Reception Class Spring Term 1 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year! We do hope you had a restful Christmas break. Thank you all so very much for your extremely kind and generous gifts and cards that you gave us before Christmas – we are so grateful.

We very warmly welcome Aurelia Moore to our class.

We have another busy and exciting term ahead and already, the children who are now all full–time have settled back really well.

Forest School – the dates for this term are as follows;

Friday 20^th January, 3^rd February, 24^th February, 10^th March, 24^th March

Please do let us know as soon as possible if you are able to help on any of these dates. There is a sign-up sheet in the classroom!

Curriculum – we have some exciting things planned for this term. The children have already written New Year’s wishes! Initially, we will be discussing our favourite stories. It would be lovely if the children could bring their favourite books in from home to share with the class (please make sure any books brought in are clearly named).Before half-term, our topic is story based. We will be reading lots of traditional tales and language rich texts where well known characters are included out of context such as; The Jolly Postman, Each Peach Pair Plum and two books by Cressida Cowell – Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? and Little Bo Peeps Library book. We will also be focussing on the wonderful books of Julia Donaldson. All of the key areas of learning will be targeted through stories.

Communication and Language

We will be listening to stories and each other, asking and answering how and why questions and developing own story narrative.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We will focus on taking turns, forming positive relationships, talk about ideas, and develop confidence to try new activities, working with new partners/groups.

 Physical Development

We will be improving our control of large and small movements, moving confidently in different ways negotiating space, they will handle equipment and tools effectively and manage their own personal hygiene.

Mathematical Development

We will focus on counting, shapes, ordering size and beginning to add and subtract (one more and one less to begin with).

English

We are having a reading and writing focus. We have started Phase 3 of the phonics Letters and Sounds programme. Please refer to the sheet given out at parents evening. The tricky words to learn are: he, she, me, we, you, are, all, was, her, they, my. It would be helpful to maybe write these on post-it notes around the house to help familiarise the children! We will be starting all the children with a reading book as soon as possible. We aim to hear the children twice each week and change their book if they have read it at home too. PLEASE do support your child’s reading by hearing them regularly if possible and recording a comment in their yellow reading diary. Please also read to them so that they hear stories.  We are also doing daily handwriting practice at school to increase their confidence in forming letters and words. They are doing so well.  Please do encourage them to write at home; they love writing letters on a partners back, in the air and with chalks outside.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

We will be increasing our knowledge of the world through maps and journeys, finding out about the journey of a letter and using the bee-bot robots to programme a route. We will also spend time learning about Chinese New Year and doing the RSPB bird watch.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will create musical sound effects to accompany the stories that we are reading. We will sing songs, make music and dance and talk about how to change them. We will explore a range of media and materials.

After half-term which as a very short half-term, we will be thinking about science and space!

Snack Money – we continue to provide snack for the children this term. The cost is £1 per week. Please could you send £5 cash in a labelled envelope to cover the costs for this half-term. If it helps, some families pay weekly. Many thanks.

Thank you to all the parents who have supported the class with snack and forest school. We really do appreciate all the time you give up. If anyone would like to come in to hear readers that would also be fantastic and greatly appreciated. We also have a snack helper space on a Tuesday morning.

P.E. days continue to be on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our Friday extra sessions have now finished! Please include a pair of socks to be worn with trainers in their kits and make sure every item is clearly named.

Please remember to send plain water in for the children to drink in a labelled water bottle. Also if the children are wearing hats and scarves etc, please ensure these are labelled too.

Library – we visit the school library after lunch every Monday. Please make sure the children have their library book in their bag for changing on Mondays.

Reading – all the children now have a reading. Many thanks for supporting your child’s reading at home. Please do comment in their yellow reading diary when you have heard them read.

Proud Clouds – the children LOVE having their proud clouds from home shared with their friends in class. Please do keep sending them in for their Learning Journey. Do let us know if you have run out or you could pop it on a post-it!

I know this is a lot if information to take in but we do hope you find it helpful and please do catch us after school if you have any queries.

Best wishes,

Alison Course and Wendy Berrett

Autumn 2016 Reception Newsletter

Second Half Term

Dear parents/carers,

I do hope you had restful half-term. We are already enjoying our new topic in class! We will be thinking about the changing seasons and focusing on a number of Autumn / Winter festivals about light – Diwali, Bonfire Night and Christmas.

Clothes

Please make sure that all clothes are clearly labelled and ensure that all children bring a suitable warm coat, hat, gloves and scarf (if required) to school now that the weather is turning colder. We still go outside as much as possible and it is essential that the children are suitably dressed.

Forest School

We will be visiting Snail Wood starting this Friday. Once again, please make sure that children are wearing ample layers of old clothes, not their school uniform under their waterproofs.  They must have a hat and gloves (waterproof if possible). Thank you to all those who have volunteered to help.

Phonics and Reading

Please support your child’s learning at home by identifying sounds in the home and garden, reading the phonemes and tricky words provided and sound talking words as much as possible so that they can practice blending sounds. E.g. “Please come and s-i-t down?” Please keep reading with and to your child as much as possible.

In addition, you could use the oxford owl website which has a number of free e-readers you could share together: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/

Snack

Many thanks for your contributions towards snack. There are a number of outstanding monies still from before half-term.  Thank you to those families who have paid for the full term.  There are seven full weeks of this half term at a voluntary contribution of £1 per week. Please send either the £7 or £1 weekly in CASH in a named envelope in the Friday Folder please.

We would be very happy to have our snack volunteer helpers in to help now and thank you for those who have already been in to help with snack time. The children are currently enjoying pouring their own milk or water from our new jugs!

