1. Welcome to Saint Albert’s Primary Helpful Hints and Information for the Parents of our new P1 children

2. St. Albert’s Management Team Head Teacher - Clare Harker Depute Head Teacher – Miss Kelly Depute Head Teacher – Miss O’Connor Principal Teacher –Mrs Gallagher Principal Teacher –Mrs Sheridan P1 Teacher– Mr Stewart P1 Teacher – Mrs McFadden

3. Children return to school – Thursday 13 th August 2015 9:00am – 12:15pm From Friday 14 th August until Friday 4 th September 9:00am – 12:15pm From Monday 7 th September hours will be 9:00am until 3pm

4. What is happening this afternoon?  Two Groups of children  Teachers organising activities in each class.  Buddies supporting children in playground.  Opportunity to play and get to know one another.  Staff observing children in both classes.

5. P1 children line up inside the infant playground P1 children dismissed from the gate at the infant playground. Adults wait outside the gate please. Teaching staff will hand over each child to their parent / carer Inform school if someone different is collecting your child Remind your child to return to the school if you are late collecting them

6. APPOINTMENTS If your child has a Doctor / Dentist / Hospital appointment please send a note to the school indicating the date and time of the appointment. Always report to the school office (not to your child’s class) Medicines must be labelled and consent forms signed at school office – parent MUST give first dose of medication to child.

7. Absences

8. We will provide a small labelled box for your child’s phonic sounds and blending. Children will then begin to take home ‘Tricky Words’ and ‘Key Words’. Home Learning will be on a weekly grid with ideas and links to support learning at home. Ensure home learning file is brought back to school each day (will begin from week 2). Label ALL clothes, bags, pencil cases, lunch boxes!

10. Your child must bring a change of clothes for P.E. You will be told which days these are in August.

11. Encourage your child to bring only ONE healthy snack– no glass bottles, cans or fizzy juice. Your child will brush their teeth every day after lunchtime in the classroom. Make sure children brush their teeth in the morning and at night time please.

12. Proven to improve oral health and encourage good oral hygiene Consent forms to be completed and returned to school

13. 8 Curricular Areas: Literacy & English, Numeracy & Maths, Health & Wellbeing (PE), RERC, Social Studies, Technologies (ICT), Expressive Arts (Drama, Music, Art, Dance), Sciences 4 Contexts for Learning: Discrete subjects, Interdisciplinary Learning Experiences, Ethos & Life of the School, Opportunities for Personal Achievement 4 Capacities: Successful Learners, Responsible Citizens, Effective Contributors, Confident Individuals

14. School Uniform Girls: Grey pinafore Blue shirt/polo shirt Grey cardigan/jumper School tie Grey socks/tights Boys: Grey trousers/shorts Blue shirt/polo shirt Grey school jumper School tie

15. Play and outdoor learning form a huge part of our learning experiences in P1 in St Albert’s. Expect your child to be: Singing, rhymes, games, story telling, counting, turn taking and lots more. The learning is very active.

16. Please send a light waterproof jacket to leave in school for outdoor learning.

17. Workshops will provide opportunities to see how your child learns Provide guidance for parents on how to support your child’s learning at home Dates to follow !

18. Read to your child (encourage a love of books!!) Read /teach them nursery rhymes www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/subjects/earlylearni ng/nurserysongs Draw circles in an anti clockwise direction http://www.smartappsforkids.com/handwriting/ Colour in (encourage to stay in the lines) Encourage your child to talk to you

19. USING MATHS EVERY DAY What you can do: http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/ Some of the things you can do at home to encourage your child to think about and explore maths include: Asking your child to talk about or name the number of things in their picture story books. Going on a number hunt with your child; for example, get them to look for and identify cars with a number plate that has the number 2, or to look for and identify house or unit numbers with a 4.

20. Collecting a selection of different coloured everyday objects and have your child to sort them into groups of the same colour. Alternatively, start a repeated pattern (blue, red and orange, blue, red and orange) and get them to continue the pattern Encouraging your child to count while they play – like how many times can they jump, bounce a ball or hear a particular sound. Talking with your child about the size and shape of things they see. Get them to look for particular shapes and count how many times they see them – how many times can we see a circle, the number of windows in houses along your street or the shape of your roof.

21. LITERACY EVERY DAY What you can do: As a parent you play a vital role in preparing and encouraging your child for the world of reading and writing. Read to your child as much as you can. Your local library is a great source of books and information. You might want to consider electronic books too. If your child’s first language is not English, learning words and reading in their first language is beneficial and should be encouraged. iPad or similar tablets – can display colourful, animated stories with a narrator to read the story to your child. You need to have an iTunes account before you’re able to search for and download books from the Apps store. Best iPad Games for kids 2014 (The Guardian). http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/24/the-best-ipad- apps-for-kids-of-2014

22. We have a very active and supportive Parent Council and Parent Teacher Group who are very eager to welcome new members in Aug 2015!!!