We can’t believe that our Reception children have completed their first half term at school! They have really settled into their classes and all our day-to-day routines really well. In our topic lessons, we have been learning about our 5 senses and the 4 seasons. We discussed the things we might see in different seasons and the different types of weather there might be and created an autumn tree using paint. This week, we learnt about ‘Diwali’ - the festival of light- and had fun colouring and making rangoli patterns and henna tattoo designs during free learning. The children are excited to look out for Diwali fireworks over the half term break. We continue to learn our set 1 sounds in phonics. We have learnt ‘u’, ‘b’. ‘f ‘ and ‘e’ and are using all the sounds we have learnt this term so far to read some words by blending the sounds together (e.g. b-u-n). After half term, the children will start to be given phonics reading books from school every week to read at home with you. We have also introduced two ‘red words’ (I and the). These are words that we cannot sound out and need to recognise and remember. We chose books from the book corner and were ‘red word detectives’, looking to spot these words. This is something that would be great to do with any books you have at home too! In maths, we have started to compare amounts using counting and subitising to say who has the most using the phrases ‘ more than’ and ‘less than’. We wish all our families a happy restful break and look forward to welcoming everyone back again in November.

Key messages:

• You will be given an ‘Autumn Bag’ for collecting treasures over the holiday. Please write your child’s name on it, and fill it with all the things you find outside to show us when you come back!

• We have noticed that increasingly children are eating their breakfast at the school gates and the classroom door. Please can we ask that children are not eating food at the door and have finished their breakfast before school.

• After half term, we will be sending reading books home. Please bring these back on Wednesday, in their named folder, in order for your child to receive new books the following day. Please write a short comment in their reading record.

• A reminder that children are not to play on the climbing frame or use the school equipment before and after school, including siblings.

• Please can you continue to give us donations of clean recycling to add to our junk modeling as we use it throughout the year - small boxes, toilet rolls etc. However we cannot accept anything that once contained nuts, eggs or fish.

• Please can you make sure your child comes into school dressed in their full PE kit with trainers every Thursday.

• Can you believe we are already thinking about our Nativity performance? Please let us know if for religious/personal reasons you would prefer for your child not to be involved in this.

• Please remember not to use teachers' personal email addresses’.  All communication with your child’s teacher should go through eyfs@vineyard.richmond.sch.uk

• Family meetings are happening on Tuesday 12th and Thursday 14th November. Look out for booking information from the school office 

• Every child will receive a phonics matching game for half term. Please cut out the sound squares that do not have the pictures on. The children should be encouraged to look at the sound, say what the sound is and match it to the corresponding sound on the picture mat. Please note we have only learned up to ‘e’. We have also included the mnemonics that we use to help them remember the sounds.