Welcome to Acorn Class

PE Days Autumn Term 1: WEDNESDAYS and THURSDAYS

Forest School Autumn Term 1: not on

 

At Water Primary School, Acorn Class is home to Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Year 1 children. Your child's Class Teacher is Mrs. Smith and their Teaching Assistants are Mrs. Greenwood and Miss Ross.

We hope you have had a lovely summer and are looking forward to the first half-term of this academic year!

Focused Learning

English

In Autumn Term 1, we will be exploring stories about Harry the Happy Mouse. We will be exploring poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

The children will focus on their gross and fine motor skills in order to help with their handwriting. They will begin daily handwriting practice, in-line with their phonics, focusing on how each letter is correctly formed and they will have the opportunity to write in provision (this will look different for each child

- at this time of the year, some children are making marks, some are writing initial sounds, some are writing single words and others are beginning to write captions and sentences).

Year 1 children will develop their sentence writing skills; focusing on using their phonic knowledge and finger spaces between words along with using capital letters and full stops.

Our children will begin taking part in daily phonics lessons; your child will be sent home with a reading book and these will be changed on given days. We always encourage children to read their book at home each

night. It is really important that they read the book more than once. For example:

1. Let your children try to read independently.

2. Encourage your children to use their phonics skills to segment and blend words together.

3. Model reading for your child.

4. Ask questions about what has been read e.g. Who is the main character? Can you tell me what happened at the end?

5. Please sign the reading record book, so we know the book has been read.

We will endeavour to read with all the children throughout the week too. 

Maths

In Maths, our Reception children will start the term by carrying out lots of fun games in order for us to gain a baseline assessment.

They will then begin their Power Maths journey. They will begin by consolidating and mastering their knowledge of numbers and counting to 5. Then they will compare groups within 5 (identical and non-identical objects).

Our Year 1 children will start the year working on consolidating and mastering their number skills to 10. They will sort, count, order and compare numbers. They will then move onto the part-whole model within 10 where they will learn about fact families and number bonds. They will begin recording their mathematical skills in a much more structured way.

You can help your children at home by playing lots of number games, counting and comparing numbers.

Handwriting

We will teach your child handwriting through discrete lessons. They will learn a rhyme for each letter which will help them to remember how to form each letter correctly; starting and ending in the correct place. A poster will be sent home so that you can support them at home.

Phonics

Reception children will begin the year by focusing on hearing and saying initial sounds, and verbally sounding out words.

They will then begin their Red Rose Letters and Sounds phonics, where they will begin learning the individual letters of the alphabet and how to use these to read and write simple CVC words (eg sun, hen, cat, pin etc).

Year 1 children will consolidate their Phase 3/4

learning before they move onto Phase 5 sounds, where they will learn alternative pronunciations and spellings.

Not all of our learning in Acorn Class is through adult-led, focused groups. We also give children the opportunity to learn through play in time called continuous provision (independent learning).

Learning through exploring

Our classroom is set up to enhance children's independent play. This is an important time for our children as it develops so many skills, such as communication, problem-solving and understanding the world. At home, encourage your children to play and to talk to you about what they have done throughout the day.

PE 

This half-term, Acorn Class PE will take place every Wednesday and Thursday. Please ensure that your child wears their full Water Primary PE kit with trainers and navy leggings or joggers so that we have the flexibility to train inside or out, depending on the weather.

Forest School

This half-term, children will not be attending forest school

We will inform you when these sessions will begin. These sessions will be led by our Forest School Leader, Mr. Claxton. When these sessions begin, please can children come to school dressed in their Water Primary PE kits, bringing with them their Forest School clothes to go over the top of these, which includes waterproof jacket and trousers, wellington boots/walking boots and any other items they will need to stay warm, such as a hat, scarf, gloves and extra socks.

Snack Time

In Acorn, we operate a snack system. If you would like your child to have a snack, please pay for it on Parent Pay at the beginning of the half-term, which will cover your child’s snacks for the full half-term.

Keeping in Touch

Our door is always open and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to us before or after school. We always welcome any news from home so please share any exciting activities which you have done with your children.

Please see our twitter pages;

@mrsejsmith

@Waterprimary