Welcome to FS1 

2024-2025 

Class Teacher: Mrs Anderson 

Teaching Assistant: Miss Channing 

Welcome to FS1, I hope that you have all had a happy and safe holiday. A very warm welcome to our new children and families, I am sure the children will all settle quickly into school life. A big welcome back to those children who have already started their school journey. I am sure they will help us to show the new children what to do too. 

I am very excited for the new school year and to be starting at Holy Family Catholic Primary School. I have been a teacher for many years, but FS1 is my favourite place to be. I have a family of 5 who keep me very busy at home as well as 2 cats and a dog. I enjoy reading and gardening in my spare time. 

Please remember the FS1 door is always open and if you have any queries or questions regarding your child or their education please do not hesitate to ask one of the FS1 staff. 

Just a few reminders: 

• Our morning session starts at 8.45 and finishes at 11.45. The afternoon session is 12.25 till 3.25. Please inform the office is someone else is collecting your child from school. 

• Please make sure that the office staff have your up to date contact details. 

• Please inform the office if your child is absent. 

• Please ensure your child brings a coat as we head into the cooler months, on wet days please also bring wellies for your child. We like to be outside in all weathers!  

• Make sure that your child comes to school in correct uniform, including ties and suitable footwear. 

• Please remember to label all your child's clothes. 

• Please provide your child with a water bottle. 

I am looking forward to an exciting and very busy year ahead and I can’t wait to start our learning journey together. 

Mrs Anderson

Back to School Prayer 

Thank you God for this new day, 

In my school to work and play, 

Please be with me all day long, 

In every story, game and song. 

Amen 

In RE the children have been learning about how Lent is marked in different ways around the world. The children listened to letters about ways that children around the world mark Lent (Italy and South America). The children made carnival masks and created patterns using natural materials.

The nursery children have been creating 3D landscape pictures using found objects.

The nursery children have been practising subitising and counting. The children had to practise saying what they could see. They had to say very quickly how many puffs of smoke they could see coming out of the volcano. The children also practised their counting and matched the towers to the correct numeral.

The nursery children have been learning all about life cycles and today the children were learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. We also talked about the importance of eating healthy foods. We completed lots of different activities such as making a healthy caterpillar, filter paper butterflies and playdough caterpillars to help us with our learning. The children thoroughly enjoyed having lots of visitors in the EYFS unit too!

The children watched a short video about the life cycle of a chicken and then ordered the pictures.

The nursery children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up for World Book Day. The day was full of stories and of course a trip to the Reading Room.

The nursery children joined in a national assembly about Lent from CAFOD.

We talked about Shrove Tuesday and the children made and tasted pancakes. The children enjoyed making pancakes out of playdough too. 

In nursery we talked about the simple symbols of Lent - the colour purple, seeds and growing. The children had fun mixing paints to create purple. It was lovely to see the awe and wonder as they rubbed their red and blue hands together and ended up with purple! The children planted seeds to remind them that Lent is a time to grow closer to God. We talked about the Ash Cross that the children will receive on Ash Wednesday. The children added their own Ash Crosses to their self portraits.

The children enjoyed exploring clay and experimenting with the different ways they can manipulate the clay and how they can change its shape.

The children have enjoyed exploring different musical instruments. They then made their own instruments out of recyclable materials and played their instruments along to the music.  The children were encouraged to play loudly, quietly, quickly or slowly when appropriate.

In RE the EYFS children have been learning that Jesus teaches us to share what we have with others. We talked about how there are lots of ways that we can help people who don't have enough food to eat. We talked about food banks and the children brought in food, which will be taken to the church and given to the local food bank. We had a special Celebration of the Word to pray for those people who do not enough food. This activity allowed the children to put Social Catholic Teaching into practice and will also help our local community.

The children found heavy and light objects. They discovered that sometimes big objects can be light!

We shared the story of The Big Red Umbrella by Amy June Bates. We made a large red umbrella. The children drew  pictures of themselves. We put the pictures of ourselves under the umbrella. The children thought of some things that they could say to others in the class to make them feel included or cared for. We looked at an image from the Big Umbrella, where the umbrella was sheltering everyone. We talked about how it didn’t matter what people looked like – everyone was welcome under the umbrella. We played with the parachute and all the children in EYFS were welcome to go under it.

Each week the children in FS1 learn a new nursery rhyme as well as singing lots of nursery rhymes that the children already know. This week we have been learning 'Polly Put the Kettle On'. 

After looking at a plant the nursery children created their own plants with collage materials. We talked about the different parts of a plant.

The nursery children have enjoyed reading the books that Mr Miliband gave to us when he visited our school.

The nursery children have enjoyed taking photographs of the 'number 2'. The children were very excited to spot 2 aeroplanes in the sky and 2 friends standing together.

The nursery children have been learning about the celebration Lunar New Year. They have been very busy making dragons and lanterns and have even learnt a dragon dance.

The nursery children have listened to 'The Feeding of the Five Thousand'.  They have been thinking about how Jesus cares for us all and notices when we need things. The children made and shared bread and decorated the fish with patterns.

The nursery children followed the instructions and planted some cress seeds. They are excited to watch them grow and see how they change.

The children in nursery love reading books and stories. Drawing Club is an adventure that the nursery children always get very excited about. It helps to enrich their language skills and develop their fine motor skills at the same time.

