The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

1. On behalf of all the staff at Roseacre Primary Academy School, we would like to extend a warm welcome to you all.

2. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) There are seven areas of learning which we cover throughout the year. Prime Areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development Communication and Language Physical Development Specific Areas: Knowledge of the World Literacy Maths Expressive Art and Design In Reception, all children work towards 17 Early learning Goals within the 7 areas above.

3. Personal, Social and Emotional Development Become independent e.g. make own choices Form relationships with other children and adults Have an awareness of their own feelings and feelings of others Take an interest in things Become confident to take risks Understand the difference between right and wrong. The children will be learning to:

4. Communication and Language Talk confidently and clearly Show an awareness of listener Enjoy listening to stories, songs and poems, showing good attention Follow instructions Answer questions about stories The children will be learning to:

5. Physical Development Move in a variety of ways e.g. run, skip, hop, jump Negotiate space Handle equipment correctly e.g. scissors, pencils Form recognisable letters using a pencil Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs including dressing and undressing independently Balance The children will be learning to:

6. Literacy The children will be learning to: Hear and say sounds, and link them to the alphabet Write their own name and simple captions Read and write a range of words and simple sentences

7. Mathematics The children will be learning to: Develop an understanding of maths through stories, songs, games and imaginative play Be able to recognise numbers 1-20 randomly, place them in order, find one more and one less than a given number and add and subtract one and 2 digit numbers. Name 2D and 3D shapes (cube, cuboid, sphere, cylinder, cone) Use mathematical language to compare objects such as biggest, heaviest, lightest, tallest, shortest.

8. Understanding the World Explore and find out about the world around them, asking questions about it Learn how to use different ICT equipment Find out about past events in their lives and their families' lives Find out about different cultures and beliefs and celebrate different festivals. The children will:

9. Expressive Arts and Design Colours and shapes A range of materials and how to assemble them Role play Making music and singing songs The children will explore:

10. The children in Reception learn through…. Adult led activities which are differentiated to support and challenge individual needs Child initiated learning in all areas of learning within the indoors and outdoor environments Group work Partner work Super learning Days based on a particular theme Visiting different places e.g. Post Office, local park, Grinning Ghecko, theatre School visitors e.g. Nurse, Father Peter, Police, RLNI

11. How we begin reading- Phonics • Tuning into sounds (They need to be able to tell the difference between different sounds e.g. sounds they can hear in the environment, such as a helicopter overhead, or different animal noises. This then progresses to playing I spy games and hearing the initial sound, to being able to hear and say the beginning, middle and ends of words. • Type ‘Phase 1 phonics games’or ‘online rhyming games’into Google and you will find lots of free games on websites. Other games include: • Alliteration (with your child’s and family names e.g. super Sam, silly Sam, marvellous mummy…) • Sound talking (pass me the c-u-p please or go to b-e-d…) • Rhyme is extremely important! • Sing nursery rhymes • Play rhyme games e.g. silly soup and read books with rhyming words

12. Phonics- Read Write Inc • Please use sounds and not names of letters • Read, Write, Inc- What is it? http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/parent-tutorial-1-understanding-read-write-inc-phonics/ • There will be a handout to collect at the end with letter mnemonics • Practise phonics at home – floating letters in the bath, magnetic letters on the fridge, when shopping naming the initial sound of the objects in the basket, memory games such as ‘tisket a tasket what’s in my basket?’ • Most importantly, use pure sounds when doing reading activities with your child. • http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/sound-pronunciation-guide/

13. Reading Books • Most children will start with a picture book (lilac band). This is vital in the start of their reading journey: • It improves speaking and listening skills • It develops understanding/ comprehension skills • Aids story telling • Gives a greater depth in the understanding of story structure If your child is already able to segment and blend sounds, they will be given a book with a different colour band to match their reading ability.

14. Reading Books • When you child progresses onto a word book we follow a colour band system throughout school. • It is not about ‘racing’ through the band colours. It is about broadening their experiences of different schemes within the same band. By doing this, children become more confident with reading a variety of language, rather than being reliant on one scheme.

15. Learning Logs- homework • We send home the learning logs every THURSDAY to give you information about the things we are teaching in class and an activity for you to complete with your child at home. Please spend a little time with your child supporting and encouraging them whilst they complete this. Please talk to your child about the topics that we are covering. • Please feel free to draw, write and stick photos in the log. • This log will be shared on a Monday morning with the rest of the class.

16. Tapestry • When we upload photos and observations of your child, please like them and make comments. We love to read them. Have a look through your child’s learning journey with your child next to you, and ask them questions about what they were doing to extend their learning. • Apart from commenting about your child’s photos, please do not leave us any other messages on Tapestry. Please come and speak to a member of staff face to face or phone the school. • You can also share your own photographs, news and achievements from home. IN REGARDS TO SAFEGUARDING PLEASE DO NOT SHARE THE PHOTOGRAPHS CONTAINING OTHER CHILDREN

18. INFORMATION • Please name everything (shirts, coats, jumpers, cardigans, water bottles with only water in, pumps etc.) • Our PE day is a Friday. Please ensure that your child has black pumps, not trainers. Try to remember to take out your child’s earrings on this day or bring in a box of small plasters so that we can cover them. Please refer to your Reception handbook that was given in your pack on 13th June). • Please send in your child’s reading bag daily (book bags, small personalised keyring) • Our behaviour policy- for children in Reception, we have a sunshine, a cloud and a rain cloud to manage behaviour. Children are rewarded with positive praise and stickers to put on their individual sticker charts. When they get to 10, they get a prize. • Birthdays- children can bring in a small gift for the other children in their class such as confectionary. We cannot accept large birthday cakes. • Please can you put a spare pairs of underwear and socks in your child’s bag.

19. Thank you • Thank you for attending the meeting today. • If you have any questions please feel free to ask any of the teachers after the meeting.