Term 4 Newsletter Owls

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope that you and your families enjoyed the break. It was lovely to see the children again this week and it has been nice to start the term with a little bit of sun. Below, I have outlined some of the things that will be happening/ things that we will be learning over the coming term.

Our Learning This Term

In Maths we will be developing our subitising, composition and comparison skills by:

•  Exploring symmetrical patterns, in which each side is a familiar pattern, linking this to ‘doubles’.
•  Continuing to consolidate our understanding of cardinality, working with larger numbers within 10.
• Becoming more familiar with the counting pattern beyond 20.
• Exploring the composition of odd and even numbers, looking at the ‘shape’ of these numbers.
•  Beginning to link even numbers to doubles.
•  Beginning to explore the composition of numbers within 10.
• Comparing numbers, reasoning about which is more, using both an understanding of the ‘how manyness’ of a number, and its position in the number system.
• Continuing to explore the composition of 5 and practise recalling ‘missing’ or ‘hidden’ parts for 5.
• Exploring the composition of 6, linking this to familiar patterns, including symmetrical patterns.
• Beginning to see that numbers within 10 can be composed of ‘5 and a bit’.
• Continuing to compare sets using the language of comparison, and play games which involve comparing sets.
• Continuing to compare sets by matching, identifying when sets are equal explore ways of making unequal sets equal.

In Literacy, we are continuing with Drawing Club alongside some retelling of traditional tales. Drawing Club was developed by Greg Bottrill and involves the children drawing something every day, linked to our class text for that week. We use our imaginations to make changes and add codes to our pictures which support our number and phonics development. Our key texts this term include: The Giant Jam Sandwich, The Tiger who came to Tea and the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Understanding the World

This term we will be developing our knowledge and skills to enable the children:

• To explore natural objects using the senses.
• To explore and make observations of the world around them.
• To describe the effects of different weather conditions.
• To use the senses to observe and talk about experiences whilst outside.
• To begin to notice some of the features of the changing seasons.
• To begin to recognise seasonal weather conditions.

 

Expressive Arts and Design

In DT we will be making smoothies and leading up to this we will be:

• Exploring fruits and vegetables and the differences between them.
• Using adjectives to describe how fruits and vegetables look, feel, smell and taste.

In celebration of Book Week, we are excited to complete some work around the text ‘The Day the Crayons Quit.’ We are looking forward to seeing you on Friday 7^th March at 3pm at our exhibition.

Phonics and Reading

This term we continue to learn our sounds in our daily phonics sessions. Please see our focus sounds in the FFT reading books which are sent home each week.

I thought it would be useful to share an aspect of our phonics teaching, so that, where possible, this can also be supported at home. As part of our phonics session each day we practise orally blending and segmenting. We call it ‘Say-it-fast’ and ‘Break it down’.

What is Say-it-Fast (Word Blending)? The teacher says the individual phonemes in a word (/c/ … /a/ … /t/) and challenges the children to ‘say it fast’ so that they say the word ‘cat’.

What is Break it down (Segmenting)?

The teacher says a word (‘fish’) and the children orally segment it into composite phonemes (/f/ … /i/ … /sh/).

Red Words

All children have been sent home with some red word cards to practise. They are known as tricky word as we cannot use our phonics knowledge to sound them out accurately. We also practise these in school throughout the week in our daily guided reading sessions.  Each week we will check the children’s progress and if they can read the majority of the words then new words will be sent home. Please ensure that book bags come in every day so that red word cards can be checked and added to.

Key Information:

PE:  Continues to be on a Monday and Tuesday this term.

Drinks: Please ensure that only water is supplied in bottles at school.

 

Term 3 Newsletter

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope that you all had an enjoyable and restful holiday. The children have all been keen to talk about their break. It has been so nice to see them all again and hear their news.  They have continued to surprise and amaze me with their learning already, and it’s only week 1!  Below, I have outlined our learning for this term.

Our Learning this term:

This term we started with a week learning and enjoying lots of different nursery rhymes supporting our language and communication development.

