Staff Team

Teaching Staff - Mrs Espley and Mrs Bissell

Support Staff - Mrs Hancox and Mrs Praz

Our Topic this Half Term (Autumn 1) is 

'Starting Our Discovery'

Within this topic we will learn about: ourselves and what makes us special, friendships, feelings, colour, families and our school family. 
Some of the key stories we will read are: The Colour Monster, Dotty Donut, The Dot, The Most Magnificent Thing, The Lion Inside and The Rabbit Listened. These books really focus on exploring feelings and self-identity.
We will explore new vocabulary which we will share on our weekly newsletter. We will also share our 'Skills of the Week' here too. This will be on Dojo and will also contain notices for the week ahead. 

Learning in Class A

RE
We are following the Discerning Disciplines curriculum. Within our first Branch we will be learning all about the story of Creation. We will be learning our Class Prayers and will start to go into Mass.
Our Class Saint is The Holy Family. 

Phonics

We follow the Essential Letters and sounds (ELS) phonics programme.  This is a DfE validated scheme that helps children learn sounds, blend words for reading and segment words for writing in a structured and engaging way.

The mnemonics that we will learn and a glossary of terms can be found below.  You will be given an assessment sheet for your child at the end of each Phase and it will highlight sounds or skills that they need support with.  I will upload some Phonics videos onto Dojo as we go to help support at home. 

If you have any questions about phonics or how to support your child at home, please ask.

Writing

This term we will be learning to write recognisable letters, write our name and use the sounds we learn to start our journey to writing CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words like sat and pin.

We will learn an 'pinch and flick' method to sustain a good and comfortable pencil grip which will enhance our control.

Mathematics

Our School day includes lots of exciting maths.  For example, we count how many friends are here and represent this in our tens frames to help us subitise. There are so many opportunities to explore, develop and deepen our maths understanding.  For our more formal learning, we will be following the Power Maths scheme.

PE 

We wear PE kits on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Please bring your reading folders and water bottles in every day.  We love exploring and discovering inside and outside in all weather so please always ensure you have spare clothes (with your name on) in your school bag and a suitable coat.

Reading at home / home learning

Reading at home is so important for children that are learning to read. Just 5 minutes each day really will make such a difference to your child’s progress and confidence in reading. We will send home a reading book for children to enjoy sharing with an adult. We will use an e-library to assign phonetically matched books to our learning in class.  Please record your child's reading onto their Boom reader each time they read with you.  It is really important that all children practise their sounds and tricky words as well as reading with you. If you have any questions about Boom Reader or reading at home, please ask. 

Play

Play in EYFS is so important and allows us to learn and develop so many skills. Our weekly provision is always based around a book or a theme.  We will explore and investigate the world around us in both our indoor and outdoor classrooms, as well as our school forest area during our weekly forest learning sessions. We will have plenty of opportunities to apply our learning though play. As we explore and discover in all seasons, please also ensure your child always has spare clothes with them (and they have your child's name in them).