Dear parents/carers,

Your children settled into school brilliantly during the Autumn term and we know that they will continue to thrive and grow as the Spring term progresses. They are curious and excited about their learning; they love to explore new ideas and discover how things work; they are wonderful little learners and we are very proud of them.

We are so pleased that you are a part of our school family; working in partnership with you ensures that your children make the best progress possible. Your children will continue to learn and grow in every sense this term and make some wonderful memories along the way. Our aim is for your children to be completely ready for Year 1, the next stage in their education, by the end of the Reception year. 

Your child's week at school - week beginning 24.3.25

We hope that you have all had a lovely weekend. 😊

Please see below for an overview of your children's learning for this week. 

This week's learning
Literacy
This week we will read the story 'Farmer Duck' by Martin Waddell. We will discuss the story setting and the key events in the story. We will discuss how the animals make a plan and work together as a team to help the duck and chase the lazy farmer away. Then we will write simple sentences about the story, using our Fred fingers to sound out words, remembering how to write red, tricky words and leaving finger spaces between the words that we write. 
Vocabulary to practise using at home:
sheep, sheepdog, farmhouse, farm gate, tractor, hay, lazy, chase, unfair

Phonics
All children will be assessed this week to see whether they are working at the correct level. 

Ditty group
Your child knows all of their Set 1 single-letter sounds speedily and can blend sounds into words orally. They can Fred Talk most words. In lessons, your child will continue to practise and review Set 1 Sounds, focusing on the Special Friends sh ch th qu ng nk qu. A new ditty is taught 2 or 3 times a week; your child will read this and write a caption ('hold a sentence') linked to the ditty. The ditties will be stuck in their pink phonics books; please continue to read these at home and write in your child's reading record when they have read to you.

Red group
Your child knows all Set 1 sounds speedily. They can Fred Talk most words and can use the same skills to read alien/nonsense words. In lessons, they will review Set 1 Sounds and vocabulary. Your child will also learn to read more words containing Special Friends and words that contain 4+ sounds. They will now read a Red Ditty Book three times over the week, with the focus on building intonation and fluency and they will write a sentence (hold a sentence) linked to the ditty, each day. At the end of the week they will bring this book home along with a corresponding extra book; please continue to read these at home and write in your child's reading record when they have read to you.

Green group can Fred Talk real and alien words and also read a range of real words speedily. In lessons, your child will review Set 1 Sounds and vocabulary containing 4+ sounds. Set 2 Sounds will also be taught; this week they will learn with 'or' and 'air'. They will read a green story book 3 times, over the week, with a focus on building intonation and fluency. They will write sentences (hold a sentence) linked to the story. They will also practise reading Green and Red Words (common exception) speedily. They will answer questions about the story and practise building sentences orally. At the end of the week they will bring this book home along with a corresponding extra book; please continue to read these at home and write in your child's reading record when they have read to you.

Purple group can Fred Talk real and alien words and also read a range of real words speedily. In lessons, your child will review Set 1 Sounds and vocabulary containing 4+ sounds. Set 2 Sounds will also be taught ; this week they will learn with 'or' and 'air'. They will read a purple story book 3 times, over the week, with a focus on building intonation and fluency. They will write sentences (hold a sentence) linked to the story. They will also practise reading Green and Red Words (common exception) speedily. They will answer questions about the story and practise building sentences orally. At the end of the week they will bring this book home along with a corresponding extra book; please continue to read these at home and write in your child's reading record when they have read to you.

Maths
In maths this week, we will continue building on our knowledge of 9 and 10. We will read the book Ten Black Dots by Donald Crew, sing 10 in a bed and learn a doubling rhyme. We’ll make doubles with counters, put amounts on top of a 10 piece of numicon, make different arrangements with objects and see if a partner can copy them.

Continuous and Enhanced Provision
Continuous provision describes all of the different provision areas which are available for your children to use every day, such as the maths area, the water tray and the home corner. Within each of these areas of provision there will be a core range of resources that your children can use all of the time, throughout the whole year. Enhanced provision consists of the extra materials and resources that we provide for your children, making continuous provision more challenging and adapted to fit your children's needs. This week we will be enhancing our provision with resources that link to our story 'Farmer Duck' and to our project 'Ready, Steady, Grow'.

Your children are going to have lots of fun at school this week. 😊

Please scroll further down the page to find more information about your child's learning. 

Jigsaw (Personal, social, health, and emotional education) 

This half term, the Jigsaw puzzle piece is 'Celebrating Difference'. In Reception the children will learn about-

• Identifying talents
• Being special
• Families
• Where we live
• Making friends
• Standing up for yourself

How does the Jigsaw 3-11 meet the Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) Early Learning Goals?

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

School start and finish times:

Children should arrive at school between 8.30 and 8.40am

School finishes at 3.05 pm for children with surnames beginning with A-M and at 3.10pm for children with surnames beginning N-Z

Any concerns

Please use Tapestry to let us know about any concerns or questions you might have; however small they might seem; we are always here to support you. If you need to speak to us, then please either catch us at the end of the school day or contact the school office - 783876 - and we will either take your call or ring you back as soon as we are able to.

