Sowing seeds of knowledge and faith, with nurture and love

We thrive, we grow!

A warm welcome to our September 2026 Reception Class new starters!

As we welcome you and your child to Wistow School, we look forward to working with you in partnership over the years. We have a Parents As Partners Policy, which can be found in your welcome pack. Please read, sign and return to school along with the other documents requested in the pack.

The online admissions form is ready for you to complete, and a link can be found by clicking here:

Wistow School New Starter Admissions Form

As you will be providing us with your data, please have a look at our Privacy Notice, located on the policy page. There is also a list of other school policies on that page, which you might find useful during your child's time with us. 

You will have been given a pack during the New Starters Parents' Information Evening meeting. This contains important forms and details that will need to be completed and returned to school as soon as possible in order for us to get everything ready to welcome your family properly in September. If you are unable to attend this meeting, we will arrange to get the information pack to you another way. 

ALL FORMS & DOCUMENTS NEED TO BE COMPLETE AND RETURNED BY FRIDAY 3rd JULY 2026

In the meantime, please have a read of the information and through the links on the left side of this page. This will help you learn more about Wistow School. There are also some links and information here to help you prepare your child for their transition to primary school. 

It might seem like a lot to take in, but please don't feel overwhelmed. We are here to answer any questions along the way and are always happy to do so. 

There is also a lot of information on this website, so please take the time to explore. However, we have tried to give you a summary on this page of the items most relevant to you right now.
 

Tapestry - Early Years Online Learning Journal

At Wistow School, we use a programme called Tapestry to record, track and share your child’s learning during their time in Reception. This system, known as an online learning journal, enables staff to take photographs, record videos and make written observations of the activities your child completes at school. Smart Start also uses this programme, so some of you may already be familiar with how it works.

Tapestry is hosted in the UK on dedicated, secure servers. These servers meet very high safety standards and are proactively managed by a central security team. The safeguarding of our children is extremely important to us. Everything added to Tapestry is stored within our secure school account and can only be viewed by authorised school staff and by you, using your own login details. Tapestry administrators will only access accounts with prior permission from the school (for example, to resolve a technical issue).

Once we have received your consent and the email address you would like to use, we will set up your account. You will then be able to access your child’s learning journal using your email address and a secure password, allowing you to celebrate their learning at home. Parents and carers can also add their own photos and comments to the journal.

You will only have access to your own child’s journal, and it cannot be viewed by other parents. However, children may sometimes be photographed alongside others while working together. For this reason, we request permission for your child to appear in photographs within other children’s learning journals.

Once your child’s learning journal is set up, it is essential that you do not share any photos or videos from Tapestry on social media or other online platforms.

All photographs and videos uploaded to Tapestry by the school remain the property of Wistow Primary School and must not be shared on any website or online platform. We kindly ask that you respect the privacy of all children by using these images responsibly. Any breach of this confidentiality will be taken very seriously and may result in your access to the system being withdrawn.

We would like to signpost you to Tapestry’s website, where you will find more information and videos: http://eyfs.info/tapestry-info/introduction

Please could you click on this link to give the permissions enabling us to set your account up. Once received, you will receive an activation link. We will let you know when it should be on its way, but please check your junk mail, as it often goes into there.

Tapestry Permission Form

Preparing Your Child for Primary School

These two documents will help you talk about preparing for Primary School, so please take the time to sit and share these with your child.

The first document talks about things you can do at home to prepare your child for starting with us. These are the types of things that might crop up in everyday family life that you can be doing over the coming weeks. Don't worry if your child isn't quite there yet by the time September comes though, as Miss Bellerby and her team in Selby class are there to help with the transition and will support you and your child as they learn. 

The second document is all about Wistow School and Selby class. It is a simple document that shares images of the setting, and you can talk through these things with your child, which will hopefully get them familiar with some faces and places and support transition.

