WHARFEDALE MONTESSORI SCHOOL

PARENTS’ HANDBOOK

Aim and Mission Statement:

At Wharfedale Montessori School, our aim is to enable children to achieve their full potential, to be happy, to grow in knowledge and confidence, to have a good self-image and eventually to be able to go out into a fast-changing, problem-laden society confidently with well-developed skills, initiative and enthusiasm; able to find their place, enjoy it and do well.

Introduction:

In joining the Pre-School, you and your child are about to take those first important steps on your child’s journey into the outside world. These early experiences will form the foundation for future development through the school and into adult life.

We want to help make the transition from your child’s life at home into the first days at school as smooth as possible for parent and child. These early days are full of exciting opportunities for your child to experience and enjoy the first steps towards independence.

We are aware that for all new parents, whether your child is joining the Pre-School or Primary group, this is a time of great concern for you in wondering how your child will make this adjustment into a new environment. For this reason we would like to give you as much information as possible about what to expect on your arrival at the school and, amongst other things, what kind of routines are in place and what kind of work your child will be involved with.

This Handbook sets out some of the basic principles of the Montessori Method and how we put it into practice here in order to achieve our aim and mission. It also contains information about things you can do at home to help make this transitional period of adjustment go as smoothly as possible.

We are always happy to answer any questions you may have and to discuss any issues that concern you. If you would like to find out more about the Montessori Method, a reading list is included at the end of this Handbook; you would always be welcome to contact the Principal for a further discussion, and, of course, to come and observe your child at work, and play.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to you and your child and look forward to seeing you on the first day.

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Some general information for parents:

The Montessori philosophy and practice derives from the work of Dr Maria Montessori, founder of a new system of education in Italy in the early 20th century. There are basic elements of it that should be in place in any Montessori establishment.

Montessori schools will vary in their application of the approach or method. This will be directly related to the interpretation given to the approach by the principal/owner of the school and the teaching staff. Different personalities set a slightly different stamp on any school, Montessori or otherwise, and the feel of each may vary.

The Montessori approach encourages maximum independent functioning at all levels for the child. To do this, we provide a vast range of learning experiences, with apparatus and exercises that the children manipulate and explore in a very hands-on way, that satisfy their inner need to learn by doing. Many of these things have a self-corrective element which allows the child to see easily when something is not right and to master a skill without adult intervention, thus gaining great inner satisfaction, boosting self-confidence and increasing competence. A beautifully cared-for, inviting environment, prepared by the teachers, comfortable, secure and allowing maximum ease of access to everything the children need, should be in evidence in Montessori schools. All the equipment should be well looked-after and complete.

Dr Montessori likened small children to little scientists and their working and living environment to a laboratory in which they can experiment and explore with all they see around them, in order to gain better knowledge and understanding.

All the usual curricular areas of work are found in Montessori schools. They are subject to OFSTED and HMI inspections and regularly have impressive results.

Our wide range of teaching apparatus is beautifully designed and crafted and the work exercises are carefully thought out to be inviting and appeal to the child. It is not unusual to see a child of four years old happily placing puzzle pieces of the continents in the correct place on a control chart, or working with the hierarchies of number counting from units to thousands with the golden beads using numbers up to 9000. Our Pre-School children have a good rudimentary understanding of the decimal system before going on into primary education. The teacher will model by doing each exercise or task, with a child or small group watching. Children are left to work quietly by themselves following their observation of this modelling/demonstration, and can thereafter choose

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this work whenever they wish. The children help to maintain the order and beauty of the environment by helping to tidy and clean it, and are shown how to finish and put their work in its special place ready for the next user. This builds self-discipline and inculcates respect for the working environment and the needs of others. Strong emphasis is placed on the arts and creativity, physical development and practical life skills.

In many Montessori pre-schools, computers are in use. In the primary classes, ICT teaching will generally be in place. A great deal of emphasis is placed on the importance of courtesy and good manners. Self-discipline is probably the most valuable skill to master. The house rules and structure of the Montessori environment help the child to develop self-discipline as well as self-respect.

