Information for Prep 1 Parents

Welcome to Prep 1.

This booklet contains some helpful information to enable you and your child to have an enjoyable and productive first year with us at Dollar Academy.

The Staff

This year the Prep 1 teachers are Mrs Moffat and Miss Foster. Our teacher’s assistants, Mrs Ramsay, Mrs Bunyan and Mrs Davis help the class teachers by escorting children to the Senior School, supervising the playground at break times and looking after the children’s well-being.
Mrs Morrison who is Head of the Prep and Junior School and Mrs Adamson who is Head of the Preparatory School are available to deal with any issues involving the education of your child.  

Reading

We use the Ginn Reading Scheme with Sunshine and other books for reinforcement work. Words from Ginn Levels 1 and 2 are learnt by the “look and say” method. You may encourage your child to recognise the complete words, and to sound out in Ginn Readers, but in all other books do provide the unknown words they hesitate over.    
Initialling the marker encourages children to share their reading with you every night. Apart from reading the words, your child will enjoy talking about the pictures, predicting what might happen next and extending their vocabulary. Your child will really enjoy making up their own sentences using words from their word pocket and reading them to you.  Above all reading should be fun!

On Fridays the children may bring home a library book from the school selection. These books should be returned on Monday.

Jolly Phonics

The scheme we use introduces one new sound each day. From the beginning we will be encouraging the children to blend sounds together to make words.  With the ability to blend, the children are able to read simple unfamiliar words.  Playing “I Spy”, alliteration games and rhyming words helps to develop your child’s awareness of sounds.

Number

During Prep 1 we will be covering a wide range of concepts with the children who will learn through a diverse range of practical, mental and written activities.

Handwriting  

Children are taught how to write the lower case letters in Prep 1. The letters have “flicks” which make it easier for when the children start to join their letters in Prep 3. A separate sheet is provided showing the recommended formation of each letter.

Social Studies and Science
Our topics this year will include:
Colours in nature, Homes, My Body, Transport, Christmas, Birds, Old and New, Spring, Materials, People in our school community and Weather.  They will involve practical activities, discussion and some written work, as well as some trips out and about!  We are glad to receive objects brought from home, which are related to our various topics.

Other areas of the curriculum covered in the classroom are Religious and Moral Education, Health and Wellbeing, Information and Communication Technology and Design Technology.

Specialist teachers
The children will have music with Mrs Leggatt, and in the latter part of this term, they will prepare a Christmas musical production.  Mrs Borrowman and Mrs Smith take the children for physical education and swimming.  Art is taken by Mrs Scott and Mrs Livingstone and the children’s work is regularly displayed in the department.

Homework

Homework should be fun and enjoyable for everyone.  A clear, flat work surface, a quiet environment and sharp pencils all help to establish good habits for the future.  Throughout Prep 1, homework should take no longer than 20 minutes.

Lunches

We encourage the children to eat their healthy packed lunch each day. We return uneaten food in the lunchbox to help you estimate the quantities your child is able to eat.  We encourage the children to drink all of their juice at lunchtime.  They can have a drink from their flask when they are thirsty.  A napkin in the box helps to provide a clean surface, and non-spill cups or containers are a great help to the staff.

Birthdays
We are happy to distribute party invitations within the classroom as long as there is one for every child.  We enjoy celebrating birthdays in school. Due to an increasing number of children with allergies we are not able to accept cakes to share out.  We aim to make the day special in other ways.

Being Independent

We will encourage your child to dress and undress for P.E. and swimming so as to learn to carry out these tasks independently. By the end of Prep 1, we would be delighted if the children were able to tie their own shoelaces, zip up zippers and do all their own buttons.

Some points that apply to all children at Dollar Academy

All items belonging to your child should be named clearly and in full. Initials alone are sometimes not enough to return a piece of lost property to the rightful owner.

When your child is attending any Dollar Academy event, school uniform must be worn, unless permission to wear other clothing is given by the Rector.

If your child is absent for any reason, please telephone the School Office, or send a letter stating the reason for the absence when your child returns. Any medication that has to be administered during the school day should be clearly labelled in its original container and given to the class teacher with a signed letter from a parent detailing the correct dose to be given.

And finally…

We hope that you have found this booklet useful. If there are any other points or problems you wish to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact the class teacher at the end of the school day.

We look forward to sharing a very special first year at school with your child.