Minisha Bist
Head of Nursery and EYFA
Aside from your daughter’s form tutor, Mrs Bist is your first point of contact for any queries regarding Reception. bistm@glendowerprep.org
Kemi Ehilebo (from September 2023)
Deputy Head, Pastoral and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
If you have any pastoral or safeguarding concerns, please contact Mrs Ehilebo. We will share ehilebok@glendowerprep.org
Sarah Dennis SENDCO and Deputy DSL
If your child has any special educational needs, Mrs Dennis will liaise with you on how the school can best support your daughter. sarahd@glendowerprep.org
Anthony Hawksley Bursar
For any finance enquiries, including fee assistance, please contact Mr Hawksley. thawksley@glendowerprep.org
Natasha Sookrah Reception/Admin Assistant
As part of the Office team, Miss Sookrah is your first point of call for any day-to-day enquiries. office@glendowerprep.org
The Reception classrooms are filled with colour and eye-catching displays. From carpeted areas for whole-class discussions to small tables for individual and group work, the Reception classrooms are perfectly suited for the start of your daughter’s school journey.
Both Reception classrooms are located next door to each other with an inter-connecting door so the year group can work together on tasks, as well as allowing students to expand their social circle. They are located on the first floor of the building with quick and easy access to toilet facilities
In your daughter’s classroom, she will have a designated peg to store her blazer/winter coat and beret, as well as a labelled tray to keep her book-bag. Her tray is also where she will keep various other items, such as reading books, toys or information being sent home.
All sections of the classroom are clearly labelled to encourage students to locate and identify equipment on their own and promote resourcefulness - one of Glendower six R’s (more on page 13).
The classrooms are beautifully decorated with displays consisting of student’s work, as well as fun displays showing upcoming birthdays, class responsibilities and visual timetables. There are helpful displays to assist with common words, sounds and ideas that students can incorporate into their own work.
The Reception classrooms are where your daughter will have the majority of her lessons throughout the school day. PE lessons take place off-site, at Imperial College, Hyde Park and, occasionally, Kensington Gardens. Glendower boasts specialist teaching in many subjects from Reception and whilst some of these specialist lessons will take place in their usual classroom, such as French, others will occur in specialist teaching rooms.
Students will have Music lessons in the dedicated Music Room, located at the top of the school. It hosts a wide range of instruments that are accessible to all children regardless of their musical capabilities, as well a piano and keyboards.
ICT lessons will also take place outside of their usual classroom, and students will get to grips with fundamental computer skills, coding and design work under the guidance of a specialist teacher.
All students are escorted around the building to specialist classrooms by a member of staff, usually the class’ Teaching Assistant, to ensure the girls know exactly where to go and learn to navigate the building independently and confidently. Other areas of the school your
daughter will frequent are the Library, the Whitehouse, the Dining Room, the Playground and the Office. The Library is a quiet and relaxing space where students can enjoy exploring new genres and authors. Lower School students have their Drama lessons in the Whitehouse, and this is also where assemblies take place.
The Dining Room is where your daughter will eat lunch every day, as well as some extracurricular activities taking place. This room is also used for parent information events, such as trip talks and curriculum evenings.
The Office are available to help parents and students for the duration of the day. If you need to drop anything off for your daughter or pass on a message, the Office will ensure she receives it. Whilst all staff at Glendower are First Aid trained, students come to the Office when they require medical attention and are equipped to deal with many minor medical incidents.
Your daughter’s first day of school will be Thursday 8th September 2022. Whilst normal drop-off time is 08.30, on the first day, we ask that students arrive at school at 10.00 and arrive at the Whitehouse entrance via the main playground gates.
Parents are invited to walk their daughter to their new classrooms where they will be met by the class teacher and teaching assistant. They will soon settle in and find their named peg and tray to store their belongings before joining their peers. Parents should depart quickly once students are in their classrooms to minimise any separation anxiety and let them settle in.
The first day of school is a fun and exciting milestone, and sets the tone for the rest of the Reception year. The girls will be introduced to their daily routines and experience their very first lessons at Glendower.
