Pixie Class (Reception)
Pixie Class Newsletters:
Pixie Class Newsletter for Week Ending 26th April 2019
Pixie Class Newsletter for Week Ending 3rd May 2019
Pixie Class Newsletter for Week Ending 10th May 2019
Pixie Class Newsletter for Week Ending 17th May 2019
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The reception team would like to welcome all parents and children to the early year’s unit.
We are excited to welcome you back to our sixth and final term in Pixie Class. We can not believe how quickly the year has flown by it has been a privilege to watch all your children grow and develop over the year.
Attached is our exciting early year’s curriculum. Throughout the year the children have had the opportunity to engage and explore a variety of activities that encourage development in each of the seven areas of learning. These areas are identified in the planning document. Children need to meet the Early Learning Goal by the end of this academic year in all areas in order to achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’, this will be published in their Term 6 Report.
This term our topic is 'Nature Detectives'.' please see the topic plan attached for the objectives we will be focusing on and some activities we will be doing across the term.
Look at our 'Creative Curriculum' offered through the year so far...
Lets Celebrate Topic .... Teddy Bears Picnic
Harvest Halloween Dress Up Activity Day
Spooky Welly Walk Fundraiser Visit from Local Author
Children in Need Dance Performance Workshop. Autumn and Winter Welly Walk in the Woods.
Remembrance Day 'Love of Reading' Workshop with our Families and Friends.
Pixie Class Wedding.
' Tree Dress Up' Day in the woods. Christmas Decorations
Santa's Workshop Role Play Area
Parent 'Stay and Play' Sessions. World Book Day 'Dress Up'
Visit from the Fireman and Fire Engine Designing Easter Bonnets
Extreme Reading Competition Chinese New Year Food Tasting
Easter Bonnet Parade to the local church Visit from the Vets and their Fury Friend
Here is some pictures of Pixie Class:
Writing Area Computer / Listening Area
Construction Area Role Play Area
Maths Area Reading Area
Outside Area
Thank you so much for supporting us with our fundraising for the outside area. The children's Welly Walk Fundraiser in Term 2 and Cake Fundraising Sale in Term 4, they were a great success. We would like to take the time to thank all of the children for participating and our parents for their generous donations. We have spent the money resourcing and replenishing our outside area. Please see below for photos.
Construction Area Mud Kitchen
Digging / Investigation Area Reading Area
Writing Area
Reading
Please try to read with your children each evening for 10 minutes and record this in the purple reading log. If we can see all the pages in the book have been read, we will change the book. We will ask you to read the story several times with your child, this is to encourage them to use their comprehension skills to understand the story that they are reading rather than simply decoding the words with their sounds.
In addition to this if your child goes up a reading band, look out for a sticker to congratulate them! We will provide you with their next steps in reading so you can fully support them at home.
For more information on how to help your children read at home and the positive comments you can write in their reading log as their reading progresses, please refer to the ' 50 ways to say well done' document attached.
Reading Challenge
In Term 3 we introduced the ‘Pixie Class Reading Challenge’ through our Love of Reading Workshop. Thank you to all of the family members who came along with their favourite picture books to share with the children. The Reading Challenge is already having a huge impact on the children’s reading and writing. Please support your child with this by reading the expected 5 times a week. If they complete this for nine weeks they will be rewarded with their very own picture book. The picture books were specially picked by the parents, grandparents and the children in our 'Love of Reading' Workshop with the book reviews that were created.
If children read:
5X in one week = Gold Star
(3 X a week at least at home and 2 X a week in school to reach the expected amount)
3x Gold Star = Certificate
3x Certificate = Free Picture Book
In term 4 and 5 we had many children in Pixie Class complete the reading challenge and receive their very own picture book to take home and treasure. These children are now working towards completing the reading challenge for a second or even third time. We have some brand new picture books ready and waiting for the children which were selected by parents and children at our 'love of reading' workshop alongside book reviews written to match each text by our lovely parents.
Phonics
We have a daily phonics session using the scheme ‘letters and sounds’ supported by the 'Jolly Phonics’ program. Each child began Phase 2 in September. All children have now moved onto Phase 3, Phase 4 and some children have even progressed to phase 5 and will be accessing their phonics in Elves Class to challenge their individual needs.
Your child will be learning new sounds each week. Each child will be taught and challenged at their own ability, therefore, this term we have split into ability groups and vertically stream with Year 1 in order for each child to have specific phase teaching to challenge and achieve.
Your child will be in Boris Group or Basil Group and will be learning a different set of sounds at a targeted pace. If you are unsure which group your child is in, simply ask them, Miss Hales or Miss Brown. The set of letters your child learns will be put on the classroom door daily as well as the Pixie Class weekly newsletter. Each week your child's sound book will be updated with the sounds they have learnt that week.
