What a week we’ve had in Year R! We are in full Christmas mode here… We’ve enjoyed reading the Jolly Christmas Postman and have been inspired to set up our own Post Office which has proven very popular. The children have enjoyed writing cards and envelopes, sticking on stamps and posting them in our class postbox. On a side note, thank you to those who have brought in Christmas cards, they’ve been posted into our other postbox (separate from the role play one!) and are awaiting delivery to the children. A highlight for some children was finding a postman’s bag and high-vis jacket so they could empty the now full-up postbox and deliver the wonders inside. The children have also loved wrapping up some ‘presents’ using Christmas wrapping paper and selotape. Some children have found this tricky and we would encourage you to allow them to practise their cutting skills at home, as we do in school.

This week culminated in Christmas Jumper day which was a roaring success! Thank you to you all for your contributions to our Love Christmas campaign to provide ‘movie night’ supplies to families in need. This is an important element of our Catholic Social Teaching at St Peter’s. In addition, both classes were able to fill their marble jars and so on Friday afternoon everybody was rewarded with their own movie and popcorn experience.

Thank you also for your patience with getting the children’s nativity costumes back to you. We have now filmed the nativity (after a failed, real-time recording!) and will set to editing that ready for sending out. We have seen a great improvement in some children’s ability to get themselves dressed and undressed but please continue to encourage this at home – particularly with buttons and zips.

For those of you who had asked about sharing the songs, a pdf of lyrics is attached but unfortunately due to licensing rules, we cannot share the mp3 files.

Wishing you all a wonderful, although no doubt busy, weekend. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone back for Christmas dinners (Monday), a pantomime performance (Wednesday), Christmas crafts and lots of fun for our final week!

Please note, that in order to allow KS2 to enjoy their Christmas Dinner on Tuesday, the school-provided lunch for our children will be a cold packed lunch. We will be eating in the classroom and having a Christmas Picnic. This may affect your plans for dinner/tea for your child.

Remember, next Friday is an INSET day so the children’s final day will be Thursday 17th.

Stay safe and warm,

The Reception Team

We are so proud of the children this week doing the nativity in front of their grown-ups – they all looked amazing and sung so well.

This week was also exciting as the children wrote letters to Father Christmas and we went in small groups to post them in the nearest post box. On the walk to the post box we spoke about road safety and sung a few Christmas songs too!

This week we have some very exciting news to share…. Mrs Conlon’s baby has arrived!! Gorgeous little Reuben arrived a few weeks early but both mum, dad and baby are doing extremely well. I’m sure you join us all in celebrating this wonderful news.

Year R have been very busy practising for the Nativity ready for our dress rehearsal and performance to parents next week!

If your child has been given a speaking part, please ensure you  practise over the weekend your child’s lines with them at home to help them have as much confidence as possible as some children are still unsure of their words.

We also enjoyed the story ‘How to catch a star’ and lots of activities linked to it including learning the sing ‘catch a falling star by Perry Como.

They were also really engaged in our volcano experiment! 

Phonics-

With Phonics this week we have been applying our phase 2 sounds to segmenting and writing words to label pictures and some children have begun to write simple captions. We have also been focusing on blending words and sentences to read.

Reading-

Please continue to read daily with your child for around 10 minutes. Ensure the are using their pointy reading finger to follow the words as they are reading as this helps them embed that we read and write from left to right.

Maths-

We have been continuing to practise our subitising skills where we don’t count the amount we see the amount. you could play games at home with a dice as this really helps children to recognise the amount of dots and no longer need to count them.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend- it’s going to be a cold and windy one so wrap up warm and keep practising  with your child to do up coat zips independently!

From The Early Years Teachers

This week the children have been listening to The Nativity Play story by Nick Butterworth. It has been a great link to get them excited as we have begun practising for our very own nativity play!

If your child has been given a speaking part, please ensure you regularly practise your child’s lines with them at home to help them have as much confidence as possible when speaking aloud to the audience on the days of the performances.

The children have also enjoyed focusing on kindness for anti bullying week. They were given opportunities to think and talk about what it means to be kind and how could show that in discovery time with their friends.

