Turtles Autumn 1 2019

Welcome to Turtles
This year is going to be action packed in Turtles. One way you can help from the start is ensuring that all of your child's uniform is clearly named (including shoes), this will really help the staff to support your child to become more independent. Our main focus will initially be ensuring that the children settle into their new environment quickly and happily. It is important for us to build upon their positive Nursery experiences. Parents are welcome to come into the cloakroom and support the children with their morning routines initially and help the children to settle, but as I am sure you can all appreciate it is going to be very busy! You can help by encouraging your child to independently complete their morning routine including hanging up their coats and putting their book bags/packed lunches in the correct place. We will be completing a range of assessments during the first half term to establish a Reception baseline, including piloting a new Government baseline assessment system . It is going to be a very busy half term so you can really help by making sure that your child is in school every day and on time!
Reading
This is a very exciting time for the children as they will very soon be bringing home their school reading book and reading record. We want to encourage a love of reading with all the children so reading regularly at home with your child is a must. Please write in your child's reading record whenever you can, this can be when you share any book or story not just when you read their reading book together. We ask that you try to read at least 4 times a week at home with your child to promote a love of books.  If your child has 4 comments each week in their reading records then they will be rewarded with a star. Once they collect 10 stars they get to choose a prize from the famous 'Dippy Box.' 
Read, Write, Inc (RWI)
We will be starting our Read Write Inc sessions, where we will be building on the phonics work the children have previously covered in Nursery.  We will be reviewing and teaching all Set 1 sounds and using our Fred Talk and Fred Fingers to blend and segment words. We will also introduce the children to 'tricky' red words. Remember 'You can't Fred a red you just have to know it!' Click here to find out about Set 1 sounds and how to teach these at home. Your child will also be bringing home a RWI letter formation sheet which will support them in the formation of letter shapes and writing. Use this as support whenever you child writes at home! Come along to the welcome to Turtles meeting to find out how you can support your child with phonics. 
Colours of the World
This half term much of our learning will be focussed on our topic ' Colours of the World' with strong links to colours, patterns and Autumn and celebrations.  We will be reinforcing the colour names as well as exploring how colours can change and make new colors when mixed together. Why not have a go at some colour mixing at home by choosing a bright colour and gradually adding a little black or white paint to it and talking to your child about what they notice. We will be using stories such as The Rainbow Fish, Brown Bear Brown Bear and Elmer as a stimulus for our learning, Through these stories we will further our understanding of colours as well as learning about topics such as friendship, sharing and being different. Click on the video below to share an Elmer story with your child. We will be learning about Autumn celebrations such as Harvest, Bonfire Night and Divali and how colour plays such an important part of this.
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Maths
This half term we will be completing lots of practical maths and learning about number. We will be recognising, using, ordering numbers up to 20 and beyond. Can you do a number hunt around your house and see how many different places you can find numerals? Click here to practise matching the correct numeral to a group of objects. Through our  topic work we will be learning about sorting according to colour, size and shape. We will also be linking our work about Elmer to learning more about patterns and finding out about and creating repeating patterns. 
Elmer's Great North Parade
 
Have you heard about Elmer's Great North Parade. Click here to find out more. Why not see how many Elmers you can find and share your pictures with us on Tapestry. Look I have already found one!