In Maths we will be continuing to develop our subitising skills to:

➢ increase confidence in subitising by continuing to explore patterns within 5, including structured and random arrangements

➢ explore a range of patterns made by some numbers greater than 5, including structured patterns in which 5 is a clear part

➢ experience patterns which show a small group and ‘1 more’

➢ continue to match arrangements to finger patterns. Cardinality, ordinality and Counting

➢ continue to develop verbal counting to 20 and beyond

➢ continue to develop object-counting skills, using a range of strategies to develop accuracy

➢ continue to link counting to cardinality, including using their fingers to represent quantities between 5 and 10

➢ order numbers, linking cardinal and ordinal representations of number

Composition:

➢ continue to explore the composition of 5 and practise recalling ‘missing’ or ‘hidden’ parts for 5

➢ explore the composition of 6, linking this to familiar patterns, including symmetrical patterns

➢ begin to see that numbers within 10 can be composed of ‘5 and a bit’

Comparison:

➢ continue to compare sets using the language of comparison, and play games which involve comparing sets

➢ continue to compare sets by matching, identifying when sets are equal explore ways of making unequal sets equal

Literacy:

We are continuing with Drawing Club alongside some retelling of traditional tales. Drawing Club, developed by Greg Bottrill, involves daily drawing activities linked to our class text. We use our imaginations to make changes and add codes to our pictures, supporting number and phonics development. Our key texts this term include One Snowy Night, Pirate Pete and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Understanding the World:

This term we will be developing our knowledge and skills to enable the children to:

➢ Draw information from a simple map

➢ Explore the natural world around them

➢ Describe what they see, hear and feel whilst outside

➢ Recognise some environments that are different from the one in which they live

➢ Understand that some places are special to members of their community

Expressive Arts and Design:

We will be exploring paint and painting techniques through nature, music and collaborative work. Developing creativity through child-led exploration of mixed media, making collages and transient art.

Phonics and Reading

This term we continue to learn our sounds in our daily phonics sessions. We are currently learning digraphs (2 letters that make one sound). Check the FFT reading books sent home each week for focus sounds.

Here is a list of each of the digraphs that your child will learn throughout the phases: 

Phase 2: ff, ll, ss 

Phase 3: zz, qu, ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, er

If you need any further guidance on supporting your child’s learning at home, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Red Words

All children have been sent home with some red word cards to practise. These tricky words cannot be sounded out using our phonic knowledge. We also practise these in school throughout the week in our daily guided reading sessions.  Each week we will check the children’s progress, and new words will be sent home if needed.  Please ensure that book bags are brought in every day.

Key Information:

PE: Monday and Tuesday this term.

Drinks: Please ensure that only water is supplied in bottles at school.

Do you have any unwanted Loose parts that you could donate?

Loose parts are materials that children can move, manipulate, control, combine, and change throughout their play. They enable children to experiment without a pre-determined outcome or a ‘right way’ to do things.

Examples are endless but could include: crates, pipes, guttering, buckets, wood planks, tarpaulin. fabric, pegs, golf tees, nuts and bolts, buttons or beads.

If you think you may have something to donate, please speak to Mrs West.

Term 2 Newsletter

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2. This is always a very busy but very fun term.  It has been lovely to catch up with you all at our parents’ meetings to share all the learning we have been doing and just how proud I am of the children.  Below I have outlined some of the things that will be happening/ things that we will be learning over the coming term.

Our Learning This Term

This term we have started learning about different festivals and celebrations that occur at this time of year including  Diwali and Guy Fawkes night. We will also be learning about the story of Christmas and practising for our Christmas performance.

In Maths, we will be continuing to develop our subitising skills including:

➢ subitise within 5, perceptually and conceptually, depending on the arrangements. Cardinality, ordinality and Counting

➢ continue to develop their counting skills

➢ explore the cardinality of 5, linking this to dice patterns and 5 fingers on 1 hand ➢ begin to count beyond 5

 ➢ begin to recognise numerals, relating these to quantities they can subitise and count.

Composition

 ➢ explore the concept of ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’ by looking at a range of objects that are composed of parts, some of which can be taken apart and some of which cannot

➢ explore the composition of numbers within 5.  

In English, we are continuing with Drawing Club. This is an idea from Greg Bottrill and involves the children drawing something every day, linked to our class text for that week.

“When children draw, something very magical takes place: they are creating a representation of the outer world but through the lens of their inner world. In the act of drawing, imagination becomes real” – Greg Bottrill

 

Over time, we progress to add labels to our pictures, and then captions and finally, we build up to writing sentences. We plan a question to inspire each drawing club session linked to our class story (e.g. What else could Stickman be used for?) and the children are free to use their imagination. There is no right or wrong in drawing club!

Phonics and Reading

This term we continue to learn our sounds. Please continue to practise the sound cards that are sent home each week. I will also be adding in some tricky (red) word cards for the children to practise as well. Below is a link to the FFT parent portal where you can read any of the previous shared readers we have sent home. Please do not read ahead as this will have an impact on our lessons in school. Repetition is great for building confidence so please make use of these.

