Headteacher: Anna Moss

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

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Hello Red Class,

I hope you’re enjoying the first day of your holiday. Have you played your game yet? I wonder, how many noses and eyes have fallen off your hedgehogs? I hope you enjoy playing with your puppet too. Don’t worry if you were away on the last day. Your puppet and board game are safe at school and waiting for you.

A big ‘WELL DONE’ for this half term. You’ve achieved so much and I feel very proud of the progress you have made in Red Class. When we return, our new topic will be ‘Blackwell Bear Travels’ and we'll be finding out about Spain. If you have any photos or objects linked to Spain, please bring them in after the holiday

Rest, play and stay safe and I’ll see you after the half term break.

Mrs Webb xxx

Hello Red Class,

Today, Oak, Oak, Ash (Forest School version of Duck, Duck, Goose) was our introductory game. Games like this help us to understand how to move around a fire circle safely. We listened to the story of ‘Grandfather Oak and the Little Acorn’ which supported our work on seeds and growth. We then used acorns and other seeds to make snails. When the rain started to fall, we returned inside for a warm drink and snacks.

During Phonics sessions, we looked at words with ss, ll and ff. We discovered that two letters can make one sound. I’ve popped some example words into your little blue books but you don’t need to draw any pictures. We added ‘no’ and ‘go’ to our keyword list. We’re growing in confidence to read these words by sight.

In Maths sessions, we subtracted small numbers using equipment and created subtraction number stories. We also performed a song called ‘Beans’ which helped us to count back from 5, 10, 15 and 20. There were lots of jelly, jumping and baked beans in the classroom!  

In play and explore time, the puppet show area was popular.  You enjoyed performing shows with your mini-me puppets. We will send your puppets home next week.  

Show and tell was fantastic with lots of super achievements to share and pictures linked to our autumn topic. It was lovely to share the children’s home learning.

Enjoy a wonderful weekend Red Class. Next week, we’re creating autumn board games.

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx

Hello Red Class Families,

Just a quick message before our Friday Fanfare tomorrow. Please could all families check cardigans and jumpers and send any uniform back to school if it's been picked up by accident. We're missing two items but they're named so they should be easy to locate. 

Many thanks :) 

Mrs Webb 

Dear Red Class,

This week, at Forest School, we explored leaves and why some trees lose their leaves in the autumn. We performed a counting song called ‘10 Little Leaves’ and added new actions with the leaves turning, tumbling and even jumping through the air. Every Forest School session, the children are invited to explore their own interests. Today, some children were looking at stories inspired by nature,  another group of children decided to look for animals (puppets and other soft toys) hidden around the site and some children created a pretend fire.  

Phonics lessons focused on h, b, f and l. We tried very hard to spell words using these letters and their sounds.  At this stage of the year, we use letter tiles and magnetic letters for spelling activities. We also read our keywords daily: to, into the, I. See if you can find these keywords in your reading books. In Literacy sessions, we sequenced story events from ‘The Little Red Hen’ and compared the story to ‘The Very Helpful Hedgehog.’ We thought the hedgehog could help the hen’s friends to be helpful!

In Maths, we talked about the idea of doubles and doubling using a picture stimulus board. We then made the link between doubles in the world around us (double yellow lines, double-decker bus) to finding simple doubles with equipment, for example, putting two of the same Numicon tiles together. During the rest of the week, we investigated patterns in the environment and used equipment to explore colour and shape patterns. You might like to try this game at home: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

As a warm up in Music, we clapped the rhythm of our names and then played an untuned instrument to Mrs Webb’s pulse (beat). The children listened carefully and tried very hard to play together. After our performance warm up, we explored the sounds of the instruments before creating a class composition about falling leaves.

What a busy week! It’s now time to rest, play and enjoy your weekend. See you all Monday.

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain x

Hello Red Class,

It was a wet and windy week. We started our new topic ‘Autumn’ and enjoyed a nice walk through Blackwell. The children had a special Blue Class partner to show them the way and it was lovely to hear the older children talking about the signs of autumn. We created a mind map of autumn words using objects from the walk as a stimulus. How many words can you think of linked to autumn? 

Our focus letter sounds this week were ck (duck), e, u and r and we’ve been learning to read words using these sounds. In Literacy, we listened to the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ and used a story map to retell key events.

In Maths, we’ve been learning number bonds (pairs of numbers) up to 4. We’ve used songs, Numicon and counters to make number bonds and we’re starting to recall some pairs too, for example, 2 and 2 make 4. 

Today, the children enjoyed a super first Forest School session. They were fantastic at collecting their warm clothes and they were great at learning new rules and routines. We played 1,2,3 Where are you? This game helps the children to learn about boundaries and where we can play in the forest.  We also shared a story called ‘Leaf Man’ and the children created their own leaf pictures ranging from a leaf man and lady, a leaf worm, a leaf dog and even a leaf cabbage! Well done Red Class!

We also opened the painting table this week and Mrs Allen helped the children to find out about printing. Next week, we’re opening the workshop. Please be prepared to find  ‘junk’ creations in book bags. We will ask the children to keep their work in school until Friday so they can make changes to their work during the week.

Rest, play and enjoy a wonderful weekend Red Class,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx

Dear Red Class,

Well done for completing your first full week with clubs. You’ve been stretching in yoga, listening to stories and weaving in fine motor club. From learning letter sounds to using new equipment in Maths and meeting new people in club time, we’ve enjoyed a very busy week. I’m really pleased with how independent you’re being in the morning. Most of you are now completing your jobs without any help from a grown up and some of you have visited the tuck tray too.

This week, Literacy lessons were filled with storytelling. We found out how to use role play props to retell the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. We played games in phonics to learn new letter sounds and actions for i, n, m and d and we started to read 2 and 3 letter words e.g. an, pan, tin. We enjoyed reading words on the board and then drawing pictures to match.

In Maths, we explored ten frames in lots of different ways. On Monday, we made a ten frame on the floor using tape and pretended it was a bus. The children enjoyed sitting on the bus to explore numbers to 10. Our class teddies enjoyed riding on the ten frame bus on Tuesday. Later in the week, we used counters on small ten frames. Working in these different ways will help us to identify and understand numbers.

In PE you were very good at moving in different ways around the hall and finding safe spaces. In Write Dance, you created pictures of a volcano using different media (chalk and wax crayons). Can you draw a volcano at home? 

Make sure you rest over the weekend and we’ll see you next week Red Class,

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx

Dear Red Class,

Well done for completing your first full week.  You’ve settled well into your lunchtime routine and even tackled a jacket potato today. You’re working well with your learning partner and making new friends during play and explore time. You’re confident at selecting resources in the classroom and choosing where to play.  

Next week, you will start afternoon clubs. Each day you will attend two clubs. 

Monday: Playground Games/Stories

Tuesday: Construction/ Rhymes and Songs

Wednesday: Big Art/Smart Moves (activities to develop balance and coordination)

Thursday: Craft/ Yoga and Dance.

Friday: Fine Motor (for example threading beads to make bracelets)/ Film

Lots of children walked through the door independently today.  Please try walking down the path without a grown up on Monday and Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain will walk down to meet you. Have a super weekend and enjoy a good rest. 

Mrs Webb, Mrs Reid and Mrs Cain xxx