EYFS | St. Aidan’s Primary School – A Church of England Academy

Meet the EYFS Team

Reception Teachers

Miss Keegan

Reception Teacher

Mrs Holden

Teaching Assistant/Senior Midday Supervisor

Mrs Jones

Teaching Assistant/Interventions

Mrs Mohamed

Teaching Assistant

Miss Sprot

Teaching Assistant

Sam

Sports Mentor

Homework

Please listen to your child read their reading book and book they know each week. Please download the White Rose 1 Minute Maths app and encourage your child to use this. Here is the link for it https://whiterosemaths.com/resources/1-minute-maths

Reading

Reading books: Your child will bring one decodable book home every Thursday. This will be the book they have worked on in their Reading Practice Sessions at school that week. These need to be returned on Mondays ready for the sessions in school that week.

Books We Know: Your child will bring home a book they know each week. They will have read these books at school so sit back and enjoy them telling you a story. It will be their responsibility to look after it and they must remember to bring it to school each Friday in order to exchange it for a new book.

PE

We have PE every Monday and Friday. Please ensure children have PE kits in school and any earrings are removed or plasters need to be provided for the children to cover them with.

Uniform

All children should wear full uniform including their ALWAYS badges.

We do allow pupils to wear all black trainers - no coloured swooshes/stripes etc. with all black soles.

Black shoes are also still acceptable and preferred for school.

Reception calendar of events:

Reception calendar of events list

Tooth Brushing doc

The ShREC approach to communication and language (conversations)-

Sh- Share attention

Be at the child’s level. Pay attention to what they are focused on.

R- Respond

Follow the child’s lead. Respond to their non-verbal and verbal communication. You could make a brief comment on what they can see, hear or feel.

E- Expand

Repeat what the child says and build on it by adding more words to turn it into a sentence.

C- Conversation

Have extended back and forth interactions. Give children time to listen, process and reply.

Please use this when having conversations with your child. Any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Miss Keegan.

This is a really useful document for parents with children in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

https://foundationyears.org.uk/files/2021/09/What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete-FINAL-16.09-compressed.pdf

Welcome Meeting:

Welcome meeting slideshow

Video Tour:

What to expect in EYFS

Updated: 06/12/2022 5.95 MB

Letter formation

Let's make handwriting fun! Have your child watch these videos to practice writing their letters.

Remote Learning

We have outlined our remote learning procedures during the covid pandemic on this page, following the guidelines set by the government. If there is a need to switch back to remote learning in the future, we will adhere to our Remote Learning policy. We will make sure to review and update it according to the current situation and the lessons we have learned from the previous period of school closure. Rest assured, we will communicate these changes clearly to parents.

Remote Learning Policy

Remote Learning Statement

This half term our theme is Marvellous Me!

Snack time

We have had a fantastic first day in Reception.

We enjoyed exploring our outdoor area today.

More fun in our outdoor area.

We have had a fab morning in Reception!

Making self-portraits.

Dinner with new friends.

What a fantastic first week we have had in Reception!

Reception class really enjoyed pizza and fish fingers for lunch yesterday. Full tummies all round.

Our first 2 busy bees!

Working hard in phonics. Ask your child what sound they learnt today.

What a fantastic Monday we have had!

Well done to our first learning superheroes.

We had lots of fun in PE last week.

Today we did the p sound in phonics. The children have been working hard on writing it.

We have also learnt a and t this week.

Thank you to everyone who came to Rhyme Time. It was so much fun. Please join us next week for another one.

Ask your child what sound we learnt in phonics today!

What a busy Monday we have had.

Having fun decorating our outdoor area.

We loved our first visit to Mill Hill Library today. They will all bring home a registration form tomorrow. Please fill it in and then we can get them all their own Library card.

Look at our tall tower!

We had a visit from 2 Dental Practitioners today. We spoke about keeping our teeth clean and healthy and had our first tooth brushing session. We will be brushing our teeth daily now.

Our first Pen Party!

