Welcome to Elf Owls!

Dear Elf Owl Families,

A huge welcome (or for existing families, welcome back!) to our school and class! We are very much looking forward to teaching the Elf Owls class of 25-26 and have been busy planning for the term ahead! Term 1 starts on Wednesday 3^rd September and the timings for the initial few days are below:

Wednesday 3^rd September: 9.05am- 11.30 (Children go home for lunch).

Thursday 4^th September: 9.05- 1p.m (Children stay at school for lunch).

Friday 5^th September: 8.45/9.00- 3.30p.m. (Normal school days from here on in with a 15 minute ‘drop off window’ in the mornings).

Our topic this term is What makes me amazing? This is a great introductory topic as it allows us to all get to know each other and what makes us and our families special. We will also be considering the question Who am I and where do I belong? in our R.E lessons. Both areas come together well as we will consider the communities we belong to and places that are special to us. To start our topic, we would appreciate it if everyone can send in a baby/toddler photo of their child (hard copy or email to office). This is so that we can play a Guess Who? style game together!

 

Monster Phonics

We will start teaching phonics every morning from the first full week. Below are the letter sounds (graphemes) and high frequency words we will introduce each week until half term. The idea is that the children will be able to put the sounds together and start to read and spell some small words (e.g. sat, tap, pin…) from the beginning.

W.B. 8^th Sept: Graphemes: s a t p/ High frequency words: a at as

W.B. 15^th Sept: Graphemes: i n/ High frequency words: in it is I an

W.B. 22nd Sept: Graphemes: m d g/ High frequency words: and dad am

W.B. 29^th Sept: Graphemes: o c k ck/ High frequency words: to into go no the

W.B. 6^th Oct: Graphemes: e u r/ High frequency words: get can got on dog not cat

W.B. 13^th Oct: Graphemes: h b/ High frequency words: up mum put has had him his oh big

W.B. 20^th Oct: Graphemes: ff l ll and ss/High frequency words: he she me we be of

Reading and Book Bags

The children should bring their blue book bags to school each day. This will be where we will send home any reading books/ letters and we will give them each a yellow reading record. Please write a short comment in the reading record each time you read/ share a book with your child. Initially we will give the children a few books to read for pleasure, then within the first couple of weeks, once we have introduced some of the letter sounds, we will start sending home Monster Phonics books too. The Monster Phonics books allow the children to practise the phonics they have been learning in school.

 

Maths

We will initially start with lots of fun number games, nursery rhymes and counting songs. We will then lead into matching, sorting and comparing objects and quantities. Following that we will move on to focus on measures and patterns, where we will think about size, mass and capacity before exploring and making patterns. Lastly this term, we will focus on number and ‘recognising an amount without having to count’ or ‘subitising’. We will also work on finding one more and one less.

 

Reception Baseline Assessments

Over the next few weeks, the children will all complete a 1:1 Maths and English baseline assessment with either Mrs Ray or Miss Taylor. This is a statutory requirement and is used to record progress from Reception to Year 6. We find the assessments useful for our own teaching and to plan the children’s next steps. We find the children often enjoy the short activities and tasks with the teacher.

 

P.E Day and kit

P.E this term will be taught by Mrs Ray on Wednesdays (starting Wed 10th Sept). The children should come to school wearing their P.E kit each Wednesday. This includes a white t-shirt, black shorts and plimsolls or trainers. As the weather gets cooler, you may wish to send your child with a dark sweater or hoodie and joggers or leggings. Our focus for this term will be Body Management which will include the children learning to balance and control their bodies through different movements and stretches.

Outdoor Learning

The children will have access to the outdoor area throughout the school day. In order to ensure they can play and learn safely and happily, please send in the following to store in the cloakroom:

• A waterproof suit/trousers and jacket.
• A sun hat or woolly hat (depending on the season).
• Wellies
• A change of clothes/ underwear in case they get wet or have an accident.

We hope you are all looking forward to the term ahead as much as we are. Please do come and speak to us if you have any questions or concerns.

With our warmest wishes,

The Elf Owl Team

Mrs Ray, Miss Taylor, Mrs Harris, Miss Sansom and Mrs Fairfax