Visiting parents should find an extremely peaceful and industrious setting. Children should be quietly choosing activities and working with them. The teachers should be seen to interact with the children happily, with quiet voices, patience and great respect. As with any other school, parents should be careful to check staff qualifications and experience.

It is a common misconception that Montessori schools are places where the children do whatever they like. This suggests an unruly and disorganised form of education, which is definitely not the case in these settings. Our children do not in the sense implied do whatever they like, but they most certainly like what they do.

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Twelve points of the Montessori Method:

1. It is based on years of patient observation of the child.2. It is of universal application. Within a single generation it has been tried with complete

success with children of almost every civilised nation. Race, colour, climate, nationality, social rank, type of civilisation – all these make no difference to its successful application.

3. It has revealed the small child as a lover of physical and intellectual work, spontaneously chosen and carried out with profound joy.

4. It is based on the child’s imperious need to learn by doing. At each stage in the child’s mental growth, corresponding occupations are provided by means of which the child develops its faculties.

5. It offers the child a maximum of spontaneity, enabling the child to reach higher levels of scholastic attainment.

6. It achieves a higher discipline within the child. It is an active discipline which originates within the child and is not imposed from without.

7. It is based on a profound respect for the child’s personality and removes the preponderating influence of the adult, thus leaving the child room to grow. Hence the child is allowed a large measure of liberty (not licence) which forms the basis of real discipline.

8. It enables the teacher to deal with each child individually in each subject and thus guide the child according to its individual requirements.

9. Each child works at its own pace. The quick child is not held back by the slow and the latter, in trying to keep up with the former, is not obliged to flounder along hopelessly out of its depth.

10. At every turn, it presents endless opportunities among the children for mutual help which is joyfully given and gratefully received.

11. It allows a freedom from danger of overstrain, feelings of inferiority and other negative experiences since the child works from its own freedom of choice.

12. Finally, the Montessori Method develops the whole personality of the child, not only its intellectual faculties but also its powers of deliberation, initiative and independent choice together with their emotional complements. By living as a free member of a real social community the child is trained in those fundamental qualities which form the basis of personal fulfilment.

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The approach at our setting:

At Wharfedale Montessori School, we offer an education to our children using the Montessori approach as outlined in this Handbook. The School offers places for children from 2½ to 12 years of age, and is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of Wharfedale, in a setting adjacent to Strid Wood SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

Parents of pupils applying to join the School will have completed a registration form and will be offered two transition visits for their child to start to make the change either from home, or from another school. This is a chance for your child to join the other children in the group, and to get used to the rhythms and routines of the School. Home visits will be arranged for EDD/SEN children, if appropriate, in order that the child’s needs may be more fully assessed.

We have two classrooms, the Pre-School classroom at Strid Cottage, where the main School office and Principal’s office are also located, and the Primary classroom in the Cabin, a custom-built log cabin building from Scandinavia, set in the school grounds.

The Pre-School caters for children aged from 2½ to 5 or 6 years of age. Children make the move up to the Primary classroom when they are aged about 6, depending on the stage they have reached, not only in terms of their academic progress, but also in terms of their personal, social and emotional development and therefore their readiness for the requirements of the environment offered to the older children. The children make the transition from Pre-School to the Primary classroom in gradual

stages, starting with a morning visit, then staying for lunch and then for a whole day. This helps them get used to the new setting and to their new classmates.

In the Cabin, while the Montessori philosophy remains the same, opportunities for learning across a wider range of activities and materials are offered. For the Primary group, just as for the younger children, there are daily opportunities to learn practical life skills. For the older children, these will include such activities as wood-working, changing bike tyres and plugs; also, in the Cabin, there will be opportunities for structured group activities, such as drama projects. In both the Cabin and Strid Cottage, the children are expected to tidy and clean their own work spaces, especially after practical activities and after lunch.

As the children progress through the School, there will be opportunities for trips and learning events outside the setting. For the older children, the School also employs a number of specialised peripatetic teachers to lead the children in activities involving, for example, sport, yoga and art tuition.

