Our school gates are open at 8.30am. Children can enter the school between 8.35 and 8.45am. The school gates close at 8.50am.

We ask all parents and carers arriving after this time to bring their children to the school reception.

Getting to school on time is very important. Arriving just five minutes late each day amounts to over 16 hours of school missed!

As well as recording overall absence figures, we also monitor punctuality and intervene where necessary. Please give your child the best possible chance at school by ensuring they arrive at school on time.

Assembly

Assembly themes include a wide variety of topics, covering religious, spiritual, moral, social and cultural themes. Acts of Collective worship take place within our assemblies which are wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character.

Maths 

All classes start the day with either a maths or an English lesson.

In EYFS and Key Stage 1, a lot of the work is practical and based on solving problems. In Key Stage 2 children continue to be taught to use models and images to develop their mathematical understanding.

Children are encouraged to independently select the resources that they think will support their learning.

Playtime

EYFS, Key Stage 1, Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2 pupils all have separate playtimes.

English

English lessons include spelling, grammar, reading, writing, phonics and speaking and listening activities.

Lunchtime

Reception children eat their lunch first, followed by the older year groups in order of age. All EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 children receive a free lunch.

Children can have a hot dinner or packed lunch. Fresh water is provided and plenty of supervisors are on hand to help the youngest children cut food, open packets, etc.

OPAL has arrived at Green Meadow!  We are excited to announce that this year, we have become part of the OPAL (the Outdoor Pay and Learning) Programme and we are currently transforming lunchtime provision for all of our children to further enhance opportunities for physical activity, socialisation, co-operation, co-ordination, resilience, creativity, imagination and enjoyment through improved play.

On OPAL lunchtimes, the children are able to explore a range of resources and loose parts with their friends from all year groups and this is already proving to be a huge success!  But don’t just take our word for it…see what the children have to say!

"OPAL is the best thing ever!  OPAL lunchtimes are amazing because you can play with lots of different people, use your imagination and challenge yourself.”

“I love that we can use the litter pickers to look after our environment.”

“OPAL lunchtimes are fun.  They fly by!  There are speedy!”

“I love dressing up the best.”

“I like playing with the dinosaurs.”

“Thank you for letting us play different things on the playground with everyone.  It is so much fun.”

“I think the carts are brilliant because you can go really fast!”

“I am so happy because you can do so many different things on OPAL lunchtimes.”

“I love it because the trim-track is difficult. I love a challenge!”

Over the rest of the Spring and Summer term, we will be developing our outdoor provision even more and sourcing more and more resources for the children to play with.  Please look out for regular updates on our newsletter and if you would like to find out more about OPAL, why not take a look at their website where you’ll fond lots of useful information.

(www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk)

Phonics

All children in EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 have a phonics lesson every day. This is when they learn how to represent the 44 sounds that are used in the English language. At Green Meadow, we follow the Read Write Inc approach to phonics. 

A meeting for EYFS parents during the Autumn term will help you to understand how we teach phonics at school.

Blocked Learning Themes/Foundation Subjects

In the afternoons, children will often be working on a particular learning theme that covers foundation subjects such as history, geography, art, design and technology, MfL, RE and music. The theme is also connected to maths and English lessons, to enable cross curricular learning (where possible). The aim is that the skills that children learn in maths and English can be transferred to a range of subjects.

Sometimes certain subjects are taught in a block to enable a depth of learning that is not possible in just one or two lessons.

Home Time

Children in EYFS and KS1 are dismissed from their classrooms at the end of the day. Children in KS2 are dismissed from the KS2 playground. We only allow children to walk home by themselves if we have received written parental permission.

Children will not be allowed to leave with unannounced adults, even if the child knows them. If someone different is picking up your child, you must phone the school office to let us know as soon as you are able to before the end of the school day.