Welcome to Foundation Stage 1

Welcome to our FS1 Class. In EYFS we plan for the children’s learning by closely observing their interests and level of development, then using these observations we plan activities to meet their needs and encourage them to meet their next steps in their development. We have an amazing indoor and outdoor space which allows us to cover all areas of the EYFS curriculum. We believe that children learn best through play and so play is at the centre of our curriculum. We use a combination of Adult Led and Child Led activities to encourage the children to explore, problem solve, develop their imagination and learn new skills.

We develop the children’s phonic skills by focusing on Phase 1 activities. These are designed to raise children’s awareness of the sounds and to develop their listening skills and build the skills needed before they are ready to move on to linking sounds to letters and then reading. The aspects of Phase 1 are:

• Aspect 1 – General sound discrimination – environmental
• Aspect 2 – General sound discrimination – instrumental sounds
• Aspect 3 – General sound discrimination – body percussion
• Aspect 4 – Rhythm and rhyme
• Aspect 5 – Alliteration
• Aspect 6 – Voice sounds
• Aspect 7 – Oral blending and segmenting

We love exploring our fantastic outdoor space, not only in our EYFS unit, but also the wider school grounds. Our lovely Spinney is a great place for a story and play while surrounded by beautiful nature. We also like visiting our school prayer garden where we have spent some time during our collective worship being in God’s presence.

This half term has been a little different than normal, while being in Lockdown, some are choosing to access activities at home while others are here in school.

Our topic is ‘Amazing Animals’ and we started looking at Polar animals as it was so cold! When the snow came we had so much fun moving like Polar Bears, Penguins and Seals! Next, we went on Safari and explored the different animals we would see in Africa. We went on a ‘Virtual Safari’ class trip and saw some amazing Giraffes, Lions, and Elephants. Next, we will be popping to the farm to see what different animals we may see there.

In RE the children have been learning our school prayers and how to make the sign of the cross. Across the school year we have been learning about ‘Ourselves’, ‘Our Family’, ‘Baptism’ and ‘Birthdays’ where we celebrated Jesus’ birthday at Christmas. We are now learning about ‘Celebrating’ and thinking about our Parish family.   

A few reminders:

Please ensure your child has a coat every day.

Please ensure that your child has a named water bottle each day.

Please make sure ALL uniform is named.

If you have any questions, please talk to a member of staff.

Kind Regards,  The FS1 team – Mrs Turp and Mrs Lewis