Remarkable readers!
Our fabulous Foundation class have been looking at a new author and book this week- Julia Donaldson‘s The Gruffalo. They have all shown lots of interest in reading with adults, on their own and in groups which is marvellous to see. We’re looking forward to sharing each child’s favourite book from home with them over the next two weeks, when they’ll take a seat in our ‘magical’ story-teller’s chair!
Next
week, we’ve lots of Gruffalo themed sensory activities planned; making ‘owl ice-cream’, ‘scrambled snake’ and ‘Gruffalo crumble’. We’ll also continue our Autumn theme linked to the story. Please continue to bring in any objects you find on your own nature walks at home.
Parents as partners
Thanks for coming to the meeting this afternoon. It was great to see so many of you attending. If you missed it, read the presentation. If you’ve any questions, come in and ask a member of staff.
Phonics Fun!
This week, F2 children have started phonics. We’ve had fun learning new sounds and writing letters in a range of different ways, such as salt writing with our pencils and mirror writing with our whiteboard pens!
Thank you to those of you who were able to attend the reading meeting this week. All F2 children are excited to bring their first reading book home with them tomorrow.
The F1 children have had a great week exploring natural objects on the sensory table, including seeds, leaves, conkers and pine cones. They have enjoyed making bubbles in the water tray and playing with the wild animals in the small world area. In their key worker time, they have been singing, listening to stories and thinking about the rules and routines of our classroom.
As always, this week’s planning is all based on the children’s interests so expect to see lots of Autumn, wildlife and bubbly fun on Monday morning!
Settling in and making friends
We’ve had a fantastic week in Foundation exploring our outside area in the sunshine. The children have been very interested in planting and digging so we’re going to prepare the garden for Spring next week by planting bulbs. We’ll be looking closely at a variety of seeds and cutting up fruit to find the seeds inside. If you have any packets of seeds that you can spare we’d love to use them at school.
Foundation 2 children had great fun in their first PE session this week. This term, we will be exploring using the space around us by playing various games. The children will need to bring a PE kit to school for our PE sessions after the half term holidays.
Please don’t forget our Early Reading meeting for Foundation 2 parents on Tuesday 26 September at 6pm. At this meeting, you’ll find out how we teach your child to read at school and how you can help at home.
We love to find out what interests your children at home so come in and tell us or jot it on our interest board. This helps us to plan meaningful activities for your child. If you’ve any questions about this, please speak to a member of the team.
Lots of exciting learning to look forward to!
Getting to know you
It’s been wonderful to see more smiling, happy faces as we welcomed our Foundation 1 children this week. Foundation 2 have been fabulous at lunchtimes and all of the class are settling well into school life. We are very proud of them.
We’ve been spending time talking about our favourite toys and activities both at school and at home, getting to know each other and continuing to explore our exciting classroom and outdoor space. The children have been adding their own artwork to the walls in the form of self-portraits and wowing us with their brilliant ideas and imaginations.
We now have a space on our Parent and carer notices board which gives a snapshot of the current week’s learning through photos and comments, so be sure to take a look at what your child has been up to!
Just a reminder that as the weather continues to trick us with sunshine mixed with heavy rain showers, it would be helpful if your child could bring in a pair of named wellies for the outside area (if they’ve not done so already). We go outside in all weathers and would like to look after those smart school shoes as best we can!
Welcome back to Foundation
It was lovely to welcome back all of our Foundation 2 children today. They all looked very smart in their new uniforms and greeted us with enormous smiles! We all had a very busy morning playing outdoors and exploring some of the new classroom areas.
We’d love to find out what your child is interested in. You can add your ideas to our new interests board, so that we can plan exciting learning experiences from these. We’re look forward to working with you to support your child’s learning journey this year.
Christmas card competition
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, Jane Dowson, is looking to have her Christmas card 2017 designed by a child from Leeds (aged up to 13 years). The card will be sent out by the Lord Mayor across the city and beyond. The theme is “Leeds at Christmas”.
The rules/details are on the attached poster and the closing date is 09 October. The winner will be presented with a copy of the card and a special gift by the Lord Mayor.
This is a really exciting and unique opportunity for children.
How to enter: Designs should be completed on A4 paper. Please write (in pencil) the child’s name and age on the reverse and a parent or guardian’s contact number. Crayons, felt tip, pen and paint can be used for the design, however items should not be stuck on to the paper as this will not replicate when the design is scanned. Entries should be sent to: Lord Mayor Christmas Card Competition, 8 Woodhouse Square, Leeds LS3 1AD by the closing date of Monday 09 October 2017.