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

EYFS Team

Rochelle Fairhurst

Teaching Assistant, EYFS

Sarah Holland

Teaching Assistant, EYFS

Amy Clarke

EYFS Teacher / PE Subject Leader

Josie Swarbrick

Higher Level Teaching Assistant, Year 2 / Pre School Leader

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. 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.

Forest School Friday

Every Friday 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!

Reading

Reading books will go home every Friday. Please try and read with your child each night. In Reception weencourage children to read the book multiple times to develop their reading fluency and understanding ofthe text. Once your child has read please comment in your child’s reading diary stating how they found the book, if they struggled with any words, Etc.

Books should be brought in each day as all children will read twice a week to a member of staff. Readingbooks will be changed on a Friday for all children, which will incorporate the new sounds we have learntthat week. Your child will also receive a sound book, please practise these daily. Weekly videos of how tobest support your child with their new sounds will be posted on the memos section of Tapestry as thechildren cover them.

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.