 Dates:

4.11.16, 18.11.16, 2.12.16 Forest School

11.11.16 School Photographs

25.11.16 Flu Vaccinations

8.12.16 Audley End Train trip

15.12.16 am Class Nativity

Best wishes, Mrs Course and Mrs Berrett

First Half Term

Welcome to the new term! The children are settling in well and we are starting to get busy!  Here are a few points of information for you…..

P.E.

Our P.E. days are Tuesday and Thursday so please make sure your child has their kit with them (including plimsolls for when we go outside) on these days. All items should be named.  P.E. kit can stay in school all the time and we will send it home for washing at half-term. After half-term, we will be having an outdoor session with Mr Dyce so the children may need tracksuit bottoms and a jumper to wear.

Literacy

This term we will be looking at stories and rhymes with familiar settings and predictable and repetitive patterns, simple non-fiction texts and signs, labels, captions, lists and instructions. The children will begin to learn their sounds and how to write them and will bring home letter sheets and sound cards so that you as parents can support them and see the action that accompanies each sound.  As the children are felt to be ready they will be started on our reading scheme and given words to learn to read.  Please write in their Reading Record Book each time you hear them read at home, commenting on any successes or problems.  In the mean-time, all children are welcome to borrow one book from our class collection on a daily basis.

Numeracy

We will be focussing on counting, recognising numbers and reciting number rhymes. We will be finding out about shapes, patterns and measurement and using numbers to sort objects and solve problems.

Topic

Our theme for this half term is What do I know about me? After half-term, the theme will be Autumn – the season and it’s festivals.  This will give us many opportunities to develop our Communication and Language skills as we talk about our families, the things we like, the things we can do and how we are all different.  Our role play area will be set up as a Baby Clinic / Hospital so we can learn about how we have grown and changed as part of Understanding the World. Please could each child bring a photograph of themselves as a baby to be displayed in the classroom? We will also be collecting photographs of babies and families from magazines so if you find any of these, please send them in also.  Our Expressive Arts and Design work will be developed through singing songs about ourselves, dancing to music and playing some percussion instruments.  We will also be drawing pictures of our families.  As we explore the different things we can do with our bodies we will be improving our fine and gross motor skills and our Physical Development. Throughout the term we will be focussing on our Personal, Social and Emotional development as we think about what makes each of us special and learning to work together successfully.  The Golden Rules will support us develop confidence, to make relationships and to manage feelings and behaviour.  We will explore each rule in turn.  For your information they are;

We are kind and helpful, we look after property, we listen, we are honest, we are gentle and we work hard.

House Groups

Each child at Clavering School is in a House Group – named after a person of local significance. There are 5 houses, each house has a colour and children can earn house points for good behaviour, good manners and hard work.

Poetry Journals

We are trying to build up a bank of poems and rhymes that the children learn by heart. We hope that you will support us in this by singing, chanting or playing the ‘Rhyme of the Week’ at home on a daily basis so that we can develop a repertoire that will reinforce the link between rhyme, reading and spelling.  The children will bring home their Poetry Journal each Monday in their bag or reading folder.  Please keep the journal in the folder or bag so that we can add a new poem each week.  Children can draw a picture to go with the poem if they wish.

 Learning Logs

Learning logs are a whole school approach to homework at Clavering School and although very young, we have found that even the children in Reception enjoy contributing to and sharing their learning at home. Learning Logs are given out on Friday and need to be completed by the following Wednesday.

Snack

We provide a healthy snack each morning for children in reception. We ask for a donation of £1 per week to cover the cost of this.  If you prefer, you can pay for the half term, £7, cash only please.  Please ensure that all money comes to school on a Monday in an envelope with your child’s name, the purpose of the payment and the amount clearly marked.  Please inform us in writing of any special dietary needs or allergies. Many thanks to those of you who have already sent in snack money with the children.

If you are able to help prepare snack or hear readers please let us know as soon as possible, especially if you are DBS checked.

Bits and Pieces:

• All the children at Clavering School are encouraged to drink water. It is school policy that they only drink water. The children bring a named water bottle each day and take it home at the end of the day to be washed and re-filled.
• We try to go outside everyday even if it is raining; please make sure your child brings a coat to school so that they can have some fresh air and exercise.
• We discourage children from bringing toys from home to school (unless it is in connection with our topic); they get very upset if special toys are lost or damaged so we would appreciate your support in this.
• As mentioned at the Induction Meeting, we will be visiting Snail Wood on a regular basis for our Forest School sessions. On Forest School days we request that children are brought directly to Snail Wood and collected from there at 11.30 to be brought back to school.       More information about this will be available at the Meet the Teacher evening on 21^st September. Forest School dates:

Friday 14^th October, 4^th November, 18^th November, 2^nd December, 16^th December

• Please check your child’s Friday Folder for messages and information and return it on Monday even if you have nothing to put in it.
• Please make sure all clothing and school bags are clearly named.
• If your child is to be collected at the end of the school day by somebody else, please let the school know by telling the teacher on the gate in the morning, ringing / emailing the office or a note in their school bag. In addition, if your child is to go home on the bus / Oliver’s Lodge / Willows, please inform us of those days.
• Part-time – the children can get very tired and there is the option of them going home for this term only on a Tuesday and Thursday at 1.15pm. There is also the option of Friday afternoon if we feel that it is needed. We will keep you informed if we feel that the part-time option would suit your child.
• Parents Evening – Tuesday 18^th October / Thursday 20^th October.
• Spare clothes – if your child is likely to need a spare change of clothes, please put a named spare set in their school bag.

Great idea – we have noticed that some of the children are struggling to work out which shoe to put on which foot! We have discovered a great idea – cutting a big sticker in half and sticking them in their shoes.

We hope this letter has answered any questions you may have, but please don’t hesitate to speak to either of us if there is anything you don’t understand or are concerned about.

Best wishes for a successful term,

Alison Course and Wendy Berrett.