Parent Portal website:   https://parents.fft.org.uk/

Password: u3g5ph  

Show and Tell

Each week I will choose someone for show and tell. I will send a note home in advance. Please can the children bring in something special to talk about on this day. Often a photo or an achievement is more powerful than a favourite toy.

Junk Modelling

We are continuing to enjoy our junk modelling station. Please continue to send in cereal boxes, tubes and bottle lids etc. Thank you.       

Term 1 Newsletter

Welcome to Owls class

Welcome to you all. I hope the children have enjoyed their first few days at school. The children have settled really well and I am looking forward to the exciting term ahead. Below I have outlined some of the things that will be happening/ things that we will be learning over the coming term. Our learning also follows the children’s interests and after the home visits I definitely have some more ideas of things we will be learning about throughout the year!

Our Learning this Term: During the first few weeks of school, we will be focussing on supporting the children with their transition to school. We will be exploring the environment, learning our new routines and supporting them to develop positive relationships with each other and the staff who will be supporting them on their journey.

Physical Development:

• Learning how to stay safe and healthy at school
• Developing our gross and fine motor skills by taking part in daily activities in order to build muscle strength in preparation for writing.

Communication and Language:

• Talking about ourselves and why we are special.
• Using talk to organise our play and engaging in story time, rhymes and songs.

Literacy: We will be listening to and talking about a range of stories such as ‘The Colour Monster Starts School’ and ‘All are Welcome’ by Alexandra Penfold. We will be starting our phonics learning (more information below) and exploring lots of mark making opportunities.

Expressive Arts and Design: We will be exploring mark making with crayons, pens and chalk and investigating the marks and patterns made by different textures. 

Maths: Maths and Me – we will be exploring measuring and counting activities linked in with being 4 or 5. We will then begin our teaching and learning using the Mastery in Maths programme.

Understanding the World: We will be thinking about the role of the people in our school including the teachers, the cook etc. We will be talking about who is in our family and be able to describe the people who are familiar to us. We will be thinking about ourselves and how we have changed over time.

Baseline Assessment: During these first few weeks I will be completing some baseline assessments to get a clear picture of the children as they enter St Andrew’s.  These assessments will be completed as part of the compulsory National Baseline Assessments set out by the DFE and will be used to help inform planning in our first term.

Outdoor Learning: Every week we will be going outside for some of our learning activities around the school site. If children are yet to bring in their own pair of welly boots please bring in a pair of boots that can stay in school.

Book Bags: Please make sure that book bags come to school with your child every day. This ensures your child’s reading book is in school every day, so we can read with them as much as possible and change their books. Their phonics cards will also be put in the reading wallet provided.    

Water Bottles: Please ensure that a named water bottle is brought into school every day. These will be stored in the classroom and sent home at the end of each day. Only fill with water, No squash, juice or fizzy drinks please.

Milk and Fruit: Until they are 5 all children who want it will be offered a carton of milk each day. Once children turn 5 they no longer qualify for free milk.

All children are offered a snack mid- morning in the form of a piece of fresh fruit.

 PE: PE days will be on a Monday and Tuesday beginning when the children are full-time.  Children can come to school wearing their PE kit on these days. PE Kit consists of:

 Plain black shorts/leggings/joggers; a plain white t-shirt or blue t-shirt with or without the school logo; a black plain sweat top or school sweat top or school fleece; daps or trainers (trainers are preferable as most PE activities will be outdoors).

Phonics and Reading: This term we will begin to introduce the children to the new phonics program from Fisher Family Trust, a complete Systematic Synthetic phonics programme validated by the Dfe. To begin with we will introduce children to 3-4 new sounds (phonemes) a week. Once children have been taught the first set of sounds they will begin to bring home reading books that include the sounds that they have learnt in school.  They will also bring home a laminated copy of the sound so they can practise recognising and writing the sound at home.

Junk Modelling: Please can you help to stock up our junk modelling area! Please could you collect some recycling to bring into school at any time to top up our junk modelling box – tubes, cereal boxes, bottle tops etc.

Family Photos: Please could you send in a few photos of your family/pets etc. I am hoping to make a photo album of pictures for children to look at. It is a great conversation starter. I can photocopy photos you send in or if you can email them to me then I am happy to print them out.

In the next few weeks we will also be looking at how we have changed. If you have a baby or toddler photo – please could you also send this in (it will be returned). Alternatively, please send an email with the photo attached for my attention.