Dear Parents/ Guardians,
Welcome to Year 1 and 2. My name is Mrs. Fox and I am delighted to be teaching your child this year. I am the Foundation Phase leader and the Assistant Head teacher. I am passionate about teaching and enjoy watching children gain confidence and progress. This year I will be working alongside Mrs. Beamson, we also have another teacher Miss Grimes-Thomas working alongside us up until Christmas.
Teaching and learning will encompass the four purposes and include literacy, numeracy and the digital competency frameworks through cross-curricular themes. The six areas of learning experiences are as follows:
- Expressive Arts
- Health and Well-being
- Humanities
- Languages, Literacy and Communication
- Mathematics and Numeracy
- Science and Technology
At the start of this term, the children will have an opportunity to discuss what they would they would like to learn about and together we will create a plan for our Autumn Term. The outside area will be an integral part of our teaching with children having easy access to the outside. The pupils will develop skills and knowledge, through a range of stimulating and motivating experiences. We will work collaboratively to find out answers to our ‘big questions’ posed by the pupils.
Our theme for this term will be ‘Light up the World.’ We want to find out about what makes us shine and what makes us special. Our theme will focus on the stories ‘The Dot’, ‘Colour Monsters and ‘Zog’. This theme will take us on a journey to explore our feelings, emotions and discover our hidden talents. We will find out how to reach our goals and what we need to do in order to achieve them.
The children will assist in the planning process and I am hopeful that they will come up with some fantastic ideas to explore and develop.
On September 15th, we will be celebrating ‘International Dot Day,’ so the children can come to school dressed in all spots and dots! We will immerse ourselves in a range of dotty activities and be taking part in a live event hosted by the author, Peter H. Reynolds. The story focuses on the journey of a little girl who always says ‘I can’t!’ and we will be finding out how she overcomes this issue through a range of growth mindset and artistic activities.
Over the following weeks, we will find out about different talents, jobs and listen to inspirational stories of famous people from our local area, Wales and the wider world. We will explore different health and wellbeing activities by finding out about famous sports people, getting creative by exploring local artists, actors and musicians. We will find out about famous inventors and inventions and discover what makes us shine!
At the end of this half term, we will be collating all our knowledge and skills, to discover what our hidden talents are. We will then perform them in our very own ‘Sŵn y Don’s Got Talent Show! Where the children will plan and host the entire event by creating tickets, posters and even half-time refreshments to sell. Next half-term, we will be designing and making new inventions, then creating pitches to persuade our Dragon’s Den Panel which invention is the best and why.
The children have PE on a FRIDAY and FOREST SCHOOL on a WEDNESDAY. We ask that children come into school prepared for daily outdoor learning activities by wearing their active uniform and a cosy, waterproof coat during forest school sessions. The active uniform is essential for P.E.
Your child’s reading book will be changed on a MONDAY however reading takes place throughout the week so your child needs to ensure their book bag is in school EVERY DAY. Reading to or listening to your child read regularly will have a significant impact on their learning across the curriculum. Book bags are available to purchase for 50p.
In Foundation Phase, the children learn through focused and enhanced activities with an emphasis on play and we hope to develop their independence skills through these activities. Outdoor learning is an integral part of learning, we will use this space daily and in all weathers, so it is essential your child has a waterproof coat. It would be beneficial if you sent in a pair of wellies which can be kept at school to ensure learning can take place outdoors at all times and that the children are suitably dressed for these opportunities.
Individual learning targets will be set and reviewed as appropriate in school. If you would like some advice on what you can do at home to help or if you have any worries or concerns – please feel free to email me (hailwoods@hwbcymru.net) or ring the school and leave a message and I shall be in touch!
Kind Regards
Mrs Suzanne Fox