This week in reception we have been talking about what happens on a farm and where our food comes from in preparation for our trip next week, which we are all very much looking forward to! Our story book for drawing club, literacy activities and discussion was “Farmer Duck” and we realised what hard work being a farmer was! We invented and drew some machines to help the Farmer and are looking forward to meeting the machines a real Farmer uses next week.

Please note on Tuesday all children MUST be wearing long sleeves and long trousers. Our trip promises to be quite hands-on, we will be digging, pond dipping and spending time in the woods, so we need to protect the children from scratches and ticks! Please also wear footwear suitable for walking on a farm and in the woods, the weather at the moment looks dry, so trainers would be best. If it promises to be a sunny day, please also apply sun cream to their faces.

Please also remember to send the children in with a raincoat every day. When there are light showers we do still go outside at break times and this week we had lots of children who didn’t have a coat and we only have a couple of spare ones available.

In phonics we have been reading and writing longer phrases and sentences that include words with adjacent consonants and level 4 tricky words in. I have sent home our class text (Kit and Sam go Camping) today if you wish to practice this some more at home.

In maths we have been sharing and grouping which are both different methods of division. Children can explore this practically when playing, for example, if they have 6 sheep and 2 sheep need to go in each field, how many fields will they need? What happens if they make groups of 3 and place 3 sheep in each field? Can they make more groups of 2 or more groups of 3?

On Wednesday next week we have Sports Day, so we had another practise and all the children have chosen three races they would like to take part in. Parents are invited to join us for lunch and the afternoon races, we look forward to seeing you there!

As next week is such a busy one, with our trip and Sports Day your child’s reading book will only be changed once. This will then likely be the case for lots of children for the rest of the term, as the books become longer and more challenging. I understand it can be tempting to want to rush through the books, but repetition does help to build fluency. Remember, reading the book isn’t just about decoding the words, but about understanding the story – talk about what is happening, discuss the characters, make predictions, think about an alternative ending, story talk is great! Also, it isn’t necessary to read the whole book in one sitting, little and often is best, sometimes a couple of pages a night is just enough.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jo Bentley

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or queries: jbentley@stjohnsprimary.org