As always, we are very excited about the school year. Our Foundation Two classroom is bright and spacious, an ideal environment for children to explore and learn through purposeful play. The children are supported to take part in a wide range of learning experiences by the teachers and teaching assistant throughout the week. The daily routine involves children choosing activities and directing their own learning with the addition of some structured lessons including phonics, mathematics and literacy. This enables us to offer a balance of academic and creative tasks, both indoors and outdoors.
It is very important that children look at books at home and we ask you to share a story with your child every night. Initially your child will bring home a school book filled with a sequence of illustrations. This is to encourage your child to create their own storyline. Your child’s book will be changed weekly if you have shared this at home. Each week your child will also choose a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ book that interests or excites them. This is a book for you to read and share with your child. As well as this, in class we have daily D.E.A.R sessions where we share a text as a class. Over the week we look at the words, illustrations, authors, and answer questions all about the book.Â
Within the adult-led phonics session, your child will be supported to learn new the letter sounds, we begin with: Ss Aa Tt Pp Ii Nn. Once your child is familiar with these sounds they will bring home a school book to challenge their phonics knowledge. Research has found that children in early years, who share stories and nursery rhymes with adults find it easier to learn to read. Please comment in the blue home-school diary about the stories you have read, as well as any other fun activities your child may have experienced outside of school. You can purchase a book bag from the school office.
In Foundation Two we learn about representing number through displaying our fingers and making marks. We sing songs to help us remember shapes, and we count the shapes’ sides. We need to know all about numbers and shapes as we work our way up in school. Please support your child by looking for numbers and shapes in the environment. In Foundation Two we often go on a hunt for numbers and shapes, but we want to hear all about what numbers and shapes your child has found out-of-school too!
Talk with your child at home. Ask questions about their time in Foundation Two; ask about your child’s friends at school and how they make them feel; ask about the story of the week and what happens to the characters or the events in the story. Each week key vocabulary from our topic and class text is posted on Class Dojo for you to discuss with your child at home. In Foundation Two, we focus our literacy time around speech and language. Your child will be supported to give meaning to the marks they draw, to share their opinion on a story or event, and to use key words to recall what they have completed over the weekend.
We remind parents to label all items of their child’s clothing, especially jumpers and cardigans so that we can avoid lost clothing. We are always grateful for clothing donations in Foundation Two for times when children need changing. With this being said, if you can remember, please bring in spare clothes for your child in case of any little accidents.
