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
What a fantastic first half-term we have had! We are so proud of all the children and how well they have settled into school. Well done, Reception!
This week we have been learning about Autumn. We have talked about the signs of Autumn, such as the leaves changing colour and falling from the leaves. As part of our learning, we went on an Autumn walk outside to see how many of these signs we could spot.
After half term, we will be learning about Bonfire Night.
Parent Meetings:
We are very much looking forward to meeting you for individual parent/teacher meetings in the first week after half term. Everyone has been sent a link and information about how to book an appointment with us. If you are having any difficulties booking an appointment, please contact your child’s class teacher.
Please arrive five minutes before your meeting so you can look through your child’s phonics book and writing folder before the meeting. They will be outside the Chestnut classrooms. Please come into school through the main entrance.
Phonics/Reading:
We have introduced 5 new sounds in phonics this week; v, y, w, z and x. The new sounds will be in your child’s book bag ready for you to cut up and put into their phonics envelope. Thank you for cutting the sounds up into individual flashcards and practising these regularly at home. Don’t forget to write in your child’s reading log when they have practised their sounds or shared their lilac book with you.
This week, your child completed their first Read Write Inc assessment in order to inform phonics groups after half term. We will speak with you about how your child is progressing in phonics at your parents evening appointment after half term.
Please ensure to continue practising your child’s phonics over the half term with them to support them to retain what they have learnt. Lots of the children are remembering most of the sounds that have been taught, but many children are still finding the skill of blending challenging. To help with this, please engage in Fred Games with your child over the half term. You can either deliver Fred Games yourself using the PDF below, or you can access the video links from our weekly homework ‘Memo’ on Tapestry. The links for all the sounds taught so far will still be accessible on Tapestry until mid-December so that they can be re-watched.
Maths:
This week in Maths, we have been learning about size and pattern. At the beginning of the week, we compared items of different lengths and weights, describing which items were longer/shorter or heavier/lighter. At the end of the week, we practised our pattern making skills, making simple repeating patterns (e.g. yellow, red, yellow, red).
For your child’s homework challenge, see what patterns you can make at home! Using things around the house (e.g. buttons, cutlery, toys, etc.), make a simple repeating pattern. We would love to see any photos of your patterns on Tapestry!
Christmas Card Competition:
Ben Maguire MP, for North Cornwall, is inviting pupils to take part in his 3rd Annual Christmas Card Competition, which is open to all primary school pupils. Every pupil is invited to submit a design, and every participant will get a certificate.
The winner will win a prize, and the winning design will be used for Ben’s Christmas card this year, which is sent to people across North Cornwall.
Please see the competition details below:
Please send the original design, not a photocopy.
Send designs on A4 paper (although the winning design will be reduced in size and printed on A6.)
Everything fun, creative, and vibrant is encouraged! (Avoid glitter, glue, cotton wool and other stick-on items – they’re great, but don’t reproduce well once we send the design to print.)
Please include the child’s full name, school and school year with their age on the back of their designs – otherwise they won’t know who the winner is!
Name, age, year group and school will be shown on the winning card, so please do not include enter your child’s design if you do not wish to have this information on the card.
All designs must be received by Thursday 5th November (but please send them before the deadline, if possible). Please send all entries to Ben Maguire MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Church Trip:
Our trip to the Church for our Countdown to Christmas event is on Tuesday 8th December, during the morning. We always need lots of parent volunteers to help walk the children to and from the church. Adults that volunteer to help cannot bring younger children with them on the trip due to child to adult ratios.
So far, we have only received one offer from an adult to support with the trip. Without sufficient volunteer support, we will be unable to take the children to the church. Please email your child’s teacher if any adult family member is able to volunteer to join us in walking the children to and from the church on the morning of Tuesday 8th December. Thank you so much in advance.
People Who Help Us:
Next half term, one of our topics will be ‘People Who Help Us’. If you work in any of the following areas and would be happy to come and speak to the children about your job or have any resources/artefacts that we could look at, please email your child’s class teacher. Thank you so much in advance!
Vets
Fire service
Medical professionals
Police service
Tapestry
Please check regularly to see photos of your child’s learning experiences. Once you have viewed an observation on Tapestry, please ‘like’ the observation to let us know that you have seen it.
To access Tapestry, please ensure that you have activated your parent account via the link that was sent to your email account. This was sent during the children’s first week of school, it may have gone into your junk folder. If you are having any trouble accessing Tapestry, please let a member of the Reception team know.
Have a fantastic half term and we look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday 4th November!
Miss Parker, Mrs Harris and Mrs Reay
Dates for the diary
Friday 23rd October – Last day of half term
26th – 30th October – Half Term
2nd & 3rd November – INSET Days
Wednesday 4th November – Back at school
4th – 6th November – Reception Parents Evening
Thursday 12th November – Individual School Photos
Tuesday 8th December – Countdown to Christmas at Stratton Church
Wednesday 16th December – Christmas Dinner
Friday 18th December – Last Day of Term
21st December – 1st January – Christmas Holidays
Monday 4th January – INSET Day
Tuesday 5th January – Back at school
Weekly Reading Homework
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