Nursery

The Foundation Stage Curriculum

Autumn  Term Summary

Nursery Autumn Parents Summary 2019 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to all our existing and new parents! We are thoroughly looking forward to working together with you as a team to provide your child with the best possible Nursery experience.

Our topics this term are ‘Getting to know each other and ‘Christmas’. The Religious Education themes will link with these topics and everyday life. We will discuss how special each child’s name is to God, to our birthday celebrations and how through Baptism we are invited to join God’s family.

In Literacy, the children will have many opportunities to participate as speakers and listeners. They will learn and recite favourite nursery rhymes and songs. We will be reading a variety of fantastic books and stories including Owl Babies, Brown Bear, Brown Bear… , Going on a Bear Hunt, Elmer and many more related to our Christmas topic in Autumn 2. There will be regular practical and creative activities which will provide the children with opportunities to recognise and write their names. In addition, the children shall be introduced to Phase 1 of the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme.

In Mathematics, the children will take part in counting, comparing, matching and sorting activities using everyday objects. Through practical involvement both in and out of the classroom, the children will have opportunities to develop an understanding of length, shape and data handling.

Our Understanding of the World topic this term is “Getting to know each other” and ‘ Christmas’ in Autumn 2. We will focus on our bodies, how they grow and work. We will revise the children’s own growth from birth to present and observe the seasonal changes autumn brings by collecting conkers, leaves and acorns, using them in various activities. We will also be completing a range of Personal, Social and Emotional activities to support children settle into their new setting. On the run up to Christmas we will enjoy a range of cooking experiences like baking biscuits, melting solids into liquids and much more.

Please ensure that your child can easily undo his/her clothing. Please also ensure all items of your child’s school uniform including, hats and gloves have your child’s name clearly marked. A spare set of school clothes must also be provided. Their spare clothing shall be kept in your child’s locker in the case of any’ accidents’ or slips in the woodland. Every child needs to have a pair of indoor black plimsolls and wellington boots for our woodland.

Lastly, if you have any concerns or questions regarding your child please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank You,

Nursery Team

Ways to help at home

Routine

Try to establish a routine for school days;

• Wake your child in good time to have breakfast and wash and dress in peace.
• Make time after school to listen to them telling you about what they have been doing.
• Your child will be tired when he/she comes home from school. Please ensure that he/she goes to bed early. If he/she does not get enough sleep he/she will not learn efficiently.
• Speaking and Listening: always use speech as a model for your child’s language skills.

Reading

When parents share books with their children regularly reading becomes a more enjoyable experience and progress in learning to read is enhanced

• Share books as often as possible
• Talk about print you see at home or when you are out
• Let them see you enjoying reading
• Discuss stories, predicting what might happen next
• Share poems and rhymes with your child
• Talk about the cover and pictures in stories. Ask your child to tell their own story using the pictures
• Encourage your child to finish a sentence by pausing at a suitable place, e.g. Humpty Dumpty sat on a …….
• Playing I-spy, – use letter sounds rather than names

Writing/Mark making

Have fun with making marks and discussion about marks

• Chunky pencils/chalk etc. helps to develop motor control.
• Make play dough – develop arm strength
• Use chalk on pavements, outside walls, chalk can be removed by putting water over it.
• If your child is ready to write you could begin by helping them to trace shapes or letters to develop their pencil control. Try writing with a highlighter pen for your child to copy over.
• Encourage your child to hold their pencil correctly – it is better to learn slowly, using the correct technique. If your child alternates the pencil between hands don’t worry as dominance takes time to develop.
• Have lots of paper and writing implements readily available so that they can practise drawing and writing whenever they want to.
• If you choose to teach your child to write his/her name please use a capital for the first letter and lower case thereafter. Once children have formed the habit of writing in capital letters it is very hard to break.

Mathematics

Encourage your child to:

• Learn counting rhymes
• Weigh and mix ingredients for cooking
• Count in different situation e.g. stairs, buttons on coats, people at dinner table etc
• Identify shapes and colours inside and outside your home
• Describe and sort things into sets e.g. big/small, heavy/light, rough/smooth
• Recognise numbers up to 10, then 20
• Gardening (let them help you care for a small section of plants)

[/vc_column_text][/qode_advanced_tab]