Headteacher: Anna Moss

Hello Red Class,

From making maps to telling the time, we’ve had a very busy week. We discovered the sound and action for ur (fur), er (her), oi (coin) and ow (cow). We enjoyed using the clocks to read and find times to the nearest hour and we had a lot of fun timing activities with the sand timers.  In handwriting sessions, we practised ‘g’ and ‘q’ and revisited ‘c’,’o’, ‘a’ and ‘d’. Mrs Cain was also very busy helping you to make tree cookies and necklaces in the outdoor area. You were very sensible using the saw and drill.  If you haven’t made a necklace yet, don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities this term.  

On Monday, remember to pack a small teddy. We’re going to make a kilt, during our textiles work, for your teddy to wear. We’ll host a teddy fashion show for our Nursery friends. Next week, it’s our turn to visit Hetty (our school dog). We’re very excited!   

Have a lovely weekend Red Class,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx

Dear Red Class,

We’re feeling a little tired this week. Well, I certainly am! It must have been the fitness circuit at the start of the week when Eden Francis visited. Eden is a shot put and discus thrower who represents Great Britain. It was really interesting to listen to Eden talk about her diet and training. I think we’ve got some aspiring athletes in Red Class now. We were also really lucky because Eden allowed me to film her as she read ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance.’ We’re going to use this story for our next ‘story swap’ at school.

We’ve worked really hard in lessons this week too. We’ve discovered igh (light), oo (moon and book), or (fork) and ar (barn). We’re growing in confidence to read words using our new sounds. Try to find these digraphs (two letters) and trigraph (three letters) in your reading books or at home.

We recap previously taught letter sounds every day at school so, in time, you will learn to ‘see and say’ these sounds straightaway. Please leave ‘Phonics Book 2’ in your book bag as we add letter cards to these books every week. Book 2 was handed out just before Christmas, if you’re missing a book, please pop a note in the book bag and we’ll make a new one. Phonics book 1 can stay at home.

Communication and Language lessons were filled with rich language as we explored key pictures from ‘Katie Morag Delivers the Mail’ and we also started to retell the story with actions. It’s a little trickier than ‘The Enormous Paella’ but we like a challenge! I was very impressed with your story maps!

This week, I've noticed lots of children starting to make marks and write letters during play and explore time. You’ve been making cards, party invites, stories and all sorts of interesting things. You’ve made such a great start to your handwriting sessions. We’ve explored c, o, a and d where we use a ‘round and back’ action. We know that our lower case letters always start from the line.

Maths sessions focused on ordinal numbers. So, we’ve been reading, using and talking about ordinal numbers across the week (1^st/2^nd/ 3^rd etc.). We explored ordinal numbers through races and by using objects. We’ll keep using ordinal numbers during our daily routines such as finding the second person in the line or describing the colour of the 5^th cube in your egg box.

Well done for being brave in the mornings now that Mrs Reid is standing by the wooden door. We’ll position Mrs Reid on the balcony next week. Let’s see if you can walk to your classroom like the older children. Mrs Cain will be on standby for any little ones who need a little cuddle.

Sadly, Miss Davis has finished her first placement in Red Class. She will now move to a different school to gain experience in a different year group. However, she will return later in the year to complete a second placement at Blackwell. Thank you Miss Davis for all your help so far this year.

Right my little ones, I’ll see you Monday,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx

Hello Red Class,

Thank you for a lovely first week back at school. You all looked refreshed and ready to start learning again and you certainly enjoyed your Christmas holiday. This week, we started our new topic, "Off to Scotland." We explored some of the adventures of a little girl called Katie Morag. On our very first day at school, we were visited by Mrs McColl. She helped us to find out about Katie Morag and where she lives on the Isle of Struay. Remember, Mrs McColl returns whenever Mrs Webb wears Mrs McColl's special necklace. Hopefully, we might see her again next week. 

You behaved beautifully on our school trip to Birmingham. The dancing, costumes, acting and special effects were amazing in Peter Pan. Even the foyer was a super experience with all the wonderful costumes hanging from the ceiling. 

You will find 'ai' (rain), 'ee' (sheep) and 'oa' (boat) in your phonics book. You will also see 'or' (corn) in your book because 'ee' and 'or' work together in Jolly Phonics. We will revisit 'or' next week. You will also find a newsletter on parent app outlining our learning for this half term. 

