EYFS Newsletter 22/04/22

Dear Parent/Carer

We hope that you all have had a lovely Easter break with your families. Spring is upon us and the days are getting longer – it is certainly nice to be driving home from work in daylight rather than in the dark! Hopefully, the sun will start to shine this term and we will be able to maximise our outdoor learning. If the weather forecast is to be hot and sunny please can you ensure that you send your child to school with a hat, a water bottle and wearing sun lotion. Please ensure all hats and water bottles are named. Any suntan lotion should be applied BEFORE they come to school.

This term we welcome two new members of staff to our EYFS team – Mrs Martin and Miss Radomski. They will be working with all pupils across our unit, so please come and introduce yourself and say hello.

Dates for your Diary

• Monday 2 May – Bank Holiday
• Thursday 19 May – Spring Celebration Lunch
• Friday 20 May – EYFS Trip to Smithills Farm
• Monday 23 May – Child-led Parents’ Evening
• Thursday 26 May – Jubilee Celebration Lunch
• Friday 27 May – Jubilee Celebrations
• Friday 27 May - School closes for half term at 3:15pm

Polling Day

Thursday 5 May is a polling day and the Gruffalo room, along with the EYFS entrance, will be used as the polling station. All EYFS pupils will come to school as normal on that day however the drop off and collection procedures will need to be amended – a more detailed letter will follow next week.

What are we Studying?

This Term's Topic

This half term our topic is Spring and New Life. During this topic we will be learning about the signs of Spring and how our environment changes during this season. We will compare and contrast Spring to other seasons. We will learn about spring flowers, looking at the similarities & differences between a real & artificial flowers. We will use our green fingers to plant seeds and watch them grow. Spring is a time when lots of baby animals are born. We will name and match adults to babies and learn about the life cycle of some animals.

We are really excited that this year we are able to go on an EYFS trip. We will be visiting Smithills Farm. This week you should have already received an initial letter about this trip which will take place on Friday 20th May.

Talk4Writing

This half term, we will be reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction books linked to our topic. During our Talk4Writing sessions our key texts will be The Very Hungry Caterpillar, From Caterpillar to Butterfly, From Tadpole to Frog. We will continue to re-tell stories using story maps, words and actions. During our writing sessions we will be use our phonic knowledge to write simple sentences, using simple punctuation.

Reading

Reading books will be collected every Monday and two new books given. Library books will be collected and changed every Friday. Please ensure that your child brings their reading bag to school every day as throughout the week there are opportunities to participate in extra reading sessions with the EYFS staff.

In the EYFS, our main focus for homework is reading and we ask that pupils read for approximately 10-15 minutes, five times a week. This reading practice should include their school reading book/s but may also include practising their letter sounds or tricky words, sharing a library book, a free read book or even a bedtime story.

It is our whole school policy that reading texts are sent home weekly. If your child has not read 5 times and their homework diary has not been signed, then we will send a text to acknowledge this.

PSED - JIGSAW

This term’s Jigsaw unit is all about relationships.

• Session 1 - My Family and Me – we will explore how all families are different and identify some of the jobs are done in a family.
• Session 2 - Make friends, make friends, never ever break friends! Part 1- we will explore ways to make friends and what we could do to stop feeling lonely.
• Session 3 - Make friends, make friends, never ever break friends! Part 2 – we will explore ways to solve problems and stay friends.
• Session 4 - Falling Out and Bullying Part 1- we will begin to explore and discuss the impact of unkind words.
• Session 5 - Falling Out and Bullying Part 2 – we will learn how to use Calm Me time to manage our feelings.
• Session 6 - Being the best friends we can be – explore what makes a good relationship/know how to be a good friend.

Physical Development (PE)

This term our PE day will continue to be Friday. All children will be required to bring their PE kit into school (black shorts or tracksuit bottoms, white t-shirt, black pumps or trainers, including their PE hoodie if you have chosen to have one of these) and it should remain in school so they can get changed on the relevant day. PE kits will be sent home at the end of this half term for washing. As you will appreciate getting Reception pupils changed for PE is no easy feat; please can you support your child in doing this independently and ensure all items of clothing/shoe-wear are clearly named and your child is aware where to find their name in each item. A bobble will be needed for long hair and, for health and safety reasons, jewellery must not be worn and will need to be removed prior to coming to school.

Thank you for your continued support – The EYFS Team