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Hello from Lilac and Willow, what a fun week we have had in Reception.

It was so exciting for us to finally become a full Lilac and Willow and move to a whole school day. We would like to say a big THANK YOU to you all for the assistance you have given to help prepare your children for this week. We hope you will agree that the children have taken to the full time routine very well indeed.

This week:
We have been practising lots of key skills this week through an Autumn theme. As part of their Physical Development, the children have been developing and improving their fine motor skills with activities such as cutting out zigzag shapes to give a hedgehog some prickles; cutting, sticking and joining card and tissue paper to make a stained glass leaf and rolling, shaping and moulding air drying clay to make a hedgehog. The children did such a fantastic job!

As part of the children’s Phonics, we are continuing to enjoy lots of listening activities. In addition to revisiting the various sounds from the environment and from percussion instruments the children have already learnt, we have been learning about how we can make percussive sounds using our bodies. The children are really improving their listening skills and are becoming experts at spotting differences between sounds. We have had a great time encouraging the children to listen, remember and repeat a pattern of sounds and movements made with our bodies. We ended our week reading the story The Pied Piper and we had lots of fun following the leader around our playground making such a great noise! As we walked around the children were using different vocabulary to describe the way we were moving, such as walking briskly.  The children are continuing to impress with the effort they are putting in and being resilient if at first they find something tricky – very well done!

Next week:

• We will be starting Music and PE this week. Music is every Tuesday and PE is every Wednesday. Please can you make sure that your children come to school dressed in their PE kit on Wednesdays.
• We have been so busy settling into our new routines, we will continue our learning about comparisons in Maths.
• In Phonics, we will be thinking about rhythm and rhyme.

Supporting your child at home:

• As the colder weather draws in, practise with your child taking a coat on and off and trying to do the zip independently themselves first before seeking help.
• Talk with your child about the seasonal changes in the environment and how we know it is Autumn.
• Talk with your child about any wildlife that they may see at this time of year.
• Encourage your child to use different vocabulary to describe the way you are walking, perhaps on your way to school! Are you walking briskly, sluggishly, rapidly?

Any other information:

• PARENT INFORMATION MEETINGS – Due to the current restrictions, this meeting would usually take place at school. Instead, we have uploaded a virtual meeting to
  the school website – Parent Information Meeting 2020 Please watch the short introduction from the Headteacher Mrs Thomas first.
• Please ensure that your child has a coat in school everyday.
• Please ensure that your child has a water bottle in school everyday.
• Fruit juices or squash drinks may only be consumed as part of a home packed lunch please and shouldn’t be a main drink throughout the day.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Fisher and Mr French
Willow and Lilac Class Teachers