Welcome back everyone!
It’s been lovely to welcome back our returning nursery children and also to introduce our new starters!
We’ve had a wonderful settling in week, exploring our provision and becoming familair with our nursery routine.
Here’s a sneak peak of some of the activities we’ve been enjoying
During snack time this week the children have enjoyed listening to the nursery rhyme ‘Wheels on the bus’.
Help at home: Can you child recall some of the actions from the ‘Wheels on the bus’ nursery rhyme?
Next week, we will be starting our first focus story ‘ The Gruffalo’ By Julia Donaldson.
- In the coming weeks, we will be talking about our families. Please could parents/carers email some photos of their families to- stjamesnursery@spherefederation.org
Have a happy and healthy weekend!
Miss Ward and Miss Harvey
Our learning journey this week
Year 3 have set off on lots of different learning paths this week. Here’s an overview of our learning:
Writing
We have started to recap our knowledge of nouns, proper nouns and verbs. This week, the children have done some sentence-based learning, making sure we can identify nouns and verbs correctly. We’ve been really careful to remember that proper nouns need capital letters! Here’s some learning below (and their creators!).
Our new language has been revealed…
Latin!
This year, our class will follow the story of Minimus the mouse, his family and their lives in Vindolanda. We’re learning Latin to understand the roots of our British language, to help us improve in our grammar skills, and to support other lessons, too (such as our current Ancient Greece history unit).
So far, we’ve learnt how to say hello and goodbye in Latin! Practice these with your child at home – the children were all super excited to learn!
hello (to one person) = salve (sal-way)
hello (to more than one person) = salvete (sal-way-tay)
goodbye (to one person) = vale (wa-lay)
goodbye (to more than one person) = valete (wa-lay-tay)
Reading
We have continued our Greek myth theme this week and done lots of learning around Pandora’s Box. The children had to use their inference skills to draw what they thought flew out the box when Pandora mischievously opened it! Here are some fantastic creations along with their illustrators.
Help at home:
Thanks so much for helping your child read at home and complete their reading records – we had such a good return this first week. Keep practising our three key areas as much as possible: spelling, reading and times tables.
Starting School
We have welcomed all the children into class this week and we are so proud of how everyone is settling in, getting to know their new classroom and making new friends.
PE Day
PE will start on Monday 16th September. Please send your child to school in their PE kit every Monday. ( plain white t-shirt, navy blue shorts, school jumper and trainers they can fasten themselves.)
Bags, Wellies and Spare Clothes
Don’t forget to bring in your school wellies and a draw string or small bag of spare cloths/underwear to keep in school. Thank you to the parents and carers who have already provided these.
Family Photo
We will soon be talking and learning about different families. Next week we will introduce out first focus book The Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith. To support our learning, please send in a photo of your child with their family. You can in a copy of your photo or email it to:
stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Dates for your diary
This year we will be offering various opportunities for you to find out more about Early Years at school.
There will be after school meetings with your child’s teacher.
There’ll be stay and learn sessions where you can come into school and be part of a lesson and then find out how you can help at home.
Then, opportunities to pop into school to share your child’s learning journey book with them.
We hope that you can join us for as many of these sessions as possible.
Welcome to Reception
An invitation to this event was emailed to you back in July but here is a reminder.
Come into school to find out some basic “need to knows” about life in Reception.
18.09.24 – 6pm – 6.30pm
Stay and learn sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child learning in school.
Phonics Phase 2 and coffee morning – 09.10.24 9am-10am
Number 1 – 13.11.24 2.20-3pm
Phonics Phase 3 – 14.01.25 2.20-3pm
Fine Motor and coffee morning – 03.02.25 9am-10am
World Book Day- 06.03.24 9am-10am
Number 2 – 18.03.25 2.20-3pm
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’s learning journal with them.
Learning Journey Drop in 1 – 03.12.24 and 05.12.24 Times – 8.45 am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm
Learning Journey drop in 2 – 28.03.25 and 01.04.25 Times – 8.45 am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm
Learning Journey drop in 3– 08.07.25 and 10.07.25 Times – 8.45 am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm
Please note that a paper copy of these dates will also be sent home this week.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman and Mr. Smith
We Are Scientists!
Welcome back! We’ve had an exciting start to the school year in Science.
This week, the children were introduced to the topic of Science itself, discussing what it means to be a scientist and why understanding the world around us is important. We explored how science helps us ask questions, make observations, and carry out experiments to discover new things.
Our first unit of the term is all about the human body. The children began by identifying different parts of the body. To put their new knowledge into practice, we conducted a fun experiment where the children compared their height, foot size, and age. The goal was to see if there’s a relationship between these measurements.
The class had a great time measuring each other’s feet and heights and noting down their findings. It sparked interesting discussions about growth, and the children enjoyed thinking like scientists!
