Welcome back to Term 5! We hope you had a lovely Easter break.
Our topic this term is 'Minibeasts and Habitats'. Throughout the topic we will be exploring where different animals in our environment live, the important roles they have and how we can look after them. We will be creating fact files and artwork about animals such as caterpillars, butterflies and worms!
The children have had a great start back to the term! We have kicked the topic off by learning about caterpillars and butterflies. Can your child tell you any interesting facts about these animals? During Discovery Time we have been making caterpillar cafes - these can be seen in our pictures below.
In Maths we are beginning to explore the concept of doubling and the children have been trying really hard all week.
As a reminder, we have Church next Wednesday (30th April), so please bring your children to All Saints Church at 8:45am.
Please could we also ask that children have their contact books, reading records and Phonics reading books in their bookbags every day. We read with the children throughout the week and need their books in order to do so.
We wish you a restful weekend,
The EYFS Team
We have finished Term 4! We cannot believe where the time has gone. We have had such an enjoyable term and we have seen so much progress. Below are some pictures from our final week of learning.
We have sent home Easter Home Learning Folders. These are for you to record any learning your child does at home. For Easter, we have given some ideas in the front page of the folder. If you fill them with anything make sure to send them in, in your child's bookbag for us to see. We have put some suggestions of captions your child might like to write about.
We wish you a restful break and a very happy Easter. We return to school on Tuesday 22nd April.
And just like that Week 5 is complete! What a fun week we have had from our house challenge on Tuesday to our Space Day on Thursday! We have had great fun preparing for our space assembly and we hope you enjoyed seeing all of the hard work your children have put into this topic. We are so proud of their hard work and resilience this term.
In Maths, we have focused on our number bonds to 5 this week. As we enter Spring and are enjoying the warmer weather, the children have been exploring the wooded area and drawing the first signs they notice of Spring, such as budding flowers and green leaves. We have also been planting cress seeds and will be observing their growth over the final week of term.
Parent Consultations are now open for bookings. These are taking place in the KS1 hall next Tuesday and Thursday.
The last day of term is Friday 4th April. On this day we have Church for our Easter Service, so please bring your child to All Saints Church on Friday 4th April at 8:45. We will bring them back to school as usual.
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
This week our story focus has been 'Look Up' which has led nicely to thinking about our aspirations and what jobs the children would like to do when they grow up. It has been lovely to see how confident the children are with their writing and we are excited to share these with you at the Book Look.
We have been busy preparing for our Space Assembly, creating the planets, junk modelling space equipment and learning facts about space! In Maths we have been exploring ordering, subitising and comparing quantities.
As a reminder, our Space Assembly is on Thursday 27th March at 14:30, in the Key Stage 1 hall. The children have been learning their parts and are already very excited to share this with you. After the assembly, we will be hosting a Book Look, where you can look through your child's Learning Journal. Please see the Key Dates for other important dates this term.
Please see the slideshow below for a snippet into our fun week!
This week Owls and Hedgehogs have been writing all about their aspirations! We have had some great discussions about what jobs the children would like to be, such as a game maker, a horse rider and even some astronauts!
We have been focusing on time in Maths and we have been timing how many things we can do in different amounts of time. For example, we timed how many claps we could do in 10 seconds compared to 30 seconds. We have also been exploring different times of the day and what we might do in the morning/evening.
We have also enjoyed some buddy time for Science Day on Thursday where our buddies measured the height of the children. During our Discovery Time we have been making cars from the nuts and bolts set, writing books and so much more fantastic learning.
Excitingly we have arranged for a Space Day to take place on Thursday 27th March! Please refer to the email sent out earlier in the week for more information.
We hope you have an enjoyable weekend.
What a wonderful week we have had! The sun has been shining and we have been outside in our wooded area, creating mud pies, obstacle courses and even underground homes for some worms!
We are continuing to look at measure in Maths, this week focusing on height. We have measured everyone's height and decided who is the tallest/shortest, as well as using our hands to measure how tall/short something is.
On Thursday we had World Book Day and what fun that was! It was lovely to see the children dressed up as their favourite book characters. Please see the pictures below to view some of the other learning we have enjoyed this week.
Wishing you a restful weekend.
