Hello and welcome to Chestnut Class. I’m Mrs Jeffries, the class teacher. I have over 30 years’ experience working with young children in a variety of roles, including many years supporting children with special educational needs (SEN). I am passionate about early years education and believe a strong partnership between teachers and parents is essential to build a confident foundation for every child’s learning.

Chestnut Class is Reception and Year 1. We follow a rich, play-based curriculum in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage. Our classroom is a place where every child is respected and encouraged to follow their own ideas — creating a fun, busy and stimulating environment. We use meaningful, engaging topics to spark children’s imagination and curiosity, so their skills can grow and they gain the confidence to make choices and take safe risks. These experiences give us valuable insight into each child’s strengths and needs — this is where the learning journey begins.

Year 1 children also take part in continuous provision, which we call “Discovery Time.” This is integrated into our timetable and complements small-group focused teaching.

We are fortunate to have a large classroom and an extensive outdoor play area, allowing children to free-flow between indoor and outdoor learning. We regularly adapt and improve our learning environment to meet the children’s interests and developmental needs.

On this page you can find examples of what your child has been learning in class. We hope you enjoy these snapshots and that you will share them with your child.

Phonics, Reading and Writing

When the children join us in reception they will be already on their reading journey. Within a couple of weeks of starting school, the children will be taught phonics daily, using the Read Write Inc. programme. In addition to learning the sounds, the children will be able to identify tricky words (also known as common exception words). These words cannot be sounded out and the children need to be able to read these by sight. At Oakhill, we follow Read Write Inc. programme by Ruth Miskin.

For more information on Read Write inc. please visit the website: https://www.ruthmiskin.com/

Maths

In Chestnut class, Maths is a very practical subject based around play and loose parts. We focus heavily upon learning and really understanding the language of maths. We follow the White Rose maths scheme for EYFS.

Tapestry

In Chestnut class, we use an online learning profile called ‘Tapestry’. Tapestry is a useful resource as it allows us to share the learning the children have made in school with you through written observations, photographs and video recordings. It also allows you to upload any learning the children have done at home. You can also communicate to the class teacher via the messenger tab.

Chestnut Reminders

· Please name your child’s clothing – we want to reunite any lost clothing to their owners!

· Please ensure your child brings their reading book and reading diaries into school each day.

· Please provide your child with a named water bottle – this must contain water only.

· Show and tell items – your child is encouraged to bring in any special items from home to share with the class although they cannot specifically be toys. Please talk with your child about the reason behind them wanting to bring something special from home in; why is the item special to them? If it is something they have found such as a feather or birds’ nest; can they tell us where they found it and who it might have belonged to?