Hampton Academies Trust
Dogsthorpe Infant School
Parent/Carer Information
Pack 2022-23
”
Dream, Believe, Shine”
Our vision and values
Welcome to our school family where children are...
inspired to dream and develop the building blocks to be independent, confident and inquisitive life-long learners.
nurtured, valued and individual differences are respected in an exciting, learning community where everyone belongs.
litte stars who deserve to shine. Our values will make us
HSucceed – determination, perseverance, ambition
appy – confidence, empathy, respect
NIndependent – resilience, responsibility
urture – kindness, caring, co-operation
Enthusiastic – curiosity, imagination, motivation
Introduction
Welcome Letter
Meet The Team
The School Day & Term Dates
The School Day
Lunchtimes
Transitions into Dogsthorpe Infant School
Term Dates & Attendance
EYFS Curriculum
Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum
Literacy
Mathematics
Technology
Relationships and Sex Education
Forest Schools
RE & Shine Times
School Information
Home Learning
ClassDojo
Parent Partnership
School Clubs
Our Uniform
Physical Education
Special Educational Needs
Special Educational Needs
Illness and Medicine
Pupils with additional dietary requirements
Safeguarding
Safeguarding Children
E-safety
Use of Cameras and Mobile Phones in School
Disclosure & Barring Service
The Safeguarding Team
Behaviour
Our approach
Our Recipe for a Fantastic School
Pastoral Care & Support
Contact Information
Contact Information
Parentmail
Social Media
Communication with School
Table of Contents
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Page 11 - 12
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Dear Parents/Carers
Welcome to Dogsthorpe Infant School!
I have been fortunate to work at Dogsthorpe Infants since 2001 and I have been the Headteacher since April 2015. The school has seen many changes, developments, and growth during this time, but we have always kept the children at the very heart of every decision we have made. We firmly believe that every child who attends our school should have the ambition to be anything they want to be - if they have the ‘Dream’, and ‘Believe’ in themselves, then they will ‘Shine’!
Our staff work tirelessly to ensure all children have exciting and meaningful experiences across all areas of the curriculum which enable them to develop a sense of curiosity and a love of learning. We consider it a privilege that we can play a key role in these early stages of their educational journey. We believe that a parent/carer is a child’s first teacher, and we value working in partnership with you to support your child’s learning and development.
We look forward to meeting you and your ‘little star’ soon.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Waters Headteacher
Meet The Team
”Dream, Believe, Shine”
2022-23
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Executive Headteacher Dr Price Headteacher M rs Waters Deputy Headteacher & KS1 Learning & Teaching Manager M iss Gattuso EYFS Learning & Teaching Manager M rs Jordan SENDCO & Intervention Manager M rs Marshall-Sully
The School Day
The school day begins at 8:45am and ends at 3:15pm.
Children are expected to be in school every day unless they are unwell. We monitor attendance (including lateness) very closely. Please see the school’s Attendance policy on the website and also refer to the separate Attendance leaflet.
Throughout the day, children in EYFS access a variety of rich learning experiences, both inside and outside. As well as a ‘snack time’ (all children are provided with a piece of fruit/vegetable each day), the year group also have a playtime together.
Lunchtimes.
Initially, EYFS children will have 1 hour for lunch. Children can either have a free school meal (a hot meal or a packed lunch) or they can bring a packed lunch. Our menus can be found on the school website.
Children having packed lunch must bring their meal in a named container with any cutlery they need, we are unable to supply cutlery or heat food up. Your child will be encouraged to eat what has been put in their packed lunch, but they are not allowed fizzy drinks, glass bottles, cans or sweets.
Children having a hot meal will be expected to use a knife and fork to eat their lunch with. They will be encouraged to cut food up by themselves so please start practicing this with your child now.
Whilst children are having their lunch they are supervised by a team of Midday Supervisors. Mrs Ingram is the Senior Midday Supervisor.
Transitions into Dogsthorpe Infant School
Children & Young people naturally pass through a number of stages as they grow and develop. Often they are expected to cope with changes, such as movement from nursery to primary, but we think it is important to appreciate how these changes can impact upon the children and indeed their parents.
Transition events include:
• Home visits
• Pre School visits
• Stay & Play Sessions
• Parent information evenings
Children with SEND and those identified as at risk of struggling at transition points, may have a longer transition which includes a high degree of parental involvement.
