Teacher Contact Information 

Your teachers are: Miss Parker, Mrs Reay and Mrs Harris

You can email them at:  

Miss Parker (Sweet Chestnut)

cherylparker@stratton.cornwall.sch.uk

Mrs Reay (Horse Chestnut)

naomireay@stratton.cornwall.sch.uk

Mrs Harris (Horse Chestnut)

merrynharris@stratton.cornwall.sch.uk

 Weekly Update 18/09/26

The children have continued to impress us with how well they have settled into school. They are beginning to understand and follow the rules and routines of the day. Everyone is tired at the end of our first full week so we hope you are able to have a restful weekend and some quiet evenings in the weeks ahead as your child adjusts and builds their stamina.

This week we have begun the Statutory Reception Baseline Assessment. More information about the assessment can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents/reception-baseline-assessment-information-for-parents

A big thank you to the parents who attended the Reception Parent’s Read, Write, Inc meeting on Wednesday. As many parents were unable to attend, we have added our slides from the presentation to the class page on the website. If you have any questions about how to support your child with reading, please ask your class teacher for support.

Wet Weather Gear:

At Stratton, we play outside whatever the weather. Please make sure your child has a named pair of wellies and a named coat in school every day. We also recommend sending in all-in-one waterproofs to prevent trousers from getting damp in the rain. When the weather/ground is wet, your child will not be allowed to play on the bottom playground without wellies, as it becomes rather muddy! Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to change children who have gotten a little damp in the rain.  

Naming belongings:

We are finding it very difficult to make sure all of the children have their belongings at the end of the day. Many of the jumpers and cardigans we are finding are not named, so it is hard to return them to the right people. We would greatly appreciate if you could go through your child’s unform over the weekend and name it all. Thank you. Any unnamed items of clothing left on a Friday will be taken to the school uniform exchange.

Water Bottles:

We have noticed that lots of children are coming to school with squash in their water bottles. It is the school’s policy that children only have water in their bottles unless your child has a specific individual need and that this has been agreed Mrs Bridgeman, our SENDCO. If you think your child needs to have squash, please discuss it with us so that we can agree on a plan going forward. Thank you.

Maths:

In maths we have been learning about numbers 1, 2 and 3. We have been spotting groups of 1, 2 and 3 within larger amounts.

Phonics:  

We have introduced a cuddly toy frog called ‘Fred’. Fred talks in sounds to help us learn to blend words. For example, instead of ‘cup’, Fred would say the sounds c-u-p. Your child may mention Fred or Fred Talk at home, you can help your child practice their phonics by using Fred Talk at home. For example, by asking your child to “Put on your c-oa-t”.

Please find the Fred Talk Games handout (in your child’s bookbag) with ideas to try at home. There is also a copy on our class web page.

We have also been learning to name the pictures on the Set 1 sound cards, ready to start introducing the first 5 letter sounds next week.

Lilac Books and Reading Records:

On Monday, we will be sending your child home with a lilac wordless book. Lilac books are the first book band colour in our reading scheme. The purpose of a lilac book is to begin good habits of daily reading whilst developing storytelling skills, using the pictures to orally tell a story. Lilac books and reading record log books need to be in your child’s book bag and brought to school daily. We will endeavour to change lilac books every Monday and check your child’s reading record log book every Friday. Please see the inside page of the reading record log book for further information about reading homework expectations. As your child’s book bag will now contain books, please make sure your child does not put their water bottle or snack in their book bag, to prevent water/food damaged books. Thank you.

Library Books:

Your child has chosen their first library book today. We will be aiming to change your child’s library book every week. Your child’s library book should stay in their book bag when not being read and brought into school daily. Please read the book with your child during the week and return it in their book bag. We will be unable to issue new books if books are not getting returned to school.

Independence skills:

We are encouraging the children to be as independent as possible whilst they are at school. Please continue to encourage and support independence at home, especially with tasks such as putting shoes on, putting coats on, taking jumpers off, eating with a knife and fork etc.

Birthdays:

Unfortunately, we are unable to hand out birthday invitations at school or provide name lists of the children in either class. Whilst we appreciate that the children are young and this is therefore more challenging, as a school we cannot be responsible for ensuring that children’s invitations get home to them. We are happy to support you to hand out invitations on the gate. As a school, we do not give out cakes/sweets for children’s birthdays. We are a healthy school and there are often complications with dietary requirements. We will of course sing happy birthday to your child and make them feel special on their birthday!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Mrs Harris, Mrs Reay and Miss Parker

Dates for the diary:

Thursday 22nd October – Halloween Disco

Friday 23rd October – Last day of half term

26th – 30th October – Half Term

Wednesday 4th November – Back at school

4th – 6th November – Reception Parents Evening

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