Dear parent / guardian,
We’re so happy to welcome your children into Dosbarth Seren, (Nursery and Reception) this year. My name is Miss Lewis and I am the class teacher, working alongside our wonderful classroom assistants Mrs Ruffley (all day), Mrs. Whiteley (in the mornings) and Miss Carnell (in the afternoons). I’ve loved hearing all about the children’s summer holidays and I’m glad so many of you could make the most of the lovely weather we were fortunate to have.
What a lovely start to year we’ve had already! The children have enjoyed learning to be independent in choosing their own play-based activities for some child-led learning. Throughout this year your children will continue to access a great variety of engaging activities to promote a love of learning and improve their independence. These activities will often cover more than one area of learning, such as:
• Expressive Arts
• Humanities
• Language, Literacy and Communication
• Science and Technology
• Mathematics and Numeracy
• Health and Wellbeing
Already our class has been busy at work, activities have included creating some beautiful self-portraits, using natural materials to decorate their names, and they have been practicing their number recognition and counting skills, as well as learning the class routine.
We can also look forward to our new concept “Happy/ Sad”, “” which is based on the story “The Colour Monster”. Pupils will be learning about who they are, who makes them happy, places that make them happy, how to keep their bodies happy and healthy and how to recognise and manage different emotions, this story and topic will ensure that we have some great opportunities for indoor and outdoor learning. Through play and discovery, pupils will be supported by staff to acquire new skills, concepts and attitudes in all aspects of their social, physical and intellectual development. Children will also be having lots of fun learning to recognise numbers with number hunts and games, recognising shapes and creating pictures using shapes, as well as beginning our RWI phonics scheme and beginning to recognise and form letters appropriately.
Children have a daily snack time as part of our healthy schools programme and are welcome to bring in a piece of fruit each day to eat alongside their free milk. Children also each have their own water bottle in class with free access to this during the day. Please also ensure any medical details and allergies are kept up to date in school as we regularly do cooking.
Furthermore, we ask that children come into school prepared for daily outdoor learning activities by wearing their active uniform and a cosy, waterproof coat. The active uniform is also essential for P.E. which is on a Tuesday and Forest school on a Friday morning. Please ensure that clothing is appropriate for the winter months as outdoor learning will be taking place daily throughout the year come rain, wind or shine (within reason). Coats must be warm and waterproof.
During the first term your child will bring home a reading book for you to share with them. This will be a text-less book with pictures for your child to discuss with you, your child should be encouraged to retell the story by looking at the pictures and explaining what they see, this will soon develop into first word books in which children are encouraged to use their knowledge of letter sounds to read words. Please do try to read with your child for a short time every day, discuss the story with them, talk about the pictures, ask them to predict what will happen next or why they think something has happened. The reading book will come home on a Friday and will be replaced once read. Books will not be sent home without a suitable bag to keep them safe and they will only be renewed once the old book has been returned to school. Any damaged/ lost books will need to be replaced by parents/ guardians at a cost of £5. Please make sure that your child has their book bag/ book on a Friday.
Please can we remind you to put your child’s name in all items of their uniform, including shoes and coats. It is inevitable that the children will take items of their uniform off for dressing up, painting or in the hot weather. Names will help to avoid items of clothing from getting lost. Although we will always monitor clothing and do our best to keep track, it is the children’s responsibility to look after their clothing and ensure jumpers/ coats are kept on pegs when taken off. Please can I also ask that children come in with spare clothing, underwear/ socks/ trousers/ leggings/ shoes, in case of any accidents, if they do not have clothing with them we may need to phone home for spares to be brought in. If your child is given any clothing to change into from school, please ensure this is brought back clean as soon as possible. If your child is still in nappies, please ensure they have a bag with nappies and wipes. All children will be encouraged to use the toilets regularly.
We ask that you’re patient with us at home times and wait for your child to be called to the door by a member of staff to ensure the safety of pupils. Children must be collected from the class door by an adult. If your child is to be collected by somebody different, please let us know.
Thank you for your continued support!
Kind regards,
Miss Lewis (Class teacher, Dosbarth Seren)