Our Lady of Dolours RC Primary School

pg. 1 OLoD School EYFS HANDBOOK – SEPTEMBER 2021

Our Lady of Dolours Catholic

Primary School

EYFS HANDBOOK

2021- 2022


Welcome Welcome to Our Lady of Dolours Catholic Primary School Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This Handbook aims to give you information on the day to day operation and procedures for our Foundation Stage, in it you will find links to important policies and school website pages for you to become familiar with. It will also give you a brief outline of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. We hope to answer many of the questions you may have about your child’s time in Nursery and Reception Class at Our Lady of Dolours School. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if there is something more you would like to know. Please go to the following school webpage for information on the EYFS Curriculum Overview for Years A and B, EYFS Policy and Induction Presentations to Parents and Carers.

Staff In the EYFS every child will have a ‘Key Person’ who acts as the first point of contact between the family and the school. Miss Whyte is the EYFS Coordinator and Reception Class teacher and Joan Goatley is the Nursery Nurse in Reception Class. The Lead Practitioner in our Nursery Class is Miss Jennifer Cuthbert who is supported by Miss Sandra. Miss Whyte and Miss Jennifer work closely in the curriculum planning and day to day running of the Nursery. During the academic year 20201-22, Reception and Nursery will join to form an ‘EYFS Hub’ – parents will be invited into school for a tour of the school during the first half term – so you will get to see our lovely learning

environment for yourselves. If you have any concerns about your child please speak to your child’s key person / lead practitioner or teacher. It is often possible to see her very briefly at the beginning or end of the day. You are welcome to drop in on a Thursday afternoon after school if you would like to speak to Miss

https://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Curriculum/EYFS




Jennifer or Miss Whyte to have a longer conversation or

make an appointment for another time.

Partnership with Parents/Carers

We believe that parents/carers are a child’s first educators and therefore we work very closely in partnership to ensure they are involved in what we do with their child at school. We want parents/carers to feel that they can speak to us about their child at any time and feel comfortable and confident in our setting. As well as Parent’s Evening (one in autumn term and one in spring

term), we offer a Meet the Teacher Coffee Morning at the beginning of the academic year. We also offer information workshops for parents/carers, such as reading/phonics/maths workshops – please see the School website Calendar for dates.

Home Visits Phone Calls (for children new to the school only) Due to Covid restrictions we are unable to make home visits (until further notice). Instead your child’s teacher will telephone you. The phone call will last for approximately 10 minutes and provides an opportunity for you and your child to ask any questions. Furthermore, it is a great opportunity for us to get to know your child on an individual basis.

Starting School in September Nursery children will be starting at different times during the Settling-In Period. Dates and times of your child’s induction will be provided in their welcome letter. During the first week in Nursery, the children will attend Nursery

for half days (either mornings from: 9-11:30am or afternoons from 12:30- 2:45 pm) so that the staff are able to assess their needs and begin to build a profile of each child. Children will not stay for lunch during their first week. Your child will be placed into a group A or B.

https://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/calendar/listview/

https://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/calendar/listview/


Below is the settling-In timetable showing the days and

times for the different groups. If you have any queries, please see a member of staff.

Week One (using 2021-22 dates)

INSET Group A Group A Group A Group A

Tuesday 7th

September

Morning (9-

11:30am)

Wednesday

8th

September

Morning (9-

11:30am)

Thursday 9th

September

Morning (9-

11:30am)

Friday 10th

September

Morning (9-

11:30am)

INSET Group B Group B Group B Group B

Tuesday 7th

September

Afternoon

(12:30-2:45

pm)

Wednesday

8th

September

Afternoon

(12:30-2:45

pm)

Thursday 9th

September

Afternoon

(12:30-2:45

pm)

Friday 10th

September

Morning (9-

11:30am)

Nursery pupils will be able to attend full time from the following week of school IF the induction period has been successful. RECEPTION CLASS pupils will commence the beginning of term alongside all other pupils in the school – see School Term Dates on the school website.

