The Spinney Primary School
Teaching and Learning Together
Starting school is a very exciting time in a child's life and we are keen to make the experience as happy and as calm as possible. We want you and your child to feel confident and relaxed about starting school. We would normally, at this time, be inviting you to attend various induction sessions so we can meet you and introduce you to life in our school, however, in these strange times, we are unable to do this. We have therefore created this page, where we hope you will find the answer to some of the questions or concerns you may have.
If your child was born between 1st September 2016 and 31st August 2017 your child will be due to start school in September 2021. The application process for this begins on 10 September 2020. Applications should be made by 15th January 2021. Any applications received after this time will be late, and will only be considered by the admissions team in May 2021, after all the 'on-time' applicants so it is important that you apply by the closing date. For further information please visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/admissions.Please take a look at the attached leaflet for further information.
You will be informed of the school your child has been allocated on 16th April 2021. Once you have received your offer, it is your responsibility to accept, or decline, your place. Please call, or email the OPS team to let us know your decision.
We would normally then invite your and your child to some induction sessions such as a parents evening and some 'Come an Explore' sessions, but at this time we cannot say whether we will be able to do this. We may have to welcome you to The Spinney in a more virtual way. Once all places have been confirmed, we will be in touch with parents to advise the latest situation.
Children will attend school on a part time basis during the first three weeks of school. For the first two weeks of school life, younger children will attend from 9:00-11:00 am, and the older children from 1:00 - 3:00pm. During the third week, all children will attend from 9:00 - 1:00pm so that they can stay for a school lunch. Children will be expected to attend school full time (9:00 - 3:15pm) from week four onwards.
We are a school, with a very strong community and believe that communication is key. If you have any questions of concerns about starting school in September that are not answered here, please do not hesitate to contact the OPS team on the school phone number (01223) 568836, or on the office email address office@spinney.cambs.sch.uk if you would prefer. You are likely to have many questions, including 'Who do I speak to about ...?' We hope the attached document goes some way to helping you with that question.
As we are sure you can appreciate, there is a huge amount of information that we would like to share with you. We have tried to keep this page as simple as we can and to redirect you to other areas of this website where you will hopefully find the answers to some of your questions.
We use an exciting way to record, track and share your child's learning during their time in Foundation Stage. This system, called Tapestry, may have been used by your child's nursery and if so, we will be able to pick up their Learning Journey from that point onwards. Tapestry enables staff to take photographs, videos and add written observations of the activities that your child does at school. You will then have access to see this at home, and you will be able to add your own photos and comments to the journal.