Well done to our award winners this week! - 12.09.24

Rhyme Time in the sun

Fun in PE.

Sorting the biscuits in maths.

Enjoying designing and building.

Super sorting in maths today.

Making rainbow fish!

Another lovely trip to the library. We even got juice and biscuits today.

Ask your children what they learnt about Harvest today.

Today’s classroom Pen Party!

We have had lots of fun throwing, catching, jumping and balancing today in PE.

Happy weekend!

Abdul was our VIP (Values in Practice award winner) last week so he got to take Aidan the bear home for the weekend. Who will be taking home Adrianna or Aidan this week?

Poetry week- making play dough pancakes.

Poetry week- tossing pancakes.

Poetry week- exploring poems and nursery rhymes.

Poetry week- enjoying Rhyme Time with year 1.

Poetry week- yummy pancakes.

Comparing amounts in continuous provision.

We learnt a digraph in phonics today!

We all smile in the same language at St. Aidan’s. Today we discussed that there are 8 languages spoken in Reception. Each week we will focus on one.

Well done to our award winners this week! - 03.10.24

Great construction work in reception this week.

Good aiming reception.

Dough disco and pen party last week.

Great throwing and catching in PE.

Making skeletons linked to our story of the week.

Comparing weight in continuous provision. Our maths vocabulary is heavier and lighter.

We are celebrating Black History Month this week through our story times.

In maths we are exploring patterns this week.

Well done to our award winners this week! - 10.10.24

We are enjoying practising our new patterns at our Pen Party this afternoon!

We enjoyed making class repeated patterns in maths today.

Lots of work on our throwing, catching and bouncing skills today in PE!

Oracy October- working on our listening skills.

WellComm- working hard in their vocabulary intervention today.

Be Internet Legends AI Assembly.

Another lovely trip to the library!

Having our eyes tested today!

Art- creating owl babies.

We are famous!

This half term our theme is Let's Celebrate!

Diwali- making Diva Lamps.

Diwali- making Rangoli Patterns.

We enjoyed our first worship at St Aidan’s Church today! All of the children were so well behaved.

Diwali- making Rangoli Patterns with chalk on the ground.

Well done to our award winners this week! 31.10.24

Our Diwali Presentation and Stay and Play

https://youtu.be/PvvTaelRrwA

A fantastic morning in PE, focusing on jumping and landing techniques and exploring the climbing frame confidently and bravely. They were brilliant!

Dough disco and pen party this week.

Fun rolling the tyres.

A busy morning in reception.

We have loved having Miss Sarah in over the last 6 weeks for Nurture Group (special snack).

We had lots of fun on our autumn walk!

We have been learning about Bonfire Night today. We tried some Parkin at snack time.

Working on 1 less!

Lots of patterns drawn in our Pen Party today!

Well done to our award winners this week! 07.11.24

Fun at Rhyme Time this week! We learnt a firework song this week to help us find 1 less.

Sabrina was our VIP award winner a couple of weeks ago and she took Adrianna home for the weekend. It looks like they had lots of fun

Making shape witches.

We enjoyed our introduction to our story of the week- Handa’s Surprise.

Fun on the bikes today!

Today we have been learning about RESPECT as part of anti-bullying week.

Adrianna joined us at the library today.

We tried some of the fruits from Handa’s Surprise today!

We have been painting autumn trees today.

Pen Party has been fun this afternoon.

We made cakes for Aidan’s Birthday party. We looked at the ingredients before we started and talked about irreversible change. Ask your child what this means.

We have been practicing riding our bikes in PE this morning as well as some Minions Yoga to finish.

We had lots of fun celebrating Aidan’s Birthday!!!!

All of your children have been given a new tooth brush and some tooth paste today. Please ensure your child brushes their teeth for 2 minutes in the morning and for 2 minutes in the evening.

We have been describing position in maths.

Finding 4 and 5.

Finding circles and triangles in our classroom.

We have been practicing writing S at our pen party today. Also drawing a picture of something that begins with an S.

