Dear parents/ carers,

Another exciting week in Kites! The children have been working really hard this week at getting into a routine of coming in to school, starting phonics and showing off what they know. We have been singing songs, learning about our numbers and what they are worth as well as reading lots of stories (e.g The Lion Inside) and exploring new things. Our focus has been on sharing as well as creating a class charter. The children have been practicing  signing words like “sharing”, “play” as well as “hello” and days of the week. We will continue our skills of taking responsibility as well as following simple instructions next week. Other activities the children have enjoyed have been: making their name from magnetic letters, yoga, water play, perfume-making, matching amounts to their numerals and making “squiggles” into images using different mediums (chalk, crayons, paint). Yesterday, the Kites loved designing and making smoothies, playing parachute games as well as turn-taking on the bikes and trikes.

In phonics, the children have been introduced to m, a, s and d and are starting to recognise these in their environment. In maths, they have been introduced to numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 through our maths progamme Ten Town. Children will soon receive logins to enable them to access a range of songs, stories and activities at home related to these numbers. Look out for them in their reading planners.

We have had a few questions about books in bookbags. Just to ease your mind, there is no expectation for the children to be able to read the books that are in their bookbags- this is a family or sharing book that we hope an adult or older sibling may read to your younger child and have a discussion about. Reading books will start to be sent home once the children are more familiar with sounds and have started more formal phonics sessions.

We will slowly be shutting down our Google Classroom contact as this was predominantly for over the Summer period to help your child feel familiar with their new environment. It will remain open until October half term, from then- if you wish to contact us, please do so through the office and we will endeavour to get back to you within 24hours. We are always happy to chat to you at the gates, but I am aware it has been a struggle in the last couple of weeks due to the needs of the children. If you feel you need to chat to us about anything, please book an appointment after school or at a time that suits you. We understand that it is a big difference coming from nursery where you will have received daily updates on activities and progress. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to provide this on a daily basis, but we are building up a bank of photos ready to share on Learning Book for when it is up and running.

Reminders:

• Please name all school uniform worn by your child.
• If your child is prone to toileting accidents, please provide spare clothing as we are getting quite low in supply.
• Forest camp kit needs to be in a named bag and wellies need to be provided to be used all year round.
• If you know your child is a fussy eater, please let us know what they DO like so we can provide an alternative OR please send in with a packed lunch to prevent further anxiety.

Next week : We are continuing to look at values as well as roles and responsibilities in our environment. Our key words will be : Respect, teamwork, kindness, helpful, tidying, environment, litter, recycling.

Challenge: For show and tell, can you think about all the ways you help at home? What do you do to earn you pocket money? Could you start doing more to help? We would love to hear all about it and see some photos/ pictures that you’ve drawn to show us all the things that you do to help.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

The Kites Team