GLF Schools

GLF Schools

GLF Schools was founded in 2012 in order to enable the federation of Glyn School (an academy in 2011) and Danetree Junior School. Together, we began our journey to become a MAT of more than 1000 talented staff working with over 10,000 children in 40 schools across 5 regions in southern England.

Reception

2 1224 sNightingale Class

Florence Nightingale

Class teacher: Mrs Brent and Ms Mitchell

Learning Assistants: Mrs Downey, Ms Jones, Ms Reynolds and Ms Leahy

 

Welcome! 

Firstly, we would like to offer a big welcome to you! We are looking forward to working with you and hope your child is excited to start reception. We know they will quickly settle and hopefully you will all quickly feel part of our family at Longford Park Primary School. 

Oral hygiene   

The EYFS framework now recognises the importance of good oral health within young children, please help us to promote this by complying with the water only rule in bottles. Throughout the year we will be exploring different ways to care for our teeth, how the dentist can help us to care for our teeth and different foods and drinks which can be harmful to our teeth...particularly milk teeth.   

 

PE  

Our topic this term in PE is ‘Travel, explore, move’. Our PE day is Tuesday. It is useful for the children to bring their PE kit in on a Monday and leave in school until Friday as it is handy to have a spare pair of clothes in case of any accidents.  

For indoor PE: Children will need black shorts and a plain t-shirt in their house colour.  

For outdoor PE: Children will need black shorts and a plain house coloured t-shirt, plus trainers (preferably Velcro) and a sweatshirt. 

Jewellery: A reminder that only stud earrings and wristwatches may be worn to school. Earrings must be removed by the child or covered for PE.  

 

STEAM 

This term our STEAM focus is Maths, and we will be answering the question ‘Can I create, carry out an experiment and present my data in a variety of different ways?’

We will be providing children with exciting opportunities to experience a range of breads. The children will be encouraged to notice differences using their senses. They will move on to looking at one of the main ingredients in bread making and then look at the similarities and differences of a variety of types of flour. The children will then be able to use a variety of physical skills to mix, knead, roll, bake and taste. Moving forward the children will look closely at wheat and use a pestle and mortar to observe the changes taking place. The children will also have opportunities to find out where wheat comes from, experience other foods produced by farms and learn about the Harvest process.  

  

Curriculum 

Personal, Social and Emotional development 

 

  • building relationships with both adults and peers.  

  • Learning about ‘Good Choices’ and the expected behaviour within the setting, as well as learning how to look after our classrooms and outside space.  

  • Learning about the routines of the school day to ensure we all feel safe and secure within our school environment. 

Communication and Language 

  • Developing our attention, speaking and listening skills in circle time games, adult led activities as well as following our own interest.   

  •  Listening and speaking at group times, talking about ourselves and learning about the others within our classrooms.  

Literacy 

  • Begin to distinguish the marks we make when drawing diagrams.  

  • Begin to label work with our own names, using our mark making skills. 

  • Enjoy different stories based on bread and baking. 

  • Joining in with repeating refrains in stories. 

  • Describing what we see, touch, smell and taste and hear when exploring wheat, flour and bread. 

 

Mathematics 

  • Beginning to develop our understanding of bigger and smaller and patterns, in our environment and mathematical patterns 

  • Consolidating our understanding of the composition of numbers up to 3 e.g., 3 is made up of 2 and 1 

  • Counting numbers, objects, sounds up to 5 

  • Present and interpret data from simple charts e.g., Tally charts 

 

Understanding the World 

  • Begin to develop an understanding of where food comes from 

  • Understand the processes from field to table. 

  • Looking at different types of bread from around the world 

  • Use senses to compare a range of breads and express preferences, acknowledging everyone is allowed their own choice. 

 

Reading 

We are continuing to enjoy ‘Talk through stories’ this term, which provides the opportunity for children to really explore key texts, understand the principle of the story, learn new vocabulary and explore new characters. Each week we will focus on one key text which the children will become very familiar with.   

Our literacy key texts for this will be:  

  • Hooray for Bread 

  • Little Red Hen 

  • Sam’s Sandwich 

  • What I like most 

  • The Giant Jam Sandwich

 

The areas of learning and development 

There are seven areas of learning and development in the Early Years Foundation Stage. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving. 

These are the Prime areas: 

  • Communication and language: the number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. 
  • Physical development: Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness. 
  • Personal, social and emotional development: PSED is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. 

We also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are: 

  • Literacy 
  • Mathematics 
  • Understanding the world  
  • Expressive arts and design 

 
Useful parent links: 

Oxford Owl


Numbots (supporting maths)
How to support reading at home (phonics)
Literacy Trust

50 Things App


Year group information: 
The Four EYFS Principles  
 
The statutory framework is based on four guiding principles which shape practice in our Early Years Classes. These are:  
 
1) A Unique Child  
2) Positive Relationships  
3) Enabling Environments  
4) Learning and Development 
 
We are fully committed to the purpose and aims of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation (2014) which clearly states:  
 
‘Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high-quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.’  
 
Our Early Years Foundation Stage aims to create a happy, caring, secure and stimulating environment for all children; we do this through: 
 
Encourage confidence, independence and a desire to learn; (having quality interactions and provision through our Steam Curriculum) 
 
Focus on the development of every child as an individual, valuing and building on their previous experiences and responding to their individual needs; (Objective led planning) 
 
Work in partnership with parents and carers; (daily communications at drop off and pick up, Tapestry, Class Dojos, the weekly newsletter and twice a year parents evening meetings) 
 
Develop in children an enquiring mind, an interest in learning and an enthusiasm for the next stage of school life; (cultural capital and the characteristics of learning embedded in our STEAM curriculum) 
 
Provide good foundations for later learning; (RWI phonics STEAM links to the EYFS Curriculum) 
 
Encourage good social relationships, developing self-esteem and respect for others. (zones of regulation)  
 
The Early Years Foundation Stage is the statutory curriculum for children 0-5. For us, the EYFS covers our Nursery and Reception classes. Our curriculum challenges and inspires our children, encouraging them to develop into independent, motivated learners who are curious about the world around them. Our children are nurtured within a secure environment, whilst being allowed to explore, enquire and take risks both inside and outside of the classroom. Our children make rapid progress within a child centred context allowing a smooth transition into Key Stage 1.   
 
It is essential that the transition into school, whether that be into Nursery or Reception, is a smooth and successful one. We, therefore, offer a home visit, before they start school and have a professional dialogue with any previous settings, health visitors, EY SEND teachers and any other agencies. The home visits allows both the child and the parent to meet the teacher in the security of their own home environment.