Year R Weekly update – w/c 7th October

So who guessed it was Mr Dickson? What a start to looking at people that help with an investigation into what happened in our garden. The children were brilliant at getting into the spirit of being a police officer and hunting for clues. I can report that Mr Dickson was absolutely fine and that no Gorillas were harmed. The full story in true Cluedo lingo…. it was Mr Dickson, in the garden, crashing his tractor into a Gorilla. The first of many investigation for our police station. We have also discussed Doctor’s, Nurses, Paramedics and ambulances; along with fire fighters and located Brill fire station. We have continued to count, subitise and represent numbers under 5 as we build mathematical concepts along with our knowledge of number.

In other areas of the curriculum the children were sent home with their first reading books to share with you at home. These will be kept in school overnight, along with their bookbags on Thursday and then changed and sent home on a Friday. If you haven’t seen already, the links to supporting children with reading at home are on a separate post and also below. In PE this week, we also had brilliant gymnastics where everyone attempted a forward roll, Well done Year R!

Coming up next week

• Discussing and understanding people that help in our community and family continued.
• A change of day for Forest school to a Monday for Group 1
• PE on Wednesday for all
• A look at our new story, A superhero like you by Dr Raj
• A really important person’s birthday

How can you help at home

Reading at home! Thank you to everyone that has read with their young person over the long weekend. Sharing a book, learning how to decode, blend and comprehend are all vital steps of development. No matter what stage of development your young person is at, spending quality time with a book will have a huge impact. In my experience, those who read little and often (3 times a week) make the most progress. Please check out the support videos for how to help your young people.

Reading support for early blending (word books) https://youtu.be/oolrNRE_Tn8

Reading support for wordless books https://youtu.be/yN3NRSE8Ayw

Finally, helping children to dress and undress, specifically when coats, jumpers and tops have turned inside out. Practice always makes permanent!

Thought for thought

So many children have no idea what they have been doing at school when they are asked at the end of the day. Why not try and change your approach. A lot of research suggest that having conversations at the dinner table or at bath time and reframing the questions, triggers the memory of children in a more calming environment, instead of the second they have finished a long day at school. It also suggest that we need to model answer these questions. Maybe answering the same questions about your day then asking your child. Here are some top questions to ask:

• Did you make anyone smile or laugh today?
• Did anyone make you smile or laugh today?
• What did you enjoy at school today?

Finally, please always come and speak to a member of Team Reception if you have any queries, questions or to pass on anything we need to know, face to face is always best. If this is not possible, then please contact the office and the team will pass on any messages.

Mr Dineen & Team Reception