On this page you will find staff contact details and useful Reception Class information
Please click here to log onto your child’s Tapestry account. Here you will find out all the information that you need about what’s going on in Reception Class at Bowerham.
Please wait with your child on the running track on the school field. The gates onto the Reception playground will be opened at 8.30 and there you will be greeted by a member of the Reception Class team.
We try and encourage the children to be as independent as possible and therefore ask you to encourage your child to come into school by themselves. It is very important for your child’s development for them to be able to take responsibility for themselves and their own property. There is always a member of staff helping and supporting the children inside if needed and a member of staff outside for any parents who wish to pass on any messages or information to key workers.
Teaching sessions start at 8:50am and the main gate will be locked at 8:45am. If you arrive after this time, please take your child to the office.
At the end of the day the gates onto the Reception playground will be opened at 3PM. The Reception Class day ends at 3.10pm. Please wait in the Reception playground and your child will be sent to you. Your child will not be sent to an adult collecting until a member of staff has seen who is there to collect. If someone different is due to collect your child please indicate so in the communication diary.
Members of the staff team will be available at the beginning and end of each day to answer any questions that you may have. If you wish to make an appointment to see the teachers, this can be arranged at a mutually convenient time.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to any member of the Early Years Team.
The DfE has published a new guide for parents – ‘What to expect in the Early Years Foundation Stage’ (formerly ‘What to expect when’) which guides parents through what to expect in their child’s development. It aligns with the new Development Matters 2021 to help parents find out more about their child’s development whilst they are in Nursery and Reception Class.
We love being able to upload all our observations to share with you throughout each half term as well as being able to share all the exciting things you upload at home too!
Your Tapestry account for your child is only ‘live’ for the length of time they are in Reception class. Once they go into year 1 or to another school you will no longer have access to your child’s Tapestry account.
We want you to be able to have this learning journey as your own and therefore we will send you a PDF download of your child’s learning journey at the end of the academic year. This can then be saved on your hard drive to then enable you to keep it ‘forever’! You will be notified of the download via your child’s Tapestry account. Downloads will then expire within 1 month.
Please note: you will need to access Tapestry through their website and not the app to be able to successfully download your child’s observations.
The link below will take you through the process of how to download your child’s Tapestry observations.
How to download your child’s Tapestry observations
In Reception class we value the importance of outdoor play and children have the opportunity to be outside for most of the day. As such, we need to make sure that your child is kept safe in the sun. As parents, it is your responsibility to ensure your child is kept safe in the sun. The following requirements are essential in order for staff to allow your child to play outside-
Staff will ensure that children wear their sun hats when playing outside.
On sunny days staff will also re-apply sun cream to your child at 1pm before the afternoon session begins. We have purchased sun cream – Boots Soltan Kids Factor 50 hypoallergenic sun care lotion, which we will apply before the children go outside for the afternoon session. If you do not wish for your child to use this due to an allergy and would like to provide your own lotion, please send your sun lotion in a named bottle – which can be left in Reception Class. Lotion cannot be kept in children’s bags for safety reasons. Our sun cream will be available for you to ‘patch’ test your child if needed.
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