ST MATTHEW’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
SAFFRON DRIVE, ALLERTON, BRADFORD
WEST YORKSHIRE, BD15 7NE
Telephone: 01274 541737
E-mail:
Website:
Headteacher: Mrs K Cox
Foundation stage 2 Booklet
St Matthew’s Mission Tree 2016
I try to live like Jesus: I love; I forgive; I pray.
‘Come Follow Me’
“You can’t have the fruits without the roots.” Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor
Staff members:
Class Teacher – Miss Carroll
Classroom Assistant – Mrs C Hoddy
Starting Reception
Starting Reception is a big step and we believe it is important that we maintain a close partnership so that your child’s first experience of school is a positive one that enables them to develop confidence. On starting school full time we want parents to feel that they are welcome and play a big part in the education of their child.
You and the wider family are the child’s first teachers. At St Matthew’s CatholicPrimary School we recognise the individuality of every child and family and hope that we can work together in the years to come to ensure that your child makes the best possible progress and enjoys coming to school. Support and encouragement from home continues to be very important throughout a child’s school career. It is particularly important when a child starts to attend school full time.
Special needs and equal opportunity policies operate throughout the whole school.
Your Child’s Well Being
If there is ever a time when your child is unhappy or doesn’t want to come to school please let us know as soon as you can so that we can try to help. We are available if you need to talk about your child.
Don’t worry if your concern seems very small. We are happy to talk to you in confidence to ensure your child’s happiness and well being.
School Sessions 8.55 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
At the start of each session parents/carers are asked to come into the Reception to help your child get settled to the first activity of the day. Please say goodbye as soon as you are satisfied that your child is happy and registration will then start at 9.10 a.m. At the end of the day we will call the children as we see the parent and you child will come to you. Please inform us if someone different will be collecting your child or telephone the school if an emergency will prevent you from collecting your child on time.
Uniform
The Uniform and P.E. List is enclosed in the School Brochure.
Children in Reception will be doing one session of P.E. per week.
All children at our school are encouraged to wear uniform. The following items can be purchased from the school office:-
Sweatshirts
Pale blue polo shirts
Book bags.
Please ensure that suitable outdoor clothing is always available as the outdoor area will be open at all times, whatever the weather e.g. wellies, hats, gloves, waterproof coats and sunhats.
Jewellery
For health and safety reasons no jewellery should be worn. If your child has pierced ears please make sure they only wear studs.
Illness
If your child is suffering from any illness please keep them at home until they are better. If they have had sickness or diarrhoea it is the school policy that they must stay at home for 48 hours after the last time they were sick. Please advise school of any absence as soon as possible.
If your child has any allergies please advise school before they start on their first day.
Homework
Once your child is settled into F2 homework will be sent home every Friday. These are usually practical activities to do or make. Please work alongside your child to encourage them to do their homework but do not do it for them.
Around school
We would ask that when you bring and collect your child from school that you observe the following:
Don’t park on yellow lines, or zig zag lines or in any way that could endanger a child or inconvenience other drivers. Police Enforcement Officers do patrol the area on a regular basis.
Don’t smoke on school premises.
Don’t bring dogs into the school grounds.
Snack money
Please put a suggested contribution of 50p a week into the snack box. This helps to cover the cost of baking and food technology activities used during the session, and food for our pets.
Your child is entitled to free school milk every day. We provide this along with some fruit which is available for the children to help themselves during their session.
If your child wishes to bring a Birthday Cake to school we will share it at group time.
What will my child learn?
The school day for foundation children (Nursery and Reception) is divided into several sessions. These are designed to provide a balance between child led and adult led learning.
The foundation stage/early years curriculum
In the Nursery and Reception the curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage is used to plan the curriculum. There are six areas, Communication, Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Creative, Physical and Personal, Social and Emotional.
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development- Playing with friends, helping and sharing, being independent, respecting the culture and feelings of others.
- Communication, Language - Talking to each other, enjoying stories and rhymes, pre-writing skills, using new words.
- Literacy – Reading and Writing.
- The World - Sand and water play, model making, the world past and present, computer skills.
- Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy- Sorting and matching, counting, solving problems, shape and size.
- Physical Development- Balancing, threading, throwing a ball, climbing, outdoor play all year round, health and self care.
- Creative Development - Painting, collage, music and movement, imaginative play, and exploring and experimenting with different materials.
Children in the Nursery and Reception classes follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum and work towards achieving the Early Learning Goals. The national expectation is that most children will reach the early learning goals by the end of their Reception year.
Every child is an individual however and will be helped to make progress at his or her own pace. Children who have special needs will be identified in partnership with parents.
Many of the experiences provided for our youngest children are ‘Play based’. The aim is to ensure that children have self confidence, a positive attitude to learning and can work co-operatively with other children and adults.
Children’s progress is assessed throughout their time in the Nursery and Reception class and parents are provided with regular feedback about their child’s progress.
Children will not learn if they are unhappy. When children first start in both the Nursery and the Reception classes, staff spend a long time ensuring that each child is happy and confident in their new surroundings.
What will my child do during a Nursery or Reception session?
Your child will take part in a wide range of activities which will be found in both the Nursery and the Reception classes. Your child will learn through activities he or she has chosen, or from those that are led by an adult.
Most learning experiences will be presented through play. Play is the way that young children make sense of the world and is one of the most effective and natural ways for children of this age to learn. There will be many opportunities for your child to play outside and inside with toys and other resources, independently, with other children or adults of his or her own choosing. Learning will be structured around topics.
Your child will also take part in many special class and school events throughout the year.
Every child will be encouraged to:
Make friends and express feelings.
Listen to and talk about stories and personal experiences.
Look at books and read and write.
Take part in counting and other mathematical work.
Use the computer.
Observe the natural and man made world.
Run, jump and skip, throw and catch balls and ride scooters and bikes.
Draw, paint and make models.
Dress up and play with ‘small world’ imaginative resources.
Sing and dance.
And most importantly - ask questions about everything!!!
Your child will be very, very busy in school and will continue to learn from every experience at school and at home.
The children will have the opportunity to take part in a range of educational visits throughout the year to support what they are learning in school. Permission is always sought from parents before taking children out of school. (See separate consent form.)
How important is the Nursery and Reception class?
Attendance and punctuality
Arriving on time for school every day is as important in the Nursery and Reception classes as in any other year. Educationalists around the world agree that the early years in a child’s life are the time when they are learning most quickly and are therefore the most important time that your child will spend at school. It is essential that a good attendance and punctuality record is established from the very beginning. If your child is ill please telephone to let us know the reason that he or she will not be able to come to school.
Sleep
Your child may be much more tired than you would imagine by the end of the session/day and may not want to talk about what has happened at nursery or school. Try not to worry about this. Children may talk about what they have been doing at school later in the evening or at another time. Children also need to go to bed at an early time, for example 7.00 pm.
The average recommended hours of sleep for this age group is 11-12 hours a night. If your child doesn’t have enough sleep he or she may get tired at school. It may also make it difficult for you to get your child ready for school on time in the morning.
Good behaviour at school
Rules
1. We listen and follow instructions
2. We keep our hands, feet and objects to ourselves
3. We speak politely (we don’t tease, swear or call anybody names)
4. We take care of our own and other people’s property
Please note that it is never acceptable for anyone, child or adult to use bad language in school.
Praise is always given for good behaviour.
How can I help my child prepare for Nursery or school?
During the Summer holiday talk to your child about coming to Nursery or Reception. We want your child to enjoy coming every day. Please do not use us as a threat.
Talk to your child at every opportunity and give him/her the opportunity to tell other people about things that have happened at home. Let your child speak for him or herself. Children are much more confident at school if they can express themselves clearly.
Talk to him or her about the different activities which he or she will enjoy. Talk about the friends and different adults he or she will meet.
Encourage your child to help you with various activities at home and talk about what you are doing. Encourage him or her to ask and answer questions.
Begin to establish a routine for bedtimes and getting up that fits in well with school so that you and your child aren’t rushed and anxious in the morning.
