Thank you for choosing St. Mary's School for your child!

We would like to warmly welcome all new families and the children who will be joining our Reception group in September 2025.

We hope the information on this page will answer some of your questions about your child starting school.

Transition Sessions and Teacher Appointments

Our first transition session will take place in mid-June. Once we have organised the classes, a letter regarding the time and date of your child’s first transition session will be emailed out to you.

During this first session, your child will arrive at our East Street site at 10.00am and stay until 12.30pm; they will meet their new teacher and classmates and have lunch with us.

While your child is in their new classroom, from 10.00am until 10.50am, there will be a workshop in our hall for parents/carers about school readiness, with handy tips on how to prepare your child for starting school, and how we teach Reading, Phonics and Maths here at St. Mary’s.

You will also be able to meet the Reception Team who will be working with the children. During this session, you will also receive an information pack you need to prepare for your child starting school in September.

Please bring your child’s birth certificate on the date of their transition session in June.

The second transition session will be early July (date to be confirmed) from 9.15am to 10.15am.  Your child will go to their new class and parents/carers will be invited to a ‘Mix and Mingle’, where you will be able to meet various members of school staff, some of our Governors and representatives of our Parent’s Association - SMASH, who will also be selling pre-loved uniform.  Most importantly, you will get to meet the other parents who will soon become your friends over the next seven years and beyond.

School Start Dates and Home Visits

Your child will start school for morning sessions only on Wednesday, 3rd September. 

Home Visits - During your child's first week, class teachers and their Learning Support Assistants will undertake home visits in the afternoons to give you the opportunity to let us know more about your child and to ask any further questions you may have. Our SENCO Miss Wood will also be in attendance if necessary. 

We will let you know your Home Visit appointment slot during July.  This means that your child will be in school for mornings only from Wednesday, 3rd to Tuesday, 9th September. They will have lunch at school before they leave each day.  Collection time will be 12.00pm.

Children will start full time on Wednesday 10th September, 8.30am to 3.00pm each day. 

Once your child joins us, you will receive some links to the apps we use in school:

Magic Bookings: We use this website for parents to pay for KS2 school lunches, book and pay for school trips, school clubs and to book Parent Evening appointments during the year.  When you receive your link, you will need to press ‘reset’ and you will then be asked to sign up and then give consent to the questions asked on the page.  After that, you will then be able to book anything you need.

ParentMail: This is an app that you will download to your phone.  We use this to send out general information from the school – newsletters, etc. You will also use it to report your child’s absence, via the tab down the left-hand side of the home page.

Class Dojo: This is an app that you will download to your phone.  This is for the class teacher to correspond with you and for you to be able to contact the class teacher if you need to (like a texting service).  You will also be able to view your child’s Dojo points – these are reward points that children receive in school that are linked to the school’s values of Ambition, Belonging, Courage and Discovery.  You can read more about this and other key points about life at St. Mary’s School on our website.

If you have any queries at all, or have a question for our SENCO, please do give our Admissions Officer, Mrs Rowlingson a call or email on: 01702 354016 /

pa@st-marysprittlewell.southend.sch.uk