A Very Warm Welcome to Foundation Stage 2
Mrs Arinze and Mrs Bevan warmly welcome you to Foundation Stage 2. We wish your child every success for the coming year and trust that they will settle well into reception. We aim to make the transition between pre-school and reception as smooth as possible. We are following government guidelines to take the very best practice from Foundation Stage 1 into our Foundation Stage 2, these include:
The children will access independent learning activities on a daily basis, whilst engaging in two or three focused learning sessions with teaching staff. The Foundation Stage 2 Curriculum builds upon and extends the experiences that children have had in pre-school. Learning through play will continue to be an important part of the school day.
The Foundation Stage Team
Class RA class teacher: Mrs Arinze with class teaching assistant: Mrs Martinger.
Class RB class teacher: Mrs Bevan with class teaching assistant: Mrs Tea.
The class teachers have planning and assessment time on a regular basis and during this period Mrs Evans and Mrs Newton-Jones will cover the classes following the teachers’ planning. Teaching assistants Mrs Martinger and Mrs Tea will support during these periods.
Our Literacy Aims
Reading Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 40 to 60+ months
• Continues a rhyming string.
• Hears and says the initial sound in words.
• Can segment the sounds in simple words and blend them together and knows which letters represent some of them.
• Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet.
• Begins to read words and simple sentences.
• Uses vocabulary and forms of speech that are increasingly influenced by their experiences of books.
• Enjoys an increasing range of books.
• Knows that information can be retrieved from books and computers.
Early learning goal – Reading
Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
Writing Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 40 to 60+ months
• Gives meaning to marks they make as they draw, write and paint.
• Begins to break the flow of speech into words.
• Continues a rhyming string.
• Hears and says the initial sound in words.
• Can segment the sounds in simple words and blend them together.
• Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet.
• Uses some clearly identifiable letters to communicate meaning, representing some sounds correctly and in sequence.
• Writes own name and other things such as labels, captions.
• Attempts to write short sentences in meaningful contexts.
Early learning goal – Writing
Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.
Our Mathematics Aims
Numbers Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 40 to 60+ months
• Recognise some numerals of personal significance.
• Recognises numerals 1 to 5.
• Counts up to three or four objects by saying one number name for each item.
• Counts actions or objects which cannot be moved.
• Counts objects to 10, and beginning to count beyond 10.
• Counts out up to six objects from a larger group.
• Selects the correct numeral to represent 1 to 5, then 1 to 10 objects.
• Counts an irregular arrangement of up to ten objects.
• Estimates how many objects they can see and checks by counting them.
• Uses the language of ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ to compare two sets of objects.
• Finds the total number of items in two groups by counting all of them.
• Says the number that is one more than a given number.
• Finds one more or one less from a group of up to five objects, then ten objects.
• In practical activities and discussion, beginning to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting.
• Records, using marks that they can interpret and explain.
• Begins to identify own mathematical problems based on own interests and fascinations.
Early learning goal – Numbers
Children count reliably with numbers from one to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.
Shape, space and measures Early Years Foundation Stage Profile 40 to 60+ months
• Beginning to use mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and ‘flat’ 2-D shapes, and mathematical terms to describe shapes.
• Selects a particular named shape.
• Can describe their relative position such as ‘behind’ or ‘next to’.
• Orders two or three items by length or height.
• Orders two items by weight or capacity.
• Uses familiar objects and common shapes to create and recreate patterns and build models.
• Uses everyday language related to time.
• Beginning to use everyday language related to money.
• Orders and sequences familiar events.
• Measures short periods of time in simple ways.
Early learning goal – Shape, Space and Measures
Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.
Topic Our topic for the autumn term is ‘Marvellous Me’ please read our topic web to see how this topic links across all areas of learning (sent out in your earlier parent packs).
Religious Education We follow the Gloucestershire Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education. In the autumn term our units of work are: Being Special: Where do we belong? Followed by: Why is Christmas Special for Christians?
Values for Life Our whole school focus values for autumn term are ‘Generosity’ and after October half term ‘Compassion’. These are covered in our daily worship and we live these values out back in the classroom/school.
