Headteacher: MissV.M. Hunt Tel: 01442 389040 Fax: 01442 390589
Email:
January 2016
Foundation Stage Curriculum Letter Spring (First Half) 2016
Dear Parents and Carers,
We wish you all a Happy New Year, we hope you had a good Christmas break and the children are raring to go. The whole school theme this half term is ‘Famous Faces’. In the Foundation Stage this translates to “People Who Help Us.’ To support this theme we would like to invite parents involved in professions such as; dentistry, policing, health, and animal welfare etc. to talk to the children about what they do. Please let us know if you are able to help with this.
Now that the children in Reception are settled into school we now would like the children to come into class independently. Please see newsletter for further details. Please support your child with this by discussing their lunch choice at home and encouraging your child to fasten and zip their own coat.
In Nursery we shall start the term by getting to know our new children, introducing and re-establishing our routines.
General Information
Please make sure that your child always has a pair of wellington boots in school as this allows them to play outside whatever the weather - boots are essential for the digging area. Also, please remember to provide a change of clothes in a drawstring bag (non-uniform is fine)to hang on your child’s peg. We hope to experiment with the changes in weather and will go outside if it’s snowing or icy, so warm outdoor clothing such as hats and gloves are essential. All clothes and footwear must be named.
Both Nursery and Reception have opportunities to use the hall for PE sessions. Parents of Reception children please ensure that they have a named PE kit (T-shirts and shorts) in school. (Not necessary for nursery children)
Supporting Your Child’s Learning at Home
Phonics
To support your child in learning phonics, remember to say the sound that each letter makes in a word and try not to add an ‘uh’ sound at the end (e.g. the letter sound for m would be pronounced mmmmm not muh!). Also, if you are helping your child to write please remind them about correct letter formation and pencil grip, this is an important skill and will enable them to join their writing effectively when they are ready.
Sharing Books and Reading
All the children will have an opportunity to choose a book from school to bring home each week. Please ensure that they bring these books to school in their book bag each day as this allows for them to be changed regularly. Please continue to share all kinds of books with your child at home.
Mathematics
Try to include numbers in your everyday life by counting and recognising numbers, shapes and patterns in the environment together or through games played at home. The children are always keen to help solve a problem; you can encourage their use of mathematical skills and thinking by posing problems for them.
Reception Homework
Children in Reception will continue to be given a piece of Homework related to the weeks learning which will be sent home on a Thursday. There is a blue box on the gate in the morning for you to return the homework once it has been completed. Please try and hand in this work by Wednesday so that the teacher can mark it by Thursday.
Class Reps
Just a reminder, especially to the parents of our new children, that the parent rep for Nursery is Mrs Draper (George’s mum) and for Reception it is Mrs Evans (Harry’s mum).
Many thanks for your support, please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the Foundation Stage Team if you have any worries or concerns,
Yours sincerely,
The Foundation Stage team
An overview of learning for this half term in Foundation Stage
-The Role Play areas will reflect the children’s interest and our theme, i.e. it may become a hospital, opticians or dentist etc.
-The children in Reception will continue to follow the Read, Write Inc scheme. We shall also be writing lists and labels and beginning to form sentences.
-Nursery children will follow the Government’s ‘Letters & Sounds’ phonics activitiesdeveloping the skills required for reading and writing. We shall also be learning one letter sound a week (following the Read, Write Inc order) and will send phonics folders home for parents to support learning.
-We will share a wide range of books with the children both fiction and non-fiction
- We will introduce and teach new vocabulary linked to the theme / -We will be learning about the effects of exercise on our bodies and the importance
of healthy eating and exercise.
-Fine motor skills are developed daily through busy finger activities and opportunities throughout the day; these develop writing skills and are vital.
- The Foundation Stage garden and school field provides a rich environment for children to develop Gross Motor Skills.
- We will continue to use the large playground to give the children more opportunities to run, roll hoops, throw and catch balls and play football and run
- Both Nursery and Reception have opportunities to use the hall for PE.
- The importance of safety measures when using tools will be discussed and observed especially within our construction and creative activities. / - Our theme is Going for Goals, we shall discuss what we would like to be able to achieve.
-We shall continue to play games that involve turn taking and sharing.
- We will continue to encourage independence when the children change for PE and when accessing/putting away classroom resources
- Everyone will be encouraged to care for the resources in class and everyone will be responsible for putting them away as soon as they have finished with them. Caring for resources is key to the children learning responsibility for their own actions.
Understanding the World. / Maths / Expressive Arts and Design
-The children have opportunities to design and build using a variety of tools and materials.
-ICT will be used by the children to support their learning for example; completing a simple computer program and using equipment such as cameras and CD players.
- We shall investigate the seasonal changes. Hopefully, the weather will provide lots of opportunity to investigate the properties of ice and snow. We will create our own small arctic environment, we would welcome any contributions to this project i.e. toy penguins etc.
-We hope to have a few people in to talk about the work they do to help others / -We shall begin to use language related to time and develop our understanding of time.
-There will be opportunities for the children to use and understand positional language
-The concepts of addition, subtraction and
estimation will continue to be developed and the children will be recording their work using pictures and numerals.
-Throughout these activities there will opportunities for the children to count, order and recognise numbers.
- We shall continue to develop our knowledge of 2d and 3d shapes and their properties
-Activities provided during ChIL are planned to encourage children to put concepts taught into practise when trying to work out the solution to a problem. / -The children will have opportunities to explore different media and techniques including clay and paint.
- The children have opportunities to explore different musical concepts such as playing instruments loudly and quietly, playing simple repeated rhythms and moving to music
- We will also be learning some songs and rhymes related to our theme.
- Child initiated learning provides a wide range of opportunities for imaginative role play
- This term we shall continue to explore powder paint and colour mixing.
Religious Education
-The focus of RE teaching this term in Nursery will be Belonging and in Reception will be Change and Growth.
-Prayer will continue to be part of the daily routine in Foundation Stage and we will be sharing Bible stories. Reception will continue tojoin the rest of the school for Assembly on Thursdays. Nursery will attend two assemblies this half term.
-Jonathan Gordon, our vicar, will visit the Foundation Stage to read Bible stories to the children.
Do unto others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6:31)