Please be prompt when dropping off and collecting your child.

You are most welcome to stay with your child for as long as you feel they need you – we want our pupils to feel safe and happy when they begin their school experience.

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Parents/Term-Dates


Depending on how your child settles during their first

week in our Nursery class, they will usually attend for full days after the first week. Sometimes it may take a little longer for a child to settle so it may be useful to slowly increase their hours working up to a full day. This will be discussed with you should the need arise. Please note that your child should be potty trained before they commence full time nursery. Once your child is on full school days the day begins at 9am and finishes at 3pm. We encourage children to come to school on time every day. It is important that you let the school know if there are any changes to your collection arrangements - by calling the school office as soon as possible. As part of our safeguarding procedures, we have a password system and WILL NOT hand over children to unknown adults unless we have been informed about any change beforehand. Please fill in the form provided for use of EYFS passwords.

Lunchtime and Playtimes


The Class Teacher and Nursery Nurses help the children to

get settled at lunch. Please inform us whether your child will be having a (free in Reception only - UIFSM) school dinner or will be bringing a healthy packed lunch from home. Most children have school dinners – we openly encourage this. Please let us know if your child would like the vegetarian option or have any other dietary requirements. Please go to the school website for our school lunch menu. If sending a packed lunch, please ensure it is healthy and perhaps you could start with just a few basics like a sandwich, fruit and a drink. We strongly encourage children to drink water while they are at school. Please do not send in anything containing nuts as we are a NUT FREEE SCHOOL (including peanut butter), sweets, cakes, chocolates or fizzy drinks and for safety reasons, please do not use glass containers. Allergies/Medications: Please advise us if your child has any allergies which we need to be aware of as you will need to fill out a school medical form. Please complete the medical form and return it at the beginning of term.

Remember: There is a full ban on nuts in the school, so please do not give your child peanut butter sandwiches or even pesto containing pine nuts. Our school caterers – Chartwells have a strict allergies policy. Please go to the above school menu hyperlinked page to see the Chartwell’s Medical Diet Policy and Medical Diet Form – you will be required to complete the form for a full assessment of your child’s medical dietary needs.

If your child has medication which they require at school, such as an inhaler, then please bring it to school on their first day, labelled with their name and correct dosage – you will be required to complete a Form 3A/3B (please see our school SENCo). In the case of Epipen’s or allergy related medication, then medical evidence will be required. Care Plans must be in place for every child

https://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Parents/Lunch-Menu


with allergies or serious medical issues – Care Plans will

be checked by our School Nurse. Parents/carers have the duty to ensure staff are kept informed of any such medical issues or changes to their child’s needs.

Snacks and Drinks Fruit is provided in the morning and if there are spare fruit the children can access it during the day. At snack time, the children have a choice of milk or water to drink. Parents are welcome to donate fresh fruit if they so wish – thank you in advance.

Fresh drinking water is available at all times. Children are required to bring in a bottle of drinking water at the beginning of the week which is refilled daily using our purpose installed sinks. Children take their bottle home on Fridays. Fruit juice is not allowed due to high sugar content.

Clothing Please be sure that your child is dressed in the school uniform everyday. It is very important that all clothing is clearly labelled with your child’s name and please check regularly that your child’s name is clearly visible. For more information on OLoD School uniform please go HERE. Please ensure your child comes to school with shoes that do not have laces – Velcro is much safer and more convenient for little hands.

The Outdoors

https://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Parents/School-Uniform


Reception and Nursery children have their own playground

and are supervised at all times. During this interim Covid year, EYFS pupils will share the playground with Year 1. The outdoor environment is an extension of the indoor classroom and will be accessed on a daily basis by the children in all types of weather. There are times when your child will have to be outdoors, regardless of the weather conditions – as outside learning is a large part of the EYFS curriculum. Children are advised to bring in wellies to school for wearing outside for when it’s raining. Please also invest in a warm coat (a school coat or another one in a burgundy colour), and hats/gloves for very cold weather.

