Parental Information

 Click here to download our Behaviour & Discipline Policy

 What should my child wear to school?

 The wearing of our school uniform is strongly encouraged.

 What about school meals?

 Children are encouraged to stay for school lunch, which is of good nutritional quality and excellent value. Lunch is 
 treated as an important social part of the school day.

 What about school milk?

 School milk is available to all children at a small cost per term. Fruit or raw vegetables are also provided free of 
 charge for all children.

 What if our annual holiday occurs in school time?

 The maximum amount of time allowed for holidays in term time is two weeks per year.

 What is the policy for charging for school activities?

 Where an educational visit is planned within school hours parents are invited to make a contribution towards the 
 expenses which the visit incurs.

 Our School Day

 Language and Literacy

 To develop speaking and listening skills

      * Talk with your child.

      * Give simple instructions and encourage your child to follow them accurately.

      * Recite nursery rhymes and sing songs together.

      * Play games such as "Simon says" using language such as "in front of", "on top of", "at the side of", "below" 
         and "behind".

      * Begin to tell a story - the child continues it - mum or dad completes the tale. Reverse the order.

      * Read fun poetry with simple rhymes, strong rhythm and plenty of alliteration.

      * Share books with your child; let the children see you reading. Show that books can be a useful source of 
         information eg. cookery books, car manuals, assembly instructions etc. 

 To develop a good memory

      * Encourage setting the table correctly ready for a meal.

      * Play Pelmanism - cards face down on the table, try to pick up a matching pair. Each time you and your child 
         have to remember the position of the cards turned up earlier in order to find a pair.

      * My aunt went to market and she bought a ...................... . Taking turns, each person in the game adds an item and 
         they must be repeated in correct order each time.

      * Kim's game - place several objects on a tray and players close eyes whilst one object is removed. What is 
         missing? Repeat.

      * Every child should be taught his/her address, telephone number and birthday. 

 To develop visual discrimination

      * Play "spot the difference" games from newspapers or puzzle books.

      * "Letter search" - eg. ring every "a" in  passage of writing using magazines and newspapers.

      * "Word search" - eg. ring every "and" in a passage of writing. Try "the", "it", "on" and "is". Check the passage 
         first to ensure that the words are present.

      * From a piece in a magazine or newspaper, circle five words beginning with "s", five words ending in "s" and 
        five words with "s" present within them. Use other letters of the alphabet.

      * Play matching games - picture lotto; dominoes; snap. 

      * Find smaller words within a long word. eg. understand: under - stand. Information: in - for - or - form - mat - 
        at - on - inform - formation. This is a more difficult game for the child who can read reasonably well.  

      * Build jigsaw puzzles.

      * During a journey on foot or by car, play "spotting games". eg. dish aerials, bus stops, road signs, car number 
         plates containing a particular letter or number, fish shops, greengrocers, etc. 

 To aid spelling and phonic development

      * Recite the alphabet frequently - start reciting with a different letter sometimes.

      * Recite part of the alphabet - ask "what comes next?"

      * Ask your child to cut out lower case or capital letters from large print in magazines or newspapers. Help to 
         stick them on a piece of paper in alphabetical order.

      * Play "I spy with my little eye" - use single letter sounds only at first; use letter blends later eg. something 
         beginning with "sh", "ch", "bl", "cr" etc.

      * Make a "sound" box - a box of objects, five of which begin with a particular letter, eg. "M". Find the "M" 
         objects.

      * Let your child cut out pictures from catalogues and magazines. "What letter do they begin with?" Arrange 
         them in alphabetical order. Make an "M" book. Make a theme book eg. toys, animals, Christmas etc. Next to 
         each picture write the initial letter.

      * Play the "letter game". Choose a letter, then think of things beginning with the letter - a girl's name, a boy's 
         name, an animal, a flower, a vegetable, a town etc.

      * On a walk or during a car journey, spot as many objects as possible which begin with a particular letter sound.

      * Talk, listen, read to and read with your child. Help him/her to wrote first and last names with correct letter 
         formation. Play board games.

