Jolly Phonics And Abacus?

[Guest]

I am an NQT who is about to start my first teaching job in reception. At the moment we have no current phonics scheme in place however the Abacus system is followed for Literacy and Numeracy. As of september I will be using the Jolly phonics scheme alongside our general topic, e.g. people who help us. I am unsure as to whether I still need to follow the abacus system for Literacy lessons or if the jolly phonics scheme can be followed for literacy. This may be a very thick question but any help or advice would be very appreciated???

[KST]

Phonics should be taught daily for 15-20 minutes, it doesn't matter which scheme you use. As for literacy and numeracy - I don't think the EYFS would advocate using any schemes like abacus. The EYFS is about planning activities around children interests and next steps in learning - not about using pre-planned lessons as they do not take into account where inidividual children are. It sounds to me that that your school are operating a very formal system and I think they need to read the EYFS! You don't need to be teaching literacy and numeracy everyday in Reception.

 

I currently teach CLL twice a week, and PSRN twice a week - with lots of stories and rhymes throughout the week. Children need lots of time to be choosing so they can initiate their own learning and you need to be planning for the environment to support this. I bring the phonics learning into my guided reading and writing so children get to practise the skills being taught.

 

How does your school choose their topics? Pre-planned topics are not in my opinion best practise for EYFS. I choose my themes around the children interests - you need to be flexible to follow their interests and change if new interests come along.

 

There are lots of planning examples on here.

 

Good luck! x

[Guest]

Phonics should be taught daily for 15-20 minutes, it doesn't matter which scheme you use. As for literacy and numeracy - I don't think the EYFS would advocate using any schemes like abacus. The EYFS is about planning activities around children interests and next steps in learning - not about using pre-planned lessons as they do not take into account where inidividual children are. It sounds to me that that your school are operating a very formal system and I think they need to read the EYFS! You don't need to be teaching literacy and numeracy everyday in Reception.

 

I currently teach CLL twice a week, and PSRN twice a week - with lots of stories and rhymes throughout the week. Children need lots of time to be choosing so they can initiate their own learning and you need to be planning for the environment to support this. I bring the phonics learning into my guided reading and writing so children get to practise the skills being taught.

 

How does your school choose their topics? Pre-planned topics are not in my opinion best practise for EYFS. I choose my themes around the children interests - you need to be flexible to follow their interests and change if new interests come along.

 

There are lots of planning examples on here.

 

Good luck! x

 

Thank you. That is very helpful. I have been working at the school for a while and did try to get rid off the Abacus but lady i was covering was adamant it stayed!! As of september it will be no more!!

Our topics are based on a sheet that the new parents have been sent about what their children enjoy etc but once in school we use them a starting point and then follow the childrens ideas and interests.

[KST]

Great! I think you sound like you know more than them, you are freshly trained and will have lots of refreshing ideas so don't let them pressure you into doing things that you know are not right. You'll find over the year that you will change things as you find out what works for you and the children so just go with the flow and enjoy it! You're at the right place for any support or ideas! xx

[Susan]

Abacus is a maths scheme although there are speaking and listening objectives connected with it as these are strands of the renewed framework.

While I understand what KST is saying and I am trying to move away from the blocks in yr1, I do think having regard to a scheme can be a good way to make sure you cover the objectives and ensure nothing is missed. Remember that the objectives are also the ELGs for the end of foundation and that you should be teaching those so dont forget to use the Abacus scheme that you have to facilitate your teaching and the children's learning---you are lucky to have a scheme that you can follow!

[Susan]

Welcome aboard den1988!

[KST]

To be fair I haven't ever seen or used the abacus scheme. I agree with Susan that it is important to make sure you cover everything over the year. I tend to highlight the development matters/ELG in a different colour for each term so I don't I have covered everything. But what you have covered doesn't mean that children have learnt it so you have to teach some ELGs lots of times in different contexts to capture each child.

[Guest]

Abacus Evolve does (I think) cover CLL and PSRN for Reception - but I didn't like it when we looked at it as a support for maths for whole school as I thought it was too prescriptive (for CLL and PSRN). Isn't it annoying when others area adamant they are right when in fact they live the dark ages?!

[Guest]

Abacus Evolve does (I think) cover CLL and PSRN for Reception - but I didn't like it when we looked at it as a support for maths for whole school as I thought it was too prescriptive (for CLL and PSRN). Isn't it annoying when others area adamant they are right when in fact they live the dark ages?!

 

 

Myself and the TA have just found it a bit repetitive and dull. We tried brightening it up but still seems to lack helping children with their writing skills although that is probably just our own opinion. I think from September we will loose the 5 numeracy lessons that the foundation teacher before used every week although use the Abacus for our goals and objectives.