Health Please keep your child at home if they are unwell or showing symptoms of Covid 19. Any child showing symptoms of illness will be sent home. The children need to be healthy in order to access the curriculum at school (including spending periods of time outside all year round). Please keep your child at home if

they have a high temperature or an infectious condition. If your child develops a temperature throughout the day or becomes unwell we will contact you to come and pick them up. If we cannot contact you, we will try the emergency contact person/s on your form. Please ensure this information is kept up to date. Schools require three contact persons – so please make sure we have this information for your child. If your child has a vomiting/diarrhoea virus then they MUST remain at home for 48 hours after the last

vomiting/diarrhoea episode. For advice on illness (including Coronavirus) please go to the following school website page LINK. Head lice is a common condition amongst young children. Please check your child’s hair regularly. If you spot any

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/School-Information/CORONAVIRUS-PANDEMIC/Most-up-to-date-information


eggs or lice then please treat it straight away before

returning back to school. Please inform a staff member so we can alert other parents. Head lice can be caught by anyone (even adults!) and is no reflection on personal hygiene – in fact, lice love clean hair!

Special Occasions If you would like to help your child celebrate their birthday in class, you are welcome to bring in a birthday cake or cupcakes to share with the class. You are also able to bring in small party bags for us to hand out at the end of the day, making sure that they do not contain chocolates with nuts, party poppers or bouncy balls (that can be swallowed!). Since children’s feelings are easily hurt, please ensure that party invitations are distributed outside of school unless the whole class is being invited. Please ensure there are enough party bags/cup cakes to go around – thank you.

Remember NO NUTS please.

We are a Catholic School As part of our Mission as a Catholic school, we endeavour to instil Catholic values into our everyday routine and

school life through: prayer times; RE linked into other areas of the curriculum; We use a high quality PSHE/RHE curriculum

programme to support personal development


thinking about morals and values and being reflective

– linked to our assemblies and school pastoral programme We learn RE through the “Come and See” program.

Behaviour – Expectations

At OLoD School we have Behaviour Principles that are reviewed and agreed periodically by our Governing Body. A copy of these can be found at the School Reception Office. We also have a well embedded Behaviour Policy that provides clear expectations of everyone's behaviour in

our community. Please go to our School Policy website page for your information (see School Information – School Policies)


Finally, we have a Home School Agreement that parents

and carers in the EYFS will be asked to read through with their child and sign in September. PLEASE SEE ALL THE DOCUMENTS ON THE SCHOOL’S

WEBSITE

What will my child’s learning look

like? Play and Exploration is fundamental within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It means children are able to

choose activities where they can engage with other children or adults, or sometimes play alone. During these activities the children will learn by first-hand experiences; by actively ‘doing’ as well as through scaffolding and modelling by adults. We will provide them with sufficient space, both indoors and outdoors, time and choice with a range of activities. There will be a good variety of planned and prepared activities by the Early Years Team, as well as allowing time for the children to initiate their own learning. Activities will be planned through discussion with the children around their current interests, as well as taking into account their learning styles and stages of development. Our environment will enable children to try things out and make sense of relationships, allowing all children to fulfil their potential. We are a Creative Curriculum school, where we integrate our half termly and termly topics throughout all areas of learning. We continually observe and assess the needs of our pupils so that we incorporate their needs and interests into our teaching and learning programmes. Please see the EYFS Curriculum Overview for more information.

Please note that we run a two yearly topic curriculum – Year A and Year B – please go to the following school website LINK for more information.

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sh-ourladydolours-co-uk/media/downloads/EYFS%20CURRICULUM%20OVERVIEWS%20YEARS%20A%20B%20FINAL.pdf


EYFS Creative Curriculum Topics 2021-2022

Autumn 1

Autumn 2

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer 1

Summer 2

Rhyme Time

I’m A Performer

All About Animals

In the Garden

If You Go Into

The Woods

Around the

World

The EYFS Curriculum The Foundation Stage Curriculum is organised into seven areas of learning and development. The prime areas are:

Communication and language

Physical development

Personal, social and emotional development

The specific areas are:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the world

Expressive arts and design


Communication and Language Development

Staff plan for the development of your child’s spoken language in many ways – through conversation, storytelling, rhymes, role play and topic activities.

