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Welcome to Foundation
Coral
Puffins
In Foundation, we aspire to provide every pupil with the best possible start in their primary education. This starts with carefully considered building blocks of learning which are matched precisely to the developmental needs of each individual pupil. Relationships are key (as they are across the school) and our team work incredibly hard to know each pupil personally and tailor learning to them through an engaging learning environment which embraces the whole curriculum and targets areas of learning through a plan, do, review process.
We have developed an ambitious curriculum for our pupils which we believe provides them with key entitlements which provide them with firm foundations in knowledge. Our yearly curriculum overview can be viewed here.
We love enabling learning both inside and outside of the classroom and always make good use of the great outdoor spaces that we have at Lipson Vale Primary School.
Our pupils are happy and love coming to school!
Whilst we think of our Foundation Stage as one big family, we split pupils into 2 classes when they join us. This split is decided considering their nursery settings and all the information we gain from the introduction processes. Our classes are:
Mr Whittaker is our Foundation Lead and teaches in Puffins.
Miss Worth teaches in Coral class.
Mrs Barras teaches in Coral class.
Our amazing team
As well as Mr Whittaker, we have a great team looking after your children.
Miss Renouf, Mrs Gardiner and Mrs Pope work with pupils across the 2 classes.
Teaching pupils to read is a priority for us in Foundation. We teach using the phonics scheme Read, Write Inc. Mrs Barras leads Early Reading across the school and is passionate advocate for every child developing the knowledge and skill to enable them to have a lifelong love of books.
More information can be found on our Early Reading page - click on the link to find out more.
Our high expectations
We want every child who attends our great school to have the very best start in the education. We have designed an ambitous curriculum which lays the building blocks for future learning and captures the interests of every pupil. Throughout the year, we tailor learning to the developmental stage each pupil. We have key progression documents which identify the milestones in learning. These documents ensure that our planning is targeted to the needs of each pupil and that we are always aiming for the end of year expectations (the early learning goals).
Getting ready to join us
By the time the summer term comes around you will have probably had a tour around several schools, made your choices and you will have received the news from admissions to say which setting your child has been given a place in.
You will then receive an invitation to attend an introductory meeting here at Lipson Vale where we will talk you through the logistics and various stages involved in your child joining us in September. On entering the meeting you will receive a pack with information and forms that we will then talk you through. The School Wear shop
will be in attendance, as well as our Parent Support Advisor.
You will also receive a ‘home visit’ appointment.
Home visits take place during July and are carried out by two members of the foundation team. A home visit is a chance for us to meet you in the comfort of your own home where your child will feel the most confident and secure. We can share a story, help you with the forms and paperwork from your pack and also to talk about the types of things that you might not want to talk about in a busy school environment, such as medical or
dietary needs.
After the home visits we hold two stay and play sessions. These also take place during July. We hold one after school on a Monday and a Friday towards the end of the summer term. Additional visits to Lipson can be arranged.
It is also likely, but not essential, that your child’s pre-school will have contacted us and invited us to see them within their current setting. They will also share information with us through a ‘transition document’. You will also receive a copy of this.
For some children, an enhanced transition is arranged. This would involve your child’s pre- school SENCO and any other involved agencies, such as Speech and Language therapists. An enhanced transition enables all parties to plan the appropriate transition and provision for your child on joining us.
On joining us in September, your child will spend half days with us for the first few days. This part time timetable allows us to get to know the children in smaller groups and also to carry out their Reception Baseline Assessment which provides us with a starting point for their learning and is a statutory assessment for all primary schools.
Your child will also have been allocated a place in either Coral class or Puffin class. It is possible that we will make adjustments to the classes after the first half term but this would only be done in collaboration with yourselves.
You will be invited to a parent meeting during October. We will discuss how your child has settled but there will also be daily opportunities to talk to the foundation staff when you drop off and collect your child.