In the Early Years Foundation Stage children learn through a balance of both teacher led and child initiated activities. Everything we do is based on careful observations of the children so that we can tailor the learning environment and plan activities that are engaging, motivating and exciting.
Here is a taster of what we got up to last term.
The theme for Summer 1 is The World Around Us
Welcome back to school for the summer term. I hope you have all had a lovely break and have had your fill of chocolate treats.
This term we will be thinking about our environment and the things that we like about it and the things that spoil it. Please could you send something naturally beautiful for our nature table? This could be a shell, flower, pebble or feather or a photo of a special view.
We will also be thinking about litter and how it spoils our world and endangers animals. We will learn about the 3 Rs-Recycle, Reduce and Reuse and will try to create art and fashion out of reclaimed materials. For these projects we are collecting, plastic lids, crisp packets and plastic bags (colourful, if possible) as well as the usual cardboard boxes and tubes. We will be looking at the artwork of Martin Waters who makes art out of plastic rubbish washed up at Spurn Point. If you have some old colourful plastic items, we would love to give them a new life. Martin Waters | Installations - Assemblages - Paintings - Prints
We will be learning about how plants grow and later in the term, on Friday 6th June, we are going to visit Herbs Unlimited at Sandhutton to learn about what plants need to grow and the minibeasts that are helpful or harmful; more details to follow. We would be very grateful to receive donations of seeds and compost so that we can do some planting and growing at school.
We will also be receiving a visit from the Yorkshire Rotters. They will be helping us to learn about composting and they will help the children to make their own wormery.
Our open classroom will be on Tuesday 20th May from 9am to 10:30am. We will be learning about the superpowers of vegetables and basing our work around the story of Supertato. The children will need a large old T-shirt to transform into a cape and mask.
Dates for your diary
Pop-up library - Tuesdays 29th April, 6th May, 21st May, 3rd June, 17th June, 1st July, 8th July
Open Classroom – Tuesday 20th May from 9 to 10:30am
Swimming lessons - Thursday 24th April until Thursday 5th June
Please see the class newsletter for further details.
- Class R Summer 1 Newsletter
- Thank you for your support.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need any help or advice.
Muddy Monday
We spend every Monday morning in our wildlife area. We call this Muddy Monday.
We can supply all the children with a full set of fleece-lined waterproofs but ask that parents provide a pair of wellies to keep at school.
PE
We have two PE sessions each week. This term we will be working on our athletics skills on Tuesdays and we will be swimming on Thursdays. PE will usually be outdoors so children will need their PE trainers.
Please ensure that all PE kit is clearly labelled with your child's name. PE bags should be brought to school on Monday and taken home for a wash at the end of the week.
Reading is a high priority at our school. We want our children to develop a love of books and become life-long readers. In Class R we tell stories and share books several times a day and the children have daily opportunities to develop and practise their reading skills.
The children will bring home books from the library for you to read to them and reading books for them to read to you. These books are designed to help them practise their developing reading skills and will be carefully matched to the phonics we are learning in class.
In order to build confidence and fluency it is really valuable if children can read the same book several times.
It is best to study and chat about the picture BEFORE reading the words. We don't encourage the use of pictures as a way of guessing words (always use phonics for unknown words) but pictures are great for enhancing the enjoyment of the books.
Can your child talk about the characters? How are they feeling? What might they be saying?
Can your child talk about the events? What has happened so far? What might happen next?
Can your child talk about the setting? Where is the story taking place? What time of day is it?
Click here for further information about reading in Class R.
Please visit our Bedtime Stories Page where you will find lots of stories to enjoy.
We follow a scheme called 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.'
Click the links for more information.
We are now moving on to study Phase 4 phonics. In this phase there are no new graphemes to learn. The children will practise blending words with two or three close consonants at the end eg. went, help, mask or at the beginning eg. stop, train, flag.
How to pronounce each sound demonstration video.
How to pronounce the Phase 3 sounds.
We will also learn some more tricky words.
Phase 2
is the I
as and has his her go no to into she he of we me be he
Phase 3
was you they my by all are sure pure
Phase 4
said so have like some come love do were here little says there when what one out today
This is a great way for your child to practise their phonics skills. The web version is free or you can pay to download the app for your phone or tablet.
There will be two assignments each week. Please see your child's reading record for login details.
Our maths is mostly active and practical. We follow a scheme called White Rose Maths.
We are using the Numberblocks to build up a deep understanding of numbers and number composition.
Visit Topmarks Early Years section and explore these counting games.
Click here for a number formation video.