You will have been given a copy of this "All About Me" form in your information pack, but here it is again as a printable PDF in case you would like another copy. Please work through this with your child and return to school as soon as possible. Miss Bellerby really enjoys looking through these, and it helps her to gain a more personal understanding of your family and child. She particularly enjoys the pictures!

Snack Time

Our key stage one children enjoy a healthy fruit snack as part of their daily morning break, which is taken at 10.30 am each day. This fruit is free to you until they move up into Key Stage Two, at which point you can choose to pay a very reasonable amount – usually around 13p per day – for them to continue. 

All children are entitled to free milk until they turn five. We use a company called Cool Milk to manage this service, and they deliver fresh cartons of milk to school for the children to enjoy. 

If your child is under 5, and you would like them to receive free milk, please register with Cool Milk by following this link: Cool Milk Registration. Once your child turns five, they will still be able to continue to receive milk which you can pay for directly through Cool Milk.

If your child is already 5 or over when they start with us, and you would like them to have milk every day, you can use the same link.

Cool Milk provides us with a list each week of the children in each class who should be offered milk to drink.

All children who are entitled to means-tested, economic free school meals will be offered free milk and fruit right the way through their time at school, regardless of age. 

School Meals

Dinners are freshly cooked in our own kitchen and served ‘family service’ style in the hall.  In line with government legislation, all children in Key Stage One are offered a free school meal on a daily basis. Meals are booked by completing the electronic menu form that is sent out every 3 weeks, via Arbor.

A delicious and nutritious main meal is offered daily and also a choice of either jacket potato or sandwich. With three options to choose from and a good range of seasonable vegetables, potatoes, homemade bread and desserts, there is usually something for everyone. Dietary requirements such as vegetarian or vegan food are available as well. Please ask the office for further information around this.

Our kitchen maintains a food hygiene rating of 5 after an inspection in May 2025 and our Cook and Kitchen Assistant are proud to provide healthy and nutritious meals to the children and staff at Wistow School. 

Applying for Free School Meals

If you receive certain benefits, your child could also qualify for economic free school meals during all their school years. If you would like more information about the criteria and how you can apply for free school meals for your child online, please follow this link to the NYC website: NYC Free School Meals. When you apply for Free School Meals (FSM), the school receives some additional funding to help support any FSM children in the school setting. So please apply for FSM for your child/ ren if they are currently in KS1 (and receive FSM anyway) or KS2 and you think they are eligible, as not only do you benefit from your child having FSM status, but school does too! If your child does not eat a school meal for any reason, they are welcome to bring a packed lunch instead, but it would be great if you could still apply for FSM status. As mentioned above, this brings in some additional funding to support your child at school too.

A healthy packed lunch will give children the energy and nutrition they need to get the most from their school day – helping them to stay healthy, feel good and be ready and able to learn.  Just like school meals, packed lunches should be made up of foods from the main food groups in the Eatwell Guide and portions should be appropriate for a child’s age and size.  More information can be found in our Healthy Eating Policy. 

Please be aware that we have children in school with nut allergies and, therefore, nuts of any kind may not be brought into school.  Please check the ingredients on all packaging of products prior to sending food for a packed lunch in with your child/ren.

Allergies, Intolerances and Dietary Requirements

Please let us know if your child has any dietary requirements.

It is vitally important that we are informed of any allergies your child might have as soon as possible. If your child does have an allergy or intolerance, please state this in the online admissions form. You will then be asked to complete and return an SD1 Form, a copy of which can be found below. 

Once we know about your child's allergy, we can work with our catering team – North Yorkshire County Catering – to create an individual risk assessment and management plan. We cannot offer your child a school meal until we have completed this process, which is why we ask for the SD1 form to be returned as quickly as possible. 

Arbor

Arbor is our main communication system that holds pupil information securely. We send emails, texts and use it to take payments that need to be made in school from parents; for example, school meals, non-uniform days and trips.