Just a reminder, Forest School will take place on Mondays at 1.40pm with Mrs Cain. The children should wear jogging bottoms and trainers on this day. In fact, we'll be half-dressed for PE! On the topic of PE, lessons will continue on Monday mornings and this term we'll be jumping, rolling and making shapes in gymnastics. When you return on Monday, we will be meeting a very special sporting star. Eden Francis will be visiting school to help you with your exercises and to talk about her work as an athlete (shot put and discus). 

See you Monday Red Class,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis

Dear Families,

We have some exciting news for Mrs Cain! Forest School will now take place on Mondays during club time. The older children already visit Forest School with Mrs Cain and we feel our little ones are ready to do this too. The children should wear jogging bottoms and trainers on Mondays. Please don't worry if they wear jogging bottoms and trainers on Fridays by mistake. I will probably wear my Forest School clothes too! Please send in their usual warm items of clothing including thick socks. Forest School will run between 1.30pm and 3pm. The children can still choose an 'early leave' any afternoon. 

If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to pop in after school. 

Mrs Webb 

Dear Red Class,

Well done for completing your first term at school! Over the last few weeks, you’ve worked very hard to rehearse and perform 4 plays, including DVD filming and a dress rehearsal. I’m a very proud teacher because I know so many of you were poorly and tired and for a lot of you it was your first time in front of such a big audience. Well done my little stars!

Here is your homework for Christmas:

-Play

-Rest

-Enjoy spending time with your family.

Merry Christmas and we can’t wait to see you again in 2020!

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxxx

Hello Red Class,

This week, you worked very hard to rehearse your Christmas play and today we filmed your little production.  Thank you to your families for sending in items for your costume. You all looked fantastic.  At such a young age, it always amazes me how you manage to sing, dance and put on a great show. I know it’s Christmas when a costume falls down or a tea towel falls off! It wouldn’t be the same without those moments.

Leading up to this week, we’ve been learning about the Christmas story using songs, story books, story cards and role play props. Each morning, we’ve listened to a popular Christmas song linked to the Christmas story. The children have recognised the songs from being in the car or at home and we’ve enjoyed talking about the meaning of the lyrics.

In phonics lessons, we’ve looked at sh (bush), ch (chop), th (thin) and ng (wing). If you’re missing these cards from your phonics book, then please send your book into school and we will stick them in for you. You can keep your first phonics book at home. We will complete your second book in the New Year.

Over the weekend, please practise the words to our Red Class song, ‘Away in a Manger’. We’re singing the first two verses. You might find the following website helpful: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06q8m3c

Thank you to everyone who supported our Christmas Fair. If you were unable to attend, we still have a few Forest School wands left to sell. They will be available until the end of next week. We also have a star from the top of one of the wands that was found on the path outside school. Please pop into school, if this belongs to you.

Finally, we will send PE kits home on Thursday after the Christmas performances.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxx

Hello Red Class,

We finished ‘Blackwell Bear Travels’ in style. You performed a fantastic Spanish song and dance in assembly and then you performed your retell throughout the morning. Today was a great day to meet new friends and to share your learning. We also enjoyed visiting different classrooms to learn about different parts of the world and to sample some delicious treats. A big ‘thank you’ to Mrs Davis-Green for reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, in Spanish, a record-breaking 8 times. The children liked using a familiar story to learn new words and phrases and my Spanish vocabulary has grown dramatically.

Our new topic will be ‘Christmas’. As you know, we’ve already started the dances and songs for our Christmas play. Over the next few weeks, we will learn about the Christmas story and why Christmas is a special time for Christians.  

In your book bags, you will find a costume slip. The slip outlines your part and some items of clothing for your costume. In the past, parents have bought packs of tights and shared them between the children. Where a top is requested, you can send tops with logos into school and we will turn them inside out. Tops can also be bought in packs and shared.

If possible, please return your costume in a bag with the costume slip attached. If you need any help or information, please pop into school.

You’ll find a new phonics book in your book bag tonight with ‘y’, ‘z’ and ‘qu’. We also discovered ‘zz’ this week, where two letters make one sound e.g. buzz, jazz.  

