Headteacher: Anna Moss

Click here.

Hello Red Class Families,

We managed to make it through the week despite many bugs trying to stop us! We even managed a fantastic performance in the Wake and Shake competition leading to a Red Class victory! We are the La Bamba Champions and the Wake and Shake Cup stands proudly in our classroom. Other highlights from this term included our afternoon tea for two, visiting St Catherine’s Church and starting to put pencil to paper for writing.

The children are ready for a week of play and rest after a very busy seven weeks at school. In that time, we have covered all the graphemes from the Reception Year. So, for the rest of the year, we will revisit all digraphs and trigraphs and apply them to longer words. Following our half-termly phonics assessment, we’ll also target tricky digraphs and trigraphs and send home reading books to support personal targets.

In handwriting lessons, we covered ‘m’, ‘p’, ‘j’ and ‘s’. When we return to school, we will learn how to form our final set of letters (v, w, x and z) and revisit all our letter families. If the children can practise their handwriting during the holidays, particularly the first set of curly caterpillar letters (c, o, a, d, g, q), this will make a big difference to their progress in school.

r, n and m: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2ApSBO_prI

p, j and s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ad5hDpIkmM

This week, we’ve been watching film clips of the children playing in the environment to talk about learning behaviours such as cooperation, communication and resilience. These skills are particularly tricky in the last few weeks of term, when the children are very tired, so it was good to spot kind hands and voices and to celebrate learning behaviours.

When we return to school, we’ll be travelling back in time to find out about ‘Transport’ and taking a magic carpet ride to meet Aladdin. As part of our play, we’ll be making large role play vehicles on the balcony. Please save any large cardboard boxes at home.

Whether you’re at home or away this half term, enjoy the break. Well done, Team Red.

Best wishes,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

P.S. The children had their hearing tests this week and their results can be accessed through the Parent Portal.

10.02.23

Hello Red Class Families,

This week, we used ‘chunking’ to read longer words. When reading ‘laptop’, we chunked the word into smaller parts e.g. lap and top and used our sound talk and blending skills, before putting the word back together. Try chunking at home using the following words: sunset, farmyard and bedroom. Remember to look for digraphs too. This week, we recapped previously taught tricky words: pure, sure, are, into, of, he, she, me, be and we.

Handwriting lessons focused on two different letter families. First ‘e’ and ‘f’ and then ‘r’ and ‘n’. We also include ‘m’ in the latter family. We will cover this letter next week.

e and f: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxKjG9VGUlw

r, n and m: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2ApSBO_prI

In Art lessons, we’ve been tearing, cutting, arranging and sticking as part of our collage work. The children have been developing their scissor grip and action and learning how to tear strips and shapes. This linked to our Maths lessons where we’ve been exploring 2D and 3D shapes. Next week, we will use our collage skills to create artwork for the office area.

Our Visit to St Catherine’s Church

Today, we visited St Catherine’s Church where we met Rev. Sheri Gidney. We looked at some of the features of the church including the font and the altar. We also shared stories from the Bible and talked about prayer. Thank you to Rev. Sheri, Marie, Jenny and Dave for helping us with our learning.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class 

03.02.23

Hello Red Class Families,

This week, we looked at double letters in Phonics and read words such as ‘letter’, ‘carrot’ and ‘rabbit’. The children are starting to understand that, in these examples, two letters make one sound. We also introduced the sound and catchphrase for ‘air’ and ‘er’ and added ‘pure’, ‘sure’ and ‘are’ to our tricky word list.

air – chair in the air

er – a bigger digger

Handwriting lessons focused on ‘b’, ‘h’ and ‘k’ using the cursive script. Mrs Moss will take you through the letter formation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMEIvn3B1nk In Literacy lessons, we looked at different types of writing linked to ‘Our World – Religion’ topic. We explored lists, captions and labels and every day we showcased children’s writing from home or Play and Explore. It’s great to see the children using their segmenting (sound talk) skills to spell words. In Reception, we want the children to listen carefully to each sound in the word and make the best choice from what they know e.g. spelling ‘baby’ as ‘babee’. At this stage, we’re building their confidence to ‘have a go’ at writing. However, it’s never too early to start talking about spelling, for example, explaining that the last letter in baby is ‘y’ as this makes the ‘ee’ sound too.

