Foundation Stage. Fix it Duck. Information to Parents Curriculum Newsletter. 4 th

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1 Foundation Stage Information to Parents Curriculum Newsletter Fix it Duck th January 4 th February th

2 Dear Parents/Carers Welcome back to the new term and the new year. We hope that you have had a restful holiday and enjoyed playing with all of the children s toys over the Christmas period. Before Christmas the children, were introduced to the new unit of work and it follows on from the children s interests a culmination of Joseph being a carpenter, the thought of snow and then led into a conversation about Superheroes! This term we have prepared our adult focused activities completely around the children s interests. We started this last term and have seen how children are far more engrossed in their learning. We would like to thank those parents that have been very supportive with hearing their children read at home and letting us know what their favourite books are. We have also seen an increase with the children quickly learning their sounds. We hope the book we gave you at the beginning of the year is helping with this learning at home. It is now important that the children start to blend the sounds together to read and spell simple words. Please come and see us if you would like some support with this at home. In Foundation Stage we do not give formal homework but make some suggestions to how learning can be continued in the home environment. Please see some of the website links we have given further on in this newsletter. Although we do not give formal homework, together with the reading bookmarks, Jolly Phonic books and the key word flashcards that are included in your child s reading folder there is plenty that you can do to continue to support learning at home. There are 100 key words expected to be known by the end of the foundation year. Please use these flashcards in a fun way. For example, how many words can they turn over and read in a minute, can they beat their score next time, or hide the word cards around the house, how many can they find and read in ten minutes. Reading isn t just about sitting down with a reading book (although fostering a love for books is part of our aim). Now that all the Christmas rehearsals and productions are finished (once again the children were excellent) we are back to a full hall timetable. Please make sure your child is provided with the correct PE kit in school. We can t underestimate the importance of labelling everything. At the end of last term, we had a collection of over 60 pieces of clothing all un-named and therefore difficult to return to the right child. The PE kit should remain in school until the next holiday. Also, any ear-rings need to be removed at home please.

3 Finally, just so you are all aware, for snack time, we are just having the milk and free fruit in school scheme. There is now no need to send in the weekly 1.00 snack money. If you are owing for last term, please could you ensure that payment is made for the snacks your child has had. If your child is now 5 you will need to complete a milk form and pay the dairy direct. Thank you. This is a very important term for moving the children forward with their learning across all the areas of learning. Please see below some supporting websites and a brief overview of what will be covered in school this term. Click on the right hand side, Interactive Whiteboard Resources, in particular, Early Years Numeracy has some excellent activities to support calculation and counting. We will be using these frequently in school and would be another excellent way to consolidate learning at home. Click on the Early Years section. Wide range of activities to choose from. - Wide range of activities, but one of them is linked to rhyme. Mouse control resources linked to using the computer. If you know of any more, please share them with us. Finally, we would like to welcome Mrs Jennifer Smith to Spalding Parish Church of England Day School. We hope that many of you will pop in over the first week to come and say hello to Mrs Smith. We would ask that you came in at the end of the day to have a chat rather than first thing in the morning. This term, we would like the children only to come into the cloakroom area and hang their own coats and book bags up please. They all manage their own belongings during the day and are more than capable of doing this themselves. Part of their personal learning that we assess and report on at the end of the year, is their ability to manage their own personal hygiene and to be able to dress and undress independently. Please could you support with this aspect of their learning. By not coming into the cloakroom, this will also make it more manageable and less crowded in the morning, which at the end of last term it started to be. Please remember that the doors open at 8:50 and we start registration at 8:55. At

