We are enjoying getting to know the children and helping them settle into school. We are happy to see how independent the children are becoming at putting their things away in the morning and getting to know the routines of the day.

 

Literacy

The phonics scheme we use at Shire Oak is called FFT Success For All Phonics. We will start with short sessions on the carpet, where they will begin to learn to read and write the first set of sounds and practise their blending (blending sounds together to make and eventually read words) and segmenting skills (breaking down words into their separate sounds and eventually writing them). There will be a meeting later this half term that will explain how we teach phonics in reception and how you can support your child with their reading and writing. I will keep you posted of the time and date for this. We will also be giving the children ‘reading books’ over the next few weeks. For most children these will be wordless until they know enough sounds to go home with books containing words. Please spend some time looking at and discussing these wordless books with your child. Their books will be changed once a week, on a particular day. This will be written in their reading records, which will be given out later.

We will also be focussing on one story every few weeks, so that the children get to know it thoroughly. We act it out, draw story maps of it, add actions and we may change some aspects of it too. Each week we will also focus on a poem or rhyme.

 

Maths

In maths, we teach using a mastery approach, ensuring that all children have a deep, secure, and adaptable understanding of mathematical concepts. Over the next few weeks, we will be focusing on matching, sorting and comparing amounts, using vocabulary such as; more, fewer, the same and equal. We will also be comparing size, mass and capacity and exploring pattern. Then we will focus on numbers one to five and their composition and looking at circles, triangles and shapes with four sides. We will also cover positional language and time in our learning before Christmas. Much of the maths learning that the children do takes place in the areas of provision, both indoors and out, giving it greater purpose and meaning. We also regularly use the CBeebies series ‘Numberblocks’ in our teaching, which the children love. There will be a maths meeting for parents later in the year.

 

Understanding the world

This terms focus will be on families, feelings and what makes us special. We will also look at seasonal changes (as we do throughout the year), celebrations and exploring light and dark. Including finding out about nocturnal and hibernating animals.

 

PE

Our PE day is Tuesday. The children will not need their PE kits yet, but I will let you know when we will start changing for PE. When we do start to change, please make sure your child is dressed in clothes that they can easily change from independently, such as polo shirts rather than buttoned up shirts, also that all their PE kit is named.

 

Tapestry

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