EYFS
Welcome to our Foundation Stage! We are a friendly, caring and enthusiastic team who work hard to make sure that your child has a positive experience at the beginning of their school life. Our curriculum content is based around children’s needs and interests, their stages of development and themes that we have identified as being important building blocks in their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.
The curriculum is underpinned by the seven areas of learning and is designed to enable children to achieve their potential and reach the Early Learning Goals. The seven areas of learning all carry equal importance. They include the three Prime Areas:
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The Prime Areas are a crucial part of early development; they play an important role in encouraging children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and they are designed to support children as they learn to form relationships, moderate their emotions and develop their independence.
The remaining four areas are the Specific Areas of Learning and they include:
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
These areas include the essential skills and knowledge that children will need as they continue their journey through school.
Bearing all this in mind, our curriculum is designed to:
Provide children with hands-on learning experiences that engage and inspire
Ensure that our children are confident communicators capable of building strong relationships based on a foundation of Restorative Practice
Encourage a lifelong love of reading
Develop each individual according to their strengths, needs and interests
Enable children to develop the maths and literacy skills they need to access the KS1 curriculum.
Our teaching is supported by the non-statutory guidance ‘Development Matters’, and ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds’ is our phonics and early reading validated scheme.
Children learn best through play and we ensure that they have dedicated, uninterrupted opportunities to do this. They are supported by staff who observe and engage with the children’s play in order to move their learning on.
Outdoor Learning is another important part of the curriculum. Children have daily opportunities to spend time outside, where they can investigate the world around them and engage in play that is bigger, louder and messier than inside play. It is many children’s favourite part of the day!
We firmly believe that teaching is a partnership and we welcome your support and feedback. We are always happy to talk and answer any questions you may have.
We admit children from the term after their 3rd birthday into our FS1 class, Red Base. They move to FS2 in the September after their 4th birthday.
We have space for 60 children in our two FS2 classes – Blue Base and Green Base.
Please contact the school office on 01482 353125 or Mrs Wellington (Assistant Headteacher and EYFS Leader) at nicola.wellington@hcat.org.uk if you have any further questions.
Information for parents
Developing Early Writing at Wheeler – Progression
Foundation Stage 1
Welcome to Spring Term in Red Base!
Miss Kennedy, Miss Hazel, Emma and Kirsty are excited to teach and learn with you all this term and we are looking forward to welcoming our new starters!
We have so many exciting learning opportunities planned, some of which will be based in our outdoor area. Children will be encouraged to learn outside come rain or shine, so please ensure that your child is dressed for this.
During the first half term we will be focusing on the topic ‘People who help us’ and our key texts will be ‘Real Superheroes’ and ‘You Choose’. We will be talking about lots of different jobs people do and how they help us. Our activities will follow this topic to deepen the children’s learning. During the second half term, our topic will be focusing on the topic ‘Creepy Crawlies’ and the key text drivers will be ‘The very Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘The Very Busy Spider’.
As much as we plan to a theme, we also encourage children to follow their own interests, and sometimes tailor activities to spark their interests. We will keep you informed of what they have been up to on Marvellous Me and through our weekly school newsletter.
Homework will be sent each week on a Friday and we ask that you bring the homework books back by the following Friday. We will also be continuing with the weekly library, where the children can take a book home to read for pleasure!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask one of us, we are always happy to help!
Thank you for your continued support,
The F1 Team
Foundation Stage 2
We are so excited to welcome the children back to Green and Blue Base after the Christmas holidays! They all had a very successful first term at school and we are looking forward to building on this.
During the Spring Term our learning will be focused around two topics. The first half term is ‘Our World’, where we will be exploring our local environment. We will be looking at the types of buildings around us, the materials they are made of, and how they have changed over time. Please see the newsletter at the bottom of this page for more information.
Our topic for the second half term is called ‘Ready, Steady, Cook!’ and we will be learning about food and where it comes from. We will be tasting different foods, following recipes and learning about how we can keep our bodies fit and healthy.
Learning outside is fun and effective and is often your child’s favourite part of the day. However, at this time of year we often get wet and dirty – please send your child to school with spare clothes to keep in a bag on their peg. It is still very cold, so please make sure they come to school with a coat, hat and gloves. We aim to spend around half of each day outside.
Please ensure your child brings their book bag to school every day and remember to check it regularly for any letters or newsletters that may have been sent home.
We will be helping your children learn by following their interests and developing their play, even though this may deviate from our plans.
Homework will be sent home every Friday to reflect what the children have been learning in school, and to let you know what your child has been learning in school (we know how many of them come home and claim to have done nothing!).
We also send home 2 books each week – one is a library book for you to read with your child, the other is a phonics book that they will have read in school 3 times before bringing it home. They need to read this book with you to develop their confidence and fluency. To begin with, this phonics book will have no words. Please use the prompts inside the book and encourage your child to tell you the story and talk about what they can see happening.
Every child who reads at home 3 times (and has this recorded in their Reading Diary) will receive a small reward at the end of each week.
The children will be developing their understanding of number in Maths and learning letter sounds through Phonics sessions, to help them read simple words and sentences.
We really appreciate your voluntary weekly £1 donations to our Foundation Fund, it makes a great difference to the resources and experiences we can provide; thank you for giving when you can.
If you have any questions, please speak to a member of our lovely Blue Base and Green Base staff, we are always happy to help.
