Teacher Contact Information 

Your teachers are: Mrs Horton and Miss Parker

You can email them at:

Mrs Horton (Horse Chestnut)

sophiehorton@stratton.cornwall.sch.uk    

Miss Parker (Sweet Chestnut)

cherylparker@stratton.cornwall.sch.uk

 Weekly Update 03/07/2026

This week we have begun our final topic of Summer and Seasides. At the beginning of the week, we recapped our prior learning on seasons. We then discussed signs of summer and went for a walk around our school grounds to see if we could find any of the signs. Next, we moved on to think about seaside environments. We looked at images of the seaside in Bude and created a poster the features we had identified. The next day, we looked at images of the seaside in Blackpool, as a contrasting environment. We also created a poster showing the features we had identified in the Blackpool seaside environment. Finally, we compared our two posters, identifying what is the same about Bude and Blackpool and what is different.

Next week we will be continuing our Summer and Seasides topic.

Transition to Year 1:

On Thursday and Friday next week, we have two transition days where the children will visit their new classes.

On Thursday, please drop your child off as usual to their current teacher. We will register the children and take them to their new classes.

On Thursday, please collect your child at 3:20pm from the following gates:

• Maple and Pine (right hand gate as you look at the school)
• Aspen (left hand gate as you look at the school)

On Friday, please drop off your child at 8:45am from the same gates:

• Maple and Pine (right hand gate as you look at the school)
• Aspen (left hand gate as you look at the school)

Pick up arrangements on Friday are the same as Thursday.

Beach Trip:

We will be going to the beach on Wednesday 15^th July.

Please make sure you have responded on the gateway app with the following information:

• Confirming you will collect your children from Crooklets Carpark at 2:45pm
• If you child will have a home or school packed lunch
• If you can help to walk to the beach in the morning
• If you are available to help all day

We now have enough volunteers for the trip – thank you very much. You should have received an itinerary via email.

Year 3 are going to Summerleaze beach on the same day. If you also have a child in Year 3, please collect them first from Summerleaze carpark at 2:45pm. Mrs Horton will wait with your Year R child at Crooklets carpark to be collected afterwards.

Ready, Steady School sessions:

During the afternoons of Tuesday 7^th July and Wednesday 8^th July, we are being visited by next year’s Reception cohort. It seems like yesterday that we were welcoming you! During these visits, the current Reception children will spend the afternoons in the forest. Please make sure they come to school prepared to be outside whatever the weather on these days. Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Horton and Miss Parker 

Dates for the diary:

Tuesday 7^th and Wednesday 8^th – Ready, Steady School sessions, current Reception children visiting the forest

Thursday 9^th and Friday 10^th July – Transition Days

Wednesday 15^th July – Beach Trip

Friday 17^th July – Last Day of the School Year

With your child, please carry out a variety of the following tasks at least 5 times a week, recording in their reading log each time.

• Practise recognising letter sounds using flashcards daily – this is essential practise to get your child reading.

• Engage in 'Fred Talk Games'. These are games that support your child to orally blend sounds into words. For example, "Fred says, tap your h-ea-d... your head!" Please see the PDF document in the 'Read Write Inc. Phonics' section below for further 'Fred Talk Games' that you can play at home. 

• If your child is consistently recognising most of the single letter sounds from their flashcards, make simple words out of the flashcards for them to practise reading. For example, sat, tap, dog, bed. Encourage your child to point to each letter as they say the sounds. Once they have said each sound, they need to blend them together to say the whole word. For example, s – a –t, sat. They may need you to demonstrate this initially before they have a try.

• Share your child’s lilac book. This book has no words. Your child needs to look closely at the picture and talk about what they think is happening to tell a story. This develops their oracy comprehension and inference skills.

• Based on your child’s most recent phonics assessment, the may also bring home a 'blending book' or a 'ditty sheet' to read at home.

Please keep all of the above in your child’s book bag. They need to bring their book bag to school every day.

Homework tasks need to be recorded in your child's reading log at least 5 times a week so that we know that your child is practising their reading at home. Reading logs are checked every Friday to see how your child is getting on at home. Please make sure that you date and initial each time you record in your child's reading log to show that your child has read their lilac book/blending book/flash cards.

Please speak to any member of the Reception team if you have any questions.

Thank you for your continued support in helping your child learn to read.

The YR Team