Diamond Class (Nursery) 2019-20
Cycle 3
Teacher: Miss Wills
Teaching assistant: Mrs Singh/Mrs Wroe/Miss Robinson
The children will continue to take part in short focused sessions on the carpet. These sessions are: Phonics, Maths and Communication and Language. George the bear helps the children to remember the listening rules during these sessions.
The children will also continue to spend lots of time learning in the different areas of the classroom, for example the creative area, reading area and outside.
Phonics: We have now started the Read Write Inc programme and have learnt some sounds already.
In these sessions we practise ‘Fred Talk’ – sounding out the word before reading (blending) and sound-blending – putting sounds together to make a word, e.g. c–a–t cat.
We also practice forming the letters using different rhymes for each letter.
Communication and Language: During these sessions the children will be developing their listening and attention skills and enlarging their vocabulary. We will read the books ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and ‘The Gruffalo’. We will be having a fun Teddy Bear’s picnic to link in with learning about bears.
Maths: During these sessions the children will learn about number and other aspects of Maths through number songs, rhymes and stories. We are continuing to practise recognising numbers up to 10.
We will be practising the one-one principle. This involves the children saying one number name for each object that is being counted. We encourage the children to line up objects and touch each one as they count, saying one number name per object.
Parent afternoons
Thank you to those parents who have been coming along. It is great to see you taking part in activities with your child. These will continue to take place every half term. We hope to see lots of you there.
Reading
I hope you are all enjoying sharing books at home with your child, talking to them about the pictures and asking simple questions.
Please remember to fill in their reading record book so that we know the children are sharing their book with you at home. Some children will start to bring home books which have words in them.
The children need to bring their books in every THURSDAY so the teacher can help them to change their book and share their new one with them.
Fine motor skills
Fine motor skills is the coordination of small muscle movements – usually involving small, precise thumb, finger, hand, and wrist movements. In the Early Years we provide opportunities that are fun and interactive for the children. Developing fine motor skills in early childhood education helps build the foundation for important future skills like writing and self-care.
Examples of activities that can be provided at home or school are:
- Threading beads, pasta etc
- Playing with playdough
- Cutting/snipping paper
- Building with lego and blocks
- Dressing dolls
- Puzzles
- Sorting pom poms/objects with play tweezers
Things to remember:
Items from home
Please try to discourage your child from bringing in items from home, such as toys, drinks and snacks. We have lots of resources at school for the children to play with and we wouldn’t want any toys from home to get lost or damaged at school.
We provide the children with healthy snacks – fruit, veg, toast, and milk each day and they have access to drinking water. They don not need to bring any additional food or drink to school.
Cold weather
Please make sure your child brings a warm coat to school plus a hat, scarf and gloves.
Spare Clothes and Jumpers
Please ensure your child has a bag of spare clothes with them in school at all times, including underwear and socks. It is very important that we are able to change your child and make them comfortable if any toileting accidents occur or if they get wet from water play. We explore the outdoors in all weathers so children need to be dressed appropriately.
All children require a pair of wellies in school with their name in them. The children will really enjoy outdoor water play and accessing the outdoor sandpit.
Please ensure that your child’s name is in their jumper or cardigan so we can return it to them when they are found in the classroom.
Snack Money
We ask that the children bring in a voluntary contribution of 50p every week, on a Monday, to contribute towards the cost of providing the children with a range of healthy snacks, such as breadsticks, crackers and toast.
Uniform
Children must be in correct school uniform at all times. This includes appropriate footwear. Please ensure your child’s uniform is clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Focus child
We have three focus children per class, per week. During the week we record additional information on paper to be kept in the child’s folder in the classroom. Parents can contribute to this by bringing in or emailing photos to the Early Years email address. Examples of photos might be: a trip to the park, visiting family, swimming lessons. The photos may be used as prompts for your child to share news with the class. You will receive a letter when your child is selected as the focus child.
Your child is also welcome to bring in something from home that they would like to do a ‘show and tell’ about.
Class Dojo
We are continuing to use the online reward system called ‘Class Dojo’. Teachers and other adults around school will be encouraging positive behaviours by giving whole class and individual points. Each child will have their own colourful and exciting character, which should encourage them to collect points on a weekly basis.