Basil Group - Phase 2
In Phase 2, letters and their sounds are introduced one at a time. A set of letters is taught each week, in the following sequence:
Set 1: s, a, t, p
Set 2: i, n, m, d
Set 3: g, o, c, k
Set 4: ck, e, u, r
Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss
As soon as each set of letters is introduced, children will be encouraged to use their knowledge of the letter sounds to blend and sound out words. For example, they will learn to blend the sounds s-a-t to make the word sat. They will also start learning to segment words. For example, they might be asked to find the letter sounds that make the word tap from a small selection of magnetic letters
For further support on how to aid your child with phonics please refer to ‘Phonics Matters’ 
When your child has completed the end of their phase they will be sent home with a certificate, sound mat and tricky word book mark for their new phase.
Boris Group - Phase 3
Letters and their sounds are introduced one at a time. A set of letters is taught each week, in the following sequence:
Set 6: j, v, w, x
Set 7: y, z, zz, qu
Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng
Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, ure, er
As soon as each set of sounds is introduced, children will be encouraged to use their knowledge of the letter sounds to blend and sound out words. For example, they will learn to blend the sounds ch-o-p to make the word chop. They will also start learning to segment the sounds to support them phonetically write the words.
When your child has completed the end of their phase they will be sent home with a certificate and a sound mat for their new phase. I am confident you will see lots of these coming home in Term 4.
Phase 4
In Phase 4, no new graphemes are introduced. The main aim of this phase is to consolidate the children's knowledge and to help them learn to read and spell words which have adjacent consonants, such as trap, string and milk.
By now, children should be confident with each phoneme. ‘From here on, phonics teaching is about consolidating and refining their knowledge, introducing more spelling patterns and tricky words, and increasing vocabulary,’ Miss Hales says.
In Phase 4 phonics, children will, among other things:
- Practise reading and spelling CVCC words (‘such,’ ‘belt,’ ‘milk’ etc)
- Practise reading and spelling high frequency words
- Practise reading and writing sentences
- Learn more tricky words, including ‘have,’ ‘like,’ ‘some,’ ‘little’
Children should now be blending confidently to work out new words. They should be starting to be able to read words straight off, rather than having to sound them out. They should also be able to write every letter, mostly correctly. This phase usually takes four to six weeks, and most children will complete it around the end of Reception.
Phase 5
It is fantastic progress that some of Pixie Class have began Phase 5 in their Reception Year, this generally takes children the whole of Year 1. In Phase 5 we start introducing alternative spellings for sounds, like 'igh',. Children master these in reading first, and as their fluency develops, we begin to see them using them correctly in spelling.
Children learn new graphemes (different ways of spelling each sound) and alternative pronunciations for these: for example, learning that the grapheme ‘ow’ makes a different sound in ‘snow’ and ‘cow’.
They should become quicker at blending, and start to do it silently.
They learn about split digraphs (the ‘magic e’) such as the a-e in ‘name.’
They’ll start to choose the right graphemes when spelling, and will learn more tricky words, including ‘people,’ ‘water’ and ‘friend’. They also learn one new phoneme: /zh/, as in ‘treasure.’
Thank you too all of the parents who attended the Phonics Workshop and the 'Phonics in Action' sessions in Term 1 and 4 We have had really positive feedback about how this has supported you to aid your children at home with their phonics knowledge, reading and writing.
In Term 6 we have arranged for children to visit the local library to receive their first library card. Please look out for the letter with details attached.
For further information on how to support your child with their writing at home and to understand the steps of development in your child's writing over the course of the year please look at 'My child's writing document' attached.
Thank you to those parents who attended the 'Writing Workshop' in Term 5. We hope this has supported you when aiding your children's writing at home in particular their writing
Maths
This term children will focus on:
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Addition/Subtraction
Counting back |
Number bonds to 10
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Money
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Time
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School readiness for year 1 Curriculum
Sharing/halving problems |
For further support on how to aid your child with maths please click here; ‘Maths Matters’
Thank you too all of the parents who attended the Mathematics Workshop and the 'Maths in Action' sessions in Term 2. We have had really positive feedback about how this has supported you to aid your children at home with their number knowledge by supportive activities for home learning to consolidate and extend your child's understanding.
Watch out for the Tapestry Challenges!
Workshops
We have now provided parents with the following training;
- Tapestry Training
- Phase 2 Phonics Workshop
- Phonics 'in action' sessions
- Maths workshop
- Maths 'in action' sessions
- 'Love of Reading' Workshop
- Phase 3 Phonics Workshop
- Phonics 'in action' sessions
- Early Writing Workshop
Thank you for all of your positive feedback in the 'Workshops Questionnaire' sent out in Term 3, we were overwhelmed with your kind comments and recognition, We really valued your opinion and ideas and all suggested workshops have now been carried out. If you would like any additional training please speak to Miss Hales.
Thank you for all 'EYFS Questionnaires' completed in Term 4. We are overwhelmed with your support. In term 6 we are arranging a 'Pixie class parents involved and not simply informed' activity day. Please watch out for the letter and we hope for you to all join us in our fun day.
Transition
We are busy planning your child's transition from Year R to 1. Some activities have already began and will increase in Term 6. Lookout for the transition programme in the term ahead.
Here is a letter of what Transition events we were busy doing in Term 5:
'EYFS to KS1 Transition Journey'
Reception ‘Reception to Year 1 Transition’ Questionnaire 2018-2019.
Please can you spend a few minutes of your time completing the questionnaire using your experiences of the ‘Transition Programme from Reception to Year 1’? We are trying to gather information to see if there is anything more we can do to support you and your child with their transition in Term 6, and we would value your views. If you would like any help filling in this questionnaire please do not hesitate to come in and ask.
Child initiated
In reception we value the impact of play and how this supports a child’s development. We have child initiated time in the afternoon for children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world, technological skills, communication and language, speaking and listening, building and developing relationships, expressive arts and imagination. This time consolidates a child’s understanding and allows them to put their skills in to practise and develop them independently.
Tapestry
Thank you so much to all who attended the Tapestry Training in Term 1. I am pleased to say all parents have now activated their Tapestry account. Please feel free to add a photo of your child for significant new learning or experiences, we would love to see what they have been doing at home. In addition to this please feel free to contribute towards the observations we make in school by commenting or pushing the ‘like’ button!
Watch out this term for the continuing ‘Tapestry Challenges’ and see if you can add evidence of your child doing the challenge and upload. This challenges and observations will contribute towards your child's assessments.
Children enjoy using Tapestry as a ‘show and tell’ resource in the classroom.
Homework
Lynsted and Norton Primary School Curriculum Promise for Creative Curriculum.
We expect:
- All children are expected to read 5 times a week in order to meet the Pixie Class reading challenge.
- To practise sounds using a sound book, sound mat or tricky word bookmark.
- Watch out for the Tapestry challenges!!
- Upload any significant new learning on to Tapestry you see at home.
- **Term 4** Homework will be set each Friday and due in the following Thursday. If you ever have any questions about the homework please do not hesitate to come and speak to Miss Hales or Miss Brown.
Thank you for all the WOW leaves we have received to celebrate your child's new learning and development at home. We have added them to our WOW tree and i am pleased to see that parents have been requesting more than one each term! Please remember these are available next to our 'parents as partners' tree in the cloakroom available for you to help yourself to at any point.
Open Afternoon
Each term the children are very busy and produce some wonderful things both in their books and around the classroom. We would like to give you the opportunity to be shown these by your children in a parent ‘Stay and Play’ session. This will be held on the final week of each term from @ 2.30 – 3.15pm in Pixie Class. This Term it will be held on Wednesday 10th July 2019. Your children will have the opportunity to show you all of their fabulous work they produce each term, read a story with you and show you around their classroom!
Thank you to all those parents who attended in Term 5. It is brilliant to have your parent voice comments attached to their books to show our growing ‘parents as partners’ motto.
PE
Our PE Day is Wednesday. Please make sure your children have their kit in school on this day so they can fully participate in all our PE activities. This is also the day that items of our school uniform go missing as the children get changed for PE independently. To avoid this please make sure all items of clothing are labelled.
For children to participate in PE they are not allowed to wear earrings. Please remove these before children come to school.
Our PE topic this term explores different ways of moving and balancing using different parts of their body.
As the whether is cold please make sure your child has track suit bottoms and a jumper as well as trainers in their PE bag. Children will continue to do PE outside and it is essential they have the appropriate clothing.
Uniform
All children are to wear;
- White polo top / white shirt.
- Black Trousers / Black Skirt / Black Shorts
- Summer Dress
- Black Shoes
- School Jumper / School Cardigan / School Fleece
Please make sure all these items are labelled with the child’s name clearly visible.
Water Bottles
We provide a water bottle for each child. These are filled up and cleaned out daily. These water bottles are not to be taken home and will remain in school. Children do not need an additional water bottle bought in from home unless they are packed lunch.
Fruit and Milk 
All children will be provided with a snack at 10.15 daily. Children will be provided with a piece of fruit and carton of milk. Free milk is available for all children under the age of five in school, funded by the UK government. Once your child turns five you will be asked to pay a subsidised rate for your child to continue to receive milk. If you would like to register your child with milk once your child turns five please visit www.coolmilk.com
Lunch Times
All children will be supervised in the dinner hall by a member of the reception team. They are there to aid the children carry their trays, support them to use a knife and fork and encourage them to try a variety of different foods offered. All children up in EYFS and KS1 are entitled to a free school meal. Menu's can be found at www.principals-catering.com and are available from the school office.
If children prefer, they can also bring in a packed lunch. We are proud to say that we are a ‘healthy school’ and therefore no crisps or chocolate are to be bought into school.
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If you have any additional questions, worries or concerns please feel free to drop in and speak to your class teacher who will be on the playground at 8.40am each morning, at the end of the school day or by writing in your in the home contact book. Alternatively you can ring the school office and the class teacher will ring you back at a convenient time.
Thank you all for the 'Parent Workshop' Questionnaires you filled out in Term 5. We was overwhelmed with your positivity and have put your recommendations into place. The Questionnaires are below the WOW tree in the 'Parents Voice' Wallet for you to look at at any time.
Miss Hales
