Thank you so much for the cards, delicious treats, lovely gifts and beautful flowers - we love them all!  It is very kind of you to treat us to such lovely things.  We hope you have a good break over Christmas - enjoy family time together and take time to rest and recuperate after a (very!) long first term. See you in 2026!

 In RJ, we have been playing a maths game called Dotty Four. This helps us to practise the parts that make 4 (2 and 2, 3 and 1). You take it in turns to roll a 1,2,3 dice and draw that many dots in a square in the grid. The aim of the game is to get 4 dots.  So if you roll a 3, you draw 3 dots. Then the other team has a go. If they roll a 1, they could draw it in the same box to get 4. If they get a 2 or 3, they would have to draw the dots in another box. Miss Johnston got lots of 4s yesterday, but today RJ got the hang of it! __ is a part and ___is a part, the whole is 4. If you want to play it aty home, here a link to show you how to play Dotty Six (very similar!).  https://nrich.maths.org/problems/dotty-six?tab=overview

 We had a surprise Christmas party, playing Musical Bumps, Musical Stars, Move and Freeze, Corners and The Floor is Lava!

 This week, we are playing lots of Christmas- themed games. Today in RJ, we had to give directions for George to reach the decorations. We used the words forwards, backwards and turn. He was doing a lot of turning!

 We had a special visitor today!

Thank you for practising your child's Phonics skills with them at home - they are all doing so well! We just wanted to clarify a few things. As you may have noticed from the yellow books, we read and reread Rhino Reader texts with the children to develop  fluency.   Initially, children will be decoding words but then with more practise they should be remembering the words.   As well as learning sounds, we also learn tricky words. These are words that cannot be sounded out and need to be learned by sight. As the children progress and learn more, these words might become decodable.  These words will not have sound buttons under them and need to be remembered.  

  Story focus : Whatever Next by Jill Murphy.  Literacy focus : we have daily Phonics and handwriting sessions.  We have individual reading sessions, practising our blue Phonics book or reading books.  Maths focus:  subitising and composition (parts and whole). We looked at the composition of 3 and 4.  PSED focus: caring and being kind or unkind .  We looked at pictures as a stimulus.  PE Focus:  games on the scooter boards.  RW's PE session was thwarted by the Life Tent and a meeting so will be doing this next week! We always enjoy COOL Time (Choosing Our Own Learning) and we practise lots of skills during this time.

  Story focus : Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. We loved seeing what happened to the sneaky fox! Literacy focus : we have daily Phonics and handwriting sessions.  We have individual reading sessions, practising our blue Phonics book or reading books.  Maths focus:  composition, parts and whole. We looked at parts of toys, animals and our own bodies and how they make up a whole.  We looked at 2 being made up of 1+1 and 3 being made up of 1+1+1 and 2+1.   PSED focus:  homes - we looked at the different types of homes that people live in.  PE Focus:  games  We always enjoy COOL Time (Choosing Our Own Learning) and we practise lots of skills during this time.