Hello from Willow and Lilac Class!
This week
We have been busy in our outdoor learning area developing our physical skills such as climbing, throwing, catching and balancing. The children’s confidence is growing as they learn how to use the monkey bars, fireman’s pole and rope walk safely. We have seen some fantastic imaginary play- they have been putting out fires, going around the world on a bus, taking care of their babies and finding pirate’s treasure! It has been wonderful to see the children growing and coming together as a cohort as they settle further into school.
We have taught the children the Characteristics of Effective Learning this week and introduced them to the characters in Lenny Lion’s Learning Zoo. We have then been noticing how they are using these different types of skills in their learning and play.
In Maths, we have been comparing capacity, weight and sizes. We have done lots of practical learning through play on this. You could have a go at building on this learning at home by commenting on how heavy something is and asking your child to hold it too so they can understand what a heavy weight feels like or something really light such as a feather so they can see the difference between heavy and light. You can give them different size containers to play with in the bath so they can begin to explore capacity in greater depth or order things by size such as the laundry or teddy bears.
In Phonics, we continued our Monster Phonics learning. We have learnt the sounds ‘I’ and ‘n’ this week, as well as the high frequency words: in, it, is, I, an. Your child has taken home two sheets (please find these in their reading record) to explain the sounds we have learnt so far, the action supports them remembering them, as well as the high frequency words. You can practise these at home with them, more information on phonics will be given at our Early Reading Workshop on Tuesday 3rd October.
Reading books and reading records
All the children were sent home with reading books and reading records today. The first book they have at home is one with no words. This is to encourage the children to become more familiar with telling a story and understanding how stories are structured. It also gives you the opportunity to find a routine that works for you as a family where you are spending time listening to your child read to you every day. Please make sure you write in their reading record when you have read with them- just the date and any relevant information about how they got on is fine.
Other information
Tuesday 4th October 6:30-7:30pm Early Reading information evening in the school hall
Wednesday 5th October Reception’s first P.E lesson with Mr Smith. Please wear P.E kits to school this day, including suitable black plimsolls. If it is raining, please also provide welly boots for outdoor play.
Snack: Please remember no crisps, yogurts, biscuits or chocolate for afternoon snack. It needs to be fruit, breadsticks, rice cakes or something similar that the children can eat with their fingers.
Coats: We still have many children coming to school without coats. It is hard to predict the weather at this time of year so please provide a coat for your child, even if it is sunny in the morning.
