Early Years Foundation Stage 2019 - 2020

 Miss Cheetham & Mrs Gray

Autumn Term

Newsletter Week Ending 17 October 2019

This week we have done lots of work about autumn. The children have used photographs and non-fiction books to find out information and made hedgehogs in the dough area. They have also made Autumn faces and made them talk using the Chatterpix app. In Maths, the children have been using their knowledge of more and less to estimate an amount.

Our words of the week have been sapling, hibernate, store and tuck.

From Monday 28^th October 2019

Our letter sounds for after half-term will be:

Monday – h

Tuesday – b

Wednesday - f

Thursday – ff

Home reading books have been given out this week. These books are for the children to read to you at home. Please encourage them to talk about the pictures and to point to each word as they read it. The books will be changed every Thursday so please ensure that they are in their book bags along with their library books. It would be appreciated if you could write in the reading record when the children have read at home.

Please can you make sure that your child’s name is still in jumpers/cardigans/fleeces etc. Some may have rubbed out / peeled off over the half-term.

Stay and Play

• RC Phonics Stay and Play – Friday 1^st November at 9am

• RG Phonics Stay and Play – Friday 8^th November at 9am

• For Stay and Play: please bring your child to school as normal and then go to the KS1 hall for a brief talk about phonics and reading.We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
• You will then have the opportunity to go to the classroom and play with your child until 9.40am.

Diary Dates:

Welly Walk – Wednesday 30th October – please send wellies in a named carrier bag

PTA Disco for EYFS / KS1 –Wednesday 6^th November 4.30-5.45pm

           Parents evening- Wednesday 13^th November 4 – 7pm

           EYFS Xmas show – Friday 13^th December 2 15pm

           EYFS Xmas party Thursday 19^th December – during school time

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to you all for helping the children settle so well and so quickly into school; we can’t believe that we have only known them for 7 weeks!

School closes for half-term today Friday 17th October at 3.30pm and reopens on Monday 28^th October at 8.45am.

Have a lovely half-term!

Newsletter Week Ending 11 October 2019

This week we have done lots of work around keeping healthy. We have sorted food into that we can eat lots of, and food we should eat as treats. We have made exercise trails in our Outdoor Area, and practised washing our hands. Our words of the week were exercise, clean, sort, domino and photographer.

From Monday 14^th October

In phonics we have been listening to the first sound in words, and also practised reading and writing words with 3 letters.

Our letter sounds for next week will be:

Monday – ck

Tuesday – e

Wednesday – u

Thursday – r

Next week, we are going to talk about Autumn. If your child has any books, conkers, acorns, colourful leaves etc that they would like to bring to our investigation table, we would love to see them.

On Monday 14^th October, the school will be planting 250 trees on the field with the help of ‘City of Trees.’ Please can the children bring their wellies to school on the day in a named carrier bag.

The PTA will be having a tuck shop on Thursday 17^th October. Children can bring £1 to buy a drink and a chocolate bar / crisps.

The children will finish for half term on Thursday 17th October, and school will reopen on Monday 28^th October at 8.45am.

Diary Dates: ‘Stay and Play’ sessions in school for EYFS parents.

Our first session will be on Phonics.

RC – Friday 1^st November at 9am

RG – Friday 8^th November at 9am

Welly Walk – Wednesday 30th October

PTA Disco for EYFS / KS1 –Wednesday 6^th November 4.30-5.45pm

Have a lovely weekend

The Reception Staff

Newsletter Week Ending 4 October 2019

This week we have done more work on our senses. The children have talked about and painted food that they like to eat. In Maths, the children have recorded a number in different ways

and have also made a chart to show which was their favourite flavour of crisps.

Our words of the week have been hob, flavour, swap, complete and assembly.

From Monday 7^th October 2019

Thank you to everyone who attended our open afternoon last Friday. It was lovely to meet you all and to have the chance to chat about how your child has settled in school. The children enjoyed being able to show you around their classroom, and we were very proud of them.

The children are doing very well with their phonics. They have been listening to the first sound in words, and also practised reading and making words with 3 letters.

Our letter sounds for next week will be:

Monday – g

Tuesday – o

Wednesday - c

Thursday - k

The children can buy a drink of sugar free juice at lunchtime. If your child would like juice, the cost is 10p each day. Your child can bring the money into school and keep it in their drawer until lunchtime.

On Friday 11^th October, the photographer will be in school to take individual/ family photos. If you have younger children who are not yet in school and would like them to be photographed together with your children of school age, the photographer will be in school from 8.30am so please go to the Main Hall before school.

All other family or individual photos will be taken during the school day.

Each half term we will be holding ‘Stay and Play’ sessions in school for EYFS parents. This is a chance for you to find out what we are doing in class, and then play some games with your child.

Our first session will be on Phonics.

RC – Friday 1^st November at 9 – 9 40am

RG – Friday 8^th November at 9 – 9 40am

Have a lovely weekend

The EYFS Staff 

Newsletter Week Ending 27 September 2019

The children really enjoyed the welly walk this week. They used their senses and recorded what they heard, saw and touched on the walk. In Maths, the children have been grabbing as many cubes as they can in 1 hand, and then counting how many they have on a ten frame.

Our words of the week have been smooth, sight, field, dice and squash.

From Monday 30^th September 2019

The children have been telling us how much they are enjoying doing their homework.

