Welcome to our Reception page at Downview Primary School!

We have had an amazing start to our Autumn Term with the children and have already had some exciting learning adventures together. This first half term we have been busy learning about our new school and learning environments and have already learnt so much about each other. 

Our online learning journal, 'Tapestry', has already been sharing our activities and experiences in school with you all at home - please let us know if you need any assistance with accessing your child's observations. 

Homework

The children all have their reading diaries, and have already been practising their sounds and blending at home. Please remember to read 5 times a week for approximately 5-10 minutes. This could be practising any tricky sounds or reading from one of our scheme books. Don't forget to record each read in the front of your diary so you can carry on working up to your 100 reads book prize!

Keep an eye out for 'mini' challenges across the year to support our learning in school, and we welcome any pictures or photos sharing special events or news from home.

Phonics

At Downview we use the Song of Sounds phonics programme to teach the children to read and write. Song of Sounds is a systematic, synthetic phonics programme which runs from EYFS to Year 2.  The programme introduces children to the sounds that they can hear in words (phonemes) and their written equivalent (graphemes). Children then learn how to blend the sounds together to read words and segment words in order to spell them.

You will find information about which sounds we are teaching in our Topic Web and Curriculum Overviews. We will be running a Phonics Workshop later on in the Autumn Term, but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

PE and Woodland Days

We have been enjoying our weekly PE lessons and sessions in the Woodland classroom.

Please remember the children should wear their PE kit into school on their class PE day. As the weather is starting to change, children may wear tracksuit bottoms or sweatshirts as outlined in our example uniform posters below.

A gentle reminder that we will need wet weather gear to be provided for our sessions in the Woodland classroom as the rainy season continues! Please provide clothing suitable for our adventures if you haven't already sent them into school, such as include items such as jackets and wellington boots. Your child's wet weather clothing can stay in school, but will be returned to be 'refreshed' at points throughout the year.

Food and Drink - Snacks

We offer a free healthy snack daily. Please note, the snack includes produce from a wide range of fruits and vegetables including carrots, apples, strawberries, pears, bananas, oranges and raisins. You may put a healthy alternative in your book bag, however we ask that any substitute is nut free, fruit or vegetable based where possible and does not refrigerating.

Milk

Fresh milk is supplied through Cool Milk daily. Please sign your child up for this service if you would like it using the link below. If your child requires a milk substitute, such as soya or oat milk, we are happy for you to provide us with a carton which we will share at snack times as appropriate. At present, this is not a service that Cool Milk provide.

Water Bottles

Please ensure your child has a named water bottle with them every day. The children have access to their water bottles throughout the day, and we have drinking water in our classrooms which we can use to refill the bottles as needed. Please ensure no juice, milk or fizzy drinks are brought into school.  

Hot Dinners

In England, all children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in state-funded school receive a universal free school meal. You must register and select the meals for your child at least 2 weeks in advance from Chartwells (see link below to Parent Pay). If you choose not to have the free school meal, you must provide your child with a packed lunch. If your child has any allergies, please notify Chartwells directly and they can provide appropriate menu choices for your child.

Please also notify your class teacher if your child has any allergies.