Meet the Reception Team

Mrs Llewellyn - Deputy Head, Early Years Lead, Class teacher 

Mrs Mitchell - Class Teacher

Mrs Wait - Class Teacher 

Mrs Williams - Teaching Assistant

Mrs Brown - Teaching Assistant

Miss Clarke - Teaching Assistant

Miss Cairns - Teaching Assistant

Mrs Mc.Grath - Lunchtime Assistant

Mrs Rumbold - Lunchtime Assistant 

CHICKERELL PRIMARY ACADEMY EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

OUR PHILOSOPHY 

At Chickerell Primary Academy and Chickadees, our teaching staff and Early Years Practitioners deliver an EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum through high quality teaching and through interacting with children in ways which facilitate their learning, alongside an engaging and enriched environment. Our philosophy is to nurture every child’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning within a safe and secure environment. We aim to develop their skills and confidence so that they are ready to take those important next steps towards a lifetime of learning.  

INTENT 

The intent for our children is to enter the next stage of their education, Year 1, with a secure foundation in learning and well-prepared to tackle new challenges with confidence and a positive mind-set. 

We engage our pupils in a stimulating environment led by the children yet carefully organised and managed by adults. We provide a text-based curriculum which is progressive and builds on children’s prior knowledge. It is an ambitious, challenging and inclusive curriculum which is responsive to children’s individual needs, fascinations and interests. We encourage our children to take the lead in their own learning, this helps to develop their confidence, to explore new ideas, to solve problems, to take risks, to make links and to seek challenge; we aim to foster their personal development from the very start. We develop children’s language and communication skills in a range of ways and we introduce and use new vocabulary with them to further develop their speaking skills. We develop high levels of engagement, curiosity, collaboration and cooperation. We encourage our children to manage their own behaviour in the classroom and in social situations. We encourage our children to express themselves with confidence in a meaningful way and to respect the opinions and values of themselves and others. 

IMPLEMENTATION 

Our approach is influenced by the work of educationalists, researchers, psychologists and practitioners who have guided our knowledge of how young children learn and how adults can support their learning.  At Chickerell Primary Academy and Chickadees, provision is underpinned by a complementary relationship between adult-led, adult-initiated and child-led learning, alongside high-quality adult-child interactions. We use a continuous cycle of observation and assessment, which informs our planning and teaching, alongside structured and systematic lessons and guided group work. In addition, summative assessments are carried out for phonic development, the stable order principle in number and an assessment of each child’s stage of development for each of the seven areas of learning. These take place every half term and are used to inform the planning of subsequent teaching and learning.

*Please refer to our curriculum overviews for Chickadees and Reception. These will show you how our curriculum progresses across the Early Years Foundation Stage, building on prior knowledge in a sequential way and using the Read, Write Inc. phonics scheme, the White Rose Maths scheme and Cornerstones to support the progression of key skills and knowledge. 

IMPACT  

The impact of our EYFS curriculum is reflected in having well-rounded, happy and confident children transitioning into Year 1. Our children enter Key Stage 1 well-prepared to begin the next chapter of their educational learning journey. They are equipped with a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide them with the right foundations for their future learning.  Our children make very good progress from their starting points; the vast majority of our children make better than expected progress with us and achieve outcomes that are at least in line with national data. Our teaching and pedagogy are reviewed and evaluated regularly through EYFS team meetings, through meeting regularly with EYFS colleagues from other schools and through meetings with Key Stage 1 staff.  We ensure that the areas we discuss and develop are reflected in changes and developments in our classroom practice. 

The Early Years provision is highly valued by school leaders, it features in all areas of our school development planning.

PLEASE READ OUR EYFS POLICY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW OUR CHILDREN LEARN AT CHICKADEES AND IN RECEPTION. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CHICKADEES, PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THE 'CHICKADEES PRE-SCHOOL AND CHATTICHICKS WRAP-AROUND CARE' PAGE. 

Our EYFS curriculum

Our EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum for both Chickadees and Reception has been guided by the EYFS Framework, Development Matters and early years pedagogy, whilst being personal to our school; it embraces the contextual learning and the cultural capital that comes from our community and our children’s home lives. It has been designed to engage and enthuse the young minds of our children, through carefully planned, play-based learning experiences. Our curriculum is rich and well-sequenced; it ensures that the skills our children require for the next stage in their education progress throughout the EYFS, so that they are ready for school after Chickadees and for Year 1 after their reception year. In reception, there is a key focus on transition to Year 1 which continually evolves throughout the year. For example, whilst teaching the children about the past and the present (Understanding the World), we will introduce the concept of a timeline and introduce some historical vocabulary such as – new, old, ago, past, order, time. In this way we teach children the foundational knowledge, and develop concepts and vocabulary, that prepare our children for their history lessons in year 1.  

Developing a good pencil grip

We continually focus on helping your child to develop an effective pencil grip; this helps them to form their letters correctly when they are writing.

Suggested Activities to help develop your child's fine motor skills, which will help them to grip their pencil and form their letters correctly.

Activities;

1. threading - beads, pasta etc.
2. tearing paper to paste onto a large picture 
3. making snips in paper using scissors and then extend to cutting in a straight line
4. making papier mache
5. using play dough to create different shapes
6. making marks in playdough using small tools
7. grating vegetables or fruit 
8. playing musical games involving fine hand control (‘open, shut them’ etc.)
9. using finger puppets to tell a story or join in a play
10. drawing faces onto fingertips then making the faces ‘kiss’
11. finding hidden small items in a bucket of rice or beans
12. hanging washing onto a clothesline - you could make one at child-height