In Maths, we made towers of cubes and compared them to find the difference. Many children often see the total at first and find it tricky to find the difference. By the end of the week, we could see a real improvement. I’ve heard lots of confident counting in 2s to 10 in Mental Maths too.

During RE (Religious Education) lessons, we used photographs and video clips to explore special places, including a church as a special place for Christians. We looked at items and pieces of furniture from a church. This linked nicely to William’s ‘Show and Tell’ about his children’s Bible where we shared a story about Noah’s Ark (which made our Noah smile). During our RE lessons, the children have been really good at making links to some of their experiences such as playing in the grounds of St Catherine’s Church and attending weddings and Christenings. Next Friday, we’ll visit St Catherine’s Church. Although, we’re not visiting Forest School, we’ll keep to the same Friday routine of joggers and trainers as routine makes me happy. 

New eBooks are available now. Your eBook counts as a tick on your reading list and it will give you an accurate picture of how your child is progressing with their reading.

Just a reminder about avoiding snacks with nuts and encouraging healthy snack choices. I am inspired to do better for my own children when I see some of your delicious, homemade snacks coming into school! Please also add just one small keyring to your book bag as some animal groups are struggling to fit their bags into the crates.

Finally, wishing all our little ones with coughs and colds a restful weekend.

Best wishes,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

27.01.23

Hello Red Class Families,

Thank you for joining us for afternoon tea. The children were really excited to see their special guests in school. From designing and making sandwiches to creating items for the tables, the children gained so much from this topic. We’re still collecting donations, please see Mrs Garner in the office.

Although it’s been a busy week, we’ve continued to learn new digraphs and the trigraph ‘ear’ and we introduced the following tricky words: my, by, all. New eBooks are available. Sometimes, the children will share the same book over two weeks to develop fluency and comprehension skills.

ur – curl the fur

ow– wow owl

oi- boing boing

ear – get near to hear

Handwriting lessons focused on ‘i’, ‘l’, ‘t’, ‘u’ and ‘y’ using the cursive script. Use the following link to support handwriting at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewnFykLMnDM Please see the handwriting pack for letter formation phrases.

We’ve started to count in 2s to 10 in Maths. We’re in the very early stages of developing our understanding and we started our journey by thinking about ‘pairs’. Try looking for pairs at home (socks would be great) and count in 2s to 10 with an adult. We’ve also been busy making number bonds to 5 using Numicon and then using the ‘power of 5’ to add single digit numbers in our egg boxes. We will continue to work hard on this concept as it will help to strengthen mental maths skills as the children move through school.

Next week, we will change learning partners and start our new topic, ‘Our World – Religion’, which will include a trip to St Catherine’s Church. Although our focus for this topic is Christianity, as the children move through school, they will learn about different religions. We will also celebrate the children’s experiences. If your child would like to talk about a special religious temple or event, such as a wedding, please send a photograph to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

20.01.23

Hello Red Class Families,

This week, the children designed their finger sandwiches. First, we looked at the journey of bread from the wheat in the fields all the way through to the rolls in the bakery. We then looked at different parts of a sandwich by taking them apart and eating them! Finally, the children taste tested fillings before designing the sandwich they will make for their special guest next week.

As well as their Design Technology (DT) work, the children discovered new digraphs including ‘oo’ (moon), ‘oo’ (book), ‘ar’ (far) and ‘or’ (born). When reading words with the digraph ‘oo’, always check both sounds to see which one makes sense. We also read new tricky words: was, you, they. Please continue to read your eBooks at home.

oo – zoom to the moon

oo – hook a book

ar- march in the dark

or – born with a horn

Handwriting lessons focused on ‘d’, ‘g’ and ‘q’ using the cursive script. These letters can be found in the handwriting pack with a formation phrase for each letter. Remember to work ‘big’ at home and try using different media as this will help to motivate the children to write. The children enjoyed water painting using a paintbrush and a chalkboard. This is a great activity for the garden when the weather improves.

