21st May 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope that you had a lovely weekend.

In literacy we will be looking at digraphs (two letters representing one sound) for example 'sh' as in ship and 'ch' as in chap.  To support this work, I will be sending home a book containing diagraphs for you to practice with your child.  Every Friday your child will be assessed on their digraph knowledge and new digraphs will be added to their book if they know all the existing ones.

This week we will be looking at the digraphs 'sh' and 'ch' and again it would be great if the children could bring in something with a 'sh' or 'ch' for the phonics basket.  Please note that it does not matter where the digraph appears in the word.  An item such as dish is just as helpful as a ship.

In numeracy we will be practising counting up to 20 and also counting back from 10 and for those that are able to do this we will be counting back from 20.

There will be an informal drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.15pm until 4.15pm.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

14th May 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend.

This week in literacy we will be recapping the sounds 'x' and 'y'.  Again, items beginning with 'x' and 'y' would be much appreciated for the phonics basket, which we will look at on Tuesday.  We will be practising writing 'x' and 'y' as capital and lower-case letters and learning the names of the letters.

In numeracy we will spend a further week practising addition and subtraction and learning to distinguish between plus and minus signs.

On Wednesday we are going to be looking at how we have changed since we were babies.  Please can your child bring in a photo of itself as a baby?  I would be grateful if you could write your child's name on the back of the photo.  All photos will be returned at the end of the week.

Finally, there will be no drop-in session on Tuesday, because I will be attending a meeting for reception teachers after school.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

8th May 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable bank holiday weekend.

The children had a busy week last week.  On Thursday they had fun tasting fruits and vegetables.  I was particularly impressed with all the children in the Frog and Lion groups, who tasted everything and cleared their plates!  Then on Friday to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee each class in the school planted a tree.  I would like to thank Mr Crownshaw (Jett's Dad) who came and helped us plant a corkscrew willow tree.

This week in literacy we will be recapping the sound 'z'.  Again, items beginning with 'z' would be much appreciated for the phonics basket which we will look at on Tuesday morning.  We will be practising writing 'z' as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name.

In numeracy we will be practising addition and subtraction and learning to distinguish between plus and minus signs.

In preparation for the forthcoming Diamond Jubilee celebrations we will be finding out about the Queen and painting her portrait.

There will also be an informal drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.15pm to 4.15pm.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

30^th April 2012

Dear Parents,

This week in literacy we will be recapping the sound ‘w’. Again, items beginning with ‘w’ would be much appreciated for the phonics basket which we will look at on Tuesday morning. We will be practising writing ‘w’ as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name. 

In numeracy we will be practising addition and learning how to double numbers.

As part of our ‘Ourselves’ topic we will be looking at how to keep ourselves healthy by eating fruit and vegetable.  On Thursday the children will be tasting a variety of fruits and vegetables.  A paper letter with a permission slip will be sent home tomorrow, for you to complete and return by Thursday, please.    

There will also be an informal drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.15pm to 4.15pm.

Finally, I would ask that while the weather remains wet, all children wear coats to school. Children who are attracted to puddles may also wish to bring in wellies!

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

23rd April 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend.

This week in literacy we will be recapping the sound 'v'.  Again, items beginning with 'v' would be much appreciated for the phonics basket on Tuesday.  We will be practicing writing 'v' as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name.

In numeracy we will be practicing recognising, writing and sequencing numbers 1 to 20.  If your child would like to practice recognising and sequencing numbers at home, you could go to the TES iboard website.  There is an excellent game called 'Domino Conveyor Belt' at www.iboard.co.uk/activity/623 which will help your child recognise numbers 1 to 12 and understand their value.  Alternatively, if your child has a good understanding of numbers 1 to 12, you may like to look at a game called 'Up or Down the Number Line?' at www.iboard.co.uk/400 which will help your child to develop a better understanding of number sequence.

There will not be an informal drop-in session on Tuesday.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

16th April 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a lovely Easter break.  Welcome to our summer term.  Our topic for this half term is Ourselves, and we will be finding out about healthy eating and the importance of exercise.

In literacy this week we will be exploring nursery rhymes and looking at rhyming words.  Our letter of the week is ‘q’ and again items beginning with ‘q’ would be much appreciated for the phonics basket on Tuesday.  In numeracy we will be finding out about ordinal numbers (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd etc).

There will be an informal drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.20pm to 4.15pm.  Please feel free to come and ask questions or just visit the classroom.

Finally, with the weather getting sunnier, please remember to send your child into school with a water bottle (filled with water, not squash) and a sun hat.  Please do not send in squash and fruit juice drinks as they attract ants into the classroom.

Many thanks,

Michele Austin  

26th March 2012

Dear Parents,

It was lovely to see so many parents at Parents’ Evening.  Thank you for attending.  There will be an informal drop-in session on Wednesday from 3.15pm to 4.15pm.  Please feel free to come and ask any further questions that you have about school or your child’s progress. 

In literacy, our letter of the week is ‘j’ and again items beginning with ‘j’ would be much appreciated for the phonics basket on Tuesday.  We will also be focusing on learning the names of the letters.  Whilst most of the children are very confident of the letter sounds, many struggle to recall the letter names. 

In numeracy we will be finding out about money, learning to recognise different coins and practising adding small sums of money.  There is an excellent 'Paying With Coins' game available at the TES iboard website at www.iboard.co.uk/curriculum.htm#3900.

And finally, to reduce the amount of paper being used in school, my weekly letter to parents is to become on-line only from the beginning of April.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

 19th March 2012,

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a good weekend. 

In literacy we will be recapping the sound ‘o’.  Again, items beginning with ‘o’ would be much appreciated for the phonics table. We will be practicing writing ‘o’ as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name. 

In numeracy we will be learning the order of the days of the week.

Appointments for parents evening are being arranged and sent out by the school office.  I look forward to seeing you all on either Wednesday or Thursday.

There will be no drop-in session this week.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin

12th March 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a relaxing weekend.

This week I would like to welcome Mrs Jeanette Eatwell to the Year R team.  Mrs Eatwell has for many years worked as a volunteer in my reception class and will now be employed as my teaching assistant on Fridays.  Mrs Hawtin will continue to be my teaching assistant from Monday to Thursday.

In literacy this week we will be recapping the sound 'u'.  Again, items beginning with 'u' would be much appreciated for the phonics basket, which we will look at on Tuesday morning.  we will be practicing writing 'u' as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name.

In numeracy we will be practicing the formation of numbers 0 to 13.  We will also continue to practice subtraction.  If your child would like to practice subtraction at home, you could go to the TES iboard website at www.iboard.co.uk/curriculum.htm#3894 and then look for the Simple Subtraction Stories game.

There will also be a drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.15pm until 4.15pm.  Please feel free to come and ask questions or just visit the classroom where we have a new display of our Little Red Riding Hood writing.

With best wishes.

Michele Austin

 5th March 2012

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend.

We had a super World Book Day on Friday and it was lovely to see so many imaginative book character costumes.  Congratulations to Tintin (Cameron) and The Worst Witch (Eva) who received Easter eggs from Mrs Kelly for their costumes.  Thank you also to Maya and her mummy for dressing Max the dog up as Angelina Ballerina. 

In literacy this week we will be recapping the sound 'b'.  Again items beginning with 'b' would be much appreciated for the phonics basket, which we will look at on Tuesday morning.  We will be practicing writing 'b' as a capital and lower-case letter and learning its name. 

In numeracy we will continue to practice subtraction.

There will be a drop-in session on Tuesday from 3.15pm until 4.15pm.

With best wishes,

Michele Austin