PE
In PE this week, we have focussed on teambuilding and working together. The children really impressed with their communication and patience – it was really good to see. They had to move across the ‘lava’ only using limited resources to step on.
We have also been introduced to hockey. We have talked about where our hands go on the hockey stick. Where the left hand goes and where the right hand goes.
Help at home – Ask your child about what makes a good team player. Why is important to work as a team? Where should your hands go on a hockey stick. What do we call the lefthand? What do we call the right hand?
Living and Learning – I follow the school rules
Our first Living and Learning statement of the year was:
I follow the school rules.
We established that rules are instructions that we’re asked to follow. They help to keep us safe and make sure we’re all treated fairly. Rules help to bring order.
We discussed our 3 school rules; how they look and sound in the classroom and around school.
The children gave some great examples of how we might have different rules at home, at school or in the community and there was some interesting discussion about how the world might look different if we didn’t have rules…
Help at home by discussing rules with your child.
- What are our school rules? Is one important than the others?
- What are some of your rules at home and why do you have them?
- What are some of the rules in the community? Are there consequences if we don’t follow them?
Living and Learning: rules
At the start of the new school year, in our Living and Learning lesson, the children have been reminded about rules and the importance of rules in our daily life. This also links to the British Value of rule of law.
Before focussing on our school rules, we started by thinking about…
Why do we have rules?
What rules can you think of?
What places have rules?
Who makes the rules?
Rules keep us safe.
Rules help us to be healthy and happy.
We have to cross the road with our grown ups.
Our teachers and our grown ups at home help us to follow the school rules.
In our school we have three school rules.
Three, two, one, stop is one of the most important instructions the children will hear at school.
Following our school rules will make our school a happy, healthy and SAFE place to learn.
This week, we’re thinking about our rules about online safety at school. Your child will bring home their Being online – acceptable use agreement for pupils and parents/carers which should be read through, signed and returned to class.
Welcome Back, Year 2!
I hope you’ve all had a happy and healthy summer break. The children have returned to school in fantastic form, settling in quickly as we’ve learned new routines and procedures. We’re looking forward to sharing our learning journey with you over the coming weeks but in the meantime, a few reminders.
Reading books
We have a new e-books system; Collins Hub. Parent guidance should have been emailed to you and children’s log-ins will be sent home today (09.09.24). Books have been assigned but we are aware of some teething problems as we learn the new platform. Please let me know if you’re experiencing any issues.
Reading records
Please return reading records to school by Wednesday. Make a note of what has been read and any areas you have focused on. This is a great way for us all to keep up to date and an often overlooked way of staying in regular contact! If you have any questions about this, please be in touch.
Library books
Our library day is Friday. Please return library books to school by Wednesday, ready to return to the library in exchange for a new one.
NumBots
Please continue to use NumBots. It’s a really valuable resource and a fantastic way of keeping home learning fun. If you need any technical support, please be in touch and I’ll try my best to help.
PE days
Our PE days are Tuesday and Friday. Uniform compliance has been fantastic to start the year – let’s keep it up!
Water bottles
Please make sure your child comes to school with a clean, labelled water bottle every day. Water bottles must go home every day.
If you need any additional support, you can email me on ajnash@spherefederation.org and I’ll get back to you within an appropriate timeframe.
Our new sensory space; The Den
Over the summer, Mrs Freeman has been busy creating a sensory themed room in school.
The Den is a safe space which aims to provide any child with the individualised sensory input they need to self-regulate so they can be better prepared for learning and interacting with others.
The Den offers a safe space for relaxation, exploration, independence, and social sessions. The resources in The Den can be used to stimulate, soothe, entertain and distract, depending on the child’s requirements.
We would like to say thank you to the school PTA for the contributions towards resources for this room.
We hope users of The Den benefit from the stimulating visual and tactile activities.
Welcome back!
We’ve had a positive first week in Year 5/6. The children have already been fantastic role models to the rest of the school; always being respectful, ready and safe.
We have met our Reception buddies and we have enjoyed helping the younger children settle in to St James’ – it has been wonderful to see how responsible and caring the children are.
Here are a few things to note:
- Mr Kilner – class teacher
- Mrs Bald and Mr Smith – teaching assistants
- Miss Gledhill – classroom support and interventions (Monday and Friday)
- PE – Tuesday and Wednesday (please dress your child in their PE clothes on these days)
- Library – Monday
Please ensure your child brings a water bottle to school every day and healthy snacks for playtime (if required).
During PE, the children are not permitted to wear earrings. Please can you ensure these have been removed prior to attending school on PE days. Long hair needs to be tied back also.
Children have been provided with a reading record book. Please hear your child read through the week and encourage them to complete one of the activities listed in their reading record.
If you have any concerns or questions, please either speak to me at the end of the school day or make an appointment via the school office.
Mr Kilner