Our first full week at Strathmore has been a busy and very enjoyable one! The children are remembering routines, continuing to learn new names and showing brilliant understanding of our school values of being kind, safe and respectful.
Phonics -
Our phonics journey began this week, which has been very exciting. We will be learning 4 new graphemes (letters) a week, with a review lesson each Friday. The children are working hard to write these letters on their whiteboard in each lesson.
Graphemes - s, a, t, p.
There is a parent tab on the Little Wandle website which shows how to write and pronounce our Autumn 1 sounds. We will also be sending a grapheme mat home within the next few weeks, which shows all the sounds we will cover in Reception.
English -
The children are practicing their pre-writing patterns during English for the next few weeks. These are completed in handwriting booklets in small groups. We will cover horizontal and vertical lines, waves, spirals, turrets, curves, zig-zags, triangles and circles. These patterns are all linked to lower case and capital letter formation that we will progress onto during the year. Please feel free to practice these patterns at home: this can be done through sand, highlighting for the children to trace, paintbrushes and water, chalks outside, or simply with a pencil and paper. This all supports fine motor development, muscle memory, concentration and hand-eye coordination.
Topic -
We have enjoyed reading the story 'Who Are You?' This week, which had us thinking about both our physical features and the things we enjoy doing. The children had the opportunity to answer these questions as a whole class where we also spoke about the uniqueness of our answers. Throughout the week, the children have then drawn a self-portrait, where they used mirrors to look closely at their physical features.
Music & PE -
We enjoyed listening to the song 'Celebration' this week, where we had a little dance, discussed how this happy and upbeat song made us feel, and what celebrations we have been a part of with friends and family.
Our theme in PE was 'myself and friends' where the children made a 'friendship train' in pairs and practised moving around the hall safely and following a range of commands.
A friendly reminder that children are not allowed on the climbing frame before and after school - thank you.
School tiredness is kicking in across Reception, but a huge well done to the children for their resilience! Wishing you a lovely and restful weekend.