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Welcome to Lakeside Foundation Unit

We have been very lucky to have a new Foundation Unit built which has allowed F1 and F2 children to integrate and learn together in the same space since February 2020.   Our aim is to give your child the best start to their education and we believe that the children collaborating and learning together gives all the children the opportunity to thrive and become the best version of themselves.

If you have anything you wish to discuss, please feel free to speak to any member of the Foundation Stage Team, our aim is to make your child's experience of school a happy one.

F2 Visit to Old Moor RSPB Nature Reserve

F2 had a brilliant day out at Old Moor being nature detectives!  They searched for signs of Spring on a sensory walk, made cosy nests for birds, identified different bird calls, created magical scented potions in the herb garden and pond dipped to find out about all of the tiny creatures living below the surface of the water.  A delicious picnic lunch was enjoyed by all and there was even time for a well-earned snooze on the coach back to school!

Here's Zog!

The children have met their new class dinosaur. The children discussed where he might have came from. Did he actually hatch out of an egg! How long did it take for him to hatch?

Zog is going to be exploring and finding out all about dinosaurs alongside the c

Watch out! There's a dinosaur about!

Our new topic is all about dinosaur's. The children will be playing in the small world area, measuring and talking about a dinosuars size. We will be learning lot's of interesting facts and reading some dinosaur linked stories and books. 

Here's a few pictures of the new resources the children are going to be investigating.

Fabulous Imagination!

This week the early years children have produced some amazing creative pictures and models. The Reception children have also started to learn how to write number sentences and add two amounts together.

The Three Little Pigs!

The children have all learnt the story of the three little pigs and then had the chance to perform to thier friends.

The children have all been very creative in all areas of the setting this week. We have had some amazing 'Loose parts' art creations and some fantastic story telling in the farm area.

Small World Play

Next week the children will be able to develop storylines as they play.

We are reading 'The Three Little Pigs', so we have created a farm area. In the reading area we have added some puppets so the children can recall and retell the story. 

'Cinderella'

This week in Early Years we have read 'Cinderella'.

The children have built some amazing castles using lots of different resources, here are just a few examples of what they have created.

The children have also built castles using boxes outside and in the creative area. In the art and painting area the children have been using pastels to draw castles and a place for Cinderella to live.  

'Goldilocks And The Three Bears'

The Children have produced some amazing clay models this week and they have tried the bears favourite food-'Porridge'.

I hope you agree that some of the clay models are fantastic!

The children have also been drawing some very detailed 'Goldilocks' pictures  and some very impressive story maps.

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

The children have all settled back into the school routine beautifully. We would like to welcome the early starters who have joined us at Lakeside and we are all looking forward to getting to know you during this first half term. 

Our new topic is called 'Once Upon a Time', and our first focus story is 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

Here are some pictures of what the children have been doing so far.......

Look out for more posts over the next few weeks.......

Happy Christmas!

We would like to wish all a happy Christmas and a peaceful new year.

The children have had a busy last week and have enjoyed making models, pictures and playing together.

Fireworks, Diwali and Remembrance

The children have been creating firework pictures this week as they recalled thier experience.

The children have also finished their Diwali pots this week. They have painted their pots adding glitter as they learnt about this special time of year.

Remembrance Poppies!

This week the children have drawn poppies and learnt about why we mark the 11th November.  

It's a new half term!

What a great start to the half term, we have had a busy week! 

We have read our first topic book, 'Owl Babies', we have talked about Halloween and we have been to Forest School.

Just take a look at some of the fantastic resources, learning and development that has taken place this week!

Owl Babies!

We have read the story, talked about how the young owls may feel, we have investiagted nocturnal animals, we have drawn and painted the characters from the story and we have started to write speech bubbles. 

Next Topic!

After the half term our topic is called 'Starry Night'.

The children will be learning about the world at night, why we need a good nights sleep, nocturnal animals and we will be reading the following books:

I have created a document that is attached below with all of the book details on if you would like to be able to read these books at home with your child/ren.

Happy Half Term!

The children have a busy end to their first half term, they created large scale models, explored colour mixing resources and produced some fabulous 'Leaf Man' creations. I have added some photos so you can see for yourselves how the children have settled, explored and are becoming independent learners here at Lakeside.

GtWe have been very busy!

The children are all settling in as they continue to explore their new environment! This week they have played in the water area, created some large scale models outside and talked about their community.

Forest School Fun

The children have made pictures using natural resources this week!

The children have also made some fabulous creations in the malleable area. They have used autumnal resources to create representations of people and to add decorations to thier cakes

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Reading at home

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/

Click on the link to find some additional books to support your child with reading

Chicks!

The children in the EYFS unit have absolutely loved the experience of watching chicks hatch from their eggs and grow.  It has created a sense of awe and wonder and allowed the children to witness first hand how chicks hatch from the eggs and how they need to be cared for.  The children have observed and asked questions as well as having the experience of handling them, understanding the need to be gentle and caring.  The children have also assisted with cleaning out the brooder, changing the bedding and topping up the food and ensuring they have clean water.  A fantastic experience for all.  We are also super lucky as the chicks are now living with Mrs Callan, allowing us to have daily updates and photos showing us how they are growing.

Bedtime Stories

The staff and children had a fantastic time on Monday evening, enjoying some cosy bedtime stories in their Pjs.  We enjoyed a hot chocolate and a cookie or two! All the children were so well behaved and it was such a pleasure to have them!

Bedtime Stories

We are super excited to welcome around 30 F2 children back to the unit on Monday evening to share some amazing stories whilst cosying up in our PJ's and drinking hot chocolate and eating a cookie or two!  Keep an eye out for some photos of the event!

