This term we have been learning about ourselves and our families - we are planning a weeks activities soon on being a superhero!

In advance of any wet weather when you drop your Reception child off or pick them up we have a variation to the normal plans.

So now the children are in full time, we have started our phonics lessons.

In their word tub they will be given 4 sounds a week  – you already have this weeks sounds – s,a,t,p. Please help your child recognise them, say them as a pure sound (s is ‘s’ not sssssssssssss) and see if they can find things around the house that begin with that sound. Children could also try forming the letter using pens and pencils – or writing with a wet paintbrush on the wall, tracing the letter in sand, or just using their finger on their leg.

They will be given more sounds as they progress – for the beginning we will teach them in class sessions but in a couple of weeks we will group them according to whether or not they are ready for new sounds.

If your child already knows these sounds you can help them progress by blending some of the sounds together – s-a-t makes sat, p-a-t makes pat. Feel free to use sounds we haven’t covered yet if your child knows them and wants to make more complicated words.

In the word tub you also have some high frequency words – I go to the are the ones  in there currently. Again please practise these with your child and see if they can recognise them, can they write them? If your child has these words learnt already please feel free to extend their learning by putting them into verbal sentences, or even write simple sentences.

Your child will read with a school grown up each week, one group a day will be heard. We will work on their sounds and words, in addition to looking at books with them. For those children who are ready we may move them onto our book boxes, or we may feel they need further reinforcement of sharing books with you at this time. It is not a competition – we try to work at your child’s level.

New sounds and words will be put in on a Friday – and the books will be changed then also.

Any child who has 5 reads a week will receive a raffle entry and a dojo point.

Please try to build reading in as a positive experience for your child and fit it into your routine, we feel a love of books is a crucial part of your child’s school experience.

 

We had some very excited children who took their book bags home with them for the first time. 

We are so pleased the children have settled so well in school over the first couple of days. Thank you parents for being so helpful with the drop off and pick up system - it really helps that you are patient while we get the children to the correct adult. Thank you also for following the one-way system we have in place. 

We are really looking forward to meeting you all on Monday 7th September and thought we would just answer a few questions you may have. 

This year is a little different than usual and we hope that with our covid procedures we will help your child settle into school life quickly.