Welcome back to Term 4! Our topic this term is 'Flying High' and this week we have been learning facts about the Sun and the first 2 planets in our solar system, Mercury and Venus. Can your child tell you any facts about these?
In Maths, we have been looking at measuring, specifically length. We have been measuring our arms and legs to see who has the longest, finding long and short objects within our environment and making a long and short Superworm! Next week we will move onto height.
Important Info about World Book Day:
On Thursday, it is World Book Day. We have exciting plans for the day both in class and as a wider school, such as the Book Swap. We cannot wait to see what your child will be dressed as.
If your child has a book they really love, please feel free to send it in from Monday - Friday next week. We will keep these books separate and read these throughout the week. Please make sure any books as clearly named.
Important Dates for Term 4:
Tuesday 4th March - FOFS Pancake Flip
Wednesday 5th March - Year 2 Service at All Saints Church
Thursday 6th March - World Book Day
Friday 21st March - Red Nose Day
Tuesday 1st and Thursday 3rd April - Parent Consultation Evenings
Friday 4th April - Easter Service at All Saints. This is also the last day of the term
Friday 7th February
We have been thinking about the supermarket shop this week - the children enjoyed our new role play area where they could go shopping, create their own shopping lists, stack the shelves and immerse themselves in their role play. We have introduced sentence writing - supporting the children with rehearing their sentence orally first, counting out how many words and having a go at writing. The children have written about their own pets or those that they wish they could have!
We ended our week with our Class Trip to Morrisons - a huge thank you to all of the team from Morrisons and our parent helpers who supported the children in having a fantastic first trip.
Notices
Friday 31st January
This week our story focus has been, "We are going on a bear hunt" in drawing club. The children have built lots of obstacle courses - being challenged to use positional language; through, over and under. On our way to forest school we were inspired by the story: we went through the puddles with a splash and a splosh, through the squelchy mud, whirled in a snowstorm and stumbled and tripped through the forest. The children had excellent recall of the story.
We have seen children use art to retell the story and designing their own bear caves using playdoh.
We have been learning a new poem, " A cup of Tea" we will film the children next week to share with you.
In maths we have been exploring the numbers 6,7 and 8. We have introduced the children to sentences and were blown away by their learning, "The sun bear has a long tongue" Well done Owls and Hedgehogs!
Thank you to Mrs Crystal for reading to both Owls and Hedgehogs as our mystery readers - the children loved the Detective Dog.
Questions to prompt:
Can you remember any of the bear hunt story?
Can you name any types of bears? We have learnt 8 - polar, panda, moon, sun, brown, black, sloth and spectacled bear.
What was your tricky word this week?
Do you remember the poem, "Cup of Tea?"
Do you know the meaning/ remember the action of any of our drawing club vocabulary? (Wandering, flee, creep, panic, joyful, courageous, obstacle, camouflage)
Notices
Wednesday 5th February - Church with Year 3 leading.
Thursday 6th February - PE in the mornings.
Friday 7th February - School Trip (Hedgehogs in the morning and Owls in the afternoon) - if you haven't returned the permission slips, please can these be returned as soon as possible.
Thursday 13th February - School Disco - see FOFS for more information
Friday 14th February - End of Term
Friday 24th January
In Drawing Club this week our focus story was Hansel and Gretel - we explored lots of new vocabulary with actions; confectionary, wicked, double, piecing, innocent and swish. The children drew a character and a setting from the story and then wondered what their teacher might turn into if a spider bite them! We are enjoying seeing the children become more adventurous with their codes and sharing their imaginations.
During discovery outside, we have seen obstacle courses; mazes, racing cars and some fabulous perseverance and teamwork to record how many times the ball can be caught in the basket.
The children listened beautifully to our visitor on Friday who shared information about their job as a radiography. The children are learning to ask questions.
From this term we have introduced to the children "poetry basket", where the children learn a poem each week with actions to support their learning. We hope you enjoy watching their performance.
Notices
Question's
We are exploring what a question is with the children throughout this term. To support the children's learning here are some targeted questions you might want to ask. Hopefully these will prompt your child in sharing and recalling their learning with you at home.
Week 2 brought lots of fun and exiting adventures! We started the week with a visit from a veterinary nurse and her lovely dog. She spoke to the children about her job and demonstrated some vital health checks. The children then had the chance to ask some questions and have a stroke of the dog!