4 9:00 am the gates are closed and you will need to walk round to the front office and bring your child to the classroom. Personal, Social and Emotional Development This term s SEAL theme is all about Going for Goals which focuses on the key aspects of motivation. The theme gives an important opportunity for all children s abilities, qualities and strengths to be valued. The theme provides opportunities for the children to reflect on themselves as individuals, particularly their strengths as learners and how they learn most effectively. We are sure that the children may well identify this with the forthcoming Olympics. We have included some Superhero target sheets for the children to set their own going for goals targets. We are also continuing to promote independence across the unit, which is why we have mentioned how you can support by encouraging your child s independence first thing in the morning when they come into school. Communication, Language and Literacy The children have started to look at the Jez Alborough stories, with Duck as the main character and his friends. Fix it Duck and Captain Duck, have already proved very popular with the children. We are also hoping to introduce the children to visual literacy with the Snowman DVD (we are hoping for snow during this time). We will be introducing to the children writing simple sentences with a full stop and capital letter and using their growing phonic skills to help sound out words and write for themselves. The children access daily a letter formation programme called Penpals and are taught daily in small groups phonic skills, giving them the basics to become emergent readers and writers. If you receive the class bear, it is really important to not write for the children as this isn t valuing their achievements. Also, when parents write for the children or the children just copy the writing, they are unable to read back to the class what the writing says. Yet, their own writing is their own work and they are able to read exactly what it says. We will be continuing with our phonic program and will be introducing in some of the groups, digraphs such as ch, sh and th. All groups will be consolidating their skills of how to blend sounds together to read words. Your child will be beginning to use their phonic knowledge in their writing in child initiated and adult focused activities such as diary writing, Superhero Wanted posters, letters to Mrs Pinguenet and orders for the Carpenter s Workshop.

5 Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy We will be continuing with number recognition to twenty, ordering and accurate counting. It is so important that the children can count forwards and backwards from different starting points, as this will then support the understanding of more and less, counting forwards and backwards and addition and subtraction with a number line. We are going to focus on helping the children start to understand the language of addition and subtraction, using objects to do this practically and by introducing how to use simple number lines with the children. Within their own child initiated play, the children want to explore capacity just like Fix it Duck. If you have any waterproof aprons at home, they may come in very handy this term. Knowledge and Understanding of the World and Religious Education In this time we will be considering with the children the importance of books and why they are special to us. We will look further at The Bible and stories that promote awe and wonder in the children, particularly the New Testament. Exploring and investigating with ice will continue, (if we have snow) encouraging the children to be inquisitive with their questions and explore with all of their senses. From their child initiated play, we are expecting to do some work linked to properties of materials, including waterproof materials. The children have asked to have a Fix it Role play area. We will be looking at a variety of tools that can be used for fixing things and also, looking at making kites. We expect to cover several of the early learning goals linked to asking questions, developing curiosity and knowledge of materials and objects as well as designing and making. If your child uses construction kits at home or loves to make things and fix things together, please let us know so we can share these experiences in your child s learning journey. We will be using the new Talking Books we have in school, where the children can add their own drawings to a book and then record a message to match their drawing. Physical Development As mentioned in the introduction, we are back to a full hall timetable to take part in a minimum of two PE sessions a week. We will be using Val Sabin planning for a unit for the first term on Gymnastics using the large apparatus in the main hall. We are also following the children s interests with Superheroes and will be looking at supporting their play in designing Superhero obstacle courses and simple circuit training. Linked to the using of tools with the Carpenter s Workshop and Car Mechanic the children will be exposed to using a variety of tools with growing skills and safety. If there are any parents/grandparents that are able to come and share any skills they may have, either as a mechanic or carpenter it would be lovely if you could come and share them with the children.

6 Creative Development During the topic the children will be given lots of drama and role play experiences including Winter Explorers in the Igloo a Winter Clothes shop, an outside car wash, mechanics and carpenter s workshop as well as the Superhero play that we know will develop. All of these experiences link to children s growing ability to communicate, imagine, problem solve and increase their social skills. The children will hopefully be inspired by the music from the Snowman that they will then use to create their own tunes and dances. We will also be introducing the children to the process of marbling, using inks and water to create an effect and will exploring a range of media to increase children s ability to observe and communicate their thoughts and ideas of Winter.