What is ‘GLD’?
Thank you to those of you who attended the meeting about ‘GLD’ (good level of development) on Tuesday 25 February. We hope you found the information useful in continuing to support your child on their exciting learning journey.
As we quickly continue our journey through phonics many parents have asked for more information to help understand what their child is learning in school. For example, understanding what a digraph and trigraph is. Here are some websites that may be useful.
Youtube – Mr Thornes phonics
Youtube – Jolly phonics (Phase 2 and 3)
http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk – lots of information and guidance for parents/carers
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm – a selection of interactive games for all phonic phases. Mostly simple games.
www.ictgames.com/literacy.html – a great selection of games that link well with games in Letters and Sounds.
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/ – printable resources for each of the Letters and Sounds phonic phases, also links to games aligned with each phase.
http://www.bigbrownbear.co.uk/magneticletters/ – make any words with this useful game.
Pancake Day
We talked about why and how we celebrate pancake day. We mashed some banana to put on top of our pancakes. We enjoyed eating the pancakes! After that, we wrote instructions on how to make pancakes.
Why do we have pancake day?
“He (Jesus) went for 40 days and 40 nights to the desert without any food or water,” said Ralphy.
“It’s the day of Jesus,” said Iris
“To celebrate pancake day,” said Ruby when talking about why we eat pancakes.
How do we make pancakes?
“Put some milk in, put some flour in, put some eggs in and mix it,” said Ava.
“Cook it,” said William.
What do you like on your pancakes?
“I have chocolate on my pancakes,” said Roma.
“Bananas,” said Teddy.
Important reminder – What is ‘GLD’?
This is a reminder about our information evening on Good Level of Development on Tuesday 25th February at 6 – 6.30pm.
As your child approaches the end of Early Years Foundation Stage, learn more about ‘GLD’ and how it’s assessed.
We hope to see you there.
Sport Relief – The Big Summit Sofa Challenge Friday 06 March
We are very excited to announce that Scholes (Elmet) Primary School will be the starting point of the BBC’s Big Summit Sofa Challenge on Friday 06 March.
Harry Gration, Amy Garcia and Paul Hudson from BBC Look North will join in with Wake Up Shake Up as their warm-up before they set off at 10am. They will then head towards Barwick, pulling and pushing their red sofa 100 miles, incorporating some of Yorkshire’s biggest climbs. We will be making banners, flags and as much noise as we can to create an amazing send off for the celebrity team.
It would be amazing if we were able to start this challenge off with a generous donation and so we are inviting the children to come to school in their sports kit, in exchange for a £1 contribution.
The BBC television cameras will also be in school to film us and talk to as many people as they can – some may even feature on the news that night.
They have asked that we encourage as many parents, family and friends to stay after they have dropped children off in the morning, so please feel free to show your support and join in with the fun!
Thank you in anticipation of your support.
The Dogs Trust
The School Council have voted for the Dogs Trust to be the schools chosen charity. Today, we went to a special assembly from the Dogs Trust. We all sat and listened very well in the hall. We were told some ways to keep safe when we are around dogs. For example, how to play fetch, how to feed a dog and how its important not to enter a kennel when the dog is sleeping. We also learnt how they train a dog to sit.
We also talked about ways to show a dog we love them. The children came up with lots of ideas.
“We can stroke them.”
“We can play with them.”
“We can take them for a walk.”
“We can give them treats.”
Home-link – 3 challenge cubes
Can your child tell you how to keep safe around dogs?
Please email quotes from your child. This will support us in our assessment by providing evidence towards the Understanding the World, Health and Self-Care and Communication and Language strands of the EYFS.
School Council Film Night
What a fabulous film night we had yesterday!
With your support, we raised over £500 for the Dog’s Trust.
The film last night was so good!
I liked eating the popcorn.
It was great because I got to sit with my friends.
I hope it becomes a regular event.
Phase 3 Reading Meeting
Thank you to those of you who attended the reading meeting on Thursday 23 January . We hope you found the information useful in continuing to support your child on their exciting reading journey.
Reading regularly at home plays an important role in your child’s reading development. Support at home will help foster your child’s love of reading and your child’s reading development.
Chinese New Year
This week, we began reading our new Literacy book called My Granny went to Market. We focused on her trip to China as this weekend it is Chinese New Year.
To begin, we looked at a map of the UK and how it is made up of four countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. This children spoke about times they had visited these parts of the UK. We then looked at a map of the world. We found out that China is approximately 5000 miles away from the UK and it would taken 10 and half hours to travel there by aeroplane.
In the story, Granny visits China and buys a lantern with a Mandarin symbol which means double happiness. Some children had a go at drawing this symbol. We also learnt to say hello in Mandarin (Ni hao).
We challenged ourselves to write our names using the Mandarin alphabet and had a go at painting numbers in Mandarin.
Next, we looked at how Chinese New Year is celebrated and read the story about Jade Emperor to find out how the animals for Chinese New Year were chosen. We found out that this year is the year of the rat.
Home-link – 3 challenge cubes
Can your child tell you something they have learnt about China/ Chinese New Year?
Please email quotes from your child. This will support us in our assessment by providing evidence towards the understanding the World strand of the EYFS.
Children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.
Marvellous Maths Stay and Play
pLThank you to those of you who were able to attend the ‘marvellous maths’ stay and play this week. It was great to see so many of you there and the children enjoyed sharing their learning with you.
We focused on the number 5. We focus on numbers to twenty throughout the year to get a depth of understanding of what the numbers represent. We talked about what number 5 looks like – not just the numeral but also what it looks like in our environment. For example, there are 5 sides and 5 corners on a pentagon and star. We also focused on verbally telling number stories using first, then and now. For example, first there was 3 children stood up, then 2 more stood up, now there are 5 children stood up altogether.
If you were unable to attend, your child will have brought home an information booklet about the 6 principles of counting with some ideas of how to support your child at home. The children also enjoy watching number blocks – a great conversation starter about numbers!