Foundation Stage

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’

Here at St. Catherine’s we endeavour to provide the highest quality educational foundation within the context of a caring and supportive Christian ethos.

Collectively, we aim to:

Foster a love and enjoyment of learning.
Create a happy, purposeful environment in which children can develop socially, physically, creatively and intellectually.
Encourage children to respect and care for themselves, each other and the environment.
Help children recognise their own self worth and know that their views and opinions are valued.
Stimulate children’s natural curiosity about the world around them, helping develop their ability to question and search for answers.
Value and encourage the active partnership between school, home and the wider community.
Provide a communication friendly environment where talk is valued and opportunities for developing communication are at the centre of our play based curriculum.

Foundation Stage

Preparing YOUR CHILD for RECEPTION

The best way to help your child settle in is to make sure that they are as independent as possible.

The most useful things that your child needs to be able to do are all very practical things.

For example it is really helpful if your child can:

Dress and undress themselves.
Wash and dry their hands themselves.
Put their coat on independently and attempt to do it up.
Take themselves to the toilet.
Manage their own personal hygiene.

If, for any reason, your child should have an accident, then we will change them into clean, dry clothes. We always have a supply of spare clothes in school but if your child is prone to accidents then we ask that you provide spare clothes in a bag for them, that can remain on their peg. We would be very grateful if you could wash and return the borrowed clothes as soon as possible.

If there are ever any issues that either you or your child are unsure about, then please come and talk to your child’s teacher.

Foundation Stage 1

A typical day in Reception class

The children are greeted at the gate by a Foundation Stage member of staff that they are familiar with. They make their way to the classroom where early morning routines are established, for example, self-registration and name writing activities before the register.

During the day the children will have focused carpet inputs and small group work, followed by Learning Time, an opportunity for children to develop their own learning and follow their own lines of enquiry.

Foundation Stage 2 Foundation Stage 3

Once the children are settled into their first few weeks of school they will begin a phonics programme called Read, Write, Inc. Each day the children will have a phonics input, where we will teach them letter sounds and how to read and write. We will do guided reading with your child during this time. You will receive further information around their phonics in the Autumn term.

The children also have regular maths sessions where we teach a range of concepts such as number recognition, finding totals and shape and measures.

The children are then supported during their independent learning time to access play-based activities that relate to their focused learning, as well as having the freedom of choosing activities which stimulate their interests. During this time the adults will support your children in their learning and record their observations through Tapestry. Tapestry is a secure online learning journal where you can access what your child has been doing in their independent and focused learning using a personal log in code.

The children have an hour break for lunch between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm. Your child will be able to have a school lunch or bring a packed lunch from home. Packed lunches need to be put in a clearly named lunch box and, children must not bring sweets, bars of chocolate or fizzy drinks. The children are encouraged to bring in their own water bottle that they can access throughout the day, and fruit is provided at break time, although you are welcome to provide a healthy snack if you would prefer. Your child will not need to pay for their school lunch whilst they are in Reception. Please call into the school office for more information.

In the afternoons the children participate in a variety of other activities that include being creative, gardening, understanding the world we live in and physical activities.

Overall the children are encouraged to become more independent, inquisitive learners with an emphasis on learning through play. We will wear aprons where appropriate, but inevitably we will get messy, but what better way to show that your child has had a great day learning!

Foundation Stage 4