Autumn Term 

We’re delighted to welcome you and your children to a brand-new school term! This term is all about settling in, building confidence, and celebrating each child’s unique story.

Our topic is “All About Me”, where children will explore who they are, what makes them special, and how they connect with others. We’ll be talking about our likes and dislikes, our worries, how we make friends, and learning about our bodies in an age-appropriate and thoughtful way.

We’ll also be thinking back to our own pasts and reflecting on all the amazing things we’ve learned since we were babies. It’s a lovely way to help children appreciate their growth and achievements.

As part of this journey, each child will create a Personal Passport—a fun and creative project that shares facts, drawings, and reflections to help us all get to know one another better.

📚 To support our learning, we’ll be reading a range of engaging stories, including:

• Meesha Makes Friends – exploring friendship and social confidence

• Ruby's Worry – understanding and managing emotions

• Funny Bones – a playful look at the human body

🌍 Later in the term, we’ll be celebrating Bridgwater Week, where children will learn a little more about the place we live, its community, and what makes it special.

Phonics

In the autumn term, Reception children begin their phonics journey with Unlocking Letters and Sounds, a DfE-validated programme designed to build strong foundations in early reading and writing. The term starts with Phase 2, where children are introduced to key grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPCs) such as s, a, t, p, i, n, and begin blending sounds to read simple words. Alongside phonics, children learn common exception words like I, no, and go, and practise letter formation as part of each session. The programme uses engaging digital lessons and carefully matched reading books to ensure consistency between what is taught and what children read. With a focus on daily practice, structured progression, and ongoing assessment, Unlocking Letters and Sounds helps children develop confidence and fluency in reading from the very start.

Maths

The White Rose Maths scheme for Reception in the autumn term is designed to build strong foundations in early mathematical understanding through engaging, hands-on activities. Children begin by settling in and exploring key concepts such as matching, sorting, and comparing, which help develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills. They also learn about measures and patterns, including size, mass, capacity, and simple repeating sequences. The scheme follows a structured progression of “small steps,” allowing children to build confidence as they explore number, shape, and positional language. Resources often link to familiar stories and rhymes, making learning fun and meaningful while supporting cross-curricular development. Throughout the term, the focus is on nurturing curiosity and helping children see maths as a natural part of their everyday world.

Ladybird class is taught by Mrs Irish (Mon,Tues, Wed, Fri) and Mrs Sharma (Thursday). Mrs Sellick is the teaching assistant.

Butterfly class is taught by Mrs Hoppins (Wed, Thurs, Fri) and Mrs Sykes (Mon, Tues, Wed) and Mrs Lane is the teaching assistant.

The inclusion team is Miss Marsland, Miss Gardner, Miss Perry-Bull, Miss Broom and Miss Gracie. 

 

Please see the presentation below for our year group expectations.

 

Unlocking Letters and Sounds Phase 2 and 3

Please enjoy learning the GPC
‘S(grapheme phoneme correspondences) with the Year 1 children.

Key Dates for your diaries:

Autumn 

Week beginning 6/10 – Parents invited in to attend a phonics lesson in FS

Week beginning 17/11 – Come and stay and play for parents 

24/11 – Maths workshop for parents 

24/11 – Harvest assembly FARMLINK for FS 9.15am 

18/11 – Little Red Hen Visit – FARMLINK 9.30am 

Week beginning 15/12 – Christmas Crafts with parents 

17/12 – Christmas Performance  

19/12 – FS Xmas Party (tbc) 

Spring  

11/2 – Around the World Days 

12/2 – Around the World Days 

30/3 – Seasons assembly – FARMLINK 9.15am 

Summer 

27/4 – Lifecycle workshop FARMLINK  9.15am 

13/5 – Court Farm Trip (coach and farm booked) 

18/5 – Animal Detectives assembly – FARMLINK 9.15am

Seesaw

Please remember to keep checking Seesaw for all our up to date information!  If you are having trouble logging in please speak to us. 

This term we have two topics - 

No Outsiders Ethos

The aim in EYFS is to introduce the No Outsiders ethos using very simplistic language: we are all different and we are all friends. There is nothing more complicated in the EYFS plans than the message that it's ok to be you and you may be different to me, but that's ok too.

You Choose encourages children to choose their favourite place to live, favourite transport, favourite food etc and shows that we all like different things. This is explored further in Red Rockets and Rainbow Jelly, where characters Nick and Sue are shown liking different things throughout the book, but conclude by saying they like each other. Hello Hello shows different animals with a range of shapes and colours who all say 'hello' and no one is left out. The Family Book shows children that there are many types of families - and then we draw our own family. Mommy, Mama and Me allows children to understand some families have two mums (or two dads); we talk about the things Mommy and Mama do with their child and ask if our own families do similar things (go to the park, drink juice, kiss goodnight). Finally, Blue Chameleon shows a lonely chameleon trying to make friends by changing shape and colour; he thinks you have to look like someone else to be friends. At the end, Chameleon realises you can be yourself and you don't have to change.

A mini tour of Eastover Primary School

 

Welcome to Eastover Primary School - this is a short tour, led by two of our Y6 pupils, of the main areas your child will experience in their first year at our school.

• School Readiness Here is lots of useful information to prepare your child for school.

Reception Baseline Assessment 2024

When your child starts school they will be asked to complete some activities linked to language, reading and maths. This is a national assessment for all 4 year olds. The activities are devised with children in mind and are completed with the teacher. All the information linked to this assessment is in the leaflet below. Any questions please see your class teacher.