EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM

In the Early Years we have developed a wonderful curriculum which caters for the children's interests.  The overview below contains an outline of the topics we cover, but the content of the topics are adapted according to the needs and interests of our children. To find out more information about our EYFS curriculum please see the curriculum map below. 

For more information on the new Early Years Curriculum 2021 please go to - Key Information- Curriculum - Early Years. 

Alternatively please go to the bottom of the page and click on the document 'Development matters ages and stages' and Early Learning Goals. 

KEY WORKERS

Every child in Reception is allocated a key worker. Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone will be your child's key workers 

• The key person works alongside parents and carers to ensure that there is continuity of care for the child thus supporting the child’s emotional well-being.
• The key person, and other staff, observes the child to identify how they learn through their play, their next aspect of development, what their interests are, whether there is any cause for concern or need for extra support.

• They keep a record of your child's learning journey and update it regularly on Tapestry.

We have selected these recommended reading lists from Peters Education to ensure that our children have access to a wide range of books.  These books are all available in school and form our 'core' texts in our class libraries.  These lists are chosen because they:

• link with our curriculum for each year group
• represent different cultures
• introduce children to new authors and expand their knowledge of familiar authors
• ensure progression 
• match topics of interests for our children
• tackle current themes

New to our school September 2021

From the beginning of the year, our school implemented a new Behaviour Policy which is built upon the ‘5 pillars of Pivotal Practice’ (‘When Adults Change, Everything Changes’, Paul Dix):

• Consistent, calm adult behaviour,

• Relentless Routines,

• First attention to best conduct,

• Scripting difficult conversations,

• Restorative Follow-up.

We have three simple goals: Be safe, Be a Learner, Be Kind and Respectful.

Summer 2022

This term we are going to be Nature Detectives!

We will start by thinking about the lifecycle of frogs and butterflies before exploring animals around the world and their habitats. After the half term we will then be thinking about the seaside. What is it like? What lives there? How can we keep safe at the beach? How can we keep safe in the sun? 

In Maths we will be practising counting on to add two small amounts, counting to 20 and back from 20. We will also be introducing doubling, halving and odds and evens. After half term we will be exploring weight, capacity, money and some simple data collection and interpretation before spending the final couple of weeks using everything we have learnt this year to solve some problems. 

In phonics we are introducing phase 4 but will also be recapping Phase 3. We aim for all children to be at least Phase 3 secure by the end of the year and working within Phase 4. The children will continue to bring home a book matched to their phonics ability. Please practise regularly, preferably a little each day, and comment each week. They will read with an adult in school. We will also continue to have small group guided reading sessions each week. 

There will be a Reception Stay and Write Workshop on Tuesday 24th May from 9am-10am. 

EYFS Sports Day will be Wednesday 22nd June - more details to follow on Tapestry and ClassDojo. 

The summer term will hopefully bring lots of lovely sunshine so we ask that children have sun cream applied before school and that they have a named water bottle in school everyday. We will help the children to fill these up once empty. British weather is very changeable so we also ask that children have a coat in school everyday.

Please do contact us on ClassDojo if you have any questions or queries. 

Thank you 

Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone

Spring 2022

It was lovely to see all the children on the first day back and to hear about all their activities over the holidays.

This half term we will start by thinking about winter and learning some winter poems. We will then be reading the Gruffalo’s Child and moving onto superheroes! After this, we celebrate Chinese New Year! All the children are making fabulous progress with their writing and can now segment the sounds in words. We will now be practising writing simple words and sentences.

In phonics, we will continue to learn the Phase 3 digraphs and tricky words. Busy Things has lots of activities that will help your child to practise blending to read and segmenting to write, the log in details are on Tapestry. Phonics homework will be set each Friday on Tapestry. Reading books will be changed each week, we do not have a set date for changing books so please ensure books are in school every day. Thank for all the continued support with reading at home.

In maths we will continue to explore numbers 0-5, looking at the composition of these numbers. After this we will be learning about weight and capacity and then moving onto to numbers 6, 7 and 8. Maths homework will be set each Friday on tapestry.

In RE we will be thinking about family. We will think about the different types of celebrations and how we celebrate them. We will also be thinking about the families that we belong to and how they all support us. 

 We really value your support. Please do get in touch with any queries through ClassDojo. 

Thank you,

Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone

Autumn 2nd Half

This term will be looking at Diwali, Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day and then moving onto learning all about the  Christmas story.

We will begin learning Phase 3 sounds in our phonics this half term by learning the rest of the alphabet sounds and then learning digraphs. We will continue to add activities to Tapestry for you to try at home to support your child. 

In Maths we will be focussing on the numbers 3, 4 and 5 and learning the different ways to make them and recognise the amounts. 

Thank you for all the support from home, we have loved seeing all the pictures of homework and all the wonderful activities the children have been doing.

If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact us by sending us a message on ClassDojo. 

Thank you,

Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone

Autumn Term 2021

Firstly, we would like to welcome all the children to Penguins. We are all so excited to see the children start their journey into school.  

Penguins will be taught by Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone and are very pleased to have Mrs Crook and Mrs Wagner to further support the children’s learning and development. The children so far have all settled into the school routine fantastically and have enjoyed being with friends, old and new. The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the areas of our classroom, both inside and out.

The first theme we will be learning over this term in Reception is ‘Knowing me, Knowing you’. This will include the children learning all about their senses, their homes, feelings and families. We will also be following 'Letters and Sounds' for our phonics. We will be sending weekly reading books home with the children to further support the teaching of reading in class. We really value and appreciate all the support at home with the children’s learning and a strong relationship between home and school will lead to a very successful year for the children.

This year we are looking forward to guiding and supporting the children though their first year at school. In Reception, we have high expectations for the children in both their learning and behaviour. We have a positive and engaging environment for the children where respectful behaviour is encouraged and praised. In our class we ask that all children have a go and try their best in every task. 

We cannot wait to show you all photos of the hard work we have been doing in reception but also all the fun we have been having.

If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us on ClassDojo

Thank you,

Mrs Buckel and Mrs Goldstone

Open Evening

Open Evening We are holding an Open Evening for prospective parents of Reception and Nursery children on Tuesday 19th of October 5 – 6pm. Please come along if you have a child due to start Reception in September 2022 or Nursery within the next year. This will be an excellent opportunity to meet the teachers and have a look around our Early Years environment.

Meet the teacher 

Thanks to all the parents that came to meet the teacher. This is the PowerPoint that we shared during the meeting.