St John's Primary School

Starting School

This is our guide to starting school in at St John’s.

School Day for Class 1

School Day Starts at 8.45am
School Day Ends at 3.15pm

Dropping Off Children – Children should be accompanied by the responsible adult and wait in the playground. The bell will ring at 8.45am when children then line up in their class. Mrs Kowal or Mrs Gorrill will come out to meet the children and take them to their classroom. Parents/Carers may wait with their children each day until they go into class.

Parents/Carers can accompany the children up to Class 1 for the first few days.

Collecting Children – Children should be collected from the main playground after school. After  school Mrs Kowal or Mrs Gorrill dismisses the pupils individually into the care of the Parent/Carer. Please wait around the perimeter of the playground so the teachers can see you easily.

Children who attend the Afterschool Club are taken to the club by a member of the Afterschool Club team.

Parking – At the start and end of the day there is usually considerable congestion on Godly Lane especially near the school. It is advisable that Parents/Carers park away from the school gates in a safe manner.

School Uniform- See our School Uniform Page for details

School Meals – All Infants are entitled to Universal Free School Meals but you will be able to pre-select school lunches for the half term, choose packed lunches or a mixture of both. This is all done through Schoolcomms.

Lunchtime Arrangements

• Children having school meals will be taken down to the hall. As all the meals are pre-selected the children take their seats at the table and are served their meals.
• Children having packed lunches will collect their lunches from the cloakroom and be taken to the hall.

Once the children have finished their meals they can play in the playground for the remainder of lunchtime.

Lost Property
Children lose items of clothing especially in the first few weeks. The first place to check is in the Class 1 cloakroom. If you cannot find it there it may have been put into lost property. Please check with Mr Benson in the School Office for the location of the lost property box.

Medicines
If your child needs to take prescribed medicines during the day you must speak to Mrs Fraser, at the beginning of school when you will asked to fill in the medicine consent form. Non-prescribed medicines cannot be administered by staff. Medicines are kept in a refrigerator in the staff room and administered only by a member of staff.

Water Bottles– children will be given a water bottle with the school logo on as they arrive in school. These will have their name on and are kept in the classroom. These are re-filled daily by staff and are sent home at the end of the week to be washed and returned to school on the following Monday. Please do not put water bottles in the book bags!

Healthy Snacks– healthy snacks are given to the children during morning break therefore snacks are not needed for breaktime; although you are welcome to provide your child with an alternative healthy snack if you prefer.

Book bags– children should bring these to school on the first day. Any letters home, lunch menus, reading books or newsletters are sent home with the children in their book bag – please check them daily. The book bags can also be used to send things back to school – they are checked daily by staff, although urgent or medical information should be given straight to the teacher or to the School Office.

Hair– children with shoulder length or longer hair need to have their hair tied up.

PE– children get themselves changed at PE times, and so it’s a good idea to try and make uniforms as easy as possible for them during the first few weeks until they get used to the routine. In the first sessions of PE, the children may say they didn’t actually do any PE, they practised getting ready first and sometimes this can take longer than the PE lesson! You may also find that they come home with socks, shirts, jumpers etc inside out or back to front. Simpler clothing especially for the girls, such as a pinafore with a zip rather than buttons is better and easier than tucking blouses into skirts.

Clothing– please make sure that all uniforms, vests, tights, coats, shoes, and PE kits are named especially during the first few weeks whilst doing PE!

Praise Assembly– each Friday there is a Praise Assembly which takes place at 9.10am, and parents, carers and younger siblings are welcome.  During the Praise Assembly the “Star of the Week”,, mathematician and writer of the week and the 'Good manners awards' are awarded, and ‘Dojo winners' are announced (see below). There is also music and singing.

Star of the Week– each week a child is chosen as “Star of the Week” and they are awarded a certificate during Praise Assembly.

Dojo points – points are given to a child for good behaviour or good work, and can be awarded by any member of staff. Every week during Praise Assembly, the child with the most dojo points in each class is given a prize. There is also a draw for a spot prize. 

Writer/Mathematician of the Week - each week a child from each key stage is chosen to receive the writer or mathematician of the week for impressive work in class. 

Good manners award - each week a child is chosen by the teaching assistants and lunch time supervisors for demonstrating good manners throughout the week.

Timetable– a timetable is situated at the entrance of class 1 which shows the schedule of activities undertaken each day by the class. It’s a good idea to note when PE takes place as PE kits are needed regularly.  However, in the first year, most children leave them in school throughout the week.