Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage!

Welcome to Great Berry!

We are so excited to see your lovely, smiling faces on Monday morning at 8:30am. Miss Hall and Mrs Archer will be waiting at the Early Years Playground gates for the children to come into school. This is where you will say Goodbye to your children and from here, we will guide the children into the classrooms where they have many interesting and fun activities to do. 

Our topics this half term will include Jack and the Beanstalk,  The Three Little Pigs and The Gingerbread Man.

Every week we will upload a Weekly Overview, which will give you an insight into some of the activities we will be doing in school that week.

Important Dates for your Diary this term:

Friday 10th May- Miss Hall's Class Assembly

Friday 24th May- Trip to Barleylands Farm

Friday 14th June- PTA Father's Day Sale

Monday 3rd June- Inset Day (Children not at school)

Tuesday 18th June- Sports Day

Friday 28th June- Mrs Archer's Class Assembly

Sunday 7th July- Summer Fete

Reminders:

Please note that the drop off time for the children in the mornings is 8:30am. The collection time is 3:10pm and we ask that you wait in the main playground. We will line the children up in front of the climbing frames and send them to you one at a time as we see you. 

Should you need to contact us please use the Year Group Email system.  

Our Year Group E-mail Address is: earlyyears@greatberry.essex.sch.uk

This email address will be checked regularly, however if there is any important information that you need to let us know quickly please contact the school office so that they can pass this onto the class teachers.

Reading Record and Book Change Day 

In school, your child will read to an adult on a set day each week. The day your child will read on is outlined below. Your child should be able to tell you which fruit group they are in.

Monday – Oranges

Tuesday – Grapes

Wednesday – Lemons

Thursday – Apples

Friday – Bananas

The day your child reads on may change dependant on the activities taking place throughout the week, therefore please leave your child’s reading books and reading records in their book bags at all times, this will then mean that we can read with them on a different day if necessary. It is important to note that the above timetable will more than often be the structure we follow throughout the week.

Your child will read with an adult and will also change their books on this day each week.

We will be collecting in the current red reading record books and keeping them at school until the end of the year, at which time the children will bring them home with the rest of their school work.

When we read with your child at school, we will record this in their new reading record, along with noting their new chosen books for the week. Please record when you read the school reading books at home and make a short comment on their reading. Please continue to read a range of books at home, however, you do not need to record any other reading in their book. This book will be checked by us once a week so please do not put any important messages in them and continue to contact us in the usual way.

Show and Tell

Each colour team will have an Show and Tell date once, each half term. This is an opportunity for your child to talk to their class about somewhere they have been, something they have achieved or bring in and show a toy they like to play with. If your child is going to bring in a toy or object from home please can you make sure the item goes into a named plastic bag. 

Before your child's Show and Tell day, it may be helpful to talk to them in preparation for what they could tell their friends. Please feel free to send in a covering note so that we can support them with this. There will be a chance for your child to answer questions from their peers about what they have shared.

The colour group dates for this half term are as follows:

Friday 19th April - Ruby (red) Group

Friday 26th April - Amber (yellow) Group

Friday 3rd May - Emerald (green) Group

Friday 10th May - Sapphire (blue) Group

Homework

Homework/Write and Tell books will be given out on a Friday. They will need to be returned by the following Tuesday. Ideas for the homework will be available on the Weekly Overviews. Each week please give feedback on how your child found the activities, by leaving a short comment with their homework.

Keep checking back on this page for more updates and to see some of our brilliant work.

Please note that jewellery is not allowed to be worn in school. This includes hoop earrings, bracelets, anklets and necklaces. Only small studs are allowed, although these have to be removed on PE days. Our PE day is Wednesday.

Do you have any ideas for this page? Why not let your Teacher know!