict what may happen next. • Communication and We will do activities and play games that require Language the child to follow sets of instructions. We will encourage children to share their news and • Physical Development describe what they have made. We will be providing many opportunities for imaginative play • Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Physical Developmen Children will have the opportunity to use different The specific areas are: tools e.g. pencils, pens, scissors, paintbrushes and experiment with different materials e.g. • Literacy plasticine, gloop, salt dough, clay and mud. They will do activities that develop their ne motor skills • Mathematics that help them develop as writers, such as using tweezers and creating patterns on peg boards. • Understanding of The World Children will have the opportunity to develop skills through games and such as running, jumping, • Expressive Arts and Design balancing and ball skills These are the three characteristics of learning we take into account when planning our curriculum; play and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically. Aiming High Together .if t . t M

Personal, Social and Emotional Developmen Independence will be developed by encouraging them to put on their own coats, choose which materials they would like to write / draw with. Understanding of boundaries will be talked about and discussed and children will be given the time to discuss their own feelings. Sharing and turn taking will be encouraged. Through discussion about story, in role play and situations that arise in class children will be developing their empathy skills Literac Children will be given opportunities to experiment with writing in the role play area and writing for reasons that interest them They will be having daily phonics sessions in which they will follow the Government prescribed Letters and Sounds program. This will develop the child’s ability to read individual letters and then words. Pupils will have guided reading sessions with their teacher and be exposed to and have access to a wide range of books Mathematic Children will be encouraged to use mathematical language They will be playing maths games and working with numbers from 0-20. They will recognise the numbers, write them and use them to solve problems. Children will be working with a range of equipment including, shapes, counters and items from the natural environment Aiming High Together . . s . . y . t

Understanding of our Worl Children are encouraged to use and become con dent with a range of technologies They will be encouraged to express their opinions of their environment and ask questions to nd out more. Correct vocabulary will be taught so they can use it when describing things like animals and plants around them. Expressive Arts and Desig Children will be given a range of materials and tools to select from to create their own imaginative models and pictures. They will be able to experiment with colour mixing and joining and combining a range of materials in different ways Children will be given opportunities to sing, dance, act and take part in role play allowing them to express themselves in a range of exciting ways Aiming High Together . . n if .if d

UNIFOR As you are aware we have high expectations and standards to be maintained for all of our children. School uniform contributes to the overall ethos of Somerville Primary School. We ask all parents and carers who send their children to Somerville to support the school uniform guidelines. We have issued the guidelines and pictures below to ensure there is clarity over the expected standard Foundation 2 and Key Stage Autumn, Winter and Sprin • Grey trousers or skir • White polo shirt with or without log • Navy neck jumper / sweatshirt (preferably round neck and preferably with logo • Black shoes (not trainers, no sports logos or strapped or heeled sandals Autumn, Winter and Sprin • Grey shorts may be wor • Navy gingham dres Sports Kit • Every child must have a white t-shirt, navy shorts and black pumps or lightweight trainers. When buying training shoes or pumps please do not get ones with black soles as these mark the hall oor and children will not be allowed to wear them • Children should also come to school dressed in their PE kit. This can be blu, black or grey jogging bottoms (Unbranded only) and the school navy blue sweatshirt. PE day is NOT non uniform day Jewellery can not be worn in school. Only small stud earring are allowed and your child MUST be able to remove these on their own before the lesson Extreme hairstyles are discouraged . This includes shaved patterns and designs and dyed hair Please label all uniform, including shoes. Aiming High Together s n g ) ) o t g 1 . . . .lf . M

What do I do if my child is ABSENCE AND ATTENDANC too poorly for school? Everyday in school is valuable for your child. A break from normal school routine can seriously effect a child’s ability to remember key ideas taught You need to contact the school The school keeps thorough records of each child’s of ce by 9.30am on the rst attendance and these are monitored closely. Poor day of your child’s absence. If attendance can result in action being taken, you use the phone option it is including home visits and nes being issued by the option 1 on the answerphone. local authority What happens when m There are only certain illnesses that require your child becomes poorly in child stay off school. These are mainly vomiting school? and diarrhoea bugs. Medicine If your child can no longer If your child returns to school after illness however remain in school then we will still needs to complete a course of contact you to come and medicine we ask parents to come to collect them. Please ensure school to administer this or that all contact details are up administer breakfast, after school to date with the school of ce and bedtime If your child need liquid paracetamol during the day then you must provide the medicine and ll in a form at the school of ce Can I take my chil Medical Condition on holiday? Please ensure that school is informed of all existing and newly diagnosed medical conditions to enable us to support your child in the best possible way Holidays should not be taken Long term medications such as inhalers must be in term time, as it can disrupt a kept in school. Inhalers must be replaced when child’s learning and progress they are out of date It is the Headteacher’s decision to authorise a holiday. School is equipped with de brillators Please note this is very unlikely and will only be given in exceptional circumstances. Aiming High Together d y . .if ifif .if . . s .ifif . s .if . E

Child Protection & Safeguardin The Somerville Federation is fully committed to promoting the health and well being of all children in its care. We are required, by law, to follow procedures set out by the DfE in the‘Keeping Children Safe’ document and by Wirral Borough Council If we see any signs of abuse or neglect or a child discloses anything to an adult in school we must report the details in to Social Care. Use of the procedures in this way is an obligation placed on school by legislation and in no way infers any parent / carer being accused of any wrong doing or school making a judgement ALL staff in school are trained in safeguarding and prevent. This means we are trained to spot signs of abuse, neglect, grooming and radicalisation of children Health and Safet School has a policy for health and safety. All staff work hard to keep the school safe for everyone. We ask parents and carers to follow the rules below to promote health and safety for all Please do not park your cars on the yellow lines or zigzags around school If you need to visit school please report in at the school of ce and sign in. You will be issued with a badge All bikes and scooters to be pushed when within school grounds NO dogs permitted in the school grounds No smoking is permitted in the building or anywhere in the school grounds, including vaping. Shouting, abusive language and violence WILL NOT BE TOLERATED Please ensure all contact details are up to date in case of emergency Please ensure your child is walked to school and picked up by an adult Aiming High Together . . . . . .if . . y . . . g

SCHOOL DINNERS AND SNACK All children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage One are entitled to a universal dinner. Our dinners are freshly prepared on site, by our cook and her team and contribute towards the children eating a balanced, healthy diet. The children have two courses, a main meal and a pudding We ask even though you receive these meals free, that if you are in receipt of bene ts to ll in the form as school bene ts in terms of more money in the budget. This is then spent on resources and extra staf ng for the children. School is happy to help if you need any help lling in the forms If you do not wish to take up the school dinner then you can provide your child with a healthy packed lunch to include sandwiches or wraps, fruit and a non zzy drink. We are promoting healthy living so please no chocolate. Children will receive a healthy snack throughout Foundation Stage and Key Stage One for morning break. This will consist of a piece of fruit. Aiming High Together if .if ifififif . S

FOUNDATION FU What opportunities wil there be for me to come int school to nd out more about my child’s education? Foundation Fun is a a series of workshops designed and run by our Foundation 2 teachers It is a chance to spend time with your child and see how they learn through play, games and FUN. There is a different topic each week, some of the topics are : How we use I pads in the classroo Creative pla How we teach handwriting Foundation Fun allows you to spend time with your child in school and allows you time to ask the teacher questions about how you can help your child at home and about the curriculum. We serve tea and biscuits to make it an inviting experience. You don’t have to sign up for every workshop just the ones that you are most interested in. They take place every other Wednesday morning in the school hall during the Autumn Term. Look out for the information in your child’s book bag Aiming High Together if o l y m - . N