Well done to our award winners this week - 21.11.24

We enjoyed Rhyme Time with Sam and Mrs Holden today.

We have had lots of fun in PE this morning, exploring the climbing frame, practicing our jumping and landing safely.

We enjoyed learning about how to be Internet Legends today!

We have been talking about spreading kindness as part of our work on how to be an Internet Legend!

We are having a great afternoon doing our Dough Disco and Pen Party, practicing writing our sounds s & a.

We have been improving our underarm throwing technique and exploring different ways to travel on our hands and feet.

A sneak peak at some of our Christmas provision.

Reception loved their prayer experience session.

Exploring squares and rectangles.

Another great visit to the Library.

Fun popping the bubbles.

Working on the composition of numbers.

Finding squares and rectangles in class.

Making and describing shape pictures.

Sequencing and discussing the Nativity story.

We had a fantastic time at the pantomime.

We are having lots of fun at our Pen Party, writing our ‘t’ sound and also the word ‘sat’ !!

Miss Sprot taught us about a Polish tradition today- St. Nicholas Day.

Friday's snowball disco. All the children enjoyed themselves that much that we forgot to take pictures as we were too busy dancing!

Ready for our first performance.

Our outdoor area has had a revamp. We now have more opportunities to work on our gross motor skills.

Well done Reception! You were all fantastic!

Fun in the messy kitchen.

More fun in our outdoor area.

Reception in their Nativity costumes.

The children made a delivery bike to help Santa.

We are having plenty of fun at our Pen Party today, practicing writing ‘p’.

Well done to ALL of Reception for being stars this week. And well done to Carson for being our VIP award winner.

Aidan and Carson had a great weekend together. Who will be taking Aidan or Adrianna home this week?

Fun in our outdoor area.

Look at our Christmas crafts!

Well done to our award winners this week - 19.12.24

Look who came to our Christmas party!

Fun at the KS1 party!

Thank you for our Christmas gifts Dominic!

This half term our theme is Brilliant Bears.

This half term our theme is Real-Life Superheroes!

This half term our theme is On the Farm!

This half term our theme is Traditional Tales and Favourite Stories.

Autumn 1- Marvellous Me

We are settling into Reception well :-).

We are learning about sorting in maths this week.

We are learning about comparing in maths this week. We have compared height and length.

We are learning about repeating patterns in maths this week.

We started learning about Harvest in RE this week.

Reception continued their work on recycling today.

Oracy October- Reception

Reception have been planting bulbs today.

Reception- Black History Month:

Autumn 2- Let's Celebrate!

Reception have been learning about Diwali this week!

Reception have been learning about some of their learning powers today.

We have lots of busy bees in Reception this week :-)!

Reception had a great time on their autumn walk.

We are working hard on our blending and segmenting in Reception!

Our story of the week is Handa's Surprise.

Making cakes for Aidan's Birthday!

Celebrating Aidan's Birthday!

We have had a busy Monday in Reception!

Reception are having a busy week!

We have been working in pairs today to spot the differences.

We have been sequencing The Nativity Story in RE today.

Reception were fantastic in their Nativity performance today!

We had a fantastic morning doing Christmas crafts!

KS1 Christmas Party!

Spring 1- Brilliant Bears

There are lots of busy bees in Reception this week :-) !

We have had a very busy Monday in Reception!

We have been making lanterns for Chinese New Year!

Today we have been comparing mass.

Catching snowflakes

We have been working on questions today.

We have been learning about The Good Samaritan today.

We have lots of learning superheroes in Reception this week :-)!

We are all ready for our NSPCC Number Fun Day tomorrow!

NSPCC Number Fun Day was lots of fun!

Blakewater enjoying their winner's treat from Ninja Coffee!

We loved our Teddy Bears' picnic :-)!

Spring 2- Real-Life Superheroes!

What a busy Monday in Reception!

Having fun in our outdoor area.

Today we have been learning about measuring time. We did lots of 1 minute time challenges!

