,

Welcome, Witaj, Bem-vindo, Sushri akal, Fàilte, Bienvenidos, Yin dee, Yo koso,

Benvenuto, Swaagat, স্বা�গতম

Welcome to our Information Session

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of seven

areas of learning and development. Within each area there are a number of early learning goals which most children will achieve by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The practice guidance also sets out in ‘Development Matters’ the likely stages of progress a child makes along their learning journey towards the early learning goals.

The curriculum

The EYFS spans from birth to 5 and has two main areas. The prime areas which are the building blocks which provide the skills a child has to have in place on which to build future learning. The specific areas which add richness to the early years curriculum.

YOUR CHILD

U N I

Q U E

PERSONAL SOCIAL

EMOTIONAL PHYSICAL

COMMUNICATION AND

LANGUAGE

PRIME AREAS

LITERACY

MATHSUNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND

DESIGN

SPECIFIC AREAS

Personal, social and emotional development

This area of learning involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities

Communication and language

This area of learning provides opportunities for your child to talk confidently, respond to adults and to other children in an environment where speaking and listening are highly valued skills.

Physical development

This area of learning offers opportunities for your child to develop and practise their control over large movements such as running, jumping, climbing, swinging, etc. and also finer movements which involve the ability to control the use of one handed tools and equipment e.g. digging tools, paint brushes, mark-making and writing tools. It also supports a developing understanding of how their bodies work and what they need to be healthy and safe.

Literacy

This area of learning gives opportunities for all children to explore, enjoy, learn about and use words and text in a broad range of contexts. It involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write.

Mathematics

This area of learning involves providing children with a broad range of contexts within which to explore, enjoy, learn, practice and talk about the language of mathematics. This will support them to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, space and measures.

Understanding the world

This area of learning provides opportunities for your child to solve problems, make decisions, experiment, predict, plan and question in a variety of contexts and to explore and find out about their environment and their community. Your child will also explore the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on their everyday lives.

Expressive arts and design

This area of learning involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

In the Foundation Stage children deepen their understanding by playing, talking, observing, planning, questioning, experimenting, testing, repeating, reflecting and responding to adults and each other.We plan learning experiences of the highest quality, based upon ongoing assessments of the children’s needs and achievements. There is a balance of child initiated and adult directed/focus activities with both indoor and outdoor provision.

Early years Foundation StageYou can download a copy if you would like more informationhttp://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf

KeypersonAt Ducklings we have a system where each child has an adult who acts as their key person.

The key person will:• Work closely with the child and their family

•Ensure that individual needs and interests are recognised and met.

• Keep learning records up to date and share them with the parents

We have a weekly staff meeting where all staff:

• Share and discuss observations made during the previous week

• Use these observations, and reflections, to plan activities to meet the children’s needs and interests

• Discuss children’s learning and development

Progress reportsIt is a statutory requirement that we complete a developmental record for all children who start at our setting before their 3rd birthday.

Progress reports will be completed by your child’s keyperson once a year. For the younger children this will be at the beginning of the summer term. For children starting school it will be a transition report at the end of the summer term.

Parent Involvement

At Ducklings we recognise the important contribution parents and carers have to make to their child’s learning and development. By working in partnership we aim to provide the best possible start to every child’s early learning.

We value your contributions so please let us know about the WOW moments ….

We want to share with you the important things your child is learning and doing. These will be unique to your child. We will add them to your child’s folder of special memories at Ducklings.

You could use these vouchers to tell us that:-Your child slept through the nightThey used the pottyThey counted the stairs as they climbed themThey retold their favourite story to you

Use them for anything you want to share with us.

Date

Date

Date

Date

What has my child done today?

Please look at the planning board in the cloakroom. We update it regularly with photos of the activities we have done at Ducklings.

If you want information about the areas of the curriculum covered these are on the outside planning board.

Policies and Procedures

• Policies help us to make sure that the service provided by the setting is a high quality one and that being a member of the setting is an enjoyable and beneficial experience for each child and her/his parents.

• Copies of the setting’s policies and procedures are available on the Dunalley Primary School Website

• http://www.dunalley.gloucs.sch.uk/dunalley-ducklings/ducklings-policies/

Cloakroom and belongings • Please name all your child’s belongings. It makes it

much easier for us to return coats, shoes, slippers to the right Duckling!

• Slip on or velcro shoes/slippers are much easier than lace ups

• Each child has their own peg and a bag for spare clothes etc. Please do not bring in any other bags etc as we are so short of space.

Wet days

It is also really helpful if the children wear their wellies to and from Ducklings and change into their slippers when they get here.

Welcome to our phonics awareness session

Speaking and listening skills form the foundation on which reading and writing is built.

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Welcome, Witaj, Bem-vindo, Sushri akal, Fàilte, Bienvenidos, Yin dee, Yo koso, Benvenuto, Swaagat, স্বা�গতম

Everyday experiences can make for great

adventures A trip to the shops or a bus journey can be

fantastic opportunities for looking, listening and talking

Sharing your enjoyment of reading and talking about stories is the most important way you can support your child in their learning to read.

• Spend time snuggling up with your child and sharing books and stories. Make sure a selection of books is always available for your child to look at independently if they choose.

How can I help my child learn to read?

Changes in voice and exaggerated facial expressions help to support listening and attention by building interest and anticipation. For some children, these clues are also vital to supporting their understanding of the story.

Explain the meaning of new words. Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories.

Top tips for reading stories aloud http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/top-tips-reading-stories-aloud

Rhythm and Rhyme

Children need to be able to ‘tune-in’ to the rhythm of our language and the magic of

rhyming words.

• Share rhyming books with your child. Make it fun and use plenty of expression.

