Welcome to Cygnus Class! We are the Foundation Stage incorporating Nursery and Reception. We take Nursery children from the term after their third birthday and they can attend morning sessions from 8.50 am to 11.50 am. 

Mrs Hulbert is our teacher and Mrs Freeman teaches us on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Miss Fage also works with us to support the children in their learning.

We hope you enjoy reading about all the exciting learning we do and looking at the photos of our exploits.

The new class of 2023 2024 have settled into their new school and class very well and have made a very positive and encouraging start to their learning journey. What an exciting journey it is going to be!   We are very much looking forward to taking this journey with them all the way through their first year at school. We are excited to see them grow and flourish through investigation and exploration in a nurturing and enabling environment. The children will be encouraged to use all their senses to explore the environment around them and to engage with the adults and each other to extend their language and develop their social skills. Adults will interact with the children during activities to develop their confidence and resilience. Through play and practical activities, we will enable the children to have a thirst for learning and to be strong and independent through positive relationships with staff and each other. Adults will respond to the interests and needs of the children and plan to adapt the learning where necessary to help the children build their learning over time. We understand that children learn and develop different rates and will always consider this when working with the children. We will assess and review what the children have learned regularly and the children will be taught to become reflective learners themselves and to revisit their learning each day so that it can be stored in their long term memory. This will increase their confidence  at recalling learning and embeds the learning deepening understanding.

The learning takes place inside the classroom and outside in the lovely garden. We are very lucky to have a bright and welcoming classroom with lots of exciting resources and a lovely garden with lots of space and equipment. Both areas reflect the seven areas of learning that are a requirement for Reception children. They are taught taking into consideration equality of opportunity  and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.

The children will be assessed on entry to Reception through the Reception Baseline Assessment which is carried out in the first six weeks that the children enter Reception class. (more info in documents below).They will then be assessed again at the end of their Reception year using the Foundation stage profile which measures progress against the Early Learning Goals.

We hope you will enjoy the journey with us and see how your child grows and develops in so many ways. It is a real privilege to be part of their journey.

Enjoy looking through the pictures below to see how the children's journey began.

Here are some of the things the children need to enjoy the fun:

Our Forest School session is on Tuesday afternoon.

For Forest school and playing in the outdoor area in bad weather the children need waterproof trousers, a waterproof jacket and wellies, these also need to stay at school.

Our PE session is yet to be decided and will probably start after Christmas in the Spring term. When it starts the children can come to school in their PE kit on that day.

PLEASE ENSURE ALL CLOTHING AND KITS ARE CLEARLY NAMED!

Supporting your child's learning at home: 

We have put some documents below which you might find useful - Our knowledge organiser for the first half term will let you know what we are learning about so that you can talk to your children about it at home or share books etc, maybe put something in the yellow news book which relates to the topic e.g. an Autumn leaf that you have found on a walk, tickets for a visit to the zoo.

I have also added a document which lists the Early Learning Goals and the steps which lead to the them - this is what the children will be expected to achieve by the end of their Reception year. All our learning is planned to meet those expectations.

You will be informed as the year progresses, how your child is progressing towards them at Parents' evening and interim reports. We will also be holding some open mornings/afternoons where you can come and share the learning with your children. There is also a document which will support you in helping your child with their reading at home, giving you some ideas of the types of questions you can ask them, but always remember to ensure the reading is fun AND NOT A CHORE!  You should have received login details for Oxford Reading Buddy which is an online platform for you to share some lovely books with your children. If you have not received them or are having a problem please speak to the school office. I will also be sending home little workbooks for you to work on your child's phonics with them. 

I hope you find this useful in supporting your children at home towards their goals.

Our topic for the Autumn term 2023 is Humans and Other Animals.

Please see the Knowledge organiser to give you an idea of what the children will be learning and how you can support them at home to learn the vocabulary we will be using and to learn some of the facts and how to find them. 

Our topic for the Spring term is Explorers. Please see the Knowledge organiser to give you an idea of what the children will be learning so that you can support them at home or take them on outings to extend and reinforce the learning. You can also support them by helping them to learn the facts and new vocabulary they will be using.

Cygnus Class 2023 2024. See what fun we have when we are learning.

We have settled so well into our new class and have learned so much already. Our topic is Humans and other animals and so far we have found out about our school community and met all the people who help us there. We have learned about people who help us out in the community too including the emergency services. Now we are learning all about animals tame and wild and have been finding out how to look after them and some of their features like paws, sharp claws, whiskers, fur and walking on four legs. 

In our phonics lessons we have already learned so many sounds and we are so clever that we can blend the sounds together to help Fred the frog to hear and say spoken words that have been broken down.

Mrs Hulbert is very proud of us and knows that this learning journey is going to be so exciting. So keep checking in and join us on our amazing journey through our Early years.

Photo gallery

How Can I help my child with their learning?

Below you will find some documents to help you understand how the children in Early Years Foundation stage learn, how you can support them and the expectation for what they will achieve by the end of their Reception Year.

Here are some websites you might find useful to support your child's learning at home, but please remember, not too much screen time, they would much rather be spending time with you!

Also please remember to keep your children safe on line by supervising them at all times when using the internet.

www.phonicsplay.co,uk   click on 'free' and select phase 2 or 3 games.

www.ictgames.com/phonemePopLS v2

www.mathscats.com/explore/poygons.html

www.topmarks.co.uk  - Maths games counting and ordering

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/numberblocks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/shows/alphablocks

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

https://www.ictgames.com/phonicsPop/index.html

In addition to these, please take some time to look at the article below to give you some ideas for supporting your child's learning. It will direct you to some helpful apps.

Early Years apps approved by DfE to help families support children with home learning

NEWS - 19 FEBRUARY 2020

Parents are now able to benefit from new technology to support their children learning at home, with 6 new apps available to improve reading, writing and speaking. These apps cover activities ranging from interactive story books, handwriting exercises using Artificial Intelligence, and educational video games. The technology announcement comes as new data reveals three quarters of children aged five and under have used smartphone or tablet apps at least once in the last six months to learn.

The expert panel who accredited the apps, chaired by Professor Jackie Marsh of the University of Sheffield and appointed by the Department for Education, included children’s digital media consultants, early learning charities and researchers at universities.

The 6 apps - published on the Hungry Little Minds website – are part of the government’s drive to help parents make informed decisions about the use of technology in creating positive learning environments at home.

In new research published on 21^st February 2020 by the Department for Education, early education at age two for disadvantaged children is found to have a positive impact on their speaking ability, with learning at home contributing to this. Over half of parents surveyed (52%) say they played pretend games together or took turns playing fun activities with their child every day.

The data highlights the important work by the government to tackle the barriers some parents face in supporting their child’s learning at home, including time, confidence and ideas of things to do.

To take a look, go to: https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/

Our Topic for the Spring term 2023 is Our Blue Planet.

Please have a look at our Knowledge Organiser for the topic so that you can share in your child's learning. It will help you to know what the children's learning will include and may give you some ideas for how you can support and consolidate learning at home.

Our topic for the Autumn term is Inventors and inventions.  Here are some of the things your child will be learning during this topic.  I hope this helps you to support them with vocabulary, reading, research and some trips and visits with your family.