(L-R) Miss Bachmann (Reception teacher and Assistant Head) Mrs Connolly (Reception teacher) Mrs Griffiths (Finance Administrator) Miss Shrimpton (EYFS Practitioner) Mrs Moore (EYFS Practitioner) Miss Read (EYFS Practitioner) Mr Broderick (Headteacher)

We were all very excited to meet our new starters this morning and begin our wonderful learning journey together at St Mary's Farnham Royal. Children were greeted with happy smiles and parents were given some treats as they left their little ones with us for their First Day. 

‘BIG school’ IS a BIG step, and we understand any wobbles and will help both you and your child as we start this adventure together! Below is information you may need to help as your child starts in EYFS. 

Transition 2023-24 Meeting Presentation 4.7.23

• Transition Day Info Powerpoint 2023-24.pptx

What will my child need each day?

Please ensure everything is clearly labelled! 

• Water Bottle
• Packed lunch (if preferred)
• Reading Record (provided by school)
• Reading Book (provided by school)
• Welly boots (can remain in school)
• Waterproof Coat (weather dependent)
• Suncream applied before the school day (if it's sunny!)
• Sun hat (weather dependent) 

Uniform

Please make sure uniform is labelled - including shoes and water bottles! 

Uniform can be purchased in a number of ways:

1. By emailing office@smfr.co.uk 

2. Face to face purchase from the office 

Please be advised, uniform purchases are cash only.  

PE - Thursday is PE day! 

Children can come to school in their PE kits - and can stay in these for the day.  Please make sure earrings are removed or covered and hair is tied back. 

PE: Nursery: Starting Thursday 21st September

Reception: Starting Thursday 21st September with Mrs Daywan

Change of clothes, wellies & coats for learning outside

Please bring in a spare change of clothes for your child (this doesn’t need to be uniform). This can stay on their peg in case of accidents or too much splashing in the water tray & mud kitchen!

Your child will need a coat and a pair of wellies so that we can play in all weathers… Learning outside doesn’t stop when it rains and snows! 

Reception Lunches

Hot school lunches are free to all Reception children. The menus for school lunches can be found on our website and via the link below.

Children simply tell their Teacher each morning if they are a 'Hot Lunch'. We know about their dietary requirements from the admissions form.  Alternatively, you can send your child to school with a healthy packed lunch.

Nursery Lunches (Full time only)

Nursery children are not entitled to a free school lunch, but full time nursery children can purchase one. Please email office@smfr.co.uk  Alternatively, you can send your child to school with a packed lunch.

We follow the school nursing team advice and encourage 'non eaters' for max 20min, as we do not want to cause distress. We will monitor and report back to parents any concerns.

• Hot Meals

Daily Fruit Snack

As part of the national scheme, children are entitled to a free piece of fruit or veg each day. The school has no control over what is offered each day, so if your child likes only specific fruit or veg, you are welcome to send a piece to school each day

Examples of fruit snacks:

• Apples
• Bananas
• Currants
• Cucumber in a named, reusable pot
• Strawberries in a named, reusable pot

Daily milk in school

All children under the age of 5yrs are entitled to free school milk. This is provided by the national 'Cool Milk' scheme. Whilst the milk is delivered to school, it is not the school who ordered the milk. Parents must opt in to this scheme by registering.

Please see the PDF below  to order free milk 

School Milk Application

• Parent-Information-Leaflet-2022-A4.pdf

Times of the Day

8:30am - Gates open (children arrive)

8:45am - Lessons start (gates close)

11:30 - Morning Nursery go home

12:30 -1:30 - Lunch time

3:10 - Collection

During the day, Nursery & Reception children will participate in a a number of lessons including, phonics, reading, maths, topic. These will be both adult led and child lead/chosen

Home Time

Parents should make sure the office have an up to date list of who has permission to collect their child. This is initially taken from your admissions form

• Children must be collected from the teacher by an adult 16+
• Please don’t be offended if we question a person you have asked to collect your child. Safeguarding is a priority and we have to double check to proudly maintain this high standard.

Families can sometimes be complicated. If there is anything we should know, please speak to a member of staff or email the office. We will handle all matters with discretion.

The Importance of Reading

Sadly, less than half of reception parents read to their children at bedtime. It is so important to read to or with your child every night up to the age of 11. Benefits of this include:

• Good bonding time
• Improve child’s reading skills
• Sparks imagination
• Creates conversation
• Makes a routine for your child’s sleep
• Expands your child’s vocabulary
• Improves your child’s emotional intelligence
• Encourages independent reading
• Improves mental wellbeing
• Helps you both relax and unwind

At SMFR we would love it if parents could read to all of their children at bedtime.

