Hello everyone! Welcome to the Squirrels class page. Here you will find some helpful resources and information and also an overview of what we will be getting up to this half term.
In Reception, Miss Early is the class teacher and Mrs Tomlinson, Mrs Rowely, Miss Kean and Mrs Newton are the Early Years Practitioners who will be working with the children throughout the week.
Miss Harrison is the Early Years Co-ordinator who will be popping in lots to check we are having lots of fun whilst we learn. She will also be taking Squirrel Class for our weekly Forest School Session!
We want your child to be happy and to enjoy learning. If you have any questions of concerts please come and see us! Don't hesitate to get in touch with any questions, no matter how big or small. Email us at squirrels@coppice.derbyshire.sch.uk
Meet the Squirrels Class Team
Miss Early
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| Mrs Rowley | Mrs Tomlinson | Miss Kean | Mrs Newton |
Our topic this term is
'Stomp, Chomp, Roar - Here Come the Dinosaurs!'
I hope your child is excited to begin Reception, we have a super fun and exciting term ahead.
We are kicking off the Autumn Term with a roar-some topic!
Week 1 and 2 - Harry and the Dinosaurs First Day of School
How did Harry feel about starting school? How did the Dinosaurs feel? Was Harry a kind friend? How did Harry help the boy? Are you excited to start school? What are you looking forward to? Who could you talk to if you were worried?
We start school on a Thursday, so we will be looking at this story on the Thursday and Friday and then the following week. Starting school is super exciting, but can also be a little scary. We will be reading the story, ‘Harry and the Dinosaurs First Day of School’ and finding out how Harry felt about going to school for the first time.
We will be meeting the adults that help us at school and exploring our new classroom and outdoor area! We will also have the opportunity to discuss how we are feeling during Circle Times and playing lots of games so we can make friends with our new classmates.
Week 3 - Dinosaur Starts School
How was Dinosaur feeling? Was Dinosaur excited to go to school? Were you excited to start school? What do you enjoy most about school? What are you looking forward to? How was Dinosaur feeling by the end of the story? Do you think Dinosaur would be excited to go back?
Following on from the book we looked at in Week 1 and 2, we will be continuing the theme of starting school by looking at the book, ‘Dinosaur Starts School.’ We will continue to spend time with the children, focusing on the transition of starting school and building up their confidence. On Week 3, we will begin attending whole school assemblies on Monday and Friday. We will also begin our weekly Forest School sessions. These will be every Monday, unless said otherwise. How exciting!
We will also be exploring colour this week. How many different colours can you name? What happens when we mix two colours together? Can you guess what colour we might make?
Week 4 - Tyrannosaurus Drip
How was Tyrannosaurus Drip different? How did the egg end up in the wrong nest? Is it okay to be different? Can you name some ways that the dinosaurs are similar or different? How did Drip feel? Were the Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs kind? What happened at the end of the story? Did you like the story?
Continuing our dinosaur theme, this week we are reading Tyrannosaurus Drip. Drip is not quite like the other dinosaurs, he is different. We will be exploring our own similarities and differences – we’re not all the same and that is okay! We will have a go at painting a self-portrait. Do we all have the same-coloured skin? The same hair and eyes?
This week, we will also be conducting an experiment. We will be finding out what we already know about volcanos and then working together to create our own volcano in a tuft spot. What can happen to a volcano? It can erupt! Finally, we will be making our own mini eruption. What happened? What did we use to make the eruption?
Week 5 - Dinosaurs Love Underpants
What did the dinosaurs want? What did the dinosaurs do with the underpants? What did the cavemen decide to do? How did they feel? What happened to the dinosaurs? How did they wipe themselves out? How did the cavemen feel at the end of the story? Did you think this story was funny?
This week, we will be reading the story ‘Dinosaurs Love Underpants’. This book is very funny! We will be going a little underwear mad, designing our own underpants at the Creative Station and recreating the story in the small world. We will even be setting up our own underpants shop in the roleplay area!
Each half term, we have a look at an artist. This half term, we will be looking at an artist called Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy creates artwork out of natural resources such as leaves or sticks. This week, we will be looking at some of his work and discussing what we can see and what we like or dislike about it.