They will also enjoy break-time and lunch. For break, each girl is required to bring in a small snack to enjoy made up of either fruit or vegetables. We ask that no nuts of any kind are bought onto the school premises. During lunch, girls will eat in the Dining Room and enjoy a cooked lunch from on our wonderful kitchen team. Students can also bring a refillable water bottle into school. All items should be in clearly named containers.
All stationery and equipment will be provided by the school, so your daughter does not need a pencil case or any specific items. She is required to bring her bookbag to and from school every day, and, later in the term, will also be taking home a reading book on certain days of the week.
A timetable will be issued to all parents clearly stating which lessons your daughter has on which day and which days she should bring her PE kit into school.
At the end of the school day, your daughter should be collected at 15.20 from the Whitehouse doors via the main playground gates. She will only be dismissed to adults stated on her going home form that has been completed and returned to Mr Callaghan (Registrar) as part of the Pupil Profile. If your daughter is going home with another student, we require written notice of this sent via email to the class teacher and the Office to ensure the safety of your daughter.
Starting school is an exciting time for both students and parents, but there is a lot of new information to get familiar with. The below will help familiarise yourself with various aspects of Glendower and will hopefully answer any questions you may have.
Lunch
Lunch takes place at 12.00 every day in the Dining Room. A cooked lunch is provided (please see an example menu here) and girls line up to select one of two options (including a vegetarian choice). They will then sit at tables with their classmates and eat their lunch, supervised by members of staff. We expect all girls to be able to use a knife and fork, but staff will assist in the first few weeks if necessary. If your daughter has any dietary requirements, these must be clearly communicated to the school via the Pupil Profile, and your daughter will be given a lanyard to wear so the kitchen team can identify what foods she cannot have.
Each week, the Lower School meet for various assemblies. On Mondays, these assemblies are usually held by the Head of Lower School or a visiting speaker to discuss various topics of interest. On Thursdays, each class will perform either a music assembly organised by the Music department, or a class assembly that parents are invited to. These assemblies are based on a theme the girls have been studying in the classroom and each girl gets a chance to perform and take part. Celebration assemblies take place on Fridays, where class prizes are announced for following the Golden Rules (see page 12) and for achievement and effort in classwork.
On occasion, your daughter may be nominated to attend Head’s Breakfast for an especially outstanding piece of work or great effort in one of her lessons. This is an opportunity to have breakfast with Mrs Kingsmill Moore in her study with a small group of girls. Further details will be communicated when your daughter has been nominated.
If your daughter is unwell and unable to attend school, please email her form teacher and the Office to ensure our records are kept up to date. If you would like to request an absence for a reason such as a family celebration or bereavement, you must email absences@glendowerprep.org and Mrs Kingsmill Moore will be in touch stating if the absence has been authorised. If your daughter is absent for school and no reason has been given, this will be marked as unauthorised.
If your daughter requires medication to be kept in school for an ongoing condition, such as an inhaler or epi pen, this must be disclosed on the Pupil Profile and handed to the Office on the first day of school in a clearly named container. If your daughter requires ad-hoc medication, such as Calpol or antibiotics, this must be brought to the Office and a form completed stating the dosage instructions. The Office staff are happy to ad-minister any medication once the relevant paperwork has been completed.
Communication
Every Friday, the school send out The Whitehouse - the weekly school newsletter. This provides parents with an overview of the week’s activities and also provides important information and messages that parents should be aware of. The Lower School also receive The Week Ahead where each year group states what your daughter will be learning in the upcoming week. This also includes important information specific to each year group, such as when to bring in assembly costumes and materials required for art projects.
Extra-Curricular Activities
Glendower are very proud of the wonderful extra-curricular programme we offer the students. Clubs run termly and parents will receive the list of clubs available towards the end of the Summer holidays. At Glendower, there are internal clubs (run by Glendower staff) and external clubs (run by outside companies). All clubs should be booked via SchoolCloud, which you will receive login details for before the start of term. This plat-form is also used to book Parents’ Evening appointments. Whilst there is a wide range of activities available for Reception students to enjoy before and after school, we recommend younger girls only take part in a couple of clubs per week to give them enough downtime to relax and play after a busy day at school.