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Term Dates & Attendance
Term Dates 2022/2023
AUTUMN TERM 2022
Autumn Term opens Monday 5 September 2022
Half Term Monday 24 to Friday 28 October 2022
Autumn Term closes Tuesday 20 December 2022
SPRING TERM 2023
Spring Term opens Thursday 5 January 2023
Half Term Monday 13 to Friday 17 February 2023
Spring Term closes Friday 31 March 2023
SUMMER TERM 2023
Summer Term opens
May Day Bank Holiday
Half Term
Summer Term closes
Tuesday 18 April 2023
Monday 1 May 2023
Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2023
Wednesday 19 July 2023
Dogsthorpe Infant School is committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all of its children and recognises that this can only be achieved by supporting and promoting excellent school attendance. By your child attending school regularly and punctually will ensure that they do not miss out on valuable learning experiences and enhances your child’s ability to make good, close friendships.
Our registers are marked in accordance with government guidelines and leave during term time will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
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EYFS Curriculum
Our Reception children will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. This consists of seven areas of learning, three prime areas – Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Physical Development, and four specific areas - Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design, which are broken down further into 17 goals.
Throughout the year, children’s progress is observed and recorded in their online Learning Journal - ReallySchool. Observations are made in the form of written snap shots, photographs, films, children’s work (e.g. writing, drawings, models) and engagement from parents. At the end of the year, class teachers will determine if children are meeting expected levels or are below (emerging) for each of the 17 goals.
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Literacy: What is taught and how can you support?
Phonics: Our teaching has a strong phonics base and children take part in a daily phonics session for 20 minutes. Children learn to blend words for reading e.g. c-a-t = cat, read simple sentences and recognise many common irregular words such as the, to, no and I.
Reading: We work hard to instil a love of reading therefore we share stories and texts throughout the day. Children will have opportunities to enjoy and share a range of books and develop their reading and comprehension skills. They will take part in shared and individual reading sessions throughout the week where they will be encouraged to demonstrate their understanding of what has been read to them or what they have read themselves by talking about the book and answering questions.
We encourage children to share books at home on a regular basis and read their school reading book on a daily basis, and encourage parents to comment on their child’s reading through our reading diary system. The helps develop strong links between home and school.
You can also support your child by reading stories to them, encouraging your child to join in and talk about books, singing songs and nursery rhymes, taking time to listen to them talking about things they’ve been learning about and answering their questions.
Writing: Children will be involved in a range of activities to develop fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordination to support the early stages of the writing process. Opportunities for emergent writing, which is the first stage of writing, will be on offer in the learning environment. This will then progress onto children understanding there are different purposes for writing and encourage them to start off on the writing journey. Children will be taught how to segment words, write irregular words and how to structure simple sentences. They will be encouraged to write words using the sounds they have learnt in Phonics.
Mathematics: What is taught and how can you support?
Children in Reception will learn about numbers and spatial reasoning skills. They will learn to recognise, record and order number to 10, and be able to automatically recall number bonds to 10. Through practical activities, they will solve problems involving addition, subtraction, odd and even numbers and doubling facts.
You can help by pointing out numbers at home and in the environment, singing counting songs and rhymes and counting anything and everything - socks, cars, shopping!
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To assist with the transition between Reception and Year One, the Foundation Stage Curriculum is continued in Year One for the first part of the Autumn Term. After this period the children then follow the Programme of Study and Attainment targets of the National Curriculum which consists of the folowing subjects:
• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Computing
• Physical Education (PE)
• Art & Design
• Design & Technology
• History
• Geography
• Music
• PSHE (Personal, Social & Health Education)
Religious Education is a statutory subject and we teach this using the Peterborough Agreed Syllabus.
Assessments are carried out daily in a variety of ways including observations, group work, pupils books. Every half term teachers assess each child in Reading, Writing and Maths using an online assessment system. We judge children’s attainment using the National Curriculum statements.
At the end of Key Stage One all pupils are assessed through the use SATS (Standard Assessment Tasks). The results of these assessments along with Teacher Assessment provide the end of Key Stage Level.
Technology
We are very fortunate to have a wide variety of technology for our children to use to enhance their learning. In the classrooms, children have regular access to iPads and programmable toys (Beebots, remote control cars). We also have our amazing LEARNING JOURNEY BUS! Children have timetabled sessions on the bus to use the Virtual Reality headsets and Augmented Reality resources to visit different places linked to their topics. This includes swimming with sharks, exploring jungles and going into space!
Relationships and Sex Education
In accordance with the Education Act 2002, the School Governors have a policy on Relationships and Sex Education. At the Infant stage, this will include basic hygiene, naming external body parts using scientific names (including private parts) and teaching an awareness of how to keep ourselves safe. We try to answer children’s questions honestly and openly and with as much detail as the child seems ready to understand. You will be informed when the RSE unit is going to be taught.