A terrific Tuesday in Reception!

Bob and Doc have stolen Miss Keegan’s gold hoop earrings! We have been making wanted posters to help us find them.

Wanted posters

World Book Day- Reception

We have been learning about Palm Sunday today.

Science Week in Reception - Bubbling Wizard's Brew

My Dentist came in today to teach us about oral health.

The Last Supper

We have been learning about The Last Supper in RE today. We had bread and 'wine' and discussed how these represented Jesus' body and blood.

Science Week- Charlotte from Elektec came to talk to us today.

We have found Bob and Miss Keegan’s earrings. He is in jail for 2 weeks now!

Working hard in PE today!

Thank you to everyone who came to our Mother’s Day Rhyme Time.

We have been learning about Good Friday in RE today.

We had a visit from the school nurse today.

We had another very special visitor in Reception today!

Pip is a Paramedic and she came to tell us all about how they help us.

Pip the Paramedic

Reception enjoying computing with Junior Jam today!

Reception also enjoyed music with Junior Jam.

Now we are learning Spanish!

We have been learning about the importance of concentrating like Emily the elephant today.

DT week-

We have had a great week investigating, designing, planning, making and evaluating our Easter bonnets. They are all ready for our Easter bonnet parade in Church next week.

DT Week in Reception

We had lots of fun on our Easter egg hunt today!

Summer 1- On the Farm!

Enjoying the nicer weather and being able to play in our outside area. What a great first day back. Well done reception!

Look at our new visitors in Reception! Our caterpillars have arrived for us to watch them change into beautiful butterfly’s. We are so excited to tell you all about their journey.

Look at our new visitors in Reception!

Yesterday we had a little surprise in Reception. Our caterpillars have entered the next stage of their development and have formed a cocoon. Mrs Holden very carefully transferred them into the net ready for them to transform into a butterfly.

What a beautiful sight awaited us in Reception this morning. We now have 9 beautiful butterflies!!! The children have been so careful not to disturb them and have watched them through the cycle. We can’t wait to set them free.

Yesterday we had a great time tidying up our outside area. We definitely have some budding gardeners in our class.

Smithills Farm trip

We have arrived and are already on our way round the farm on a very bumpy tractor!

We met lots of animals in pets corner.

The children were so brave feeding the animals as they were very greedy.

The donkeys went down a storm. Lots of confident and happy children.

We finished our day with a milking demonstration from farmer Carl. The children asked him lots of questions. We hope all the children enjoyed it and have lots to tell you. Also I’d like to say a big thank you to all our helpers today for making it such a memorable trip.

As you can see, we have had a tiring day!

Summer 2- Traditional Tales and Favourite Stories

Thank you to all the dads that came today it was lovely to see you all. Well done to all the reception children for some great singing.

Reception are already working hard and enjoying their moving up day. They are certainly ready for Year 1!

Fun at playtime on the BIG playground.

What a fantastic day we have all had!

Autumn 1- This half term our theme is Marvellous Me

As you can see from the photos the children have been busy exploring all our different areas, making new friends and most of all having lots of fun.

For this half term our topic is 'All about Me'. We started this on Thursday by creating images of ourself on a paper plate. We looked in the mirror and identified our facial features then added them to the plate using a variety of materials.

All about me rec 15.09.23

Can you guess what sound we have been learning today? We have learnt that the grapheme S makes the ssssssss sound.

Fine motor skills practise means only one thing Pen Party! The children listen to some of their favourite songs whilst practising this weeks skill which was drawing circles. Lying on their stomachs enables them to develop their core strength, feel more grounded and therefore more relaxed. Why not try it at home.

Fine motor 16.09.23

Today we joined the most magical club in the whole school! This afternoon we started drawing club. This is a session designed to enhance vocabulary, imagination, fine motor skills and also the children's oracy skills. Here are a few examples. Ask your child what happened to their monster when they used their magic code. We also started our vocabulary bank with two very large words - shimmering and enraged. Well done reception.

