Meerkats and More!…
This week, we have been focusing on the story Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett. The story encouraged some great discussion about habitats, maps, travel and days of the week. F2 wrote their own postcards to someone they know, using their imaginations to pretend they had gone on their travels.
F1 have been practising their Maths, Phonics and Language skills in their key worker time. One way we are encouraging the children to broaden their vocabulary, is through discussions on selected pictures taken from pobble365.com We call these sessions ‘Picture Talk’. The website is a great way to explore language and understanding both at school and at home as it is full of interesting and unusual imagery.
Have a go at discussing one of the pictures with your child and let us know how it goes- what did they say? what features did they notice?
The VERY wet weather has made it a little tricky to put out some of our outdoor activities this week but fab Foundation always find ways to explore and learn no matter what the weather is doing. This week we have enjoyed using powder paint to paint the puddles and paths- great for our gross motor skills!
In our reflection time on Friday, we thought about our Living and Learning Statement: I know we’re all the same and we’re all different. We spoke about our similarities and differences and how to respect and value each other even if we are different or have different likes and interests. This discussion also links to the British Values of tolerance and respect.
Talk to your child about how they are the same and different to their friends.
Home-Link Challenge
Next week is Community Week at St. James’.
We would like Foundation to join the rest of the school by taking a photo in their local area of Wetherby, somewhere recognisable for their friends to guess where they are! Please bring in or email your photo to the EYFS email address.
Please also bring in just one special item that is important to your child or unique to them, for identity day.
Thank you.
A very important week…
This week has covered many important topics:
Remembrance Monday
The children were shown an animation explaining why we wear poppies and took part in a discussion. We have been painting poppy fields which are now displayed in the window by our water tray. Thank you to the families that worked together to create poppy pictures and models at home, for our home-link challenge.
Anti-Bullying Week- Odd Socks Tuesday
On Tuesday, we wore odd socks to celebrate our differences and to show we respect each other. We spoke about this during our Living and Learning circle time, about what bullying looks like and what we should do to STOP it.
STOP
Bullying is: S Several T times O on P purpose
We should: S Start T telling O other P people
Well done to Lily who received the Living and Learning certificate for sharing some important facts, such as “You should tell a teacher”
Children in Need Friday
Wow!- what generous children and parents we have! Thank you so much for all of your donations, taking part in non-uniform day and bringing in or making cakes for our bun sale.
We started the day by sitting down and talking through the important work Children in Need do, through the website’s Early Years- friendly presentation. We also had some Pudsey fun painting and dot-to-dots to choose.
What else have we been up to?
PE Thursdays- In our first half term, the children have shown they can find a safe space in the hall, hop, skip, gallop and side step to travel. This half term we are working on small-base balancing and jumping in direction including jump-turns.
Physical Development at lunch time- In Early Years, we think of developmental aspects that support children both in and outside of the classroom. A really tricky self-care and fine motor skill is the ability to cut up our food. We are encouraging all of the children to ‘have a go’ at cutting their food before helping and we are already seeing huge development in their confidence and ability to do so.
Please continue encouraging your child to ‘have a go’ at cutting their food at home.
Here is some great food-cutting in action!
Phonics Superhero- Each day we have started to choose a ‘Phonics Superhero’ who has wowed us with their skills. They get to dress up in a special cape and mask for the rest of the day!
A very muddy Friday- Our class really love the mud! The more rain and muddy puddles the better. This week’s muddy collaboration was to build “a swimming pool for the ants and caterpillars” This sparked some good conversation about how deep the water could be for it to be safe for a small insect. We will carry this interest into next week and do some fact finding to answer our questions.
Home-Link Challenge
F2- This week the children were introduced to 3d shapes. Can you find an object or package around the home that is a 3d shape we can put on our display?
F1- Please bring in or email a photo of your weekend, whether you are at home or out and about. We will use the pictures for our ‘talk-time’ key-worker session.
Thank you.
Well Done!
Well done to Freddie, Chloe and Leo for their amazing home-link challenges this week!
We were very impressed with your creations.
Keep sharing your lovely home learning moments with us.
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Fiddly Fingers Stay and Play
What a wonderful Stay and Play we had after school. So lovely to see families playing and learning together. Thank you to our parent partners who came today.
Check out all of the fine motor skills we have used this evening…
This week in Foundation…
Our first week back in Foundation has been packed full of learning! It’s great to see that the children have come back ready to learn with fantastic attitudes. The children have loved exploring the new role play baskets in the home corner. We’ve seen hairdressers, doctors, vets and firemen!
This week our focus story has been Dear Zoo.