• Singing lots of songs, in the car, in the bath, walking etc.• Make up silly words to rhyme with names and other words (e.g. Mandy-

pandy-dandy-landy).• Collect objects/pictures of things that rhyme. Play matching pairs.• Learn nursery rhymes and then change the words that rhyme. (E.g.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a box, Humpty Dumpty saw a big fox.)• Sing action rhymes and songs with a beat that they can move to . Wheels

on the bus with actions http://more2.starfall.com/m/level-k/nursery-rhymes-content/load.htm?f&d=demo&n=wheels&y=1

Rhyming booksRegularly include rhyming books and read with plenty

of intonation and expression so that the children tune into the rhythm of the language and the rhyming words.

Encourage the children to join in with repetitive phrases such as Run, run, as fast as you can, You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.

http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/gingerbread/load.htm?f&n=main

Songs you can singhttp://more2.starfall.com/m/math-k/song7/load.htm?f&d=demo 5 little speckled

Rhyming games

I know a word .....that rhymes with cat, you need to put one on your head

and the word is...hat. that rhymes with toes you use it to smell and the word

is ...nose.

Keep the rhymes slow so you can emphasise the rhyming words. As children become familiar with rhyme, they will supply the missing word themselves.

Alliteration• Children need practice to identify initial sounds in

words. We need to tune their ears to HEAR the sounds. Alliteration refers to words that all begin with the same sounds.

• Encourage your child to listen to and recite tongue twisters (e.g. She sells sea shells by the sea shore)

• Make up silly words that begin with the same sound as your name. (mischievous Mandy made a muddy mess)

Developing phonological awarenessPlaying with sounds and tuning your child’s ears into sounds will develop phonological awareness that is the ability to discriminate different sounds.

Games to develop listening and discriminating skillshttp://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/SoundStimuli.html http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/AnimalBingo.html

Letters and Sounds

Letters and Sounds is a phonics teaching programme. It aims to build children's speaking

and listening skills as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic

knowledge and skills.https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Letters%20and%20Sounds-1.pdf

Letters and Sounds - Phase 1Through fun activities and games your children will be

learning to:

– Have fun with sounds– Listen carefully– Develop their vocabulary– Speak confidently to you, other adults and children– Tune into sounds– Listen and remember sounds– Talk about sounds– Understand that spoken words are made up of different

sounds

When children have experienced a wealth of listening activities and they are able to distinguish

between the sounds in words, they will be ready to learn to identify letters and their sounds.

Sounds (phonemes) are represented by letters (graphemes)

Link for information on phonicshttp://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-owl/expert-help/phonics-made-easy

Articulation of letter sounds It is very important that children are taught to pronounce letter sounds (phonemes) correctly from the start, since it is very difficult for them to unlearn something once they go to school.

Saying sounds correctly This is really important when you are helping your child to learn the sounds. Just remember not to add an uh to the end of the consonant sounds – so say mmm (as in Mummy) not muh, lll (as in lollipop) not luh, etc. Link for letter sounds http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/sound.htm

Games for children http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-b/play.htm?f

Linking sounds to letters Encourage your child to make a link between the sound and the written letter shape. Start with the sounds in your child’s name and then look out for them in signs. The sound m in McDonalds is always a good starting point too!

Sound talk• The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud,

in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word.

• The merging is called blending, and is a vital skill for reading. Eg: c-a-t = cat

• Click for sound chart and making sounds into words http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-site/expert-help/phonics-made-easy

•

Ways you can support your children at home: sound talk

Try breaking down simple words when you are giving instructions or asking questions, such as ‘Can you find your h-a-t hat?’ ‘Where is the c-a-t cat?’ ‘Sit on the s-ea-t seat’ ‘Eat your f-oo-d food’.

We incorporate some of the aspects of Read Write Inc in Nursery alongside letters and sounds. •Use your magnetic eyes•My turn, your turn•Fred talk

Top tips for reading stories aloud http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/top-tips-reading-stories-aloud

Free activity booklet for familiesThis downloadable "I spy a picture book!" booklet is packed full of useful ideas that you can use at home every day. It contains fun, simple activities to help your child develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills ready for schoolhttp://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/I-spy-a-picture-book.pdf

Free online e-books http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/families-getting-ready-for-school

Milestones - These milestones give you an idea of how your child’s communication skills might develop from birth to age 11. http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/

Phase 1 activities http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/Phase1Menu.htm

Hickory Dickory DockPhonics learning opportunitiesTo know and join in with familiar songs and rhymes.To experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme.

Sound StartersPhonics learning opportunitiesTo develop listening skills.To describe sounds and talk about the differences between them.To know a range of words that can be used to describe sounds.

Who is at the zoo? (Animal Bingo)Phonics learning opportunitiesTo develop listening skills.To develop the ability to imitate sounds with the voice.

Phonics learning opportunities - To practise blending for reading.NB. Using fake words ensures that children have to learn to blend and not just recognise words by sight. As children get older and need to be able to read more and more words they will find it increasingly tricky to learn them all by sight.

Buried Treasure http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/BuriedTreasure2.html

Dragons Den http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/DragonsDen.html

Picnic on Pluto - http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PicnicOnPluto.html

Sound Buttons Blending - Click on the letters and drop them into the phoneme frame. As you click each letter you will hear its sound. http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/phaseTwoAs1_v2.html

Match picture - Phase 2. Sound out the word then click the matching picture http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PictureMatch.html

Getting Ready for School

• Pencil grip – “frog on the log”

• Writing name in lower case letters with a capital letter to start

• Letter sounds and names

• Putting on coats and shoes

• Using the toilet independently and washing hands