Dear Parents and Carers,

 

We hope that you had an enjoyable half-term break and that your child was able to rest and recharge their batteries after what was a really busy first half-term. The children have now settled into school so well and we are really pleased with how they have adjusted to the new routine. It has been lovely to meet you all too.

 

This half-term the children will be learning about ‘Celebrations’.  We will be exploring Guy Fawkes Night, Diwali, Remembrance Day, birthdays and finally, Christmas. We are really looking forward to celebrating these events at school and will share them with you on Class Dojo. It is a really fun project to explore with the children. If you would like to support us with our project in any way, then please let me know.

 

Phonics

The children have been really focused on their phonics work and we have been really pleased with their progress. They have worked very hard to develop their blending skills (putting sounds together to read words) and we hope to consolidate these skills over the next few weeks. We will also continue to work on developing the children’s segmenting skills this half-term. We use segmenting skills when we spell words; we say the word aloud then break it into its sounds in order to write it (e.g. ‘cat c-a-t’).  There will also be a focus on handwriting, helping children with holding their pencil correctly and forming each letter following the ‘Read, Write, Inc’ matching rhyme. There will also be a focus on writing their names. Some of the children are already able to write their names, however we will be working on forming all of the letters correctly when doing this.

 

Phonics at Home

It is really important that the children regularly practise the sounds we have learnt so far at home with you. Please see the sounds sent home in your child’s book bag. This makes such a difference to your child’s learning at school and in all areas of learning.  Try holding the sounds up, one by one and ask your child to say the sound. If they are unsure, encourage them by saying a word that sound begins with as a prompt. Try playing ‘I Spy’ with things starting with a certain sound or by using picture cards. The sounds we have learned so far are:

                                               

m, a, s, d, t, i, n, p, g, o, c, k, u, b, f, e, l, h, r, j, v, y, w, z, x

 

Maths

We have had lots of fun learning about careful counting, comparing numbers and more and fewer. This half-term we will focusing on:

• Numbers 1-5     
• Counting, ordinality, cardinality
• Comparison
• Composition
• Shape (3D and 2D shapes)
• Space (spatial awareness)           

Important information

• We will continue to have PE on Wednesdays. Our outdoor learning will be a part of our project work and we enjoy going out in all types of weather, so please send in children with warm layers and hats and scarfs to be worn with their wet weather gear.
• Our parent consultation meetings are on Tuesday 11^th November (3:15-4:25pm), Wednesday 12^th November 3:15-5:25pm and Thursday 13^th November (1:40-2:40pm). Please come to the school Reception and I will greet you there. Thank you to everyone who has booked a 10 minute slot on our ‘Parent Booking’ system. You will have received an email explaining how to book on. If you have any problems with booking a slot, please let me know.
• Thank you for sending in healthy snacks. If you are sending in fruit such as grapes, please could we ask that the grapes are cut in half already and also send in snacks with minimal sugar in them? Thank you.
• Please could children arrive at school by 8:55am? We start our learning at 9:00am and it really helps the children to feel settled and ready for the school day. Thank you for your support with this.

Reminders

• Book bags must be brought to school each day. Please check your child’s book bag as this is where we will put any letters or important information.
• Library books will be changed every Friday.
• Please name all clothing and personal possessions.
• Please let somebody know if someone different is picking up your child at the end of the school day.
• Please ensure that your child has a named coat in school each day (separate from their outdoor learning coat).

 

If you have any queries, concerns or anything you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Rachael Moore

rmoore@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk