Lynsted and Norton Primary School - Pixie Class (Reception)

Pixie Class (Reception)

Hello, my name is Miss Acott and I am the Class Teacher in Pixie Class. Mrs Bird, Miss Brown and Miss Hendrick are the Teaching Assistants. Welcome to Lynsted!

Happy 2021! We are back (virtually) for term 3. Our topic this term is 'Out of this world', where we are exploring everything to do with space! We are looking at the different planets in the solar system and where we live. Our day to day learning is going to be a little different as most children will be learning from home. We ask that parents check their tapestry and Teams accounts as we are posting our remote learning activities every morning. The activities will mirror those taught at school to ensure that no child is disadvantaged by missing face to face learning in class. Staff will be available to answer any questions or queries you have about the activities, and can offer advice if you are struggling.

The Reception class follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which is the curriculum until they enter the Primary National Curriculum in Year 1. There are seven areas of development which the children will be assessed against throughout the year. Children are expected to achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’ by the end of the year. This is achieved by meeting the Early Learning Goals which can be found on the curriculum link below. We work closely with families and other professionals to ensure that all children are given the best opportunities to achieve their potential.

If you would like to have a look at the curriculum please click on the attachments below:

EYFS framework

Development Matters

Term 3's topic will be ‘Out of This World'. Attached below is the topic plan which outlines what we will be focusing on in each area of development and some activities we may be engaging with throughout the term:

Term 3 Topic Map

What have we been up to?

Here, we will post some pictures of the exciting things we have been up to in Pixie class.

16/12/2020 Christmas Dinner

Today we had our Christmas dinner! We had some fabulous jumpers on too.

11/12/2020 Nativity

Well done to all of the Pixies for their amazing nativity performance!

10/11/20 Diwali

This week we have been exploring Diwali. We have been drawing henna patterns and creating Rangoli patterns using chalk on the playground!

23/10/20 Pumpkin Picking

The Pixies went pumpkin picking! We chose our pumpkins from the field. All money was then donated to a local charity!

22/10/20 Sponsored Wellie Walk

We have been fundraising for new equipment for our outdoor areas by going on a sponsored wellie walk! We managed to raise just under £200!

19/10/20 Woodland Walk

The pixies have been exploring the woodlands and using their senses to find out what they can see and hear!

Intergalactic Treasure Hunt 29/9/20

Today we had a visit from some of the children from pre-school! We joined in on a treasure hunt lead by Buzz the Astronaught. We had a series of riddles and had to find the clues hidden around the classroom.

Harvest Festival 25/9/20

We have been celebrating harvest festival! We dressed up like scarecrows and sang Dingle Dangle Scarecrow as part of the harvest assembly. Hopefully the assembly will be shared online for parents to see soon

Our Classroom

Here are some pictures of Pixie Class:

We have begun our journey to develop our children's language and vocabulary through our classroom environment. We have been developing our provision following the Curiosity Approach.

Outside Area

Construction Area Mud Kitchen

Role-play house

Reading

At the beginning of the year the children we be sent home with reading books. These may look a little different from usual as they will not have any words in them to begin with. This is normal. Our aim is to develop children’s comprehension of a sequence of events told through pictures before then progressing to words. Children will be moved on to books with words once they have learned enough sounds and graphemes within their phonics sessions.

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.

Phonics

As a school, we follow the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme outlined by the DfE. However, we also use aspects from other programmes such as ‘Jolly Phonics’ to support our teaching.

Phase 1 is taught throughout Nursery and school through the use of listening games. This phase is aimed at developing children’s ability to distinguish between different sounds as well as being able to form sounds.

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 teaching phonics we teach children the pure sounds. For example, instead of saying the letter name like ‘em’ for M or ‘muh’ we teach the sound /m/. This then supports the children when reading as they will be able to correctly sound out the word to blend the sounds together to read the word.

If you would like to hear the pronunciation of each sound please see the video link below:

When your child has completed the end of their phase they will be sent home with a certificate, sound mat and tricky word bookmark for their new phase.

We also use Cued Articulation actions to support those with additional speech and language needs.

Maths

This term children will focus on:

To say the number that is one more than a given number.
To begin to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting.
To practically solve simple addition calculations.
To count reliably with numbers from one to 20, place them in order.
To use mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and ‘flat’ 2D shapes, and mathematical terms to describe shapes.
To order two items by weight or capacity.
To begin to use everyday language related to money.

Workshops

Parents will be invited to attend these workshops which will be spread out throughout the year;

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

If you cannot attend a workshop for any reason, please just let me know and I can give you some information sheets about what was shared in the workshop and any useful resources that you may need.

If there are any other topics/areas you would like some more information about, please feel free to ask me and I can set up another workshop to support parents.

We also value your feedback on these workshops to please tell us how you found them and if you think we could do anything else to support you and your children.

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 practice and develop them independently.

Tapestry

In Pixie Class, we use Tapestry to document children’s learning and development. I am aware that some parents may be familiar with this programme as the Nursery also uses it. We would still like to invite parents/carers to our Tapestry Workshop which will take place in Term 1 as we would like to go over how the school uses the programme to support your child.

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 practice 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.

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.

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!

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 weather in September can be unpredictable 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 labeled 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 to 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. Menus 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 at the field gate 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.

Miss Acott

For further support on how to aid your child with maths please click here; ‘Maths Matters’