Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Evening for Parents

1. Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Eveningfor Parents September 2014

2. St Bernadette’s Mission Statement At St Bernadette’s we recognise that each child in our care is made in the image and likeness of God. Our mission is to develop fully their individual potential in the context of Gospel values of truth and love.

3. The Early Years Staff Foundation Stage Teachers – Key Persons • Mrs Chapman • Mrs Matthews and Mrs Dixon Early Years Assistants (LSAs): • Mrs Edgell • Mrs Taylor • Mrs Allen • Mrs Morgan Student Teacher – Miss Giles

4. Key Persons • Each child has a Key Person who will get to know your child well. • In Key Persons Groups, we go to the Library, work and play together, have Circle Times and Show & Tell.

5. God Matters Creation Prayers, Saints and Feasts Advent and Christmas Revelation Sacraments Lent, Holy Week and Easter Pentecost and Mission Other Faiths

8. Our Creative Curriculum To provide a rich and stimulating experience, we encourage ‘Child-Initiated Learning Through Play’ in both classrooms and in the outdoor environment. We will take the children on local walks to the park and the Post Office, and further afield in the summer term. We organise visitors to school to support learning - for example, the Librarian, Dentist, Police Officers. Our topics are based on children’s interests.

9. Topics – flexible planning according to children’s interests. Autumn Term • Me and My Teddy 2. Sparkles and Stars; Christmas Spring Term 1. Adventures 2. People Who Help Us Summer Term 1. Feeding and Growing 2. Animal Magic 3. Let’s Move

11. Personal, Social & Emotional Development • Every child made in the image and likeness of God • Developing positive relationships with adults and peers • Personal hygiene • Self-confidence and self-awareness • Managing feelings and behaviour in different situations

13. Physical Development • Inseparable from all other areas • Musical Movement, Write-Dance and P.E. • Large scale movement (gross motor skills) Apparatus, bikes, chalking • Small scale movements (fine motor skills) – for writing: Threading beads, scissor skills, playdough, designing & making models with recycled materials • Health and Self-Care – self-hygiene, dressing, healthy eating, importance of exercise, keeping safe.

14. Communication and Language • Listening and Attention – in conversation with children and adults, for stories and lessons. • Understanding –how and why questions; follows instructions. positional language – on, under beside, on top. • Speaking – expressing ideas appropriately; use of vocabulary and tenses; through play and talking in groups.

15. Literacy • Reading – joining in with rhymes, reads familiar words, shows understanding of stories, segments and blends sounds for reading. • Writing – hears sounds in words, links sounds to letters, writes own name and starts to write other words and sentences.

16. Phonics • Letter sounds (phonemes) using accurate articulation. Please watch and listen! • Each phoneme has an action and a story to help children remember sound and link with letter. We use Cued Articulation as recommended by Speech and Language Therapists. • Taught in specific sequence to allow early blending skills to be developed : Letters and Sounds. • Segmenting and blending phonemes and graphemes to read and write words.

17. Writing policy • Cursive writing style encouraged to ease transition to fluid, joined approach in later years. • Please encourage children to write in lower case cursive script and NOT BLOCK CAPITALS. • Encourage child to use tripod grip.

18. Mathematics • Practical games & problem solving • Stories, songs, games & imaginative play • Counting, sorting, matching, looking at patterns, shape, space & measure • Notice numbers and patterns while exploring the environment • Confidence in all areas, including ICT

19. Understanding the World • Foundation for later work in Science, D&T, Geography & ICT • 1st hand experiences • Exploration, observation, problem solving, prediction, thinking, decision making, discussion, co-operation & asking questions • ICT – ongoing across curriculum areas • School website provides links to many resources • www.st-bernadettes.hants.sch.uk

20. Expressive Arts and Design • Art, music, songs, dance, role play • Being imaginative. • Assists in making connections between one area of learning and another. • Develop individuality and ability to make decisions and take risks.

21. Assessment • Continuous assessment and observations made of all children to inform future planning • Learning Review Evenings (October & February) • Early Years Foundation Stage Profile • Reports (July) • Learning Logs and Big Books

22. Homework • Reading book with reading record booklets – please write comments in these books – we do value what you say. • Home Learning Book - variety of activities including God Matters, phonics and maths • Phonics practice cards • Library book – changed weekly on Fridays Ongoing writing and number practice at home will reinforce and celebrate your child’s learning and progress.

23. Buddies • A Year R child and a Year 6 child are Buddies. • They meet at various times throughout the year. • They support each other in learning and play. • They form close relationships – their Buddy is someone who looks out for them, takes responsibility to help the Reception children settle into school. • Meet your child’s Buddy at our Buddy Assemblies – Hamsters Class: Wednesday 12th November, 2.30pm • - Cats Class: Thursday 13th November, 2.30pm

24. Finally, please take some time to explore the selection of learning activities in the hall. Both Reception classrooms are open this evening. Thank you very much for attending our Early Years Curriculum Meeting.