Inspiring Children to SHINE
Autumn Term 2021
A Very Warm Welcome to Foundation Stage 2
Mrs Arinze and Mrs Channon 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: Miss Ali.
Class RC class teacher: Mrs Channon with class teaching assistant: Mrs Martinger.
The class teachers have planning and assessment time on a regular basis and during this period Mrs Evans and Miss Rugman will cover the classes following the teachers’ planning. Teaching assistants Miss Ali and Mrs Martinger will support during these periods.
Our Communication and Language Aims Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
Listening, Attention and Understanding
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions.
*Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding.
*Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.
Speaking
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.
* Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate.
*Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.
Our Literacy Aims Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
Literacy Comprehension
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
*Anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories.
*Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play.
Word Reading
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs.
*Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
*Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
Writing
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
*Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
*Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.
Our Mathematics Aims Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
Mathematics Number
ELG Children at the expected level of development will:-
*Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number.
*Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.
*Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.
Numerical Patterns
ELG Children at the expected level of development will: -
*Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system.
*Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity.
*Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
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 the autumn term are ‘Hope’ and after October half term ‘Perseverance’. These are covered in our daily worship and we live these values out back in the classroom/school.
SCARF (Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience & Friendship) over this first half term we will focus on 'Me and my Relationships'.
Physical Education & Movement
There is one planned PE session per week and one movement/dance session per week. Both classes have PE on Friday’s for this half term. Group B only will begin PE on Friday 24th September, therefore, please ensure that Group B arrives in their PE kit on this day. Under the current guidance children will remain in their PE kits for the whole day. A text reminder will be sent out.
Both classes have a dance/movement session on a Tuesday’s for this half term. Group A only will begin dance on Tuesday 21st September. Children wear their uniforms on this day and bring a pair of daps/plimsoles just to change their footwear. A text reminder will be sent out.
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 15th 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 in your last pack), 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.
On Friday 24th 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.
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 (yellow diary).
High Frequency/Sight Words In your last home pack, you received a short list of high frequency words. These words are common words that appear most often in language. These types of words are often referred to as ‘sight words’ as they are words that children are taught to recognise ‘on sight’. This is an important part of a child’s education, as it enables children to identify words at a glance and allows them to read with greater confidence and speed. Please read these words regularly with your child. We will check with your child on a weekly basis and new lists of words will then be sent home.
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! We will update you in due course as to when parent helpers can be 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).
And finally, we look forward to meeting you all over the next week or two during our parent appointments. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions or queries.
Regards Mrs Arinze & Mrs Channon