Class Teachers: Mrs Towriess and Mrs Gregory
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Cockcroft
Welcome to Ash Class, also known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which is part of Key Stage 1.
Please check this page regularly to see updates of what we are learning.
Drop off time: 9.00am
Drop off/collection point: Gates to KS1 yard
Lunchtime: 12.00-1.00pm
Collection time: 3.30pm
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is how the Government and early years’ professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5. Your child’s attendance in the Reception class at St James’ Church of England Primary School forms the final phase of this initial stage of your child’s learning journey.
At St James’ we aim to provide learning experiences that are happy, active, exciting and fun – supporting children in their crucial early development and learning needs.
The Early Years curriculum is called the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. It contains seven areas of learning and development.
Prime areas of learning:
1. Communication and language
2. Physical development
3. Personal, social and emotional development
Specific areas of learning:
1. Literacy
2. Mathematics
3. Understanding the world
4. Expressive arts and design
These seven areas are used to plan your child’s learning activities.
At the end of the EYFS – in the summer term of the Reception year in school – teachers complete an assessment which is known as the EYFS Profile.
It states whether your child has reached expected levels in the seven areas of learning at the end of the Reception year. These expectations are called the Early Learning Goals (ELGs). It also describes your child’s attainment in the three essential characteristics of learning:
· playing and exploring;
· active learning;
· creating and thinking critically.
We strongly believe that all children should experience high quality books that enhance literacy skills and inspire them to read. We aim for children to develop a love of reading and this will help motivate them to write.
To help with this we are sharing a fabulous and highly recommended list of ‘100 Books to Read…’
Reading Spine takes place daily in every classroom where the children are read to. Each of the books help to develop the imagination of our children and equips them with language. We want our school to be a place where children are read to, enjoy, discuss and work with high quality books. We use the Pie Corbett Reading Spine so that children have access to high quality texts and develop a love for reading!
Supporting Reading at Home
Please see below for documents which will help when you are reading to your child at home.
You will have received a letter informing you of the name of your child’s Key Person. This adult is a named practitioner who is there to help your child develop confidence and feel safe and secure in school. Please feel free to speak to your child’s Key Person, or any member of the EYFS team, if there is anything you would like to discuss or share with school. If your child develops new interests at home, please do let us know so that we can use that information to promote learning.
Autumn 1
The children will start their introduction to reading and writing in their daily Phonics lessons using Letters and Sounds. Phase 1 of Letters and Sounds includes developing listening skills to ensure that the children are ready to begin Phase 2 which introduces the graphemes ‘s a t p i n’. We will be listening to a range of nursery rhymes thinking carefully about accurate repetition using rhythm and intonation when speaking.
Autumn 2
The children will continue with daily phonics from Phase 2 of Letters and Sounds. We will learn to read and write the Phase 2 irregular (tricky) words.
In Literacy, we will be reading fairy stories beginning with Little Red Riding Hood. We will talk about the setting and plot of the story as well as naming and describing the characters.
Autumn 1
In Mathematics, the children will count and make collections of objects to match numbers. They will match number names to numerals and quantities. The children will count groups of objects in different arrangements by touching each object as they count, recognising that the final number they say represents the quantity of the set.
Autumn 2
In Mathematics, we will learn how to order numbers and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, we will learn how to add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. In Space, Shape and Measure we will begin to look at 2d (flat) shapes and describe their properties using mathematical language.
Autumn Term
In Ash Class we will be doing PE on Mondays mornings. Please ensure your children come to school in their outdoor PE kit for this day as though their PE session is indoors, they will be playing in the provision for the rest of the school day, thank you.
Outdoor PE kit includes a white top, navy tracksuit bottoms, a navy jacket/waterproof coat and a pair of trainers.
Christmas PE
To celebrate the end of our PE lessons this term, the children enjoyed practising some of the fundamental skills they have been learning. They practised jumping, hopping, throwing and catching by taking part in various Christmas activities.
Bouncing and catching the ball to reach the presents.
The children practised bouncing and catching the ball to see who could be the fastest to reach the Christmas presents.
Throw the snowballs to reach the naughty Elf.
Using shuttlecocks as snowballs, the children practised their overarm throwing skills to try and reach the naughty Elf!
Jumping for distance to reach the North Pole.
In this activity the children jumped from ice-berg to ice-berg to reach the North Pole and then skipped all the way back.
Santa Dash
Who could be the first to collect all of the presents (bean-bags) and put them in Santa’s sleigh?
Autumn 1
In Understanding of the World this term, we will be discussing what we can find in our school grounds and around our school community. We will be looking at the physical and human features of the environment and reading books to support our understanding of maps. In Technology, we will be introduced to a range of technologies and identify adults who we can trust and talk to about something that may upset online or in real life.
Autumn 2
During this term, the children will be thinking about growth and changes. They will begin by thinking about what they looked like as babies and how they have changed. They will also
consider the things they could do when they were younger and what they can do now. We will use technology to investigate using Ipads and class cameras to take photos. These photos will be used to compare photographs of themselves as babies and how they look now.
Autumn 1
In RE this term, we will begin by thinking about who we are and how each one of us is special and unique to each other, our families and to God. We will then think about Harvest, what this means and how we can give thanks to God at Harvest time.
Autumn 2
In RE this term, we will begin by thinking about our own birthdays and why these are special days for us. We will learn that Jesus was a very special baby and that Christmas is
the celebration of His birthday. We will learn about the events of the nativity and use drama and music to re-tell the story.
Expressive Arts and Design – Exploring and Using Media and Materials
The children will explore different types of lines including looking at lines in the outdoor environment e.g. lines in structures and lines in nature. We will enjoy exploring the natural environment around our school to help us learn about different lines.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The children are enjoying getting to know their new friends, teachers, classroom and school. In their key person groups and in the indoor and outdoor learning environments, the children are able to make new relationships and develop self-confidence and self-awareness.
The children have enjoyed showing their family photographs and sharing information with their new friends.
Learning through Play
October Challenge
The October Challenge for Ash Class was to run 10 laps of the school hall and we all succeeded! We were amazing!
Remembrance Day
Take a look below at our Remembrance Day creations.
