NEW INTAKE

Early Years & Foundation Stage

Hello and welcome to Reception at

Barnack Primary School.

Welcome to Barnack Primary School, set in the most wonderful grounds right at the heart of the community.

It is a school with an exciting spirit and one where the children are at the heart of all we do.

“Those who hope in the Lord will

renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles” Isaiah 40:31

EYFS Curriculum

In Reception we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum providing a safe, happy and caring environment, in which children learn through purposeful and carefully planned play. There is a mixture of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Within our learning environments we foster the children’s interest, needs and stages of development, offering activities that extend, enrich and develops their potential.

Learning in Reception takes place both indoors and outdoors whatever the weather. Children are encouraged to dress appropriately when learning outdoors and have access to wetsuits and will wear their wellington boots in wet weather. It is therefore vital that your child has adequate clothing in school for the weather; in the colder months we suggest your child comes to school with a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves.

Within the EYFS curriculum there are seven areas of learning and development, all of which are important and interlinked. The three prime areas reflect the key skills all children need to develop and learn effectively. The three prime areas are:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development

There are then four specific areas of learning through which the prime areas are strengthen and applied. The four specific areas are:

Literacy (Reading and Writing)
Mathematics (Number, Shape Space and Measure)
Understanding the world (People and Communities, The World, Technology)
Expressive Arts and Design.

Tapestry

We share snapshots of the children’s learning on an online learning journal that only parents can access. We encourage you to look weekly at what your child has been up to in school and to comment and share their own experiences of learning from home.

Starting Checklist

Forest School

At Barnack we are lucky enough to have our own Forest School facilities. Forest School is a safe environment where children learn outdoors in all weathers, always appropriately dressed in wet suits and wellington boots. During Forest School children engage in a range of experience such as making campfires and gain skills using tools and building dens.

Educational visits

Throughout the school year we aim to engage in a range of first hand experiences with the children; any visits we go on are linked to learning and are a great way to deepen and embed the children’s learning. Educational workshops or experiences may also take place within school grounds; such as visits from the Fire Brigade or exotic animal handlers.

Read Write Inc Phonics

At Barnack we teach early reading and writing through the Read Write Inc programme. Through the programme children are taught to:

Recognise letter sounds and say them in their purest form
Form letters correctly by saying a letter formation rhyme
Orally blend sounds in words
Decode words using ‘Fred talk’ to read
Read common exception ‘tricky red’ words on sight
Show an understanding of what they have read
Segment sounds in words using ‘Fred talk’ and ‘Fred fingers’

The children take part in daily Read Write Inc sessions that initially last 15-20 minutes.

The children are assessed every half term and grouped according to their current level of development.

Further information can be found in the parents section at www.ruthmiskin.com

Resource Videos

Reading at home

We feel that parental support is vital to children’s learning; we therefore encourage parents to spend some quality time with their child at home. Sharing a book together at home can be invaluable and can help promote reading for enjoyment in a relaxed and social situation.

When your child starts in Reception, your child will choose a book twice a week; every Tuesday and Friday. We do not expect your child to be able to read the books independently, our aim is for your child to enjoy listening to others read to them, join in with repeated patterns and for you to talk about the pictures in the book together.

As we progress through the year, your child will bring home books linked to their development in Phonics. We will notify you of any changes to reading and any home expectations as we go through the year.

Ethos Statement

Road

School Uniform

At Barnack we take pride in our appearance and have high expectations for school uniform at all times. Please ensure all items of uniform are named; without being named it is very hard to return items to the correct child.

Barnack school uniform includes:

Burgundy t-shirt (logo or plain)
Burgundy jumper or cardigan (logo or plain)
White polo shirt
Grey trousers, shorts, skirt, dress
Tights should be plain grey
Black shoes (no trainers)
Summer months: Burgundy summer dress for girls

If your child has their ears pierced, only studs can be worn in school, as hoops can be a safety hazard.

If you child has long hair we asked that this is tied back at all times.

At Barnack your child will take part in two PE lessons a week. These will take place both inside and outside, so it is important your child is appropriately dressed. They should always have their PE kit in school in a named bag on their peg.

A Barnack PE kit includes:

Burgundy t-shirt (logo or plain)
Black shorts
Black jogging bottoms
Plimsolls or trainers (please ensure you check these still fit your child regularly)

School uniform and PE kits can be purchased from most major supermarkets (Tesco, Asda etc), Marks and Spencer or Total Clothing on Shrewsbury Avenue (www.totalclothingshop.co.uk).

Barnack Primary School