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Preston
Primary School
Academy

Foundation Stage Weekly Newsletter

Puffins and Penguins Weekly Newsletter, 6th May 2022

Let’s Investigate - Minibeasts

This week the children have been continuing their learning about minibeasts.   

They carried out careful observational drawings of some of the creatures in our woodland habitat.  We now know that different minibeasts like to live in different places, e.g. under logs and stones, on leaves or flowers, or in the soil. The children decided which creatures they would like to draw and then they went to the correct habitat to find them. The children looked really closely at some of the features of the minibeasts such as number of legs, antennae, and body segments. They produced some wonderful detailed drawings.

(If you are reading this on the SchoolNews App, remember that you can also look at the newsletter on the school website www.preston.torbay.sch.uk to view photographs.)

Let’s Investigate - Caterpillars

We have also been closely studying our caterpillars. The children have created a timeline so they can count the total number of days it takes for the caterpillars to turn into butterflies. The children are also using the timeline to record any changes they have noticed in their appearance.  The caterpillars are growing rapidly – on day 1 they measured 1cm, some of them are now measuring 4cm in length. We talked about what we would look like if we doubled in length every few days!

Book Buddies

Across the school we promote a love of reading. This week we were delighted to welcome children from Years 5 and 6 who came to introduce the concept of ‘book buddies’. This is a time when children can mix together to share their love of reading and inspire one another. All children enjoyed the opportunity to read aloud. Puffins and Penguins were able to talk about some of their favourite books and able to share their favourite poem or character.

It was wonderful to see all the children engaged and immersed in books.

Casper (aged 5) - “When I am a big boy, I want to come back into this class and read to the little kids.”

Errin (aged 5) - “I liked it when the big children read a story to me.”

Lola (aged 9) - “I liked that the younger children wanted to listen to the Year 5/6 book that I chose.”

Maths

In Maths this week, we have focused on addition. We talked about what a number sentence means, e.g. in the number sentence 4 + 2, it means that there are two parts, a 4 part and a 2 part, that we are combining to find out the whole number.

We have used a few strategies across the week to teach this concept. We have used counters to represent the two amounts, and then counted the total. We also used tens frames and double-sided counters to show the 2 distinct parts. We used part, part, whole models (the ‘cherry’ diagram) to show the two parts and then combined them together.

We have also been using number tracks to practise the skill of ‘counting on’. This is a great strategy to use as it is more efficient than counting every single object. There is an activity on Seesaw for your child to practise this at home.

Some of the children were also able to ‘count on’ by putting one number in their head and then using fingers to represent the second part. For example, if they were adding 5 and 3, they put the 5 ‘in their head’ (meaning they ‘hold’ and remember that number), then they put up 3 fingers to show the second part. They then count on by pressing their fingers and saying the next number. So they would say 5 …. 6,7,8. The stopping number is 8, so they know that this is the total.

Sun safety

Sun cream. In warmer weather, please apply sun cream to your child in the morning before they come to school.

If you want to send in a small bottle of sun cream, please make sure that it is in a waterproof bag, e.g. a sandwich bag, so that your child’s books are protected in case of leakage in their book bag.

Sun hat. Please send your child in to school with a sun hat.

Water bottle. 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.

Home Learning

  • Enjoy the story on Seesaw. 
  • Check Seesaw and your book bag for this week’s RWI books and activities. Practise reading your book at least 3 times a week.
  • Use Ten Town to practice numbers 0-10.
  • Complete the addition activity 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