Reception at Holy Trinity

Our Reception Class continues to develop a love of learning and to create curious, independent, confident and active children, in line with our whole school vision and values.   Children enter Reception Class in the September in the year in which they reach the age of five.  Most of our children attend our Nursery provision, but every year we are delighted to accept new children to our school and welcome them into the class.  For the vast majority of children, they do not realise that a major change has happened as they start full time school, however if together we feel that they are not ready for full time start straight away, we can be flexible for the first few weeks. 

Reception Class is housed in our Early Year's Unit and the class has been deliberately designed to provide the best environment to promote learning and it has access to a large outdoor area, enabling the children to have immediate access to outdoor play.

We have highly qualified and experienced staff who help to support and nurture the children's learning and development and we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum where the seven areas of learning are integral to our day.  We follow the children's interests and set themes to stimulate excitement and enthusiasm.   All children are valued as individuals and work at a pace that best suits them.

The Reception Class are actively  involved in all aspects of school life and transition into Key Stage 1 is supported to ensure that it is seamless.  Our whole school activities allow for a varied and enriching experience, such as whole school performances and sporting events, they also help to bring our whole school community together.

In addition, we can offer -

• School lunch which is available at £2.20, or a packed lunch can be brought in.
• All children are entitled to free school meals all year and free milk until the term that they become five.
• Breakfast club each morning from 8.00am run by Early Year's staff (£2 per session).
• After school provision is available from 3.15 - 6pm on site.

For more detailed information about our whole school please read our prospectus.   A prospectus is however no substitute for a personal visit to see our school in action, we are always happy to show off our school to visitors so please telephone our school office on 01289 306142 or email admin@holytrinity.northumberland.sch.uk to make an appointment.

The Curriculum in Reception

Our aim is to give all Reception children an exciting, challenging and meaningful start to their learning journey with us at Holy Trinity First School.  We plan the children’s learning experiences in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum guidance and principles. The Early Years is made up of seven areas of learning that are inter-connected.  The three prime areas are Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal and Social Development.  There are an additional four specific areas which are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

We provide a creative, discovery and play based curriculum, which uses the children’s existing skills, knowledge and interests.  The children are encouraged to make choices about their own learning.  The children become active and independent learners, who ask questions, explore and enquire.  We provide a calm but busy, well-organised and stimulating environment for the children to explore and develop both indoors and out.  Our friendly, experienced staff are there to lead, support, enable, challenge and encourage the children.  There are opportunities to build, create, imagine, develop, learn, explore and play.  

We communicate with parents at drop off and pick up times and through the Seesaw platform, which enables staff and parents to communicate directly every day and continues to be used through the whole school..

We have a whole school weekly newsletter, a termly Reception Newsletter, regular updates through parent-mail and Seesaw as well as parent consultations.  Children are tracked using the School Readiness Passport, designed by Northumberland Early Years, supporting their development and progress into school.

A short report is given at the end of the learning journey in Reception.

Assessment in Reception

Baseline Assessment.  At the start of Reception, staff will assist children and help them to undertake the Reception Baseline Assessment.  This differs from our other assessment as it is a standardised national model which focusses on Literacy, Mathematics,  Communication and Language.  The aim of this baseline is that it becomes a measure to evaluate the progress the children make during their time in the primary years. 

School Readiness Passport.  The School Readiness Passport is primarily a transition document.  It will be used to gather information about key events in a child's early life.  Children usually start the passport as soon as they enter any  Northumberland Early Years setting and will continue with the passport until they have the knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

Early Learning Goals.  At the end of Reception the children are assessed on the Early Learning Goals which is in assessment on the seven areas of learning based on how the child has progressed across the whole Reception year through play and teacher led activities.  The results of this assessment informs their future teaching in their next year and provides a starting point for Key Stage 1.