In Maths, we continued with our focus on teen numbers using a range of concrete apparatus including dice, egg boxes, Numicon and the Fabacus. Every day we practise our mental maths skills and at home time we like to play ‘Guess my Number’. If you’d like to play this game at home, click the link to find the ‘Paint the Squares’ game: Paint the Squares - Interactive Number Charts (topmarks.co.uk) Select the 1-20 chart. Choose a number and encourage your child to ask questions about it e.g. Is it greater than 4? Is it double 3? Is it fewer than 5? Is it a teen number? As you answer each question, splat the squares until you’re left with the right answer.

On our way to Forest School, as our boots crunched along the frozen grass, we noticed the signs of winter. We collected frozen leaves and watched how they changed in the warmth of our gloves. After a quick warm up game to test our listening skills, the children went into the forest to play. We used hammers and mallets to make a fairy garden with sticks. Over the next couple of weeks, all the children will have the opportunity to use tools in small groups. Well done children for keeping safe and following our tool rules.

We look forward to seeing our guests for afternoon tea next week. Please wait by the benches just outside the School Room and the children will show you to your table. Thank you for your donations so far.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

13.01.23

Hello Red Class Families,

This week, the children discovered vowel digraphs ‘ai’ (rain), ‘ee’ (sheep), ‘oa’ (coat) and the trigraph ‘igh’ (light). We used catchphrases to remember them.

ai – tail in the rain

ee – sheep in a jeep

oa – soap that goat

igh – light in the night

Handwriting lessons focused on ‘c’, ‘o’ and ‘a’ using the cursive script. Handwriting packs were sent home on Thursday to support handwriting at home. We’re in the very early stages of writing so the children are still learning how to use the ‘round and back’ action. Next week, we will recap ‘c’, ‘o’ and ‘a’ and introduce ‘d’, ‘g’ and ‘q’ as they all start the same way.

In Maths, we used concrete apparatus to make some teen numbers (11, 12, 13 and 14). We talked about place value with teen numbers containing a ten and ones. We also used the ‘power of 5’ and ‘power of 10’ to make them quickly.

In Art lessons, we explored textiles. The children persevered to cut, stick and arrange different textiles in their art sketchbooks before learning how to dip dye a cotton square using food colouring. Our table runners are ready for afternoon tea!

Red Class Afternoon Tea

Hopefully, in your child’s bookbag, you will find an invitation to Red Class Afternoon Tea. As time is an abstract concept for little ones, the children have been asking me every day if it’s time for afternoon tea!

Each animal group will host their afternoon tea on the stated day and time in the School Room. We’ve invited one guest as the School Room is quite cosy! We also thought it would be nice for the children to have some 1 to 1 time with their special visitor! We’re hoping most children can keep to the day/time provided but we also understand some families may have commitments during the 1.40pm slot. Please just let me know and I will see what I can do. Please email the office if your visiting adult has any dietary requirements or allergies.

Next week, we’ll be taste-testing, designing and making finger sandwiches. So, another busy week for Red Class!

Best wishes,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

Click here.

06.01.23

Hello Red Class Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back to the Friday Fanfare! This week, we jumped straight into our new topic, ‘Building a Business’. Through Dilemma-Based Learning, the children listened to a story about a family of mice with leftover party food. They considered different points of view including putting the food in the fridge or cupboard and putting it in the bin. Later on, the children met Mrs Hedgehog who needed some help to feed her family. We started to think about food banks and how they help people. Some children shared their experiences of donating to food banks during the Christmas period. Throughout the morning, the children worked with their new learning partner to share opinions, give reasons for their answers and to make decisions. By the end of the morning, most children decided the family should give their party food to Mrs Hedgehog.

Through our Dilemma-Based Learning we decided to raise money for a local food bank by setting up a business. We’ve decided to offer afternoon tea during the week beginning 23^rd January. The children will send home an invitation for one lucky relative to visit the School Room for afternoon tea. More information will follow including the exact day and time for your child.