In RE we have been learning that Jesus was born for everyone.

In RSE we have been talking about friendships and what makes a good friend. The nursery children made each other friendship bands and together we made a friendship flower.

The nursery children thoroughly enjoyed the visit from some local farm animals.

We listened to the lyrics and melody of “Teddy Bear’s Picnic” by John Walter Bratton and Jimmy Kennedy. We enjoyed moving to the music on our own, with a partner and all together in a circle. We talked about how the music made us feel. 

In RSE the children have been identifying people who are special to them and what makes them special. They have been learning about the importance of family and making their own family trees.

This week in phonics we have been learning about alliteration and initial sounds. Alliteration supports children's listening and recognition skills. Today we sorted objects according to their initial sounds.

We have been busy learning about number 1 this week. We have been counting to 1, making 1 on a five frame and finding 1 object. Some of the children even made 'Number 1 Soup' in our mud kitchen.

In DT the nursery children have been exploring junk modelling. They enjoyed using the resources in our construction area to create their own models. The children created a car, a unicorn, a robot, a drinks machine and lots of other things too. The children showed great imagination and creativity.

The children have learnt about traditional Christmas music. The songs involved singing, voice sounds and playing musical instruments.

We have had fun learning about fruits and vegetables and making our own soup recipe.

The children have lots of opportunities to develop their gross motor skills in our outdoor area. Gross motor skills are important for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being.

In maths the children have been comparing objects by their size. They have been using the language of big, little, small and large. We even introduced medium too.

In Phonics we have been developing the children's awareness of rhyme. We have listened to rhyming stories, played rhyming pairs and made some rhyming soup! 

We have enjoyed exploring first hand the changing marvels of the weather and the seasons. We were very excited to explore snow and ice. We found that when we held the ice in our warm hands it melted and when we put it on the salt it melted too.

In RE the FS1 children have been learning about Jesus' story. They learnt that God loves us and gave us his only son. They found out about the long journey that Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem and that Jesus was born in a stable and placed in a manger.

We celebrated Anti- bullying Week by making a 'Respect Rainbow'. We talked about ways we could show respect and added them to our 'Respect Rainbow'.

The Nursery and Reception children have been taking part in World Nursery Rhyme Week. Nursery rhymes are incredibly important to early childhood development and education. They help to develop early language and literacy skills, numeracy skills and social, physical and emotional skills. They are also lots of fun! The children have have learnt 5 rhymes and have completed the 'Rhyme a Day' challenge by singing the nursery rhymes and taking part in supporting activities. They even performed one of the rhymes at our Celebration Assembly.

In Music the children have been learning about music from a range of cultural and religious celebrations, including Diwali and Hanukkah. We enjoyed dancing with streamers to Diwali music and playing traditional Jewish instruments.

We watched an animation about Remembrance Day. We painted poppies and talked about why we wear them. 

We have enjoyed creating a Wintery Woodland in our classroom. We have started off this half term by reading Stick Man. We drew our own Stick Man and thought of other adventures that Stick Man might have.

In RSE the nursery children have learnt that we are created and loved by God. They have learnt about their uniqueness and celebrated their differences. They have also learnt about their amazing bodies and how to look after them.

This week we are learning about two very important black women as part of our 'Black History Week' in school. We have learnt about Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, a very special person who helps take care of people and who also helps other nurses know how to take care of people. We also learnt about Maresia Liburd-Spencer who helped to set up 'Black Deaf UK'. We have been very busy learning about the role of nurses and have been looking after each other in the role play area. We have also learnt some BSL too.

FS1- Phonics

In phonics the children have been developing their awareness of sounds made by instruments. 

Art

In FS1 the children have been exploring mark making using pencils. The children have produced their own self portraits.

RE - Baptism

This week in EYFS the children have been learning about how we enter God's family through Baptism.  The children acted out a Baptism and enjoyed lots of activities related to Baptism in the provision.

We use the interactive board to help us with our learning.

Literacy - Reading

FS1 children developing their early enjoyment and understanding of books by visiting 'The Reading Room'.

The Reading Shed

In nursery we incorporate the use of ICT equipment in the children's imaginative play. It helps children to find out about the purpose of ICT in the 'real world'.

Autumn Animal Antics

Busy Builders

The children have been very busy constructing structures in continuous provision.

ROCK STARS

We had lots of fun counting and singing number rhymes on Thursday and of course a little bit of guitar playing too!

RE 

In RE we have been learning about the Creation Story and how God made our beautiful world and everything in it. We sent bubble prayers thanking God for the things he made.

The FS1 children explored their immediate environment this week with a walk around school. The children really enjoyed getting to know their school and the people who work in it. We visited lots of different places!

Art and Design in FS1

In Art and Design we have been exploring mark making through different drawing materials. We have had great fun using crayons, felt tips and chalks to make lines, dots, shapes and patterns.

Maths in FS1

In maths we have been learning about colours. We have been recognising, naming and matching colours. We even went on our own colour hunt!

FS1 Phonics

This week in phonics we have continued to improve our listening skills. we listened carefully to the sounds that we can hear around us both inside and outside. We also explored drumming. We watched someone drumming and then we did some drumming too. We practised drumming fast, slow, loudly and quietly on different surfaces. We noticed that when we drummed on different surfaces we created different sounds.

New School Year 2024-2025