Welcome to Foundation 2
Hello everyone and welcome back to another fantastic year at Bedford Drive Primary school! We are so excited to see you all again and to start a wonderful year together in Foundation 2. This half term we will be focusing on helping the Foundation 2 children to settle into their new class, getting to know their new teachers and friends and exploring their environment.
Your Foundation 2 teachers are:
Mrs Hoyle (EYFS/KS1 Phase Leader and Foundation 2 Teacher)
Miss Webb (Foundation 2 Teacher)
Mrs O’Neill (HLTA/ TA)
Mrs Clarke (TA)
Mrs Farrelly (TA)
Phonics and reading
This is now our second year using the Phonics programme Little Wandle across the school. It has been very well received and we have seen fantastic progress across all year groups that use the programme. You can find detailed information on how phonics and reading are taught in school on the phonics and reading curriculum page.
Book Bags
Your child’s book bag will be sent home every Thursday and will have Little Wandle resources that you can use to support your child’s reading. These will be updated frequently depending on what stage of the programme your child is working within. This will include sound mats, tricky word mats and flashcards. Your child’s book bag will also contain a decodable phonics book, a reading for pleasure book, a reading record for you to fill out each week, a homework book and a family learning grid that is updated half termly. Book bags are to be brought into school every Wednesday.
Big Cat Collins decodable books
We are continuing to use Big Cat Collins books which are appropriate to your individual child's reading ability. All children will be provided with 1 decodable book every week that they will have previously read in school. The idea is they consolidate the reading and develop their fluency at home. If you have any questions or queries regarding the book your child has been set please come directly to Mrs Hoyle to discuss further.
Reading for pleasure
Every Thursday children select a book of their choosing to take home and enjoy reading for their pleasure with a parent, carer, family member or friend. Your child also has a reading record which tells you the name of the book and allows you to add any comments.
Writing
In Foundation 2, learning to write can look like lots of different things and can be found in many different areas of learning...
When we are singing or learning rhymes we are learning to keep words in our head which helps us when we are thinking what to write and to remember what it is we are writing. When we are playing in the role play area we are developing reasons to write, we might need a shopping list or to make a menu for a cafe or a sign to keep out of a building site! When we are rolling playdough, threading beads or bending pipe cleaners we are strengthening the muscles in our hands so we can hold and control mark making tools. When we are watching adults write we are realising that there are lots of occasions in life when we need to write. This could be a birthday card, a form, a recipe or a note on the fridge.
Handwriting
At school we focus on the skills needed to sound words out and on developing the pencil control to form letters. It takes time for children to learn to form letters correctly. This is nothing to worry about. At school we show children how to form letters correctly and create lots of opportunities for children to write so that over time they develop this skill. Hand writing is also taught explicitly through a daily 10 minute hand writing session.
Pencil Grip
Children move through several stages as they learn to hold a pencil correctly for writing and drawing. At school we support the children as they move along this path, gently encouraging them towards the correct grip.
Spelling and grammar
Learning to spell accurately is a fundamental skill for developing confident and competent writers. Spelling is taught in the following ways.
· Teaching of phonics and sounds in Foundation 2
· Learning common spelling patterns
· Learning common prefixes and suffixes to words
· Learning how to spell high frequency words
High frequency words are taught through our Little Wandle phonics scheme, along with the teaching of spelling rules and patterns. The practising of high frequency words has the most impact when this is done regularly and for short periods of time, so we place emphasis on parents supporting their children’s learning by practising with their children. High frequency or tricky word mats can be found in your child’s book bag
Maths
In Foundation 2 we have recently introduced Maths — No Problem! This is a mastery scheme that utilises a series of textbooks and workbooks written to meet the requirements of the revised EYFS framework and the 2014 English National Curriculum. Our mastery approach to teaching will by no means be achieved solely with a textbook. Rigour and skill characterise our teaching and the Maths – No Problem! Approach is at the heart of this. The textbooks are skilfully designed by expert authors. They contain carefully varied questions and examples which:
· Are easy for pupils to enter while still containing challenging components;
· Encourage pupils to think about maths;
· Deepen pupils’ understanding and reveal misconceptions.
Wider curriculum
At Bedford Drive our Foundation 2 children experience a broad and balanced curriculum designed to follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This framework sets out the learning, development and assessment requirements for all EYFS children until the end of their reception year. Our engaging and enriching curriculum is further guided by a document called ‘Development Matters’. All early years practitioners are required to provide planned activities to support each child’s educational development across the seven areas of learning. Our philosophy of early year’s education is deeply rooted in the belief that child initiated continuous provision should be at the heart of a broad and varied curriculum.
P.E
P.E will take place every Friday. Children’s P.E kits will be left in school and theses will be washed on the premises. Children must provide their own footwear e.g. pumps, these can be kept in a pump bag on their peg. Please remember to remove all jewellery!
Forest school
Forest school will take place every Friday. This is led by our specialist P.E teacher Mr Fisher. Children will engage with nature in our outdoor classroom and will undertake fun, exciting and engaging activities in the outdoors.
Trips and visits
At we are very proud of the range of trips and visits that we offer the children throughout their time in reception. We make full use of learning opportunities outside the classroom to support the children’s learning. This academic year Foundation 2 pupils will visit the local area on an Autumn walk, visit the local church at Christmas Time and visit Tam O’ Shanters Urban Farm in the summer term. We will also be visiting the local library half- termly.
Homework
We know how important it is for teachers and parents to work together to give your child the best start, and we recognise that the tasks you work on with your children at home really support their learning in school.
This half term we will be focusing on phonics and our half termly home learning grid that will offer challenge in all areas of the curriculum.
