Week Ending 16/12/22
Date: 12th Dec 2022 @ 7:03pm
Happy last day of the autumn term! It seems like only yesterday that we were writing the first blog of this academic year congratulating the children on a fantastic first week of school. Now it’s like they have always been a part of our school family! We are so proud of the children for all of their hard work and progress this term, thank you for all your support at home.
Nuffield Early Language Intervention
This week we have undertaken the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) assessment which is designed for Reception pupils to support their language and early literacy skills. This assessment has given us an indication of who may benefit most from receiving targeted small group work and one-to-one support each week with an adult.
The report in your child's book bag provides the scores for each area assessed.
1. Expressive Vocabulary (EV) assesses the ability to name pictures; a measure of vocabulary knowledge
2. Listening Comprehension (LC) assesses the ability to understand spoken stories; a measure of both literal and inferential language comprehension and expressive language skills
3. Receptive Vocabulary (RV) assesses the ability to match spoken words to pictures; a measure of vocabulary understanding
4. Sentence Repetition (SR) assesses the ability to repeat sentences; a measure of language comprehension and production skills
We have included some information at the bottom of the page which will help you develop your child's vocabulary, comprehension and listening at home. If your child still isn't forming their speech sounds correctly, there is some great guidance here: https://www.royalwolverhampton.nhs.uk/services/service-directory-a-z/speech-and-language-therapy-children/activities-and-advice/speech-sound-skills/
This week in Phonics we have been reviewing the sounds and Harder to Read and Spell Words we have learnt so far in our phase 3 journey. These include J,V,W,X,Z/ZZ,QU,CH, SH, TH, NG, NK, AI, EE, IGH, OA and HE, ME, SHE, WE, BE, BUSES, PUSH, WAS, HER. For the final week, we will still be sending home old books and you will continue to have access to Oxford Owl until January. From the first week back, we will be sending home brand new Collins Big Cat books with each child. They will have one of the brand new books per week and it must be returned safely the following week. Please, please look after them!
If you would like to recycle your child's advent calendar...then we have the perfect game for you! Simply take the plastic out of the middle and write graphemes that the children know behind each door. Then you can have hours of fun creating codes for the children to solve!
In Maths, we have continued to learn about 2D shapes and their properties (how many corners, sides it has). The Numberblocks video 'Flatland' is a great visual for learning the names and the difference between a square and a rectangle which is very important. Christmas is a great time for learning about shapes as they are all around us. What shape is a picture of a snowman? What shape do you draw for a Christmas tree? Don’t forget that children need to understand the difference between 2D and 3D shapes… a football is not a circle as it is a 3D shape.
On Monday, we thought we would be going to Park Hall Farm to see Santa but the weather had other ideas. The pipes were frozen at the farm and without water, we couldn’t go. The children were so mature when we told them. Luckily, Santa made the journey to see us in the afternoon and gave everyone a selection box.
On Tuesday, we made 2D shapes baubles for the tree and enjoyed exploring the frosty weather outside.
On Wednesday, it was Christmas Dinner Day. We enjoyed sharing a delicious, traditional Christmas meal from our amazing school kitchen team…served by the staff!
On Thursday, we had our Christmas party! Lots of great games, sweets and a Pass the Parcel per class as well.
On Friday, we went to church for Star of the Term worship. We enjoyed walking down with our buddies. Everyone was definitely tired today so we had fun playing in the classroom with our toys from home. The children shared beautifully.
EYFS Careers Week
Although it seems like a long way away, we are looking for parent volunteers after Christmas! During the week beginning 9th January, we will be hosting a careers week where we explore lots of different types of jobs. We want to inspire the children to dream big! If you would like to come in and share some information about your job/ read a story/ simply answer questions then please let us know and we will book you in.
Show and Tell
We will be holding a very special Christmas Show and Tell for Hedgehogs and Dormice on Wednesday 4th January. The children are allowed to bring in one toy that they got for Christmas to share with the rest of the class. No electronics or expensive/breakable presents! We recommend games or toys that can be shared with others such as board games.
Congratulations to our Stars of the Term, Violette and Joey.
Our mystery reader this week was Daniel’s Mum and Grace’s Mum. Thank you for coming to share a story with us! Please speak to your child’s class teacher to put a date in the diary if you would like to be mystery reader. We have plenty of slots available in the Spring term if you haven't already been one!
We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Miss Nicholas and Miss Selwyn.
