The Courier

Some of the things the children have been learning...

It’s hard to believe we’ve already completed a whole week in school and the class are now familiar with structured play routines in Reception.  We have all been making new friends and enjoying lunchtimes with our year 6 buddies. We have started our specialist lessons with Mrs Barnes for Music, Mr Adkins for IT, Mrs McCollin for PE and Mrs Day for French.

In class we have been trying hard to establish comfortable pencil grips and practised reading and writing our names.

We have been singing number rhymes and practised counting to 10.

Some of the things the children will be learning in the weeks to come...

Next week we will start to look at books with repetitive chants. We will use the texts ‘We’re Going On a Bear Hunt’ and ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’ in our learning.

In maths we will be looking for, and creating our own repeating patterns. We will practise number formation focussing on numerals 1-5.

We will be starting our first topic, ‘Me and Family’ and talking about our favourite things.

In phonics we will be introducing single sounds initially focussing on;

s     a     t     p     i     n

c      k      e      h      r     m     d

How to help your child at home...

• Practise single letters and their sounds. Play games that encourage the children to identify the initial sounds of objects e.g. eye-spy
• Share stories, encourage the children to identify sounds in print
• Encourage mark making/ writing and practise holding a pencil correctly and comfortably
• Practise counting to 20
• Match numerals (1-5) to amounts
• Encourage the children to dress independently
• Practise packing school bags with daily equipment – reading folders, snack bags

What’s coming up/ notices/ information...

• Please remember to send in a puddle suit and wellies for forest school.  Also please send spare underwear in their bags so we are prepared for any accidents
• Timetables have been sent home – please ask if you have any queries
• Remember to sign the Reading Record books each evening
• On Fridays we have ‘Show and Tell.’ The children are invited to bring in something from home that they are willing to share and talk about
• Please send in a few family photographs as we will be making individual booklets to display for our topic work

We have started an activity called ‘Start The Year With A Bang’. There are 20 balloons around the screen in the classroom all with a name inside. Each day we pop one balloon and the child whose name comes out is celebrated that day – they get to be at the front of the line and the children all tell their friend the things that they like about them and we write it on their certificate. It’s a great way for the children to feel a special part of the class and to know how much they are valued and what they are valued for. 

We welcomed the children into 1Q this week with great excitement. All the children have settled in really well and are eager to learn. In English this week, we have been reading the story Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy. We drew our family members and labelled them using capital letters. We have also been busy creating colourful names to personalise our classroom and really enjoyed exploring all the new toys in Year 1. A great first week back!

Children in 2W have been comparing 2 and 3 digit numbers: using mathematical strategies to say which was larger or smaller. Some extended themselves to challenge Mr Webb with some devious examples to test his knowledge!

Children in 2W have got straight back into the swing of extending their thinking and writing.  Here some of them are creating potential settings for stories and adding adjectives to make them more interesting.

Year 2 had fun choosing and arranging different objects in an interesting way. They then carefully observed their arrangement and tried to sketch it carefully.

The pupils in Year 2 to 6 have been practising their key scientific skills this week in Science lessons. Year 2 have been practising their prediction and observation skills whilst potion making!