Week 6 - How to Grow a Dinosaur
What can you grow from a seed? What did Albie grow from a seed? Can you really grow a dinosaur? Who left a huge footprint in the garden? What dinosaurs did Albie see? What happened at the end of the story? What do you think will happen to Albie next?
This week, we are reading the story, ‘How to Grow a Dinosaur’. We will be having a go at growing our own dinosaur! We will find a dinosaur egg in our outside area – What could we do to keep it safe? What might happen if we leave it outside. I wonder what type of dinosaur it might be. Can you have a grow at drawing and decorating your own dinosaur egg? Can you use your magnifying glass to investigate the dinosaur egg and make notes on your clipboard?
This week, we will also be revisiting the artist we looked at last week – Andy Goldsworthy. We will be creating our own artwork using natural resources we have found!
Week 7 - Harvest and the Little Red Hen
What did the Little Red Hen want to make? Who did she ask for help? Did anyone help her? How did the Little Red Hen feel? What happened when the Little Red Hen baked the bread? How do you make bread? What ingredients do you use? What happens at Harvest time? What songs have we learnt for the Harvest Festival? What do farmers do?
To finish off Autumn Term 1, we will be looking at the Harvest Festival and all things Autumn! This week, we will be looking at and acting out the story of the ‘Little Red Hen’. In the story, the Little Red Hen wants to bake some bread and we will be having a go at baking our own bread! We will need to weigh the ingredients and mix them together before putting our dough in the oven!
This week, we will also be looking at the different animals you would find on a farm. Have you seen any of these animals before? We will find out about where they live and what they eat. We will also find out what a farmer does and how they work hard to make food for us to eat!
Week 8 - Autumn
What happens in Autumn? What changes can you see? What happens to the leaves on the trees? What celebrations do we celebrate in Autumn? What can we see on our Autumn walk? What clothes do we wear in Autumn? How does the weather change in Autumn?
To finish off Autumn 1, we are looking at Autumn! We will be spending time outside on an Autumn walk – searching for signs of Autumn. What colour are the leaves? Is it warm or cold outside?
We will be finding natural resources to bring back to class that we can use at the Creative Station. We will have a go at doing some rubbings with leaves and bark, creating faces and making our own hedgehogs using fallen leaves!
Reception Important Diary Dates
Here are the dates we have so far for this half term. We will continue to add to them as the half term progresses. Also remember to check your weekly newsletter for the most up to date information.
- 4th September - INSET day. School closed to the children.
- 5th September – First day of term for the children
- 27th September - MacMillan Coffee Morning - more information to follow!
- 4th October - Dinosaur dress up day in EYFS!
- 25th October - Last day of term
- 4th November - INSET day. School closed to the children.
- 5th November - First day of term for the children
Knowledge Organiser
To see the Knowledge Organiser for this half term please click on the link below:
Stomp, Chomp, Roar - Here Come the Dinosaurs Knowledge OrganiserTopic Web
To see the Topic Web for this half term please click on the link below:
Stomp, Chomp, Roar - Here Come the Dinosaurs Topic Web
Parent phonics information
Parents information Powerpoint : Meet the Level 2 Twinkl Phonics Family
The Early Years Foundation Stage
In Squirrels class we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage which is organised into seven areas of learning. These seven areas are as follows:
PSED - Personal, social, emotional development (developing self confidence and self awareness, making relationships as well as managing behaviour and feelings).
CL - Communication and Language (speaking, listening and understanding)
PD - Physical development (moving and handling as well as health and self care)
LIT - Literacy (reading and writing)
MATHS - Mathematics (numbers, shape, space and measures)
UW - Understanding the World (people and communities, the world and technology)
EAD - Expressive Arts and Design (exploring and using media and materials as well as being imaginative!)
Expectations
In school we have a set of non-negotiables for Literacy and Mathematics for the children to aspire to by the end of each year group. Click below to see what is expected by the end of their time in Squirrels class (end of EYFS).
Writing non-negotiables for Squirrels class
Mathematics non-negotiables for Squirrels class
We work towards the Early Learning Goals (ELG's) in Squirrels class. Click on the document to see what the Early Years curriculum is all about and what the children should be able to do by the end of their time in Squirrels class.