During the next few weeks our learning will help us to prepare for afternoon tea. For example, today we made mats for the tables during handwriting. In Art lessons, we will learn how to dye textiles to make a runner for the tables and in Design Technology we will design and make the finger sandwiches. It’s going to be a busy few weeks!

In Phonics, we recapped some of the tricky digraphs from last term including ‘th’ and ‘sh’ and read words with these digraphs. Next week, we will begin to learn new phonemes using vowel digraphs e.g. ‘ai’ in rain. During group reading sessions, we recapped the book from the last week of term. New eBooks will be available next Friday. If you have a copy of ‘Fix That Bell!’ at home with missing pages, please return it to school with a post-it or email the office to let us know.

At Forest School (we stayed on site for Forest School today), we discovered that birds struggle to find food during the winter months, so we decided to make birdfeeders. We also looked closely at a nest and talked about how it was made. Try spotting birds in your garden or at the park this weekend. How many birds can you name?

Next week, we will begin to form cursive letters, starting with ‘c’, ‘o’ and ‘a’. I’ve outlined some top tips to support handwriting in the class newsletter. One tip is to use a formation phrase. This is a short phrase to say to the children as they write. The phrase is linked to the picture we associate with each letter. Next week, I will send home a formation phrase sheet where you will be able to see the cursive letter, the linked picture and the formation phrase. Every week in the blog, I will let you know which letters to focus on.

Just a reminder to contact Cool Milk if you would like your child to access milk after they turn 5. All children remain on the milk list if they’re still 4.

Best wishes for a lovely weekend,

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class xxx

P.S. We like to show and tell learning and achievements from home and any projects the children have been working on. Just pop the certificate or piece of work into the book bag or send a photo into the office. Please keep toys safe at home. We saw a superb Forky today!

16.12.22

Hello Red Class Families,

Our last day was full of fun and laughter with a pantomime, party games and celebration assembly. In fact, it’s been a week of Christmas activities with our Christmas Show and a delicious Christmas dinner (thank you Mrs Barker and Mrs Miles). We’ve listened to carols every day and discovered how people celebrate the festival of Christmas.

Towards the end of term, especially near Christmas, the children become incredibly tired and give their every effort at school meaning their emotional ‘cup’ runs empty by home time. You might have seen a few grumpy or tearful faces this week or maybe you’ve had a few extra cuddles. Their behaviour is simply saying, “I’m tired and I’m ready for a break”. Well done little ones, you’ve fought bugs galore and demonstrated such resilience.

On Monday, we popped two reading books into every child’s bag to share during the holidays and new eBooks are available too. In January, we will begin a new topic, ‘Building a Business’ and we’ll continue our writing adventures as we learn to form letters using the cursive script. If you want to make a start during the holidays, Mrs Moss has made a number of videos on our You Tube channel showing letter formation. We always start with the curly caterpillar letters: c, o, a, d, g, q. Writing your name with cursive letters would be useful holiday homework too. Remember your tripod grip when you hold your pencil. If you’d like some holiday Maths homework, then please count forward and back to 5, then 10 and 20. Try 1 more and 1 less tennis to 10 using your hand to hit the ‘ball’ and work on your positional language. Perhaps, choose one decoration on your Christmas tree as a starting point and then find another above, below, between, to the left, to the right, in front or behind.

The children worked hard on their Christmas cards and calendars. We used our collage skills of cutting, sticking and overlapping and selected an appropriate colour for each season. Every year, you can look back at their 2023 calendar and see how much they’ve changed.

Finally, a big ‘THANK YOU’ for all your support and encouragement this term. Your kind cards, gifts and messages mean a lot to the team and we feel really lucky to be part of one big Blackwell family. Your child’s first term at ‘big’ school is complete and look at all we’ve achieved together. Children who are reading words and sentences, making new friends, singing in front of an audience and attending a school trip!

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year filled with fun, laughter and plenty of rest.

Mrs Webb and Team Red Class XXX