Home-link Challenge w/c: 9 December 2019
F2 Children
Please practise letter formation/ handwriting.
Using the sheets we have previously sent home with phrases to say and follow for formation will help.
Some particularly tricky graphemes to write are: e, f, g, k (with a loop), q, w, y.
Common reversals (facing the graphemes the wrong way) to practise are: a, b/d/p, j
Please encourage your child to use a pencil as this requires additional physical skills such as the correct pressure to apply and pencil grip.
F1 Children
Strengthening your child’s writing and fine motor skills can be through picture drawing or drawing a pattern for your child to follow. Like the examples below:
Please encourage your child to engage with one of these activities at home. Marks can be made using pencils, felt tips, chalk, paint- anything that leaves a mark!
Another busy week in Foundation!
In maths our focus number is number 6. F2 children used the Numicon to make 6 in different ways. We have also been making up number stories using the polar animals. We are going to continue this learning next week.
We try to make phonics fun and active for the children. This week we played Musical Blending. The children dance around and when the music stops they jump on a CVC word and blend it. This is a simple game you can play at home!
One of the challenges this week was to paint an icy picture using their fingers. The children mixed white and blue to make different shades of blue.
The Gingerbread Man
“Run, run, as fast as you can…”
This week, Foundation are learning the story of The Gingerbread Man. We started the week by learning our new story with actions for re-telling, before F2 created their own story maps.
We have used the tale in Maths to think about ordinal language (first, second, third etc), by ordering when each character is met in the story.
Today we made our very own gingerbread men. We looked at the recipe on the computer and followed it step by step as a class, taking turns to add ingredients and mix them (after washing our hands of course!) We then all rolled our own piece of dough, used the cutters to make the shape and later decorated them once baked. We used so many skills…
- Listening and understanding.
- Getting information from print, linking to technology and reading.
- Careful measurements.
- Fine motor skills; rolling, pressing, mixing.
- Choosing our own way to do things when decorating (characteristic of effective learning)
- Health and self-care; hygiene practices when handling food.
and best of all, we got a yummy treat at the end of it!
F2 followed their baking by writing some instructions for others to follow should they wish to make their own gingerbread man.
Ask your child how to make a gingerbread man.
If you do make one at home, just be careful he doesn’t try to run away!
Community Week
We have had a great week thinking about our local and school communities, about the people who keep us safe and look after us and about our own personal identities.
Some of the people who work in our school community shared the work that they do with Foundation…
Children shared their favourite places from their local community…
and their special items that identify them and make them unique…
and we had a special, exciting visit from Wetherby Fire Station where we asked lots of questions and got to explore the fire engine! We are so grateful for the people who keep us safe in our community.
We have learnt to value and be proud of the places and people in our community this week. Thank you to everyone who makes our community the wonderful place it is.
Fun, fun and more fun in Foundation!
Community Week
As part of Identity week in school, Foundation have been thinking about our school community and the people who work here. On Wednesday, all Foundation children went out in groups to help Mr Atkins and talk about the work he does in school and how he keeps us safe.
Mrs Walshaw is visiting Foundation tomorrow to discuss her role in school and what she does to help us.
Fantastic Learning!
This week, Foundation have all shown an interest in books. They have enjoyed reading with adults, on their own and in groups which is marvellous to see. Encourage your child to read a range of things at home. This can be non-fiction, fiction, labels and magazines.
In the construction area, a group of children worked together to create an amazing model! They showed great enthusiasm when sharing and listening to ideas.
The F2 children went on a phonics hunt. This involved the children working together to find pictures around the classroom and match them with the CVC words. The children did some fantastic segmenting and blending!
The F1 children have had a great week exploring the movement area. A group of children used the musical instruments to play games and sing songs. In their key worker time, they have played counting games, tuned into different sounds and listened to stories.
Have you seen the new area in the classroom?
The role play area has turned into Santa’s Workshop – a popular area this week! The children have loved wrapping presents and writing labels to help Santa.
Christmas Production – this isn’t one to miss!
Foundation have been very busy practising the Christmas production. The children are very excited to perform on stage and show off their amazing singing!
Home-Link Challenge
It’s December on Sunday – Christmas is nearly here!
Visiting Santa in the next few weeks?
Bring in or send us a photo.
F2
Write a letter to Santa with your child. Encourage them to do this independently and use their amazing phonic knowledge.
F1
Draw a picture for Santa.
What will you draw for him?
Music day
Year 5 and 6 enjoyed a whole day of music, where they all learnt how to play some basic chords on the guitar and keyboard. By the end of the day, they played six well-known songs to the rest of the school. It was fantastic to see the focus and concentration the children had when playing the songs and how well they all played together as a group. Thank you to Fran and Sarah from Artforms, who ran the day.
Our visit from Councillor Lamb
This week, we had a visit from Councillor Lamb, who spoke to us about the planned housing developments around Wetherby. This is part of our geography topic: Where in the world am I? We looked at some huge maps of the local area, which clearly showed the places where housing has been proposed. The children asked some great questions about the negative and positive impact of the new housing developments and they have gathered lots of information for them to write a balanced argument in English.
Meerkats and More!…
This week, we have been focusing on the story Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett. The story encouraged some great discussion about habitats, maps, travel and days of the week. F2 wrote their own postcards to someone they know, using their imaginations to pretend they had gone on their travels.
F1 have been practising their Maths, Phonics and Language skills in their key worker time. One way we are encouraging the children to broaden their vocabulary, is through discussions on selected pictures taken from pobble365.com We call these sessions ‘Picture Talk’. The website is a great way to explore language and understanding both at school and at home as it is full of interesting and unusual imagery.
Have a go at discussing one of the pictures with your child and let us know how it goes- what did they say? what features did they notice?
The VERY wet weather has made it a little tricky to put out some of our outdoor activities this week but fab Foundation always find ways to explore and learn no matter what the weather is doing. This week we have enjoyed using powder paint to paint the puddles and paths- great for our gross motor skills!
In our reflection time on Friday, we thought about our Living and Learning Statement: I know we’re all the same and we’re all different. We spoke about our similarities and differences and how to respect and value each other even if we are different or have different likes and interests. This discussion also links to the British Values of tolerance and respect.
Talk to your child about how they are the same and different to their friends.
Home-Link Challenge
Next week is Community Week at St. James’.
We would like Foundation to join the rest of the school by taking a photo in their local area of Wetherby, somewhere recognisable for their friends to guess where they are! Please bring in or email your photo to the EYFS email address.
Please also bring in just one special item that is important to your child or unique to them, for identity day.
Thank you.
Living and Learning: Anti-bullying Week
The whole school had a creative homework task to show how we can stop bullying. Here are some examples the children in Y5/6 showed in our homework review this week.
Orienteering
As part of our ‘Where in the World’ topic, we need to be able to identify map symbols as well as be able to use maps. Last week, we did just that by orienteering around the school grounds. We had to find 10 control points dotted around the area. To do this we had to use a map of the school and know what all the symbols meant in order to find our way around.
Once we had visited all of the control point we had to unscramble the letters we found to make a piece of our topic vocabulary. It was – Ordnance Survey – the company who make maps.
Lilly said, ‘I was so out of breath running round trying to find the places as fast as possible’
Harley commented, ‘I really had to think hard when using the map and persevere!’