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In the Primary classroom, the teaching staff will direct work according to the daily and termly plans for each child, and plan activities according to the short, medium and long term plans agreed for the group as a whole. The children then work to their own individualised learning plans. Targets for each child are put together by the teachers and reviewed and adjusted each term. Each day, certain tasks on the children’s individual work schedules are highlighted, and where these are new to the child, the tasks will be presented and modelled by the teachers on a one-to-one basis. The children must complete the highlighted tasks before they can move on to choose work which will consolidate that morning’s work or a previous task, or take forward a research project based on a previous activity. In doing this, they will be drawing on a broad and well-balanced curriculum, covering the arts, sciences and humanities.

Although we use several reading schemes, the major part of a child’s reading development involves both Montessori language materials that are specifically designed to illustrate particular aspects of written language, and books chosen by the children according to their interests. Children are gradually introduced to the many ways in which the English language is recorded and are then encouraged to apply those skills both in furthering their knowledge of language structures and in following their interest in the world around them and all it contains. Mathematics in the Montessori classroom is learned using a carefully graded sequence of hands-on materials that allow the child to progress at their own pace without the necessity of memorising facts first. As skill and understanding grow, the child moves naturally to working in the abstract (using only pencil and paper), and to learning how to apply their knowledge in problem-solving. It is important that each child’s progression through the graded sequences of materials in both reading and mathematics is carefully monitored, and for this reason, you will not normally expect to see homework set for your child.

The children are not routinely “tested” in a formal sense, and we do not undertake SATs testing at the end of Key Stage 1 or 2. However, we keep in depth and constant records of work undertaken across all areas of the curriculum through the individual work schedules developed for each child and tailored to their level of ability. Any new work presented is recorded and dated and each child’s individual learning plan is reviewed termly. This gives us an accurate day by day progression record clearly showing the child’s areas of strength or weakness and allowing us to address anything requiring further input. In this way, the progress of each child within the whole group is constantly recorded, reviewed and monitored, not just at the end of each term or academic year, but from day

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to day. There will be regular opportunities for you to discuss your child’s individual progress with us at parents’ evenings and parents are always welcome to contact the Principal if they wish to discuss any aspect of their child’s development at any other time.

We are aware of course that the children leaving our setting will be entering a system at secondary level where testing is very much a part of school life and will be a regular occurrence. We take our responsibility to prepare them for this very seriously. In the last year of their time with us we prepare all of our children for this change by giving them training in test techniques and providing test papers of the same type that they would meet in mainstream settings. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning tests will be given in school, and timed test papers will be set in comprehension and problem-solving. Guidance for parents on how best to assist in this transitional process is also given. Interestingly, when we talk to our children about their need to be able to take tests and examinations, rather than being intimidated or bothered by this, they tend to tackle them with enthusiasm. They have had time in their primary years to develop a real love of learning and interest in many subjects across a broad curriculum without the stress of imposed testing and a prescribed curriculum.

Children leave here to go to a number of different secondary schools, including the Skipton grammar schools, Ripon Grammar School, Bradford Grammar School, Ilkley Grammar School, Upper Wharfedale School and Giggleswick School. The School has regularly enjoyed success in enabling children to move on to the school of their choice.

Your role as parents:

The role of parents is a key component of the Montessori philosophy, concerned with the development of the whole individual, not just the part of the child that functions in a school setting for a limited number of hours each day. It almost goes without saying that you play a vital role in your child’s development by providing a home environment in which your child can learn the crucial life lessons not found in the school’s curriculum. A child’s moral development is best served by caring parents who treat their child with the respect they themselves would like to receive.

It is helpful for us if your home-life can, as far as possible, provide consistent messages to your child, and if we can work in partnership within the Montessori philosophy to enable your child to achieve

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his or her full potential. If you understand and support our aims and approach, you will have the right expectations for what your child is achieving.

