A warm welcome to the Autumn Term in Catkin Class. We have started the new school year by sharing the story ‘Our Class is a Family’ by Shannon Olsen. Our own class family has been growing this week with an intake of nine new Reception children. We are also excited to welcome two new children to our current year one group. I know you will join me in welcoming them all to our school family.
All the children have settled into the new term with ease. They have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each other, learning new routines and most importantly have had lots of fun exploring their new learning environment.
Catkin’s theme for the Autumn Term is ‘Where do I belong?’
Woodland Adventures
‘Owl Babies’ by Martin Waddell will be our first class read. As a familiar favourite we are sure this beautiful text will prove inspirational for the children’s written and creative work. We plan to build nests, explore the common features of the text and develop our descriptive language for written work. We will also be drawing story maps in preparation of a performance of the story. The reception children will be developing their confidence in engaging and responding to texts both through direct teaching and continuous provision in the outside area. Later this half term we will be focusing on the text ‘Where’s My Teddy?’ by Jez Alborough.
Where do the leave go in winter?
In the second half of the Autumn Term the children will be exploring the class texts ‘Pumpkin Soup’ by Helen Cooper, ‘Winters Sleep’ by Alex Morss and ‘Out and About: Poems’ by Shirley Hughes. The children will enjoy bringing these beautiful texts to life through drama, cookery and poetry writing and performance. We will also be preparing for Christmas and rehearsing for a Nativity Performance at the end of term!
Read Write Inc
We will be resuming daily phonics sessions this term. The Reception children will be focusing on learning the set 1 speed sounds before moving on to introduce the special friends [sh, ch, th, qu, ng and nk]. We will also be introducing oral blending through daily Fred Talk games and activities. The Year One children will build upon their phonic skills from Reception. The aim is to have consolidated the set 1, 2 and 3 sounds by the spring term in preparation for the Phonic Screening in the Summer Term.
The home reading books are linked to the sounds we are working on in class. This is a great opportunity for you to practice these sounds at home with your child. We would recommend that you take time to read with your child daily to support with fluency. In school we will aim to read with your child individually at least twice a week and will change your child’s book after each read in school. We would therefore ask that your child brings their book bag along with their reading book and reading record to school every day.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to catch me on the playground at the end of the school day.
With best wishes,
Mrs Merrett and The Catkins Team [Mrs Parsons and Mrs Puttick]