Foundation

Welcome to Little Owls! We hope the children have enjoyed their first week at school. During the first two weeks we are spending time getting to know the children and helping them gently adjust to the daily routine. We are learning about our school values and developing rules to help everyone stay safe and happy whilst learning at school. Please continue to sign up for an informal meeting with me to help me get to know your child.

This half term we will be working on developing independence to enable the children to manage their belongings for school in the morning and at the end of the day. We will be supporting the children to get changed for PE by modelling taking off their school uniform and putting it in a neat pile and putting on their PE kit. If you can help with practicing this at home we would be very grateful. PE will be on a Monday afternoon and a Wednesday afternoon. The children that have milk will need to be able to open their straw and put it into their carton.

During this week we have been working on tuning the children into listening and learning. This will help when we begin phonics next week. We follow the ‘Bug Club Phonics’ scheme. You can look on our school website for more information. It will start off as a short session and we will build it up to a longer session, as and when the children are ready. When the children have learnt some sounds, they will be given a reading book. They will keep this book for the whole week. The children will be given a book that matches the phonics that they have been taught.

We will be starting maths sessions in the next week or so, but maths is all around us and there are opportunities for children to access maths in every area of learning inside and outside the classroom. We follow the ‘White Rose’ scheme and we will be beginning with some sorting and classifying and thinking about what they notice. We will be developing our skill of subitising- saying how many there are without counting. For example, seeing that three is made up of a two and a one or a one, a one and another one.

Our topic is called ‘Magical Me’ and we will be exploring what makes us all unique and special. We will learn about who is in our family. We will spend some time thinking about where we live and the local area, which will take us onto looking at maps and have some fun creating our own maps. We will finish the topic by thinking about our brilliant bodies and using our senses.

Please ensure the children have a named water bottle and hat in school. As the weather becomes more autumnal, we would recommend sending in a waterproof coat daily as we take our learning outside every day. Please make sure all of your child’s belongings are clearly named.

If you have any questions. Please come and speak to me,

Miss Webb

Early Years Foundation Stage Aims

At Cuddington and Dinton C of E School, our aim within the Early Years Foundation Stage is to nurture the well-being, learning and development of all our children and empower them to shine as individuals. We provide a happy, safe and stimulating environment, which allows all children to feel secure and valued. We provide a supportive and secure environment in which every child can flourish and learn at their own pace, in their own individual way, through adult directed and child-initiated activities.

Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Intent

Children in our Early Years phase follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, which consists of seven areas of learning. Our curriculum enables every child to have access to a broad, balanced and engaging learning experience, through a variety of opportunities and experiences, which prepares them now and for the future schooling. Following personal interests and individual needs, allows us to plan and provide opportunities throughout our early years’ curriculum to support learning and development and help children achieve their next steps.

At the end of our Foundation stage we have 5 key aims that all children will learn and develop to ensure that they become effective learners throughout their time at Cuddington and Dinton School.

1. To become safe and considered risk takers. Children will be able to challenge themselves physically and mentally.
2. To become able communicators. Children will develop their ability to take turns, share and communicate themselves positively with others.
3. To become confident readers. To confidently blend and segment words and use a rich vocabulary.
4. To become confident at using a computer. Children will begin to use a desktop confidently in order to access key software such as Microsoft Word.
5. To become active learners. Children will develop their growth mind set and believe in themselves. They will understand that it is okay if things go wrong.