Summer has flown by and we are ready to start a new year with fresh eyes. It may not be with our normal routines but the children have continued to blow us away with how well they have adapted to a new way of school life.
Now the children have had a few days to settle in, we wanted to say thank you for a successful return to school. As ever, we continue to learn and adapt our new routines to make sure that school life operates as smoothly as possible. We will always respond to guidance and let you know as advice changes. We appreciate that there has been a lot to take on board, so here is an outline of some of the key information so far.
Coming into school.
As you are aware, entry times into school are staggered to minimise the numbers of people on the school site.
Our entry time is 8:40 from the SureStart gate.
Our exit time is 3:00 from the SureStart gate.
If your child has a sibling in Years 1, 3 & 5, they are able to come in with their brother or sister at the earlier time of 8:40.
Things that can come into school.
Packed lunches can come into school alongside a separate water bottle so that this can be filled up and used throughout the day. We ask that children don’t come in with squash.
A sensible coat – we aim to teach outside as much as possible (even in the drizzle).
Sensible shoes – the children will still spend time in the Outdoor classroom and on the field – so mud is inevitable.
Daily Reading books – this will be organised in due course.
Things that can’t come into school
We kindly ask that children don’t bring in rucksacks, bags, book bags and P.E. bags – this will help us clean the classrooms regularly.
Unfortunately, Birthday cakes, sweets and invitations can’t be handed out in school at this time.
Cuddly toys and other things such as pencil cases and play things can’t come into school.
P.E timetable:
Outdoor P.E.
As P.E. kits cannot come into school, we ask that children come in wearing their P.E kit on a Tuesday, our outdoor P.E. day for this half term.
We ask that children try to wear;
Joggers or tracksuit bottoms (preferably school colours)
Trainers.
T-shirt (preferably school colours)
School Jumper
We would ask that children do not wear jeans or football kits on PE days.
Earrings should not be worn to school on PE days. If they are newly pierced then you should send your child in with surgical tape covering them. We only allow small stud earrings in school at any time and sleepers or dangly earrings are not permitted for health and safety reasons.
Indoor P.E
In order for each year group to have access to the school hall and for it to be cleaned, each year group will have an allotted day throughout the week. This will change weekly, enabling all year groups to have access. You will receive a text the day before each indoor P.E session so that the children know when to come into school wearing their P.E clothes. Outdoor P.E days will stay the same each week.
COSMIC
Your COSMIC time will be on Wednesday. We are not able to provide coats or welly boots, please ensure that children come in suitable shoes and have coats and jumpers on cold days. We will try to keep children away from the mud and will not be going out in heavy rain but please only send them in shoes that you are happy to get a bit messy.
Reading
In order for the children to be really successful, fluent readers and after having an extended break from their book bands, we feel that it may benefit children to re-visit their previous colour bands. We understand that this isn’t our normal routine however, we want to make sure that the children can confidently access a range of reading books whilst regaining some of the skills that they may have forgotten during lockdown. We believe that this will really help children to regain their confidence and continue their love of reading. We will be continuing all our in school reading rewards and hope you can support us with as much reading as possible at home.
We are looking forward to working with you over the coming year. Although we might not always be able to chat at drop off or pick up times, we can be contacted by phone so please don’t hesitate to call if you have any concerns you’d like to discuss.
Thank you for your ongoing support,
Year 2 Team
Our year group theme is Disney’s Inside Out. We would love for you to watch the film, if possible, and make your very own Inside Out characters. We would love for you to share photos of these on the Year Two email address ready for September.