As parents you are responsible for knowing the aims and objectives of the School and for attending the parent education evenings and forums wherever possible. These help to illuminate the Montessori philosophy as it relates to both the classroom and the home environment.

We view it as the parents’ responsibility to take on board our policies of Behaviour and Discipline as well as the Montessori ethos. Consistency between the home and school environment is essential if the child’s needs are to be truly met.

As a parent you will want to contribute to the School community. There is a Parent’s Liaison Committee, organised by the parents, which meets regularly with the Principal and Head of Primary and will help raise any ideas or suggestions. You can talk to any of the officers of the Committee to provide positive feedback to us, and to raise any concerns. The Friends of Wharfedale Montessori School is a fund-raising body; you are automatically a member of this as soon as your child joins the school and you are welcome to attend the monthly meetings. The Friends produce a Directory giving contact details for all families in the School and, if you would find this helpful, you can contact them direct to ask for a copy. If you would like to offer help at any of our activities, or if you feel that you might have a special skill or interest you could share with the children, please do complete the separate form enclosed with this Handbook.

Please do also support our activities and events, and make sure you respond to communications from us, whether by letter or via the website. You can also help the School by promoting our activities in a positive manner.

Above all, our goal is a common one – ultimately to ensure that we serve the needs of your child and of all the other children who together form our School community.

On the following pages of this Handbook, you will find additional information about the School policies and procedures which apply to the whole setting, and also some separate information more specifically aimed at parents of children entering the Pre-School.

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School Procedures and Regulations:

Some important points to note:

School Policies:

A file containing copies of all our School Policies, which are reviewed and updated annually, is available for parents to consult at all times; copies are held at each of our premises, and in the School office. Parents may also request their own set of copies of any or all of the policies. For ease of reference, copies of our current Behaviour Policy, Discipline Policy and Physical Handling Policy are sent out to all parents of new joiners with this Handbook. Parents are asked to sign a consent form to indicate their acceptance of our policies.

Uniform:

The School uniform has been chosen for its practicality and comfort. It is a School requirement that your child has the correct uniform including footwear and outerwear. Please note that all children throughout the School need to have indoor shoes; these can be pumps, slippers or “crocs”. For PE, pumps or soft gym shoes are required, as they provide more flexibility of movement than most trainers. A full set of waterproof clothing, including wellingtons, is also required for outdoor activities such as gardening and forest school work. A full list of the uniform requirements is provided at the end of this Handbook, together with a list of the additional uniform and equipment requirements for children joining the primary classroom.

Naming of clothing and possessions:

It is a School rule that your child’s clothing (indoor, outdoor, PE kit and all footwear) is clearly named. Pump bags, spectacle cases, hairbrushes etc, and stationery equipment required for the Primary classroom, are also to be named please. This is extremely important. A child needs to feel secure in his/her identity and sense of belonging. In this new environment, he/she does not need the burden of feeling uncomfortable or unhappy when after a PE session or hot playtime, the Directress cannot find the right garments to help him/her get dressed. Everybody’s own things are very important to them. Please help your child to be able to say “this one is mine” with absolute certainty. It also saves a very busy staff hours of wasted time.

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Punctuality:

Please ensure correct arrival and departure times at School to avoid disruption of classes.

Pre-School: Primary:Mornings: 9.15-12.00 Full day: 9.00 – 3.30Afternoons: 12.30-3.30

Your child should not be in School other than at these times, unless booked in for before or after school care, which is available from 8.30am and until 4.30pm respectively . If your child is booked into the Pre-School for extra hours, please comply with the hours so arranged. Pre-School children who stay for lunch after Morning School should be collected at 1.15pm prompt.

If for any reason something happens to make this impossible, please telephone the office so that we can tell your child what is happening. Obviously in genuine cases of emergency we will always look after your child until you arrive.

