Class Teachers: Miss Digance and Mrs Cousins 

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Dando 

You can find information about our class, as well as communicate with the class teacher on Class Dojo. Please contact the office if you need support signing up.

Here in Buzzard class, every child is celebrated for who they are. We stive to facilitate an environment that promotes creative, resilient, capable, self-assured, understanding and kind Buzzards. We know that every child can learn differently and at different rates. Therefore, we aim to enable a variety of learning opportunities to meet the needs on each individual child. 

We love taking our learning outside and having access to a beautiful location is a real perk here at Kilmersdon. We have a wonderful forest school space, large field and fantastic outdoor learning area, which we often love to explore!

Take a look at some of the things this year's Buzzards have been getting up to... 

The EYFS Curriculum 

The Foundation Stage years are an integrated approach to care and education which runs from before a child is born to when they are five years old - the end of Reception Class. 

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and support to fulfil their potential. A child’s experience in the early years has a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important and provides the foundation for children to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up. The aim of the Foundation Years is to help young children achieve the five ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes of staying safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution, and achieving economic well-being. The EYFS principles are grouped into four distinct but complementary themes: 

• A Unique Child – recognises that every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured. The commitments are focused around development; inclusion; safety; and health and well-being. 

• Positive Relationships – describes how children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person. The commitments are focused around respect; partnership with parents; supporting learning; and the role of the key person. 

• Enabling Environments – explains that the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning. The commitments are focused around observation, assessment and planning; support for every child; the learning environment; and the wider context – transitions, continuity, and multi-agency working. 

• Learning and Development – recognises that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates, and that all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected. 

Learning and Development in the EYFS 

There are 7 statutory areas covered in the statutory Foundation Years framework 

Three prime areas: 

• Personal, social and emotional development 

• Communication and language development 

• Physical development 

Four specific areas: 

• Literacy 

• Mathematics 

• Understanding the World 

• Expressive Art and Design 

The first three areas are of prime importance and necessary for effective development and achievement in early years and beyond. The specific areas help to support a rounded approach to child development. All areas are delivered through planned, purposeful play, with a balance of adult-led and child-initiated activities both inside and outside. 

Phonic Development: Read Write Inc. 

What is RWI? 

Read Write Inc (RWI) is a phonics programme which helps all children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary, and spelling.  It also allows them to spell effortlessly so that they can put all their energy into composing what they write. The children are assessed by the RWI lead teacher and grouped according to their ability. Small group phonics lessons are taught daily by trained staff and there are consistent expectations across the range of abilities. At the end of each half term the children are assessed to check on their progress and regrouped.