Home Learning
The home learning packs available for use during the first lockdown in 2020 can be requested if your child has to isolate. These may provide useful activities alongside the remote learning offer currently in place.
Our Intent
At Bedford Drive Primary School we have high academic ambition for all of our children. Our EYFS curriculum is designed to provide rich, varied and imaginative experiences that enthuses, engages and motivates children to learn and achieve well.
The Bedford Drive values of inspire, believe and succeed are embraced through our high quality provision and practise where we aim to develop the whole child and this vision is shared and promoted by all stakeholders.
Our Implementation
Our children benefit from meaningful, high quality learning experiences across all seven areas of the recently revised Early Years curriculum, enabling them to make links in their learning and to the wider world. A skills and topic based curriculum design allows for this cross curricular learning with topics carefully chosen to reflect the interest of the children.
We pay a particular focus on the prime areas of learning, particularly the communication and language aspect. We believe a language rich environment and core texts taken from our scheme Talk to write, are used as a key stimulus for learning that develops vocabulary and language skills for all children. The high quality Talk to write scheme is used to immerse children in language and promote a love of reading and stories.
The implementation of our PSHE scheme Jigsaw promotes and supports children’s emotional security and character development. Our commitment to holistic development and having a clear focus on the prime areas of learning enables children to develop social and emotionally, providing strong foundations for learning later on in their school career and beyond.
As a school of sanctuary our ethos and approach to behaviour embeds a culture of kindness with children’s emotional security and self-confidence at the centre. The use of safe spaces and an explicit teaching of togetherness and equality means children feel valued, included and emotionally secure.
We do pay particular attention to the teaching of the specific areas of English and maths. The teaching of phonics has a high priority in the Early Years at Bedford Drive and we have recently started to use a newly validated government scheme ‘Little Wandle revised Letters and Sounds’. This is to ensure phonics is taught systematically in order for children to build their knowledge and skills effectively. The delivery of phonics is supported by our love of music and utilising another high quality scheme Charanga, songs and actions are used as an effective teaching tool to underpin and support children’s language and literacy skills.
Our maths curriculum is supported by the NCETM and White Rose schemes and underpins our requirement for pupils to ‘master’ maths. This means children develop a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. Children who have mastered key concepts are then able to apply their knowledge to a new problem or unfamiliar situation.
Our Impact
The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021) seeks to provide a set of common principles and commitments to support practitioners in delivering quality early education and childcare experiences to all children to ensure they all achieve well and succeed in life.
The impact of our curriculum is measured by how effectively it helps our children develop into well rounded individuals who embody our school values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will make them lifelong learners and valuable future citizens.
We endeavour for our children to be year 1 ready by the end of the Summer term meaning not only do they make good progress academically but also emotionally, creatively, socially and physically so they are fully prepared for year 1 and beyond.
In F2 at Bedford Drive we strive to develop independent, active children who learn through play and real-life experiences.
Reading is an important part of our day. We listen to stories, vote for our favourite book at story time, take part in daily phonics lessons and learn how to read by ourselves in guided reading sessions. A new pack of books is sent home every Tuesday, it is important to read them together to practise the skills learned in school.
Children are encouraged to plan, resource and review activities by themselves, with their peers and with the help of the adults in the setting. We work inside and outside using our interests to drive our play.
Using the new revised Development Matters’ document (July 2021) the adults use objective-led planning to guide early learning and lay the foundations for the rest of the children’s school life. For more information click the Development Matters button below.
Please follow this link to view the Development Matters framework that underpins our curriculum in EYFS - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2
Meet our Team
Reading in FS2
We believe reading is the key to the learning across the curriculum. It is vital that our children read daily to build their confidence, help them to decode words, understand what they are reading and use expression in their voice. When children can read, they are able to unlock a whole new world!
At Bedford Drive we start to teach reading using Little Wandle phonics as soon as the children have settled in to their class and the daily routines of school. We teach children to segment words to spell and blend sounds to read starting with Phase 2 in reception. By the end of Reception we aim to be at Phase 4. Please see the Little Wandle website for more information here. You can find parent support for phonics, how we teach phonics and reading; plus how you can support your child to read.
We use the fully decodable books, Big Cat Collins. These fully that align with Little Wandle phonics. Children read books specific to the phase they are on, allowing them to quickly make progress Children read Big Cat books at least three times a week with a grown up. These group reading sessions focus on de-coding, comprehension and prosody. The books the children read in school are allocated to children on the Collins eBook’s website. You can access Collins eBooks here. If you cannot access these books please inform the class teacher. Children take part in daily Phonics lessons in which they learn to recognise and name single letter sounds (phonemes), 2 and 3 letter sounds (digraphs and trigraphs) and how to read tricky words.
Children read with a grown-up 3 times a week. Group reading sessions focus on de-coding, comprehension and prosody. New reading books are allocated on a Tuesday.
Please read with your child every day at home to build their confidence, help them to decode words, understand what they are reading and use expression in their voice. When children can read, they are able to unlock a whole new world!
Mathematics in F2
In F2 we have daily maths sessions that focus on a number of the week. We count, calculate, measure, make patterns, use money and draw our maths using the number of the week. Children are encouraged to use real objects to help them to count. We learn to recognise amounts without counting, such as the number patterns on a dice or dominoes. This instant recall helps children to work out more complicated maths problems as they progress through school.
Playing games with dominoes, board games and spotting numbers when you are out and about are all great ways to practise becoming great mathematicians.
Remote Learning
If your child is self-isolating due to Covid-19, they can access the learning to be done via Seesaw, our online learning platform. If you are unable to access Seesaw a home-learning grid will be sent home via Parent Mail or school office.