Phonics-

This week some of the children have begun practising their phase 3 sounds as well embedding their phase 2 sounds. Some of these sounds they have learnt this week are j, v, w, x. It is important to not only practise the new sounds given each week but also to continue to go over all the previous sounds they have learnt so they continue to embed and remember them.

Reading-

Please continue to read daily with your child for around 10 minutes. Ensure you discuss new vocabulary that may arise and help them to understand the meaning of it and how to use it in a variety of different sentences.

Maths-

The children have been focusing on learning the number 6. They have been recognising the number 6 in a variety of activities and games as well as counting out objects up to 6. The children need to be able to understand the position of numbers on a number line so please encourage them to think about what is one more and one less than a given number.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called Handa’s Surprise. The children have been retelling the story and using descriptive language to talk about the different fruits.

This week the children have learnt the final sounds within phase 2. The sounds they have learnt this week are ff, l, ll, s. Now they have learnt all of their phase 2 sounds, please encourage your child to make their own CVC words (three letter words) using their flash cards. They need to sound them out and then blend to read them. Can they challenge themselves to write their own words?

Reading-

Please find attached a copy of the must read books for Autumn 2. It will be lovely to hear the children engaging with these great texts at home so please share them with your children.

Maths-

The children have been focusing on recognising what the number 5 looks like either it be the numeral or the amount. They have also been adding amounts to 5. Please continue this at home. Playing board games with a dice is a great opportunity to help your child by allowing them to identify the amount of dots as they roll the dice and then count the spaces as they move around the board.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope you all had an enjoyable half term. The children have returned to school eager to continue their learning.
This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called The Scarecrow’s Wedding. The children have been making lists of all the things they need for a wedding, acting out the story and retelling it using pictures.

Phonics-
This week the children have continued with learning more phase 2 sounds. The sounds they have learnt this week are h, b, f. Please continue to practise the flash cards daily with your child so they are familiar with recalling them. Challenge your child to write the sounds and put sounds together to make three letter words. Can your child start to write some CVC words that they are able to sound out?

Reading-
Please continue to read daily with your child for around 10 minutes. Now your child is learning lots of sounds can you encourage them to sound out things they see in the books they look at for example cat, c-a-t, dog, d-o-g.

Maths-
We have now learnt to recognise numbers up to 5 and count out objects up to 5. Encourage your child to do this at home. How many different ways can they make 5? For example 4 and 1 makes 5, 3 and 2 makes 5. Can you child write the numbers down they have identified that add together to make an amount? At this stage in year R we don’t specifically teach to use the + and = signs just writing the relevant numbers.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called Pumpkin Soup. The children have looked at pictures from the story and discussed what is happening. They also enjoyed making pumpkin soup in their role play and having a go at writing their own recipes.

Here are some photos from their learning this week:

We are aware that where it is half term next week, the children really do need to have a good rest from their first busy half term in school. We encourage lots of fun, engaging activities inside and out the home where learning will still be happening without realising!

Reading/Phonics-

We do ask that you try and continue to read with your child daily for around 10 minutes as well as practising their phonics flash cards just to keep them in their memory for when they return to school.

There are more books that have been uploaded to the Collins eBook site where your child can engage with the pictures and talk about what is happening.

Maths-
The children have now learnt to recognise numbers 0-4 and count the amount of objects to match the digit. Please continue to practise this at home with recognising numbers in the environment and daily practise with counting objects around the home.

A reminder that on Friday 12th November 2021 we are inviting all the children (and adults) to ‘Wear it Bright ‘, where pupils can come to school in their brightest non-uniform clothes to raise money for CAFOD. A £1 per child donation is requested. Please note that we will also welcome a donation of £1 per family if some parents with two or more children at St Peter’s find that donation more appropriate to their circumstances.

We hope you have a wonderful half term break.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called The Lion Inside. The children have retold the story during discovery time and thought about how they have had to be brave in their lives just like the mouse in the story.

