Welcome to Fir Class

We are Fir Class and we are in Reception and Pre-school/Nursery, we are taught by Mrs Pallant and Mrs Buck in a large, bright classroom with access into our own enclosed outdoor learning space. We follow the Early Years Curriculum, so our learning may look different to the rest of the school, don't be fooled we are all working very hard. 

General Class Information

School Times

The school gates open at 8.25, we welcome the children at the pedestrian gate and take them into school with their classmates.

School begins at 8.30, our learning starts as soon as we enter the classroom so please be prompt.

Lunch begins and our morning session ends at 12.00 (some pre-school children leave then).

Our afternoon session starts at 13.00 (again some pre-school leave then)

End of the school day is at 3.30, we will bring the children to you at the large gate.

What children need in school

Reception children must wear school uniform, many of our pre-school choose to wear it too but it is not compulsory for these children. Every day is PE day for Fir Class, we are always working on our physical development so we ask that they are always comfortable and can move freely in the clothes they wear, so we can play, explore and investigate without the worry of ruining their clothes.

We also ask for a change of clothes, we do enjoy messy play and love the sand and water so we might need to get changed, we may need extra spare clothes in case of any toileting accidents.

Water bottles; it is thirsty work in Fir, we do provide milk to the children until they are 5 (after this age it is subsidised) and a healthy snack is available for everyone, you may provide a piece of fruit or vegetables from home if you like.

Weather appropriate clothing; we go outdoors in all weathers so we need wellies and waterproofs for the rain, warm clothes (layers preferably, along with a coat) when it is cold and sun hats and be wearing sun cream when it is warm.

We ask that children do not bring toys from home, although we can accommodate children’s needs if they it will help their transitions. We have a treasure shelf that some children use so their things are safe, visible but not available to play with.

We ask that anything brought into school is labelled clearly with your child's name and that you show them where you have put it and what it looks like (until they can recognise their own name).

PE Kits (updated Summer Term 2022)

We would like the children to have their PE kits kept in school, this will enable us to practise getting dressed and undressed and to be able to do PE more frequently.
PE kit is:-

• Navy shorts or jogging bottoms
• Plain, round neck, white t-shirt (one with the school badge is available from the uniform shop on the school's website if you would like)
• Navy sweatshirt or zip up (school sweatshirt is fine)
• A pair trainers that they can fasten themselves.
• Socks if tights are worn

What can I do to help my child

Talk to them; this is the best thing you can do, not only does it expose them to language and vocabulary but it shows them how a conversation works, how to listen, very importantly know the power of their own voice and so much more.

Read to them; we do teach phonics at school and, once they can blend, they will bring reading books home. But this isn't where they will get a love of stories and an understanding that text conveys information. Exposure to as many different genres of writing is so important to children.

Encourage independence; this is so difficult, especially with our busy lives but a child who can dress themselves, put on and do up their own coat, change their own shoes etc will be so much more confident in the classroom. We always help children if they are struggling, but do encourage them to have a go first.

Dojos

Children will be awarded Dojos during the day for a wide variety of reasons; from good behaviour, working hard, displaying our school values or the new learning super powers. Every 10 dojos children get to go in the very special shiny dojo box and choose a prize. You can keep track of your how many dojos your child has earned on the dojo app.

We also use dojos to stay in contact with you, sharing pictures, news and celebrations both publicly on the class story and through the messenger service. We reply to message during working hours, as quickly as we can, this can be delayed during the school day as we are with the children. So in an emergency, please contact the office in the usual way.

Absences

• We ask that if your child is unable to attend school for any reason, you report to school by 10am.
• Please, where possible, arrange any medical appointments outside of school hours.
• If for any reason your child will miss school please contact school in advance for a leave of absence form.

Pupil Voice

What we think about being in Fir class.

These are some the amazing things children in Fir class have said about our school during a circle time.

"I like playing with my friends, I like playing outside in the garden and Grandma Fantastic."

"I like playing in the small world with my friends."

"My teachers make me safe, and we learn about god."

"I love my friends, I like to make things in the creative area."

"I like to do colouring."

"I like playing with the cars and the new animals and dinosaurs. I like singing and stories too."

"I do lots of learning and playing, I like phonics because I do lots of sounds and I love playing with my friends."

Values Ambassadors

Values are very important to our learning at Roxton. We focus on each for a term, over the course of our 2 year rolling programme, our school values are; 

• Aspiration and perseverance 
• Responsibility
• Community - Summer term 2024
• Love and Friendship
• Respect
• Belief 

We believe this helps the children understand the true meaning of each of them, we award regular value awards as part of our weekly celebration assembly to reward the children displaying them.

Our Values Ambassadors are children who display these qualities all the time. 

Summer term 1 Learning in Fir

Main Topic

Sunshine and Sunflowers

In the Sunshine and Sunflowers project the children will explore their local environment and see how it has changed throughout the year. They will grow flowers, fruit and vegetables in the garden area. They will learn how to care for plants and animals, identifying some different types. They will take part in outdoor learning activities and find out how to stay safe in the sun.

