EYFS New Parents

Welcome

Congratulations and thank you for choosing The Catholic School of Saint Gregory The Great for your child. We look forward to meeting you in the near future and we hope that we shall have a very happy and successful relationship with you and your child.

What Happens Next?

We will send a Letter welcoming you and your child to the school along with key dates for you to add to your diary. This letter will be sent to your home address at the end of April.
Your welcome letter will provide you with your first steps and information on the forms that need to be filled in and sent back to us ASAP. Please Note: if we do not receive your child's pupil information forms and Allergy/Medical forms(if applicable) by the deadline it WILL delay your child's start date.
To help you to get to know us better you will be invited to a Welcome Meeting, this will be held at Saint Gregory’s School. In the meantime check out our Parent Information Brochure below:

Parent Information Brochure

Pupil Information Form & Uniform Pricelist

The Welcome Meeting

The EYFS (Foundation Stage) team will be there to greet you. Parents/carers are asked to attend this meeting without the children, as this will be an opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher, the Headteacher and the other new parents in preparation for this exciting new phase in you and your child’s life. At this meeting:

The starting school induction procedure will be explained to you
You will meet the team
You will receive your home visit date
You will find out what class your child is in
You will receive the time and date of your child’s special morning
You will collect your child ordered uniform (explained in your welcome latter)

Meet the EYFS team & listen to a story!


Dough Disco Introduced by Miss Buckland	Hugless Douglas Goes to School Read by Mrs Jewer	Owl Babies Read by Mrs Biddle

The Home Visit

On the day, we will visit you in your home environment. The visit will last for about 15-20 minutes. This will be an opportunity for you to share with us any information about your child or family that you feel will be helpful, a chance to ask questions, a chance for us to share information with you and most importantly a chance for us to build a relationship with you and your child.

We will use this opportunity to chat with your child too about their interests and will also carry out some activities with them so that we can use this information to help settle them in to school. When the children start school, we find that they feel more comfortable and love to recount their experience with us!

What to expect from your child

Excitement / anxiety / nerves.
Settling in takes different amounts of time for different children.
Tiredness and irritability – early nights, healthy meals.
Teacher available at classroom door before and after school
Need a more formal appointment? Speak to the school office.

Helping your child to get ready for school


School Ready	A Great Start to School!

Daily Routines

EYFS have their own allocated area for drop off and pick ups.
Gates open from 8.40am each morning.
Classroom doors open from 8.45am-8.50am.
Your child’s class teacher will be there to greet you each morning/end of day.
When the bell goes the door will shut. If you are late you will need to take your child to the office to sign in.
Punctuality is really important!
Each morning if the children are having hot dinners they will choose from 3 options. It is really helpful if you can talk about these prior to the children coming in.
PE will take place each Thursday – please ensure a PE kit is brought in at the start of each term and we will return it at the end to be washed.
School finishes promptly at 3.05pm. We expect a prompt pick up.

What to pack each day!

All uniform to be labelled – even socks and pants!
Coat every day please.
Book bag – containing reading book and reading record (everyday please!)
If packed lunch – variety of foods and NO NUTS!
Water bottle (only water!)
Weather dependent:-Warm hats, scarves and gloves (the children have free-flow outside) In the summer – sun hats and sun cream (we would advise to apply before school).

Lunch

EYFS, Year 1 & Year 2 receive Universal Free School Meals (UFSM).
We recommend that ALL children in these year groups take a hot meal for lunch. Children are more likely to try new foods along with their new friends.
If you choose to send your child in with a packed lunch please remember we are a strict NO NUTS SCHOOL!
ALL EYFS parents/carers MUST apply for Free School Meals (even though you receive UFSM). If successful you may be entitled to further funding for your child.

Parking

When you come to St Gregory’s, you agree to follow our community rules,
Please DO NOT PARK in the cul-de-sac or Knapp Road.
Instead, park in Waitrose and walk around – it takes 3 minutes.
This is for the safety of all of our children.

How we connect

TAPESTRY - Online learning journal where you can follow your child's learning journey and share with us home experiences too! More info to follow in September.
TWITTER - This is a CLOSED group you have to be a parent/carer of the school to be granted access. More info to follow in September - @SaintGregsChelt – please join!
SCHOOL WEBSITE - As you can see our website is packed full of information. We are a paperless school. We will give you details on how to log on to our school payment/booking apps - you will be able to pay for trips, give permissions, sign up for parents evenings via these systems.
YOUTUBE - Our virtual school
PARENT PAY - Pay for meals, Trips & paid for clubs
PARENTS EVENING - Register for Parent Teacher Reviews (PTRs), Register for FREE clubs & Sporting activities/competitions