The Finale!

Hello there!

Welcome to our very final week of this school year and what an amazing year it has been too! There is lots going on in school this week and so curriculum will not be as intense as usual. Here is a ‘brief’ (if I am able to do it!) outline of the week’s events.

Monday
We will be completing our final writing assessments to pass on up to your child’s next teacher. We will also be updating any spellings of high frequency words and checking the children’s letter and number recognition.

Tuesday
The morning is normal but we have a lovely treat for us in the afternoon! The Year 5/6 children will be presenting their musical medley for all the children in the school. A little foot tapping may go on then!

Wednesday
WE’RE OFF TO GULLIVER’S WORLD!!! Many thanks to all the parents who have offered to help on the day. If you have not been contacted regarding helping out by myself then may I thank you for offering this time and I will pass your name on to the Y1/2 team as a willing volunteer for next year. Details of the day will be sent out this week.

Thursday
VIVA ESPANA!! We decided that we wouldn’t have enough time to do this on the very last day so we have brought it a day forward. We are going to finish off this remarkable year with a TAPAS party for the children (and teacher). The children will get to sample some real Spanish food and have a good old sing and dance. It would be useful if you could send in a labelled carrier bag on this day as the children's books will be coming home.

Friday
BOO HOO! Our last day together. This is often an emotional day for us all but with lots of FUN!

Holiday activities
This week I will be providing you with a little pack for the children to work on over the holidays to make sure they continue to keep those amazing brains active. Please continue to just spend a little time every day to work with your child, as it is surprising how a 6 week break can clear the memory (for us also!) I have posted some websites below for you to use over the holidays with some details of the Y1/2 blog spot.

The Y1/2 blogspot is: www.mrsmalone.blogspot.com

The following websites should support you in reviewing the children’s knowledge:
http://www.letsdiscover.org.uk/letters.html - this is a great website which demonstrates how we form our letters of the alphabet in the cursive style. The children’s handwriting is coming on well but more practice will enable their physical skills to match their writing skills to improve even more.

http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=12 - this is a good activity for developing the children’s reading skills. The children must drag the initial letter and the word ending onto the remote control and then press the button. This will create an image to match the word. Can they sound the word out before they press the button and use the picture to check if they are right?

http://www.prongo.com/drag/game.html - another good game to support the reading of three letter words. The children read the words in the boxes by sounding them out and blending the sounds together. They then match the illustration from the bank at the top.

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/toftwood/machine.html - yet another great game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml - Jimmy’s crankphone asks the children to identify the middle sounds in words whilst the Whirlyword Machine helps them to generate new words for themselves.


http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/curriculum/literacy/lit_site/html/fiction/fairytale2/fairytale.htm - if your child wants to continue with our fairy tale theme why not try this great website? You can write letters to the characters and many other fantastic activities.

Here are some great websites to review this half term’s learning:
http://www.ictgames.com/postletter.html - an old chestnut which is good for developing the children’s recognition of numbers beyond 10.

http://www.crick.northants.sch.uk/assets/Flash%20Studio/cfsmaths/WashLine/washindex.html - helps the children to order numbers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/numbers/ch1.shtml - this is a lovely website for developing those skills of addition. Remember the phrase: COUNT, COUNT, TOGETHER, COUNT.

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/count_on_me/eng/Introduction/default.htm - although this is aimed at Year1/2 I still think some of the children will be able to access it. Why not give it a try?

http://www.ictgames.com/10pipe.html
http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/toftwood/beaver.html

www.rainforestmaths.com - by far my most favourite website for developing mathematical development. Check out the shape activities, the weight and capacity ones as well as the addition games.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/crank/game.shtml - the children must identify the medial sounds in words.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/whirl/game/shtml - the children must make rhyming words but sound it out to see if it is a real word or not (level1), spinning the initial or the final letter to make real words (level 2) and the children could cope with level 3 also.
http://www.prongo.com/drag/game.html - sounding out words and matching pictures to the cvc words;
http://www.ictgames.com/cvc_machine.html - spelling and reading cvc words;
http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/english/cvc_words/default.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/clusters/blender/game.shtml - blending game.

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/num%20machine/take1.html the children must put in a number and then find one less before the machine works the answer out.

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/maths/num%20machine/take2.html - for those children who can subtract one mentally than this a real challenge for them.

http://www.sums.co.uk/playground/c1a/playground.htm - this is a great website for the children to learn how to apply their understanding of subtraction to word problems.

http://www.abc.net.au/countusin/games/game8.htm - this is a great website too with the actual subtraction sum written out for the children. They must type in the answer and then press enter to bowl the bowling ball towards the skittles. Fabulous fun but try it with real skittles!!! If you haven’t got any real skittles at home try filling plastic pop bottles with a bit of sand. As long as the ball is heavy enough to knock them over then it will work.

http://www.deltamicro.co.uk/primary_online/planetstaken.html - WOW! Once I actually worked out how to use this game I was mesmerised for ages. You have to count how many aliens and then click on the number. Then you work out how many were taken away.

