The Petham journey begins with the smallest members of our school in Robin’s class and what fun we have! Throughout the year we delve into 6 learning journeys including:
We aim to create an exciting and engaging curriculum which fosters young children’s natural curiosity and love of learning. We are very lucky to have such beautiful grounds at Petham and we have daily opportunities to learn outdoors.
In Robins Class we learn through play with the support of our caring and experienced staff who help to develop and encourage the children’s ideas, explorations and new friendships. Our children are encouraged to be problem solvers, independent thinkers and confident learners. We work closely with our parents so that we can develop your child’s education together. Our main aim is to ensure your child is happy and has a positive and exciting learning experience at our school.
The learning in Robins Class follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). If you would like to view the Development Matters curriculum, please click here.
There are seven areas of development which the children will be assessed against throughout the year. Children are expected to achieve a 'Good Level of Development' (GLD) by the end of the school year.
This is achieved by meeting the Early Learning Goals (ELG's) which can be seen below.
A link to the full Early Years Profile can be found below.
If you would like to read our Intent, Implementation, Impact statement then please click here.
Term 2
This term we will be exploring traditional tales. We will be reading lots of familiar tales whilst also introducing alternative tales and reading tales from other cultures. Throughout the term we will also be celebrating many exciting events such as Diwali, Remembrance Day and of course – Christmas!
Please see our Topic Webs below.
We will be teaching phonics and reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised. It is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) developed for schools by schools. Based on the original Letters and Sounds, it has been extensively revised to provide a complete teaching programme.
Phase 1 is taught throughout Nursery and school through the use of listening games. This phase is aimed at developing children’s ability to distinguish between different sounds as well as being able to form sounds.
In Phase 2 and Phase 3, letters and their sounds are introduced one at a time. A set of grapheme is taught each week, in the following sequence:
Autumn Term 1: s a t p i n m d g o c k ck e u r h b f l
Autumn Term 2: ff ll ss j v w x y z zz qu ch sh th ng nk
Spring Term 1: ai ee igh oa oo oo ar or ur ow oi ear air er
As soon as each set of graphemes is introduced, children will be encouraged to use their knowledge of the letter sounds to blend and sound out words. For example, they will learn to blend the sounds s-a-t to make the word sat. They will also start learning to segment words. For example, they might be asked to find the letter sounds that make the word tap from a small selection of magnetic letters.
When teaching phonics we teach children the pure sounds. For example, instead of saying the letter name like ‘em’ for M or ‘muh’ we teach the sound /m/. This then supports the children when reading as they will be able to correctly sound out the word to blend the sounds together to read the word.
If you would like to hear the pronunciation of each sound for the first term please see the video links below.
During Term 1, we will be running a Phonics Parent's Workshop to introduce you to Little Wandle SSP.
Phase 2 Autumn 1 Pronunciation
Phase 2 Autumn 2 Pronunciation
Phase 3 Spring 1 Pronunciation
In Maths we explore numbers, shape, space and measures. Throughout the year we will be building strong mathematical foundations for number, starting on numbers to 5.
Our teacher led Maths sessions will include sorting, matching and comparing activities. We will use rhymes and games to support our understanding of numbers to 5, alongside learning how to compare, compose and represent these numbers. We will also explore positional language, measurements and shapes.
The EYFS curriculum places great emphasis on the impact of play and how this supports a child’s learning and development. We have child initiated sessions in both the morning and the afternoon for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world, technological skills, communication and language, speaking and listening, building and developing relationships, expressive arts and imagination. This time consolidates a child’s understanding and allows them to put their skills in to practice and develop them independently. Having the freedom to follow their own interests will develop critical thinking, decision making, narrative and extend relationships as children play together.
At Petham we use Tapestry to record your child's learning and development. Tapestry is a fantastic way for you to share your child's achievements from home with us too, we love seeing the activities you do at home and it makes the children so proud to share these with their friends in the classroom. We frequently use Tapestry to post important updates about events happening in school too so please check your account regularly! If you ever need any support with Tapestry please get in touch.
In Robins Class our PE day is Monday. Please ensure the children wear their PE kits to school.
If you have any further questions or concerns please speak to a member of the EYFS team. We are always available at pick-up times. You can also phone or email the school office or contact us directly on Tapestry and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Best Wishes,
Miss Grace, Mrs Fenech, Ms Palmer and Mrs Jenkins