Preparing to start Nursery or Reception
Welcome to Strathmore
Starting school is a big step for the whole family and this web page is to support you with helping your child to arrive ready for their new adventure. We have taken advice from Herts for Learning in collating useful tips for preparing all of our children to join our school.
We look forward to your family joining our school community. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school at admin@strathmore.herts.sch.uk.
Transition at Strathmore
To support your child's transition to Strathmore, you will receive weekly letters in the summer term before your child officially joins us in September. This usually falls around the first week in June. This letters consist of the following information:
Week 1: General information
Week 2: Curriculum
Week 3: School readiness
Week 4: Transition including SEND & Class assignment
Week 5: Parental Engagement & Home Visits
You will also be invited to the following events in school:
|
Date |
Event |
Additional information |
| June | Open afternoon to visit a Reception classroom between 1:30 - 2:30pm. This is a stay and play event for you and your child. | This is to give your child the opportunity to familiarise themselves with our school environment. You are welcome to visit the Reception classes on either of these dates. During these sessions your children will be given the opportunity to play and explore their new environment with you. If you are unable to make these afternoons there is another opportunity to see the classrooms at our Open JEvening as stated below. |
| June | Open afternoon to visit a Nursery classroom between 1:30 - 2:30pm. This is a stay and play event for you and your child. | This is to give your child the opportunity to familiarise themselves with our school environment. During these sessions your children will be given the opportunity to play and explore their new environment with you. If you are unable to make these afternoons there is another opportunity to see the classrooms at our Open Evening as stated below. |
|
June |
Letter informing you of your child’s class name and teacher. |
This will be sent after the stay and play session. |
|
July |
Open Evening 3.30pm – 5.30pm Open Evening 3.30pm – 7:00pm |
You are welcome to visit the school, see work pupils have completed over the year and visit some classrooms. Teachers will not be available during these sessions, as they will be leading learning reviews with their current class. |
|
July
|
Transition morning for Reception. Transition afternoon for Nursery.
Nearly New uniform will also be on sale in the hall. . |
Allocated slot in the morning (45 minutes) for your child to meet their teacher and visit their classroom. While your children are in class, parents are invited to our market stall theme in the hall covering the information sent via emails. Times will be provided in the letter confirming your class teacher allocation. During this visit, all children will be given an ‘all about me’ sheet to complete during the summer holiday. These can be returned to the school staff during the home visits in September. |
|
September |
Reception and Nursery home visits (mornings only) |
Times to be confirmed in Week 5 email. |
|
September |
Reception pupils allocated either Wednesday or Thursday morning session with lunch. Finish at 1pm. Nursery pupils allocated either Wednesday or Thursday morning session. No lunch club will be on these days. |
Day to be confirmed in Week 5 email. |
|
September |
All Reception and Nursery pupils in school normal hours. |
Nursery lunch club will begin from this date. |
Useful Documents - Ready Families
Useful Documents - Ready Child
Moving on to Junior School
Moving on to their next school is an important step for our Year 2 pupils and we work hard to make sure each child is ready to take the next big step in their academic journey.
The vast majority of our pupils continue together at Wiltshere-Dacre, which is a great opportunity for them to experience transitioning to a new school with their friends from Strathmore. We work closely with Wiltshere-Dacre to prepare our pupils for this transition, with a calendar of events across the school year. These events can alter slightly each year depending on the cohorts, this is an example calendar of events that a child in Year 2 may experience.
|
Date |
Event |
Location |
| December | Good Deeds Week - Pupils from Wilshere-Dacre will spend the afternoon at Strathmore working with our Year 2 pupils. This allows them to get to know some of the older children at Wilshere-Dacre | Strathmore |
|
May |
SEND & Pastoral Parents Coffee Morning – this is an opportunity for parents to meet Emma Hutton (SENCO) and Jo Vaughan (Pastoral Support worker) from Wilshere-Dacre. |
Strathmore – Computing Room |
|
June |
Year 3 teachers visit Strathmore to meet the children and speak to staff. |
Strathmore |
| June | Enterprise Day - Year 2 pupils visit Wilshere-Dacre Enterprise Day. This is a great experience for the children to get to know the new school. | Wilshere-Dacre |
|
June/July |
Outdoor Learning Lessons at Wilshere-Dacre – every child will attend one of these sessions in a group of 15, giving them the opportunity to get to know the staff and school. |
Wilshere-Dacre |
|
July |
Transition Morning – the children will arrive at Strathmore as normal and walk with school staff to Wilshere-Dacre. After lunch, the children will walk back to Strathmore. |
Wilshere-Dacre |
If your child transitions to a different school for Year 3, we will work closely with their new school to ensure that they are also fully prepared for their next step.
Class Mixing Policy
When our children enter Year 3 at Wilshere-Dacre, we mix the classes to allow the children the opportunity to work with a wider group of pupils.
The rationale for class mixing is:
-
To create opportunities for children to learn and play with a wider variety of peers
-
To enable greater social interaction between children as they move through the school
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To encourage resilience in developing friendships in a safe, comfortable environment
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To ensure that the classes remain balanced in response to pupil transfers and transition during phases
We have found that this is a great opportunity for the children to experience working with a slightly different class, before their next move to secondary school, where they will meet and work with a large group of new peers. To ensure our pupils are confident in their new classes, they will complete sessions in their new class mix in their last half term at Strathmore, preparing them for their first day in their new class.
For further information on how we mix the classes, please read our 'Class Mixing Policy' below.