Kestrel Weekly Blog Autumn 2020

Date: 10th Sep 2020 @ 7:18pm

Friday 2nd October

Another busy week, with more firsts for Kestrel Class as they had their first PE lesson. We explored throwing and catching using beanbags.

The gingerbread man's adventures continue as he lost all his jelly buttons which had his favourite letter sounds on and kestrels helped him find them. They were scattered all over the field! They also helped Mrs Baker decorate Gingerbread men using natural resources they found out side.

We have been exploring the letters P I and N and finding out which words have those sounds in. In maths we have been exploring more and less and deciding which of two groups has more objects or less objects or even the same. Kestrels found it a little bit trickier when the objects in the group were different sizes.

 

It has got a lot colder this week so it is great that the kestrels have had their lovely warm coats.

We have enjoyed reading the book 'only one you' and it has given us an opportunity to create some beautiful individual fish pictures and also think about the things that we are really good at.

 

Have a good weekend

Mrs Cuthbert


Friday 25th September

It's hard to beleive it's the end of September and another busy week, in which so much has happened, including Forest School and European Day of Languages. 

The children have been introduced to the letters s a t. They have learnt about the formation and also looked at those letters as initial sounds and an action to help remember them. Today they have brought home a phonics book with 3 loose sheets. Please stick the sheets into the books and use the sheets to help reinforce that letter at home. There is no necessity to practice the formation on the sheet itself, be creative as you like, water and paintbrushes on the wall, shaving foam, chalk etc. Please also reiforce the recognition of the letters and hunt around the home, or find pictures of, things athat begin with that sound. There is no need to send this book into school. New sound sheets will be sent home each Friday.

Reading books will be changed on Monday Wednesday and Friday. Please leave them at home for reinforcement on Tuesday and Thursday. 

We have been using the story of the Gingerbread Man as a stimulus for our learning this week - I'm sure some of you will have seen the ongoing adventures of this character on the school Facebook page. we have started looking at characters and making labels. 

In maths we have been exploring matching and sorting. The Kestrels all did an amazing job of matching the compare bears with the ones that were identical to their own bear when they escaped all over the classroom!

Thankyou to everyone who tuned into the reading evening on Tuesday. Your support is much appreciated as we work together on your child's learning journey. I have been asked about the app Reading Eggs. It is not an app I have experience of, but have had a look at the preview on the website and would say that games that support your child to explore and play with sounds are beneficial. There are also lots of other apps and websites which explore reading skills and phonics in a fun way, including Mr Thorne does phonics, alphablocks, geraldine giraffe and the phonicplay website which currently has free log ins. 

As promised on Facebook, I have added a copy of the poem the children wrote together this week. I am sure you will agree there is some excellent language in it. 

The school has celebrated European Day of Languages this week Kestrels have been finding out about France, starting the day with a French breakfast!

Thankyou for sending in small, foldable, bags. These have been really handy to help the children with all their bits and pieces at the end of the day.

Best Wishes

Mrs Cuthbert

 

 

 

Friday 18th September

It is the end of another amazing week in Kestrel class, with new challenges that the children responded briliantly to - including lunch and whole days. I have no doubt they will be very tired this weekend though!

In addition to our settling in activities, we have been playing lots of sound games, including alliteration and rhyme (listening for rhyme in stories and finding words that start with the same sound). Perhaps they could have a go at playing I spy at home?

The children have coped brilliantly with managing all their different bits and bobs - water bottle, snack, jumper etc. In additon, next week they will have their book folders. Whilst we want to keep items being brought to and from school to an absolute minimum, I would suggest a small foldable bag to carry their items out at the end of the day, that can be folded up and kept in their tray, would be useful (however please don't send any addtional items into school) I small nylon foldable bag for life would be perfect.

Next week we will be having forest school on Wednesday - please make sure they are dresssed accordingly (obviously they may need an additional bag for waterproofs). We are starting PE on the 28th due to school photos being on Monday. 

Next Friday we will be finding out about France in our work on European day of languages. 

Tuesday 22nd at 6.30 pm is our reading information evening on Zoom. If you haven't received a log in, please contact the school office. 

Have a restful weekend and enjoy the sunshine

Mrs Cuthbert

 

Friday 11th September

What an amazing start the children have made. I was so impressed with the way they all came into school on Moncay (and continued to all week) and felt super proud of them all. The children have all settled brilliantly and are getting to know the classroom and their new friends well. 

We have been enjoying lots of different stories and activities and finding out about our 'bee' values - be kind, be safe, be ready. It has been lovely to get to know the children better and find out more about their interests and personalities. (I think we are going to need to develop an area of the classroom dedicated to all things dinosaur!).

Next week the children will saty for lunch Mon- Weds and then all day Thursday / Friday - please remember they will be very tired. We have been very impressed by the healthy snacks the children have been bringing, but for most children, just one thing is enough to tide them over until lunch as they can spend quite a lengthy period eating and may not have an appetite for lunch. 

I think the sun is forecast for next week - please make sure the childrne have all day suncream before school and a named hat if it is a sunny day. 

We will start PE and Forest School W/C 21st September. 

Mrs Stubbs is updating the school data collection - please ensure any relevant consent forms are returned ASAP so we can start sharing photos of our activities where applicable. 

Have a restful weekend 

Mrs Cuthbert

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