Online Platforms
Reception use the online platform SeeSaw; more information will be given in due course.
Homework and Reading
Homework in Reception is reading and learning ‘Rainbow Words’. More information on both of these will be given at the Reception Parent Talk taking place on Thursday 15th September.
Houses
All girls at Glendower are allocated to a house; Gordon, Wellington or Marlborough. Each house has a specific colour that girls wear at house events, such as Sports Day.
Gordon: Green
Wellington: Red Marlborough: Yellow
Each term, the individual houses meet for an assembly led by the Year Six House Captains to discuss various charity initiatives, house competitions and events that are coming up.
You should have been informed of your daughter’s house already, but if you have any questions, please contact Mr Callaghan, the Registrar, via admissions@glendowerprep.org.
Golden Rules
Students in the Lower School should follow Glendower’s Golden Rules; these are:
• Always treat everyone with respect.
• Always be your best self.
• Always be a good listener.
• Always look after the school and everything in it.
• Always move around the school safely and sensibly.
Glendower’s values are known around the school as ‘The Six R’s’. The students focus on a different R every half term which is discussed in assemblies, PSHEE and woven into other subjects.
• I like helping others.
• I always do my very best in my learning.
• I like to help in the classroom.
• I can work in a group by listening to others and taking turns.
• I can think for myself.
• I can work on my own.
• I can choose the equipment I need to help me.
• I don’t give up easily.
• I will try and think of different things I can do to help me if I am stuck.
• I can learn from my mistakes.
• I always self-assess my work.
• I read the teacher’s comments to help my learning.
• I think about and use good questions.
• I always take my reading record home and bring it back to school.
• I look after my belongings.
• I am always ready to learn.
• I always listen and I am considerate of my friends’ feelings.
• I can share and play nicely with my friends.
• I am gentle and loving towards others.
• I can work collaboratively.
Once your daughter has started school, her weekly timetable will be sent home. This allows you to see what lessons she will be having each day and when to pack certain items, such as PE kits and reading books.
To the right, is an example of a weekly timetable. Your daughter’s timetable will differ slightly, but this will give students and parents an idea of the fun activities in store from September.
PSED: Personal, Social and Emotional Development
UTW: Understanding the World
EAD: Expressive Arts and Design
Red indicates a lesson taken by a specialist teacher.
Wehope you have found the information contained in this guide useful and it has made your daughter (and you!) even more excited to begin her Glendower journey in September. We have put together a simple checklist on how to prepare prior to September.
If you have queries, concerns of questions prior to your daughter’s first day of school, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are always more than happy to help and provide you with any information you may need. You can find the various ways to contact the school on the opposite page.
Ensure all forms are completed and returned to school. If there have been any changes to your details, please do inform the school office as soon as possible.
We ask that you check your junk folder at the startof term to make sure that emails from us as not diverted to enter your junk folder.
Please ensure all school uniform is clearly named. Everything from tunics and coats, to socks and shoes should be labelled with your daughter’s full name.
There are many fun ways to help prepare your daughter for her transition into Reception, many of which can take the form of engaging and exciting games and activities. Some areas to focus on could be:
• Fine motor skills such cutting, sticking, threading, catching, using tongs and tweezers as well as colouring and drawing.
• Focus on practical elements of school life, such as using a knife and fork and being able to pack her bookbag independently.
• Practise getting dressed into the school uniform so your daughter is prepared for changing clothes at school before and after her PE lessons.
• Establish a morning routine that will be in place when your daughter starts school so she knows what to expect in September. If you are able to, you can even practise the school-run!
• Familiarise your daughter with her teachers and her classroom by reading this guide and watching the included videos as many times as you wish.
Most importantly, have a wonderful, fun Summer! Ensure your daughter is well rested for when we welcome her to school on Thursday 8th September at 10 am.
There are many ways you can contact Glendower if you have any questions. You can also follow us on social media to stay up to date with day-to-day events at the school and be the first to see the exciting activities the students take part in.
