Thank you

We cannot believe that we have already reached the end of the first half-term in Foundation Stage! The children have settled so well into school life and have done really well at learning new routines and becoming familiar with their new environment. Thank you to all of the parents and carers for your support in your child’s learning and for making your child’s start in school so successful.

Autumn

We have been talking about the seasons and particularly what happens in Autumn, with the leaves changing colours and starting to fall off the trees. This week the children went to visit the play park by the school entrance. We particularly looked at the large tree near the slide (keep an eye on that tree throughout the year as it is a terrific example of seasonal change). The children enjoyed collecting fallen leaves of yellow, red, and orange. Back in the classroom, we all made a beautiful Autumn crown. On our ‘finger gym’ (which is where we focus on developing our fine motor skills), we have really enjoyed using the wooden hammer to tap golf tees into pumpkins.

The Little Red Hen

At Preston Primary we foster a love of reading. We have been re-telling the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ – the children have loved joining in with the actions and the repeated phrases. The children have used their knowledge of the phonic sounds to start writing key words from the story, e.g. hen, cat, red. The ‘Little Red Hen’ inspired the children to write their own recipes and bake their own ‘bread’ during choosing learning time in the mud kitchen and on the playdough table. We even made our own bread just like The Little Red Hen. However, unlike the lazy dog, sleepy cat and noisy duck, we helped each other make the bread. We used the vocabulary : dough, knead, stretch, rise, roll and mix. We learnt that yeast is the special ingredient which helps the bread to rise. The children enjoyed using the timers to measure how long we had to wait for the dough to rise. We hope you enjoyed sharing your bread at home.

Read Write Inc 

In Read Write Inc (RWI) this week the children learnt the sounds ‘y’, ‘z’, ‘w’ and ‘x’. Please practise writing these letters in your RWI handwriting booklet.

In class, we have used magnet boards with the letter sounds to help the children spell words. We have also used our pencils to write cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words such as sat, mad, pin, nod. The children continually amaze us with their enthusiasm and determination.

If you have any questions about phonics, please do not hesitate to ask. We will continue to share information on your child’s phonic journey.

Parent / Teacher meeting

Thank you to those who have already booked on to a parent’s meeting slot. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss how your child has settled into school life, to inform you of any observations or assessments that we have carried out, and to let you know your child’s next step targets. After half-term, you will be sent a link for the Teams call. Remember that if there are two parents in different locations, we can admit both of you to the call. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your child’s progress.

Reminder about trip payment

Over the year we try to provide a broad range of opportunities to the children. Going to the theatre will be a new experience for many. We will be watching a live performance based on Julia Donaldson’s ‘Room on the Broom’. The children will be immersed in performance, rich language and creativity.

Thank you to those who have already paid for your child’s trip to the theatre. If you have any questions about the trip, please talk to the Foundation Team. Please contact Mrs Warren in the school office if you have any queries regarding a payment. Final payment date is Friday 11^th November.

Home Learning

• This weeks RWI sounds are ‘y’, ‘z’, ‘w’ and ‘x’. Use your handwriting booklet to practise writing these sounds.
• Use the RWI review videos on Seesaw to practice your sounds. If children practise daily it will help them to speedily recall sounds to help them learn to read.
• Enjoy the story ‘Mister Magnolia’ read by Mrs Wenman.
• Share the reading newsletter with your child. Look out for the special competition!

Dates

• Half Term – Monday 24^th October – Friday 4^th November
• ‘Room on the Broom’ theatre trip payment deadline – Friday 11^th November
• Puffins Online Parent meetings – Monday 14^th and Tuesday 15^th November
• Penguins Online Parent meetings – Tuesday 15^th and Wednesday 16^th November.

Kind Regards, Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team.