Foundation Stage 1
Welcome
Welcome to Foundation Stage 1. We have 52 children who attend our Nursery, either for 5 morning sessions or 5 afternoon sessions. All of our learning is practical and active. Children are encouraged to develop their skills to the best of their abilities, through engaging and exciting activities. Learning often takes the lead from comments and requests made by the children themselves. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and encourage children to learn both within and outside the classroom. We have lots of fun in Nursery, and find that getting messy is the best bit – with extremely rewarding results and lots of excited, creative children!
Who’s Who?
Mrs Howard (Teacher Wed-Fri)
Mrs Tor (Teacher Mon-Tues)
Mrs Seaman (TA)
Miss Habibi (TA)
What we will be learning this year?
Autumn 1: Who am I? / What happens in autumn?
What is special about me? How do we show that we care? We will be exploring these questions and more in our first topic about love, families, friends and how people are both the same and different. We will also be looking at seasons and the changes that happen around us in autumn. We are looking forward to inviting parents in at the end of half term to see what we have been learning.
We will be focussing on:
-Settling into nursery
-Expressing our own independent play preferences and exploring the things we like best
-Exploring similarities and differences between our friends
-Caring for ourselves and others
-Changes in autumn (exploring leaves falling off trees)
Autumn 2: What happens at night? / What is a winter wonderland?
What happens at night? Why does snow melt? How can we keep warm? In our second topic, we will be learning all about different seasons. We will be exploring cold weather, melting and freezing as well as ways to keep warm. We are also going to be learning about the different festivals and celebrations that happen over this time of year.
We will be focussing on:
-Life at night, winter, and nature (exploring snow, ice and cold weather)
-Exploring how and why people celebrate occasions
-Bonfire Night, Diwali, Christmas
Spring 1: How many colours are in a rainbow?
What happens when you mix red and blue? This half term we will be looking at nature, along with all the different colours we can see. We will be creating our own interpretation of a painting "Rainbow" by George Seurat
We will be focussing on:
-Colours in the environment
-Making and mixing colours
-Exploring emotions
Spring 2: How do plants and animals grow?
This half term we will be looking at nature, plants and growing, as well as learning about different animals, what they need and how we could look after them. We are looking forward to some animals coming to visit us at nursery, as well as visiting Bluebells Dairy Farm to see, touch and feed the farm animals.
We will be focussing on:
-Spring and a new season
-Planting seeds and looking after our garden
-Farm animals
-Caring for animals
-A farmer’s day
-Food we can get from animals (milk/eggs/cheese)
Summer 1: Why is moving healthy?
Why is moving good for us? What are the different ways we can move? Which food types are healthy? This half term we will be exploring exercise and different types of foods, looking at which foods are healthy and unhealthy. We are looking forward to making fruit faces and inviting parents to a picnic at the end of our topic.
We will be focussing on:
-Different ways we can move
-Exploring our favourite foods
-Exploring what other children eat around the world
-Foods that are good for you
Summer 2: Can you tumble?
Where can we hide? Can we climb? This half term we will be developing balance, coordination and body confidence. We are looking forward to completing an obstacle course at the end of our topic.
We will be focussing on:
-Physical activity and the importance of it
-Importance of staying active
-Exploring and creating maps
Finally, the time will come around where we are ready to move onto the next stage of our education. We will be meeting our new class teachers and getting to know them, ready for the next school year.
How to Help with Learning at Home
•Reading lots of different stories to your child is very important in order for them to have an interest in books, build and develop their imagination and to develop a love of reading.
•Encourage your child to put on and take off their own coat, gloves and hats. Please encourage children to learn how to zip up their own coat.
•Encourage your child to independently change their clothes, turning clothes the right way round, doing up buttons, and putting on socks and shoes (which they need to do for weekly PE sessions).
•Encourage your child to go to the toilet by themselves. Remind them to flush the toilet, and then wash their hands.
•Play games to encourage conversation, building relationships with friends and increase confidence.
•Put your child’s name on EVERYTHING! That way staff can return lost coats, clothes or shoes to their rightful owners!
- Praise your child consistently and say how proud you are of them!