Chestnut Class.

The Early Years Foundation Stage and Year 1

Miss Scrivener and Mrs. Morgan welcome you to the Chestnut Class page.

Please take some time to explore our page for a flavour of what it is like to be part of Chestnut Class here at Welland Primary School.

Click the link below to see our most recent Curriculum Newsletter which offers a more in-depth look at what we are doing this term.

Our Classroom.

We are very fortunate to have a lovely classroom which is well resourced and purposefully set up with an outdoor area enjoying beautiful views across the adjoining field.

The classroom is set up to provide children with numerous learning opportunities through formal teaching, focus groups, continuous provision and play-based learning.

Our continuous provision allows familiarity for the children in the classroom and with their provision and resources, accompanied by enhancing provision to further their learning in these areas. Our Year 1 children still have opportunities to access some of our continuous provision amongst their more structured learning. 

What does learning look like in Chestnut?

Phonics.

We use a scheme called Read, Write, Inc. which helps to ensure that every child is able to read and write with fluency and accuracy from the moment they come in to school. 

We start our daily Phonics sessions after break. A typical session starts with a handwriting or fine-motor control focus. We then move into Speed Sounds, where children learn new sounds and revise ones they already know. We then use 'Fred Talk' to read green words containing our new sound or those previously learnt. We then learn or revise green and red words which correlate to a story, partner read the story and implement this knowledge into a variety of writing tasks.

We give the children many opportunities to explore Phonics in our continuous provision both inside and outside of the classroom.

Literacy.

We encourage a love of story reading and re-telling. We encourage lots of role-play and small world play based on books to foster a love of reading and storytelling.

Drawing club is an initiative that we are using to support children's literacy. All children will be taking part in Drawing club. This is an adventure into story. Drawing is the hook, the fine motor and the joy that can naturally lead children into the joy of writing, reading and mathematics and the next steps they can take to move forward. Each week, we will share a story, including animations, fiction and traditional stories. It’s a period of time together, to explore and adventure around stories. Our Year 1 children are supported in early sentence writing, building a solid understanding of capital letters, full stops nd finger spaces. They are also taught specific grammar conventions such as nouns, adjectives and verbs. 

Later in the year Reception children will be supported to apply their learnt phonics skills to begin writing in a range of styles, including both fiction and non-fiction.

A love of reading is also achieved through a much-loved initiative by the children in Chestnut Class called Reading Buddies. Each week, the children from Chestnut pair up with a child in Oak Class (Year 6) to enjoy exploring stories together.

Mathematics.

Maths is all around us!

 In Reception, children are introduced to numbers and counting, starting to use basic mathematical language. An interest in Maths and problem solving is encouraged through games and engaging learning opportunities.

Much of your child’s learning will come from exploring and talking about maths in the world around them. The children participate in lots of practical based activities, both in and out of the classroom, to help both stimulate children's learning.

Our Year 1 and Reception children are taught separetely for Maths. The children in Reception have a mixture of independent, teacher led and group tasks to complete in Maths sessions and they are offered an array of apparatus and materials to enhance their learning areas. We also have a daily Maths Fluency session to really enhance children's number sense.

Children in Year 1 have a more structured Maths lesson, focusing on building a solid number knowledge and Maths understanding. Children are taught using concrete apparatus, pictures and animations to cement a good understanding of Maths concepts. 

Understanding the World and Woodland Wonder.

For our Reception children, Understanding the World is an area of the Early Years Foundation Stage and is used to develop children's appreciation and understanding of Past and Present, People, Cultures and Communities and The Natural World.

Children show this in range of ways; talking about themselves and their family, the similarities and differences between people, observing animals or plants and how they differ and how the world around them is different from place to place. They also learn about the range of different technologies in the world and how each one has a specific role or purpose.

Woodland Wonder gives the children wonderful learning opportunity outside of the classroom, in a more natural setting, where they can truly begin to develop an appreciation and understanding of the natural world. Woodland Wonder creates a safe and nurturing environment where children can engage in new learning opportunities and take risks.

Our Year 1 children will deepen their understanding of the world with more structured History, Geography, R.E and Science lessons. Lessons always aim to be delivered in a hands-on, fun and interactive way. Year 1 children will also have opportunities to build on their own learning trough activities set out during continuous provision. 

Physical Development (Gross and Fine motor skills)

and P.E.

Physical Education is vital for children as it helps to keep them active and healthy. 

The children have access to a range of resources that encourage them to develop their gross motor skills, from balance bikes to obstacle course building. The children are encouraged to build their independence through risk taking and this in turn helps with muscle strengthening.

There are learning opportunities in provision for children to develop their fine motor skills, supporting them to children strength in their hands ready for writing. 

Children partake in weekly P.E. lessons where they develop fundamental skills such as safely navigating space, balancing and teamwork. They also have opportunities to develop ball skills, such as throwing, catching, rolling and stopping as well as gymnastics, dance, athletics and games.

Thank you for taking the time to delve a little deeper in to life in Chestnut Class!

If you have any queries, please email Miss Scrivener - hscrivener@wellandps.org.uk