![Early-years-image Early-years-image](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/early-years-image.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
Mrs Wharton
![Mrs Wharton(1) Mrs Wharton(1)](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/mrswharton(1).jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
I am Mrs Wharton and this will be my sixth year as the Foundation Stage teacher at St. Peter's. l support all the children in their learning journey in EYFS at St. Peter's and love to see the progress they make throughout the year. I love P.E. as I'm always very active and I like to burn off some of my excess energy! My twin daughters also attended St. Peter's and they loved every minute! In my spare time I love going for walks, swims and bike rides, and in the summer months I can often be found in Wales at my caravan.
Mrs Rowlinson
![Mrs Rowlinson(1) Mrs Rowlinson(1)](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/mrsrowlinson(1).jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
Hi, I'm Mrs Rowlinson and am very experienced in Foundation Stage, having worked in here for 10 years. I always have the best interests of the children at heart and try to think of fun activities for them to do, especially if it includes art and crafts, which I love! I have two daughters, who both came to St. Peter's themselves, so I know what a kind and caring school it is. Out of school I enjoy taking my dog, Buzz, for walks, so don't forget to wave if you see me on your travels!
Mrs Pilling
My name is Mrs Pilling and although I am new to St Peter's, I already recognise lots of children from their time spent with me at Woolston Hub learning how to swim!
I am very excited to be working with Foundation Stage and am looking forward to meeting all of the wonderful new children who will be joining us here.
In my spare time I love to swim and go on walks with my family.
![IMG_4513 IMG_4513](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/img_4513_20230927142824966.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
Overview of Foundation Stage
The Reception Class is your child's final year of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). We aim to have fun while learning the new skills we need for the future.
This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for Year One, as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes.
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.
Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
These prime areas are those most essential for your child's healthy development and future learning.
The prime areas will help children to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding of the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.
Foundation Stage and KS1 follow the Letters and Sounds ‘Little Wandle’ scheme for phonics.
All about Foundation Stage
Expectations in Foundation Stage
In Foundation Stage, we expect children to start developing their independence and we ask that children are able to dress themselves, including doing their own shirt buttons (not their top button - these can be tricky!), putting on skirts and trousers, putting on their own tights/socks and shoes.
In the dinner hall, we encourage all children to pick up and use a knife and fork correctly, as we feel that this is an important life skill.
Children are expected to go to the toilet independently. Spare clothes will be provided if an accident should happen.
Children have access to their water bottles throughout the day.
Children will put their snack in the basket each morning as they come into school. We kindly ask that all snacks are clearly labelled with your child's name. Alternatively, they may order toast and juice, milk or water at the beginning of each week from the kitchen.
Our Foundation Stage Environment
Parent Stay and Learn Sessions
Each term, parents are invited to a Stay and Learn Session where they have the opportunity to take part in their child's learning at the start or end of the day. This helps parents to understand what learning in Foundation Stage looks like.
Comments from parents attending the sessions:
- Lovely to see all the children working hard and expressing themselves,
- Really nice idea inviting parents in and giving them the opportunity to see what happens during the day,
- It's lovely to see what they do in school and how they do things e.g. ordering lunch,
- Really enjoyed seeing our child during their school day. Very engaging!
Comments from the children:
- It will help me,
- I was happy to show our learning,
- I was excited to share what we know,
- We matched animals to their habitats together.
Tapestry
In Foundation Stage, we record your child's learning journey using the online learning journal, Tapestry. We ask that parents upload photos to Tapestry that support their child's learning development, at least twice a week. Please see the document below for further information.
P.E. Information
P.E. will take place on a Tuesday. Children will need the correct P.E. kit consisting of a black t-shirt with logo, maroon shorts, black St. Peter’s hoodie or school jumper, extra socks. On cold days, children may wear black tracksuit bottoms/leggings. A school tracksuit is also available. All St. Peter's clothes can be ordered through Touchline UK Warrington. We ask that the children come into school wearing their P.E. kits on a Tuesday.
English
In Foundation Stage, English comes under the title 'Literacy' in our Early Learning Goals (E.L.G.) which has three strands, Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing. This encompasses writing, reading and phonics. Each week, the children will take part in a focused writing activity with an adult. In addition to this, children have weekly challenges to complete independently which enable them to apply what they are learning.
Phonics and Reading
Everyday the children are delivered a phonics lesson, where we follow the Government advised Letters and Sound ‘Little Wandle’ scheme. In the Reception class we focus on the Phases 2, 3 and 4 phonemes and graphemes.
Children take part in a small group Reading Practise session three times per week. The same book will be read each in each of these 3 sessions with a different objective for each read. The first session of the week will focus on developing decoding skills, exposing your child to the graphemes that they have already been taught. Each book will be 90% decodable so that the children will develop more independence in reading and feel achievement even in the first few weeks of the Autumn Term. The second Reading Practise session will focus on the skill of fluency, children will re-read text that they are familiar with as well as copy the phrasing modelled by their Teacher. The third Reading Practise session will look at comprehension skills, how well the children can answer questions about what has happened in the text and use pictures and words to find the answer to a question. These books will also be sent home for your child to read throughout the week. Books must be in your child's bookbag each day.
These sessions will start within the first few weeks of your child entering Foundation Stage.
A Phonics information Evening for parents is held each year by our school's Phonics and Early Reading Subject Leader and your child's class Teacher. At this meeting we will talk to you indepth of what we teach, how we teach and why we teach phonics and reading skills as well as providing you with many activities and resources that you can use at home to support your child.
Each week your child will take home 2 reading books:
- Phonics Phased Book - This book is matched to your child’s individual phonics level. Your child’s teacher makes continuous phonics assessments based on their reading throughout the year, these assessments will inform your child’s phase level. All words contained within this book should be decodable for your child.
- Reading for Pleasure Book - This book is chosen by your child from their class library. It is a book for children and parents to share together. The aim of this book is to promote a love of reading.
As well as learning to read in Practise Reading sessions, children take part in daily Phonics lessons which last around 30 minutes. At St. Peter's we follow Letters and Sounds 'Little Wandle' scheme.
Click on the attachments below to find out more about the ‘Little Wandle’ phonics scheme that we use, progression of graphemes and phonemes and helpful information and advice to support your child at home. Find further support at the Little Wandle website.
![Unknown Unknown](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/unknown.png?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
Recommended Reading Books
Please click on the image below to see a list of 50 books recommended for Reception.
![unnamed (3) unnamed (3)](/warrington/primary/stpeters/arenas/websitecontent/web/unnamed(3).jpg?width=1920&height=1080&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
Maths
In Foundation Stage, the Mathematics E.L.G. has two strands, Number and Numerical Patterns. Every day the children have a class Mathematics lesson and each week the children take part in at least one focused Mathematics activity with an adult and this is usually very practical. We follow the White Rose scheme of work to provide consistency with the rest of the school.
Please see the Development Matters document below for further information on what the children are expected to know to reach their E.L.G.
Homework
Homework begins in the Autumn Term. It is given out on a Friday and is to be returned no later than Tuesday of the following week. The first homework that we give out each year is letter formation based on the phonemes that we have been learning that week. As the year progresses out homework can be Mathematics or Topic related. In EYFS the homework can often be very practical and in these weeks we ask that you upload a photo or example of your child's work to Tapestry.
Long Term Plan
For further information and details regarding our curriculum, please look under the Curriculum tab and select the subject you wish to view.