Letters to Parents for Reception September 2021 pupils

Thursday 27th May 2021 - Induction Letter

Dear Parents,

We hope you and your family are well and are looking forward to your child starting St Mary’s school in September. We appreciate that there may be some apprehension with the current Coronavirus situation but we are going to do our best to alleviate any concerns you and your child have.

This year the induction programme for our new Reception 2021 class will be significantly different to previous years. Last year the induction process was entirely online but this year we are hoping to have you and your child into school for two visits and then hold different sessions online and through virtual appointments. With the social distancing measures in place and the risks associated with these, we feel this will be the best way of helping prepare your child to start school in September, whilst keeping everyone as safe as we can.

We have developed a timetable of events to support your child and give you as much information as we can, with the opportunities to ask any questions you may have. Please keep checking back on the Blog for further information and we will be emailing you through our online parent communication app, ParentMail, so please connect when you get the invitation. .

The events we have scheduled are as follows:-

Week commencing
This week	Your child’s Year 6 Buddies have created a welcome video on the website - Reception 2021 Blog. All children will be given a buddy who will support and guide them through their first year. The two Reception teachers have posted an introduction video on the Reception 2021 Blog. Our Information and Response Packs are being sent out. These will be posted or given to a sibling if they have one in school. This will give you all the information you need. The Response Pack will need to be completed and returned as soon as possible.
Week beginning 31.05.21	Half Term
Week beginning 7.06.21	A Parent Information video will be posted on the Reception 2021 Blog. This is a similar presentation to the open evening we would normally have had if it wasn’t for social distancing. There will be plenty of other opportunities to ask questions, so please don’t worry but we will set up a questionnaire to see if there are any questions you have following the Parent Information video. This will be done through the forms section on the ParentMail app. You will receive an alert when this is set up and any general questions will then be answered on the Blog (or by email/phone if confidential). You will be asked to book an appointment through the ParentMail app for a virtual parents’ appointment in July. These will be through Microsoft Teams.
Week beginning 14.06.21	A virtual tour of the school video will be posted on the Reception 2021 Blog. A Scavenger Hunt activity session for the children to get involved will be posted on the Reception 2021 Blog. We would love to see photos of the children with their ‘treasure’. These can be emailed to admin@stmarysbs.org.uk. Latest date for Information Response packs to be returned please!
Week beginning 21.06.21	You and your child will be invited into school for a Teddy Bears’ Picnic and a quick tour of the school. The class has been split over two days to minimise contact. Your child’s session will be:- Tuesday 22^nd June 3.45 – 4.30pm Thursday 24^th June – 3.45 – 4.30pm Don’t forget a teddy! A pack for your child will be available to take home at this session with information to prepare them for September. Included will be an ‘All About Me’ booklet that we ask them to complete and return.
Week beginning 28.06.21	Story time – our Reception teachers will be posting videos on the Blog for your child to enjoy.
Week beginning 05.07.21	Play session in school for pupils. Parents will be asked to stay in the playground or outdoor classroom, where Mrs Creese (our Parent Link and Pupil Mentor) will be providing information and answering any questions. Again the class has been split into two groups. Your child’s session will be:- Tuesday 6^th July 2.00- 3.00pm Thursday 8^th July 2.00 – 3.00pm All About Me booklets to be returned. Parent Appointments via Microsoft Teams (one 10 minute appointment slot booked):- Wednesday 7^th July 2.00 – 2.45pm Thursday 8^th July – 3.30pm – 4.30pm Friday 9^th July 2.00 – 3.00pm
Week beginning 14.07.21	Parent Appointments via Microsoft Teams (one 10 minute appointment slot booked):- Wednesday 14^th July 2.00 – 3.00pm Thursday 15th July 2.00 – 3.00pm

We are currently making our plans for your child starting in September. This will be a phased induction with all children in school fulltime by the end of the month. We will notify you of the September plans shortly.

We will work hard so that this virtual induction process will be a success but everything is based on the latest Coronavirus guidance and the situation in school. We are still operating staggered start and finish times for all year groups and no mixing of Class Bubbles but hopefully the situation may have changed by then.

Our current Reception children did not attend any sessions in school and still settled beautifully and hopefully the planned visits into school this year will benefit your child but we will change to an online induction if we have Class Bubble closures in school.

We are always open to questions and feedback, so please do get in touch with any questions or comments that you have. Please always mark the subject of any emails as ‘Reception September 2021’, so we can answer them as quickly as possible – admin@stmarysbs.org.uk.

We look forward to meeting you all soon.

Mrs Burden and the staff at St Mary’s

Friday 14th May 2021

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome! We are looking forward to your child starting with us in September and your family being part of our school community. We just wanted to send an initial introductory letter and tell you how you will be hearing from us over the next few weeks.

We are working on an induction programme for you and your child to visit our school in the summer term. In normal circumstances this would be straightforward but with all the procedures and regulations around the CoronaVirus and social distancing, it is a little more complicated; we are constantly monitoring the latest guidance. We intend to have a combination of in-person and online transition sessions: this will be dependent on the regulations at that time and the circumstances within school. The safety and wellbeing of you and your child and the children and staff in school are our priority. Our current Reception Class’ induction was solely online and they settled in remarkably well.

We will be sharing lots of information by email, post and on our Reception September 2021 Induction Blog on our website, which you can find at:-

https://www.stmarysbradleystoke.org.uk/reception-2021-induction-blog-1

The majority of our email and text correspondence comes through the home communication app ParentMail®, accessible through your computer or mobile. If you already have a child in the school you will already be connected, but if not, it is important that you are able to access this. Please be assured that ParentMail® is registered with the Data Protection Registrar and guarantees that all information you provide will be kept private and will not be passed on to any other organisation. Normally both parents receive emails from the school, although sometimes texts will only go to the primary parent listed. Please can you email the office (admin@stmarysbs.org.uk) as soon as possible with the following information (please put them in priority order):-

Parent 1 Contact Name, Relationship to child, Email and Mobile Number

Parent 2 Contact Name, Relationship to child, Email and Mobile Number

Please mark the email as ‘New Reception September 2021’ and then your child’s name. You will then be invited to join ParentMail by downloading the ParentMail app – you have to follow the link and connect to hear from us (we can talk you through this if you have any issues). This will allow us to send you information and book appointments.

We hope that the transition arrangements we are putting in place will ensure that your child has a smooth start to their school life at St Mary’s.

We will be in touch regularly with you now, so please remember to send us your contact details and regularly check our blog on our website!

If you have any questions please do contact us at admin@stmarysbs.org.uk.

Best wishes,

Mrs Kathy Burden

Acting Head Teacher

ST MARY'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

Letters to Parents for Reception September 2021 pupils

ST MARY'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL