Welcome to Term 2!
Apologies for the delay in getting this newsletter out to you all! I feel like the Ofsted visit has put us all back by a week for us! I would really like to thank you all though for the support that you showed us during the inspection. The great feedback we received from you helps to make this job feel so worthwhile. Well, that and the everyday feedback we get from your children!
Unfortunately, we are not allowed to share the outcome of the inspection until the report has been agreed. This will likely to be after Christmas. However, I am allowed to share that the Inspector sent his thanks and appreciation to all the staff for the way they engaged with the process and that we are happy with the way the inspection went. The children were fabulous throughout and I have never felt prouder of them.
Mandy Collier-King, Acting Head teacher
Govenors
We have had some interest in the Parent Governor role, which is fantastic. We are always interested happy to have more parents/carers interested in supporting the school. We currently have a Local Authority Governor vacancy.
This does not mean that you have to be from the Local Authority to take on this role. If you think you may qualify or know someone that may be interested, please do let us know.
Family Link
Lucy has been working even more closely with the Children’s Centre. There will be a display board on the foyer very soon to share all the things that will be happening at the Children’s Centre. Please have a look in case there is anything you would like to access.
She will also be working with the Children’s Centre to deliver the Nurture programme. Please see Lucy if this is something you feel you would like to be part of.
Lucy and Amy (our Lead teacher) have started the “Stories at Home” project and some of you have already attended. These sessions have been great. The speech and Language therapist will be attending the next session to support with how to use books and stories to encourage language development. Again, if you would like to be part of this, please see Lucy.
Self-Help Skills
This term is the ideal opportunity to teach your child the “coat trick”. Lay the coat on the floor in front of them with their feet at the hood end. Encourage your child to put their arms in the sleeves and then flip their coat over their heads…..as if by magic the coat sleeves slide on their arms and they find themselves wearing it! A brilliant trick to make them feel proud and develop their independence. They may need a little help with the zip, but if you can show them how it’s done…they’ll manage that too with a little practice!
Learning Leaflets
We now have a learning Leaflet to explain each terms Curricular Goal, the learning behind it and ways to support at home. We also have a leaflet to share the learning for our Core Books for each term.
These leaflets can be found in the foyer. Please feel free to pop in and pick one up at any time. Each newsletter also shares the learning focus for the term and info regarding how you can be involved.
New Staff Members
Please come and say hello to our newest members of staff: Support workers Amy, Jenna and Tara. Leanne and Mdoube are our new SMSA’s.
Dates for Your Diary
Tues 19th and Thur. 21st November: Parent Engagement event: Spider making workshop.
Tues 10th and Thurs 12th Dec: Christmas Jumper Day
Tues 17th and Thurs 19th Dec: Christmas Parties
Wednesday 18th December: Sun and Star Nativity performances: To be confirmed
Friday 20th December: End of term
Monday 6th January: INSET Day: School closed
Tuesday 7th January: Start of Term 3
Term 2 Curriculum
This term our Curriculum focus is “Learn a Nursery Rhyme”. The children are all learning to remember and say “Incy Wincy Spider. They will be exploring this Nursery Rhyme in lots of different ways and learning the language from the rhyme e.g. “water spout”. The children will also be exploring all areas of the curriculum through this focus:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Exploring emotions and linking this to Nursery Rhyme characters.
Language Development: Learning new vocabulary linked to Nursery Rhymes, seasons and celebrations.
Physical Development: using one handed tools such as scissors, building on their self-help skills and using mops and brushes to make big movements that link to early writing skills.
Maths: Looking at patterns, noticing similarities and differences and sorting objects into 2 or 3 groups.
Literacy: Joining in with rhymes, making large marks, exploring different sounds musical instruments make.
Expressive Art and Design: clap along to a rhythm, making rhythms with tapping instruments, playing along with Nursery Rhymes.
Understanding of the World: use their senses to explore natural materials, talk about seasons and find mini beasts in the garden.
On Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st November at 2.15pm we would like to invite parents to join us for a spider making workshop. We will provide all the resources that you need to make a spider to take home with your child. You can then use the spider to help your child to retell the nursery rhyme or to play with the spider and act out “climbing up the water spout!” We would love to see you there!
Donations
We would like to say thank you to Davina, for making a donation to the Nursery. We are planning to use it to re-introduce the sensory garden in the courtyard, including a water feature that we know the children will love!
