Reception
Autumn Term
Friday 25th October 2024
Dear Parents and Carers
The eighth newsletter of the year marks the end of Autumn 1 and we cannot believe we are here already! It has been a great start to the year and the children have really settled into the school routines now. It has been great getting to know them and watching their confidence grow over this half term. They have already learned so much. J Also, thanks to all our families for just being amazing. Your support of school and your children has been much appreciated. Thanks for your contributions and excitement to be on this learning journey with your child. It is crucial for their development. J
Curriculum Drivers
This week we have introduced the children to our 4 school curriculum drivers. We have discussed what the word curriculum means (everything they learn at school and everything we teach them; some planned and some unplanned) and told them that we have drivers to guide our curriculum. We have used the words of the drivers and also given each driver an action and talked a lot about what they mean. The drivers are diversity, environment, community and democracy. Can your child do the actions for these drivers and can they tell you what they are about? At Newlaithes we believe these are key areas which will enrich our curriculum and ensure our children are good citizens and fabulous orators. Each time we learn something we connect it to the drivers. Some aspects only link to one driver but others link to more than one, or even all of them!
To explore diversity, we have read This is Our House by Michael Rosen, The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson and Mix by Alexa Chung. All of these books look at discrimination and we have used this word with the children. Can they tell you what discrimination is and also what diversity is? We have discussed how we value all people and all people are unique and special. As part of Black History Month we have also begun to look at the important contribution made by black people to world history.
To explore environment, we have explored our school grounds and discussed our school environment. This has also involved visits to our amazing forest which the children loved. Have they told you about this visit?
When we work together we explain that this is working as a community, we are carrying out team work.
To explore democracy, we started by creating some class rules. We looked at rules to keep us safe, rules to make sure we are happy and then rules to ensure we are learning. We do it in this order as you need to be safe first and foremost, then happy in order to learn. After we made these rules, we talked about how groups of people make decisions and solve problems and that if all people have a voice and are listened to then this is democracy.
These may seem like hard concepts but you would be surprised how well the children take to them all and how they can see when our learning is encompassing them.
These drivers will be prevalent throughout your child’s time at Newlaithes and they will learn more about them and also their own role within them all.
Name and World Connections Homework
The children enjoy us using their last names when calling the register which got us thinking about where our names come from. You may know where your surname comes from, or you may need to research, but can you let us know what you find out via Tapestry. We will use Google Earth to explore these place after half term. Also, if you have family around the world, let us know and again, we can find where they live on Google Earth. This is a good way to learn about our planet and our environment.
Phonics
This week’s focus has been introducing ‘e’ and ‘u’ plus embedding the sounds we have taught so far. These are s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e and u. Can your child recognise all of these? If they can’t yet, this would be an important thing to practise over the break so they start next half term at the expected point and ready for the next chunk of learning.
We have been blending CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words including all the phonemes we have learnt so far. Over the half term break, it would be great if you could log onto Phonics Play and have a go at one of the blending games- Buried Treasure and Dragon’s Den are both great fun and will give your child a chance to practise their blending skills. When playing either game, choose +e to ensure you are only using the graphemes that your child has been taught! If you haven’t already, why not make some flashcards with the graphemes on. Flashcards are a simple and quick way of practising sounds. The best method for supporting the children’s learning in phonics is to practise little and often and flashcards are perfect for this!
We have now introduced all of the tricky words from Phase 2. These are the, I, to, go, no and into. You can practise reading these on Phonics Play if you select the Tricky Trucks game and select Phase 2. ‘Into’ is not on this game so you can also make flashcards for these and use them to make sentences. We have been modelling writing sentences using these words linked to Halloween such as ‘The bat is in the mud’ or ‘I go into the wood.’ Spelling wise, you can get the children to help you spell CVC words and tricky words and write the rest yourself. The children could help you hear some of the sounds in the other words. For example, in ‘wood’ they could help you hear the initial and end sound.
Maths
This week we have looked at number 5. We have recapped odd and even as well as looking at number bonds for 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Bonds are two numbers which equal another number, so the bonds for 5 are 5 + 0, 4 + 1 and 3 +2. Can your child tell you them? Recalling these addition facts instantly is an expectation for the end of Reception.
Diwali
If you will be celebrating Diwali over the half term holiday we would love to share your experiences with the children. Please send us in pictures and videos of how you are celebrating. Please let us know if you would be happy to come in and talk to the children about how you celebrate this special festival. Children love sharing their experiences of celebrating festivals with their families and we would love to be able to do this with any festivals celebrated by our families this year.
Tapestry and Autumn
Over the half term holiday we would love to see what you get up to via Tapestry. You could go on an autumn walk and notice the signs of autumn. We have talked about autumn a lot this half term, sharing stories set in autumn, going on autumn walks and also talking about the changes in weather and light. Linked to light we have also talked about safety at night now it gets dark earlier. Can your child tell you about reflective material? Can they find any? Can they see it working in the dark?
Also, will you be celebrating Halloween? If so, we would love to see how you do this as a family! The Halloween reading challenge (see book bags) can be posted on Tapestry rather than being emailed to us.
Finally, please share on Tapestry anything that your child does that makes you smile! These wow moments will then be preserved as a memory in your child’s profile. It is a wonderful age for learning, everything is so exciting. J
Festivals
The next half term is so much fun and we always celebrate a lot of festivals with the children in the run up to Christmas. Maybe see if your child can remember some festivals they have celebrated in the past. Maybe dig out some photos and see how they have celebrated differently over time. Do you have Diwali/Halloween photos from the past? What have they dressed up as each year? What activities have they done each year?
ILT and Tapestry Summaries
Over the half term holiday the first Tapestry summary about your child will be uploaded. This summary will give you an account of how your child has settled into school and how they are developing their Characteristics of Effective Learning. This is a really useful tool to understand what your child does at school and is a great way to get a discussion going about what your child does at school as the Tapestry summary includes photos of your child’s Independent Learning Time work. We will also be referring to the summaries during the PCE appointments after the half term break, so please make sure that you read it before then! It would also be great if you could “like” it so we know that you have received and read it. Thanks in advance.
Characteristics of Effective Learning Evening
On 5th December (6-7pm) the Reception team will be holding a Characteristics of Effective Learning evening. The evening will aim to help you better understand strategies and approaches that support your child’s learning and development throughout their time in Reception.
During the meeting, we will share insights, practical tips and engage in discussions with you about these characteristics. You'll also have the opportunity to ask questions and share strategies you may use to support your child at home.
Please email the Reception account to let us know if you are coming so we can establish numbers. Thanks.
If you have any queries or things to celebrate then please do not hesitate to email us. You can reach us at the following email addresses:
Kind regards,
The Reception Team
Elizabeth, Ella, Natalie, Justine, Sophie and Halima