Encourage your child to get dressed independently. Children will need to put on their coats. We understand that some children of this age will still need assistance when going to the toilet. Parents should encourage their child to develop independence in this area but staff will help if needed. Please speak to a member of staff if you have any concerns.
READING
Help to prepare your child for reading by encouraging an interest in and an enjoyment of books. They will learn how to care for books properly and will have the opportunity to bring a library book home to share with you, if you go to the school library after school on Tuesdays.
Picture books are very important for encouraging children to want to read independently.
Let your child choose the book that he or she likes and look at it together. It isn’t necessary to read it all the way through. Let your child look at the pictures before beginning to read the story.
Ask your child questions about the story to check that he or she understands what the book is about. Encourage your child to guess what might happen next in the story.
Join the local Allerton library, and let your child choose books to take home. Encourage your child to listen carefully and to follow simple instructions.
Point out the words are all around us, e.g. labels in shops, on tins, packets, etc., street names, television slogans, advertisement hoardings, etc.
In Reception the children will eventually start to bring a reading book home to share with you. Children will be given books only when we feel they are ready.
WRITING
There are many activities that help young children to develop the hand control needed for writing.
Make models using ‘play-doh’ or plasticine. Perhaps do some simple cooking using pastry.
Make a scrap book, include photos and drawings done by your child. Lots of cutting and sticking is very good too.
Do jigsaws together and play with construction kits, e.g. Lego.
Encourage him or her to trace pictures or patterns, shapes and words or numbers.
Provide your child with crayons, pencils, chalks, felt pens and paint to use.
If your child wants to write his or her name or other words, please use lower case letters to write with. Capital letters are only used for the first letter of a child’s name. Please don’t teach him or her to write using capital letters.
MATHEMATICS
You can help to develop your child’s mathematical understanding using everyday situations.
Let your child play with water using different sized containers (bath time is a good time). Talk about – empty, full, pour, more, less, floats, sinks, etc.
When your child is getting dressed talk about the colours of his or her clothes, count the numbers of buttons, etc. Talk about – top, bottom, under, over, left, right, etc.
Talk about different shapes and sizes – you can use different boxes or packets for this.
Teach your child simple number rhymes and songs,
e.g. 1, 2, Buckle my Shoe, Baa Baa Black Sheep.
Play mathematical board games with your child and let him/her see the need to count.
When looking at a book or magazine together, talk about the pictures, e.g. Here are three dogs or Count how many people or How many shoes can you see? Count the stairs as you go up and down together. Get your child to lay the table and count the places and the cutlery needed.
Encourage an interest in time by saying – Can you put on your shoes or jumper, etc.
1. before the kettle boils?
2. before I count to 10?
3. before I make the bed? etc.
GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
Play dominoes, snakes and ladders, snap, bingo or any simple dice game.
Play simple card games, or simply give your child the cards and let him/her sort them:
1. All reds and all blacks
2. By suits – all diamonds/clubs, etc.
3. By number – all fours, fives, etc.
4. All even numbers or odd numbers
5. In sequence 1, 2, 3, etc. of each suit.
Give your child buttons to sort into sets of colour, or shape, or size.
During car trips count how many pillar boxes, blue cars, etc. you pass. Add the numbers on the car ahead, etc.
Look for shapes around you. See who can find the most circles, squares, oblongs, etc. on traffic signs.
Play ‘I spy’ using shapes e.g. ‘I spy with my little eye something shaped like a triangle’ etc.
Put out three biscuits for each person. Let your child count:
1. How many biscuits there are altogether?
2. How many biscuits each person will get? etc.
Remember that, as with reading, mathematics is all around us. Count with your child. Point out the number of windows in a house, the number of trees in a garden etc. Ask you child lots of questions and involve them in what you are doing.
1. ‘How much does it cost?’
2. ‘What time is it?’
3. ‘How many biscuits have I got?’
4. ‘What number is that on the bus?’ etc.
Finally if you are worried about your child’s progress in any area of the curriculum, or you would like to know more about what your child is learning, please come to see us.
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