Headteacher: Anna Moss

07.10.22

Hello Red Class Families,

This week, we started our new topic, ‘Seasons’. On Monday, we joined our Green Class friends and walked through the village to spot seasonal changes. We collected natural objects for our nature table in the classroom. In Science, we discovered that scientists use their senses to find out about the world. We looked carefully at leaves by making rubbings. At Forest School, each animal group looked closely at one tree in the forest. The children discovered the special features of their tree, from the shape of the leaves to the smell of the bark!

In Phonics, we concentrated on ‘ck’, ‘e’, ‘u’ and ‘r’. Our tricky words were ‘is’ and ‘I’. The children’s confidence to read CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant words e.g. sun) is growing every day and several children wanted to tell me they were able to read their special school book at home. Well done, Team Red!

On Tuesday, we received a parcel from Mrs Moss. It was a special book for our topic, ‘Owl Babies’. We shared the book together, role played events and talked about key vocabulary in the story. We’re now making plans for how to look after the owlet (teddy) Mrs Webb discovered in the forest. One child said we could make a map to help the owlet to find its way home and another said we could make a nest.

Maths lessons focused on subtraction, this week, from finding 1 less to creating simple number stories by removing objects from a group. Each week, I see the children’s confidence blossoming as they use concrete apparatus (ten frames, counters etc.) to support their learning. We also played a new mental maths game involving tennis. We counted from 0-10 by taking turns. Try this at home. Use your hand like a tennis racket and pretend to hit the ball as you say the number. If you say ‘0’, your partner should say 1. Carry on until you reach 10. If you want a challenge, try counting back!

In PE, we created shapes included tucked and stretched shapes and then travelled along bean bangs and skipping ropes to improve balance skills. The children were very good at the traffic light ‘stop and go’ game during the warm up. Next week, it’s time to change into our full PE kit!

In PSHE, we talked about people who help us and how they are kind. We talked about the meaning of ‘kindness’ and how a simple smile is a little act of kindness. The children were able to talk about kind events at school, such as picking up litter at Forest School.

This afternoon, the children checked their ‘All About Me’ boxes to make sure all their special items were packed ready for home. You should find one new addition in their box. The children have each made a mini me puppet using a simple sliding mechanism in DT. I still have a photograph or drawing from the children’s boxes on the class display. As soon as we change the display, I will send these home.

Next week, we have two parent meetings (Wednesday and Thursday). If you’re visiting school, Red Class meetings will be based in Red Class. Appointment slips were popped into the book bags this afternoon. Please call the office if you need to change your time or day. If we’re meeting via Zoom, the details for the meeting can be found on the appointment slip (these details are on all slips whether we’re meeting face to face or via Zoom).

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class x