Always praise your child's efforts to learn

 If you enjoy talking with your child and sharing activities, your child will respond in a positive manner. Fifteen 
 minutes each day spent in a relaxed atmosphere sharing an activity which you both enjoy, is of far greater value 
 than a daily lesson where your child is placed under pressure to succeed.                                       

 Help your child with Maths

 Numbers

      * Sing counting songs and number rhymes eg. 10 green bottles,
                                                                        1,2,3,4,5,
                                                                        5 little ducks went swimming one day,
                                                                        5 brown buns in the bakers shop,
                                                                        1,2, buckle my shoe etc. 
      * Can you find page numbers in your book? 
      * Can you set the table for your family? 
      * Find pairs:- socks, shoes, gloves, mittens, candlesticks, pyjamas, shorts, trousers, slippers, wellingtons. 
      * Count large numbers of items (pegs, buttons, beads etc.) by counting in tens. 
      * Learn number doubles to ten (1+1, 2+2, 3+3 etc.) 
      * Count in 10's from any number (3, 13, 23 etc.) 
      * Count in 2's. 
      * Count in 5's. 
      * Count to 100 backwards; forwards. 
      * Collect car numbers which have a 5 in them; 3 in them etc. 
      * Collect numbers all around eg. on your microwave, door, telephone, clock, computer, radio etc. 
      * Add the digits of car numbers. Who can get to 20 first? 
      * Counting in your house. How many doors, windows, fireplaces, rooms, steps, chimneys, etc.? 
      * Learn your telephone number. 
      * Learn how to use your telephone. First, ask your parent. 
      * Change channels on your television using the remote control handset. 
      * Use the on/off switch on your torch or battery toy. 
      * Cut up numbers in magazines and make a numbers collage. 

 Games

      * Snap.
      * Snakes and ladders.  
      * Dominoes.  
      * Connect four game.  
      * Beetle game.  
      * Board games.  
      * Skittles; add numbers on the skittles.  
      * Bingo; 10 more game - put counter on the number which is 10 more than the number called.  
      * Bingo; 10 less game - put counter on the number which is 10 less than the number called.  
      * Dice; - use dice with numerals instead of spots - use 2 dice and add the score - change numbers on the dice to 
         get higher numerals.

 Shape

      * Supermarket packaging; can you find a cylinder, cube and a sphere? 
      * Look for 2D shapes. Can you find a triangle, square, rectangle, circle, pentagon, hexagon in buildings, 
        packaging, transport, road signs, your house? 
      * Weighing/Baking 
      * Weigh different items at 100gm. Compare quantities. 
      * Bake some buns. Weigh out the ingredients in metric units. 
      * Make yourself a sandwich. Can you cut it into halves/quarters? 
      * Share a piece of fruit. Cut into halves/quarters for four people. 
      * Ask questions such as " are there enough biscuits for everyone to have two each?"

 Measuring

      * How tall are you? Measure against a height chart. Compare with your family members. Who is the tallest? 
        Shortest? What is the difference in centimetres? 
      * Buying new shoes. What is your shoe size? Compare with your family. Whose feet are biggest; longest; 
        smallest; shortest? 
      * Buying new clothes. Measure your different body parts using a cm. tape measure. Look at the labels in new 
        clothes. What do the numbers mean? 
      * Use the vocabulary of measuring - wide, narrow, short, long, tall, high, thick, thin - to describe things in 
        everyday life. 
      * Estimate how many strides across your bedroom/ your rug. Now find out and count etc.

 Capacity

      * Supermarket packaging. Read 1 litre; 500ml. Read 1kg; 1/2 kg; 500g. 
      * In the bath - use shampoo, bubble bath bottle to talk about full/half full/empty. 
      * Can you estimate how many tops fill the empty bottle? Now count and find out. How near was your estimate?

 Money and Shopping

      * Make a coin rubbings pattern/picture. 
      * Arrange 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2 coins in value order. 
      * Take 50p to the shop with mum - buy sweets/comic. Count the change together. 
      * Buy 2 items from a shop - add how much you have spent. What change will you receive? 
      * How many 20p in £1? 5p in 10p? 5p in 20p? 5p in £1? 
      * How many packets of crisps can I buy for a pound?

 Clocks and Time

      * Look at clocks and watches. 
      * Look for clocks in Honley/Huddersfield. 
      * Learn o'clock - big hand at the top. 
      * Learn half past - big hand at the bottom. 
      * Learn - the little hands points to numerals. 
      * Learn the days of the week. 
      * Learn the months of the year. 
      * My birthday is ................................................. 
      * Make a picture of things you do in the morning/afternoon/evening. 
      * Learn the time that school starts/dinnertime/bathtime/bedtime. 
      * How many skips can you do in 1 minute? 
      * How many 8's can you write in 1 minute? 
      * How many times can you write your name in 1 minute? 
      * How long does it take to eat your breakfast? Put on your clothes? Walk to school? Make your bed? 
      * Always praise your child's efforts to learn.

 If you enjoy talking with your child and sharing activities, your child will respond in a positive manner. Fifteen 
 minutes each day spent in a relaxed atmosphere, sharing an activity which you both enjoy is of far greater value 
 than a daily lesson where your child is placed under pressure to succeed.