EYFS curriculum explained for Parents/carers
Squirrels' Stars of the Week
At our school we have a special 'star of the week' from each class! In Squirrels class we have Sammy Squirrel who goes home with the star of the week for a whole week and he has a special diary for the star of the week to fill in ready to be shared with the class the following week. Sammy can't wait to meet you!
Our School Values
Each week we have a new value – 12 in total. The children will have an assembly Monday morning about how to show and give respect to others both in school and at home! We will be expecting this to be demonstrated to all members of our Coppice community, it is important that even when we move onto a new value, the old one isn’t lost.
Our new core values will now form the basis of our ambassador passports (these have now been renamed – core value passports and the children can achieve their bronze, silver and gold awards throughout the year for each core value. We will of course keep you informed about how your child is getting on with this throughout the year.
Each week Mrs Seaton will send out a Newsletter that will reflect the value we are working on so that it can also be supported at home. We look forward to seeing our children bright and early ready to embrace the new weekly challenges!
Learning Journeys
During the last few years we have developed the way that we collect observations about what your child can do during their time in Nursery. Your child will have a gorgeous book called 'My Little Book of Adventures' where we put in evidence of what your child has been learning! As part of this we will be using an app called 'Tapestry' on our iPads to take photographs of your child completing different activities and make notes about what they are doing. One of the best features of this is that we can email you all the evidence we collect! You can also let us know of any 'wow' moments you witness at home. We will be sending home an information letter and permission form for this during the beginning of September!
We also love to hear what your child has achieved at home and so we ask you fill in proud clouds and share them with us!
Proud cloud letter - September 2022
Proud cloud template - September 2022
Information for Parents
The EYFS curriculum for parents/carers handout
Dough disco information leaflet
Letters and Sounds Phase 1 booklet
Letters and Sounds Phase 2 booklet
Letters and Sounds Phase 3 booklet
Coppice Primary School and Nursery - Early language development booklet for parents
Small Talk booklet - age related expectations related to communication
Communication friendly environments
Finger Rhymes
Stay and Play sessions
Each term we have a stay and play session so parents, carers and other family member can join us in Squirrels class to see what we do. The children love showing everyone their classroom and the type of activities we do every day in Squirrels class. We always end with an activity for both children and adults. This could be a story, a squiggle, a dough disco or a dance! Who knows!! We like to keep it a surprise!!
The children love showing their grown ups the Squirrels classroom and EYFS outside area. We cannot wait to welcome you to our stay and play sessions this year!
Have a question or concern?
We understand that there are times when you might have a question or concern! You have an open door policy in our school and you are always welcome and to come and speak to any member of staff. You can email me at Squirrels@coppice.derbyshire.sch.uk or our EYFS co-ordinator, Miss Harrison, at kharrison4@coppice.derbyshire.sch.uk. Alternatively you can ring school on 01773 712840 and we will do all we can to help.
Helping at home
There are lots of things you can do to help your child. We don't have formal homework in Squirrels class but below are some ideas of what you can do which are quick and easy and will help your child consolidate skills we have taught in school. Look on each topic web for some challenges we have set the children to help them gain extra points for their reward chart in school! If you would like any help or support please ask any member of EYFS staff. We would be more than happy to help with ideas!
Reading
Your child has a reading folder which includes flashcards, a homework book and reading book. Please practise these for 5 - 10 minutes every night if possible. We will hear your child read every week in school and will practise letter sounds and high frequency words in our Twinkl Phonic activities.
Phonics
Every week your child will have a phonics activity to complete at home. As we move through Level 2 and Level 3 phonics they will also be bringing flashcards home to practise.
Writing
Encourage your child to write their names on invitations and cards reminding them to have a capital letter at the beginning! As they learn their letter sounds help them practise writing them using the correct letter formation.
Mathematics
Play board games such as 'snakes and ladders' to encourage your child to count spaces to move their counters forwards or backward. When you are walking as the children to count how many foot steps from one place to another and ask the children to identify different numbers they see on doors or buses. Practise counting in order to at least twenty and backwards to zero.
Life skills
Encourage your child to put on and fasten their own coat, to put on their own shoes and to get dressed and undress by themselves. Remind them to wash their hands after going to the toilet and before eating a meal. When eating encourage your child to use a knife and fork correctly.