EYFS Newsletter – 25.09.26

We’ve had a fantastic week in Reception – thank you for all your support in the first weeks of term. It feels like we’re fully in the swing of things now and we’ve had a lovely time continuing to get to know one another. Our topic of ‘All About Me’ has seen us thinking a lot about our feelings this week. We spent time introducing the children to the four ‘Zones of Regulation’ which we use in school to help the children identify their emotions and help regulate them should they feel out of sorts. The children looked at different emotions in children and tried to discern what they might be feeling and when in their own lives they may have been feeling the same. The children also had opportunity to create their own emoji type faces using tissue-paper collage and cut outs of varying facial features that signified different feelings. 

In our Phonics sessions this week, we have introduced the children to the first three phonemes of our scheme. These are /s/ (snake) /a/ (apple) and /t/ (teaspoon). We practised how to recognise these sounds by their grapheme (the written letter symbol) and for each one we learned an action to help us remember the corresponding sound (the phoneme). The children have spent time practising listening to hear this sound in words and practised how to recognise the grapheme for each sound by playing active games.

Our Maths sessions this week have continued last weeks work on matching, sorting and comparing. We spent time discussing the mathematical vocabulary around these concept, such as bigger/smaller, taller/shorter,  more/fewer. The children explored what these words mean in real-life experiences by comparing groups of animals, by building and comparing the height of brick towers and by acting out the Julia Donaldson story ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’.

On Monday, Reception got together with the year 6 children in Class 10 to share books in their regular ‘Reading Buddies’ session. It is lovely seeing the budding relationships with the older children as they read stories together. 

Reception also have been enjoying our regular slot for movement play. This is a time where we get to go to the school hall and make use of the space to enjoy a variety of apparatus that help to strengthen core muscles and gross motor movements. 

All of the class went to the book fair this week. If anyone wishes to make any more orders, the deadline for these is 12:00pm (lunchtime) on Tuesday 29th September and the link can be found here: https://bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/pay/84552495 

Mr Gamble joined us for Forest Schools on Thursday and he has already shared photos from this weeks session on the website. Can we please ask that all children bring wellies for these sessions going forward if at all possible. Even on drier days the grass is often wet with dew and can seep through trainers, which can prove uncomfortable – particularly for children with sensory sensitivities. 

From this week we have all the permissions necessary to start adding photos to the Tapestry app. You should be receiving pictures and information about things the children have been getting up to in their learning. If you don’t yet have an account with Tapestry please email the office with your name, child’s name, relationship to the child and email address and we will get you set up. 

DATES FOR THE DIARY:

Friday 9th October – Hello Yellow Day – school wide day highlighting children’s mental health – children are encouraged to come dressed in any yellow clothing you may have!

Friday 23rd October – Parent Consultations – school closed to children. Appointments will soon be available to book online for a meeting with the class teachers.