An activation email should have been sent to you by now. All you need to do is download the app and follow the link to activate your account.  If you have more than one child at school, you can merge the new account with your existing one, providing one login for all children on Arbor.

ParentMail

You will have already received an email inviting you to join ParentMail. We use it to send electronic forms to collect information such as trip consents. Please ensure that you have set this up.

School Uniform

Full details about our school uniform can be found in the School Prospectus or on this page of the school website: Uniform Information

Uniforms with a logo can be purchased from Classroom Clothing which is located in Selby town centre.

However, the uniform does not have to have a logo on it, just plain red round neck jumpers or cardigans are allowed and these can be bought from any shop. 

We do have a Uniform Policy, so please click onto the policy page to read this. 

Parent-Teacher Association – FOWSA

The Friends of Wistow School Association (FOWSA) is the name of our PTA.

You can find out more information, including how to become more involved with the team, via the link below. You all automatically become part of the FOWSA team when your child starts school. Please get involved as much as you can, as all money goes back into school to make your child's school time the best it can be with lots of fun and exciting additional resources and activities.

Click on this link for more information: FOWSA.

“We strive to support the school in any way we can and aspire to grow as a group, continuing to help the school grow and blossom!”

KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE

Safeguarding is a top priority at Wistow School, and it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that all children feel safe, supported and protected. We believe that strong partnerships between home and school are essential in keeping children safe and helping them thrive. Mrs Cox is our Designated Safeguarding Lead, and Mrs Griffiths is our Deputy Safeguarding Lead. If you ever have any concerns about a child’s wellbeing, no matter how small they may seem, please speak to one of them. By working together openly and supportively, we can create a safe and nurturing environment for every child.

We have a dedicated safeguarding page on the website. Please take a moment to look through this, as it has some useful information and great links to support you as parents at home with your children and keeping them safe in a variety of ways, especially online.

Operation Encompass is a multi-agency initiative that has been designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of normal school hours and that might have had an impact on a child attending our premises the following day. This information will be shared at the earliest opportunity between Monday and Friday and when an incident occurs on the weekend, the school will be notified on the Monday by the police. 

A nominated member of school staff, the designated safeguarding lead, will receive the information from the police. They will be able to use information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that our school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. Information will be shared where it is identified that a child or young person was present, witnessed or was involved in a domestic abuse incident.

Operation Encompass has already proved to be very effective in providing appropriate support to children.

We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our children, and we believe this initiative is extremely beneficial and supportive for all those involved.

The National Child Measurement Programme

Wistow School supports the NHS in carrying out their routine healthy weight checks for children. If you have a child in reception (ages 4 and 5) or year 6 (ages 10 and 11), you'll receive a letter with more information from your local council before your child is measured.

For more information on this programme visit the NHS guide, here: National Child Measurement Programme

Support for you and your child

If you find you are struggling with any aspect of school or family life, please reach out to someone at school. Any problems to do with the curriculum, school or homework can be addressed by your child's class teacher.

If your concern is to do with early signs of social, emotional, learning, health or behaviour issues, then please contact our Home-School Link Worker, Sue Sampson. Mrs Sampson has worked at Wistow School for many years and is trained in counselling. She provides a confidential and trustworthy sounding board and can help direct you to the right organisations who can help you further. 

Behaviour

 More information on our Behaviour Policy can be found on the Policies page of our website, here: Wistow School Policies

Our School Councillors have worked hard and created a Behaviour Brochure, which is displayed in all classrooms and shows you how our children are supported in making the right choices while at school.

Early Learning Goals

Take a look at the document below to see what our children work towards during their time in Reception class. If you have any concerns about your child's learning please speak with Miss Bellerby, who will be happy to clarify anything that you are unsure of so that we can best support you and your child in their learning. 

Working at Home With Your Child

Please have look at the leaflet below. It contains lots of fun recommendations for working with your child at home. So many good ideas here, and most of them are games to play and conversations to be had which don't even feel like learning!