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/subtractiontest.html - great for generating subtraction sums but remember to select level 1.

http://www.ictgames.com/soccer_subtraction.html - for all those budding footballers out there. This is a great site for helping the children that when zero is taken away from a number then the same number remains. For those footie fans out there it may be the only chance England have of beating Brazil!!!

http://www.ictgames.com/mucky.html - always a good start to review the language of ‘less’ which is a precursor to subtraction.

http://www.ictgames.com/postletter.html - good for those children developing their number recognition to 20.

http://www.ictgames.com/piratenumbers2.html - great for developing the recognition and writing of numbers to 20.

http://www.ictgames.com/newduckshoot10s.html - naughty that we are…or should we say that we are pure genius!?! The children are working on counting in tens to 100. This is a great game for those children learning numbers beyond 20 but with an adult, all the children can access this if they count in tens.

www.rainforestmaths.com - as always this websites provides really good activities for the children to do. Start with the Reception/Foundation Stage link and then as your child progresses move onto the Year 1 activities. We do have many children who will be able to access it.

http://www.ictgames.com/cvc_machine.html
http://www.prongo.com/drag/game.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html
http://www.ictgames.com/plankgame.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/patch.shtml
www.starfall.com
http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/other/spark/itsagoal/itsagoal.html
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=12
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=16

And finally… can I take the opportunity to thank you and your children for such an exciting and memorable year. You will all be missed!

Take care and have a great holiday!
Love

Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxx

Hi there and welcome to our penultimate week in school! It’s just so scary how time flies. We’re obviously having lots of FUN!

Mantle of the Expert
Did your child tell you about our ‘Grow Your Own Beanstalk Kit’? Well, it wasn’t what we expected. A tin opener? A can of baked beans? Glitter? Surely that could not work! Mmmm….you bet it did! By the end of Friday we had our first shoot of the beanstalk. I wonder if it has grown over the weekend…

This week, we continue our mantle based around Jack and the Beanstalk. Last week, Jack struck the beanstalk and the giant fell to the ground leaving an enormous whole in our playground. When our investigators finally got to the scene, THE GIANT HAD DISAPPEARED!!!! But wait a minute…is that a footprint? Who does it belong to? How can we find out? Where has the giant gone?

I bet you think I’ve lost the plot now!!! Believe me it can get worse and it’s contagious!

Well actually, this links into the letter they will receive via the beanstalk post. This is a letter from a giant. Is it Jack’s giant or is it another? You’ll just have to wait and see.

Communication, Language and Literacy
The development of the mantle will continue to support the children’s speaking and listening skills, as well as provide opportunities for responding to the giant’s letters in their play.

We will be continuing to complete our retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk to pass on to the Year One teachers in order to provide a sample of the children’s writing skills. We have been extremely pleased with the children’s eagerness to do their writing and hope this will continue into this week.

As always, high frequency words and phonic activities are going on in class but your support at home is crucial. Here are some good websites that may be of use to you this week:
http://www.ictgames.com/cvc_machine.html
http://www.prongo.com/drag/game.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/cvc/index.shtml
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html
http://www.ictgames.com/plankgame.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/patch.shtml
www.starfall.com
http://pbjc-lib.state.ar.us/mural.htm - for lovely pictures of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.
http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/other/spark/itsagoal/itsagoal.html
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=12
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=16

Mathematical Development
By the end of this week, the children:
COULD be able to read and make half past and o’clock;
SHOULD be able to read and make o’clock;
MUST be able to read o’clock.

Due to the over planning and over enthusiastic nature of the mantle activities, our time spent on this was limited. This week WILL be different.

http://www.learningplanet.com/act/tw/index.asp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/dynamo/den/clock/index.htm
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/time/index.htm
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/time_half_hour/index.htm
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/maths/time_hour/index.htm
A pug-in is needed for the above two sites. Here is the link:
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveAuthorware&P5_Language=English

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/willy/willy.html
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/503/clock.swf - this is good for moving the clock hands.

Physical Development
In PE this week, we pray for sunshine and a dry field so that we can practice for Sports day.

The domestics
Hopefully, you will have all received your child’s annual report, giving you information about their achievements whilst in the Foundation Stage. Some of the language may be difficult to understand but the parents’ evening will clarify it for you. We are dancing with joy at the level of achievement the children have attained. Another successful year!!

Within the envelope was a feedback sheet that you can complete and send back into school with any comments you wish to make. These are lovely for us to keep so please complete them. Last year we placed them in a book with photographs of the children. A lovely reminder of each year group.

You will have also been given the name of your child’s teacher when they move into Year 1. At this point can I welcome Mrs Worrall into the Key Stage One Team. I know she is looking forward to teaching the children.

Please be aware that there has been at least four weeks of careful consideration regarding the groupings of the children for Year 1. When some children are obviously the best of friends they may have not been placed in the same class for Year 1. Friendships continue beyond the boundaries of a classroom and the children will have the opportunity to play together at play times. Your child’s achievement and happiness is crucial.
And finally…

Have a great week!

Take care

Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxx