Reception

Welcome to Class R

Teachers - Mrs Lindley (Mon, Tue, alternate Wed) Mrs Dance (alternate Wed, Thurs, Fri)

Class R Teaching Assistants: Mrs Farnell (Mon, Wed, Thurs), Mrs Heaslewood (Tues and Fri)

Weekly update: Friday 2nd October

Welcome to Class R!

Please note...

Please do not send in yogurts or smoothies for afternoon snack.

Home time please collect your child from the hall door.

We will ask you to come to the door to collect your child rather than sending them across to you. This allows us to make sure that each child can clearly see their adult and that they have been collected safely.

Please remember to inform the office if there are any changes to who is collecting your child.

Please send coats in every day, even if it doesn't look like rain!

Please check that all of your child’s belongings are clearly labelled with their name. If you are using pre-loved items from siblings or others, please remember to remove any old names and replace them with your child’s name.

Tapestry - Due to a technical issue Tapestry accounts have been paused. We hope it will be back up and running soon!

Thank you for your help!

Highlights from this week...

A busy but fun week!

English: We introduced a little ‘Tell My Teacher’ post box as part of our Worship area. The children can write a message or note, draw a picture, or simply write their name on a small piece of paper and post it in the box. This lets the Class R adults know that they have something they would like to talk about.
It could be a worry, a question, something exciting that is happening, or some good news they would like to share. The children were very excited to try it out and created lots of messages, notes and pictures to post in the box.

We have also worked hard on lots of motor skill movements this week, including big body movements and smaller finger movements. See if your child can remember our butterfly arms or froggy finger movements!

We have begun our Phonics learning this week. Storybooks have been sent home for you to enjoy reading with your child. Once we have covered enough phonic sounds, phonics reading books will be sent home for your child to begin to read to you. Please see further down for more information about both of these.

Maths: The children have enjoyed learning about subitising! This is the skill of recognising how many objects there are in an arrangement without counting them — think about the dots on a dice.

We looked at the numbers 1, 2 and 3. We enjoyed starting our learning with Numberblocks, then looking at different arrangements of dots, saying the number we could see, and finishing with spotting 1, 2 and 3 in our environment and during our play.

RE: This week, we continued our learning around our Big Question: “Why is the word God so important to Christians?” We met Tom and Tessa, (persona character photos) who are Christians and learn about God from the Bible at church and at home. We talked about how no one has ever seen God, but Christians believe that God is behind all that exists in the world. He is the Creator and giver of life.
We shared an age-appropriate version of the Creation Story. The children talked about what they liked and didn't like in the story and thought about the things in our world that they are thankful for. Some of the ideas they shared included their families, animals, plants, flowers, toys and friends.
To finish, some of the children chose to draw pictures of things they are thankful for. These have been added to our RE classroom display.

We have also enjoyed creating self-portraits, looking carefully at the shapes that make up our faces. These will be used to create a display in the Early Years entrance. (A photo will be added to Tapestry)

PSHE: Emotional Regulation is a big part of our learning in Class R. We talk a lot about our feelings, discussing and modelling examples of what our bodies might do or what we might feel like inside. This week, we have talked about the feelings angry and sad. We explained that we can feel whatever we are feeling, and that this is okay. However, it is not okay to behave in a way that might hurt or upset someone or something.

Together, we talked about things we could do if we are feeling angry. Some ideas included:

Squeezing a pillow or teddy
Stomping around like a dinosaur (outside or in a safe space)
Trying some deep breaths
Tearing or screwing up paper that an adult has said is safe to use
Squeezing playdough

When we are feeling sad, we talked about:

Asking for a hug
Hugging a teddy
Doing something we enjoy, such as drawing or building
Listening to music

Most importantly, we talked about how the first step is to tell an adult how we are feeling so that together we can decide what might help us feel better.

The children have been reminded this week that if they ever need help, they can ask any adult within the school, as all adults are there to help keep them safe. Adults wear pink hi-vis jackets during lunchtime outdoor play and learning time (OPAL), so the children know who they can approach if they need help.

(See further down for dates, reminders and home learning activity ideas and optional at home reading menu)

The children are definitely ready for a rest this weekend!

Phonics

We follow the Phonic scheme Sounds Write.

Current sounds taught: m, a, t,
Words:

Sound Bingo - The children choose 4 sounds from those covered. The adult holds up a sound card, the children say the sound and mark it off if they have chosen it. If they get all 4 sounds they shout out Bingo!

Sound spotting - with the sounds displayed the children are asked to spot the sound. They either have to point it out, highlight it, trace over the letter, or write it on their whiteboards.

Word building – using sound cards children help identify the sounds needed to build a given word, working out one sound at a time, s-a-t ‘sat.'

Dictation - adults tell the children a simple sentence, containing 'tricky words' - words that do not follow phonetically decodable patterns, and decodable words (words they can sound out). The children are encouraged to use their Phonic knowledge to write the sentence. We also practise using finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.

Sound Swap - starting with a given word, change one sound to make a new word - cat, pat, pan, tan, tin, pin etc.

The following link has some information for parents if you would like to have a look.

https://sounds-write.co.uk/support-for-parents-and-carers/
The correct pronunciation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ZMfYjdN-s
It is important not to add sounds such as m=muh s= suh t=tuh
Take the word: ‘mat’. If you sound it out as ’muh’ + aa +tuh’ and then blend them together you get ‘muhaaatuh’ a long way off from ‘mmmaat’ and then ‘mat’.
We do not use actions or Jolly Phonics songs.

Reading books

Books will be changed on Mondays and Thursdays.

Phonics readers will be sent once we have covered enough sounds in the scheme we follow.

More details will follow.

Dates of interest

Monday 5th October - Harvest Donation week begins
Saturday 14th November - PTA Fireworks night
Saturday 12th December - PTA Christmas Fair

Reminders

Please make sure everything is labelled! Including pots within lunchboxes please!
Shoes too if possible. We have markers in school so please ask, we are happy to add names if needed. Lost items will usually find their way back to us if named.

Please send
- A named water bottle - morning snack will be given.
- Named rain coat even if weather looks fine.
- Bookbags, rucksacks aren't needed this year.
- 1 small afternoon snack (piece of fruit or veg is ideal) in a named bag or pot. No nuts, chocolates or sweets.
**Please remember to cut up grapes when sending them in for afternoon snack. This greatly reduces the risk of choking.

Home Learning Suggestions

Here you will find some suggestions of activities/ games you might like to enjoy at home over this term:

*Build a blanket den! Make it cosy by adding cushions and cuddly toys.
*Toy wash station - use a sink or washing up bowl, give your child a sponge and plastic toys to give a scrub!
*Toy sorting - choose a few mixed items such as building blocks, counters, small toys. Ask you child to sort them by colour or type. Talk about how else they could be sorted.
*Making pairs - Ask your child to make pairs of a selection of socks or shoes. Can they match them correctly?

Fine motor skills -
*Using pegs, placing them around a piece of paper or clipping to the bottom of t shirts. Can your child take them off and put them on the item?
*Posting items, cut a slit in a small box or use an empty tissue box. Make a selection of different sized paper, cut up pieces, post it notes, folded etc. Ask your child to post the items into the box. Encourage them to us their first 2/3 fingers, or use tweezers for an extra challenge!