Welcome to all of new entrants for September 2021. We are very excited about meeting you all, but current restrictions mean we can not allow additional visitors on to the school site.

At this time of year, we would normally invite you in for small visits, so you can have a tour of our wonderful school, meet some of the pupils, spend some time in our Early Years classrooms, sample school lunches and get a feel for the Shamblehurst spirit!

We have tried to capture that spirit with a short film of our Early Years provision and you get to meet Mrs Tollefsen, our Early Years Leader.

We have set aside two days for you to have a telephone conversation with Mrs Tollefsen, should you have any queries, questions or concerns. These are Tuesday 10th November and Tuesday 17th November 2020. If you would like a phone call, please contact the school office on 01489 782342 or via adminoffice@shamblehurst.co.uk and we will schedule that in. If you could let us know an approximate time that would be really helpful – so before 10:30am, between 10:30am and 12:30pm, between 1;00pm and 2:30pm or between 3:00pm and 6:00pm.

If your child has an additional needs and you feel you would like to discuss these with our SEND team, please do contact the office and they will ensure someone rings you back promptly at a time to suit.

These are certainly unprecendented times in our community, nationally and globally. Our school has been open throughout the pandemic and remains a happy, secure and magical place to be.

We really hope we see you all very soon at Shamblehurst.

Very best wshes,

Anna Jones
Headteacher

Yes, you can. The criteria which is used to allocate places, and detailed in our Admissions Policy is below.

Oversubscription criteria –

When the school is oversubscribed, after the admission of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan naming the school, priority for admission will be given to children in the following priority order:

1. Looked after children or children who were previously looked after (see definition i).

2. (For applications in the normal admission round only) Children or families with an exceptional medical and/or social need (see definition ii). Supporting evidence from a professional is required such as a doctor and/or consultant for medical needs or a social worker, health visitor, housing officer, the police or probation officer for social needs. This evidence must confirm the child or family’s medical or social need and why that need(s) makes it essential that the child attends Shamblehurst Primary School rather than any other. If evidence is not submitted by the application deadline, the medical and/or social need cannot be considered.

3. Children of staff (see definition iii) who have, (1) been employed at Shamblehurst Primary School for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission to the school is made, or (2) have been recruited to fill a vacant post for which there is a demonstrable skill shortage.

4. Children living in the catchment area (see definition iv) of Shamblehurst Primary School who at the time of application have a sibling (see definition v) on the roll of Shamblehurst Primary School who will still be on roll at the time of admission. [See 6 for additional children who may be considered under this criterion.]

5. Other children living in the catchment area of Shamblehurst Primary School. 

6. Children living out of the catchment area who at the time of application have a sibling (see definition v) on the roll of Shamblehurst Primary School who will still be on roll at the time of admission. [Where a sibling was allocated a place at the school in the normal admission round in a previous year because the child was displaced (see definition vi) from the catchment school for their address, the application will be considered under 4, above, subject to the siblings still living in the catchment area for the school from which they were displaced. In future normal admissions rounds a younger sibling will be considered to have been displaced where they were allocated a place at Shamblehurst Primary School under this criterion as a consequence of their elder sibling’s displacement and are still living in the catchment area for the school from which they were displaced].

How many Early Years classes will there be?

We are a 2-form entry school, which means we have 60 children in the cohort. This will consist of two, Year R classes, each with a Teacher and a Learning support Assistant (LSA). We often have additional staff working in Year R, to support children with additional needs.

What curriculum do you follow in Year R?

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS), which is the same curriculum that pre-school, nurseries and child minders follow. It is a curriculum designed for birth to 5 years old and we work towards getting children to their Early Learning Goals.

The EYFS curriculum supports children’s early literacy and numeracy skills, alongside their emotional wellbeing, through a play based approach.

What can I do at home to support my child coming to school?

We find the biggest thing to support children before the start school, is to chat to the children about school, helping to feel that it will be a fun and exciting place to learn. Helping children to be independent with hanging up their coat, opening a snack box and being able to ask for help, really helps children to do well in school.

We would also encourage you to sing lots of nursery rhymes with your children as well as share books together as this will really support their early reading skills which we then build on in school.

Finding opportunities to count aloud and count objects and pictures will also help your child to be in a good starting place for their academic learning.

How does your school support children’s emotional and mental health needs at Shamblehurst?

We have a key person system in place, which really helps the children, and parents to feel settled. We hope this is familiar to you, from their pre-school/nursery/child minder experience. Each child has a key person (either the Teacher or LSA) who makes that extra special bond with your child. The children really benefit from this as it means they know exactly who to go to if they are feeling worried or want to share some exciting news. Some children, with additional needs, may require 1-1 support and this would be their key person.

What will my child’s day look like?

The day is broken into chunks as young children learn best in a play based environment, with a balance of child initiated and adult directed learning.

Once the children are settled into the school routine, we start the day with morning jobs which involve developing fine motor skills reading or maths skills.

We then meet and greet the children and always talk about the day by going through a visual timetable. This really helps the children to know the routine and helps them to feel secure.

We then have teaching inputs at the beginning and end of the morning, which teaches children the skills of reading and maths. In between these inputs, we have child-initiated time where the children can access the environment (both inside and outside). This when children get to apply the taught skills and show us their amazing learning. We encourage children to use a variety of open-ended resources at it really supports their communication and language as well as their thinking and problem solving skills.

When will my child start full time?

We offer a comprehensive transition process that gives you and your child time to get to know the staff and the environment during the summer term. When your child starts in September, it should feel that you know us a little bit already. However, the summer break is quite long for young children so we start September by offering you a home visit, a few morning starts, a stay to lunch and then we are in full time by the end of the second week of September.

How do you communicate with parents?

We keep you updated about the curriculum through half-termly letters as well as a weekly email with what we are covering that week. On this email, we offer ideas of how to support your child’s learning at home.

This is alongside the whole school information, which you receive via email or text. You can request hard copies of letters.

In Year R, we also use an online learning journey called Tapestry, which many of you will be familiar with. This is a great way of showing you photos and videos of some of our learning.

When does my start PE?

We like to help the children settle into school and get used to their routines so we start our PE lessons after the half term. However, the children have daily access to our outdoor provision, which supports their important physical skills.

What are the lunch options?

All children have access to free school meals in school, up to Year 2. You can access the meals options through this link:

https://www.shamblehurst.co.uk/meals/

If you prefer, you child can bring their own packed lunch to school.

You can mix and match your options through the week and can choose the lunch on the day. So, if you were planning on your child having their own packed lunch but ran out of time, a school lunch is always available.

Children would usually have lunch in the school hall, supported by dinner staff. Due to Covid-19 we currently have lunch in classrooms, supported by the Year R team and a lunch time supervisor.

Can my child bring a snack into school?

We offer a free fruit option every day to the children. However, some children get quite hungry so you can provide an additional, healthy snack if you wish.

Children will need to bring in a water bottle from home each day.

What happens if my child has an accident or a toileting accident?

We give children first aid in the classroom for cuts and grazes. We log this in our accident book and send the child home with a red note so you are aware of how the graze happened. If a child bumps their head, we call the parent to let them know or if necessary, ask the parent to have their child checked at the doctors. We have trained first aiders in Year R who have annual training to support their role.

If children have a toileting accident then we help them to change into clean clothes.