EYFS

Welcome to the EYFS class page.

On here you will find a selection of your class’ learning overviews and useful links to support your children with their learning.

If you wish to contact your child’s class teacher, the best way to do so is to contact the school office on 01772613470 or via email bursar@newlongton.lancs.sch.uk. Alternatively, if your message is not urgent, please contact Miss Clarke through the messaging section on Tapestry.

EYFS Team

Melanie Ryder

Teaching Assistant, EYFS / Little Saints Nursery, Oaky’s Club

Emily Barker

Teaching Assistant, EYFS, Oaky’s Club

Lizzie Parsons

Little Saints Nursery / Oaky’s Club

Josie Swarbrick

Higher Level Teaching Assistant, EYFS / Little Saints Nursery

Sarah Holland

Teaching Assistant, EYFS

Amy Clarke

EYFS Lead / PE Subject Leader / SLT

Curriculum Overview

Within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) there are seven areas of learning and development. All areas are important and inter-connected.

Prime areas are fundamental, work together, and move through to support development in all other areas.

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Specific areas include essential skills and knowledge for children to participate successfully in society.

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Our curriculum also focuses on the Characteristics of Effective Learning. Children reach out to relate to people and things around them through these characteristics, which are woven through all areas of learning.

• playing and exploring
• active learning
• creating and thinking critically

Phonics

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another. Written language can be compared to a code, so knowing the sounds of individual letters and how those letters sound when they’re combined will help children decode words as they read. Understanding phonics will also help children know which letters to use when they are writing words.

Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters. For example, the sound k can be spelled as c, k, ck or ch. Teaching children to blend the sounds of letters together helps them decode unfamiliar or unknown words by sounding them out. For example, when a child is taught the sounds for the letters t, p, a and s, they can start to build up the words: “tap”, “taps”, “pat”, “pats” and “sat”.

The correct terminology is;

• Phoneme – The smallest unit of sound. Phonemes can be put together to make words.
• Grapheme – A way of writing down a phoneme. Graphemes can be made up from 1 letter e.g. p, 2 letters e.g. sh, 3 letters e.g. tch or 4 letters e.g ough.

P.E Day

Receptions P.E. day is on a Friday or Wednesday, please see below for the termly PE Days. Children should come dressed in their P.E. kit. Please look at the weather forecast when deciding whether your child should wear their indoor or outdoor kit.

Welly Wednesday

Every Wednesday afternoon the children will get on their waterproofs and wellies and explore our forest school/outdoor area taking part in a range of activities. Please ensure your child’s waterproofs remain in school as we do use our outdoor classroom what ever the weather! We would also like your child to come into school in PE Kit on this day.

Reading

Our books are matched to the sounds that the children learn. The children begin their reading journey by looking at wordless picture books. ​

The children will take home 2 books a week the first book will include the sounds we have covered that week to give the children an opportunity to apply the sounds they have learnt and the other matched to their current phonics knowledge. All books will be entirely decodable. 

It is recommended that each book is read 4 times to allow the children to develop fluency. Therefore, we would like you to read every night with your child. We will also read at least twice a week with the children.

Reading Days:

• Monday - Green Group
• Tuesday - Red Group
• Wednesday - Yellow Group
• Thursday - Blue Group

Phonics Homework

Phonics booklets containing the sounds we have covered each week will be sent home to practice letter formation. Evidence of these can be uploaded to your child’s Tapestry account should you wish to do so.

Tapestry

Please ensure you access Tapestry through your browser and not the app as it has come to our attention that when logging on through the app not all posts are visible. Observations of your child will be uploaded regularly. Please log on at least once a week so that you see what the class have been getting up to and to check for any memos which may have been posted.

Daily Routine

Here’s an example of the Reception Class routine for the Autumn Term. It may change from time to time depending on what’s happening in school, but it should give you a good idea of what a typical day in Reception looks like.

• Self Registration
• Phonics
• Morning Activties (Reading and Targeted Provision)
• Story time with Toast and Milk
• Choosing/Adult Lead Activities
• Maths
• Lunch
• Write Dance
• Afternoon Focus (UTW, RE, Expressive Arts, PSHE, PE)
• Fruit and Circle Time
• Story Time or Worship
• Home Time

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