Welcome to Early Years!
In Early Years we have two classes (Gold Class and Silver Class), who work and play together.
Gold Class is a Reception class of incredible children led by Mrs McLeish and Silver Class is a Reception class of equally incredible children led by Ms Proctor and Ms Del Corso. We have a great team of teaching assistants in Early Years: Miss Lister, Ms Chivers, Ms Kate, and Ms Falconbridge. We work hard together to build a happy and engaging learning environment for everybody to thrive in and to have the best possible start to their exciting school learning journey.
Our topic for the Autumn 1 term is, ‘Marvellous Me Wonderful You’. During this half term we will be learning all about our selves, our families, making relationships and our greater community.
We will start learning phonics through our Floppy’s Phonics Programme. We will start with Level 1 Phonics, which is all about learning sound discrimination and getting attuned to the sounds around us to begin developing oral blending skills (to start learning to read) and oral segmenting skills (to start learning to write). We will progress to Level 1+ and start learning new sounds (phonemes) and match them to corresponding letters (graphemes). We will also start our Guided Reading Programme. Your child will receive a reading record and start bringing home a reading book (aligned to the Floppy’s Phonics Programme) every week.
In Maths we will start with exploring the composition of numbers within 5 and we will begin to compare sets of objects and use the language of comparison. We will also start to identify and talk about patterns we see around us, develop spatial awareness and recognise and show awareness of different measuring attributes, such as identifying there are differences in length, weight or capacity.
Please make sure to bring book bags, reading records and books into school every day to get into good habits when they begin their group reading sessions. They are also a handy way to bring home letters and wonderful creations from our busy learning time!
Please note that this half term we will run a Curriculum Workshop for families on supporting your child with the Early Years Curriculum, especially with phonics and reading at home. Information regarding the date of the Curriculum Workshop will be provided in our weekly Newsletter.
General Information
You will receive weekly newsletters through Parent Mail on Fridays, outlining what we have covered during the week and how you can support children with consolidating their learning.
P.E. lessons will usually take place on Mondays, and will either be outdoors or indoors. Please keep PE kits in school so we can take advantage of opportunities on other days too. PE kit consists of: navy blue shorts, white t-shirt, navy blue tracksuit (top and bottoms), velcro strap trainers or plimsolls and spare socks in a draw string bag – remember to name all clothing and bag clearly!
Children have a fruit or vegetable snack every morning and milk every afternoon. The milk is available through Cool Milk and free for all children up until the age of 5, after which you will be asked if you wish to continue and contribute to the cost. Please opt in to receive milk (speak to the office for further information). Children should bring in their own named water bottles to school and take them home daily to be cleaned.
If you have any questions about school, please contact the Office by phone, email, in person or come and find us!
Useful Information
EY Curriculum Descriptor Aut1 26
Penpals-example-letter-formation-with-starting-points
Penpals – Example letter formation before joining
What to expect in the EYFS – A guide for Parents
Floppys Phonics Letter to parents and carers
Floppy Phonics extra practice zone