What have we been learning this week?

Week Commencing Monday 23rd March 2026 

What an amazing start to the week we had with a visit from Liam and his owls Eileen, Bindi and Zazu. We were so lucky to have the owls to look at and watch as they flew about 20cm above our heads!!! Two children in each workshop were also chosen to stand close together like trees so that one of the owls with short wings could demonstrate how it flies through small gaps!!

The children have been talking enthusiastically about owls for the rest of the week and have written some fantastic facts about different owls. Do you know what a baby owl is called? Do you know how many bones an owl has in its neck? Do you know where an owl's ears are? Ask your children!

In Maths we have been learning lots of vocabulary related to time including today, yesterday, tomorrow, first, next, last. We have also talked about how important it is to sequence events in the correct order.

We have made lovely owl masks and used them to walk and stand like owls on branches (balance beams!) and have used different tools to print owls. One challenge we have this week was to complete the other half of an owl picture to make it look symmetrical - it was VERY tricky!!

Thank you for all of your continued support.

We wish you all a safe and restful Easter break - don't eat too much chocolate!

How you can help:

At the end of the week you will receive home two updated assessments - 

Sight word assessment - these words must be read by sight (not sounding out) and we are looking for the children to be able to apply them when reading different books. At this point in the year we would expect the children to be able to read 35 of these words by sight to be on track to reach their goal at the end of the year.

Spelling assessment - the children are asked to write these words individually and we would expect them to be able to recall them to use in their learning activities. At this point in the year we would expect the children to be able to spell the majority of Sets 1 to 4 of the key words. These words are hard to learn to write so please work hard with your children to learn the letters needed for each of the words. Take a few at a time to focus on.

Ticks - please be alert to the fact that as the warmer weather approaches, ticks like to join us for a ride. Please be vigilant and remind your children of signs to look out for.

PE - next half term we will be doing outdoor games. Please can the children dress accordingly for the weather on Tuesdays as we will be outside as much as we can -  this can be joggers or shorts. Thank you

Number Formation Guide 

Practise numerals at home with this printable number formation guide.  All numbers are formed by starting at the top.

Curriculum Presentations

Letter formation and handwriting

Please find images of how to support your child in achieving the correct letter formation.

• lower-case letters start at the top
• dots and horizontal cross lines are added after the main part of the letter has been formed
• capital letters start at the top and go down first, the pencil is then taken off the paper to add the horizontal lines

It is extremely important that your child uses a comfortable and efficient pencil grip, even though this may not be the same as your own. This should be the pincer grip.

Climbing the tree to a better me

Our special tree focuses on the Social, Moral, Spiritual and Social aspect of our learning. In Year R we are practising using our manners, being a good friend and being respectful and responsible.

We can earn three stars for each rung of the ladder and at the end of the year we can earn a special sticker at the top of the tree for our effort in trying to show these things.

When we have collected three stars of the same colour we can show our certificate in assembly and our name is moved up the ladder in class to show our progress.