Class R newsletter Class News 3/January 2012
Hello and welcome back to the new year and new term. We hope you have all enjoyed the Christmas holiday, doesn’t it go quickly? I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those parents and children for their lovely christmas gifts, they were very much appreciated, so thank you.
If you are reading this online then we know you are accessing the school website. Along similar lines I would like to inform you about our learning platform found at https://bedfordshire.itslearning.com/ . I have been adding some content and general activities for the children and will be sending their log in details to you.
Routines of school
Just to remind you, the children will require an outdoor PE kit for the Tuesday afternoon session. This usually consists of some old or cheap jogging bottoms, a warm sweatshirt and some trainers. As with their indoor PE kits we do suggest that they come into school and stay in school for the half term as this reduces any chances of children becoming upset when they do not have their kit following a weekend. Their indoor PE session remains on a Thursday.
This term we will commence with show and tell opportunities for the children. They will be allocated a week each half term when they can bring in a favourite object or memento to talk about. The list showing whose turn it is will be posted on the door at the end of the previous week and the show and tell session will take place on the Wednesday. We will be talking to the children about this and a letter will be sent to you so that you can help your child select something suitable as we do try to discourage them from bringing in toys.
Our class routines will stay much the same with only a slight change. There is a link to the timetable at the bottom of the page. I would like to thank you for supporting your child’s development and being prepared to spend some time with them sharing books and helping them to learn their letter names and sounds. This really impacts on their progress as the one to one support you are able to give them is invaluable, so do please keep up the good work. As you know your children are also now working on learning some of the high frequency and tricky words, it is important that they learn to recognise and read them so your support and encouragement with this is much appreciated. They will continue to receive more letters/words as they show they know the ones they already have. The word balloons they will (or already do) receive are linked to the reading scheme and will enable them to move on to the reading scheme books. Please also support them with this activity. Your children will continue to need their book bags in class each day as we do not know when we will have the opportunity to read with them.
This Half Term
This half term our focus will be on toys. We will be setting up a toy shop as one of our role play areas. Perhaps as they have received some new toys this Christmas they may be prepared to bring in an old toy for our toy shop; nothing too big or extravagant just a toy that they would be willing for others to play with and that we could put on the shelves to price and pretend to buy. If this is possible, please speak to one of the team to check its suitability. Thank you if you are able to oblige. We will be sharing a range of stories related to different toys and will also include a non-fiction text. We will be talking about different types of toys and how they work, and also thinking about changes in toys. Please talk to them about the different toys you liked to play with when you were children. On this note we are hoping to organise a visit from the Luton Toy Museum towards the end of the term (further information to follow in a separate letter). In our knowledge and understanding sessions they will be developing skills of Design Technology (through making toys and masks) and science (through practical experiments and cooking opportunities). They will also develop their knowledge of time through changes from past to present. As we progress through the half term, your children will learn about Chinese New Year and will have the opportunity to taste and cook foods and also learn about the Chinese New Year Festival. In PE we will be moving and responding to music and developing skills of fine and gross motor control. Creative activities will also be linked to the theme as well as developing skills with collage and textiles. There is a link to the more detailed overview at the bottom of the page.
They will continue to enjoy a wide range of activities both indoors and outdoors and I will attempt to add pictures so please keep checking the gallery to see up to date photographs.
I would like to thank those parents who have been letting us know when their child/ children have shown an interest in their learning and talked about it at home, or even when they have been particularly interested in something (topic or event) so that we can plan appropriately. Not only has this been really useful, but it does give you an opportunity to feed into their progress and we value your input. We do not expect a huge essay, just a few notes on their achievements or the questions they ask as this does show their interests. We do want to keep this discourse open and it is useful for us to know what they are showing you they can do at home so please continue to use the little red books to feed into your child’s development records.
Thank you also for letting us know when your child/children are being collected by another parent; your own letters plus the use of our forms are effective in ensuring the safety of your children. Please continue with this practice. Thank you all for your support and please do continue to come in to talk with us if there is anything you need to share or clarify with us. Have a good half term.
Mrs Dicocco
Reception Class Teacher
Class newsletter 1: Welcome to school
