Starting school

Here at Thornton Dale Primary School, we pride ourselves on our Early Years provision. A child starting school can be a daunting experience for some parents and children. Our experienced and well-trained staff acknowledge this big milestone in the children's learning journey and ensure this transition process is a positive and happy one. 

Our transition process starts in the Summer term, by welcoming parents into school for a 'New Starters' meeting. During this session, parents will be able to meet the class teacher and some of our Senior Leader Team in school. Parents will also be given a tour of our school environment, including our fabulous outdoor space which includes a large playground, a bird hide, a pond and a woodland area. The class teacher will then show you our high quality EYFS environment. In our EYFS setting we follow the children's interests and avoid any 'set-up' provision areas. Instead, we allow the children to self-select their own resources and take ownership of their own play and ideas. Our provision consists of lots of open-ended, natural resources as we believe that these ignite children's curiosity and imagination. We are also feel very lucky to have a large outdoor space which is used throughout the year, no matter what the weather!

After this meeting, staff will then visit the children at their home or at their current pre-school setting. We find that this is a brilliant opportunity to get to know the child in an environment where they already feel confident in. We take time and care when getting to know each child and adapt our provision to suit each child's interests and needs so that when they do visit our setting, they have a sense of familiarity and comfort.

We have an 'open-door' policy across school and regularly invite parents in so that children can share their learning with their nearest and dearest. Our open-door policy also applies for our EYFS setting and parents of New Starters are encouraged to 'drop-in' to our setting during the summer term before their child is due to start. Stay and Play sessions are also arranged during the summer term.

If you are interested in looking around our EYFS setting then please email admin@thorntondaleprimaryschool.org to arrange a visit.