Dropping-off and collecting your child:

As a new parent, you will have been issued with a parking permit for use when dropping-off and collecting your child. You can use this to park in the special allocated area opposite the Strid car park for visitors to the Estate and Dusty Bluebells Tearoom. Please note that driving down the track is not allowed unless you have a sleeping baby or sick child in your car, even in rainy or windy weather. This is a condition of our tenure on this Nature Reserve and failure to comply with it could affect our tenancy. In any event, we find that the children enjoy the walk up and down the track, and benefit from a brief and healthy spell of fresh air and exercise at the beginning and end of each session.

When you arrive with your child in the morning, you are welcome to come into the School and collect any letters or check the noticeboard (see below). In the afternoon, if you arrive to collect your child before school has finished, please wait outside the building until the teaching staff bring the children out to you. In wet weather, it may be advisable to bring a large umbrella!If you have to send someone other than yourself or your usual pre-arranged carer to collect your child, you must let us know. We are not allowed (this is now the law) to let a child go with anyone other than a parent or a pre-arranged carer.

Lunchtime:

All children staying for lunch need to bring their food in a lunch-box, clearly named. We aim to encourage healthy eating habits, so suggested items might include a sandwich, fruit and yogurt.No sweets, please, but crisps, cakes and biscuits are allowed. Please ensure all containers within the lunchbox are clearly named. If you provide a drink, it should not be fizzy, and we suggest that it should be brought in a flask or small bottle (plastic) as the drinks in cartons are not always finished and this encourages waste.

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Communication with parents:

The School will always try to ensure that you are kept fully-informed, not only about your child’s progress and achievements, but also about school events and activities. We will display details on our website (www.wharfedalemontessori.co.uk), and will also send letters and newsletters home with the children from time to time. These will usually be handed to you by the teaching staff when you arrive to drop-off or collect your child. Notices will be posted on the noticeboard inside the door, or on the door itself at Strid Cottage. Notices at the Cabin will be posted inside the window, and notices will also be displayed on the school minibus

Publicity:

The School produces a number of publications, such as this one, and the Prospectus, and the website is also used to provide information on our activities and events for parents and prospective parents. From time to time, the School may wish to display pictures of the children and their work in these publications or on the website, and the School may also sometimes wish to place an advertisement or article containing images of children in other media such as magazines, local papers or television. Parents will always be asked to sign a consent form to give their permission for photographs of their children to be used in this way.

School trips:

As your child progresses through the School, visits or trips will be organised. It is our policy to arrange trips to link with a project or activity or to take the children to a concert, festival or musical event. We always follow government requirements in undertaking a full risk assessment for each individual trip or visit. We use a VW people-carrier that can take up to 8 children at a time. The vehicle is compliant with current safety regulations and has individual seat belts, child seats and boosters, and an experienced driver used to this type of vehicle. The correct number of supervising staff will go on the trip, using their own vehicles. If more than 8 children need to be transported, members of staff will take them in their own vehicles and will have insurance in place that allows them to transport other people’s children. Some children may also be taken by volunteer parent helpers who have appropriate insurance and who have been CRB-checked. This means that the School can organise trips involving all of the Pre-School or all of the Primary group. On each occasion when such arrangements are put in place, you will be asked to sign a consent form. However, parents are asked to sign a general consent form for their child to travel on larger hired coaches if needed for whole school outings.

Birthdays:

At the School, we hold a “Birthday ceremony” for each child each year. On your child’s birthday, please could you arrange to send in a photo representing each year of your child’s life to date. It is also traditional to provide something for the children to share, some sweets or cake, but do please check with the staff to ensure that this will be suitable for any children with allergies or food intolerances.

Please note that the School does not allow smoking in any of the School buildings or grounds.

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Preparation for joining the Pre-School – Important additional information for new parents

Suggestions for visitors to the Montessori prepared environment:

1. Bring reading, sewing or other work of your own to do, so your child is encouraged by your example to do his/her own work.

2. When greeting a child, squat down to his/her level so they can see your face.3. Introduce yourself and your child to other new adults and children.4. Move into the room slowly and use the visitor’s chair.5. Whisper or talk in a very low voice so that children concentrating are not disturbed.6. Do not disturb the Directress or assistants during class.7. Try not to encourage your child to constantly seek your approval of his/her work.

