Week Ending 25/10/24
Date: 2nd Oct 2024 @ 4:51pm
Happy Friday! We made it! Can you believe we have already completed one half term? The time has whizzed by over the last eight weeks and the children have worked incredibly hard in their learning. We have been so impressed with how they have adapted to their new classroom, rules, routines and expectations of Reception already. They definitely deserve a break to have time to rest before we get stuck into the magic of Christmas next half term.
I have loved speaking to many of you over the week regarding the progress your child has made so far in their first term at school. Thank you for your continued support on your child’s learning journey. We greatly appreciate it.
Dates for the Diary for next half term:
- Children in Need - Friday 15th November (Chocolate donation to the PTA Fair. Donate online – Dress down day)
- Christmas Fair – Friday 6th December 4-6pm.
- EYFS Nativity Dress rehearsal –Thursday 12th December This is our final practice before the children get to show you. We will be performing in front of our buddies and the Done Room pre-school at 2pm. If you are in the village and would like to volunteer to walk us down to the church (or back) we would greatly appreciate it. Unfortunately, you will not be allowed to view this performance as we want to keep it a secret!
- EYFS Nativity –Friday 13th December at 2pm at St Helen’s Church. We will also need some parent walkers to help us walk down. We will be dispatching from the church on the day as it will be close to pick up. If you are unable to attend, we will be bringing your child back to school for normal dispatch at 3:20pm.
- Trip to see Santa – Monday 16th December (Details of drop off and pick up will be sent after half term).
- Christmas Dinner/Jumper Day – Wednesday 18th December
- School closes 1:30pm finish – Friday 20th December
Kinetic Letters
We completed the remaining letters of the ‘Jumper Family’ which contains the letters h, n, m, b, p and r. Kinetic Letters introduces writing on a line from the start and teaches them that all letters start from the ‘brave monkey’s branch’ (top of the line) or the ‘scared monkey’s branch’ (middle of the lines). No letters start from the ‘ground’ (bottom line)! To support your child at home, please encourage them to start their letters from the right place, hold their pencil correctly and provide lines for them to write on. I have attached a video where you will be able to see the correct formation as modelled by Miss Nicholas with the three letters we have learnt this week, M, B and P. These all follow the same starting action of 'down bump, back up, push over'. If your child is struggling to form these letters, try practising by tracing the letters in sand/glitter or even flour first using the 'down bump, back up, push over' mantra for the Jumper Family. After half term we move onto the Abracadabra Family!
Please ensure your child is holding their pen/pencil using their 'Three Friends Hold'. I have linked a video for you below which supports pencil grip.
We have taken a photo of your child's progress in Kinetic Letters so far now that they have learnt the first letter family which has been uploaded to Tapestry. Please do take a look and speak to myself or Mrs Line should you have any questions or need any help in supporting your child in this area.
Little Wandle - Phonics
This week has been another ‘assess and review’ week where we make sure the children are remembering what we have learnt so far. There are no home learning sheets this week so please see previous blogs if you wish to practise these. This will start up again after half term. Please continue to use the grapheme information sheet to support the Phase 2 sounds we have learnt so far. All books have been exchanged and placed in their reading folders.
Reminder: Please can you ensure that you bring in your coloured reading folder on a Thursday. These folders are there to maintain the condition of our new reading books incase of spillages etc. If the Little Wandle books are damaged then will be have to issue a £5 fine to go towards a replacement.
We also request that all sharing books are returned on a Thursday too. These books make up a large part of our library which the rest of Key Stage 1 use so it is vital these are returned on a weekly basis. If two books are missing in a row, we will be unable to offer your child another sharing book until they have been returned. Thank you for your understanding. We do keep a log book, so if you need a reminder of your child's book then please let us know.
Phonics Assessment
This week we have completed a short phonics assessment with your child which consisted of recognising the grapheme (letter) we have learnt so far (S,A,T, P, I, N, M, D, G, O, C, K, CK, E, U, R, H, B, F, L) and being able to orally blend and read simple CVC words which contain these sounds. In your child’s reading folder this week, I have placed a helpful sheet of all the sounds we have learnt so far with their correct pronunciation. Please ignore the formation column as we we have not starting writing yet.
In your reading record you will find two ticks and an arrow which will be the next step in their learning. You will find your child’s percentage in their reading records; 80% is on track and able to move onto the next set of books. Please keep reading with your child as often as possible to build up fluency and speak to your me if you have concerns about their progress. Please can you ensure you write in your reading record once your child has read to you. This is another form of communication between home and school where you can see how your child is getting on with their reading.
You can also look at the following resources on the Little Wandle website to find out more about phonics: https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
In Maths, we have visited the Pattern Palace with the Numberblocks. We have been learning to continue, create and fix ABAB patterns this week. We had lots of fun making tile patterns and trying to fix the patterns made by the teachers. If your child spots a pattern or creates one at home then please take a photo and upload to Tapestry!
On Monday, we finished off the story and completed the rest of our class story map. Story maps are so useful by using pictures to retell the main parts of the story. We had a fantastic afternoon on our Autumn walk to help us learn more about Autumn. We talked about how the weather is changing and how the leaves are starting to fall from trees. We spoke about how this is because it is not as sunny and it is becoming colder. We had great fun looking for beautiful autumn coloured leaves and lots of shiny conkers! We loved being out in our wellies and waterproofs and noticing what autumn looks like in our local community.
On Tuesday, we conducted a science experiment! We asked the children to predict what will happen if the gingerbread man falls into water. We placed a real gingerbread man in water and observed what happened to it over time. To help the Gingerbread Man cross the water safely we made bridges to help him not get wet.
On Wednesday, we had our final session on the balance bikes. The children also showed great perseverance in tackling the ramp to conclude our sessions this half term.
On Thursday, Jack the Dog shared the story of Jonah and the Whale. This week we have been thinking lots about bravery and trusting in God. The children thought about times that they have shown perserverence in the face of challenge and how we can overcome our fears.
On Friday, we played the game 'can you guess who?' by observing photos from the past as the children as babies and describing how we have changed and life cycles. We had great fun matching the correct baby photo to the child and identified some things we couldn't do as a baby but we can do now like ride a balance bike or even read!
Congratulations to our Star of the half term, Monty!
Our Mystery Reader this week was Monty's Mum. Thank you for coming to share your story with us!
We hope you have a relaxing and restful term break and get ready for the excitement that the next few months bring. Thank you for your continued support over this half term.
We look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Miss Selwyn
