Welcome back

The children have returned to school ready to spring into action this spring half term! It has been fantastic to hear about everybody’s Christmas holidays – the children have really enjoyed confidently and articulately sharing their news.

Lost and Found

This week, in literacy we have been reading the book ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. We have been retelling the story using actions and story maps.

Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off auto play – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.

Maths – super subitising!

This week we have been practising our subitising skills. This means, we have been looking and saying how many objects we can see – without counting one by one! Ask your child how many spots they can see by subitising.

“…there’s 4 because there’s 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom – that makes 4!” Edie

“3 because there’s 2 there and 1 there – that makes 3!” Jack.

You can also practice subitising by playing board games with a dice at home with your child.

Phonics

This week, the children have learnt some new digraphs – a digraph consists of ‘two letters that make one sound’. Ask your child to tell you the sounds the digraphs below make.

ai      ee    igh   oa

Before reading a word we always look for any digraphs (two letters that make one sound). Then, we say the sound the digraph makes. Finally, we sound out the word and blend it together – using our phoneme (the sound a letter makes) fingers! This helps your child identify the digraphs (two letters that make one sound) before reading a word.

Here is a video modelling how we do this in school. This is something you can do with your child when reading their book at home.

Poetry Picnic

Each week, we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. This week’s poem is ‘Let’s put on our mittens’.

We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm. Can your child tell you if this week’s poem is fast or slow?

PE

This week, Sunshine class had their first Foot-Tech session. They were excellent listeners and played lots of fun games to keep fit and healthy.

Library

This week, we have visited the school library. Your child will have bought a library book home. Please enjoy reading and sharing this at home.

Please return your child’s library book to school on Thursday’s so that your child can choose a different book – if they are ready to change it.

Reminders

Swimming/Football

Spring 1 –  swimming

Rainbow Class- 4 Jan, 18 Jan, 1 Feb

Sunshine Class- 11 Jan, 25 Jan, 8 Feb

When your child is not swimming, they will be taking part in Foot Tech Football sessions. Please ensure your child comes in PE kit every Wednesday, including suitable trainers.