Sports Day

On Thursday, we held our Sports Day. The weather certainly couldn’t dampen spirits! The children took part with the biggest smiles on their faces – we are so proud of them! All the children had the opportunity to take part in five races – sprint, hurdles, sack race, bat and bean bag race, and a silly hat race. Thank you very much to the families who came to support and cheer us on. We wanted to share some photos with you of our practices. If you are reading this newsletter on the School News App, a reminder that our school website also has a copy of all newsletters which contain more photos for you to view. We hope you enjoy the montage of sports photos.

Read Write Inc

In Read Write Inc (RWI) this week the children learnt the sounds p, g, o and c. Practise writing these letters in your RWI handwriting booklet. You could also practise them in a creative way, e.g. chalk on the pavement, water and paintbrush on a wooden fence, or draw with a finger in the sand. You can send us a picture on Seesaw of your outdoor letter writing.

The children are continuing to orally blend sounds in cvc words. We have been playing games using ‘sound-talk’ (or ‘Fred-talk’), which you can also do at home. Remember that it is the SOUND which is important – not the spelling, e.g. the word ‘chip’ has 3 sounds, ch-i-p, the word ‘sheep’ has 3 sounds, sh-ee-p, the word ‘zoo’ has 2 sounds, z-oo.

You could build oral blending into simple instructions. Ask your child “Please could you get me the b-a-g” or “Get your c-oa-t” or “Pass me the f-or-k” and give your child chance to jump in and blend the sounds to make the words.

Woodland Camp

Across the year, we will be encouraging the children to observe seasonal changes in the natural world around them. In the woodland camp this week, we have been talking about Autumn and what happens at this time of the year. The children noticed that some of the leaves are starting to fall off the trees, and that some leaves are starting to change colour. They also noticed that the temperature felt a bit cooler.

We introduced magnifying glasses to the children so that they could make close-up observation of leaves.

The children used iPads to take photographs of the Woodland Camp. We will do this regularly throughout the year so that children can compare the images to see the differences at different points of the year.

Maths

In maths lessons this week, we have been measuring and comparing sizes. We read the story ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’ to discuss sizes. Vocabulary included little, small, big, smallest and biggest.

We then introduced more specific language of ‘tall’, ‘long’ and ‘short’. We talked about the difference between ‘tall’ and ‘long’, e.g. a giraffe is tall and a snake is long. Children have had lots of fun using building blocks to create towers to explore ‘shorter than’ and ‘taller than’. They used ribbons and shoe laces to compare them to objects that were ‘shorter than’ or ‘longer than’.

We extended their understanding in Choosing Learning time by providing lots of opportunities including block tower building, threading activities and a 3 bears story box.

We have also used the story book ‘Dear Zoo’ to discuss size. There is an activity on Seesaw which your child might like to try at home using boxes and toy animals.

Messages

• Please return PE kits to school by Monday 4^th October.
• Please continue to contact the school office by email admin@preston.torbay.sch.uk or phone 01803 607075 with any questions or queries.
• In the event of your child being poorly, please call our absence line is 01803 607589 where you can leave a message.
• There is also lots of useful information, as well as event dates and term dates, on our school website  https://www.preston.torbay.sch.uk/

Home learning options

• Enjoy sharing this week’s library book.
• Practise the p, g, o and c pages in your RWI (Read Write Inc) phonics booklet. Also practice writing your name.
• Watch the Seesaw video to review the RWI sounds.
• Look on Seesaw to enjoy ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell and have fun with the maths box activity.
• Enjoy the story ‘Dogger’ read by Mrs Dyer.

Dates to remember

Swimming - Every Tuesday until half term

Last day before half term - Friday 15th October

Return to school - Monday 1st November

‘Stickman’ Theatre Trip - Friday 5th November

From Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team