We follow the Hamilton scheme of work at Calstock and have had lots of fun singing number songs and working with the different resources in the classroom. We also follow Mastering Number, a scheme of work by NCETM. At home you can also help your child with their number facts, but also with any ‘real life’ experiences. Cooking and playing games such as pretend shops are particularly valuable. Your child will benefit from counting up and back from 0-20. Try starting at different numbers. You could also practise 1 more or 1 less than numbers to 5. This half-term we will be focusing on: ● Numbers to 5 ● Comparing groups within 5

In the next few weeks we will send home a book from the school library and our Reading Area for you to enjoy at home. This is not a book that your child will be able to read, but we hope that they will enjoy sharing the story with you, discussing the pictures and events within the story. We will change this book on a weekly basis for you, on a Wednesday. So please leave it in your child’s book bag to be changed and ensure that books bags are brought to school every day.

Over the next few weeks we will begin introducing the children to the first letters and sounds in our daily phonic lessons. We follow the ‘Read, Write Inc.’ scheme of work. We start with set 1 sounds. We will regularly send home sheets and cards, to practise at home, with the sounds the children have learned. As the children progress with their phonic learning and become confident at the skills needed to recognise the letters and sounds, we will start to send decodable reading books home in the second half of the autumn term and the spring term. Children learn at different rates and it is important for children to feel confident and happy when starting their reading journey. I will be holding a ‘How We Teach Reading in School’ Parent Talk at the end of Autumn Term, it would be lovely to see as many parents there as possible.

This year your child will be participatingin the reception baseline assessment (RBA) within the first six weeks of starting reception. The purpose of the assessment is to provide a starting point for a new measure that will help parents understand how well schools support their pupils to progress between Reception and Year 6/the end of Key Stage 2. The RBA is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early literacy, language, communication and mathematics skills when they begin school, using materials that most children of your child’s age will be familiar with. It was statutory for all schools from September 2021. 

We will be posting ‘wow moments’ on individual portfolios on your child’s Class Dojo accounts. We hope this will work well for you, but if you have any problems, then please let me know. You can also send me photos of what your child has been doing at home. We hope you enjoy seeing how your child is getting on at school.

Your child will receive a piece of fruit and milk or water for snack each day at school. Thank you for sending your child in with all of the items that your child needs. Your child has a separate drink of water or milk at snack and lunchtimes. During ‘Busy Learner Time’ they can also get a drink from their water bottles. These bottles are kept in school and refilled and cleaned regularly, to ensure the children always have a drink in school. Children will have PE with Mrs Liddicott on Monday afternoons (please ensure they have shorts/joggers, a shirt and trainers in school) and will also have their Outdoor Learning session on Friday afternoons, but please ensure that waterproofs and wellies are in school at all times. You can also leave a spare set of clothes on your child’s peg.

We have a child in our school with a severe nut allergy. Please do not send your child to school with any nuts or food containing nuts.