What Do You Teach In Foundation 2?

[Guest]

Hi Everyone

 

I am a teacher from New Zealand currently teaching in an independent school in the Middle East and following the EYFS curriculum. I had quite a difficult time coming to terms with the expectations last year, for CLL and PSRN. There was an expectation that the majority of the children would:

• have finished level 2 ORT
  
• know all letter sounds and sound blend
  
• know at least 45 key words
  
• write a simple sentence
  

• count to 100
  
• add and subtract at least up to 10
  
• begin counting in 2's, 5's and 10's
  

Mostly in Australia/NZ this would be part of the year 1 curriculum.

 

While a few of my children were definitely interested and ready for much of this, I believe most weren't. I was also concerned that a lot of the focus was on numeracy and literacy leaving no time for other equally important areas of the curriculum. The parents are a real driving force and apparently they are concerned that their children are 'behind' their counterparts in the UK.

 

My understanding of the EYFS is that support should be given to those children who are ready to be extended, but that generally the expectation is that these skills would be achieved over a 2 year transition (FS2 and yr1). Is this correct?

 

And, roughly, what percentage of your children would reach most of these goals in your FS2?

 

Thanks so much for any feedback

Edited August 26, 2010 by Guest

[Marion]

Hi Everyone

 

I am a teacher from New Zealand currently teaching in an independent school in the Middle East and following the EYFS curriculum. I had quite a difficult time coming to terms with the expectations last year, for CLL and PSRN. There was an expectation that the majority of the children would:

 

[*]count to 100

[*]add and subtract at least up to 10

[*]begin counting in 2's, 5's and 10's

When you say count to 100 do you mean recite number names to 100 or count 100 objects?

lots of reception children would be capable of reciting number names but few would be able to count 100 objects

many will know number bonds at least to 10 by the end of reception

and be capable of counting(reciting) in 2s 5s and 10s

 

 

• have finished level 2 ORT
  
• know all letter sounds and sound blend
  
• know at least 45 key words
  
• write a simple sentence
  

 

 

I would expect most children who have spent a full year in reception to be reading beyond ORT level 2 and to know the 44 phonemes in English, to be able to blend and segment and to be able to write a simple sentence independently. I don't teach the key words only "tricky words" but would expect my class to be able to decode the first 100 words.

 

In Y1 we teach the alternative ways of writing the 44 phonemes (so 150+ graphemes) and expect children to write stories with complex sentences using punctuation

[Guest]

Thanks Marion. Looks like I am going to have to suck it up then I still can't work out though how you all get time to cover this as well as the other profile areas.

 

FSF is a wonderful resource that I had forgotten about. I will definitely have to spend more time browsing and and looking for some great ideas for making this work for me.

 

Again, than you so much for your reply.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Guest

[Marion]

Remember there will be huge difference across the country because some children will spend a full year in reception while others will only have a term, some will be part time for some of their time and others will be full time

Edited August 26, 2010 by Marion

[Guest]

Remember there will be huge difference across the country because some children will spend a full year in reception while others will only have a term, some will be part time for some of their time and others will be full time

 

Thank you Marion

[mundia]

Hi Shasa.

The maths statements you make are really for year one, not reception and I would not be expecting many or most reception children to be achieving year one objectives, personally.

 

My experience with literacy is different from Marions in that I rarely found most of my chidlren know all 44 phonemes and blend and segment etc. I would find this an unrealistic expectation in my experience, so it will be interesting to hear what others experiences are.

 

I agree that its not easy to meet these requirements and cover everything else as well, especially is you don't have any support in your class.

[Rufus]

Hi, I though I would add my findings.

I would say 80% of my class at the end of F2 could .....

Count to 100, although many need help with bridging once they start counting beyond 50.

Add and subtract up to 10 (although they couldn't tell you rapid number bond facts up to 10, this is a Y1 objective).

Begin counting in 2, 5, 10 - emphasis on begin to.

 

With regards to Literacy, most children at the end of F2 are on ORT 2 and beyond, we have many this year on stage 6/7.

All will have a go at writing a simple sentence, with about 70% really achieving this.

90% know their sounds and are blending.

I teach tricky words not key words but I would say that about 40% know the tricky words, some of these children also knowing key words but this is by far the hardest objective for them.

 

Everywhere is different and I am sure next year our results will be very different. At the moment some children have 5 terms in FS whereas others only have 3. Next year all children will have 3 terms in FS, so our results may be very different.

[Susan]

My experiences have been like Mundia's. However, as a yr1 teacher I know find that the children know the phonemes but some find it very hard to blend and segment especially as their own speech is such that there is a lot of confusion between similar phonemes.

[KST]

I would say my last cohort was similar to Rufus. x

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your replies

 

By the end of the year I would say that 80% of my children had achieved all these objectives apart from counting in 2's and 5's. We achieved this because numeracy and literacy became the focus, particularly for the children that were not 'ready'. Had I appointed time equally to all areas of the curriculum, that percentage would not have been achieved.

 

I am struggling. I work at a school where most of the children are British and going back to to school in the UK. I wouldn't want them to get back to the UK and be 'behind' (generally speaking) BUT it is also my professional duty (and personal teaching philosophy) to address the needs of the whole child. I don't seem to be able to do both.

 

Sorry to be harping on after you have given me great answers already BUT (in a nutshell) - if your children are mostly reaching these objectives and beyond - are you still able to cover all areas of the EYFS equally including participating (observing, extending etc) in associated areas? If most teachers are able to achieve this then clearly I need to look at how I am teaching and make changes.

 

I really appreciate that people have taken the time to respond. Thank you.