Mini Project

Shadows and Reflections

In the Shadows and Reflections mini project the children will learn about natural phenomena, including shadows, reflections and echoes. They will find out how shadows are formed and how they change shape and size through the day. They will explore how different materials and surfaces reflect light.

Books we will read this term

We read books all the time in Fir class, here are some of the books we are reading as part of our Topic, On the Beach

Fir Class Blog 2023 -2024

Autumn Term 2023

Weekly round up 13th October

Fir are crawling towards half term (which starts next Thursday, 19th October), and everyone is tired, but they have still achieved so much. We are still waiting for signs of Autumn, except for the rain which arrived with vengeance midweek. We have been working our rules and routines, with tidying up and turn taking still needing some work. 
In maths we have been thinking about pattern and shape.
There has been some lovely cooperation during our continuous provision, and music is a firm favourite with us all. This week we have sorting instruments in different ways and investigated how we use them to make a noise and how we can make them play loud and quietly. They are all really good at playing and stopping on demand and love playing and leading our stop play game. We have starting playing instruments at different times having to conduct each other to start and stop.
Dinosaurs have become an obsession in the classroom and although it's not our topic (until Spring term), we have loved all the language and learning it has encouraged.

6th October round up

The children have had a great week, we have been comparing sizes, in Maths and the children responded really well to the language we were hoping they used. We have been working on writing our names and talking to children after they have been mark making.
We have loved the sunshine and have been playing with shadows, seeing if we can make our shadows bigger and smaller, tried to make them disappear and even see if we could make our shadows do the actions for heads shoulders knees and toes. The children spent a very long time trying to find facial feature on their shadows so if you are out and about see your shadows please remind them that our shadows do not have eyes and noses etc.
We extended our love of playing with the scarves and have role played the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They loved hearing different versions of the story and finding the similarities and differences between them.
We are supposed to be thinking about Autumn next week and the changes taking place, but due the unseasonal warm weather not many are visible yet. Please point them out if you see them, especially the bird flying south for the winter which the children totally thought I was making up.

Weekly round up 29th September

We have had another great week, with the children growing in confidence. One of the best parts of my job is watching new relationships form and there are definitely some fledgling friendships this week.
I'm holding on to it being summer for as long as possible, and we have been outside as much as we can. We have loved expressing ourselves with coloured scarfs and lots of mark making. We have responded very positively to music lessons this week with everybody listening to instructions so well. We experimented with both tuned and untuned percussion.
We used our fingers to create different trees for seasons for our new display board.
In maths those in reception have started our formal inputs where we have been talking about matching and sorting, even the nursery have enjoyed activities practising these skills in our continuous provision, they were so good at it, I'm going to bring all the clean socks from my house. They could definitely help with my least favourite household job.
We are continue to introduce set one sounds to Reception in phonics, they are working really hard to remember all the ones we have seen so far.
Super Week Fir

22nd September round up

We have loved Elmer and our display with your beautiful children's faces on, is now up for all to see.
Always show your true colours and celebrate yourself is such a great message to children we carried it on to our self portraits. We dyed our own paper designs before drawing simple self portraits to continue the theme. Phonics sessions have started for some, with maths starting next week.
We are going to be reading Five minutes peace by Jill Murphy and will be starting thinking about families, thank you to those of you who have sent me pictures, please send me one if you haven't.
We are also reading one of my favourite books Daisy's Dragons, which explains their emotions and that none are bad.
It's been a great week, have a good weekend.

Weekly round up 15th September

What a week, the children are growing in confidence in Fir class, it is lovely to see them playing together. They are getting used to our routines and are actually getting really good at tidying up.
Our "When I grow up" day was fabulous, we had a fashion show (for those who wanted to), talked about who we were and what they did, why they wanted to be that, we role played with each others' ideas too. We have continued to read Elmer stories, we've made our own Elmers out of milk cartons and have been talking about how we are all different and how awesome that is. Next week we are going to make some self portraits and discuss our families.
We have had many toileting accidents this week, a bit of a decline in their toileting when they first start (or come back after the holidays) is very normal. The classroom is busy, they get engrossed in activities and sometimes even being in different areas of the school can throw them where they need to go. We will keep sending them to the toilet many times a day while they are here but if you notice more frequent accidents at home please be persistent with pants and regular toilet breaks and they will be back to being clean and dry much quicker than if they go back to nappies or pull ups. My technology is not fixed but I have found a way of sharing a few photos with you.

8th September round up

It has been a great first week back, the children are all getting used to the expectations and routines. It has been lovely seeing the children getting reacquainted or develop new friendships. I always enjoy seeing how children change when they go from being in pre-school to being in reception.
We have enjoyed lots of Elmer stories and we will continue talking about everybody's favourite patchwork elephant next week. We loved singing and dancing but our most important job over the first couple of weeks, is getting to know each other, the classroom and the rules and routines.
Have a great weekend, I can't wait to see everyone next week.