Welcome to the latest edition of the Year F newsletter. The children continue to make good progress in settling into the routines of school life. They are doing incredibly well coming in through the Fort Road gate and walking into the Foundation building on their own.
Welcome
Alongside the Year F adults that you have already met, we would like to formally welcome Mrs Lotriet and Miss Hull to our team! Mrs Lotriet will work with us in the afternoons, focusing on early language interventions to develop children’s vocabulary and confidence in speaking. Miss Hull is our trainee teacher, predominantly working with Mr Balaam and Mrs Robbins, who will be with us for this academic year.
Star of the Week
This Friday, we will be sending home Nick the Bear (in Blue Base) and Boris the Bear (in Yellow Base) to the first of our ‘Stars of the Week.’ This award is given to a child who demonstrates our school PATRICK attitudes throughout the week. The ‘PATRICKs’ outline our behaviour and learning attitudes:
P – Perseverance
A – Aspiration
T – Teamwork
R – Respect
I – Independence
C – Creativity
K – Kindness
Please find opportunities to use these words at home as it is a great way to develop the children’s vocabulary and they really enjoy using more challenging ‘grown up’ words. Currently, we are focusing on Respect and are encouraging the children to consider how they can show respect to everyone.
Bits & Bobs
We have noticed that some children, particularly girls, are wearing formal school shoes. All children in Year F should be in smart black trainers or black plimsoll shoes, which will enable all the children to safely and comfortably access all areas of our learning environment.
Lunches in the school Hall are going well. Children choosing a school meal are now used to lining up to collect their lunch from the kitchen team and selecting their own salad and dessert. We have noticed some children coming into school with snacks, sweets and chewing gum. Children do not need to bring in snacks because we provide fruit to each child. Also, children only need a lunchbox if they are having a packed lunch that day.
The Year F team are working hard to get your children out of school on time each day. This is taking longer than usual because it is often difficult for parents to get through the gate due to access being blocked. We ask for your assistance in keeping the gate clear, swiftly collecting your children and then leaving through the side gate next to the main entrance to the school.
What is my child learning?
In phonics, we have started teaching our phonics scheme, Read Write Inc. The children are excited to be learning a new sound each day. So far, we have introduced the first few sounds: m, a and s. This includes how to read the sounds, recognise the sounds in words, and how to write them. You may have heard your child use the phrase ‘pecky grip.’ This describes the phrase that we use to teach the children an accurate pencil grip for writing. You may also have heard phrases such as, ‘around the apple and down the leaf’ to describe how to write the sound ‘a’. These are phrases that we use to help the children to remember how to accurately write the sounds.
We look forward to seeing you at one of our phonics workshops on Tuesday 19th October at 9am or Thursday 21st October at 2:40pm.
In Religious Education, we have introduced the children to God as Creator - of every planet in the universe, every person, creature and plant on Earth. We will explore the events of creation and discuss our favourite parts of the wonders that God has created.
In Maths, we have been exploring similarities and differences, counting forwards to 10 and sorting and matching objects based on size, colour, pairs, etc.
Prayers
We have introduced the children to a morning prayer that is often said at St Patrick’s:
Oh my God you love me, you are with me night and day. I want to love you always, in all I do and say. I will try to please you, Father. Bless me through this day. Amen.
Best wishes
The Year F Team
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