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Forest Schools
At Dogsthorpe Infants, our children participate in ‘Forest School’sessions during the school year. These sessions are carried out in our own designated Forest School area on the school field by our qualified Forest School leaders.
During the Forest School sessions, children will be encouraged to come to school in their own clothes and parents will be given advanced notice of when these will take place.
Forest School is designed to enable children to experience the outdoor environment in a relaxed learning space, where there is room for imagination. It helps children develop many skills that can be hard to teach in the classroom. It can be very physical so it encourages children to be active, with lots of activities to develop both fine and gross motor skills.
The sessions follow a set plan that not only works alongside the Early Years curriculum, but is designed to enhance the learning that the children would be doing in school Throughout each session, the children learn to assess, appreciate and take risks, making sensible, informed decisions about how to tackle the activities and experiences they encounter. They learn to be self-sufficient and take care of themselves. Through trial and error, they learn to deal with failure and develop the resilience to keep trying: a vital skill in the classroom as well as outside.
We will teach the children respect for the outdoor environment by using natural resources to allow multi-sensory learning. The children’s self-esteem will be built up to allow our little stars to ‘dream, believe and shine’even further through this inspirational, stimulating and hands-on experience.
RE & Shine Times
Our Religious Education curriculum focuses mainly on learning about Christianity, but also includes learning about other World faiths. We place equal emphasis on what the children can learn from the religions we study.
We organise visits to local religious buildings so that the children can have first-hand experiences of these faiths and we encourage visitors from various faiths to come and talk to the children about different aspects of their faith, such as the role of a priest in his or her parish.
Parents are regularly invited to school for special Shine Times. These allow parents and school to celebrate the progress and achievements of pupils.
Parents have a right to withdraw their child from both Religious Education and acts of Collective Worship. Any family who are considering this should discuss the matter with the Head teacher in the first instance.
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Home Learning
During the first half-term, children will bring home a reading scheme book. To start with these books will not have words in them. This encourages children to use story book language to tell a story using the pictures, as using the pictures is one of the skills in developing meaning when reading. Once children have a solid phonic knowledge they move up to the next level of reading books with sentences.
One of the key roles we ask parents/carers to play in their child’s learning is to read at home every day. Your interest and encouragement is vital. We want to work together with parents/carers to stimulate a life-long interest in books and a realisation that reading is the key to access the world around them .
You will be given a log-in for your child’s Class Dojo account. We use this online platform to support learning at home as well as it being one of our communication tools.
We encourage all parents to check Dojos on a regular basis to keep up-to-date with learning in the classroom.
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Parent Partnership
Parents are always welcome at school to discuss their child’s progress with the class teacher. Throughout the year we offer:
• Autumn Term – Parent Consultations
• Spring Term – Parent Consultations
• Summer Term – Meet and Greet the new class teacher ready for the new academic year and a written annual report
We also invite parents in to see what children are learning in their classes through:
• Open sessions for parents to work with their child
• Book Buzz sessions
• Parent workshops and information sessions
School Clubs
Children are invited to join an after school club covering a range of activities including dance, cookery, football and filmmaking. Some of these clubs are run by external club leaders and so places have to be paid for.
Club membership is for a term and letters are sent out at the end of each term in readiness for the next one. Children in Reception are not invited to clubs until the Spring Term so that the Autumn term is used for settling in.
Wraparound Care
Before & after school childcare is available at The Dogsthorpe Den. Please contact Dogsthorpe Academy on 01733 566849 for availability and prices.
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Our Uniform
Does the school have a uniform?
Yes We believe that wearing a smart school uniform helps children to feel part of the Dogsthorpe Infant School community and will have a positive impact on their learning. We expect all children to have a named bookbag and named water bottle.
What should my child wear?
School uniform embroidered with our logo, is available from Chroma Sport, Wulfric Square, Bretton PE3 8RF (near the bowling alley), 01733 262526. Alternatively parents & carers can visit their website and a link to this can be found on our school website under the ‘school/school uniform’ tab. There is NO requirement for your child to wear uniform with logos
Most of the school uniform items can also be purchased from all the department stores and chain stores in Peterborough. All items of clothing, including coats, MUST be labelled with your child’s name. Sweatshirts and jumpers, in particular, are forever ending up in lost property. Without names, it is very hard to return them to their owners.
