Reception
Welcome to Reception's Class Page
Welcome to our class page. Here you can find out more information about our class and what we are learning.
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Class teachers: Mrs Hughes (Monday to Wednesday) and Mrs Craggs (Wednesday to Friday)
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At Merridale, we like to be comfortable and we like to learn and play outdoors. Please send your child to school in suitable clothing for this. We encourage all children to have a named pair of wellies in school at all times so they can get outside as often as possible!
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Please put your child’s name in the clothing that they wear for school, especially coats, jumpers and hoodies.
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PE
Reception have PE on a Friday.
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Safety in PE Lessons
On their PE days, children must come to school wearing suitable clothing and footwear to take part in PE (trainers, leggings, jogging bottoms, t-shirts, sweatshirts etc NO JEANS or denim items please). ALL jewellery MUST be removed for PE lessons – children must be able to do this themselves and staff are not allowed to keep items safe during PE lessons.
Long hair must always be tied up for PE lessons.
Please note that children are not allowed to wear heels or Crocs for school at any time and that all shoes worn for school must always fully cover the feet to ensure that children are safe. Shoes and boots cannot be worn for PE lessons though as these are not safe.
Earrings
We no longer allow children to take part in PE lessons if they are wearing earrings. We have previously allowed children to participate in PE lessons if they covered their earrings with a plaster/tape (sent from home). There is clear guidance and advice that makes it clear that this is not appropriate. This is for health and safety reasons so that our children can be as safe as possible during physical education lessons.
Guidance from AFPE (Association for Physical Education) makes it clear that all personal items must be removed for PE lessons for safety reasons. If items cannot be removed, staff must take action. In most cases, this means removing the child from the PE lesson. If your child has recently had their ears pierced (within the last 6 weeks) we are aware that their earrings cannot be removed for this period. In this instance only, we will allow children to cover their earrings with a plaster or tape (sent from home) to make them safe. This should not be an on-going practice beyond 6 weeks and children must be able to apply the plaster themselves before the PE lesson. If you are considering getting your child’s ears pierced, we would urge you to do this in July at the start of the 6 week summer holiday. School staff cannot be required to add or remove tape/plasters to children’s ears. Staff cannot also not be required to remove children’s earrings/jewellery or keep them safe.
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Our Reading Challenge:
Please support your child with their reading at home. To meet our Reading Challenge, we ask for all children to be heard read at home for at least 20 minutes, at least 5 times per week. Please sign and date your child’s reading record when you hear them read. Please make sure your child brings their reading books and reading record into school every day.
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Home Learning:
Seesaw: https://app.seesaw.me/#/login
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All children have access to Seesaw. Teachers use Seesaw to share learning and set tasks for children to complete at home. Please support your child to access Seesaw regularly.
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Newsletters
In Reception, we love to learn. Our curriculum newsletters give information about the topics we are studying and how parents and carers can help support their children at home.
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