Reading From the moment your child starts school s/he will be encouraged to develop a love of books. Our class book corners are an important area in our classrooms – they are warm and inviting and will have an author/book focus as a theme. We make sure there is always time for a

whole class story at the end of the day but also that there are many opportunities to enjoy books at other times. In Reception every child has a designated day when they have a small group guided reading session. Nursery children will take home a library book to read with you each week. Reception class children will take home a reading book. Our daily Literacy sessions in Reception will be book

focused. We use high quality texts to support our literacy teaching across the whole school. Please visit the school’s Literacy section of the school website for information on our Whole School Literacy Book Overview.

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Curriculum/Literacy-Blog/Literacy-Curriculum-Documents-Policy-and-Progression-Map


Reading Diaries

Reception children all receive a reading diary which we ask you to use to record the reading books you have shared at home. Please record any information you feel is relevant in the reading diary. Please note: All children develop at different rates and most have spurts of learning coupled with periods of consolidation. Many children will not be recognising words at all and will be developing their oral language to “read” the story. Other children may be able to recognise sounds in words, or can sound some words out. Some children may be able to begin to identify words by sight. Please don’t worry as they will all get there in the end! If you have any queries or questions about your child’s reading please speak to a member of staff. If you are worried that your child may have Special Educational Needs, please do not hesitate to speak to us directly. The school’s SENCo, Deputy Head and Headteacher are available to speak to you about any concerns you may have – please let the School Receptionist know that you wish to speak to one of them.

Phonics Children in the EYFS take part in regular planned activities to develop their phonic knowledge based on the programme ‘Letters and Sounds’. These include activities and games to support the development of rhythms and rhymes, alliteration and oral sound blending. Children will take part in a daily whole class phonics session. For more information on our whole school Phonics programme from Reception onwards, please go to the following LINK on our school website.

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sh-ourladydolours-co-uk/media/downloads/Phonics%20Progression%20Map.pdf


Writing In Nursery children are encouraged to develop their fine motor skills and early mark making through play and creative activities. In Reception, children are taught the skills of writing through short whole-class lessons and teacher-led small group sessions. Children are given a range of opportunities to practise their writing through focused writing tasks and independent activities through

the continuous provision. Over the course of the year we expect children in Reception to move from early mark-making to being able to communicate their thoughts and ideas in writing with confidence and enthusiasm. Once again, please see our EYFS Curriculum Overview on the school website.


Mathematics

Children’s mathematical development is supported through a range of play, games, songs and creative workshop style activities. In the Reception Class children will have short daily whole-class sessions and teacher–led small group sessions and independent activities through continuous provision.

Physical Education

Children in the Early Years take part in two PE lesson each week with our specialist PE Coach Yousef Akourrih. They do not need a PE kit in Early Years, so they are able to wear their normal school uniform – as they are always ready for active learning!


Music Lessons at OLoD School

From September 2021, the school will be taking part in the Tri Borough Music Hub Teaching Programme. All our children will be taught music lessons by our new

specialist teacher Joshua Urben. For more information on our whole school Music Curriculum please go to the following website LINK. Community Links and the Wider World Over the year, we arrange visits from members of the local community to support our topic work. We also arrange trips for children in the EYFS within the local community, for example visiting the library. The children take part in educational visits linked to their topic work. Film clips, non-fiction texts and artefacts are also used to

introduce new concepts in real-life contexts. We aim to develop the children’s awareness of other cultures by exploring different countries and celebrations.

