Weekly News 27th February

We have had a lovely start to the first week back after half term! We all spoke about our new dinosaur topic and the children discussed as a class what they would like to learn about.

In maths we have been learning about weight. We have been ordering dinosaurs in weight and comparing the weight of dinosaurs using balance scales. On Friday, the children will be weighing dinosaurs using balance scales and cubes and predicting how many cubes each dinosaur will weigh.

In phonics we have been learning the digraphs ‘ee’ and ‘or’. Please help your child to blend words with these digraphs in.

We have also been reading with the children this week. Some parents have been asking about when the words bags get changed, these are for you to change as often as you like. As they progress through the word bags it will help them to read the digraphs as one sound, for example, r ai n.

Next Thursday is world book day, please could your child come to school dressed as their favourite book character.

We are in need of egg boxes for an upcoming easter activity. If you have any, please give to a member of staff, thank you.

Weekly News 13th February

This week we have been learning the sounds ng and ai. Your child has also been working with an adult to complete a sounds, tricky word and blending assessment. We have found that some of the children are struggling to retain some of the digraphs – these can be very tricky to learn! They are best learnt through repetition. Although your child may be able to recognise the sounds in the sound book it is a different skill to recognise the digraphs in words, this is something we practise with the children in phonics sessions.

In maths we have been problem solving and sharing coins between Chinese money purses and corn between pigs – as it is year of the pig! The children have been working out how to share numbers equally and fairly.

We have a tennis roadshow on Wednesday afternoon where the children will be learning what tennis is and practising some sports and co-ordination skills.

Thank you very much to the parents that returned the Tapestry questionnaire. We found that there were several parents who were unsure about the sorts of things that would be useful to upload to Tapestry. We have decided that from now on, each week, we will be adding a suggestion about an observation that you could upload to Tapestry that will help us to gather evidence about your child. For example, this week, can your child find things in their home, in the environment, draw things, or make a list of words with the ng or ai sound in. This will help us to identify if your child is at the emerging, expected or exceeding level of development.

Weekly News 6th February

We have had a fantastic week so far learning all about Chinese New Year! Each child has a challenge booklet in their trays and they collect stickers when they complete challenges. If all of the challenges are completed by the end of the week they will receive a special prize!

The challenges include chinese food tasting and building the great wall of China. But we have also been making a lot of different things too: a Chinese New Year card, a dragon puppet, a fan, a Chinese drum, a Chinese money purse, a lucky fish, a lantern and a pig puppet – as it is the year of the pig!

On Monday we had a Music and Movement workshop! The children learnt all about Chinese New Year and how it is prepared for and celebrated through dance and got to dance with a dragon head at the end!

We have had a fantastic time learning about another culture and the children have been very excited to complete all of the challenges. Thank you to all of the parents that have helped us so far, we couldn’t have prepared so many activities for your children without your help!

Next week we will be reading with your children and completing a reading assessment where we will see which sounds and tricky words your children know and then assess their ability to blend.

Weekly News 30th January

This week we have been learning the digraphs sh and th. We have found that the children can find it difficult to differentiate between ‘th’ and ‘f’ words. Perhaps you could help your children to practise thinking of ‘th’ words at home and hear the difference in the way the ‘th’ and ‘f’ sounds are spoken.

In maths we have been learning about subtracting. The children have been subtracting using concrete objects, their fingers and number lines and then learning how to write the number sentence.

The children have also been working 1:1 with an adult writing number lines to 20. We have been practising to write the numbers in the correct order and form them correctly.

The show and tell sessions have been fantastic so far! We have found that the children’s speaking and listening skills have really improved since the last show and tell and they have all done very well at remembering all of the facts! We can’t wait to hear the rest of them!

Please bring in any junk modelling materials that you have at home- we are always running short of things for the children to use! It is a very popular area of the base!

Don’t forget, Monday is the start of our Chinese New Year Week! Please could your child come to school wearing something red on this day as it is a very important colour in China. Thank you to all of the parents that said you can help during this week as we have lots of challenges for the children to complete!

Weekly News 23rd January

This week we have started learning digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound). We have been learning qu and ch.

In maths we have been adding. The children have been learning to count on from the biggest number using their fingers.

Continuing from our ‘Animals Around the World’ topic, on Tuesday, we looked at the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ which is set in Africa. In the story, Handa describes the fruit she is taking to her friend. We all learnt what an adjective was- or wow word- and looked for these in the story. For example, the ‘soft, yellow banana’. After we read the story, we all had a piece of tangerine and described it using our senses.

The children have also been busy carefully looking at and drawing pineapples. The children have been working with an adult to describe the pineapple and then describe what it tastes like at the end.

Every 2 weeks we have been introducing a new word to the children which reflects our school's '7 Wonders of Learning'. The children have previously learnt about the word 'collaborative' and what it means and this week we are looking at how to be a 'problem solver'. Maybe you could ask your child what they mean. 

Weekly News 16th January 2019

This week we have been very busy story scribing with the children. Please take some time to have a look at your child’s progress on their display board!

We have been learning the sounds x, y and z. Next week we will be starting to learn digraphs (two letters that come together to make one sound). Digraphs can be a tricky for your children to learn and remember. Please keep continuing to help your child practice the sounds in their sound book so they do not fall behind. Some parents have asked us about ways to extend their child’s learning at home and we have suggested helping your child to practising writing and spelling their tricky words as this is an important skill that helps with both their reading and writing.

In maths, we have been starting to learn the number bonds to 10. Maybe you could ask your child what they know about number bonds?

If you have any junk at home suitable for junk modelling, please bring it in as it is a popular area of the base and we always run out!

Weekly News 9th January

We started the week by going to a drama session in the hall ran by Carl Bradley. We pretended to put spells on each other and turn into different animals and we pretended to act out different emotions – it was lots of fun. This session was to promote his after school drama club, hopefully you will have received a letter about it.

On Tuesday we went on our Winter Welly Walk, we looked for signs of winter and when we got back to school we had a delicious warm waffle. Thank you to all of the parents that helped and joined us for the walk we had a great time!

We have also been learning the sounds j, w and v this week. Maybe you could ask your child to tell you words with those sounds in?

We will also be learning about the numbers 18 and 19.

On Friday, we will be having a very exciting afternoon as we are going to watch Aladdin in the hall!

Please bring in items suitable for junk modelling. It is a very popular area of the base and we are running out of junk for the children to use!

We are looking forward to watching your child’s show and tell about animals. Friday 11^th will be Birch group, about animals that live in the polar regions. Friday 18^th will be Maple group about animals that live is the desert. Friday 25^th will be Oak group about animals that live in the savannah and sycamore group will be animals that live in the rainforest on the 1^st February.