Dear Parents,

We have loved becoming story writers this week and getting to wear our slippers in school on Thursday!

We have been busy reading a variety of stories, retelling them in different ways through sensory stories, puppets and pictures! We have focused on the books Brown Bear, Brown Bear as well as Baby Bear, Baby Bear by -Bill Martin Jr and illustrated by Eric Carl. Looking at the pattern of the range of books he has written and then writing our own version, which is still in the process of being created. Some of us have made our own books, matching the characters and front covers to the corresponding book, creating bookmarks, matching rhyming pairs, playing story-themed board games. For World Book Day, the children were able to explore book genres, read by a variety of teachers and TAs across KS1 inc poetry, spooky tales and deadly creature facts. The rest of the day was spent designing book covers, thinking about their perfect reading space and showing the class their favourite books. We even had a surprise guest, Stephanie, come to read to us at the end of the day dressed as Elmer AND then a unicorn. A book-filled day indeed. 

In Maths, we have been problem solving through stories, such as Handa’s Surprise and The Gingerbread Man. We have been sharing the buttons between the gingerbread men (and some dragons), adding and subtracting Handa’s fruit and comparing amounts. The children really enjoyed this. When you next share a story with your child, think about how you can incorporate some mathematical skills into it, from counting the characters on a page to spotting any shapes in the book. 

Here are some videos for your child to practice their Phonics:

• qu sound  ng sound
• Word time- practise Special friends, Fred Talk, Read the Word
• Those on red /green books– to speed up word reading!

Instead of cooking this week, the children designed and decorated homemade pancakes with fruit, for snack time. Some even ate some fresh apricot for the first time. 

Next week we will be creating: through printing, painting, origami, drawing, weaving  & cutting skills. We are looking forward to seeing what the children produce from the new skills they learn. We will be starting to organise Kites garden and beginning our planting indoors. 

Challenge: One skill the children will be focusing on is origami and paper creations. Can you help you child to make a paper spring? Please see video. They will be using this for another task during the next couple of weeks! If they bring it in and show off their skill, they can have a team point! Scrap paper, newspaper can be used. 

Reminders: 

• Baby photos: Please could you send in a baby photo of your child for us to explore the change in ourselves over years. This can either be put in their book bag or emailed to the school office. We had a few at the start of the school year, but we would love one from everyone to use for our STEM topic (starting on 24th).
• Eat Them To Defeat Them: To zoom in on our ‘Healthy Schools’ and ‘Sustainable school’ focus, we will be participating in a new campaign Eat Them To Defeat Them. This will be introduced in our KS1 assembly this week and children will be sent home with a poster to complete for every fruit or vegetable they manage to “defeat”. Please help to support this at home by introducing more fruit and vegetables to your child and encouraging them to play, smell, explore and hopefully eat them. 
• School Trip : Tuesday 18th March. Thank you to the adults who have offered. Please ensure your payment of £14 has been received by the office- this includes coach and packed lunch as well as entry and full day of activities. 
• Red Nose Day: Friday 21st March. Fundraising theme TBC- more details to follow.

We hope you have a lovely weekend and thank you for your continued support.

The Kites Team.