Welcome to Bathford Church School

Welcome to our new full-time Reception teacher

…very ably supported by Debbie, our wonderful Reception Teaching Assistant (TA)

Every teacher is entitled to 10% of their teaching time to be non-contact. This is designated as PPA time – time for Planning, Preparation and Assessment. We employee fully-qualified teachers to cover our teachers’ PPA time, to ensure children are always receiving high-quality teaching and learning experiences. Mrs McMullen will be coming in to do Reception’s PPA time either on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Arrivals and departures - School begins for new Reception Class on Wednesday, 5th September at 9.30 am (Mornings only to begin with). The Reception teacher and Debbie will bring the children in a little after the remainder of the school have come in on this first morning for Reception Class, as many parents like to take photographs. Please collect children from the ‘number line’ at 12pm. Children will begin at the regular time of 9am from Thursday, 6th September. Children begin to come in for free-for-everyone hot school lunches (all infants receive free school meals) from Monday September 24th and are collected at 1:15pm from the ‘number line’. Full days start from October 1st from 9 am till 3:15 pm (for very young children, there is always some flexibility around this). Normally, the bell rings at 9 am and the children line up, if not already in line. If it is raining heavily, please do come straight into school and drop your child off in their classroom. Please let school know before 9 am by phone or email if your child is going to be absent. Children will be brought out to the number line at the end of the day – 3.15 – and they will be handed over to parents. If someone different is picking your child up, please let us know beforehand. Number line

A ‘Typical’ Day

Year 6 Reading Partners and Buddies – On their morning visit on 5th July, new Reception children will be paired up with a Year 5 child, who will be their reading partner in September. Year 6 also support their partners in a range of other ways.

Phonics and key words -

Reading -

Book bags – check every night for reading books and other information that may come home.

Lunchtime – Reception Class start to stay for school dinners the week beginning 24th September.

Toileting -

Parent 1:1 afternoon meetings – individual ½ hour meetings are held over the first 3 weeks, 10th to 28th September. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know you and for you to share information about your child. A sign-up sheet will be outside in the playground at drop off time in the morning and at pick-up time.

School uniform – the last day to order for September is 6th August. https://www.michaelhope.co.uk

Playtime – 10.40 to 11.00 with all the school and an afternoon infant playtime 2.15 – 2.30 All infants receive a free piece of fruit/vegetable every day. Under 5’s receive free milk.

Water – we actively encourage children to drink plenty of water throughout the day. They need to bring in a named water bottle, which they have free access to whenever they are thirsty. We also have cups in the classroom if they forget their bottles.

Tapestry Online Learning Journal - Learning Journals are a record of your children's development and time in Reception. Tapestry is a secure system, parents are issued with passwords and can only access their own child's file. Staff add weekly observations with photos and Tapestry allows parents to see them within minutes of the observation being taken. Parents are also able to add observations to the journal themselves. This enables staff and parents to work closely to provide continuity of care and learning for the child.

Class Dojo – used to acknowledge positive behaviour and a useful tool to give and receive messages from parents.

ParentPay – we try as much as possible to be a cashless school and all school activities and events, such as class trips and breakfast and after school clubs, can be paid online through ParentPay. https://www.parentpay.com/

Home School Agreement - included in your Welcome packs.

Visit our school website – www.bathford.bathnes.sch.uk

Term dates – on the website

FOBS – Friends of Bathford School Organise fun and fundraising events and they are always looking for more active volunteers with creative ideas.