Week beginning Monday 5th October

This week's clue container was a tricky one! Many of the children had not heard The Leaf Thief before and enjoyed finding out that squirrel had been tricked by the wind stealing his leaves - it was not his friends after all!

Following on from this book we have been talking about the changes that happen from Summer to Autumn and what we would expect to see, hear and do at this time of the year. The children have been on an Autumn walk around the school grounds, looking at the changes that have started to occur and have started to learn the names of the some of the plants and trees that we have in our wonderful environment.

In Maths we have Beeb finding out about the number 2 - what can your child tell you about it? Ask questions such as - is it odd or even? How do you know? Which number is one more than 2? Which number is one less than 2? Which pairs of numbers make 2? (e.g. 1+1, 2+0, 0+2) What colour and shape is a 2p coin? Where is 2 on the clock?

Autumn provides some lovely opportunities for art too and the children have enjoyed making swirly wind shapes with different materials, rubbing leaves, printing and collaging. The leaves are starting to fall to help us with our learning and we have also enjoyed throwing the leaves up and stretching to catch them before they reach the ground and using our biggest puff to blow them as far as we could!

How you can help 

Thank you so much for all the wonderful donations from our 'Helping hands' board - they are all very gratefully received and will be used to support the children's learning in many different ways.

This week we have learnt the sounds ck (digraph), e, u and r. Please talk to your child about these sounds - can they spot them in the environment? In signs, books etc. Also revisit the factual information about number 2 (ideas above).

Once again, please try and check your child's clothes, particularly PE kit, weekly for names - these can rub off and labels do fall off. We have a number of jumpers and hoodies needing their owners! 

Finally, just a little reminder to follow our uniform guidelines - PE kit should be navy or black shorts/joggers and navy or black hoodie with a white t-shirt. 

Thank you for your support.

Year R Phonics and Reading presentation

Thank you to the parents who took time out of their evening to attend the presentation.

Please find the presentation slides below. The videos shown during the evening can be found under the 'For Parents' tab on the Little Wandle website. Please remind yourself of the key points that Mrs Chapman shared a few weeks ago. These can also be found below in the Home Reading handout.

If you have any questions, please pop in and see the class teacher. 

Thank you for your support.

Year R Curriculum Presentation

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.