Phonics
Over the last few weeks, we have introduced children to some letter sounds. So far, we have learnt Ss Aa Tt Pp Ii Nn Mm Dd Oo Gg and Cc. You can watch and sing along to the jolly phonics videos at home.
The children have enjoyed…
- matching objects to their initial sounds e.g. n – net,
- practising their letter formation for writing,
- and segmenting and blending CVC words.
Challenge – 3 bricks
Can your child practise their letter formation at home? Can your child tell you the initial sounds of a selection of objects? Can your child segment and blend the sounds in the words below?
cat dog cot mat tap
Please email any pictures/quotes from your child. This will support us in our assessment by providing evidence towards the Moving and Handling and Reading strands of the EYFS.
Children begin to form recognisable letters. Children hear the initial sounds in words. Children begin to segment and blend CVC words.
Twit Twoo!
Children were keen to learn about our feathery friends this week. We listened to many stories about owls and enjoyed re-telling ‘Owl Babies’ in our small world area. Some children were beginning to join in with the repeated refrains in the story, especially the phrase “I want my mummy!” We used this story to talk about missing our own family whilst learning at Nursery. Being able to separate from a carer and talking about family is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. It is included in the prime area Personal, Social, Emotional Development and is part of Understanding the World.
We’ve been creative with loose parts this week too; children have enjoyed creating owl faces both inside and outside. In the creative area, children really concentrated for extended periods of time carefully whilst carefully selecting the dried peas, lentils and pasta to create owls with eyes and beaks. This was a very fiddly activity and was a great way to help children practise using a pincer grip.
Outside, we collected autumn leaves and twigs and used the contents of our autumn bags to create larger pictures on the floor. Some children helped to make an owl with large sticks for wings and leaves for feathers and another child created Santa. If you look carefully, you will be able to see his eyes and a beard of leaves and conkers!
Following other interests this week, we moved some wild animals to our sensory area where they are now happily stomping in ‘mud’ (cornflour gloop). Children were intrigued by the texture and feel of the mud. It was cold and wet but could also be runny. It took some children a while to explore, dipping in a finger at first and then their whole hands!
Reminders
- Friday (25.10.19) is a training day so school, including Nursery, will be closed.
- Please sign up for a Parent’s consultation appointment if you haven’t already.
Harvest assembly
We were amazed at how much food and toiletries we managed to collect for St George’s Crypt. Thank you for your contribution.
Keeping safe on bikes – Year 1 bike training
The bikeability training is going well – even in the rain! Lots of children have moved from balance bikes to pedal bikes and are proud to be riding them without stabilisers. Our trainer, Danny, is really pleased with the behaviour and progress of the children.
Ridiculous Rhyme Show
We had a great time watching (and joining in with) the Ridiculous Rhyme Show today.
We laughed, danced, sang and thought about which words rhyme and how to make a rhyme.
The Ridiculous Rhyme Show at Scholes!
We were very lucky to have C.Beebies Ridiculous Rhyme Show come to school today.
We laughed out loud lots! The two actors, from the YouTube channel – The Ridiculous Rhyme Show, were incredibly funny, talented and made us think about our which words rhyme and how to make a rhyme.
Year 5 reading – Plastic Problem
This week, Year 5 have been reading about plastic and its effect on the ocean. We practised our retrieval skills by picking out some key information (see the underlined bits in the image below) and answering questions.
We thought about plastic and the wider problem and made posters using the information we’d found.
Then, we had a debate: ‘Should plastic be banned?’
Even though we all know there are lots of concerns with plastic at the moment, we were all able to put forward some arguments about how plastic can be used positively. Ask you child their thoughts. Do they think it should be banned or not? Can they give reasons for both sides of the argument?
Reading is all about enjoyment and engagement. It was great to hear stories of people discussing their learning in the playground and at home. One of us even went home and made a poster to encourage others to think about their use of plastic:
Cross Country – Year 6
A massive well done to all the Year 6s who took part in the recent cross country competition at Brigshaw High School. Despite the grey weather, all those who took part had a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding afternoon.
Many of the children who took part had never entered a cross country race before but they gave it their all and never gave up – well done! We were super proud of all our runners and they represented our school excellently.
A particular well done to the girls team who have qualified for the Leeds City finals (helped hugely by a 3rd place finish by one of our super runners!).
One of the runners on the day, said: “Cross Country was a different and interesting experience. After I finished, I felt really proud of myself because I hadn’t given up at all. I’m not the best runner but I kept going and once I had recovered I felt really good about myself.”
Welcome back, Miss Pennock!
Some of you will have spotted that we had a new face in nursery this week; we’re pleased to welcome Miss Pennock back to school following her maternity leave. She will be Key Person, along with Miss Logan, for children in green group.
Miss Pennock enjoyed getting to know everybody and was very quick to learn lots of children’s names. Children were very friendly and have already welcomed her to our team.
Living and learning : 8 Rs for learning
We talked about how we use the 8Rs at school. The children had lots of ideas and contributed well to their class discussions.
