Welcome to Downs View! Thought it would be useful to introduce myself and the Foundation Stage team. I have been teaching for sixteen years and have taught in both Foundation Stage and Year 1 during that time. I have been the Foundation Stage Team leader for the last 8 years. I have a daughter Olivia who is now seven and a son Benjamin who is now 3. I have always wanted to teach and enjoy watching the progress that all the children make in their first year at school.
As you are aware there are three foundation classes;-
Owls
Teacher and Foundation Stage Team Leader: Mrs Smith
Teaching Assistant: Mrs Sutton and Mrs Popham (on a Wednesday)
1: 1 Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Scott
Hedgehogs
Teacher: Mrs Waters
Teaching Assistant: Mrs Bridges
1: 1 Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Fox
Foxes
Teachers: Mrs Hunt and Mrs Hodge
Teaching Assistant: Mrs Andrews
1: 1 Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Smith
Floating Teaching Assistants
For all three Foundation Stage classes, they are Mrs Bennett and Mrs Troman, who provide support to all three classes working with groups, individuals and whole classes.
Please feel free to approach us if you have any problems / queries or would just like a chat! I would also like to take the opportunity to thank you for letting us undertake the recent home visits. I hope you found them as useful and informative as we did.
What can you do to help?
Encourage friendships outside of school i.e. invite a friend home to play
Talk about things that your child has enjoyed / disliked about their day
Encourage independence i.e. let them put their own shoes, clothes, coats on.
Share both school reading books and their own books
Make up their own stories
Share traditional fairy stories
Recite rhymes
Sound and word recognition (words will be stuck in the monkey reading diary weekly)
Count objects at home / on the way to school i.e. how many red cars can they see
Sort objects according to colour / size / shape
Use Espresso, an ICT tool at home (www.espresso.co.uk username: 17375 password: 123wow)
I hope that this and the topic information overleaf have given you an insight into some of the things that we are up to. Come and ask if you are unsure of anything and please try and find time to attend the workshops, parents evenings and informal class visits that we will be providing throughout the year to show you how you can help further.
Thank you
Claire Smith (Foundation Stage Team Leader) and the Foundation Stage team.
These photos capture the love of learning which children in EYFS have. They have high levels of well-being and involvement and grow in confidence and independence daily.
