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Weekly update for week beginning 17th December 2007
Can you believe it? We have completed a third of the school year already, and what a term it has been! We are truly amazed at the level the children are working at and are well on their way to achieving great success. This is not only due to the hard work they are doing in school, but to your commitment to supporting your child and the every child’s enthusiasm for learning. So…it’s a pat on the back all round I think.We had a fabulous time at the cathedral and Mr Barker was full of praise and admiration for the children. We even got to have our photograph took infront of the nativity scene. I have placed the photograph on the desktop of the Interactive Whiteboard if you want to have a look at it. The Year 6 looked after them very well.
This week is full of fun and frolics. Mmmm…so what’s different from any other week?
This week is goes very quickly but nevertheless action packed with seasonal activities. On Monday, the children will have a some-what normal morning (if it is at all possible to call the foundation Stage 'normal) but then…It’s time to PARTY!!! Yes, the children can come in their frilly dresses, glittery shoes and lip gloss…and that’s just the boys. Seriously, the children can come ready dressed to party. Many thanks for your contributions. Santa has emailed us to say he will be making a very special appearance too. No expense spared for our little treasures! We would like to thank all the parents who acted as santa’s elves last week.


Wednesday – remember those PE kits? Yes, they will come home for a good wash and iron ready for the Spring Term.

Thursday – with the last day being so action packed the children are treated to a toy afternoon. The children are allowed to bring in a toy to play with. We do encourage the children to bring in a toy that the can share with a friend e.g a card game, Buckaroo, Hungry Hippos, etc (I love those!!)Friday is the carol service and the children have a lovely day. The Christmas Carol Concert will be held in St Joseph’s Church. We will be walking to church so if you are available to escort us then please let one of us know. Thanks. They are finally treated to a pantomime performed in the school hall by our parents. We all have a great laugh! One year I had to do a 'bush-tucker trial' involving jelly and creepy-crawlies. The children love it (and secretly so do the staff). All in all, the children go out on a high and are ready to drive you mental over the Christmas holidays. Ha ha ha!!! Please don't worry for I too have a four year old excited to the point of explosion to contend with over the Christmas break.

Also… clear space in your house for all the spectacular Christmas nick-nacks the children have made for you.
In addition to this, we will be completing our assessments of the children. WOW!!! is the word that comes to mind so far as we collate our information. Please remember to check out your child's diary for information on the letter names, sounds and numbers they need to work on as well as any other additional information we may need to pass on.After lulling you into a false sense of security, I have found a series of websites which you can use to give your child a 'taster' of what is in store for the New Year. These should keep them busy over the holidays.www.ictgames.com/letterlifter.html - develops letter recognition and keyboard awarenesswww.ictgames.com/phonic_fighter4.html - love it!!www.ictgames.com/plankgameR.html - remember to keep those high frequency words going.www.ictgames.com/lcwc.html - type in your own spellings to learnwww.ictgames.com/machine.html - look at the picture then blend the sounds together to read the words and click on the matching one. Remember to use pure sounds.www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/find_the.shtml - find the number that matches the one under Bill's featherswww.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/games/snakes.shtml - snakes and ladders for one and two playerswww.primaryresources.co.uk/online/numorder.swf - ordering random numberswww.ictgames.com/caterpillar_slider.html - ordering random numbershttp://pbskids.org/lions/games/ears2.html - hearing the initial and final sounds in words and matching the letter symbolwww.ictgames.com/postletter.html - number recognition gamehttp://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/christmas/santa%20count.html - a little festive countinghttp://pbskids.org/lions/games/pounce2.html - using the initial letter to identify words
You may have been aware of Mrs Latham’s absence from the team for the last four weeks. She has been with her family in Ireland and sadly, her father passed away Monday. We are sure you join us in our prayers for Mrs Latham and her family at this very sad time.

Finally….
May I take the opportunity to wish you and all your family a very special, happy, safe and Holy Christmas. Here’s to 2008!!

Take care

Jayne Narraway and The Foundation Stage Team xxx
PS If your little angel gets a little bored of the expensive presents you have trawled the internet and shops for, then you could always occupy them with these Christmas websites. http://www.merry-christmas.com/games/games.htmhttp://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/christmas/ Christmas resources from Northumberland Grid for Learning.http://www.btinternet.com/~tony.poulter/xmas/xmastlinks.htmhttp://members.tripod.com/~newyearseve/http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/teacher/christmas.htmlhttp://www.star28.net/snow.html hilarious!! the penguin will write your message in the snow - perhaps you could write the high frequency words.http://dingo.care2.com/cards/new/0422/Do-a-rain-deer.swf play the reindeer noses!!http://www.icq.com/friendship/pages/browse_page_7944.html reindeer bandhttp://www.bry-backmanor.org/actpag75.html a to z of Christmas book
http://www.northpole.com/ - this is a lovely website with lots of festive activities to enjoy.http://www.funranch.com/games/tree/index.htm -get those creative juices flowing with a little decorating of the tree.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/games/snowman_v4.html - a great website for supporting your child’s understanding of size. The children can make a family of snowmen. Encourage them to use the language, taller, shorter and some shape names also. Have a good one!