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Week Beginning 14th September

A few reminders:

• Please ensure your child has wellies and full waterproofs in school, as they will not be able to go outside when it is wet without them.
• Only fresh fruit and vegetables, plain crackers, and plain breadsticks should be brought into school for snack time. This is to minimise the risk for children with allergies. Please do not send dried fruit, cheese biscuits, or breadsticks containing seeds.
• To support your child’s independence when finding their book bag, it can be helpful to add a small keyring so that it is easily identifiable. Please only add one keyring.

What a Wonderful Start to School!

What a wonderful start to the school year we have had!

We don’t know about you, but it feels as though time is flying by. The children have had so much fun getting to know one another, exploring their environment and making new friends.

Drawing Club

We spend a week focusing on a book, reading it several times to familiarise ourselves with the story, characters and setting. This helps the children feel confident talking about the book, using the story in their play and exploring its important themes.

During our sessions, we learn new vocabulary linked to the book. We practise these words every day and use actions to support understanding and recall.

Week 2

We looked at Elmer. During these sessions, we drew pictures of Elmer and discussed his multicoloured patchwork pattern and his large, wide, stumpy legs. We also designed houses for Elmer and created new patterns for him.

Below are the words we learnt, along with the actions linked to our story.

Week 3

This week, we have been looking at the book Super Duper You!. We have learnt about what makes each of us special. We have had lots of discussions about what makes us unique, what we enjoy doing and what we are good at.

Maths

We are learning about subitising. This is the ability to recognise how many objects there are in a small group without counting them individually.

You can find more information about subitising and ways to support your child at home here.

We are focusing on the numbers 1, 2 and 3 to help consolidate the children's understanding. You can support your child by encouraging them to subitise in everyday situations, such as spotting ducks on a lake, blocks in a tower or cups on a table. Please ensure there are no more than three objects at a time.

Topic

We have started our termly topic, All About Me. We have been thinking about what makes each of us unique and special. Next week, we will be moving on to learning about families and communities.

Exploring Time

Please take a look at some photos from our Exploring Time sessions below (these will be uploaded after school today 17/9). We have been working on developing our core strength, shoulder pivots, elbow pivots and pincer grip. All of these skills will support the children as they develop their handwriting throughout the year.

The children have enjoyed using ribbon wands to create large movements, climbing on the climbing frame, mixing thick mud, creating treasure maps, building roller coasters with crates, digging in the sandpit and transporting water.

Phonics

This week, we have started our phonics teaching and have learnt the sounds s, a, t and p. We are focusing on using the pure sounds and supporting the children to pronounce them correctly.

Here is a useful video for parents explaining pure sounds: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

We have also been learning how to form these letters correctly. The children have practised using large arm movements and air writing. You can continue this at home using toilet-roll "ribbons", torches or paintbrushes with water on a fence.