Welcome to all our new starters, beginning school in September 2024! We can't wait to meet you. This page has been created especially to help you settle in. Over the next term, we will be adding photos, videos and information all about starting at school. To see what this years Maple class have been up to, you can visit our Maple class page. It would also be lovely to meet you and see what you have been doing at home and pre-school. You can send your photos to admin@crudwell.wilts.sch.uk

The Maple Team

Hello.  I'm Vicky Owen and I am the teacher in Maple Class.

I love teaching and have been a teacher for over twenty years; teaching every year group at one time or another. I have been at Crudwell for three years and have loved every minute.  I really enjoy working in reception; seeing how quickly the children learn and the amazing ideas and conversations they have. It is a joy to spend my days in Maple class and I look forward to welcoming your children into our class. 

Early years is an essential part of a child's education and we work hard to give your child the best possible start to school life. It will be a pleasure to welcome your child into our setting and we are confident that they will thrive in our nurturing school community.

Alongside Mrs Owen, we also have Mrs Tolson (Monday - Wednesday) and Mrs Pomfrett (Thursday - Friday). They are experienced teaching assistants who work alongside Mrs Owen in Maple Class. On Wednesday afternoons, Miss Trevaskis will lead the children at Forest School.

What do Maple children think of Maple Class?

"I love playing outside in the Maple garden. We have a playhouse, a mud kitchen and a tree house. I like building things outside."

"I love forest school. We go every week with Miss Trevaskis. We get to play in the trees, make fires and toast marshmallows."

"Maple class is fun because I learn a lot. We had some dinosaur experts come and talk to use and we even hatched a Triceratops egg!"

"I like learning maths. We practise counting with our counting wands. I learned to read this year too."

What do our parents think?

"As well as being naturally quite shy, our little boy was only just 4 when he started in Reception, but we were so impressed with the school’s considered approach to welcoming new starters. There were two sessions in the summer for them to gently get acquainted with one another and their new environment, as well as a phased start in September. In addition, each child is assigned their own older buddy – who are genuinely so kind and attentive to the younger ones. Our son seems really happy and well settled, and he’s having a great first year. We’ve also found the school to be fantastic at communicating with parents about how to effectively support learning at home."

"Remembering back to the start of the year, I definitely had much more trepidation than Morley about the start of school! One thing that has definitely helped is the amazing communication and updates from Mrs Owen using the class Dojo app. It’s so lovely to see pictures of them enjoying their day and the exciting things they get up to with their friends. Super useful for reminders of class events, for asking questions and finding lost property!

The whole school has been inclusive of the reception year group from the start with year 6 buddies for the little ones, Christmas fairs, world book day pyjama parties, cake sales and school discos! It is a lovely community to be a part of.

It has been amazing to see the development of a child who loved being read to, now reading the books to me! A child who hadn’t really picked up a pen to writing sentences and using words like discombobulated! They work magic in the classroom! We have had the best introduction to school life and we are very grateful."

"Louisa has had a fantastic reception year at Crudwell. We have found the school welcoming and friendly, with many little touches at the beginning to help make the transition easier for both children and parents. Dojo is a fantastic tool for communication and a lovely way to get a picture of what the children are doing day to day. Mrs Owen is a wonderful teacher who is both nurturing and pragmatic, this really helped with the first week drop offs when Louisa was a bit wobbly going in."

"Our daughter has settled wonderfully in Maple Class! Of course, her academic abilities have come on leaps and bounds, but most important to us she has grown in confidence, is happy and comes home having thoroughly enjoyed her day. As parents, the communication and support from the teaching team in Maple and the wider school is a huge reassurance. It really is a supportive, nurturing atmosphere!"

"My child settled instantly and she didn't want to leave."

"My son can be nervous in new situations but thanks to the amazing staff he settled in straight away. He looks forward to school and comes out smiling every day. He has made great progress in reading, writing and maths and Mrs Owen has made learning a genuine partnership with great support for parents. We always feel part of his learning as communication through the class app is excellent. Weekly Forest School with Miss Trevaskis, Mrs Tolson and Bird the dog has been a real highlight. We are so glad we chose Crudwell School."

"As soon as we visited Crudwell, we knew it was going to be our first choice.

We were welcomed with open arms and couldn’t ask for a nicer start to our daughter’s school journey. We are amazed at our daughter’s development since starting school. Full credit to all the staff and Maple team. Would highly recommend Crudwell School to any parent."

Read Write Inc

Read Write Inc. Phonics is a programme that uses systematic phonics to teach all children to read.  The daily programme is started in reception and most children follow the scheme for two years.  First, the sounds are taught in a specific order as the English language is very complex.  Phonics is the method of teaching reading through the identification of sounds and graphemes.   All words are made up of phonemes, also called sounds e.g. in ‘mat’ we have the sounds ‘m’, ‘a’, ‘t’.  A grapheme is another name for the letters we use to write the sound.

When teaching the sounds, the children have the opportunity to say the sound, read the sound as well as write the sound within the same lesson.  We teach phonics so that your children will have the tools to read any word.  First, they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these sounds into words, then learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes.  The children then move onto reading words in the Ditties and Storybooks.  Each Storybook is carefully matched to the sounds they can already read – setting them up for success.  Writing and sound recall continue to be part of the taught phonics lesson.  Tricky red words which can not be decoded using phonics are taught as part of the programme.

For further information, visit the website  https://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/programmes/phonics/

Potty Training Advice for Parents

https://www.eric.org.uk/