We ask that children wear their choice of the following:
Sweatshirts/jumpers/cardigansPlain red
Polo shirts
Trousers or shorts
Skirts or pinafores
Summer dresses
Sensible shoes
White/red
Plain grey (shorts should be knee length)
Plain grey
Red gingham
i.e. strong, low heeled shoes suitable for playing
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Physical Education (PE)
Physical Education is a statutory part of the curriculum and therefore all children are required to participate. Children are required to come ready dressed in their PE kits on the designated PE days (You will be informed of these at the start of every half term via Parentmail and Class Dojo).
PE clothes - T-shirt/shorts/leggings for indoor PE and tracksuit and trainers/plimsolls for outdoor PE.
We do ask that children do not wear ANY jewellery for school. Not only can items may be lost or broken but also cause injuries should your child fall over.
Our Health and Safety rules state that children with pierced ears must remove their earrings for PE Lessons & PE Clubs. Staff cannot remove earrings and cannot be responsible for looking after them.
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Special Educational Needs
At Dogsthorpe Infant School, we aim to identify difficulties and barriers to learning as early as possible, to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children. We recognise that children identified as having additional needs may require extra provision within the curriculum to enable them to make progress.
All children are taught within their peer class group with learning outcomes differentiated to accommodate the range of needs within the classroom. If appropriate, supplementary programmes are used to provide more focused, targeted support whilst also giving the children access to a broad, rich curriculum. This additional support is often delivered by a Teaching Assistant on a one-to-one basis or within a small group, and is usually planned by the class teacher.
We strongly believe that close partnership with parents is imperative if we are to fully meet the needs of our children and strive to develop mutually supportive relationships. This is a two-way relationship and we encourage parents to share information with us which may assist us in effectively supporting their child in school.
Illness and Medicine
Minor accidents are dealt with by our school first aiders. If the incident is deemed to be serious then parents will be contacted and the appropriate medical care arranged.
Should a child be taken ill during the day we will notify parents/designated contacts in order for them to be collected. Please ensure contact numbers are kept up to date.
Prescribed medication can only be administered in school, by staff, in exceptional circumstances. This is usually under the direction of a health care plan formulated by health care professionals or for Asthma Inhalers the completion of a consent form by parents/carers. Where a child requires antibiotics four times a day this can also be administered with signed parental consent.
Please see our ‘Supporting Children with Medical Conditions’ Policy that is available on the school website.
Pupils with additional dietary requirements
If your child has any specific dietary requirements (eg Halal, vegetarian, Kosher) or allergies or intolerances to food groups (eg nuts, lactose, gluten) please ensure this is clearly shown on their admission form when they join the school. We will pass this information to our catering team to ensure that each child’s dietary requirements, food allergies & intolerances are taken into account when their food is being prepared. If your child requires medication for a food allergy or intolerance (eg piriton, epipen), please ensure that this is discussed with us when your child starts school.
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Safeguarding Children
Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175/157), schools must “make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children”.
We will endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children are respected and valued.
Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The school should make parents/ carers aware that records of welfare concerns may be kept about their child. They should be informed that school staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with them including referrals to other agencies. However, in situations where the child is suspected to be at risk of harm, the law says that schools may take advice from other agencies without informing parents/carers.
In accordance with local information sharing protocols, we will ensure that information is shared securely and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed necessary and proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service.
Schools will seek advice from Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the member of staff in the school with responsibility for child protection (known as the Designated Safeguarding Lead) was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.
Under Section 3 (5) of the Children Act 1989, schools or any person who has care of a child “may….do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare”. This means that on rare occasions, a school may need to “hold” a child in school whilst Social Care and the police investigate any concerns further.
E-safety is taken very seriously within the school. The school’s internet has the highest level of protection and filtering. Children use IT devices for not only discreet computing lessons, but also for the reinforcement and learning within other subjects.
When children are using the internet, they are always supervised by an adult. The teacher provides the website address and the children are able to navigate to the appropriate page. Children are reminded that they must never share their username and password with anyone else.
Children are taught to tell an adult immediately if something on the computer makes them feel uncomfortable. This is logged as a concern and reported to the service provider immediately.
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Use of Cameras and Mobile Phones in School
We are a mobile-free school and we expect all staff, governors, parents and visitors to adhere to this.
We take practical steps to ensure that photographs taken of children in school are done so in a way that reflects the protective ethos of the school and our Safeguarding Policy. During the school year there will be many occasions where you wish to take photos or make a video recording of your child taking part in a school activity. We ask that you do this respectfully ensuring, as far as possible, that you only take a picture of your child.
Any images that you take must not be used inappropriately i.e. do not place them on social networking sites like Facebook. Photos can only be taken in the hall – cameras and mobile phones MUST not be used in the classrooms.
If parents abuse this request then the school will have no other choice, in order to protect our children, than to stop parents from taking photos in school.
Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)
Dogsthorpe Infant School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All staff (including supply agency staff) and volunteers are subject to an enhanced DBS check before they are able to work/volunteer in school.
The Safeguarding Team
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads
Trust Safeguarding Representative
M W rs aters, Headteacher
Miss Gattuso, Deputy Headteacher
M M rs arshall-Sully, SENDCO
Mrs Hibbert, Family Well-Being Champion
M G rs ardner A , dministra M tion anager
Mr Kingsley
The Safeguarding Team
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Behaviour
At our school we aspire for every member of the school family to feel valued and respected, and that every person is treated fairly and well. The school takes a therapeutic approach to behaviour management inspired by the ‘Step on’ training we received from Cambridgeshire Steps. By talking and listening to each other, adults and pupils can know how others feel and empathise with them. In this way, we can learn to understand and respect different beliefs, attitudes and cultures. Every school relies on its members behaving in certain ways to achieve its purpose. Our school’s central purpose is concerned with children’s learning, their overall well-being and how we can enable everyone to ‘Dream, Believe, Shine’.
‘You can’t teach children to behave better by making them feel worse. When children feel better, they behave better.’
Pam Leo
Our approach
At Dogsthorpe Infant School, we want all of our children to be able to regulate their emotions and the behaviours that communicate these, with growing independence. Children may require the scaffolding and modelling of successful selfregulation strategies from those around them. Children will be listened to, treated with mutual respect and their social, emotional and mental health needs considered through a consistent and embedded approach.
Our Recipe for a Fantastic School!
We will use our manners.
We will listen to all adults in school.
We will look after our school.
We will have kind hands and feet.
We will say kind words to each other.
We will sit quietly and show we are ready to learn.
We will move around school calmly and quietly. We will always have a go and try our best in everything we do
Pastoral Care & Support
We value working in partnership with our families. We appreciate there are times in a child’s life when they need a helping hand, a kind word or a bit of extra support pastorally, to help them deal with certain issues which may be upsetting for them, for example, friendship disputes, anxiety, bereavement, loss or separation. We also know families sometimes need some extra support or guidance in difficult circumstances and we believe that school staff can sometimes offer the stability that families need in order to face unexpected challenges.
We have the Rainbow Team who can support parents & children in such circumstances:-
Mrs Hibbert
Mrs Creasey
Family Well-Being Champion
ChildWell-Being Champion
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Contact Information
The school maintains an up-to-date register of pupil details. Parents must inform the school immediately if there are any changes to contact information such as address, telephone number, name, additional contacts or medical conditions. This is especially important in case your child becomes unwell or has an accident in school.
Staff will only release children to adults named on the contacts form.
Parentmail
Communicating with parents is an important part of what we do. In order to make sure parents get information quickly and efficiently we send all letters out via Parentmail. When your child first starts school you will receive a registration email/text and it is vital this is done straight away. Registering is simple and can be done from a computer or mobile phone.
Social Media
At Dogsthorpe Infant School we believe in celebrating with parents what we do. Our website is updated regularly with new photos of children’s learning and progress. You can also follow us on Twitter - @dogsthorpeinf
Communicating with School
We have several ways that parents can communicate messages/information to school:
• Speak to staff outside during ‘meet & greet’
• Speak to your child’s class teacher before or after school
• Come into school to speak to the Admin staff (please be respectful of our rule of only one person in the foyer at a time to ensure privacy of conversations being had with parents)
• Call us on 01733 566849 – this is best for absence notification preferably before 9.00am on the first day of absence please. There is an answer machine for out of school hours.
• You can email us at office@dogsthorpe-inf.peterborough.sch.uk
• The office account is checked regularly throughout the day and using the office email address ensures your email gets to the correct person.
• School Website – messages can be sent via the contact page on our school website, however, please do not use this for urgent messages as messages take longer to come through via this platform.
• Class Dojos – this is our online platform for sharing information about the children’s learning and how you can support them at home. If you connect your email to Dojos you can then communicate directly with the class teacher to ask any questions you may have regarding their learning. However, please DO NOT use this messaging system for any messages regarding attendance, or other urgent matters, as Dojos may not be checked during the school day.
The school is happy to support with the completion of forms or letters for families i.e. passport applications, on roll confirmations, benefit applications etc, however we do need you to give us at least a week’s notice please
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Notes
20
Central Avenue
Dogsthorpe
Peterborough
PE1 4LH
Tel: 01733 566849
| Email: office@dogsthorpe-inf.peterborough.sch.uk
Website: www.dogsthorpeinfants.co.uk