Acorns – EYFS

Welcome to Acorns at Andrews’ Endowed. Our class teacher is Mrs. Ryan.
Our LSA is Miss Kalusznisk. Mrs. Mason covers for PPA.

Class Letters

Please find below links to documents and parent letters that are specific to Acorns.

There are no documents here yet. Please check back closer to the spring term.

There are no documents here yet. Please check back closer to the summer term.

Class Documents

Please find below our class documents for 2022-2023

Spring Term Documents

Spring 1

Spring 2

Summer Term Documents

Summer 1

Summer 2

What do our pupils think?

My friends and I have been at Andrew’s Endowed for nearly 7 years now and it has never been dull from Maths to Science – every lesson is fun. The teachers are jolly, kind and always try to be funny, especially if someone cracks a joke. My two favourite lessons are D.T and Art because I am allowed to be so creative! 

Year 6 Pupil

During the 2  nd half term as Year 6, we get to be buddies for the children in our Reception class which we call Acorns. We help them to read, do maths and even help them in how to be good friends.  

Year 6 Pupil

I did not start Andrews’ Endowed from the first year of reception, but our teachers here at Andrews’ have welcomed everybody new or not new. We always have a lot of one to one chats with teachers for good reasons if we need someone to talk to. 

Year 6 Pupil

The EYFS Curriculum

Our Curriculum in Acorns can be broken up into the following sections:

-Talk about everything

-Encourage questions

-“Jump” on new words and have fun together talking about what they mean

-Encourage taking turns in conversations

-Encourage speaking clearly

-Praise good listening

-Play games where talking and listening are an important part

-Help to develop fine motor control in activities such as drawing, colouring, cutting, threading, construction, use of tools with play dough, paint etc.

-Help to develop gross motor control in activities such as running, climbing, jumping, skipping, hopping, throwing and catching, simple games with a ball/bean bags, cones etc.

-Help to develop your child’s awareness of personal safety by encouraging looking around, being self-aware, tasking care in activities

-Encourage your child to become independent in dressing, undressing, using the toilet and basic hygiene

-Talk to your child about how to be healthy, encourage eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly

-Expect and praise good behaviour

-Encourage self-awareness and work on showing respect for others

-Play games that involve turn taking, sharing, not always winning!

-Help your child to talk about his/her feelings in a positive way

-Praise success and help develop your child’s confidence

-Be positive and encourage motivation

-Encourage and praise independence

-Read as many books as possible, talk about them, act out parts of them together, compare similarities and differences in different books, talk about favourite books….

-Encourage your child to read his/her reading book daily and let us know about this on Tapestry

-Encourage your child to read words wherever you are- in the supermarket/on signs/in restaurants etc.

-Play phonic games such as “I spy”, rhyming games, sounding out games

-Encourage writing at every opportunity- writing notes/cards, shopping lists, clues for games etc.

– Encourage your child to read numbers wherever you are- in the supermarket/on signs/in restaurants etc.

-Count as many things as you can in the house/when out and about

-Talk about numbers in order in different contexts- on electrical devices/in games etc.

-Encourage your child to add and subtract in practical contexts e.g. putting fruit in the fruit bowl/when working with leg/when tidying away toys or crayons…this can then be developed into learning number bonds

-Point out Maths related concepts as much as possible- the time, amounts of money, weighing when cooking/measuring when doing DIY, 2d and 3d shapes of items etc.

Talk about EVERYTHING!

-Encourage questions

-Show curiosity yourself e.g. when visiting somewhere new

-Follow and develop your child’s interests in the world- places, animals, plants, people…

-Encourage older family members to talk about their past and help your child to find out a little family history

-Look at maps, information leaflets and books and talk about them

-Talk about interesting programmes on TV to develop your child’s interests and understanding

-Encourage your child to draw, paint, collage, make models etc.

-Point out any art work you might see when out and about and talk about it.

-Encourage singing and dancing to music

-Explore different types of music and talk about preferences

-Encourage imaginary play, acting out stories or films etc.

The Use of Tapestry
In Acorns we use Tapestry to communicate collections of activities/ideas to help parents and carers find fun things to do if they find themselves unexpectedly at home with younger children. Tapestry also allows communication about home learning to be sent in to us so we can celebrate the children’s learning, give feedback to the children and help to identify the next steps in the learning.• The prime areas of learning: communication and language. physical development. personal, social and emotional development.• The specific areas of learning: literacy. mathematics. understanding the world and expressive arts and design.• The characteristics of effective learning: playing and exploring. active learning. creating and thinking critically. So much quality learning can come from activities like helping with the washing, doing some gardening, baking, watching films, colouring, playing board games, writing letters to friends and relatives, reading stories, talking and just spending time together!

Handwriting in ACORNS

Here are some pages about Handwriting in Acorns. These scans are from our teaching material. If you want to use them, you will need to write out some letters for your child to practise, following the instructions in the teaching guide.