September return to School

We are so excited to welcome you back to school and get back to teaching and learning together; we have so much planned to ensure ‘Team Ryvers’ continues to improve and builds on the successes of previous years. Below you will find all the necessary information for those first couple of weeks back at school. We hope you find it helpful and as always, we appreciate and value your support.

Return to school
All children from Year 1 to Year 6 return to school on Tuesday 5th September. All children enter via Trelawney playground gate and either go -

• KS1 - straight over the KS2 playground, through the basketball court fenced area and through the KS1 playground to the main KS1 doors where KS1 staff members will be greeting you. Adults must accompany the children at all times.
• KS2 – through the designated door, for your year group, from the KS2 playground. The children will have been shown this before the Summer Holidays but there will be KS2 staff members directing accordingly if you are not sure.

We operate a soft start so the gates will open at 8.35am and will close promptly at 8.50am. We encourage children to come to school as early as possible. If you are late, you will need to enter the school via the main school office.  

The pick-up arrangements remain the same and children can be collected from Trelawney playground (3.20pm for KS1 and 3.25pm for KS2). White markings for each class are visible on the playground. Please be patient with our teachers as they learn new faces when dropping off/picking up.

A member of the Senior Leadership Team, and other staff members, are available to be spoken to before and after school on the school gate or playground.

Nursery/Reception children
Nursery/Reception children have a staggered start to ensure they have a smooth transition to big school! The EYFS team will have communicated information regarding this staggered start to you directly. Reception children are due to start full time with us w/c 11^th September.

If you need any further information, please contact our EYFS Phase Leader, Mrs Porter, via email at eyfs@ryvers.slough.sch.uk.  

Meet the Teacher meetings
All parents will be invited to ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings in September. This will give you an opportunity to meet your child's new teacher and to find out a bit more about the expectations for each year group. A letter will be sent out when we return to school confirming arrangements regarding this.

Clubs
Our Breakfast Club will resume from the first day back - Tuesday 5th September. For further information on Breakfast Club please visit the tab in the Parents section of the website. The Teacher-run clubs, and clubs run by external providers, are being planned currently- this will be communicated to parents in September. 

School Lunches
We are very lucky to have our own in-house catering team at Ryvers. Menus are shared with parents 3 weeks at a time. All school dinners need to be booked and pre-paid via your Parent Pay account. EYFS and KS1 are all entitled to free school meals. The cost of a school dinner for children in KS2 is £2.40. The first Autumn term menu and information regarding Parent Pay is available on our website under Parents à School Lunches/Parent Pay.

Pencil Cases

Only children in Year 6 should come into school with a pencil case. Recommended items for your child's pencil case are: pencils, a blue handwriting pen, colouring pencils, a rubber, a sharpener and a small ruler. All other year groups will be provided with the correct stationery.

School Uniform

All children must wear appropriate school uniform. You will be alerted by a staff member if your child is not wearing the correct uniform items. Our uniform comprises of a dark grey skirt/pinafore/trousers, white polo shirt and navy blue jumper/cardigan. Hoodies are not permitted unless being worn for PE. Blue and white summer dresses/grey shorts can be worn in warmer weather. Children are also required to wear black shoes with a heel less than 2cm. Boots are not part of our uniform policy.

Children must also wear correct PE kit including white/grey/black shorts/skirts, plain white t-shirt and trainers/plimsolls.

For more information on jewellery, etc. please visit Parents à Uniform.

If you require help with school uniform, please speak to the school. We have an abundance of pre-loved uniform at reduced prices.

PE Days
Children are in full school uniform on normal days and PE kits on their PE days (with the exception of Nursery – they can wear the same every day!)

Please ensure children are wearing the correct PE kit only, as described above.

PE days for September 2023 are as follows: 

Monday – Year 1

Tuesday - Year 2

Wednesday – Year 4 and Year 6

Thursday – Year 3 and Year 5

Friday - Reception 

Year 5 will be attending swimming this year. You will receive information regarding this when it is your child’s class turn to go.

Reception to Year 1 transition

The new Year 1 classes will have a period of time transitioning from Continuous Provision to formal learning in the Autumn Term. Parents can help with this by reading with them every day and giving them practice at sitting at a desk and writing or drawing. They could start a diary or practise writing/mark making. They can also practise their fine motor skills by cutting, sticking, weaving, cooking, drawing, playing with Lego and making creative things.

Term Dates
See our website for the Term Dates for the new Academic Year. We'd recommend noting the extended October Half Term dates. Please note on the last day of each term, we finish at 1pm. Further diary dates will be available on our website when we return to school. 

We encourage all our families to take holidays and trips abroad during the school holidays and do not authorise time off during term time. 

If there's something we have forgotten or you have an urgent issue, you can email the office on office@ryvers.slough.sch.uk or call us on 01753 544474.

We look forward to seeing everyone and hope you have all had a wonderful Summer (where's the sun?) break :)

Frequently Asked Questions 

Please email Mrs Price using office@ryvers.slough.sch.uk if you have any questions we can answer here- thank you!

Do children bring in PE kit?

No- children wear PE kit to and from school. It maximises PE time and saves on having to have everything ready. 

What days will my child have PE? 

Please see above for the days detailed.

Do Reception - Year 5 children need a pencil case?

No- we'll supply everything for them. Year 6 are allowed and encouraged to have pencil cases, as part of their transition to Secondary School, but it's not mandatory- we can supply stationery if necessary.

Do children need book bags?

Yes please, but they do not need to be the Ryvers branded bags. We do ask that children don’t come to school with big rucksacks as they don’t have much space on their peg!

When does Breakfast Club start?

Children will be able to attend Breakfast Club from the first day back - Tuesday 5th September. We recommend that our new Reception children don't attend Breakfast Club straight away. This is to give them a bit of time to settle into full time education first.

When will I meet the teachers?

In September we will host a meet the teacher event - you will receive communication regarding this in September.

What homework will my child have? 

Each child will receive weekly homework consisting of...

- Daily reading for at least 10 minutes a day. Please record this in the reading record as these are checked frequently. 

- Weekly maths fluency work. 

- Weekly spellings. 

Further detail will be provided at the meet the teacher meetings in September. 

What do I do if my child is anxious about the new year? 

This is perfectly natural as the transition from the long break back to school can be overwhelming. We recommend modelling excitement for the new term, a strong focus on all the positives and have long chats on everything they are thinking about. Click here for tips on how to manage this transition: https://onlinefirstaid.com/7-tips-to-reduce-back-to-school-anxiety-for-parents-and-children/