Marvellous Me

This week the children continued their discussions on similarities and differences across the curriculum. In art they took close up photos of one another’s faces on the ipad. They talked about how they all had two eyes, but they were not all the same colour. They noticed similarities and differences with their hair and that their faces were different shapes. This also linked nicely to our current school value Respect. They understood that they had to show respect to one another when discussing different facial features, respecting differences. The children then used the photos to learn about self-portraits and how to draw them. They paid particular attention to the location of facial features, for example are their eyes at the bottom of their face and are they triangular shaped? We revisited the word ‘Unique’ from last week’s learning.

We focused on the following vocabulary: art, portrait, landscape, self-portrait, oval, features, top, bottom, middle, same, different, face, chin, mouth, lips, nose, nostrils, eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, forehead, hair, curved line, straight line.

Some of the children were worried about getting their self-portrait wrong and making a mistake. We reassured them that art is individual and unique and that we were proud of all of them for trying their best. They all enjoyed drawing their self-portraits and we will share them with you when they are all finished.

In the Woodland Camp the children were observing the natural environment, focusing on the trees and leaves. They looked at the shapes and colours of the leaves, looking for simalarities and differencs. There were lots of different coloured leaves; yellow, green, brown, red, orange, golden. Some were spikey, pointy, wavey and curved. We brought the leaves back to the classroom to take a closer look and create some leaf rubbings. If you find any interesting leaves whilst out walking, please bring them into school to add to our interest table.

Curriculum continued

In maths lessons this week we have been exploring the number 2 and talking about pairs. We provided opportunities for the children to find a pair of objects and match objects which were the same. We asked the children the following questions. ‘Can you find another one?’ ‘How do you know it is a pair? We then moved on to talking about matching pairs.

The children particularly enjoyed matching pairs of socks and playing a matching pairs game. We discussed why items like trousers and scissors are called a pair of trousers and a pair of scissors, where is the ‘twoness’ in these items? Please discuss this with your child.

In PE we continued learning about ‘pairs’. The children were learning to successfully throw and catch a beanbag in pairs. They communicated with their partner to make sure they were ready to receive the beanbag and practised underarm throwing.  

JIGSAW - Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

PSHE Education (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) is a planned programme of learning through which children and young people acquire the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to successfully manage their lives – now and in the future. Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn.

Jigsaw combines PSHE, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. Jigsaw aims to help children know and value who they really are and how they relate to other people in this ever-changing world. There are six Puzzles/themes (one per half-term) and every year group studies the same Puzzle at the same time (sequentially ordered from September to July). They are; Being me in my world, Celebrating difference, Dreams and goals, Healthy me, Relationships, Changing me.

Every Jigsaw session starts with ‘Calm Me’ time where children are encouraged to relax and control their breathing. We then sing a song about togetherness. This week’s discussion topic was ‘I can start to recognise and manage my feelings’. The children talked about being happy, angry, and sad and used the sentence starters I was happy when…. I was sad when….

The children impressed us with their empathy, and we talked about strategies for managing anger and what to do if you see someone who is sad. We will continue to have these discussions on a daily basis, and it would be great if you could do the same at home. We have assigned a mindful breathing activity on Seesaw for your child to practise (you might like to join in too). It is good to practice this regularly so your child can use the strategies in times of stress and anxiety.

During the session we read the story ‘The Colour Monster’, linking feelings to colours. We made our own feelings jars and talked about how it is ok to feel more than one feeling at a time and how to manage this.

We will share a Knowledge Organiser for our first half term of Jigsaw ‘Being me in my world’. This will detail key vocabulary and activities to enable you to continue the learning at home.

Read Write Inc

This week’s sounds are n, g, b c. Your child will be bringing home a practice booklet today in their book bag. Please take your time to carefully practice the sounds that have been taught in school. Remember to encourage the correct letter formation. If you have any queries, please come and ask.

We have recorded a demonstration Read Write Inc speed sound lesson for you to watch. We will send you the link on Seesaw.

Thank you for your support with the Parent Phonic Information Session. We are excited to share your child’s reading journey with you. If you were unable to join us for the session, we will put a link to the recording on Seesaw.

Theatre Trip

We have some exciting news. We are delighted to announce that we are arranging a school trip to Plymouth Theatre Royal to watch ‘Room on the Broom’ live on stage. This is an exciting opportunity which supports many areas of learning including: Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, and Understanding the World. You will be receiving a letter via e-mail with more information.

Reading for Pleasure

We are proud to be supporting and encouraging a love of reading culture across the whole school. This week we introduced ‘Mystery Reader’. Every Tuesday across the school children will receive a visit from a mystery reader. This will be a different adult from their usual class teacher and the mystery reader will read aloud to the children sharing their passion for books. This week Puffins and Penguins mystery reader was Mr Mealy. He read the popular story ‘The Gruffalo’. The children were excited to find out who their mystery reader was, and they thoroughly enjoyed the story. Thank you, Mr Mealy.

Home Learning

• Collect interesting leaves to bring into school.
• Play a matching pairs game and send us a picture on Seesaw.
• Enjoy the story ‘Dogger’ read by Miss Dyer.
• Use your new handwriting booklet to practise writing the sounds taught so far in RWI m,a,s,t,d,I,p,n,g,b,u
• Join in with Maggie Muncher on Seesaw
• Try the mindfulness breathing activity on Seesaw.

Messages

• Please remember to send in your child’s library book to school every Monday and Tuesday.
• Please complete the ‘Brush Bus’ consent form. We will be starting the programme next week. If your child does not have consent, they will not be able to take part.

Dates

Monday 24^th October – Friday 4^th November – Half Term

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