Our letter sounds for next week will be:

Monday – i

Tuesday – n

Wednesday – m

Thursday – d

 Please check the school website for updates on what is happening in school. You can also follow us on twitter where we regularly post photographs of what we are doing during the day @higher_lane.

Please can you ensure that your child has a coat in school each day. In EYFS, children are able to play outside whatever the weather, so a waterproof coat is really useful.

Diary Dates

11^th October – Family / individual photos – from 8.30am in the school hall

Have a lovely weekend

The Reception Staff

Newsletter Week Ending 20 September 2019

This week we have done lots of work about our body parts. We have labelled bodies, and painted pictures of ourselves. We have also been working on 2d shapes – naming and describing them, and have played shape games and made shape pictures. In the outdoor area, the children have dug for shaped ‘treasure’, then sorted it into sets.

From Monday 23^rd September 2019

Everyday in class we focus on a new word - these are usually related to some work that we are doing in class, but may also be words that the children are interested in and want to know what they mean. This week our words have been corner, zig-zag, tall, short and solid.

   On Monday the children will bring home a ‘homework’ book that they can keep at home and complete with you. This is a phonic book, and the children can practise writing and recognising the letter sounds that we have covered in school. We will learn one letter a day in school:

Monday – s

Tuesday – a

Wednesday – t

Thursday - p 

Next week we will be going on a Welly Walk around the school grounds. Please can you send your child’s wellies (named please!!) in a carrier bag on Wednesday 25^th September.

Next week we will be making musical instruments with the children. If you have any empty yoghurt pots at home, please send them into school for us to transform!

A reminder that we are having an EYFS open afternoon next Friday – 27^th September - at 3pm. This is a chance for you to look around our unit with your child as the guide!! Please come into school via the KS1 playground – the entrance that the children use in the morning.

The PTA are holding their first meeting of the new school year on Tuesday 24^th September at 7pm. This one will be held in school. They will be discussing fundraising ideas and planning future events. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Thank you for the contributions to the EYFS fund. This week we have used it to buy ingredients for smiley face biscuits.

Have a lovely weekend

The Reception Staff

Newsletter Week Ending 13 September 2019

This week the children have had lots of opportunities to explore the classroom and to try out the different resources in the room. We have also thought of some class rules that will help us to make friends and to keep safe. The children have also visited the school library and chosen a book to share with you at home.

From Monday 16^th September 2019

If your child brings a water bottle to school, please make sure that this is filled with either water or flavoured water before they bring it to school.

The children have visited the school library today and have chosen a book to bring home. Please return the books each Friday, so that they can exchange them for a different book.

Parents are not allowed in school at the end of the day for health and safety reasons. If your child needs to get something from the classroom, please ask a member of staff in the playground who will be happy to accompany your child.

The PTA are holding their first meeting of the year to discuss events and fundraising ideas for the year ahead on Tuesday 24^th September. This is held in school at 7pm – everyone is welcome to attend.

On Friday 27^th September at 3pm, we are having an EYFS open afternoon in school. This is a chance for you to look around our unit with your child as the guide! Please come into school via the KS1 playground – the entrance that the children use in the morning.

Please check the school website for updates on what is happening in school. You can also follow us on twitter where we regularly post photographs of what we are doing during the day @higher_lane.

Foundation Stage Fund

This year we would like to ask our parents and carers to support us by donating a voluntary contribution to the unit.

This will enable us to enhance the provision and learning opportunities for the children further by purchasing consumable resources including ingredients for cooking, bulbs and seeds for planting, foods for tasting. The contribution we are asking for is £5 per term. This can be placed in an envelope and given to the class teacher.

Have a lovely weekend

The Reception Staff

Newsletter Week Ending 6 September 2019

The children are settling into school very well. They have been busy exploring the EYFS unit, and making new friends.

Please check your child’s bag every Friday for any letters. We send a Letter Link home each Friday to tell you about our week in EYFS and to inform you what we will be doing in the future. Newsletters can also be found on the school website.

From Monday 9^th September 2019

Please could you make sure that all clothing is named, including P.E. kits and book bags. It makes it much easier for us to reunite lost clothing when it has a name in it.

Children only need to bring their book bags to school each day. They can leave their pump bags on their pegs and we will send them home at the end of each half term to be washed. Children do not need to bring their own pencils/pens etc – we have plenty of them in school.

Children can bring a water bottle to school each day filled with either tap water or flavoured water. Please make sure that the bottles are labelled so that we can give them out again each night.

Our school day starts at 8.45am and the children can line up in the playground with their friends. For the first few weeks, we will bring the children out into the playground at 3.25pm, so that it is easier for them to see you.

Book bags are available to buy from the school office. Please attach a key ring to your child’s book bag to make it easier for them to identify.

We will be holding a ‘drop in’ session at the end of school for you to come and see our EYFS unit. This will be on Friday 27^th September at 3pm.

Have a lovely weekend

The Reception Staff

Web Links

Here are some web links for children to enjoy at home

Phonics play – lots of free phonic games to play at home

Cbeebies – Alphablocks - blend and read the words that the Alphablocks make

Oxford Owl – lots of free e-books, games and activities

Ladybird Spots – counting, matching and ordering numbers

Underwater Counting – count the underwater creatures to find the treasure

Gingerbread Man Game – count sequence, and order the numbers