Welcome to Heptonstall School
Staff
Headteacher
Mr David Perrin
Teacher (EY)
Teacher (Years 1 & 2)
Teacher (Years 3 & 4)
Teacher (Years 5 & 6)
Mrs Polly Williams
Miss Megan Dodd
Miss Laura Robertshaw/
Mrs Helen Mills
Miss Natasha Priestley
Nursery Nurse
Mrs Suzanne Marney
Teaching Assistants
Mrs Angela Schnacke
Mrs Stephanie Lister
Mrs Anna Waring
Support Assistants
Mrs Jane Eidson
Mrs Cath Tierney
Miss Eleanor Baldwin
Office Manager
Miss Amanda Birch
Caretaker
Mr Graham Hooper
Lunchtime Staff
Mr Alan Goldstraw
Mrs Jane Eidson
Ms Claire Horton
Miss Stephanie Kennedy
Heptonstall Nursery 2016/17
(Foundation Stage)
Your child is beginning The Foundation Stage, as laid down by the
Department for Education. It is about developing key learning
skills such as speaking & listening,
concentration, persistence, learning to
work together & how to cooperate with
others. It is also about developing early
communication, literacy & numeracy skills
that will prepare young children for key
stage 1 of the National Curriculum.
The Foundation Stage begins in the
term after a child’s 3rd birthday and
ends at the end of the reception year
when they are 5. The curriculum for
the Foundation Stage is organised into
seven areas of learning:
3 prime areas are
 Communication and language
 Physical development
 Personal, social and emotional development
4 specific areas are




Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts & design
Well planned play is a key way in which children learn with
enjoyment and challenge. Children progress towards achieving
Early Learning Goals by the end of the Reception year. Some,
especially younger children, may still be progressing towards
these goals whilst others may have exceeded them in one or
more area of learning.
The Autumn term begins on Tuesday, 6th September 2016. For
the first few days, only the Reception age children will be in Class
1. This is to enable Foundation staff to welcome and settle in this
group of children, which for some may be their first full days in
school.
Starting Monday, 12th September nursery children will be
admitted according to the sessions you have
chosen.
During this first half term, staff will be informally
assessing your child. These assessments will
begin to form a profile of your child’s abilities,
needs & skills, & will help us measure and
monitor children’s progress from the time they
start school and allow staff to plan the next
steps for your child’s development.
These assessments will be discussed at a
parents meeting later in the term where both staff and parents
can talk about children’s development and future needs.
This year the Early Years Unit will be staffed by:
Mrs Polly Williams: (Class Teacher)
Mrs Suzanne Marney: (Nursery Nurse)
Mrs Stephanie Lister and
Mrs Anna Waring: (Teaching Assistants)
We look forward to working in partnership with you and your
child. As a parent, you are your child’s first teacher. The support
and encouragement you provide are most important throughout
your child’s school life, and especially during the Foundation
Stage.
If you have any worries or concerns please speak to Mrs Williams
or Mrs Marney at the start or end of the school day.
Alternatively, you can contact school on 01422 842533. Miss
Amanda Birch is our School Office Manager and will be happy to
convey messages to staff, who will in turn contact you and
arrange a meeting. Miss Birch can be found in the school office
which is close to the main visitors’ entrance at the front of
school.
Office hours:
8.45am - 12.30 pm (Monday to Friday)
1.00pm - 3.45 pm (Monday to Friday)
School uniforms, P.E. kit and book bags can be ordered from this
office.
Please ask if you have any concerns. Most problems can be
solved, all our staff will do their best to try and help.
Helping your child to
prepare for school
Time is the most important thing we can
give our children.
Show an interest in everything your child
does.
Talk to your child about a wide range of
subjects. We often take for granted everyday experiences which
may be new to children or which they may not understand.
Words are all around in a child's
world and this is where reading
begins. The words may be
inside or outside the
home. For example, shop
signs, names on carrier
bags, place names on the
front of buses, traffic signs,
labels on tins and packets,
magazines, comics,
newspapers and books.