I hope you have a super weekend my little stars. Rest, play and perhaps say a few words in Spanish. J

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxxx

Dear Red Class,

Next Friday (29^th November), we’ll be taking part in our world showcase event, instead of visiting Forest School. During the showcase, we will retell ‘The Enormous Paella’, sing a Spanish song and serve a type ofSpanish cake. So, we’ll spend the beginning of the week taste testing and making cake!  I can’t wait!

Thank you to all our families for attending parent consultations.  It was really lovely to share the children’s learning and progress with you.  Rest, relax and enjoy the weekend Red Class and I’ll see you next week. By the way, you will find j, v, w and x in your little blue books.

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxx

Dear Red Class,

We started the week exploring Remembrance Day. We used the story “Five Minutes’ Peace’ to think about the meaning of the word peace before making a wreath of poppies for our door.

This week, we used our rhyming skills to read ‘be', ‘me’ and ‘he’. We played a game of ‘Snap’ to help the children to match keywords. Games, like ‘Snap,’ are a great way to support turn taking and visual memory skills. Next week, we will learn the last few single letter sounds and a new set of letters will be sent home in the blue books.  

You were super at exploring length this week. We used the vocabulary of short, shorter, shortest, long, longer, longest and the same. Can you compare the length of items at home? Maybe, you could compare socks!

We try not to mention Christmas before 1^st December, however, we have started to learn songs and a dance for our Christmas play at St Catherine’s Church. Every Thursday, we join together with Green Class to sing songs from the play. So, you might start hearing Christmas songs at home.

I’m really looking forward to talking to your parents next Tuesday and Wednesday for our termly meeting. This is an opportunity for your parents to look at your books and to find out about your learning at school.

Thank you for helping us to raise money for Children in Need. We hope they have a successful night. Finally, I hope the weather looks a little brighter over the next few days. Rest, play and enjoy the weekend!

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxxx   

Hello Red Class,

You’ve settled back into school beautifully and made a great start to our new topic, ‘Blackwell Bear Travels’. Thank you for collecting lots of items linked to Spain. We’ve looked at books, photos, a flamenco dress and many more fantastic items.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing ‘The Enormous Paella’ with you. This story is based on ‘The Enormous Turnip’. Rather than pulling out a turnip, we’ve been stirring a paella! We use the Pie Corbett style of storytelling to help the children to learn stories by heart. This approach also helps the children to build a bank of story language. We use story maps, sequencing cards and actions to retell the story. At the end of this topic, we will retell ‘The Enormous Paella’ as part of our Spanish showcase.

In Maths, we made numbers between 6 and 10 using egg boxes.  To do this quickly, we made 5 by filling one side of the egg box and then we added the rest of the cubes. So, we made 6 with 5 cubes and 1 more cube and 7 with 5 cubes and 2 more cubes. We also discovered how to subtract a number of cubes from an egg box to make a number. So, we made 9 by filling the egg box and subtracting 1. Later in the week, we used tally lines to represent a number to 4.

In Phonics, we recapped previously taught letter names and sounds. Please use your little sound book at home to practise your letter sounds and names, particularly b, h, n and u. We also spent the week generating, reading, matching and spelling rhyming words. When we teach keywords in school, we try to group rhyming words together so that we can begin to see letter patterns. You were very good at telling me that ‘no’ and ‘go’ were rhyming words because they both end with the same sound. Can you think of another word to rhyme with 'no' and 'go'?

You will find a pack of information, from our curriculum workshop, in your book bag. The pack should contain the following:

-Reading and writing PowerPoint slides

-Keyword games sheet

-Letter formation sheet

-Handwriting progression sheet from Reception to Year 4

-Maths PowerPoint slides

-Maths games sheet

-Reception mental maths objectives

The main messages from the meeting included:

1. Use pure sounds when reading. Try not to add  –er to the end of sounds.

2. When reading at home, walk through the book first. Talk about the story and orally rehearse the sentences in the story before asking your child to read. Walking through the book will help to build confidence and fluency.

3. We start formal letter formation in January. However, we’re helping the children to write their first name using cursive letter formation.  We use Write Dance, which is a music and movement scheme, to prepare the children for writing. We also practise spelling using magnetic letters, letter tiles and similar resources and we build sentences using word cards. 

4. Count backwards just as much as you count forwards.

If you would like to find out more about how we teach reading, writing and maths, please pop into school.

Rest, play and have a lovely weekend Red Class,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid, Mrs Cain and Miss Davis xxx