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14 September 2012

This week, the spelling chant to practise with your child is ‘drop the y for an i’.

There are lots of types of words where you drop the ‘y‘ for an ‘i‘. Here’s a selection of different types of words where the rule applies.

14 September 2012

This is the second week of investigating the effect of adding ‘ing’ to words.

This week’s spellings are all words which have a short vowel sound before the final letter. This means that you need to double the final letter when adding ‘ing’.

The children will be tested on eight out of the ten words on Friday 21 September.

14 September 2012

Spellings this week are words with the suffix ful. Spellings will be tested on Friday 21 September.

Parents’ / carers’ annual survey 3

This, the third and final summary of results from the annual survey, presents just a few of the many positive comments we received.  Unlike the comments noted in the previous posts, I won’t respond to these, except to say, from all staff: thank you.

I am extremely happy with my son’s progress, he loves reading and sports and is positively encouraged by staff at all times. Moortown is a gem of a school and I feel incredibly grateful that my child attends.

Learnt so much this year! A great first year at school! School communication is excellent – the class newsletters are particularly useful, and active Twitter / regularly updated website very good. Advanced calendar dates are very useful.

The school has a strong sense of community. I feel my child’s uniqueness (as all children are) is valued and that teachers build respectful, warm relationships with the pupils, imperative to enable children to feel safe and happy enough to learn.

I think you run a fantastic school – my son is very happy.

Fantastic school in all areas with exceptional leadership.

I am happy with the way my child has progressed this year with Mr Wilks. He has been encouraged in all aspects of his learning and enjoys coming to school.

My child has had a very enjoyable year thanks to the care and understanding of Mrs Weekes and Mrs Maver (and the assistant teachers). Working together has demonstrated the value of teamwork between teachers and parents and what it can achieve.

Strengths – clear values; encouraging good behaviour; awareness of others’ feelings; deals well with bullying; warm approachable head and staff alike; friendly atmosphere; children are always polite and helpful; awareness of importance of health eating and exercise. Forgot to mention brilliant Mrs O’Malley and her team – always helpful.

Please note, we won’t rest on our laurels.  We’re always seeking ways to improve, and you can help.  If you’ve any suggestions, questions, comments or concerns, do let me know.

Welcome to Reception!

We’ve now visited all of the children and are looking forward to them starting next week. We are confident that they will settle well and enjoy the new challenges of ‘big’ school!

There are three members of staff in Reception this year: Mrs Boulton, Mrs Maqbool and me, Mrs Burke. In addition, Mrs Wilson and Mrs Taylor will be taking the class for a short time on Tuesday afternoons. When your child starts school we encourage you to come in each morning and settle them in classroom. This is an ideal opportunity for you to find out what your child is learning, look at your child’s Learning Journey and discuss their learning with us.

We’ll open the doors at 8.50 each morning and take the register. When collecting your child, please wait at the gate. We’ll let your child out at 3.15 when we see the adult who is collecting them. Please make sure to bring and collect your child on time. Children can become very anxious if they arrive or leave late from school.

Our main emphasis this term is the children’s personal, social and emotional development. We’ll be settling the children into school life and familiarizing them with routines and expectations. The children will be forging new friendships, learning to share and care for one another and look after their environment.

Here are some of the ways you can help your child at home over the coming weeks:

Mathematics – Encourage your child to count objects and actions. For example, counting while going up the stairs or how many knives and forks on the table. Look for numbers around the house and in the environment. For example, on the remote control, on the telephone, house numbers, bus numbers and numbers on car registration plates. Look for different shapes within the home and environment, clothing, the walls and windows.

Writing – Provide your child with opportunities to use pencils and pens. Encourage your child to ‘mark make’ and develop good pencil control. Encourage your child to use writing in their play.  If they are playing shops ask them to write a shopping list.  If playing police get them to write an incident report! If your child is writing their name please help us by teaching them that the first letter of their name is a capital letter and the rest are lower case letters. Please use the school’s handwriting style. There is a copy in your ‘Welcome Pack’.

Reading – Share books with your child. While reading encourage your child to talk about the illustrations and predict what may happen next. After reading, talk about what happened in the story and encourage them to re-tell the story. Look for letters and print in the house and environment – encourage your child to look for letters from their name while you are out and about. If your child shows an interest in letter shapes encourage them to use the ‘sounds’ the letters make, for example ‘sssss’ for snake, ‘mmmm’ for Mummy, and ‘zzzz’ for zebra.

As the term progresses, I’ll send you more information about how we teach reading and phonics. Keep checking on-line, too!

Please remember that we want you to be very much involved in your child’s learning so please ask if you need more information or have any questions or concerns.

For more information about the Foundation Stage and how children learn in Reception go to www.foundationyears.org.uk

14 September 2012

This week we’re once again looking at words we use every day.

These words will be tested on Friday 21 September.

14 September 2012

This week’s homework is Practice Makes Perfect – to complete a number formation worksheet.

You’ll find the worksheet in your child’s homework book.

This homework is due on Wednesday 19 September 2012.

14 September 2012

The homework this week is Creative and is due in Wednesday 19 September.

I can present the water cycle in a creative way.

This week, we’ve been investigating the water cycle. We have tested some of the changes of state that water goes through. We want you to come up with a creative way of showing this cycle. It’s completely up to you how you want to do this, but here’s a few ideas if you’re struggling:

• a photo collage of all the different stages of the water cycle
• a PowerPoint presentation
• a comic strip
• a podcast

Good luck!

14 September 2012

This week’s homework is another creative one; we have had an interesting scientific week looking at materials and their properties. We know that the children have enjoyed the learning and would like to know what they have remembered and learnt.

I can show what I know about solids, liquids and gases.

Remember, your learning can be shown in many different ways:

• a poster
• a model
• an investigation
• a diagram
• a mindmap

These are just a few examples – let your creative juices flow!

This homework is to be handed in by Wednesday 19 September; no excuses this week.

14 September 2012

This week’s spellings are following the rule of:

when a verb ends in “e” then drop the “e” for “ing”

These will be tested on Friday 21 September.