Class Teachers: Miss L Whitehouse & Mrs. J Gibson (Reception) Mrs Georgiou (Nursery)

Teaching Assistants: Mrs. A Goodrum  Mrs Appleby  Miss Abbott Nursery, Mrs. Ivison (Reception)

Welcome Back 

We hope you had a fantastic October half-term holiday and would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back to school. During the special time of Advent, we will be thinking about how we prepare for visitors over the festive season, making links to the special visitors that baby Jesus had in the stable.

What we are learning…

Our learning this half term will focus on key texts that enable us to explore Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, Advent and Christmas.

Children will be:

  • Using a range of media to create firework pictures, learning why we celebrate Bonfire Night and finding out about how we can stay safe on Bonfire Night.
  • Nursery will be listening to the story of The Gruffalo. They will be going on a Gruffalo walk and will be making Gruffalo crumble.
  • Reception will be listening to the story Stick Man. They will be mark making with sticks and mud, creating their own stick men, sequencing the story and thinking about what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story.
  • Learning about Remembrance Day and why we wear poppies.
  • Thinking about how we prepare and get ready for Christmas during the special time of Advent.
  • Learning about the story of Christmas and using our Bethlehem Role Play area to retell this special story.
  • Visiting St Thomas More Church to see the crib.
  • Getting creative, taking part in lots of Christmas related activities and crafts.
  • Writing our very important letters to Santa.
  • Learning the songs and rehearsing for our Christmas Performance- ‘A Miracle in Town’ (Please see dates below- tickets will be on sale at the beginning of December)

Stay and Read
This half term we will have a ‘Stay and Read’ session. Parents are welcomed in to EYFS to share stories with their child and Reception parents are invited to stay for a short informal meeting afterwards. This meeting will enable you to find out how phonics is taught in school and how you can help support your child with their reading at home.

This stay and play session will take place on Thursday 17th November.
All morning nursery and reception parents are invited to join us for the morning session
8:40-9:10
(Reception phonics meeting until 9:30)

Afternoon parents are invited to the afternoon session 12:10-12:45.

We would love to see you all there if you can make it!

EYFS Christmas Party
The Christmas party will take place on 15.12.22 December.
All morning and afternoon children are asked to come to the morning session on this day. There will be no afternoon nursery session.

Session time- 8:40-11:40
Both Reception and Nursery children can come to school wearing party clothes on this day.

PE

This half term Reception children will take part in Mighty Warriors every Monday morning. They will not require their PE kits for this session as will be asked to remove shoes, socks, tights and their jumper or cardigan.

Reception PE will take place every Friday and your will be required to come to school dressed in their PE kit.

Nursery children will take part in PE once a week but do not require a PE kit. Jumpers and cardigans will be removed for these sessions. Nursery children’s focus will be fundamental skills.

Phonics

At St Thomas More, we want children to become confident and enthusiastic readers, with a lifelong love of reading. We believe that phonics provides the foundations of learning to make the development into confident, fluent reading and writing easier.  

Through daily, systematic and consistent high-quality phonics teaching, children learn to segment words to support spelling and blend sounds to read words. Phonics is taught through the Sounds Write programme in Reception where children learn the initial code.  Lessons are taught daily to the whole class and interventions are used in the afternoon for targeted children. 

Homework

  • Parents are expected to read with their child daily at home.
  • In Reception reading record books must be signed and commented, returned daily for confirmation.
  • In Reception children will receive a reading scheme book each Monday.
  • In Reception each term children will receive a homework pack to complete. Work will be marked each Monday.
  • Nursery parents are asked to return their book bags every Friday to enable them to be changed and new homework added.

General Reminders

Nursery timings- AM gate will be open 8.40am- 8.55am          11.30- 11.40pm -gate open

PM gate will be open 12.10pm- 12.20pm                3pm gate open

Reception –   AM door will be open 8.40pm- 8.55pm                    3.10pm door open

Please ensure children arrive to school promptly on time wearing correct uniform. Make sure shoes are strong, flat, black and easy to take on and off independently. No Trainers. No Jewellery or nail varnish.

Dates for your diary

  • Parents’ Evenings – 15.11.22 and 16.11.22
  • Stay and Play – 17.11.22
  • Children in Need – 18.11.22
  • Nativity Performance PM – 13.12.22
  • Nativity Performance AM – 14.12.22
  • Christmas Lunch/Jumper Day – 14.12.22
  • Visit to St Thomas More Church- Date to be confirmed.
  • Christmas Party- 15.12.22 – Nursery AM and PM to attend at 08:40-11:40
  • Last academic day- 16.12.22
  • Return to school- 03.01.23