Foundation Stage 1
Welcome to Foundation Stage 1
Our Class
Welcome to FS1! My name is Mrs Thompson and I am the FS1 class teacher. Miss Giansante is the FS1 Teaching assistant. In FS1, we support each child to make progress through effective environments, engaging experiences and high-quality interactions with enabling adults. Each child is valued and respected and has opportunities to make decisions and choices. Children’s views are sought, and their interests considered when provision is planned. We follow a 'planning in the moment' ethos following the children's interests and all provision and learning opportunities promote the characteristics of effective learning; playing and exploring, active learning and thinking critically. Resources are thoughtfully and sensitively planned, providing a wide range of authentic items, loose parts and open-ended play opportunities for children. Staff in FS1 have extensive knowledge of child development and each child is supported on their own individual path. Children are able to try things out at their own pace and take some risks in a safe but challenging environment. We aim to fully prepare each child for their school journey, supporting each child to develop a love of learning, independence, personal and social skills and a good level of literacy and numeracy skills that will form a strong foundation for their lifelong learning. Most importantly, we have lots and lots of fun, and we look forward to making lots of memories together!
All children will need to bring a coat each day. We love to play outside, even in the rain, and will enjoy a forest school session every week. Children will also need to bring a pair of name wellies to leave in school.
Please ensure children have spare clothes (including socks) every day. These can be left in school if easier for any time a change of clothes is needed.
Our routine
Our timetable is planned to ensure all children have the time and space to achieve a high level of engagement with the learning resources in our indoor and outdoor environments.
Children will settle in on the carpet with a book when they arrive at school. After together time and collective worship, the children will be in the learning environment accessing provision. We come together again during the morning for phonics, reading and enjoy together time again before lunch, where there will be a planned teacher input that covers curriculum learning. After lunch, the children access provision in the indoor and outdoor environments. Teacher-led activities will be planned throughout the week based on the children's interests and what is happening in the wider world. Forest school sessions will also be held every Tuesday morning.
Snack
We provide children with a variety of healthy foods and drinks for snack, and children are involved as much as possible when preparing and making snacks. We will be doing lots of cooking and baking with the children. The children have 'continuous snack'. This means they can choose when to go for their snack, so they can really get into meaningful uninterrupted play and learning. This also helps children to develop a sense of independence and the opportunity to take responsibility for their own needs.
Our Mission Statement
Keeping Jesus at the heart of everything we do.
School Prayer
Autumn 1
RE
The children will learn through hands-on, practical activities. They will learn all about Creation and being a part of God's wonderful world. Children will learn through the lenses of hear, believe, celebrate and live. By linking their work in RE to our learning themes of 'Autumn/Harvest' and 'About me', the children will have the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of the wonder and beauty of God's creation, their place in it and how they can care for God's world. The children will have opportunities to listen to stories, see pictures that will promote awe and wonder and take part in outdoor learning activities. The children will have opportunities to embed their learning through small world provision, songs and whole-school events and celebrations, and they will be encouraged to start thinking of questions about their learning to add to our class discern wall.
Writing
Children will have lots of opportunities to recognise their own name in different contexts and make marks to represent letters, creating marks with different materials. They will be encouraged to talk about the marks they make. Children will enjoy pen and dough disco's where they will use big movements and music to practise pre-writing shapes and strengthen their gross and fine motor skills. Children will be exposed to a vast range of resources that are carefully planned to support their fine and gross motor development.
Reading
We love to share stories in FS1 and the children enjoy choosing their own books and spending time in our reading area. We read stories together every day as a class and the children also take home a book to share with their families. Each week we will explore a book and enjoy practical activities based on some of the themes and vocabulary. Some of our books this term will include:
We use drawing club in FS1 to develop children's oracy and literacy skills and to nurture a love of books. Drawing club allows the teaching of many concepts through shared stories and pictures and supports children to talk confidently, use new vocabulary, listen and to share ideas. It also supports fine motor development and mathematical skills. Above all, it is great fun and the children love these sessions!
Phonics
We follow the 'Little Wandle' phonics programme. We will start with rhyme time sessions this half-term to develop children's listening skills and develop their phonological awareness through games and activities focusing on sounds, oral blending, rhyming and syllables. This will support children in the next half-term when they will begin to learn the images that represent the sounds. Our phonics work will continue to be supported by singing nursery rhymes daily.
Mathematics
The children will start to join in with adults, counting during everyday routines and in rhymes and number games. Children will start to count up to 5 objects in different contexts and respond to instructions such as 'please give me 1'. My aim is to give children a deep understanding of numbers that will develop a strong foundation for future learning. Through teacher input, modelled vocabulary and carefully planned provision, children will begin to explore basic mathematical concepts. The children will use vocabulary related to shape, size, capacity, length, height and weight, such as empty, full, short, tall, heavy, light, longer, shorter'. The children will start to develop their understanding of the daily routines at school, talking about the days of the week, months of the year and the date.
Learning experiences
Through classroom areas and experiences, along with teacher-led activities, the children will begin their learning journey through the themes of 'About me' and 'Autumn'.
Children will take part in weekly music lessons where they will learn about different genres of music. They will use different instruments to explore the beat and rhythm. We will have time in the hall each week when we will play games and children will take part in activities that will support their physical and personal development.
All provision in the indoor and outdoor environments is planned in line with the DFE early years curriculum and guidance documents and will support:
Communication and language development
Personal, social and emotional development
Physical development
Children's skills and understanding in Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world and Expressive arts and design.
Nursery Rhymes
We sing nursery rhymes and songs every day in FS1 and the children all have their favourite rhyme! We always join in with different actions and sometimes even add in our own verses. Here are some of the rhymes and songs we will be learning:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/zkpp7nb
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/zm7rf4j
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/znpj47h
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/articles/zhn7kmn
PHE
Children will start their 'My happy mind' journey with the first unit 'Meet your brain'.
myHappymind is based around helping children to understand how their brain works and to support them in developing positive skills and habits to be their very best selves! myHappymind is delivered in schools by class teachers through a series of interactive lessons and then the children apply these learnings throughout the day.
The children will also continue to be exposed to 'The Zones of Regulation.' A trusted, evidence-based framework that builds emotional regulation and behavioural skills for life. Children will be introduced to the zones, enabling them to express their feelings to staff members through non-verbal actions.
Helpful websites
Starting Well :: Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
If you have any questions or would like any further information, please contact the school office and I will get back to you as soon as I can. I look forward to working together.