Later in the week, we tested out some of our new sports equipment. We have been very lucky to have some trikes and scooters arrive to support with developing our physical development. We spoke about safety precautions first, then had a great time!
This week we are welcoming parents and carers in on Wednesday and Thursday to watch a Phonics session. We also have another visit on Friday to support with our 'People Who Help Us' topic this term.
Important Notice:
On Friday, Miss Volavka will be leaving for 7 weeks to complete a school teaching placement as part of her degree. We are really going to miss her but I am sure you will join us in wishing her the best of luck for her placement. We will be having someone join the Early Years team for the 7 weeks Miss Volavka is away.
Friday 10th January
Happy New Year to you all it has been so lovely seeing all of the children and hearing about their holidays.
We have been incredible proud of the children how they have come back to school and welcomed all of our new routines with enthusiasm and outstanding behaviour.
What has changed this term?
How lucky to have started our term learning about Winter, to help us the snow arrived...! The children loved going on a winter walk and out to the field to build snowmen. Our topic this term is, "People who help us", our role play area has transformed from a home corner to a 'Vet Surgery' - the children have loved helping all of our animals who are poorly. On Monday, we have a Vet joining us to talk to the children about their job. They will be showing the children how they perform a health check on their dog. The children enjoyed listening to our, 'Mystery Reader'. They met a special friend and all said something kind to them to cheer them up. Why not ask and see if they can remember meeting or any of the Ugly Duckling Story.
A busy first week!
Notices
Forest School - Mr Wood's is still recovering from his injury so we will be taking the children out to our wooded area on Tuesday's in classes to explore. Thank you for those that have volunteered for Forest School, for a short time, whilst Mr Woods make a full recovery, we won't need any support for forest school. Please continue to send your children in Forest School Clothes on a Tuesday. However, If you are would like to come in to read with the children - we always welcome parent helpers, you could be a 'Mystery Reader' and come and share your favourite book with a class - Please leave a note or speak to your Class Teacher if you would like to.
Reading Please can we ask that you initial the front of your reading records when you are read with your child their school phonics book. Frequency is key for progression and Reception is crucial in supporting their wonderful journey into entering the world of reading books.
We have updated our 'Key Dates' page for the Term so please have a look. Next week will be the Church Service on Wednesday and FOFS 'Break the Rules' on Friday.
Thank you for your continued support and for allowing us the privilege to teach your children. It has been a fantastic start to 2025.
Best Wishes
Your EYFS Team
Term 2 is complete! What a successful second term. We have had so many exciting things happen this term. Let's look back at the last few months:
1. The children performed their Hey Ewe Nativity after putting in weeks of hard work! They were simply amazing!
2. We spent time with our Year 6 buddies, reading to them!
3. We had lots of fun Christmas activities such as our Christmas dinner day, Christmas jumper day, Secret Shopper day and Father Christmas in the forest!
4. Lots of wonderful learning from Phonics and Maths, to exploring the snow and playing Red Light, Green Light.
We will begin swimming on our first day back (Mon 6th Jan). Please make sure your child has the following, in a named bag:
- swimming costume (no bikinis/tankinis), goggles, swimming hat, towel, pool shoes (crocs/flip flops/sliders, etc).
Thank you so much for all of our lovely presents and cards. We really appreciate them.
We hope the children have enjoyed their second term and we can't wait to welcome you back on Monday 6th January 2024. Please enjoy a restful break and we wish you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy 2025!
The EYFS Team
This week we have been immersing ourselves in the fun of Christmas! On Thursday and Friday we have been wearing our Christmas jumpers and have enjoyed Christmas dinner with our buddies and meeting Father Christmas in the forest! We hope the children have enjoyed such fun activities.
In Maths, we have been looking at the composition of 4 and 5. This means looking at the different ways the make 4 and 5, for example 3 and 1, 2 and 2, 3 and 2. The children have been great! We have made great progress with our CVC writing too! Have a look at some of the lovely work your children have been doing below.
On Monday and Tuesday next week, we have our FOFS Secret Shopper event.
We also have our Christmas Church service on Friday 20th December, which is also the last day of term. Pick up time is as usual at 15:10.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Apologies for the delay in updating our newsletter!
