Days of the Week

Well…what a week we had last week! The children really did the school credit during our RE inspection and we were so proud of them. They really loved the story of ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne and wrote some beautiful sentences as a result. In addition they gladly exploited the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to speak in Spanish when we were visited by a headteacher from Malaga in Spain. ESTUPENDO!!!

Here goes with this week’s agenda…

Here I Am
Following the start of our new topic on Death and New Life, the children are eagerly awaiting the growth of their ‘seed of love’ which they planted last week. (Between you and me it is actually a giant sunflower that we are going to plant along the fence at the front of school and collect the seeds from – that is if we manage to keep them alive. I am not known for my green fingers!!!)

This week the children will begin the RELATE aspect of the syllabus. The children will learn about Lent as a time for remembering Jesus and being new people. The class will have a Lenten tree where the children who do something extra to help others will be able to have their name written on an egg and placed on the tree. Our aim is to have all the children’s name on the tree. We do have a ‘Good Shepherd’ box in class to collect money for those less fortunate than ourselves. This week, the children will be planning their fundraising event to raise money for Cafod, our chosen charity. The children have the POWER! They can decide how they wish to raise money. Mmmmm… could be interesting!

Communication, Language and Literacy
In order to provide you with up-to-date information regarding your child’s progress in this area of the curriculum, I shall be conducting a series of assessments with the children linked to their literacy skills.

For those children who still need to learn the letters names of the alphabet, this is a fabulous website.
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/kids/antics/index.html - listen to the letter the monkey makes and then click on the corresponding letter symbol out of a choice of three.
http://www.ictgames.com/phonic_fighter4.html - this is great as it uses the letters the children struggle to remember.
http://www.lgfl.net/lgfl/leas/greenwich/accounts/subjects/englishliteracy/web/ICT%20and%20Interactive%20Whiteboard%20Pilot/documents/medialsounds.ppt - great powerpoint to enable the children to develop their blending skills in order to read simple three letter words.
http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/other/spark/itsagoal/itsagoal.html# - love it, love it, love it!!!!!

As part of their guided reading experience, the children will look at the use of diagrams to provide us with information. These websites may prove to be useful in reinforcing this.
http://demo.iboard.co.uk/screens/thread_home.htm?thread_id=13 - review those parts of the face and the children’s understanding of labelled diagrams with this website.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/science/body_parts_s/english.htm - chance to review the names of the body parts.
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/clickon/infantzone/bodyparts.htm
http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/clickon/infantzone/face.htm - children have the chance to label the parts of a face.
http://www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html - this concentrates on the spelling of the high frequency words. You can simply type in the high frequency words that your child needs to work on for them to play the game with.
http://www.ictgames.com/machine.html - great for blending sounds together.
http://www.ictgames.com/blending_dragon.html
http://www.ictgames.com/cluster.html

Mathematical Development
The class target for this week is to know the days of the week off by heart starting with Sunday. I have included a sheet in the children’s bags, which has a song for the children to use to help them.
Last week, we were unable to complete all the activities we had planned for. Therefore, we will be continuing on the area of measure with the children. For the Foundation Stage Profile, the children are expected to USE the mathematical vocabulary linked to measure.
By the end of the week, the children:
MUST be able to use and understand – longer/shorter, taller/shorter, full/empty/half full, heavier/lighter;
SHOULD be able to compare the lengths and masses of two objects using the correct mathematical vocabulary;
COULD be able to compare the length and masses of three or more objects using the correct mathematical vocabulary.
I would only recommend www.rainforestmaths.com as a suitable website for this area of mathematics as nothing beats household items. Why not get out the family shoes and compare the sizes, take different sized containers into the bath and compare the capacity of them, etc. REMEMBER!!!! The use of the correct comparative language is crucial!

Knowledge and Understanding of the World
The children will have a massive dose of information and communication technology (ICT). This week, the children will learn how to use the Bee-bot, another programmable toy. This will be linked with the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. The children must program the robot to go to a particular item from the story.
In addition to this, the children will continue to develop their ability to use a word bank to create sentences. Again, linked to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the children will record what the caterpillar ate on each day. This will support the children’s recognition of the days of the week and the ability to sequence them.

Physical Development
The children will really develop their scissor skills again this week. Any support you can give would be great. REMEMBER to encourage the children to turn the paper and not the scissors.

In PE the children will be continuing to develop their ball skills. This week, the children will be practicing the skill of throwing and catching a bean bag/ball with a partner and then extending this to with a team. Please ensure your child has a pair of pumps in school because if the weather is fair, then we will be going outside for PE lessons.

Creative Development
FOR ALL THOSE MUMS OUT THERE. IT’S A SECRET!!!!

Parents’ Evening
Thank you for the speedy reply regarding the parents’ evening times. However, I do have a problem in that many parents have opted for 5.10pm on the Friday and not provided me with any other times. Unfortunately, I can not accommodate everyone and I will give the appointments on a first come, first served basis. If you are able to provide me with another alternative day (for those who have chosen Friday only) I would be very appreciative as there are a lot of parents to accommodate and any flexibility would be great. Just let me know as soon as possible. You should receive an appointment time in your child’s diary this week.

I think that is all.

Have a fab week!

Best wishes
Jayne Narraway and the Foundation Stage Team xxxxx