Parent meetings

Thank you very much for taking the time to chat with us about your child’s learning in your recent parent meeting. At Preston we believe that children make the most progress when school, the child and parents work together. It was wonderful to discuss your child’s progress and talk about how they have settled in school.

Maths Parent Workshop       

We hold regular parent workshops to keep parents informed about their child's learning, how to support at home and to involve parents in our school as much as possible.  On Wednesday 30^th November 5pm - 6pm, we will be holding a Maths workshop in school. The aim is to share with you our approach to Maths teaching at Preston Primary School and to enjoy some practical activities.

We will start the workshop at 5pm, however the doors will be opened 10 minutes beforehand – please come in through the main school door by the office. Light refreshments will be available.

You are very welcome to bring your child with you so that they can also engage in the practical activities and share their knowledge with you.

The link to book a place on the workshop is https://forms.office.com/r/3cf8FdbavK   You will also receive an email today (Friday) with this link on. Please book your place by Monday 28^th November.

We look forward to seeing lots of you at this special event!

Celebrations and Festivals - Diwali

Learning about different festivals, gives us an understanding of different cultures and traditions. This week we have been learning about the Hindu festival of Diwali. Diwali is a festival of lights that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil.

We used salt dough to make our own Diva lamp pot, which was then baked in the oven to harden. We enjoyed painting our diva lamps in bright colours.

Rangoli is a popular Diwali tradition. Beautiful patterns made using bright colours. People draw Rangoli on the floor by the entrance of their homes to welcome the gods and bring good luck. We created our own Rangoli patterns using chalk.

Celebrations and festivals - Nativity

Christmas is fast approaching, and we have started to practise our Nativity. The children have been told their part and will be coming home today with a line to learn – please look in their book bag for this. We have also put a copy of their lines on Seesaw, along with songs to practice. The children are very excited about filming the nativity for you - you will be sent the link for the Nativity play towards the end of term.  We have lots of costumes in school so you will not need to supply anything unless we have specifically spoken to you. Please help your child learn their lines over the weekend as we will begin filming it next week. We have been encouraging all the children to project their voice and say their lines with confidence. Thank you for your support.

We would like to invite you into school on Tuesday 13^th December at 9:30am where the children will perform some songs for you.

At the end of this newsletter, we have added some key dates as there is lots happening in school during the festive period.

Maths

This week in maths we have been exploring number six. We explored arranging 6 counters in different arrangements, e.g. in a line, in a 6 dice pattern. We then tried to put the counters in a five frame – but we had a problem! There wasn’t enough space to fit them all in! This led to lots of discussions around why they couldn’t fit all of the counters in and how 6 is more than 5. We then realized that we needed a frame with more space in, so we switched our five frame for a ten frame. When we placed the counters in this time, the children noticed some things, ‘I can see a 5 part and a 1 part’, ‘6 is 1 more than 5’, ‘I know that it is a 6 because I can subitise the 5 and there is 1 extra.’

Literacy – ‘Whatever Next!’

This week we have been exploring the story book 'Whatever Next' by Jill Murphy. We began the week by reading the story and then we created a story map. Some children then attempted to sequence the story, putting the pictures in order. During ‘choosing learning’, some children have been re-enacting the story using props. We also made a jam sandwich so that we could have a picnic on the moon – the children followed the instructions and enjoyed making (and eating!) their tasty snack. We used the vocabulary ‘spread’ and ‘cut’. The children made models or drew pictures of their rocket and have also begun to write labels.

Considerate Parking near the school site

A reminder that if you do need to drive to drop-off or collect your child from school, to please park with consideration to nearby residents and ensure that you are not obstructing their drives, garages, or access. Please be respectful of our neighbours. We appreciate your support in this matter.

Home Learning

• Enjoy listening to this week’s story on Seesaw.
• Check your child’s book bag or on Seesaw for phonics activities and reading to complete at home.
• Please support your child in learning their line for the Nativity.

Important Dates        

• Early Years Maths Workshop for parents – Wednesday 30^th November (book place by Monday 28^th).
• Non-school uniform day – Friday 9^th December. Please bring in a bottle for the tombola.
• FOPPS Christmas Market - Friday 9^th December 3:15 – 5:30pm
• Foundation Stage nativity songs to parents – Tuesday 13^th December 9:30am.
• Christmas lunch – Wednesday 14^th December. Please book on Aspens website by Friday 9^th December. Login (aspens-services.com)
• Christmas jumper day and Christmas party – Friday 16^th December.
• Last day of term - Friday 16^th December.

Kind Regards, Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team.