Remember the child works for the process, not usually an end product.8. When invited to, come and participate in the singing, movement and discussion on the line.9. Rather than discussing your child in front of him/her, take notes during your visit and

arrange for a conference or telephone call later.10. Do not constantly ask your child to tell you what he/she did at school. Have patience, your

child will tell you when ready in his/her own way.11. If your child is a new student, arrive early so that the environment is at its most peaceful

state.

How can I prepare my child for entrance to a Montessori children’s house?

From your visits to a Montessori children’s house, reading about the Montessori Method, and talking with the Principal of the school, you will have some idea of its aims and activities.

We can say our work with children is with and for the child, never on the child. We can also say, very simply, that our aim is to render children strong, to encourage them to be all they can be.

To become a strong person you need to have confidence in your environment, in the people who love and care for you, and, most importantly, confidence in yourself. Confidence in yourself emerges from activity and experience.

So our question about how to prepare children for the children’s house is really “How can I help my child to have self-confidence; what can I do in the home to encourage my child’s activity and experience?”

In the following suggestions there will be, hopefully, some ideas you would like to explore. Just start with one or two of them. There will be many other possibilities of activity appropriate to your own home and routine that you can think of.

“I would like to do what you are doing”

Is there a sturdy place where your child could stand by the sink and- scrub carrots for dinner?

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- peel a banana for fruit salad?- stir cocoa into milk?- shell a hard-boiled egg?- wash a spoon, cup or small bowl?

Is there a way your child could help at mealtime by- taking plates one by one to the table?- putting out the salt and pepper?- putting out the butter?

Is there a way your child would help if you are going to have a picnic lunch by- packing apples into a knapsack?- spreading butter onto bread?

Is there a way your child could help with the family laundry by- filling a small basket from larger laundry baskets?- carrying the baskets to the washing machine?

“Is there a way I can help myself?”

Is there a low or little place where your child could- hang his or her coat?- put his or her boot or shoes?

Is there a way to help your child wipe his or her nose unaided?- provide a few tissues near a mirror somewhere within reach (and a nearby wastebin)

Is there a way to help your child dress unaided- from low pegs, or cupboard, drawer, tray or simply a decorated cardboard box?- with, say, two pairs of pants, trousers, shorts or skirt, tops, pairs of socks (you choose

according to the weather and occasion), so you can begin to say, “You can pick out a pair of socks, which ones would you like?”

Can you find clothes that will help your child to dress easily, eg- trousers with elasticated waistband?- T-shirts with generous holes for the head to come through?- socks with enough give in the cuff to pull over the heel easily?

Is there a way you can show your child how to put on- pants?- socks?- shoes?

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In helping our children with activity we need to be loving but firm. Montessori asks us “to follow the child” but not on a path of destruction! The knife used for spreading butter is used only at the work area, and the same with other tools.

We need not feel guilty about setting limits; we set them in order to allow our children freedom of activity.

We can say (and need to say): “We eat at the table”, “You can get down if you want to”, “You want to eat – good, come to the table”, saying it kindly, in a matter-of-fact way. (In the same way that we enjoy walking with our children outdoors but we are very clear about the danger of the road and holding hands when we cross the street.)

These activities and limits help our children in their adaptation to life. Although our children are young we are laying the foundations for their expectations and behaviour in life outside the family.

Most of us have probably had an experience of someone we look up to with love and respect changing because of sudden accident, illness or very old age. To see them being cared for in a hospital, briskly and automatically, to perceive them being talked about in the third person as if they were not there, hurts us: we find it painful, we object, we feel their loss of dignity. We grieve for the loss of the potential that was in them (and still is) but it is not now being realised.

In our culture we, as parents, are accustomed to showing our love for our children by physically caring for them and, through closeness, cuddling, sharing their play, games, walks, outings, swimming and holidays. We are less good in our culture in loving our children by guarding their honour and dignity by helping them to be all they can be. We cannot give self-confidence to our children. We cannot give them self-esteem. Truly, they only gain these by their own activity.