Sharing stories with your child is an enjoyable experience for both of
you. By sharing books together children
learn to love books as well as learning how
to handle them.
It is important to have books available at
home and it is worth finding out about
your local library.
We look forward to meeting you and
your child and working as a partnership.
Baking Money
We ask for a small weekly contribution of 50p from each child.
This enables us to buy ‘extras’ to enhance our topics. Examples
include baking ingredients, spring bulbs, fabrics, a dolls’ house
and even some real caterpillars which we could watch as they
developed into butterflies. Each child also bakes a birthday cake
to share with the class.
Some children bring 50p each week, others bring baking money
for each term.
Good Work Assemblies
There is a special assembly most Fridays at 3pm where each class
shares some of their week’s work with the rest of the school.
Parents/carers are very welcome to join us for this.
Please check the weekly newsletter or website calendar for any
cancellations.
Please remember:
Bring your child into the classroom at the beginning of each
session. Staff are there from 8.45 ready for an 8.55am start.
Do try to be on time to pick up your child at the end of each
session. (Lateness can cause distress).
We ask you not to send your child with sweets or crisps or
biscuits – children will be offered a piece of fruit in school. Milk is
also provided free of charge to all nursery children and reception
children up to their 5th birthday and can be paid for after this.
Water is freely available. Please ensure that we know about any
dietary requirements.
Toys and games are not encouraged in school as it causes so
much distress if they are lost or broken.
It will greatly help if your child is able
 To go to the toilet unaccompanied
 To put on and fasten a coat
 To recognise his/her name
 To dress and undress him/herself
 To tidy away his/her own toys
Collecting Your Child
We can only allow someone other than a parent/carer to collect a
child if they have been named on the form that will be given to
you. This is a legal requirement under the Early Years Foundation
Stage Framework.
If someone comes to collect your child who is not named on this
form, we will have to keep your child in school until we can
contact you. You can add or remove names from your list at any
time. Please let Mrs Williams know in writing if you wish to do
this.
Sickness
Please let us know by telephone if your child is absent due to
illness. A short note should then be sent when they return to
school. To prevent the spread of illness, please keep your child at
home for at least 48 hours after vomiting or diarrhoea. This is in
line with Calderdale Guidelines.
Medicines
We can only administer medicines prescribed by a doctor and
must have prior written permission for each medicine before it
can be given. Permission forms are available from the school
office. If a medicine is prescribed for 4 times a day we will
administer it at lunchtime. Those prescribed for 3 times a day
should be given at home.
School Uniform
Our school has a school uniform. This consists of red
sweatshirts/cardigans, grey trousers or joggers / grey skirts or
pinafore dresses and white or red polo shirts. We also have PE Tshirts and shorts, school book bags, PE bags and even optional
coats, fleeces and hats. All these items can be ordered from the
school office using the Uniform Order Form.
If your child is in school on Fridays, they may
bring a pump bag, shorts and T-shirt. No
footwear is needed. All these items should be
clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Children who aren’t yet comfortable at getting
themselves changed don’t need a PE kit. It is
fine to just remove jumpers and footwear.
It is essential that all items of school uniform have clear name
labels as obviously there are a large number of identical items in
school. Please check these regularly.
All our children are different.
They enjoy different activities
They come from different homes and they are interested in
different things
They each learn differently
We value each child as an individual. Try not to compare
your child’s progress with others too much. All children
progress at different rates. There can be 11 months’
difference in ages in the same year group and over 2 years’
difference in our class.
The Alphabet
When helping & showing your child how to write & form letters
please could you help us by writing the alphabet as follows?
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff
Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll
Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq
Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww
Xx Yy Zz
This is pre-cursive writing & will eventually lead to
cursive writing, it is important to get this right from
the start, for as we all know it is difficult to
unlearn bad habits. Please don’t hesitate to ask for
further help or guidance. A good idea is to help
your child trace over the dots, point out where
each letter begins.
a b c d e f
g h i j k l
m n o p q
r s t u v w
x y z
The Early Years Staff
Mrs Williams by Annabelle
Mrs Lister by Jessica-Mae
Mrs Marney by Cecelia
Mrs Waring by Cecelia
Mr Perrin by Gwen
The things we like to do at school ...
