The children are back to school on Tuesday 6th January. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and managed to spend time with family and loved ones. We hope the children are well rested and ready for the busy term ahead where they will continue to develop their independence and apply their learning across the curriculum. Please continue to encourage your child to develop their independence at home by dressing and feeding themselves and helping with small tasks around the house especially tidying up after themselves.
This week we begin our topic on winter. We will find out what the children already know and will extend their knowledge with stories and songs and going outside to look for signs of winter. If the weather is particularly wintery talk about this with your child and see what they can tell you about the wintertime. You will be amazed at how much they are learning! Continue to send your child into school in a waterproof coat with gloves and a hat. The children are now used to keeping their gloves in their pockets when they come inside and their hat in the sleeve of their coat.
Before the break the children were assessed to see if they were ready to move on in our phonics scheme Read, Write inc. This week the children will move into their new groups and will be working on any gaps identified in their assessments. On Friday your child will bring home either a reading book, Ditty sheets or will have a QR code with videos for your child to watch. Please continue to do this work each night and sign the diary to say you have heard your child read. More children will now also have reading work set on line on Oxford Owl for you to do together. The reading teacher for your child will let you know in the diary if this applies to your child. If your child has already been accessing Oxford Owl then they will continue to do so.
This week, the children will continue to develop the skill of perceptual subitising. This form of subitising refers to instantly recognising the number of objects in a group without needing to count them. In this step, the concept of subitising zero objects is introduced, as well as the instant recognition of up to five objects. You could encourage your child to represent their subitising by showing the numeral ‘0’, showing no fingers or pointing out the difference between zero items and not zero.
The staff would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’, for all the very kind gifts and cards so kindly given to us before the Christmas break, they were very much appreciated by us all.
Have a wonderful week,
The Reception Team