Skip to content ↓

Preston
Primary School
Academy

Foundation Stage Weekly Newsletter

Puffins and Penguins Weekly Newsletter, 25th March 2022

Wow! What a busy and exciting week we’ve had in Foundation. The children continually impress us with their enthusiasm and love for learning. Well done everybody!

Maths

We have been working on our understanding of addition, by telling Maths stories. We used the words ‘first’, ‘then’ and ‘now’ to tell addition stories, e.g. First there were 3 frogs on the log, Then 2 more frogs hopped on, Now there are 5 frogs on the log. Stories are helpful to ensure that children understand the process of addition and what the numbers 3 and 2 actually represent, rather than just seeing a number sentence ‘3 + 2 = ?’ It also helps them to realise that the number will be bigger at the end as we have put more items in the story. We will continue to build on this concept over the next few weeks.

Beach Maths

Some more children had the opportunity to take their Maths lesson to the beach this week. What fun we had!

We made simple repeating patterns with objects that were on the beach, e.g., pebble, shell, pebble, shell. Some children challenged themselves to make a like more complex pattern, e.g. shell, seaweed, seaweed, shell, seaweed, seaweed – or even patterns including 3 items, e.g. shell, seaweed, pebble, shell, seaweed, pebble.

Then we ‘found’ some sea creatures, including starfish, crabs and even an octopus! (Don’t worry – they were only toy ones!) We counted how many legs they had. Some of us used our knowledge of doubles or addition to find the most efficient way to work it out, e.g. a starfish has 5 legs so 2 starfish are 5 plus 5 which is 10; double 5 is 10. Some of us were practising counting in multiples to find the total number of legs, e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20. Some of us then we wrote number sentences in the sand, e.g. 6 + 6 = 12.

Woodland camp

In the woods this week, we have been talking about camouflage. We discussed why some creatures might need to be camouflaged so that predators don’t find them and eat them! To exemplify this, we hid some ‘caterpillars’ (lengths of wool in a range of colours) all around the woods – on the path, on bushes and hanging from tree branches. The children pretended to be the birds and had to try and find the caterpillars. Not surprisingly, the bright colours such as red, yellow, and blue, were the first to be found, as they contrasted so much with the colours in the natural surroundings. We found it really tricky to find the ones that were green, brown and grey.

Racism awareness

At Preston Primary we promote the British Values, one of which is Tolerance of those of different faiths and beliefs. We also teach children our School Values, one of which is Respect. We want to enable our children to develop their own personal values in order that they become good citizens who will flourish in the workplace, in their family and in the community.

'The Smeds and the Smoos' by Julia Donaldson is a lovely picture book with an important message; our cultures and the way we look should never be something to separate us. The Smeds are one type of creature, while the Smoos are a different type - one is blue, one red; one drinks pink milk, the other does not. There are lots and lots of subtle differences between these two types of creature, mainly cultural and through how they look. Picture books like this are an effective way to begin talking about skin colour, cultural differences, and racism.

On Seesaw, we have posted a link to a story of ‘The Smeds and the Smoos.’ Watch it with your child and then discuss the content. Grandpa Smed and Grandma Smoo didn't want Janet and Bill to be friends. Why not? Were they right to think that? Does their colour make any difference as to why they shouldn't be friends? What would you say to Grandpa Smed and Grandma Smoo? We would love you to record your thoughts on Seesaw.

First Lego League Discover – Session 8 : ‘Let’s Improve’

In Lego this week the children were asked to think about all of the creations that they had designed and made in previous sessions. Then they were introduced to the new vocabulary of efficient, meaning to be the most organised or fastest delivery. They were challenged to think about how they could improve their design to make the delivery more efficient. The children really impressed us with their ability to adapt their original design.  

Sun safety

As the weather gets warmer, please send your child in to school with a sun hat.

Also, please apply sun cream to your child in the morning before they come to school.

Please make sure that they have their water bottle every day. We do have water coolers in school should your child require their bottle to be refilled during the day.

Name labels

The warmer weather means that your child may not always be wearing their jumpers or cardigans in school. Please help us by writing or sticking a name label in your child’s belongings. This applies to everything they can take off during the school day, including sun hats.

Mother’s Day

The children have been very busy this week, creating beautiful portraits of their mums. They loved going to the Mother’s Day shop to select a special gift for their mum - thank you very much to the FOPPS team for organising and running this event. On Sunday we will be posting a special video on Seesaw for you to view together. The children have promised us that they are going to spoil their mums on Mother’s Day! We hope you all have a wonderful weekend together.

Contacts

  • Please continue to contact the school office by email admin@preston.torbay.sch.uk or phone 01803 607075 with any questions or queries, including breakfast or after school club queries, or if your child is being collected by a different adult to usual.
  • In the event of your child being poorly, please call our absence line is 01803 607589 where you can leave a message.
  • There is also lots of useful information, as well as event dates and term dates, on our school website  https://www.preston.torbay.sch.uk/

Dates

  • Sunday 27th March – Mother’s Day
  • Monday 11th April to Friday 22nd April - Easter holidays
  • Monday 25th April - Return to school
  • Monday 2nd May – Bank holiday

Home Learning

  • On Sunday, look out for our special Mother’s Day video on Seesaw.
  • Enjoy the story of ‘The Smeds and the Smoos’ on Seesaw. Record your thoughts (note or a voice recording).
  • Check Seesaw and your book bag for this week’s RWI books and activities. Practise reading your book at least 3 times across the week.
  • Use Ten Town to practice numbers 1-10
  • Look on Seesaw for the new ‘Six Brick Challenge’. There is a balloon in your child’s book bag which you will need to complete this week’s activities. Have fun! We would love to see a photo on Seesaw.

From Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team

Address
Preston Primary School Academy
Old Paignton Road
Torquay
Devon
TQ2 6UY

Phone
01803 607075