Mission Statement
Our aim is to create a happy and secure environment where
every individual may fulfil their full potential.
P.F.A. ( Parents and Friends )
The school has a P.F.A. who meet regularly either in school or in
the local community. All parents are welcome to attend
meetings. Parents are notified through the school newsletter of
these meetings.
If you would like to become involved you can talk to parents
including Beth Hardman, Jayne Benson, Anne Green, Nicola Salter
or to Mrs Williams or any member of the school staff.
Governing Body
The school governors also meet regularly and hold meetings for
information and questions. You will be notified through school of
these meetings.
School Governors
Jonathan Daniels (Chair)
Howard Pask (Vice Chair)
Carol Blanch
Chris Scarborough
Clive Miers
Helen Starmer
Tim Machin
Kate Mulvaney-Johnson
Stephanie Kennedy
Polly Williams
Megan Dodd
David Perrin
Co-opted Governor
Co-opted Governor
LA Governor
Co-opted Governor
Co-opted Governor
Co-opted Governor
Parent Governor
Parent Governor
Parent Governor
Staff Governor
Staff Governor
Headteacher
School Meals
We provide school meals each day at a cost of £2. Most parents
pay for these weekly (£10) or some prefer to pay for a full half
term in advance. If your child is staying with us over the
lunchtime period, this provides an excellent opportunity to eat
with peers, developing good table manners, using a knife and
fork and entering into social conversation. If you prefer to
provide a packed lunch from home then we would encourage a
nutritionally balanced healthy diet.
Milk and Fruit in School
Milk is provided free of charge to children up to their 5th birthday.
Older children can have milk but parents need to order this from
the supplier. Fresh fruit is provided daily and free of charge to
Foundation and KS1 children.
Weekly Newsletter
We have a weekly newsletter which informs parents of events
and activities taking place in school and in the local community.
This is sent out by email each Friday and is also put on the school
website and notice board and also in Heptonstall Post Office
window.
School Website
You can get up-to-date information about all events in school
from our website: www.heptonstallschool.org.uk
Heptonstall Out of School Club
The Out of School Club provides child care before and after
school. Breakfast and tea are provided if required and a wide
range of activities are on offer throughout the week. We would
encourage you to register your child for the Club whether or not
you intend to use it. You can then book your child in at short
notice in the event of an emergency.
Holiday Dates for 2016/17
2016 Autumn Term
Half Term
Christmas
2017 Spring Term
Half Term
Easter
2017 Summer Term
Bank Holiday
Half Term
Midsummer
Re-opens
Closes
Re-opens
Closes
Tues, 6th Sep
THURS, 20th Oct
Mon, 31st Oct
Fri, 16th Dec
Re-opens
Closes
Re-opens
Closes
WED, 4th Jan
Fri, 17th Feb
Mon, 27th Feb
Fri, 7th Apr
Re-opens
Closed
Closes
Re-opens
Closes
Mon, 24th Apr
Mon, 1st May
Fri, 26th May
Mon, 5th June
Fri, 21st July
(You will be notified of any other occasional days etc during the school
year).
Events
During the school year there will be a variety of special events,
either just for Class 1 or for the whole school, eg. a visit from a
fire engine, or school Sports Day.
Part-time nursery children do not attend extra sessions for these
events. They will of course be included if the event occurs during
one of their usual sessions. To make things as fair as possible we
try our best to have ‘events’ on a mixture of days.
The only exceptions to this rule are the Christmas Party,
Christmas Concert and the School Summer Show.
Heptonstall Junior, Infant & Nursery School
Smithwell Lane, Heptonstall
Hebden Bridge, HX7 7NX
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01422 842533
www.heptonstallschool.org.uk