What a lovely end to the week we had. We would like to start this newsletter by saying a very big well done to all of the children for their fantastic performance of 'Hey Ewe'. We hope you enjoyed as much as we did and thank you for joining us after for a hot chocolate.
We have been getting in the Christmas spirit this week and have been writing some CVC words to describe what is in Santa's Sack. In Maths, we have been looking at the numbers 4 and 5, and consolidating one more and one less.
Important Dates and Reminders:
Thursday 12th December - Christmas jumper and Christmas lunch day
Friday 13th December - Christmas jumper day and Father Christmas in the forest!
Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th December - FOFS Secret Shopper
Friday 20th December - End of Year Christmas service at All Saints and last day of Term 2.
With our Nativity fast approaching next Friday (6th December), we have been busy practising all of our songs, dances and lines for our performance. We have some children who have not had their costumes sent in. All children have been given a letter with their role and costume, so please could we ask that ALL costumes are sent in (in a named bag) on Monday.
This week we have been enjoying the sunshine (albeit wrapped up in our warm coats and scarves) and have done some wonderful learning in our wooded area. We found onions, played with musical instruments and were measuring our heights by standing back to back, to find out who is the tallest! Please see the photos below!
Next term, our topic is 'People Who Help Us'. If you have a job that you would like to come in and talk about to the children, please let one of us know. Additionally, we will begin swimming next term - if you would like to help on these days (Monday PMs) then please let one of us know.
Please ensure your child's reading book and reading record are in the bookbag daily. We will be reading with all children during the week and will need to record our reading.
As a reminder, our Christmas fair is tomorrow from 12-3pm! We wish you a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday morning.
This week we have been looking all about birthdays. We have discussed how we celebrate birthdays and have had had a go at writing birthday wish lists.
On Thursdays we have been enjoying visits from our Year 6 buddies. From next term this will become fortnightly. Our buddies have been reading to us and hearing us read, helping us with counting and have been enjoying some fresh air on our playground.
The children have been busy rehearsing for our Nativity which we are so excited to share the children's hard work with you. As a reminder our Nativity is on Friday 6th November at 14:00. We are limited to 2 guests per child. Please send in your child's costume by next Friday. A letter went home in their bookbag/contact book so please check these.
We have church next Wednesday (27th November). Please drop your child at All Saints Church at 8:45-8:55.
As the colder weather begins, this is a great opportunity to help teaching zips/gloves etc. Where possible, please practice this at home so your child can independently do their own zips. Please feel free to send in hats, gloves and scarves too but we ask that everything is clearly named.
The deadline for ordering Christmas cards is Monday 25th November.
Thank you so much for all of the reading going on at home. It really helps with your child's progression with their reading.
Wishing you a lovely weekend,
EYFS Team
This week we have been looking 3 key celebrations. On Monday it was Remembrance Day and we looked at the different colours of poppies and what they symbolise and we discussed why we remember at this time of the year. Towards the end of the week, we looked at the Hindu festival 'Diwali'. We ended the week very colourful, with our 'Children in Need' dress down day. We had great fun watching some of our crazy teachers dressing up as dinosaurs and sharks, running around the playground!
We have also started learning the songs for our Nativity 'Hey Ewe!'. The children have working really hard to learn the lyrics and actions. We put a letter in your child's book bag or contact book with some more information, including your child's role in our play. As a reminder, our performance is on Friday 6th November at 14:00. Due to the size of our hall, we politely ask to limit guests to 2 per child.
We are unfortunately having to postpone our parents Phonics parents lesson which was meant to be on Thursday 21st November. However, it will continue to go ahead for children in KS1. We will update you when we have a new date for EYFS. Thank you for your understanding.
We wish you a restful and happy weekend!
Our first week of our 'Celebrations Topic' has gone off with a bang! The children have loved exploring and discovering the activities linked to Bonfire Night and Fireworks. The children have been creating fireworks displays using a range of materials; playdoh, beads, pipe cleaners, paint and chalk. They have been using their fine motor skills to put out our burning building.. and building their gross motor skills with our rockets, creating all different firework shapes.
We have been discussing different reasons why we 'Celebrate' and explored the 'Gunpowder Plot' with the children, looking at pictures and building the Houses of Parliament.
