• phonics

Welcome to the EYFS

Our EYFS is made up of a Nursery class and a Reception Class. Mrs Hutchinson is the Early Years Lead and Reception teacher, Mrs Morse is the Nursery teacher and Miss Toole, Mr Garvey and Mrs Rafalska are our EYFS Teaching Assistants. 

General Class Information

Our school day starts at 9am, but we welcome children from 8:40am, please be on time so your child can gain the most from our Early Years department. Our school day finishes at 3.30pm. If you are going to be late please could you phone our school office so that we are able to reassure your child.

Communication

We use ClassDojo as our main communication tool. We will share what the children have been learning in class and communicate all class/school-related information with you using this platform. It is essential that you are connected to our class page.

In the EYFS, we use Tapestry to record observations and progress of the children's learning journey. All parents have access to this journal so please make sure that the school office has your email address. As parents/carers, you can also upload photos/videos/observations of things that your children are doing at home which we might not see in school. Tapestry is how we share your child's end of year report.  

Magic Moments

We have 'Magic Moments' in the EYFS, where you can share those special moments that you have with your child. These can be shared via ClassDojo or Tapestry. Each 'Magic Moment' is shared on the carpet and then put up on display in our cloakroom for everyone to see. Should you wish to include a photograph, then please do and we will make a copy and put this on display with your 'Magic Moment'.

The EYFS Learning Experience

In the EYFS the children learn through their play, furthering their ability to communicate, explore and investigate the world around us, solving any problems that they encounter as they go (both indoors and outdoors). The children will also learn the foundations of Reading, Writing and Maths.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum with its seven areas of learning: Personal, Social and Emotional  Development; Physical Development, Communication and Language; Mathematics; Literacy, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Every area is equally important and organised into both our indoor and outdoor learning.

We encourage free flow in all areas of the EYFS so that children make choices about what they want to do and where so the children are allowed to flow between the two classrooms and our amazing outside area. All the adults in the EYFS are there to support and enhance the play and learning of all the children. As the year progresses, the teachers will take focus groups of children to guide and further their learning. 
 

Our Whole School Curriculum

We adopted the Dimensions' Learning Means the World curriculum in September 2022 and we love it! The curriculum is driven by the 4Cs of communication, conflict, conservation and culture which meets the needs of our diverse school community. It is designed to inspire an enthusiasm for learning, engaging with and learning about challenging 21st century issues, dealing with tomorrow’s issues today.

The progression through school follows four phases: Explorers (EYFS), Pathfinders (Years 1 and 2), Adventurers (Years 3 and 4) and Navigators (Years 5 and 6).

To find out more about our new curriculum please click here.

In the files at the bottom of this page, you will find our learning newsletters. 

We are Explorers!

As well as developing subject-specific skills, knowlegde and understanding through the themes, the children will also be acquiring skills which will help them become well-rounded individuals and ready for their next phase of learning. Our Explorers will learn to be experimental, curious, confident and co-operative. For more information about Explorers, click here.

How can you help?

Phonics:  At St George's, we value reading as a key life skill. We use synthetic phonics and follow  Read, Write, Inc. Please support your child in learning the different sounds by clicking on this link.  Here you will find out the different sounds of various  letters and groups of letters which will help you to support your child. Click here to find out how to say the sounds correctly. 

Reading: Please, please, please, join the library with your children and change their library books regularly. Look at books and talk about the pictures, the main characters, where the story is taking pace (the setting). Talk about the books that you liked to read when you were their age and help them to develop a love of reading. Each week they will bring home a new reading task (whether that is character cards, word cards, a word mat or their reading book)  Take time to work with your child helping them to read them and become confident in identifying the words and discussing the story.

Writing: Encourage your children to mark make and write with sticks in mud, paintbrushes and water on coloured paper or even in the garden on the fence/wall. Use water pistols to aim and develop a firm grip to create shapes, patterns, letters, words etc. For the children who are beginning to create the correct letters for each sound, remind them to stretch words out and write all the sounds that they can hear. Encourage your child to start early mark making/writing by making and writing cards for family and friends, creating shopping lists together of the things that you need. Show your child/ren how you write and talk about what you are doing as if your child sees how you write then they are much more prepared to have a go. Lots of positive praise for trying and rewards, such as smiley faces, stampers, stickers etc will also encourage them to keep trying.

Number: Work with your children on reciting numbers starting at different numbers (not always from zero). When saying numbers, miss numbers out and ask them what the missing number is? Ask them about what number comes after, before, in between certain numbers. Count in ones, fives and tens to encourage them to hear numbers that they may not be aware of. Write numbers on post-its and stick them around the house, then have a number treasure hunt where you ask your child/ren to find specific numbers etc.

Please talk to your child about what they have been doing in school, they class everything as play because they do not realise that as they play with the activities and resources they are learning all of the time. Ask them what did they play with? Who did they play with? What did they like most about today?

Thank you for all your continued support. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us via ClassDojo or speak to us at the start or end of the school day.

Mrs Hutchinson, Mrs Morse and the Early Years Team.