Autumn 2

Welcome back, we hope you all managed to have a relaxing break.  The children settled in really well during the first half of the Autumn term and all the staff really enjoyed getting to know all of the children.

This half term our new topic is 'What Happens When I Fall Asleep?'  We will spend the first two weeks thinking about the moon and the stars and will be using the texts: 'How to Catch a Star' by Oliver Jeffers

How to catch a Star story on Youtube   and 'Papa, Please get the Moon for me' by Eric Carle  Papa, Please get the moon for me story on YouTube.  During these two weeks we will also be looking at Bonfire Night and Diwali which are both celebrated during these two weeks.

The following two weeks we will focus on bedtime routines followed by a week looking at nocturnal animals.

Finally we will spend the last two weeks of term thinking about Christmas, finding out all about the story behind Christmas and creating some Christmas crafts.

We look forward to another successful half term, watching the children develop and become confident learners.

Small World

Small world areas are a great place to develop language and vocabulary, spark imagination and develop story telling.  The children are enjoying helping to develop a new small world area in the outdoor area.  Here the children are helping Mrs Callan plant some new plants in the tyres which makes a great backdrop for a range of small worlds. 

Autumn Songs

All the children have worked super hard this term and we have loved learning some new autumn songs.  Click on the link to watch the children singing 'Mr Scarecrow' and 'Big Red Combine Harvester'

Mr Scarecrow

Big Red Combine Harvester

Maths

Don't forget to sign up to Maths with Parents! We currently have 3 children who have signed up.  

The children in F2 have started their focus maths inputs and have looked carefully at the numbers 1 and 2.  These sessions are introduced at the start of a week with an episode from Numberblocks which helps the children become engaged and excited to learn.  We look at the number, any corresponding shapes e.g. when looking at number one we also focus on the circle as it has one side, the number that is one more and one less and subitising plus plenty more.  We really want the children to know everything about these numbers!

Mental Health Awareness

Today we wore yellow to raise awareness for children's mental health.  We talked about what makes us feel happy and what we can do when we are feeling sad.  The children thought really carefully and came up with some lovely ideas such as going for a walk, getting a hug and eating!  Thank you for all of your  generous donations, they were all appreciated and will make a diffrernce to the lives of young people.

We asked the children:

What makes you happy?  Here are some of their reponses:

'My Gran Gran, he plays with me' Mason  F2

'My Grandad, I play with his electric train and you get to control it, fast or slow' Louie F2

'Mummy, she brings me to school' Ibrahim F2

'Jumping, because it is fun to jump' Inaya F2

We then asked the children 'What helps you feel better if you are sad?'

'My Grandmother is in Romania and I'd be happy to see her' Rares F2

'Going out for a walk' Hayley F2

'Going to the aquarium, I like to see the sharks'  Hussain F2

'If my mummy hug me and kiss me I feel happy' Haroon F2

'Mummy giving me food' Roman F2

RWI

This week we have started to follow the Read, Write Inc program.  The children have started to learn the sounds and the rhyme that goes with it to help with formation.  So far this week the children have learned the sounds 'm' and 'a'.  Has your child told you the rhyme? Maisy, mountain, mountain or round the apple and down the leaf?  The children have worked hard to have a go at writing these sounds and hear them at the start of words.  They will continue to learn a sound a day so be sure to ask them all about it at home time.  Any opportunity you get to help them with the formation would be appreciated.  If you are unsure yourself on how we teach the formation, please ask a member of staff.  We will be sending the rhymes home for you to enable you to support your child!  Some of the children have wowed us with their efforts!  See the pictures of the work by Daniel and Roman! Super proud staff!

The children have learned m, a, s, d and t and are focussing on i, n, p, g and o this week!  We hope that the children are sharing their learning with you at home!  We have also spent a lot of time orally blending which we refer to as 'Fred Talk' at school.  This is where we sound out the word using the letter sounds and the children blend it back together to say the whole word e.g p-i-n = pin.  Try this out with your child as it is a vital skil to help with the development of reading and writing.

Settling In

All the staff in the Foundation Unit would like to say how proud we are of how calmly and happily the children have come to school.  It has been a strange transition process and the children have coped remakably well.  Now that the children are in full time we are completing our baseline assessments to see where each child is working at.  We will then begin our Read, Write, Inc programme and focussed maths inputs next week.  If you would like anymore information on Read, Write, Inc you will find this under the Parents tab on the main page of this website.

Covid-19

I know that we are going through a very strange time at the minute and it is strange that we are not at school together.  We want you to know that all the staff in the Foundation unit are thinking of you and want you to stay safe.  Paper packs of new home learning were available to collect for F2 children and most of the ones that weren't collected were delivered by the staff.  Myself and Miss Smith were lucky enough to see some of you when we delivered them! Others we had to post through the door.  I will continue to add work to the Home Learning section of the website each week too.  We are all looking forward to seeing you all again soon.  But for now, stay safe, have fun and enjoy this extra time with your families.

VLE

On the 22nd June we will be launching the VLE.  You should have all received login details for your child and the verification code for the school is 230257.  This is new to us all but hopefully you will agree that is a great resource.  This week I have added a reading task for F2 which involves watching a video to re-cap how we say the sounds, a reading activity linked to RWI using 'Fred Talk' and looking for 'Special Friends'.  I have then included a link to some of the RWI texts which I would like you to select and read.  

Summer 1 2021

Hi everyone, we have added a letter explaining all about the topic we are covering in Early Years this half term

Thanks from the Early Years Team