Here are some photos of the children’s learning for this week:

Here is some home learning we would like you to focus on over the weekend and coming week:

Phonics-

This week the children have continued with learning more phase 2 sounds. The sounds they have learnt this week are g, o, c, k. Please continue to practise the flash cards daily with your child so they are familiar with recalling them. Challenge your child to write the sounds and put sounds together to make three letter words.

These may include- g-o-t, k-i-t, t-i-p, m-a-p and many more using all the sounds your child has learnt already.

Reading-

As well as still encouraging your child to talk through their school book with you daily by looking at the pictures, please do continue to read picture books to your child. We encourage reading books that they love repeatedly so they begin to learn the familiar phrases and start repeating them. For ideas on picture books please refer to the must read list we sent out the beginning of this term. These are books that we recommend children in reception will enjoy.

Maths-

We have now been learning all about how to add amounts to 3. Encourage you child to count out three objects and split them into two groups. Can they talk about their findings using sentences such as 2 and another 1 makes 3. 1 and another 1 makes 2. Here is an idea for an activity to play at home:

Hide an amount of objects in your hands. Show objects in one hand and they need to guess what’s in the other hand to make the total. For example if you have 2 in one hand your child needs to think about how many more they need to get to 3.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. The children have been thinking about their own emotions and linking it to our Zones of Regulation display. It has helped them to understand when they are feeling a certain way they can choose different activities to support their emotions.

Here are some photos of their learning from this week:

Here is some home learning we would like you to focus on over the weekend and coming week:

Phonics-
This week the children have started to learn phase 2 sounds. The sounds they have learnt this week are i, n, m, d. Please continue to make use of the videos and resources we have uploaded to Tapestry to help support your child at home with practising these sounds daily. Use the flashcards your child has been given in their bag for your child to recognise and think of words beginning with that sound. Can your child challenge themselves to make some CVC words with these cards for example s-a-t?
If you were unable to make the phonics meeting on Monday evening please spend some time watching the video we uploaded of it to Tapestty to help you understand why and how phonics is taught.

Here is the PowerPoint to look through too:

Year R phonics workshop Autumn

Reading-
Please continue to read with your child daily. Now they are learning sounds could you encourage your child to try and spot them in the environment? For example on number plates, road signs and food packaging.

Maths-
We have now been learning all about the number three. Encourage your child to show you what this number looks like. Can they show you on their fingers? Can they collect objects? Can they use the vocabulary one more to explain the number three?
The children have also been looking at repeating patterns. Could your child make their own pattern using their toys? For example car, teddy, car, teddy.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Remember to upload any great learning your child does to Tapestry for us to see what they are engaging with at home.

From the Early Years Team

Dear Parents/Carers,

This week the children have really enjoyed focusing on the story called Mixed by Arree Chung. They have had fun exploring mixing colours and talking about what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Here are some photos of their learning from this week:

Here is some home learning we would like you to focus on over the weekend and coming week:

Phonics-
This week the children have started to learn phase 2 sounds. The sounds they have learnt this week are s, a, t, p. Please make use of the videos and resources we have uploaded to Tapestry to help support your child at home with practising these sounds daily. Use the flashcards your child has been given in their back for your child to recognise and think of words beginning with that sound. We also ask your child practises forming each of the letters using the work sheets we have sent home with them.
Phase 1 phonics is still being taught alongside phase 2 so please continue to listen to those sounds in the environment as well as singing nursery rhymes.

Reading-
Your child has been given new books on the Collins eBook website so please enjoy these with your child. Rememeber we ask that you make a note in their home reading diary of the home learning they do at home so we can see what your child is engaging with.

Maths-
We have now been learning all about the number two Encourage your child to show you what this number looks like. Can they show you on their fingers? Can they collect objects? Can they use the vocabulary one more to explain the number two?
The children have also been looking at patterns. Encourage your child to notice pattern on materials- spots/stripes/animal print. How are they the same? How do they look different?

With the weather starting to change now, please ensure you bring in a pair of named wellington boots to leave at school so your child can have full access of the garden.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Do ask us any questions that you may have; we are always happy to help

From The Early Years Team