Dear Sheldrakes Families,
Welcome back everyone! We hope you have all had an enjoyable and fun Easter break and are settling back into the routine of school.
Welcome to the Summer Term, our last term together in Sheldrakes class.
We have started our week with the sun shining, lots of positive attitudes to learning and some excellent behaviour which is great. Thank you for ensuring your children are coming into school on time so that they are ready to start their learning promptly.
Safety in the Sun
A large part of our Early Years Curriculum is outdoor learning, therefore please ensure your child comes to school in a coat/jacket for when the weather is that little bit cooler. In complete contrast to this, hopefully the warmer weather is on its way, so please make sure that your children are suitably prepared, by applying sun cream in the morning, providing some sun cream for your child to apply later in the day and providing them with a named sun hat.
As children are much more likely to be discarding jumpers and cardigans throughout the day, please ensure that all your children’s items of clothing are labelled clearly with their name. Permanent markers used to write the child’s initials on labels are usually sufficient for this.
Learning
Our topic this half term is ‘Where are we going?’ and is based around stories relating to Space, Transport and Travelling. After half term, our topic will be, ‘How does your garden grow?’ and based on Summer, the Garden, Growing and Minibeasts. We will also be marking the Kings coronation too.
The children are already working extremely hard in school and we know that they will continue to do so over the term. We will be focussing our learning on phonics, writing and feeling school ready to start Year One. However, the learning will still be fun, engaging and lots of play-based opportunities will be available.
The best way to support your children in their learning is to continue to make sure that they come into school every day on time, that you hear them read as regularly as you can and support them with any other home learning that may come home. Plenty of sleep and breakfast every day is the most important part!
Reading for Pleasure
As you know, your child will be coming home with a picture story book each week. This book is not expected to be read by your child, however, it is an opportunity for you to share the story with your child and to promote a love of reading. Your child may be able to recall facts and information and/or retell the story from the pictures. You do not need to write this in your child’s reading diary and will not count towards their reading challenge. This book can be changed as regularly as they would like to. Please ensure your child is still reading their reading book.
Rhino Readers
Your child’s Rhino Reader book will be changed every Friday, IF, your child can read it fluently. If your child is not yet reading the book fluently they will keep the book for a further week, or two, if necessary. Please ensure your child has their reading book to exchange each Friday, as without their current book we cannot change it. It is also important that your child has their Rhino Reader book in their bag each day so that they can read it in school too.
Show and Tell
Over this term, we will be starting show and tell. This will enable your child to bring in something from home, whether this be a photo or something special to talk to the class about. This will be done on a rota basis. More details to follow.
Proud moments
We have a Proud Clouds wall just outside Sheldrakes classroom to help celebrate your child’s achievements and special moments outside of school. Thank you for all of the photos and emails you have sent in already, please do continue to email in any certificates, photos and proud clouds for your child to share with the class.
Parent Helpers
If anyone is interested in helping out to listen to readers, please do let us know. Anyone wanting to help out will need to arrange a brief meeting, to discuss safeguarding, with Mrs Blackburne-Maze prior to starting.
Reminder
If you have any questions or concerns, at any time, we are always happy to speak with you. This can be by email or telephone.
With kind regards,
Mrs Shannon, Miss Haith and Mrs Kolarik