Home Learning Nursery children will take home a library book. Children in Reception will take a ‘Home Reading Book’ each week. Please read with your child each evening and at weekends – revisiting and repeating/embedding good reading

behaviours at home. Parent/Carer Reading and Writing Workshops will be held during the autumn term. During Covid 19 we have moved towards online learning – however, from September 2021, pupils will once again, receive a Homework Book on a weekly basis. However, additionally, the children will be encouraged to access the

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Curriculum/MUSIC


online platform known as Purple Mash/Mini Mash and or

Mathletics to give them additional access to online learning – particularly those who may be self-isolating or generally off sick and at home. More information on Homework arrangements will be discussed in the September – Meet the Teacher Coffee Morning. Please visit HERE for the OLoD School Online Learning page. Reception children also have maths tasks to do on the Mathletics online learning platform. The expectation is that parents support their children with homework tasks, read to and hear their child read regularly and comment on their children’s reading each week in their child’s reading record.

Special Educational Needs EYFS staff follow the school’s Special Educational Needs Policy. Any concerns about a child’s development are discussed at an early stage with the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) and parents are consulted. Similarly, parents are strongly encouraged to share any concerns they may have with regard to their child’s development. Please visit the following link for

access to the school’s SEND Policy and SEND Information Report.

How you can help your child’s

Communication and Language

Development Talk to your child as much as possible. Encourage them to listen and respond sensibly to

instruction. Try to answer their questions fully and help them to

use a wide vocabulary. Always be on the lookout for interesting things to

point out when shopping, travelling etc. Encourage your child to speak clearly and discourage

‘baby talk’.

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/Curriculum/Homework/

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/School-Information/SEN

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/School-Information/SEN


How you can help your child’s

Reading Development: Join the local library and help your child to enjoy

books; Read poems and stories to them as often as possible

and give them the opportunity to retell simple stories in their own words;

Teach them to handle books carefully and with respect;

Put your finger under the words as you read them so that your child will begin to understand how text is

read from left to right and on to the next line; Encourage them to tell you what is happening by

looking at the pictures and make predictions about what might happen next; Discuss the pictures in books – Who are the characters? What are they doing? What is going to happen next?

Provide them with jigsaw puzzles and ‘snap’ games to help them recognise similarities and differences.

Picture lotto and domino games will help to teach visual discrimination;

It is vitally important that your child learns to

associate books with pleasure; Encourage them to read with you daily - read for a

short time only and try to provide a relaxed, quiet environment Discuss the contents and illustrations.

Note the author and illustrator; Encourage your child to predict what will follow in a

story. Bedtime is always a lovely time to share stories –

even made up ones that are funny – get them to tell you a Bedtime Story – enjoy your Bedtime Reading Journey!

In Reception when your child is sent home with a reading book, read along with them to develop fluency. When they are unsure of a word, supply it and then repeat the sentence that contains the word. This will help to sustain the flow and also imprint the meaning of the word in their mind. Be mindful that not all words are easily decodable


by phonics and that children do have to try to remember

how to read and spell ‘tricky words’. Please keep reading with your child – the world of books is a magical experience – encourage your

child to step into this world every day!

How you can help your child’s Writing Development:

If you are helping your child to learn to write, please use

capital letters only at the beginning of names. Once children have learnt capital letters, they can find it difficult to change into lower case. Correct letter formation is very important for the continuation into more formal writing. There is an information sheet showing you how letters should be formed at the end of this booklet to help you guide your child. Writing for pleasure is a key ingredient in our Early Years Foundation Stage. We work hard to build the children’s confidence and self- esteem to become independent writers who are excited about writing. If you want to encourage your child to write then please ensure

writing is exciting, meaningful and does not become a chore. Don’t forget – writing comes from reading – encourage your child to draw a picture after they have read a book – get them to try to write some words they know from the story – moving onto simple sentences once they are able to.


How you can help your child’s Mathematical

Development:

Compare things - use words such as longer, shorter, higher, lower, wider, narrower etc;

Introduce them to the language used when weighing and measuring – metres, centimetres, litres, millilitres etc;

Number songs and rhymes are a useful tool for learning number names but they do not help a child to understand one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, reinforce their counting skills by counting

with them when they are picking up or touching objects;

Sorting activities and matching games are useful mathematical experiences. These can be as simple as matching cups to saucers, buttons to button holes, spoons to bowls etc;

Encourage correct number formation; Look for numbers in the environment e.g. door

numbers, number plates etc; Understanding number order and one more and one less than through everyday activities, e.g. “We’ve got 3 spoons, how many more are we going to need to count to 4.

