Craft club creations
This week in craft club we have been making Mother’s Day cards. Look at our lovely designs.
Snack time progress…
At St James’, we’re all about progress and the Foundation class is no different.
Each day, during snack time, a Tally Master records our choices. We then can use the tally chart to see which snack is the most popular or least popular.
Maths is a huge part of your child’s learning at St James’ and it’s important to practise recording and interpreting information. Try challenging your child to create a tally chart of their own at home!
Check out how the children have taken ownership and improved recording the class choices:
Foundation’s Starry snack time…
This morning, our speaking focus during our snack time has been all about stars: Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night to be exact.
The children were asked to think carefully about what they could see and several suggestions were listened to in our group: a castle, buildings, cars, the moon and lots of stars.
It was great to see the children thinking carefully about their ideas, speaking clearly when sharing our ideas and listening attentively when it was someone else’s turn to speak.
Levi, Summer, Evie and Liam showed fantastic speaking and listening skills – nice one!
Our book this week is Oliver Jeffer’s How to Catch A Star so be sure to come into our classroom and how a look at our star learning!
Snack time in Foundation
If you didn’t already know – Foundation is all about space!
Take a peak in our classroom to check out what your child will be learning about in the coming weeks.
During snack time, we had space fruit (OK – fruit wrapped in tinfoil). Unwrapping our fruit is a great way to improve our fine motor skills and the children were adamant that space fruit tastes different to normal fruit!
We also spent time watching how astronauts aboard the ISS do daily tasks like brushing their teeth. The children were fascinated by the effect of no gravity.
Be sure to chat to your child about what they’re getting up to!
Foundation goes to… Space!
At the end of last half term, the children expressed an interest in learning about space. 
So to kick off our space theme, we’ll be reading Nick Sherratt and Pippa Goodhart’s You Choose in Space. The You Choose books are great – the choices the children will make will create a different story each time.
You Choose in Space will promote good speaking and listening skills when deciding where we will go, what we will wear, what will make etc. Our maths learning will also be considered when choosing the most popular or least popular options.
Be sure to ask your child about this week’s book. I wonder if they could make their own at home…
Staying Safe: Dog’s Trust
This afternoon, a visit from the Dog’s Trust meant that we learned loads about how to stay safe around dogs.
We talked about what we should do if there was a dog we wanted to stroke. It’s important to always ask the owner permission to stroke their dog and to stroke the dog gently – we practised this with Peg the dog. Thankfully, Peg was only a cuddly toy – Mrs Valentine is super scared of dogs!
In addition, we were told what to do if a dog came up to us who was over-excited. We had to stand with our arms across our chest, looking up to the sky – this makes us really boring and the over excited dog will soon get bored of us!
Be sure to ask your child about how we can stay safe around dogs!
Lilly, Tia and Ralph showed superb listening skills during our talk with The Dog’s Trust – nice one!
Staying Safe: Road Safety
This morning, the road safety team from Leeds City Council came to visit us to tell us all about crossing roads safely and how important it is to always wear a seat belt.
It was great to see that so many of the children already knew lots of ways to stay safe on the roads – nice one, Foundation and Y1 & 2!
EasyPeasy
If you’re unsure about how best to access Easy Peasy, please do come in and ask or be ready with your questions at your child’s upcoming parents’ evening appointment.
The Hundred Decker Bus
Check out our own ‘Hundred Decker Bus’ we made this week!
As part of our topic on Transport, we were inspired by Mike Smith’s The Hundred Decker Bus so we decided to create our own.
OK – it doesn’t quite have one hundred decks (18 to be precise) but there is one deck for each member of Foundation! Be sure to come into our classroom to have a closer look so that you can quiz your child about their deck of the bus. We had some fab ideas: a deck with a swimming pool, a deck with a burger bar and a deck with rainbow!
Next week is sure to be a very busy one as we join the rest of the school in Safety Week. We’ll be learning about road safety with the NSPCC, how to approach dogs with a visit from the Dog’s Trust and all about fire safety when Wetherby Fire Station come to visit on Friday afternoon.
Parents as partners
Thanks for coming to the meeting this afternoon. It was great to see so many of you attending. If you missed it, read the presentation. If you’ve any questions, come in and ask a member of staff.