Please don’t use your child’s reading book for bedtime as the breadth of vocabulary is very narrow and doesn’t elicit as much of an imagination as a picture book! 

Our EYFS Lending Library is available at the start and end of each day for families to borrow books. 

Books that celebrate cultural diversity

• books-that-celebrate-culture-diversity-and-religion.pdf

Questions & Communication

Much of our communication is now electronic. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email office@smfr.co.uk This will enable a dialogue between you and the school to enable us to make your child's transition to our EYFS department as smooth and seamless as possible.

Once your child has started in September:

• You will see an EYFS staff member each day
• You can call school
• You can email school
• You will receive emails and letters
• You can view our website information
• You can access our APP

Keeping Children Safe on Church Road - Parking

Our children, their families and the residents of Church Road are entitled to come to and from school safely;

Be courteous        

Be patient   

Drive safely

 

We are a school community: 'Do to others as you would have them do to you'

Parking on yellow lines & zig zags, restricts vision for children crossing & blocks the road, hindering the flow of traffic.

For further information please read our Parking Flyer

Parking Flyer

• parking Flyer.pdf

Family learning courses to prepare your child for school life:

• Family Learning Courses Early Years June 2021 (B)[5528].pdf

School Nursing Team

We have strong links with our school nursing team and they will come in a few times a year to check your child's:

• Sight
• Hearing
• Height
• Weight

You will receive a form to 'opt in or out' of this service.

• Slides from Nursing Team.pptx
• Nursing Team School Readiness Checklist.pdf

Pastoral Support at St Mary's Farnham Royal 

At St Mary’s Farnham Royal we would like everybody who is part of our school community to feel they are doing and being the best they can be, giving their all and striving for personal success in all things. This is the same for not only all pupils but also for the staff that work in school and for adults that form families at home.  But for us all to be able to do and be the best that we can, we need to feel the best that we can and there are times when we all need some help and support to feel our best.  This is where the Pastoral Support Team aim to help. 

So who are the Pastoral Support Team? 

Well actually every adult working at school helps to make up part of the Pastoral Support Team at SMFR. We all work together to ensure all pupils, parents and staff working in school feel safe, cared for, have someone to talk to and can share worries or issues they may have.  This could be about themselves or somebody they care about. 

Mr Farmer is the Pastoral Support Leader (PSL) and he is there to support YOU or your FAMILY in any way he or the school can.   

If there is something you feel you may want some support with then please don't hesitate to contact Mr Farmer.                

Email - psl@smfr.co.uk          Tel – 01753 644471   

Top Tips for Talking

"Reading and writing float on a sea of talk." - James Britton

Please do ensure there are good quality talk sessions with your child on a daily basis. Below are some ideas on how to enrich your child's 'chatter' experiences.

• 1 Get your child's attention first.
• 2 Make langauge learning fun!
• 3 Use simple repetitive sentences.
• 4 Demonstrate rather than criticise.
• 5 Build on what your child says to you.
• 6 Copy your child's language
• 7 Use all your child's senses.

Useful Websites for your EYFS Child

Always review the sites ahead of time so that you are able to help your children find the best resources available within the sites. Some offer a great number of games, songs, stories, videos etc. so it is important to know the site well in order to support and develop your child’s learning.

• Busy Things Excellent site built around the 7 areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. You can access a free 7 day trial but you need to subscribe after this period to access the content – various subscription packages available.

• Phonics Play Great site with some free phonics games.

• Oxford Owl Interactive books and reading activities to share with your child at home.

• Cbeebies Many games often recognised by children from their favourite programmes.

• Fun with Spot New and improved! Try creating your own Spot story.

• Sebastian Swan Books for reading together with links to understanding of the world (good for natural science).

• CrickWeb Lots of maths and literacy games.

• BoowaKwala Many games and songs including those relating to festivals.

• ICT Games Some excellent maths and literacy games.

• Poisson Rouge Many delightful games. Spend some time exploring!

• ABC Kids Various educational games, videos and craft ideas.

• Top Marks Games of varying quality to support different areas of learning.

• British Council British Council “Learn English” – songs and stories

• GoNoodle Free to subscribe to a vast amount of fun activities!