2017-2018 EYFS WELCOME GUIDE

Welcome to Byron College


Early Years Foundation Stage


Programme (EYFS)


2017/2018






































Your guide to starting

Byron College in the EYFS

Welcome from our Head of Primary School

Dear Parents/Guardians,
A very warm welcome to Byron College. I hope the information in this
booklet helps you to settle into the community, learn the EYFS daily
routines and understand the expectations of Byron College.
We take great pride in offering the highest quality education in a nurturing
environment that allows our pupils to progress and showcase their unique
talents and skills. We aim to discover the talents inherent in every child, to
inspire creativity and to encourage individuality. Our pupils are happy,
safe and confident.

I am sure your child will love learning with us and we look forward to
working with you in the coming months and years.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

Yours sincerely


Ms. Emma Dodds
Primary Head of School

EYFS Teachers & Assistants










Class Teacher for Nursery: Ms. Kathy Raptodimos
Class Teacher for Reception: Mr. Craig Garside
Teaching Assistant: Ms. Ileana Filea (Nursery Class)

Guide to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The Nursery and Reception classes, otherwise known as EYFS classes,
are aimed at providing the best possible start for your child’s
development and a strong platform on which to build the key learning
skills at every stage of their education at Byron College.
Within a happy, creative and safe environment we seek to promote your
child’s confidence, awareness of the world around them and
independence skills. Through indoor and outdoor play and exploration,
through teacher and child centered activities in targeted learning areas
and through focused communication activities we aim to develop the
three prime areas of communication and language, physical
development, and personal, social and emotional development.
The EYFS day is divided into learning blocks which include activities
based on literacy, numeracy, understanding the world and expressive
arts. In addition to the class teacher, your child will be taught by
specialist teachers in Music, Drama, PE and Computing to ensure that
their first steps in these areas are of the highest standard.

Observation and informal assessment enable the teachers to approach
every child according to their individual needs, to support them on their
learning journey and to ensure continual progress in all areas.

Parental Support
Being away from home for many hours a day
means that your child is making his/her first
steps towards independency. This does not
mean that they would not like to share the
experiences of their day with you. Encourage
them to tell you about things they have done
at school, share their excitement about new
things and expand on those new things in
your own way. Encourage them to do things
for themselves, such as dressing and
undressing, and eating unaided; allow them
to ‘help’ lay the table or prepare the family
meal; share a book with them and play a
game with them. Effective collaboration
between home and school ensures that your
child will become a secure, confident and
happy learner.

Parent-Teacher Meetings

There are three scheduled parent-teacher meetings during the
academic year at which you will be able to discuss your child’s progress
with their class teacher. These dates will be announced well in
advance. If you should wish to discuss any matters concerning your
child at other times, an appointment can be made by contacting one of
our Administrative Assistants in school office.












General Health and Safety
Children with fever, nausea, sore throat
etc are to be kept at home until all
symptoms have subsided. The school
must be notified at once if a child has
contracted a contagious disease such as
mumps, influenza or chicken pox.

Please keep your child at home until the
contagious period has passed.
Your pediatrician must be consulted.

If a child is suspected of being ill while in
school, the parents/guardians will be
informed by our School Nurse, Ms. Emily
Frangou, who will request that the child
is collected from school immediately.

Snacks and Lunches

Please ensure that your child
has eaten a healthy breakfast
before their arrival at school.
This is important for their
well being and concentration
levels as their mid morning
snack break is not until
10:30am every day.
The children are always
seated together and closely
supervised by their teachers
during meal times, not only
to ensure their safety but to
promote the development of
their independence skills, table manners and communication skills.
Snacks: Recommended mid morning snacks include fruit or chopped
vegetables. These should be prepared at home and brought to school
to share with classmates. This time is an important social learning
experience promoting sharing, listening and interaction. As we have
children in school who have severe allergies to nuts, the school
operates as a ‘nut-free’ zone.
Lunch: Lunch can be provided by parents/guardians or ordered directly
from the school canteen.
If you choose to prepare your child’s lunch, this should be brought to
school in a sealed microwave safe container (non-glass ) and cutlery
provided when necessary. A nutritious, balanced meal is recommended
and one which avoids excessively sweet desserts, such as chocolate,
and fizzy drinks.
For parents wishing to purchase a hot balanced meal from the school
canteen, this can be arranged by e-mailing our Canteen Manager, Ms
Christiana Zografou: [email protected]. The monthly menu is
posted on the school website: www.byroncollege.gr/parents/canteen.
Payment should be made directly to the Canteen Manager.
Please ensure that your child knows, on a daily basis, whether they will
be eating a meal from the canteen or they have a meal in their bag.

