Maple Class Summer Term Newsletter.

I can hardly believe we are in our final term already.  I just wanted to remind you of a few points to assist in getting us smoothly to the end of term.  If you have not already done so can you please send in a named tube of sun -cream.  It would be helpful if you apply cream to your child before school and we will then re-apply as necessary.  A sun hat would also be a useful addition as we are outdoors for most of the day now. 

As Sports Day is nearly with us can I ask that you check your child’s PE bag to ensure there is a full kit of shorts and T-shirt  and a pair of gym pumps/trainers  which still fit.  Our trip is also planned to Hull to visit The Deep and the children are really looking forward to that.

Please continue to contribute to Tapestry this term.  The children love sharing their out of school achievements and activities through Tapestry photos back in class.

May I also say a big thank you to those of you that returned the Maple Class questionnaire which  provides a useful tool to bring about further improvements to policy and practice within our Foundation Stage.

Our system of drop in sessions will continue throughout term but as always, please feel free to contact Mrs Spencer at any point between.

We had a super walk up to the church on Wednesday afternoon as part of our RE topic work on special things, where we met with Referend Sue to look at some of the special things in church.  It was interesting for the children to hear that people used to bring things in to church to sell or swap in olden days and they thought the idea of selling your cow in church was very funny.  We learned about the font and the nave and the alter where the children knelt to receive a blessing.  The children listened carefully and asked some very sensible questions.  The children also got to stand in the pulpit and look down on where the congregation would sit.  

A big thank you to Reverend Sue for a lovely afternoon.

Maple class were greatly impressed by our visitors, Mrs Broder, the dentist and her hygienist, Mrs Pettinger this week.  The children had a chance to clean Harry the crocodile's teeth and learnt facts about our teeth.  They then carried out an activity where we compared lunchbox contents and tipped the amounts of sugar in different items into a two jars to compare the sugar levels.   Quite shocking results were revealed and the children were very surprised to see how much sugar some of the items contained.  Mrs Broder was able to show the children how they could have much healthier options which would keep their teeth healthy and happy.

Maple Class Spring Term Newsletter.

A very warm welcome back after the Christmas break and Happy New Year wishes to you all.  I expect the cold weather is eventually going to arrive and so would be grateful if children are sent in with warm and waterproof coats, hats and mittens for outside use. 

This term the children will be bringing home a reading book each week.  Please allow your child to read a few pages each evening and record in the reading record book how they have got on.  The phonics programme for the reception year has now been covered and so time will now be spent supporting children who have weaker phonic areas and also providing consolidation and practice sessions for children both as a whole class and as individuals.  Children will be encouraged to read for pleasure and to mark make at regular opportunities in their play to put into practise their phonic skills.  At home you can support by letting them write messages for you or shopping lists, cards and invitations.  At this stage some children will enthusiastically write several whole sentences whilst others will still be learning to write their own name and may only manage a simple CVC word rather than a whole sentence.  Encouraging and praising all attempts at writing and supporting letter formation and spelling using the sounds covered in the reception programme will be very beneficial to your child’s development. 

I want to also say a great big Thankyou for your continuing support with Tapestry.  So many of you are now sending messages and responding to our entries it makes a great and very valuable addition to your child’s learning journey. 

A new round of focus children will begin next week and we will continue to operate as throughout the Autumn term.  We have no trips planned for this term as yet but will be closely monitoring children’s interests and will notify you if and when we decide a trip out would be of benefit. 

Last term we had a big push towards children tidying up after themselves and returning toys to the appropriate storage areas after use.  It would be beneficial to all of us if you could please reinforce this at home encouraging independence and responsibility for putting away their personal toys in the correct places. 

Drop in sessions will continue to be provided weekly for parents of focus children but as always, if you have any queries or questions call in for a chat before school or an appointment if you need more time for a discussion.

Kind regards

Mrs Spencer  

We had a wonderful day out at the Farm Park.

The children were very well behaved and represented the school well.  They had opportunities to handle a touch a corn snake and lizard and also spent time grooming and feeding a delightful shetland pony called Strawberry.  The children particularly enjoyed feeding the two legged and four legged animals selecting the correct food for each category and later let off energy in the soft play area.  We were lucky enough to have the park to ourselves and so there was plenty of room for everyone, even the adults were seen on the slide!

Week commencing 28th September.

This week the children enjoyed planting cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli.  We talked about how to care for the young plants and we got quite excited about how we will use the plants when they have grown.  Perhaps the children  will all like cabbage after they have created some recipes for using it!

We have had a lot of interest in baking as some of the children had made cakes at the weekend.  We decided to  make and decorate fairy cakes.  We talked about hand hygiene and germs and everyone was careful to wash hands thoroughly before tackling baking.  All can explain why it is so important.

We have also had lots of interest in My Little Pony which has been a theme both indoors and out.  We have coloured pictures and talked about the characters and personalities and listened to stories about them.  We have also looked at books about horse care and made our own show jumping course complete with rosettes for the winners.  Some of the winners can be seen below. 

Week Commencing 21st September.

This week the children have really been making the most of the weather and spending lots of time outdoors.  We had great fun creating the '1,2,3 Garage' and learnt the names of various tools.  We were lucky enough to to get a few calls informing us of broken down cars on the road track and a motley crew of volunteer mechanics assisted in repairs and car maintenance.  Teaching staff used lots of positional language to explain where repairs were needed and some of the children were later overheard instructing others.  

Everyone got to bake bread this week following last weeks activity grinding wheat into flour using the pestle and mortar.  It was like an episode of  Great British Bake Off as the children set to creating a range of various sized bread rolls which they later enjoyed spreading with Mrs Spencer's homemade blackberry and apple jam.  

We also enjoyed trying out collage and decorated some fishes with sparkly bits and pieces.  They looked so good Mrs Walker decided to make them into a large mobile to hang from the class ceiling.  Have a look for it next time you visit!