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 13/03/2026

This week we have been learning about the story of the Jack and the Beanstalk. The children have joined in with repeated refrains in the story. They have written labels and captions to accompany images from the story.

Next week we will be learning about Life Cycles.

Maths:

This week in maths we have been composing and decomposing the number 7. We have explored the different ways that 7 can be made, such as 5+2 and 6+1. We have using two colours of multilink cubes to show the different ways 7 can be made.

Reading:

Our school homework policy states that children are expected to complete reading homework 5 times a week and that this needs to be recorded in their reading record. We check reading records every Friday. Last week, we were disappointed to find that only 4 children in the cohort had practised their reading 5 times. Practising reading at home regularly has such a massive impact your child’s progress. We would love to see more children completing their homework next week. Thank you.  

Red Nose Day/Bike Track:

Red Nose Day is on Friday 20^th March. On this day, the children can bring in an appropriate joke to share. They can also wear red clothes. Please note that we are having a bike track session during the afternoon, so please make sure the children can still ride their bike in their outfit and are wearing appropriate shoes. Children must bring a helmet to ride their bike on the track.

Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel Fortnight:

Over the next two weeks, we are taking part in the Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel Fortnight. During this fortnight, we challenge children to try to come to school by walking or riding their bike or scooter. Everyday we complete a survey with our class to record how many children have managed this.

Head Lice:

We have been made aware of a couple of cases of head lice within the cohort – which have now been treated. Please check your child’s hair regularly of the next couple of weeks and treat your child’s hair if necessary. All shoulder length or longer hair should be tied up every day at school. This will help to prevent head lice from spreading. Thank you for your help with this.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Mrs Horton and Miss Parker 

Dates for the diary:

Monday 16^th - Friday 27^th March – Big Walk and Wheel Fortnight

Friday 20^th March – Red Nose Day – dress in red and bring in an appropriate joke to tell!

Friday 20^th March – Bike track session

Thursday 2nd April – Last day of half term

3rd April - 19th April - Easter holidays

20th April – Back to school

Monday 27^th April – Yr R Cake Bake (Easter Theme)

Tuesday 28^th April – Yr R Class Assembly (9:10 start)

Wednesday 29^th April – Class Photos

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