All the children in Foundation are able to retell the story using our amazing ‘Talk for Writing’ actions! F2 children changed some of the animals to create their own versions. Some children even changed the title to ‘Dear Farm.’ Take a look in their writing books to see their fabulous story maps!
F2 children have now learnt all Phase 2 phonics sounds and are moving on to Phase 3. It’s really important that children pronounce ‘pure sounds’ when practising and using their phonics in reading and writing.
PE
This week the children did so well at getting changed for PE -independently!
All children in Foundation need a PE kit in school for PE on Mondays.
Don’t forget!
Fiddly Fingers stay and play at 3:15pm on Wednesday 13 November.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Home-Link Challenge
Remembrance Sunday
On Monday, during carpet time we will be talking about the importance of this day.
Talk to your child about Remembrance Sunday.
You could even draw a picture or make a poppy for us to display in the classroom.
Congratulations…
Congratulations to all of the children in Foundation for a great first half-term. We have worked hard, explored, made friends and shown some fabulous learning.
Thank you to the parents who joined us for parent’s evenings and drop-in sessions. It was great to catch up and share all of the wonderful things we have been doing.
Have a lovely break over the next week and we look forward to welcoming you back in on Monday 4th November.
Half-term Home Link Challenge
The children have told us they would like to learn about animals when we return to school. If you have a pet, we would love to have a picture for the wall. We would also like you to talk to your child about their favourite animal and to research one fact that they can share about the animal in class. Perhaps your child would like to draw or paint their favourite animal too. If your child is in F2, encourage them to record the sounds that they know in any words and labels.
Living and Learning
This weeks Living and Learning statement is I can take part in democratic decisions. In our circle time this week, we discussed the word democracy and why it is important to make our own decisions. Linking to the statement, we have set up a voting station in the classroom. Encourage your child to vote for the book they would like at story time.
Fabulous Foundation
Movement Monday!
Monday was our first movement PE session for all Foundation children. We had such a good time travelling around the hall in a range of ways, such as slithering, crawling, walking, running, jumping, skipping, sliding and hopping. The children particularly enjoyed throwing and catching chiffon scarves. This is a simple activity to try at home. Take a look at their fantastic concentration faces.
A little reminder that ALL Foundation children will need their PE kit, with all items named and in school, by Monday 04 November.
Worm Wednesday!
The children collected 14 different worms from around the outdoor area. They compared lengths, counted them, showed fascination and used magnifying glasses to look closely. This led into discussions on environments they like to live in and how we should treat them.
In maths, we have started to use stem sentences to support understanding and reasoning.
Home-Link Challenge
As we come to the end of our first half term, ask your child what their favourite thing has been so far at school. Ask them to draw a picture of this and grown-ups record what they say about their picture in your child’s own words.
Road Safety
Today in Foundation Class, we had a special visitor who came to talk to us about Road Safety.
The children helped to label an image and discussed holding hands with an adult to cross the road, where we should cross the road, how to be safe on public transport and the importance of seat belts and car seats.
We then explored a zebra crossing role play, taking turns to be a lollipop man or lady. Check out our picture video below!
Ask your child what they have learnt today about keeping safe on and around roads.
Have you seen?…
Have you seen our new feelings station?
On Tuesday during circle time with Miss Marsden, Foundation read the story Feelings by Libby Walden and Richard Jones.
It was a great opening to discuss our feelings and think about ways to describe different emotions. The children used a sensory bottle to visualise how it might feel when our feelings get muddled or confusing inside and then watched the glitter float down, to show what it is like when we calm down and feel settled. Our new feelings station gives our children space to reflect on and share their feelings.
Ask your child what they’ve learnt about different feelings this week.
For more pictures of the activity, visit our Learning Journey board in the classroom.
We’ve had a busy week focusing on The Little Red Hen as our traditional tale, learning about repeating patterns, part-whole models in maths, new sounds in phonics and much more. We haven’t let the bad weather spoil our mood either- we’ve had the perfect opportunity to splash about. We explored who could make the biggest splash and what was the best technique. Check out our new puddle suits!
Home-Link Challenge
F2 Children:
- Next week our focus number is 3. Show us three objects you have found at home. Send your pictures to the Early Years email address.
- Get to know your first reading book.
F1 Children:
Go on a ‘sound walk’ tell your grown up all the different sounds you can hear outside- can you hear cars? Children playing? Birds? The wind?
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday 16th October 8.30-9.15am and 6.00-6.45pm- Reading and Phonics Meeting (F2 parents only)
Tuesday 22nd October and Thursday 24th October- F2 Parents Evening Appointments.
Wednesday 23rd October 8.30-9.15am- F1 Parent Learning Journey Drop-in session.