Please see the link below for our parent friendly introduction to the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum…

https://foundationyears.org.uk/eyfs-statutory-framework/

Please also follow this link to the Early Years Foundation Stage page on our website for more detailed information about Early Years…

https://theellisschool.org.uk/early-years-foundation-stage/

September 2020

Dear F2 Parents and Carers,

We are very pleased to welcome your children back to school and we hope that they are excited to be back and ready to learn. We are keen to support all our children to settle into school life so please do get in touch if you have any concerns or feel your child would benefit from additional support.

Below is information which we hope will be helpful to you.

PE
Our PE day is Thursday. PE kits should be in school on these days but may not be used as we will limit changing in school. PE will be outside where possible and appropriate.

Outdoor learning
At The Ellis we are working hard to develop the outdoor environment and opportunities to learn outside and in F2 we will be using our outdoor areas as much as possible. This means that your child will need appropriate footwear and coats every day. Please ensure your child has some wellies and a waterproof coat to wear each day.

Reading Books
Reading is a big focus at The Ellis. Home reading books are given to children to share with a member of the family at home. It is very important that you talk about reading books with your child at home. When you share a book with your child please talk about the pictures, what is happening in the story and ask your child what they think might happen next. These activities are as important as reading the words on each page. Please talk to a member of our Foundation Stage Team if you have any question about reading with your child. Books will initially be changed once a week during the first term. Your child will receive a colour book banded book as well as a Read Write Inc. book linked to their individual phonic level. These will be monitored to ensure they are returned. The books are new and have cost the school a substantial amount of money so we would appreciate your cooperation with this.

We will also be introducing reading diaries this term. When you receive your childs record, please make sure that you write in the diary at least once a week after listening to your children read. Your comments and feedback are an invaluable way of gauging how well your child is developing as an early reader. We will also award regular reading using our reward system in school. Please note that we will replace completed diaries but if lost we ask that a new one is bought from the office at the cost of 1.

All children will bring home some High Frequency Words on cards so please help them to practice reading these words by sight as much as possible. We also send home a key ring with four letter sounds each week to practice at home; you will also receive a list of words that you can make with these cards e.g. m a t

Foundation Phonics Read Write Inc.
Each child take part in a daily lesson to develop basic phonic skills in reading and writing. Every week, each childs sight words will be checked and where appropriate, 4 more words will be sent home to learn.
Each child will have letter sounds added to their individual key rings every week. Each child will need to recognise each letter of the alphabet and relate it to the first sound of objects e.g. c at, c ar, c an all begin with c. Please try not to use letter names when working with your child as this can be confusing when they are learning to read words phonetically. Please refer to the parent information booklet that was sent out in July for information about our Read Write Inc. phonic scheme. If you need a paper copy of this booklet then please let us know.

Home Learning
We will provide a journal to record your child’s learning journey through the foundation stage. It is an opportunity to be part of a home school partnership, becoming involved in your childs education. Every week the staff at school will put something into the learning journey to let you know what your child has been doing in school. In return we ask you to do the same. When you share an activity with your child you can take a photograph or write us a message telling us about it.

Please also remember the list of 50 Things To Do Before You Are 5  This is a comprehensive list of key experiences devised by Early Years experts and are important for children as they will enhance their early development and key skills by participating in these activities. Please send any photos of your children participating in these activities into school so that we can add them to our class display. Alternatively you can email them to school to Mrs Fiddes h.fiddes@theellis.org or send them to us via Twitter @theellisf2

Our topic for this term is People Who Help Us. Below is an overview of the learning we will be doing in school.

Online Learning
As a school we have subscribed to websites to support the children with their learning. We use Spelling Shed to help the children learn how to spell words. The children will be given their individual logins for Spelling Shed very soon. You will find your childs login details at the front of their reading diaries (these will be sent out in week 3 w/c 14.9.2020)

Number Blocks is a fantastic online programme for early Maths development. We use the episodes in school to teach children the relationship between each number. Topmarks Maths is also a fantastic website for the children to be practising all areas of the maths curriculum using interactive games.

Twitter
We use Twitter to share learning, celebrate achievements and give information. You can find the Delightful Donaldsons on Twitter @theellisf2, so please follow us. Please feel free to send us any key learning or achievement that your child has done outside of school.

If you have any questions, queries or worries then please get in touch via the phone or email. We know that there will be a whole range of feelings about the return to school, from excitement to anxiety but are ready to support all our learners and to enjoy learning together again.

Thank you for your continued support.
Best wishes,
Mr Grayhurst and Mrs Beevers