Physical Education & Movement There is one planned PE session per week and one movement/dance session per week. Both classes have outdoor PE sessions on a Wednesday beginning on 23rd September (when both group A & group B are in full-time together). Therefore, please ensure that every Wednesday your child arrives in their outdoor PE kit. Under the current guidance children will remain in their PE kits for the whole day.
Both classes have a dance/movement session on a Friday beginning 25th September. Children wear their uniforms on this day and bring a pair of daps/plimsoles just to change their footwear.
Children will also participate in a daily ‘wake and shake’ session which may take place outside or inside.
Assessment is on-going and at the heart of good quality early years provision. We use a range of assessments, including; formative assessment which is based on observations of each child in action, both in self-chosen play and planned activities and summative assessment which provides a summary of each child's learning and development at a point in time. These forms of assessment help staff to establish a genuine picture of all children's capabilities, interests and needs. We record our findings in their individual ‘Magical’ Learning Journals and use these alongside the data collected and our knowledge of each child to complete The Foundation Stage Profile.
Forest School Once the children are settled there will be regular opportunities to experience our forest environment and explore with their peer group. Positive experiences in forest school increase cooperation with peers and can empower children in the natural environment. There will be more forest school information to follow later in the term.
Homework/Formation Books
On Wednesday 9th September your child will bring home a formation book. This book is for you to support your child with their weekly sounds, letter/number recognition and letter/number formations as they are introduced in class. This book will need to be in school every Wednesday for us to update that week’s letter sounds and letter/number formations. This book will come home again on a Friday. Please read the parent instructions inside the cover to help you support your child.
On Wednesday 16th September your child will bring home their homework book containing a pick ‘n’ mix homework menu. The menu has nine different activities to select from. This is to ensure that children in both classes are accessing the same homework. The expectation (for this half term) is that the children will complete a minimum of three activities. Please choose at least one task from each row (we would like ALL children to do the number activity with the laminated number cards and dice provided), please keep the ‘new’ dice and number cards safe at home as they will be useful for future number work. As above please read the parent instructions inside the cover of the homework book to help you support your child.
Reading books
On Wednesday 9th September all children will be given a wordless picture book to bring home. These books are a valuable tool to teach early reading skills e.g. holding the book the right way up, reading from left to right, turning the pages, discussing the illustrations, telling your own stories etc
Please read the information inside the front cover of your child’s reading diary to help you support your child.
As children complete Phase 2 phonics (over the Autumn term) we will assess their knowledge to date. Following our ongoing assessments some children will then be given a reading book with words.
Please note all children learn at a different rate so some children will continue with wordless books because they may not have quite got the first set of Phase 2 sounds.
With reading being at the heart of everything we do, it is really important to put aside five minutes every day to hear your child read. We look forward to reading your comments in your child’s reading record.
Please note, in the current climate, and following guidance we will keep all reading books returned from homes in an airtight box for 72 hours before reissuing them.
Fruit, Milk and Water All children will now be offered fresh fruit which is delivered daily (provided free of charge).
Parents please remember milk can still be ordered through the Cool Milk scheme. Parents need to register at www.coolmilk.com please note all children under five receive free school milk, but you will still need to register for this.
Please note clearly named water bottles need to be in school every day so they are readily available for your child to access water when needed.
Uniform Please ensure all uniforms, including coats, are clearly and permanently named.
Parent Helpers We value support from our parent helpers once your child has settled. Please let your teacher know if you are able to help with readers, forest school and other activities etc, we always have plenty to do!
Please note Mrs D’Arcy will update us with guidance as to when we can have parent helpers on site. Thank you to those parents who have already put your names down, we hope it won’t be long before we can have you on site.
'Wow' Wall Outside each classroom we have a dedicated 'wow' wall. We feel this is a great way of celebrating the children’s achievements and milestones. Please send in anything you would like us to celebrate and share with the class. Each child has an A4 slot on the ‘WOW’ board which we hope to fill with achievements from home or school. We have already sent out ‘wow’ vouchers for you to complete any time your child has a ‘wow’ moment you would like us to celebrate (more vouchers are available so please ask). Please note, in the current climate, and following guidance we will keep ‘WOW’ vouchers in an airtight box for 72 hours before celebrating them on our display board.
And finally, please feel free to ask if you have any questions or queries.
Regards Mrs Arinze & Mrs Bevan