Welcome back!

Hi there!
Well, I hope you have had a wonderful half term holiday and are raring to go for the last half term before I return. I can’t wait to see you all and have lots of fun activities up my sleeve.
Ash Wednesday

This week sees the start of Lent. We will be holding a short service in the hall to mark Ash Wednesday and the children will receive their ashes in the classrooms afterwards. Should you wish to receive ashes in school, please join us at 9am in the hall. As part of the Here I Am syllabus the children will be learning about LENT. We have a Good Shepherd box which we try to fill each year. The children can bring in little amounts of money they would usually spend on sweets to place in the box. This is then given to charity. To read about the traditions and customs of Ash Wednesday, go to http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/easter/ashwednesday.htm

Of course this also means that we will be indulging in pancakes on Tuesday! Maybe the children could have a go at helping you make some on Tuesday evening and use their knowledge of how to write instructions to write the recipe down? http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/shrove.html has a great recipe on there for pancakes and also written instructions – how many of mine will stick to the pan I wonder?

So what else is going on this week?

Communication, Language and Literacy
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to know what a label and a diagram look like.
SHOULD be able to label a diagram
COULD be able to write out a caption to go with a diagram/photo.

This is an excellent opportunity to have a look in non-fiction books which boys in particular love to look at.

As always the children will be focussing on their phonics and I would ask that you look back at previous blogs for the different websites available to the children.

Problem-solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to find one more than a no. to 6.
SHOULD be able to find one more than a no. to 10.
COULD be able to find one more than a no. to 10 and beyond.

Although the children have looked at this before, we aim to develop their mental recall of number facts. Perhaps you can also focus on one less as well and seeing how quickly they can recall the number.

Topic
The children will learn how to ask questions about why things happen and how things work. They will look at pancake mixture and how it changes at the different stages. The children will also be finishing off their rockets from last half term then they can adorn the ceiling of the classroom.

I think that is all for this week.

Have a good one!
Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Teamxxx