The children were incredible during their first whole school worship and sat beautifully listening to their buddies, celebrating being in Year 6 and receiving their Year 6 Ties. We were very proud of them.
In Maths the children have begun to explore shape... we have been looking at what makes a 'Circle'... going on a shape hunt, drawing circles and investigating circles. The children are using their mathematical language to describe their shapes: 'a curved edge' 'round and round' even 'circumference'.
Our very busy week ended with the children coming in looking wonderfully bright in their school clothes. A huge thank-you for your kind donations to the chocolate tombola for the Christmas Fair.
Apologies that we were unable to change all of the books this week.
Reminders for next week
Monday we will be taking the children to create their wish lists at the Book Fair, these will be sent home on Monday. Parents are invited to come to the Book Fair after school on Tuesday.
The children will be attending whole school worship every Wednesday morning from this term.
Additional Information
Please check our 'Key dates' and 'Homework' section as well. We have added the dates for this Term and some useful documents you may want to use at home.
And just like that, Term 1 has finished! What a fantastic start all children have had. We would like to say a huge well done to all of the children for their hard work over a very long 8 weeks.
We've had a great final week with two fun events - Hero Day and PJ Day! We've loved seeing their outfits!
Some of our favourite moments from this term have been:
- Making Supertatos!
- Hero Day!
Our Harvest Festival service
- The soup kitchen!
Over the half term, please ensure you are continuing to read with your children and practice their sounds and tricky words. But please, make sure to rest as well. The children have told us what some of them are up to over the holiday so we can't wait to hear what they have been up to when we return on Tuesday 5th November. The Monday is a staff INSET day.
Enjoy the half term!
On Monday morning when the children came to school, there had been some strange activity over the weekend. There was a letter on the tables but we didn't know who from and lots of vegetables in trouble! Once we read the letter and the book, we realised that the Evil Pea from the story 'Supertato' had been doing all of this mischief, so we decided we would make our very own Supertatos to try and keep the Evil Pea away once and for all! We have had so much fun creating our Supertato stick puppets, our potatoes and we even made a story map detailing the events of the story. It has been a super fun week. Next week, the excitment continues as we read the next book, 'Supertato: Veggies Assemble'.
We have learned some more sounds in Phonics. These are 'h, b, f and l' along with tricky words 'has, his and as'. In Maths we have been looking at the numbers, 1, 2 and 3 and exploring the composition of these numbers.
School photos and Forest School: On Wednesday 23rd October we have individual school photos which unfortunately clashes with Forest School. We ask if you could please send your child in, in their school uniform for the photos. We will then change into our PE kits and waterproofs when it is your child's turn to go to Forest School. We will be sending PE kits home at the end of the week to be washed.
Reminders:
Parent Consultations: Next Tuesday and Thursday we have our parent consultation evenings. Please make sure you have booked on Arbor to discuss how your child is getting on at school.
Hero Day: On Thursday is Hero Day. We put letters in bookbags last week detailing this event. We are so excited for this day!
PJ Day! The following day, Friday, is pyjama dress down day. If your child does come in in their pyjamas, we ask for a donation of a toy or a bottle of some sort to donate to our Christmas fair.
Uniform: As a reminder, all children need a bookbag rather than a rucksack as we do not have the space in our boxes for them. We also ask that you limit keyrings on bookbags to one.
Please check the key dates page too, as we will be updating this with important dates for your diary.
We wish you a restful weekend.
This week we have been reading the story 'Funnybones'. We have used this book to learn all about our body parts and painting them.
We have delved into our 'All About Me' topic a bit more, looking at the people who live in our homes as well as discussing the pets we have at home - we have lots of cats and dogs!
In Phonics, we have learned the sounds 'ck, e, u and r' and 2 tricky words 'no' and 'go'. We have put phonics parent newsletters and sound fans in your child's bookbag for you to practise the sounds with your children at home. We hope you find these useful.
We have a super exciting week planned next week! We can't wait to see the children on Monday. We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Important Reminders:
Parent Consultations: Bookings for parent consultation evenings should now be available on Arbor. The dates for these are Tuesday 22nd October and Thursday 24th October. These consultations will let you know how your child has settled at school and will give you an opportunity to discuss anything with your child's class teacher.
Hero Day and Pyjama Dress Down: There are two dress down dates on the last week of term. Thursday 24th is hero day - we put a letter in your child's on Tuesday. Pyjama dress down day is Friday 25th, which is the last day of term.
This week our book focus has been 'Pumpkin Soup'. It is a lovely story all about a duck, cat and squirrel that have little falling out, but resolve it! This lead very nicely into our soup kitchen role play which the children enjoyed making pumpkin soup!
We are so proud of each and every child for their performance of 'Big, red combine harvester' at the Harvest festival on Thursday! We hope you loved our song.
We have learned the sounds 'g, o, c and k' in Phonics this week, as well as tricky words 'I, is, to and the'. We have been writing these letters, reading shorts CVC words and writing our names!
Please continue to ensure you are reading with your children as often as possible. As a reminder, we change library books every Friday and Phonics reading books every Tuesday and Friday (providing they have been read and recorded 3 times).
We are hoping to have a heroes day on the last week of term, where we will be concluding our topic, 'All About Me'. It will be an opportunity for your child to dress up as their hero! It could be a superhero, what they want to be when they're older, or someone they love! We will send a letter out with more information soon.
Thank you for your continued support - we wish you a happy weekend.
The EYFS Team
This week we have been reading the story 'The Invisible String' and have been talking about the different ways we can make ourselves feel better when we are missing loved ones. We have been creating friendship flowers to show how much we value all of our class members.
On Thursday, we went on an autumnal nature walk around the school and collected all things autumn! We set ourselves challenges to find the biggest and smallest leaves!
In Phonics, we have learned 4 more sounds - n, m, d and g, alongside 2 tricky words - I and is. We have finished our first Maths topic - 'Match, Sort and Compare'. Can your child tell you what the word match means?
Once again we have been very impressed with all children. We hope you have a lovely weekend. Please see below for some important information about reading books and the Harvest festival next week.
Reading Books:
Today, your child was given their first Phonics book. It is a wordless book, aimed to allow your child to look at the pictures and create their own stories, judgements and narratives. Please record all reading in the reading record. Once it has been recorded that the book has been read 3 times, we will change the books every Tuesday and Friday. We will give worded books out later on in the term.
We will continue to change library books on Fridays.
Harvest Festival - Thursday 3rd October 2024:
Please join us at All Saints Church on Thursday 3rd October for our Harvest Service. Children will be dropped off at All Saints between 8:45-55 and will be walking back with their Year 6 buddies. Parents/carers are welcome to stay for the service. We have been busy learning a song and we cannot wait to perform it to you! If you would like to donate some canned tins/food, cereal, etc, please bring these on the day.
Milk:
We are hoping to be able to begin providing milk to the children from next week. Thank you for your patience.
What a wonderful week we have had. The children have settled into the routines and have been discovering across all areas of EYFS. We have been learning in maths what is the 'same' and what could be a 'set. We have started our phonics journey and have learnt the sounds, 's a t p i' - we have put a parent newsletter in book bags if you wanted to look at the sounds together at home.
The highlight of our week was meeting our buddies today, all of the children were so excited and Year 6 could not want to meet their buddies. We had extra excitement that it we met during the most incredible hail storm - the children were very brave and enjoyed exploring the giant marbles that fell from the sky!
Wishing you all a restful weekend.
Gentle reminders
Wednesday is Forest School - please can you send your child in home clothes and a set of waterproofs.
Friday is our library day - please can you return their reading for pleasure book so that they can choose another story to share at home.
WOW! Just like that the first week of Reception has finished! We have been so impressed with ALL of the children. A big well done!
We started the week off by reading one of our favourite stories, 'The Colour Monster'. We had our first Forest School session which was great fun and PE on Friday morning! If you are interested in volunteering with us, please let a member of the Early Years team know and we can advise you further. In Phonics, we have taught the sounds s and a. We will be revisiting these next week before moving onto the other sounds in Phase 2.
We have sent home reading records and a library book home with your child today. Please record any reading of this book and others in this reading record. We politely ask library books to be brought back in each Friday so we can change them. We cannot give a new book to your child until the old one is brought back.
As you can see, we have had such a busy week! We hope you all have a restful weekend and are looking forward to welcoming you back on Monday.
Polite Reminders:
At home time, please do not let your children on the castle in the KS1 playground. Thank you for your understanding.