Please check your emails for parent invitations to our Class Dojo (our parent and teacher communication app) and Tapestry (your child's online learning journal).

September Starters 2020

We hope you are all keeping well and safe during the current situation.

It was so lovely to meet you and your family during our social distanced visit. We hope you enjoyed your chocolate egg! 

I have added a link below to the BBC Bitesize starting primary school page. It has lots of interesting information and games to play. 

BBC Bitesize – Starting Primary School  – Click this link to access the website.

Please take a look at our separate Reception page; this page can be found in our children section when you select class pages. Have a look at our EYFS Classroom, outdoor area and some of our exciting learning which has taken place this year. I will add any new information to this page regularly, so please come back and visit soon. 

We look forward to seeing you all soon and sharing our learning journey together.

Mrs Molyneux, Mrs Jewell and Miss Lund

New Starters Top Tips!

I have uploaded a 'starting school checklist' below in preparation for your child starting school in September. These are just top tips that you can practise with your child over the summer holidays. These tips are to encourage your child to become more independent and feel confident when starting. For example, getting dressed and undressed independently will help prepare for our weekly P.E sessions, however, we will always be on hand to help! 

EYFS CURRICULUM

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that schools must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good progress through school and life.

The children are given opportunities to play and explore, to investigate and experience things and to ‘have a go’. They are active and develop their own ideas. They are all unique and will have different interests and abilities.

The areas of development have been divided into 2 groups:

3 Prime areas: 

• Communication and language
• Physical development       
• Personal, social and emotional development    

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics       
• Understanding the world     
• Expressive arts and design   

Reading and writing continued..

When your child starts school they will engage in lots of fun activities that are planned and designed to enhance their early literacy skills. 

 They will...

• access fine motor activities such as, threading,manipulating play dough and building with intricate parts to build strength in their hands
• engage in lots of different mark making using different media, such as, chalks, paints and water
• access Letter and Sounds phonics lessons
• listen to and share stories
• develop their communication skills acting and taking on a role in the role play and small world areas 
• access activities that aim to develop letter knowledge, knowledge of sounds and early phonics

How you can help at home?

• Share bedtime stories and ask your child questions about the story
• Go for a walk and talk about what you can see and hear
• Play with Lego, paints, play dough, threading etc. This form of play builds strength in your child's hands ready for the early writing process

How do we learn maths in Reception?

We do not expect your child to start school knowing and recognising all numbers. However, you can begin to expose your child to numbers in your everyday activities. For example, when you are out shopping, look out for numbers at the supermarket and discuss door numbers and bus numbers on your walks, bake together and weigh out ingredients. 

We use a character based numeracy scheme Ten Town, designed specifically for the early years. Take a peak at the link below with your child and familiarize yourselves with the Ten Town characters and songs. Alongside Ten Town we use a scheme called Power Maths which is developed in conjunction with White Rose Maths. Power Maths Reception is written by a team of Mastery Specialists and Early Years advisors.