[SmileyPR]

Most of my children achieved this, but as you say... putting more emphasis on CLL and PSRN. I did not work with all the 44 phonemes because I find it pushing too much. Our phonemes: a to z (including double consonants like ll-ss-ff-zz), qu-ch-sh-th-ck-ng, oo-ee.

 

A British mum had a child diagnosed with "Special Needs" in the UK and his behaviour had not seemed to be the best there, but she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the change in her son at our school. She concluded our curriculum was "more fun", more "child-friendly". His previous classroom only had a corner with toys and they had to learn all the 44 phonemes during their 1st term in Reception. Mum found that was too much. His work was sloppy, but his teacher would say it was excellent. (I saw his work !) I told her that he would learn the difference and enjoy his results. Without putting pressure on him, he wanted to get the "green happy fox" on our Nelson Handwriting blue workbooks. I always spoke to him calmly, eye to eye, making sure he would listen & understand... and always praising him for what was right or neat, as well as explaining why some things were not right and how we could find better solutions. He changed a lot in just 1 term he was with us (he came mid-April = 3rd term). Now he is going to start Grade 1 in our school.

 

So, in summary, I agree with you that children need a balance in the curriculum and less pressure should be put in Literacy... I emphasize Literacy because it is only 1/3 part of C.L.L. and yet it seems to become the main part lots of times.

[Guest]

Hi Everyone

 

I am a teacher from New Zealand currently teaching in an independent school in the Middle East and following the EYFS curriculum. I had quite a difficult time coming to terms with the expectations last year, for CLL and PSRN. There was an expectation that the majority of the children would:

• have finished level 2 ORT
  
• know all letter sounds and sound blend
  
• know at least 45 key words
  
• write a simple sentence
  

• count to 100
  
• add and subtract at least up to 10
  
• begin counting in 2's, 5's and 10's
  

Mostly in Australia/NZ this would be part of the year 1 curriculum.

 

While a few of my children were definitely interested and ready for much of this, I believe most weren't. I was also concerned that a lot of the focus was on numeracy and literacy leaving no time for other equally important areas of the curriculum. The parents are a real driving force and apparently they are concerned that their children are 'behind' their counterparts in the UK.

 

My understanding of the EYFS is that support should be given to those children who are ready to be extended, but that generally the expectation is that these skills would be achieved over a 2 year transition (FS2 and yr1). Is this correct?

 

And, roughly, what percentage of your children would reach most of these goals in your FS2?

 

Thanks so much for any feedback

 

Hi, my experience is roughly similar to Rufus and Mundia, but probably not as high a percentage. I had a very wide range of children last year, the top 33% in literacy able to recognise all the 44 phonemes, segment and blend to read and write very simple sentences on their own, but not USE all the phonemes in their writing. They knew about 50 key words. But the bottom 33% only just able to recognise the basic alphabet GPCs and only a couple of tricky words. Reading ranged from ORT Stage 2 to 6.

In maths they certainly would not be able to count in 2s unless did it quiet/loud, beyond 10, but could count in tens. Some counted to 100, some didn't. I concentrate more on problem solving in all areas. I feel that the Numeracy and Literacy objectives )if you look at the list of actual things they should be able to do) are harder than the ELGs, but I am probably wrong. Have you seen the new Maths document called (I can't remember exactly) something like "Patterns, Numbers and Problem Solving in EYFS" produced by the National Strategies - it is brilliant, very helpful.

 

I agree that unless you should be giving equal attention to all six areas and not worrying so much about CLL and PSRN discretely. Our children are only 4 or 5!! They will do better in the end, I am sure, if they are given the excitement and inspiration to learn through a wide play based curriculum with lots of talk, thinking and exploring. And remember that the EYFS continues into Year 1, until at least Xmas and beyond for those children who need it - this does not always happen in reality, but it should. Hope this helps a bit.

[Marion]

And remember that the EYFS continues into Year 1, until at least Xmas and beyond for those children who need it -

 

Sorry that isn't quite accurate EYFS doesn't continue into Y1 but Y1 staff should adopt similar methods at least in the first half term and many schools have adopted EYFS practice throughout KS1.

 

Personally I always think the PSRN goals are much easier than CLLD and PSED goals for most children (much easier to score 7 in calculation than in writing for example) although the problem solving is often something that some children don't demonstrate independently

[Guest]

It's important to remember of course that where the children are when they enter the school will effect where you can expect them to be at the end of reception. The reception teacher last year did an excellent job with her cohort, but they will come up with perhaps 50% knowing the phonemes a-z, sh, ch, th, ng, ee, oo and no more, about 10% could write a sentence independently and 30% with support. A similar percentage can count and recognise to 10 and add numbers within 10, with perhaps 10% being able to go to 20.

 

This isn't because she didn't work them hard enough or do enough with them she did an incredible job with them but when they came in their PSHE and language skills were way below what you would expect, plus there was a large percentage of SEN.

 

Of course this probably doesn't apply if you are at an independent school, but I just wanted to make the point that whilst you should have high expectations of children you can't expect every child in the country to reach the exact same point if they are nowhere near ready when they arrive at school whether they do a full reception year or not.

[KST]

I just wanted to add that I agree that you should support the whole child and give equal emphasis to all areas. Remember that cross curricular learning can meet more than one area of the curriculum at a time. Maybe look at your continuous provision - does it have enough writing, phonics, maths resources that children can experiment with during their play? Not all CLL and PSRN learning has to be delivered through adult led activities - thats obviously the same for all areas of the curriculum.

 

And just wanted to agree with kariana about the children's starting points - if your children are coming in lower, they won't be expected to achieve as well. x

[SmileyPR]

That is so true, Kariana, and it is more difficult when you are alone with 16 children... poor of those with 30. That is why it is so important to have a good continuous provision.

[Guest]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I just want to say again that I really appreciate the time you have spent in responding. Thank you.