Author: Mrs Wood

Thank you for attending the Early Years Maths workshop last week.

Here are the key points from the workshop:

• It’s important to be positive about maths
• Don’t tell your child you’re not good at maths
• Everyone can be good at maths
• Being numerate is arguably more important than being literate
• Your support and encouragement is vital to your child’s success
• Everyone can learn maths to the highest level
• Mistakes are valuable
• Questions are really useful
• Maths is about creativity and making sense
• Maths is about connections and communicating
• Maths is about learning, not performing
• Depth is more important than speed

There are 4 key aspects to counting:

1. Number names: There are many words to learn, they need to be in the right order and you need to be able to say them in sequence forwards and backwards.
2. One number for each item: Children need to be able to match one number name to each item in turn, making sure they don’t miss any out or count any twice.
3. Cardinality: Children need to know that the last number in the count gives you the answer to the question, ‘How many are there?’
4. Conservation: Children need to learn that the number of items in a group remains the same even if we rearrange them or count them in a different order.

Support your child at home:

• Lots of counting as part of everyday life- both rhymes and counting objects
• Sorting objects and making patterns
• Spotting numbers and using the language of number
• Playing with construction toys (girls and boys)
• Playing simple board games
• Baking
• Solve problems; work out how many altogether, how many more…
• Watch Numberblocks on CBeebies
• Have fun!

We’ve been practising our fine motor skills using pumpkins.

 

Don’t forget the Early Maths Workshop on Tuesday 07 November at 6pm.

See you there!

Don’t forget to attend one of our phonics lessons this week.

Please join us on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday morning to see your child learn.

Don’t worry if you haven’t signed up yet – just come along!

See you there!

With two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers, all children at Moortown Primary are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.

It’s time for children to consider if they would like to stand for election for our new School Council.

Elections will take place on Thursday 19 October with our polling station and ballot boxes at the ready. Candidates will have the opportunity to give their election speech to their class on Wednesday 18 October or Thursday 19 October.

If your child would like to be a school councillor, please help them to prepare a short speech.

What makes a good school councillor has been considered by our current school council.

• ‘use all the 8 Rs for learning’
• ‘be respectful’
• ‘help others’
• ‘be a good speaker and listener (to members of your class and in the meetings)’
• ‘tell the truth’
• ‘be confident with your ideas’
• ‘accept the views of others even if you don’t agree’
• ‘be friendly and approachable’
• ‘make good choices in class and around school’

Hints for your speech include:

• What skills and abilities would a good school councillor have?
• What are you particularly good at that would help you to be a great school councillor?
• What do you think would make the school better?
• What could you do that people would really like?
• Think of things that are realistic, maybe that you could do yourself, rather than having to ask other people to do

 

Good luck to all children who decide to stand in the elections.

   

There will be no Relax and Read this week. Instead, you’re invited to stay for a Communication, Language and Literacy session. You will join your child to retell and make up stories and play games to help develop their speaking and listening skills.

See you there!

Thanks to everyone who attended our ‘Early Reading’ workshop last week.

We will begin phase 2 of Letters and Sounds this week. Phase 2 involves learning phonemes to read and write simple words.

During this phase children will learn their first 19 phonemes:

• Set 1: s a t p
• Set 2: i n m d
• Set 3: g o c k
• Set 4: ck (as in duck) e u r
• Set 5: h   b l   f     ff (as in puff)   ll (as in hill)     ss (as in hiss)

They will use these phonemes to read and spell simple “consonant-vowel-consonant” (CVC) words: sat, tap, dig, duck, rug, puff, hill, hiss

All these words contain 3 phonemes.

Blending

Children need to be able to hear the separate sounds in a word and then blend them together to say the whole word.

Segmenting

Children need to be able to hear a whole word and say every sound that they hear.

If you have any questions, please ask!

 

 

 

 

This week the children enjoyed writing and performing their own version of ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, who do you see?’

Please ask your child to show you their book, ‘Reception, Reception, who can you see?’ next time you are in the classroom.