With the young child, there is so much potential that goes unrealised which could come to fruition with our assistance. When you are two years old and after many tries you finally button your cardigan it is a real triumph. If you can get the baby’s socks, or help a friend with her buckles, or eat a meal that you have helped prepare, you feel that you have a worth, you feel like an important part of the family. You begin to believe in yourself in a special way.

Dr Maria Montessori saw every person that the child comes into contact with as an educator. She says, “Our concept of education may be figuratively described by saying that the adult stands behind the child, becoming a support for the child, and helping the unfolding of the child’s powers.” More humorously, in “What you should know about your child”, she said,

“The child is hungry for activity in the same way that he is hungry for food. When a child is hungry for food, we would never prepare a meal and then eat it ourselves!

To satisfy the hunger for activity, we must find ways to help the child to be active.”

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UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS

Boys Girls

Winter Winter

Corduroy Trousers Corduroy pinafore dress orGreen polo Corduroy trousersNavy blue sweatshirt Green poloNavy blue school coat Navy blue sweatshirtNavy socks Navy blue school coatFleece hat Navy socks/navy tightsIndoor shoes Fleece hatPump bag Indoor shoes

Pump bag

Summer Summer

Dark plain navy shorts Brown check dress orGreen polo Dark plain navy shortsNavy blue sweatshirt Green poloNavy blue school coat Navy blue sweatshirtNavy socks Navy blue school coatIndoor shoes Navy socksPump bag Indoor shoes

Pump bag

For use all year round, all primary children should have the charcoal grey hooded pure cotton track suit (these are always worn on swimming days for ease and comfort). We are encouraging pre-school parents to purchase these so that they may be available as a change of uniform in the event of accidents.

It is recommended that parents provide a full set of waterproofs, either all-in-one or separates, as we incorporate a lot of outdoor curriculum and forest school activities.

Optional - School scarf

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ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIMARY CHILDREN IN THE CABIN

PE kit: navy shortsplain white T-shirtpumps or flexible multi-sports trainers

Wellington bootsWaterproof trousersIndoor pumps/slippersTracksuit

Stationery: 6 HB pencilsSet of colouring pencilsPencil caseA5 lined notebook (to use as a journal) NB not spiral boundA5 or A6 lined notebook (to use as a diary) NB not spiral bound

Girls with long hair should wear it fastened back securely each day.

NB ALL ITEMS MUST BE NAMED

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Privacy Notice – Data Protection Act 1998

We, Wharfedale Montessori School, are a Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect information from you regarding your child/children and may receive information about you from your previous education or nursery establishments. We hold this personal data in accordance with our Confidentiality Policy, and use it to

support your child’s/children’s teaching and learning; monitor and report on your child’s/children’s progress; and provide appropriate pastoral care.

This information includes parent contact details, your child’s/children’s characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and relevant medical information.

We will not give information about you or your child/children to anyone outside the School without your consent unless the law and our rules permit it. We are required by law to pass some of your information to the local authority, North Yorkshire County Council, to the Department for Children Schools and Families and, where appropriate, we will send to relevant NHS personnel information on individual children changing settings (or address) to ensure continuity of health care.

If you want to see a copy of the information we hold and share about you, then please contact us. Our Confidentiality Policy may be consulted in the Policies file in any of our premises, or we will send you a copy on request.

If you require more information about how the local authority and/or DCSF store and use this data please go to the following websites or contact them in writing or by telephone as follows:

Data Management Officer website: www.northyorks.gov.ukNorth Yorkshire County Council email: datamanagement.officer@ northyorks.gov.ukFinancial Services tel.: 01609 718000County HallNorthallertonNorth YorkshireDL7 8AL

Public Communications Unit website: www.dcsf.gov.ukDepartment for Children, Schools email: info@dcsf.gsi.gov.ukand Families tel.: 0870 0002288Sanctuary BuildingsGreat Smith StreetLondonSW1P 3

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