Special Educational Needs and Difficulties (SEND)

Our whole school aim is to ensure that we meet the needs of all individuals within our school, see our SEND page for greater detail.  Occasionally some children experience greater difficulty than others in their class and our Reception staff either, continue the work of any previous colleagues, or start the process of identification to ensure that our children get the help and support that they deserve and need.  Children are identified as early as possible and staff use a graduated response to meeting their individual needs. The school implements the SEN Code of Practise and adheres to guidance from the Local Authority using First Concerns, Pupil Passports and SEND Support Plans which regularly reviewed.

 We use the First Quality Teaching approach and target classroom support to help each child be the best they can be.  In some cases, we may involve outside agencies for specialist advice and support.  At this point children will be placed on our SEN register which is confidential.  We engage with parents from the outset, taking into account their views and concerns. We monitor the impact of actions taken and review targets set with parents regularly

Uniform

We believe that getting ready for school by dressing appropriately is an important part of being in the right frame of mind for the school day. We expect our children to work hard and to come to school in the correct uniform. Our uniform isn’t expensive and can be bought locally. We also encourage parents to donate good quality uniform that their children have grown out of and we sell this in school for 50p an item.  Uniform with the logo can be ordered from Fantasy Prints.  Other items may be purchased from any school uniform provider.

Uniform in Reception –

Light blue polo shirt.
Burgundy v-necked jumper or cardigan with the school badge.
Grey tailored shorts, grey tailored trousers, grey/tartan pinafore or skirt.
Plain grey socks

Grey or burgundy tights.
Plain black formal shoes - no boots, high heels, canvas/trainer style, sports brands or platforms.

Outdoor Clothing -                                                                                                                                                                                            Wellington boots.                                                                                                                                                                                        Waterproof suit or trousers.

A waterproof coat (should brought to school every day).

Optional Summer Uniform –                                                                                                                                                                              Blue and white checked summer dress to be worn with white socks.

PE 

Each child should have an indoor PE kit which will be kept in school and sent home periodically for washing.                                Burgundy shorts.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Light blue short sleeved tee-shirt.                                                                                                                                                                    Black plimsolls.

Footwear
All children should come to school wearing plain black formal shoes - no boots, high heels, canvas/trainer style, sports brands or platforms.  During cold weather children may come to school in boots which they can wear outside, if your child does wear boots to school, please bring in a pair of school shoes or black plimsolls that they can wear indoors.  Your child should be able to run safely in their shoes, please avoid ballet pumps; they are unsafe in a busy playground. 

When your child is young, fastening shoes can be really tricky. Velcro fasteners are the answer to a teacher’s dream!

Hair                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Our base line is that hairstyles must be sensible and the school does not permit children to have haircuts that could serve as a distraction to other children. We are very proud of how our children look in their uniform and wish them to look their best. Longer hair should be tied back for safety reasons (and to prevent the spread of headlice) and children should not wear large hair accessories to school.

We do not expect children to come to school with hair gel, skin head cuts, lines or shapes cut into the hair or Mohican styles. 

Jewellery

Pupils may wear a watch, but no other jewellery is permitted on health and safety grounds.  We ask the children to remove watches during PE and games.                                                                                                                                                                             As piercings are not permitted, if parents/carers and pupils wish to arrange a piercing, we suggest that this is done at the start of the summer holidays so that the wound has sufficient time to heal and so any piercings can be removed for the school day.

Useful Information

Northumberland Early Years Home Learning Padlet

Admissions

Parents will be notified by Northumberland County Council in the autumn term and will be asked to apply online. 

The governing body of Holy Trinity Voluntary Aided Church of England School is the Admissions Authority for the school and they intend to admit up to 30 pupils to the Reception year group in September each year. This arrangement follows consultation between the governing body, the LA, all other schools in the area and all other Admission Authorities in the area.

The school is open to receive applications for admissions from the parents of all children.  We must give priority to children in the care of the local authority (looked after children). Children with a Statement of Special Educational Need or with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan naming Holy Trinity First School will always be offered places.  If there is then greater demand for admission than there are places available, the following criteria will be applied in a set order.  For more information please see our admissions policy.

It should be noted by parents that Nursery admissions are entirely separate and attendance at the school’s Nursery does not guarantee a place in the Reception class.