Over the last two weeks we have been learning lots of new things in Maths. Our learning has taught us to create rules for grouping objects and to compare these groups. We have also learnt to use the correct vocabulary including using the words fewer and more. As our learning progressed we then started to look at whether objects are tall, small, big or large. We used the book Dear Zoo to help us.

This morning we enjoyed our first session of ‘Dough Disco’. If you look closely you will see each child has their own bale of dough. Every morning we perform different hand, finger and arm movements to a lively tune. These movements help improve the strength in our little hands and arms. Ultimately, this helps with our pencil grip and our stamina for writing.

In Maths we have begun to compare the length and height of things. We used different equipment to work out if something was longer, shorter, taller or smaller. The children worked extremely well alongside their partners.

Free choice play across a range of our activities.

How amazing are our junk model creations. They wanted to bring them home but we decided to recycle and use them again. They even added magic codes to give their creations super powers.

Can you guess what we were learning in Maths last week? Following a teaching input, children are encouraged to practise the concept throughout the day. You can encourage your child to look for patterns, draw them or even make them at home or the environment around them.

This week we have started to learn all about the numbers 1,2 and 3. We can recognise them in patterns, in our environment and we can make them with our fingers. The children were then set a challenge to show me the number 2 and 3 but using both hands….very tricky when you’re little. You may notice the children are sat facing the person next to them. This was our first attempt at talk partner work which helps us to improve our oracy skills. Well done Reception.

Each week we invite the children to tell us what they would like to see or do in our class the following week. Jacob suggested volcanoes and the rest of the class agreed. The children watched a short video on how to make one and then they recalled the ‘ingredients’ they would need and then located all the equipment they required. It was a wonderful afternoon with lots of aw and wonder for our budding scientists.

Pen Party - A big hit with the children. We did this activity for ten minutes whilst listening to some classic songs from the film 'Sing'. Our focus was zigzags which was a little tricky but we had a good try. This is something the children could do at home with just a piece of paper, felt tips and songs they like. Have a go, we would love to see the pictures in class.

Today we were lucky enough to visit our local post office. As this will be our role play area next term we thought we would go and see how it all works. The post office staff were great and showed us how to send a parcel. We also combined this with a walk in the park to observe how the trees are changing due to the seasons. All children were fantastically behaved and very well mannered.

Real life experiences on a trip to the post office. Next term we will write a letter to say thank you and post it in our very own post box.

Autumn 2 - This half term our theme is Let's Celebrate!

We are making Diva lamps for our Diwali rhyme time.

Friday saw us celebrate Aidan’s birthday and Children in Need day. We enjoyed playing traditional party games like musical statues and musical bumps. We also danced to ‘Superman’, Barbie girl and the Hokey Cokey. The children also loved eating the biscuits they made.

Yesterday we had a wonderful trip to church to meet Reverend Cath. She told us all about the history of the church and about St Aidan. The children behaved wonderfully and really impressed Reverend Cath. Well done Reception.

Some of us even tried communion bread!

Spring 1- This half term our theme is Brilliant Bears.

Can you guess the story?

Did someone say snow day!

This week we decided to offer the reward of a trophy as well as our stars of the week. Every week children are give rainbow challenges (activity) to complete either independently or with the help of an adult. This trophy will be awarded each week to the child who has worked or tried hard, shown resilience and been proud to complete their work. Our first winner is Scarlett. Well done!

Having fun at lunchtime.

This week we have been working on Design and Technology. We decided to combine our work with our learning of Chinese New Year. The children thought about what materials they could use and how they could attach things. We drew our designs and then set to work. We hope you love our finished product.

The Good Samaritan

Spring 2- This half term our theme is Real-Life Superheroes!

Today we had another exciting visitor in school only this time it had 4 legs and was very fluffy. Kaitlyn, our veterinary nurse brought along a little friend to show us how animals are cared for when they are ill. We learnt lots of new things, and we even listened to Willows heartbeat, which was pretty amazing.