The children will be making Christmas chocolate bark before the end of term. We are hoping that they will be able to 'sell' it to you for a donation towards Ugandaid. As a school we have supported this wonderful charity for the past 15 years and sponsor 2 students at a time through their vocational training. If you would like more information please take a look at their website: www.ugandaid.com
We would like the children to understand the importance of helping others and to know that they have been part of supporting our students in Uganda.
Christmas Party
Reception Christmas parties are on Wednesday afternoon (9th December) and will take place in each classroom. The children may wear party clothes. Our recording for the nativity plays will take place on that morning so they will need to be able to dress and undress themselves easily. Please send an individual party snack (in a named bag) for your child.
Christmas Photos
If you'd like to share photos of your Christmas tree and decorations we'd love to make a display for the children on our 'Home Board'. (No competition!)
Nativities
Thank you so much for all your support with our nativity plays. The children are doing so well with learning their lines! Many thanks too for your help with costumes - these just need to be something your child will be happy to wear on the day. Please do not feel any pressure to produce a perfect outfit - tea-towels and tinsel are perfectly acceptable! Our nativities are always delightful if a little thrown together! We will let you know when they have been filmed.
You will find some really helpful videos which have been produced by Read Write Inc especially for parents on Ruth Miskin's Facebook or Home Reading page. These include one called 'Reading the digraphs with your child' which you may find useful to watch as we will shortly be teaching Set 1 digraphs.
www.treetoolsforschools.org.uk is a fabulous website (part of Woodland Trust) and has loads of lovely outdoor Autumn activities. We will be sending home some ideas soon but you may wish to take a look yourselves too.
Welcome Back!
We are looking forward to welcoming your children back to school tomorrow and hope you've all been able to do some fun things together.
We will be continuing with the Read, Write Inc phonics programme and will be teaching the remaining Set 1 Speed Sounds. These will include the following digraphs: sh, th, ch, qu, ng, nk, ck
Those children who have learned sufficient sounds and are blending confidently will bring home a Photocopy Ditty sheet each day until they are sufficiently confident to begin the Red Ditty books. They will have read this sheet 3 times - once for accuracy, once for speed/fluency and once for comprehension. This practice is an essential part of the Read Write Inc philosophy and means that the sheet or book which your child brings home will be very familiar to them. They will not bring home new texts. The children will begin to enjoy developing their own 'storytelling voice' as they gain confidence with reading these texts.
Half Term
We hope you are all enjoying a wonderful first half term break. Your children have been working hard to learn new names, faces and routines as well as early reading and writing skills. They have taken all these changes in their stride and have settled in to school really well. We hope you are all catching up on some sleep and relaxation!
Well Being Day
We all had a really fun day last Wednesday and will be sharing photos soon. Each class made chocolate crispie 'bears' (some of which looked a little battered as they left the classroom) and they all took part in doing some artwork (the messier the better). We showed them how hard it is to put back toothpaste into a tube once it has been squeezed out and likened that to the effect of unkind words which, once they have been spoken, cannot be taken back. We talked about the importance of being kind and to 'treat each other the way we would like to be treated'.
We hope you have enjoyed the photo slideshows of your children, we enjoy spending time putting these together. Your children are settling in incredibly well to life at BCS, as we hope you can see from the pictures we shared. We also hope you found the curriculum slideshows informative and useful, your feedback is always appreciated.
We would like to remind you about flu immunisations are taking place on Monday as well as non-uniform and Wellbeing day Wednesday 21st October.
We are continuing our usual tradition of having a non-uniform day at the end of this half-term. Year 6 have chosen The Trussell Trust and Mind as the two charities the school will support on this day.. All donations will be voluntary, but we’re sure many would like to support these charities at this time. Clothes and footwear will need to be suitable for outdoor play.
New Timings for the Drop off and Pick up to start after Half Term
After Half Term we will be reducing the drop off time slots to 8.25 - 8.45 with Registration at 8.45 for Reception.
Reception children should be collected when picking up older siblings, or for those without siblings 3:15 - 3:25pm.
Book Bags
It will be useful for your child to bring in their book bag each day so that they may change their 'sharing book' whenever they wish. This also makes it easier for us to share paper resources with you.
Letter formation
The children are working hard on forming letters correctly using the Read Write Inc handwriting phrases to help them. Any support you can give at home will really help them. (Please see the pdf 'Handwriting Phrases' below for guidance. The phrase for each letter can also be found on the picture side of the letter cards which are being sent home.)
Practice handwriting sheets can be found on the Oxford Owl website under the Parent Guide to Read Write Inc section (Set 1 Speed Sounds practice sheets).
The children are practising using scissors. Please allow them opportunities to improve their scissor skills at home too.
Tripod Pencil Grip (see diagram below)
Correct pencil grip is extremely important so please correct your child at home if you notice them using an incorrect grip.
