Dear Parents and Children,

Welcome to Ladybirds! We are all so excited to guide you through your very first year of school. Ladybirds is a year of celebrating milestones, looking for magic in every moment, and exploring the wonderful world around us. Both indoors and outdoors, we put children in charge of their play, allowing them to explore our environment that is carefully designed to challenge their knowledge and deepen their understanding. Not only are children gaining the confidence to learn and try new things, but developing independence that will see them through future ‘real life’ challenges.

Our key routines and reminders are as follows:

Labelling

Please label all children’s clothes, including shoes and coats, so that we can make sure all children go home with the exact uniform that they arrive in.

Lunches

School lunches are nutritious and appetising. Your child is entitled to free school meals, up until they are in Year 2.

P.E.

Our P.E. day is Tuesday. Children should come into school dressed for P.E and will stay in their P.E. uniform all day. Children should wear a red or white t-shirt (Evelyn or plain), red or black shorts, trainers or pumps, and, on colder days, tracksuit bottoms may be worn with a school jumper or cardigan.

Library

Library day is Wednesday. Please ensure your child beings in the previous week’s book in their library bag. We take great pride and pleasure in our library sessions and use this as an opportunity to develop children’s love for reading. We hope they enjoy engaging with their books at home!

Reading Books

Every day we have a phonic session. Once the children know all of the initial phonemes, we then practise sounding out and blending simple words. When children can do this, they receive their first reading book. This is an exciting time for the children and is something that we really celebrate. We look forward to, and work hard with the children to achieve this.

Independence

We work hard to develop independence in every child. Please provide opportunities for them at home to put on and take off their jumpers, coats and shoes etc. It does take some time, but it is a huge achievement when the children can do a lot of these things on their own. They feel a great sense of pride when we notice and praise them for their independence.

Rewards

Friday is the day that our whole school celebrates achievement. Every week a child is given a merit badge to wear. This is given for many reasons, for example: good behaviour, beautiful manners, and good work. An award for ‘Maths Wizard’ and ‘Reading Star’ is also given. These are given out on alternative weeks.

Attendance

The gate for Ladybirds opens at 8:45 and the register is taken promptly at 9:00. Please ensure that your child is in school on time so that we can settle them for registration and prepare them for their first task of the day.

Thank you for your support, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any worries or questions.

Miss Booth