Welcome to Reception!

Mrs Chinn, Mrs Richards and Mrs May

News from Reception                   Week beginning 13^th May

Hello everyone!

This week we are thinking about another minibeast: a worm! We will be using the story, Superworm by Julia Donaldson! We will be thinking about superpowers, like the ones super worm has, asking questions, writing sentences, telling the story and making edible mud pies.

In number time we are solving number stories using addition and subtraction. We continue working on our handwriting and making sure we follow the correct formation so that it is much easier when it comes to joining it up.

In RE we will be thinking about Mary and the month of May.

This week we will begin assessing phonics ready for the return to school after half term. Reading every day for a short time really does help your child to read and increases their fluency. Thank-you to all the parents who are signing homework diaries so that stickers can be awarded.

We are trying to encourage the children to leave their parents at the small gate in preparation for Y1. If parents have any messages or questions these may be given to Mr Shingler or the member of staff at the gate and they are then passed on. After school is the best time to catch teaching staff when we have more time. (Once all the children have been released to parents, please.)

PE: Tuesday and Friday

Library books: Thursday

Share and Celebrate: Friday 3pm

Mrs Chinn

Birthdays! If your child has a birthday they can come to school in their ‘own clothes choice’ as a celebration. Birthday during the holidays? Then wear own clothes on the first day back or last day before the holidays.

Please ensure your child has a warm coat each day for school. We learn both inside and outside during our day even in the winter!

Useful Phonics information:

Pronunciation can be found here. Copy and paste the link. https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/find-a-book/read-write-inc-phonics--1/phonics-pure-sounds-video 

OUR REPEATING PATTERNS!

Can you spot our patterns and continue them?

Read, Write Inc (Phonics)  

Read Write Inc., developed by Ruth Miskin, provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching literacy. It is used by more than a quarter of the UK's primary schools and is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers.

Each Read Write Inc. programme meets the higher expectations of the new curriculum and uses effective assessment to accelerate every child's progress.

Read Write Inc - Our Phonics Scheme

The Government strongly recommend the use of synthetic phonics when teaching early literacy skills to children. Synthetic phonics is simply the ability to convert a letter or letter group into sounds that are then blended together into a word.

Here at the St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, we are using the Read Write Inc (RWI) programme to get children off to a flying start with their English. RWI is a method of learning based upon letter sounds and phonics, and we use it to aid children in their reading and writing.

Reading opens the door to learning. A child who reads a lot will become a good reader. A good reader will be able to read more challenging material. A child who can read more challenging material is a child who will learn. The more a child learns, the more he or she will want to find out.

The children are assessed regularly and grouped according to their ability. They will work with a RWI trained teacher or teaching assistant.

Our Read Write Inc 'Reading Leader' is Mrs Evans (Literacy Co-ordinator)

Reading

When using RWI to read the children will:

• Learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple prompts

• Learn to read words using sound blending (Fred talk)

• Read lively stories featuring words they have learnt to sound out

• Show that they comprehend the stories by answering 'Find It' and 'Prove It'

  Writing

  When using RWI to write the children will:

• Learn to write the letter/letter groups which represent the 44 sounds

• Learn to write words by saying the sounds and graphemes (Fred fingers)

  Talking

• When using RWI the children will also work in pairs:

• To answer questions

• To take turns talking and listening to each other

• To give positive praise to each other

  Blending

  Help your child learn to read words by sounding-blending (Fred talk) eg. c-a-t = cat, sh-o-p = shop. Children learn to read words by blending the letter-sounds togerther to make a word.

   

• Help your child to say the pure sounds ('m' not 'muh', 's' not 'suh' etc.) as quickly as they can, and then blend the sounds together to say the whole word. Click the link to hear the true sounds. https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/find-a-book/read-write-inc-phonics--1/phonics-pure-sounds-video

   

• Finally, don't worry if your child is struggling at first with their sounds and words, they will get there in their own time. If you have time (we know it is very precious!), we would urge you to try and read stories to your child before they go to bed. This will help develop a wider vocabulary which makes a vast difference to their quality of writing but it will also encourage them to enjoy a good story.

I hope you find this information useful.

Best wishes, Mrs Chinn

Teeth

This year we are talking about our bodies as part of our 'Ten Ten' Catholic Life curriculum. We will be singing songs and talking about how we can keep our bodies healthy with healthy food choices, enough sleep, exercise and by looking after our teeth.

Here are some website you may wish to explore with information  about NHS dentists, how to clean your teeth and ideas for encouraging your child to clean their teeth.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/take-care-of-your-teeth-and-gums/

https://www.deltadentalia.com/a-healthy-life/dental-health/tooth-brushing-app-for-kids/

All the toothpaste manufacturers (e.g. Colgate. Oral B, Aqua fresh) have websites with information and ideas too.

Harry and the Dinosaurs say "Raahh!" by Ian Whybrow is a great story to read about visiting the dentist and what fun it can be.

Some examples of work completed in YR.

Today we released our class butterflies but one or two came back and landed on YR to say bye bye.

We had an amazing day today dressing up for the World Book Day and thankyou - the children looked amazing! We hope you enjoy receiving your copy of some of their work today.

Follow the link below to enjoy stories to share on the World Book Day site!

https://www.worldbookday.com/share-a-story-corner/