Celebrating Birthdays/Namedays
If you wish to send a treat for your child’s birthday or nameday to
school, we recommend individual portions i.e. cupcakes. If you provide
a whole cake, please send in paper plates, plastic spoons etc.
A reminder that any treat must not contain nuts or alcohol.

Equipment Checklist
Your child will need the following items from the first day of school:

• Water bottle or children’s flask clearly labelled with permanent
pen or name sticker
• Sunhat (to be worn during ALL outdoor playtimes)

• An extra change of clothes, including underwear, socks and shoes
(not to be uniform as these will be kept at school)
• A large beach towel or small blanket (to be sent home every
Friday to be washed and to be returned to school on Monday)
• A small hand towel (to be sent home every Friday to be washed
and to be returned to school on Monday)
• A small pillow

The School Day
Meet and greet: 8:30 — 8:40am
Register: 8:40am
Morning session: 8:40 - 10:30am
Snack & story time: 10:30am
Playtime: 11:15 - 11:35am
Midday session: 11:35 - 12:30pm
Lunch: 12:30pm
Playtime: 1:10 - 2:00pm
Afternoon session: 2:00 - 3:30pm
Home time: 3:30pm
After School Enrichment Activities TBA (Optional): 3:30 - 5:00pm

The First Few Weeks in EYFS
Beginning school can be a demanding and exhausting time for your
child. For this reason, during the first six weeks and longer if the
teachers deem it necessary, there will be a quiet time after the lunch
break when the children lie down on mats with their towel (or small
blanket) and pillow, listen to relaxing music and rest.
During the first one or two weeks if you, or the class teacher, feel that
your child would benefit from a shorter school day you are welcome to
collect your child earlier than 3:30pm. Early collection should only be
during the first or second playtime breaks in order to cause the least
disruption to the classes.

Attendance
Please contact the school either by phone (210-6047722/3/4/5) or
e-mail ([email protected]) if your child is unable to attend the
school for whatever reason. This will help us keep our registers up to
date, monitor attendance and punctuality, and assist in the event of an
emergency.

Morning Drop Off
Arrival: 8:30am Registration: 8:40am
Lateness: If your child arrives at school after 8:40am they are
considered late and parents must sign their child in at the school office.
Failure to do so means that your child is considered absent which may
have serious consequences for the school buses and in the event of any
evacuation procedure.

Leaving Early
It is imperative that, should you choose to collect your child before the
official end of the school day, you sign your child out of the school with
Ms Fotini Kyriakou, the school Administrative Assistant, before leaving
the school premises. The sign out slip will be requested by the school
security guard before any parent and child will be allowed to leave the
school premises. This is an essential process which guarantees the
safety and security of every child within the school.

Home-Time
At 3:30pm your child’s designated bus monitor will collect them from
their classroom and escort them to their school bus.
If you are collecting your child from their classroom, we request that
you are on-time. Failure to collect your child promptly is only
acceptable under circumstances. The school must be notified if you are
unexpectedly delayed.

If someone other than the authorised parent/guardian is required to
collect your child from the school, either early or at the end of the
school day, the parent/ guardian must inform the school in advance
giving the name and I.D./ passport number of the person who will be
collecting your child. This personal identification will be requested and
checked before your child is handed over. Failure to produce such
identification will mean that we will not be able to allow your child to
leave the school.

The diagram below gives examples of the areas of
learning and development and shows the links between
the way in which your child learns and what they learn
in EYFS:




Learning to be confident in In reading, learning
talking to other children when how to suggest an
playing and to talk freely about ending to a story.
own home and community.





Developing an
understanding of
Learning how to simple concepts
explore what
happens when they such as big/little.
mix colours.






Enjoying filling and
emptying containers in
the bath tub.
Learning to control
objects by pushing,
patting, throwing,
catching or kicking.
Learning about special
times or events for
family or friends and being
able to describe them.
Being able to talk about
some of the things they have
observed such as plants,
animals, natural and
found objects.