Please note that we will be updating our 'What's New This Week?' page weekly with 'Speedy Green Words' which your child can practise reading at home. These are words using the sounds your child has learned each week.
Use 'Fred Talk' - encourage your child to point with their finger under each phoneme (sound) as they make the sound, then run their finger under the whole word to blend those sounds together to say the word. (Some children will need help to do this at first). Over time, as your child gets more confident, encourage them to 'Fred in their Head' speedily so they are reading without needing to sound it out loud.
We will also send home the first 2 'Red Words' ('I' and 'the') for your child to learn to read by sight. You cannot use 'Fred Talk' to decode these words.
Please continue to help your child form the letters m, a, s, d and t correctly.
Support from home is essential for your child's reading success.
Our new Read Write Inc page (under 'Our Learning' on the school website) offers clear guidance of how to support your child. Alternatively, you can also go directly to the Oxford Owls at Home website. Please do not hesitate to come and talk to us with any queries.
Please follow the Read Write Inc link to find out more about our new Read Write Inc reading programme: https://www.bowdoncs.org.uk/read-write-inc/
Read Write Inc
Today we have started learning our phonic sounds. We are learning one letter every day. This week we are learning the letter sounds 'm', 'a', 's', 'd', 't' in this order. Please practise these letter sounds and the letter formation at home. Remember to use the letter sound and not the name. The way the letter is formed and the rhyme the children have learnt can be found on the set 1 sheets
We thought it might be helpful for you to know the Set 1 Speedy Sounds children will be learning from now until half term.
Week commencing 21st September m, a, s, d, t
Week commencing 28th September i, n, p, g, o
Week commencing 5th October c, k, u, b, f
Week commencing 12th October e, l, h, r, j
Week commencing 19th October v, y, w, z,
PTA Class Rep
The PTA usually recruits a PTA class rep for each of the reception classes by speaking to new parents in the playground, however this year has proven more difficult for them to do so.
The role of Class Rep involves setting up a WhatsApp group for their class and using this as the communication channel between the PTA and class parents, so they can easily communicate news about PTA events such as the Winter Ball and the Christmas Fair.
If anyone is interested, please could you email your class teacher and we can put you in touch with the PTA directly.
Read Write Inc.
We will shortly be updating the website with information on our new reading scheme (Read, Write Inc.)
We have been assessing your child's knowledge of sounds and ability to blend this week in preparation for teaching them how to read.
Sharing Book
Please can you send your child in with their book bag on Monday, we will send home a 'sharing' picture book for you to read to your child at home. Please can you return this to us weekly so that your child can choose another to take home for you to enjoy together.
First week
We are all absolutely delighted with the way the children are settling in to school. We are spending time getting to know them and encouraging them to make new friends. We are gradually introducing new rules and routines but trying not to overload the children with too much! They will probably be exhausted!
Friday end of day
Many thanks for your patience with our end of day pick up today. We will always use Reception gate nearest RH/school entrance (which is usually locked) on Friday 2pm pick ups in future.
Snacks
Just a little reminder to please name your child's snack in some way (apples etc may need to be put in a named container). We don't want children being upset because they've lost their snack!
PE
Don't forget your child may come in PE kit for their PE day next week. RQ - Monday, RC Tuesday, RHL
Family Photo
We begin the year by getting to know each other and helping the children make friends. Please can your child bring in a family photo that can be used as a starting point for a class discussion. This can be any informal photo that your child wants to talk about. Please can these photos be brought in on the week commencing 14th September. Many thanks!
School Snacks
Fresh fruit and vegetables are provided daily for all children in Reception. This will begin on week commencing Monday 14th September. Can you please provide your child with a healthy snack for this week. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would recommend one piece of fruit or a small portion of vegetables, dried fruit, plain rice cakes or bread and butter. Please see below for further information.
We are all very much looking forward to meeting you and your child next week (Thursday 3rd or Friday 4th September) in preparation for their first full day the following week (Monday 7th, Tuesday 8th, or Wednesday 9th September). We love this opportunity to get to know each child a little and find it really helps the children to settle quickly.
Please let us know anything we need to know about your child and ask lots of questions - we are always very happy to try to help alleviate any worries or concerns.
Please reassure your child that school will be lots of fun and that they will very soon feel quite at home!
Below is a list of websites which you may find helpful for supporting your child's development. There is a wealth of information and resources as well as games and activities for you and your child to do together.
Due to covid restrictions PE will now take place outside from September. Your child will need a full PE kit (PE polo shirt, skort/shorts, fleece top and jogging bottoms as well as pumps or trainers). Please click on the link to order your child's uniform.
We have included in our 'Recommended Books' page a list of lovely books addressing any fears and worries children may feel during these unusual times
The Book Trust - has some fabulous resources including games and activities, books to read online and lots of fun art ideas to do at home. Take a look if you can.
