Reception

Reception Documents

Reading

This year we are starting to allocate home reading books online. These books are exciting and fun and help children practise their phonics sounds that they are learning in school. The books are both fiction and non-fiction books. Every child has their own login so can they can access the reading at home! Please click the lion below to access your child’s reading book.

Physical Development

Our PE session is every Tuesday morning and our physical development group is every Friday afternoon, please ensure your child has their full PE kit with them in school. We will send them home at the end of each half term to be washed.

Toilet Training Information

Welly Walk Wednesday And Outdoor Learning

We will be running Welly Walk Wednesday every Wednesday afternoon. Please ensure that your child has suitable clothing in school. We will be out in the school grounds regardless of the weather. Please keep an eye on Class Dojo for opportunities to join us on our Welly Walk Wednesday lessons. We learn about the outside world, living things and our local community.

As part of the EYFS curriculum, your child will have access to the outdoor environment throughout the day, every day, regardless of the weather. Please end your child to school in weather appropriate clothing, including hats and gloves the colder seasons, and sun hats and sun cream during the warmer months. We believe there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.

Labelling Belongings

Please label all of your little ones belongings, this is really important! We encourage the children to be responsible for their own belongings, however our classroom is very busy and it can be very difficult to identify belongigns with no names in them.

Attendance and Punctuality

At Darwen St James our aim is to promote good attendance and punctuality in partnership with parents and carers in Early Years, ensuring that good habits are formed early. School begins at 9.15am and finishes at 3.20pm for Reception Class and it is vital that your child arrives on time and ready to learn. Our free breakfast club starts at 9.00 am in the school hall, and is available to all of our pupils here at Darwen St James.

If your child is unwell, please contact the school office on 01254 703260 to let us know. Please try and arrange appointments around the school day when possible. If your child does have an appointment during school time, please bring their letter or appointment card into the school office.

Class Dojo

We use Class Dojo as our main form of communication across school. All you need to do is download the app on your smartphone or tablet, and type in the code we have given you. Please check Class Dojo on a regular basis so that you don't miss any news or information. We also have a class page that we update regularly, showing you all of the fun things we get up to in school!

Worship Through Celebration

Every Friday at 9.20 am we have our online worship through celebration to celebrate the pupils’ achievements throughout the week. All parents/carers will be invited to join us once the restrictions are lifted. Certificates and a green jumper are awarded to pupils from each class to recognise an outstanding achievement that week. We also clap and cheer for anyone who has had a birthday, which is great fun. We hear about the children who have been representing school in sport or music or any special events and we also hear about children who do activities outside of school like dancing or lifesaving. We also see which class has gathered the most Class Dojo points and who has had the highest attendance. There is lots of cheering and clapping at Our worship through celebration. We have a lot to celebrate here at Darwen St James!

Green Jumpers

Green jumpers are given out every Friday at our worship through celebration. If you get a green jumper you must have had an exceptionally great week at school. A green jumper is not just for working hard, but for showing our school values such as friendship, love, hope, courage and perseverance. Maybe you showed an act of kindness when someone was hurt or sad or struggling with their work. Perhaps you didn’t give up with your work even though it was really tricky. Maybe you were a great role model all week or showed courage when something was difficult.  Whatever you did you deserved it!