Assessment, Observations and

Profiles

On Entry: On entry to Nursery we carry out baseline

assessments for each child. Within the first 6 weeks that a

child joins reception, staff will administer the Reception

Baseline Assessment (RBA). RBA’s should take

approximately 20 minutes to complete by an early year’s

practitioner – children should not be aware of the

assessment as ‘a test’. The assessment is undertaken to


support the staff in planning for the needs of children and

to have a secure assessment of the child’s starting point

in Reception class.

Pupil Profiles

To ensure we have evidence of a child’s progress in the

EYFS we use a profile to showcase each child’s learning

and development. These profiles are collections of

children’s work, photos and observations which create a

detailed picture of the child. Where appropriate, we

include individual next steps for children’s learning. These

profiles include:

One long “running record” observation per half term

on each child

Regular learning snap shots completed on each child

where appropriate; with photos where relevant

Photo evidence of Development Matters coverage

Opportunities for parent voice through home

observations

Work samples

During the autumn term 2021, the school will be looking towards moving to an electronic method of assessment/profile in the EYFS (e.g. Tapestry).


Work Books

In Reception, we use a Literacy and a Maths book from

September to showcase children’s work and progress.

Evidence is added to these books twice per week. These

books are marked regularly in green pen with comments

which refer to the learning objective (LO) where

appropriate. Children are given oral feedback at the end of

every session (in line with the school’s Marking Policy).

Children’s targets are attached to the work book and are

updated termly (in line with the school’s Assessment

Policy).

Mark Making Books

In the summer term, Nursery use mark making books to

evidence their literacy and fine motor skills.

Phonics Assessments

Phonics assessments take place at the beginning of the

Autumn term, and at the end of each term thereafter.

End of Term Assessments

At the end of each term we assess every child against the

Development Matters, and plot their progress and

attainment into Target Tracker; our assessment platform.

This information will generate termly reports which

identify strengths and weaknesses for each of the areas of

learning.

End of Reception

At the end of the EYFS, staff complete the EYFS profile for each child. Pupils are assessed against the 17 early learning goals, indicating whether they are:


Meeting expected levels of development

Not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’)

Other Useful Information 50p per week: There is a donation of 50p to be paid every Monday morning to the classroom. This helps to pay for play dough and cooking ingredients. Parent Notices: Any important information will be put up

on the white board outside the EYFS classrooms in the playground. Please check this when dropping off/collecting your child. Breakfast Club and After School Clubs: There is a Breakfast Club which operates before school and extended care in the afternoons. This can be booked and paid for via our SchoolComms online booking service. Please ask at the office for details.

Things you can do to help your child prepare

for Nursery Encourage your child to:

• Put their coat on; • Recognise their name; • Go to the toilet independently;

Follow simple instructions; • Use a knife and fork; • Play! Talk! Sing! Dance! Be Happy!

Remember to read stories to them!

Things you can do to help your child prepare

for Reception Encourage your child to:

Write their name independently.


Practise counting, recognising and writing numerals

and ordering numerals. Look for sounds in words. Listen to stories that you read to them. Play! Talk! Sing! Dance! Be Happy!

Check our website for other useful information http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/ Very important: We use children’s photos on the website - so please read the letter and fill in the parental permission/consent slip in this pack regarding this. We do hope that you have found this handbook useful. If you have any other queries or questions, then please do not hesitate to come and talk to us.

The Early Years Team

Miss Whyte – Early Years Coordinator and Reception Class Teacher

Joan Goatley – Reception Class Nursery Nurse Miss Jennifer Cuthbert – Nursery Class Lead Practitioner/Nursery Nurse Sandra Solano – Teaching Assistant

http://www.ourladydolours.co.uk/