KS1/EYFS Lead & Senior Leadership Team
Class RA Teaching Assistant
Class RA PPA Teacher
Our first full week in school!
Inspiring Children to SHINE
Autumn Term 2023 Marvellous Me!
A very warm welcome to class RA! We wish your child every success for the coming year and trust that they will settle in well. 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:
- Curriculum which is relevant to children
- First-hand experience
- Learning through senses and movement
- Play with a purpose
- Learning inside and outside the classroom
- Organisation which allows independence
- Partnership of families and carers
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.
I have planning and assessment time on a regular basis and during this period our PPA teacher Mrs Bennett will cover the class following my planning. Teaching assistant 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 entitled ‘Marvellous Me’. Please read our parent topic overview 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 and beyond.
SCARF (Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience & Friendship) over this first half term we will focus on 'Me and my Relationships' and after half term we will focus on 'Valuing Difference'.
Physical Education The children have daily opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor skills both in the classroom and the outdoor area as well as a weekly planned PE session. During the autumn term our PE sessions we will focus on functional movement & general hand-eye coordination.
Our PE day will be on a Thursday. Please note our first PE session will be on Thursday 28th September when the children are all in together.
On our PE day children arrive in their PE kits and remain in them for the day. A weekly text reminder will be sent out to parents.
Children will also participate in a daily ‘wake and shake’ session as well as taking regular ‘brain breaks’ which are quick, structured breaks using physical movement, mindfulness exercises, or a sensory activity.
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 ‘books of wonder’ 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 year.
Homework/Formation Books On Wednesday 13th 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 is that the children will complete a minimum of three activities (children have the half-term to complete the homework). 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. Please read the parent instructions inside the cover of the homework book to help you support your child.
On Wednesday 20th September (Group A) /Friday 22nd September (Group B) 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 13th 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, looking/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 begin to learn the first set of phase 2 phonemes they will bring home a reading book containing the taught sounds.
Please note we will hold a parent phonic meeting in the Autumn term to explain how we teach daily phonics to your child and the expectations for reading etc We will confirm the date for this in due course.
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).
Harder to Read & Spell Words In your last home pack, you received a short list of HRS words. These words are common words that appear most often in language. You may know these words 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 and working in partnership with us is very important. There are numerous opportunities for you to support in school. If you could offer a small amount of your time to help with any of the activities below, we would really appreciate your support. Please note parent helpers support in all classes but not in their own child’s class. You do not have to be qualified, we will provide some basic training
- Listening to children read
- Help to prepare teaching resources
- Help with gardening
- Assist with Forest School
- Help with school trips
If you are able to spare an hour or two to help within school, please visit or contact the school office.
'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 (we will send more vouchers out periodically and there is a box of blank 'WOW' vouchers kept in the EYFS entrance.
And finally, Mrs Martinger and I are looking forward to meeting you during our home visits in the first week of term. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to ask if you have any questions or queries.
Kind regards Mrs Arinze
EYFS@hardwicke.gloucs.sch.uk