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Preston
Primary School
Academy

Foundation Stage Newsletter

Puffins and Penguins Newsletter, 6th January 2023

Learning Enquiry – When I Grow Up…       

This half term our learning experience is titled ‘When I Grow Up’. We will be talking to the children about some of the many opportunities they have in the future workplace. We will be linking the learning to our school aim ‘Ready For Work’ and looking closely at how our school values and the 4C’s (Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity) are important future skills.

We will talk about a variety of jobs and how they are important in our lives. We will focus on a few jobs in particular to answer the following questions:

  1. What jobs do people have? Develop an understanding of people’s jobs and how they support us in our lives.
  2. How have some jobs changed over time?
  3. What will you be when you grow up? Develop an understanding of the broad life options. Expand on and challenge stereotypical assumptions.

We have high expectations for every child, and it is important that they feel confident in their abilities and are aspirational.

This week the children impressed us by creating an extensive list of jobs they could do in the future. These included hairdressers, football coach, dog handler, nurse, firefighter, lifeguard, care worker and neurologist. We will be exploring lots of different jobs over the coming weeks. We have some special visitors coming to share their jobs with the children. We are also planning some small trips to the community to support our learning enquiry. We will share more details with you soon. In the meantime, we have some home learning for the parents.

PARENT HOME LEARNING!

It would be lovely if you could share your own career experiences with the children. Talk to your child about your current job and any other jobs you have had in the past. Then, if anyone would like to create a one page A4 profile about their job or a job they have done in the past, we would love to share these with all the children and possibly create a folder to put on our book shelf. You could include a photo and detail your job and the role you have, your favourite part of the job, any special equipment you use, if you wear a uniform, and any training you had. If you can link your job to our school values that would be wonderful. This is of course optional, but it would be very special for the children. You could send in a paper copy or submit an electronic version via e-mail foundation@preston.torbay.sch.uk or Seesaw. Thank you for your support.

Woodland Camp

It was wonderful to be able to explore the Woodland Camp this week, the children love to learn outside. Over the year we will be looking at seasonal changes, making observations and comparisons. When we visited the woods this week the children noticed that the leaves were brown and had fallen off the trees leaving many of the trees bare. They reflected back to before Christmas when they were collecting beautiful coloured leaves to make Autumn crowns. The children recapped the vocabulary from previous learning (Autumn, Winter, Season) and explained to us how the seasons cycle round. The children are looking forward to exploring this further.

PE

Everyone enjoyed participating in PE this week. The children were practicing the skills of balancing, moving, and climbing. They followed a circuit of apparatus which enabled them to balance and move in different ways. They also climbed over the agility tables demonstrating how they can manage risk and move safely. As the children repeated the circuit, they gained confidence in the skills and could articulate what they found tricky. Well done Puffins and Penguins.

School Value - Independence

Our school value this half term is Independence. In Foundation we learn the school values though dinosaurs. The children were introduced to ‘Independasaurus’.

“I am Independasaurus. I like to have a go at doing things by myself and I am able to concentrate and focus really well. I am good at having a go and trying out different ways, even if I find things tricky because this is when I am learning the most. I know that it is fine to make mistakes as this is how I learn new things.”

The children spent an afternoon exploring how they can be independent and why it is important. We talked about how being independent doesn’t mean you cannot ask for help, it is about trying yourself first. They took part in a carousel of activities talking about and demonstrating independence. This included dressing up, singing songs, listening to and talking about the story of Zog, colouring in a picture of Independasaurus and talking about how they use independence in school. There is an independence activity on Seesaw to complete.

Writing        

This week the children have been finding examples of writing in their learning environment. We talked about the importance of writing and how it is one way of communicating with others. We walked around the school looking for text and talking about its meaning. The children found this very exciting and inspiring.

Maths        

In maths this week we explored calendars, how they are represented differently, and the concept of time. We recapped the 12-month cycle and then focused on the concept of a week. They soon realised that the 7 days of the week are also a cycle. We looked specifically at the months January and February, and the events that are coming up in those months. We included birthdays and our upcoming trip to the theatre. We located the current day and used the language of today, yesterday, and tomorrow. We are going to keep the calendar on display in the classroom to countdown the days to special events. It is important we continually talk to children about the concept of time in order to help them develop their thinking and understanding. We will be exploring this further by creating our own timelines. Please could you e-mail or send via Seesaw, one image of your child as a baby. We will be using these in school for our learning enquiry foundation@preston.torbay.sch.uk  Thank you.

Reading for Pleasure

As a whole school we promote a love of reading through a variety of activities. Each half term we have a whole school theme and this half term it is called ‘Children’s Choice’. We are encouraging children to bring to school one of their favourite books to share with the rest of the class. This can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or even a magazine that they enjoy. Between now and half term please discuss with your child which book they would like to bring. We will be encouraging every child to participate. They can bring the book anytime between now and half term. If one of your child’s favourite books is from the school library, please let us know and we will help them find it. We may keep the book in school for a few days so please be patient. We look forward to sharing a love of reading.

Messages:

It would be lovely if you could share your own career experiences with the children. If anyone would like to create a one page A4 profile about their job or a job they have done in the past, we would love to share these with all the children and possibly create a folder to put on our book shelf. You could include a photo and detail your job and the role you have, your favourite part of the job, any special equipment you use, if you wear a uniform, and any training you had. If you can link your job to our school values, that would be wonderful. This is of course optional, but it would be very special for the children. You could send in a paper copy or submit an electronic version via e-mail foundation@preston.torbay.sch.uk or Seesaw. Thank you for your support.

  • Please could all PE kits be in school by Monday 9th January.
  • Please remember that you can also view this newsletter on the school website where you can see any photographs that we include.

Home Learning

  • Enjoy the story on Seesaw read by Mrs Bastin. ‘The leaf thief’ by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater.
  • Check your child’s book bag and Seesaw for phonics activities and reading to complete at home.
  • Send in a baby photo by Wednesday 11th January
  • Find out about your parents’ jobs. PARENTS – Remember you have home learning as well (details above).
  • Decide which book you would like to share with the class and bring it to school between now and half term.
  • Look at the independence activity on Seesaw

Important Dates        

  • Theatre trip, Room on a Broom – Tuesday 7th February
  • Half Term 13th – 17th February

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