Feed the birds...

This week the nursery children have been hard at work creating their own bird feeders to hang in the garden

The Ladybird group with their bird feeders.

Mrs Ricciardi - "We used a needle and string to thread the cheerios to make a delicious snack for the birds now winter is coming!"

At the Grove Academy we believe that outdoor play and learning is vital in developing a broad range of skills and encourage the children to spend time outside on a daily basis. 

For more information on the benefits of outdoor learning, the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) are a great resource.

“Let Nature be your teacher.” – William Wordsworth

Stay and Share

It was lovely to see so many parents and carers last week for our 'Stay and Share' sessions. These drop in sessions are a great opportunity for you to have a look through your child's Learning Journal at the progress they have made so far, as well to see their targets for future learning.

The best way for children to achieve these targets and to progress to the best of their ability, is through continued support from teaching staff and families. When we are all on the same page with children's next steps in learning and are working towards the same goal, success for every child is both achievable and inevitable.

If you were unable to make the 'Stay and Share' sessions in Nursery and Reception last week then please feel free to chat to your child's key worker who will be more than happy to share your child's progress and next step targets.

"A little progress every day adds up to BIG results". - Satya Nani

Word of the Week: Noisy

Each week the children in Reception are introduced to a key word for the week. We talk about the meaning of the word, what sound we can hear at the beginning and try to find a word that rhymes. In addition, we learn the Makaton sign that accompanies the word and try to use it regularly throughout the week.

This week the word of the week is :noisy 

The Makaton sign is:

 

Have a go and see what 'noisy' things there are in your home!

"Increasing vocabulary is an accomplishment. Celebrate mastery of every word" - Marilee Sprenger

Fantastic Phonics

As the children are introduced to each new letter in our phonics lessons, they are taught how to say the 'pure' sound that the letter makes. Using the 'pure' sounds really supports the children with their early blending and reading as it makes it much easier for them to work out what word they are trying to read.

A link to the Read Write Inc. sound pronunciation guide can be found in the 'Parents Evening FAQ's' blog post below to support you with correct sound pronunciation when you are helping your children at home.

In addition to this , the children in RG have recorded some helpful clips to demonstrate the correct pronunciation for the first 5 phonic sounds that we learn in Reception. Please have a look and check out how they say each 'pure' sound.

m - Maisy, mountain mountain

a - round the apple, down the leaf

s - slither down the snake

d - round the dinosaurs bottom, up his tall neck and down to his feet

t - down the tower, across the tower

Check back next week for the next 5 sounds!!

To learn to read is to light a fire” — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Quick Quack Quentin

This week the children were lucky enough to hear the wonderful story of 'Quick Quack Quentin' when they visited Ms. Storms at the school library.

This story follows Quentin the duck who has lost the 'A' from his quack. He visits all of the animals to see who will help him to replace his 'A' but sadly nobody wants to help! That is, until he meets a friendly aardvark!

Why not visit the school library next Tuesday and look for this book to find out what happens to poor Quentin in the end!! Ms Storms will be in the library for you to borrow books every Tuesday after school.

“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” ― Albert Einstein

Parents Evening FAQ's

It was lovely for the Early Years team to get to meet so many of you during Parents Evening this week. There were many positive conversations and from a staff perspective, it is always useful to learn as much as possible about the children in our care from the people who know them best.


A few questions seemed to come up throughout the Parents Evening meetings and hopefully this post will help to address some of them.


Phonics
The phonics scheme that we follow at the Grove Academy once children are in Reception is called Read Write Inc. This is a system of teaching children the sound recognition and early reading and writing skills that will support them as they learn to become independent readers and writers in all areas of the curriculum.
The link below will take you to the parent section of the Read Write Inc. website and will hopefully help to answer any questions you may have about phonics as well as providing some handy hints on how you can help your child at home.


Read Write Inc. Parents Section


Another question that was asked many times was 'how do you teach the letter sounds?' At this stage we are not focusing on the alphabetic letter names, but instead the children are learning all about the sounds that the letters in each word make to support them as they learn to read. A really useful link is to the Read Write Inc. sound pronunciation guide, which will show you and your children how to form each of the 'pure' sounds that the letters make.


Sound Pronunciation Guide


Again, this is related to the phonics scheme followed once children are in Reception.


Observation Abbreviations/How can I help my child?
Many of you were curious as to what the letters and numbers at the top of our observations mean. These abbreviations are simply linked to the Early Years development statements that all of our learning is based around.
You may have noticed a coloured piece of paper with, for example, L: W: 40-60M written on and highlighted in your child's Learning Journal. This means that the learning we observed during that particular adult directed session was based on Literacy (L), focusing on writing (W) and what an 'average' child aged between 40-60 months (40-60M) would be expected to do.
Please follow the link below to see the 'parents guide' that accompanies the Early Years curriculum to see what we will be working on with your children through Nursery and Reception. This document also contains some great tips on how you can help to support and enrich your child's learning at home.


Parents Guide - What to Expect


Once again, thank you so much for taking time out of your evening this week to share in your child's journey through Nursery and Reception. These opportunities to come together really do benefit the children and help us all to grow and learn together!


"TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves More".

A Gruffalo, what's a Gruffalo?

At the Grove Academy, children are encouraged to enjoy books and stories at every opportunity. Stories are shared in class each day and children also have the chance to access many different books and stories during their Child Initiated Learning time.

 

The Book Trust states that "children who enjoy reading do better at school in all subjects", so fostering this love of books and reading at an early age can have a huge impact on children throughout their school life and beyond.

Sharing familiar stories at home, even at this early stage before children have become independent readers, is one way to help your child develop a love of reading. The Book Trust has some fantastic tips on sharing books...  http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/how-to-share-books/

Don't forget to pop in to the school library on a Tuesday after school!

"I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted ... learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage." - Roald Dahl

The Little Gardener

This week it was RH's turn to visit the school library and share a story with our fantastic librarian Ms Storms.

The children heard the story of 'The Little Gardener' by Emily Hughes. This book tells the tale of a little gardener who loved his garden more than anything, but struggled to look after it despite working very, very hard. That is, until Someone finds the garden and decides to help!

If you would like to find out more about this story then Ms Storms can be found in our school library after school on a Tuesday.

Please come along and make use of this great resource!

"Books are a uniquely portable magic." - Stephen King

First time for everything...

The children have been at school for three weeks now and have been busy filling their days with lots of 'firsts'. There have been first days, first lunchtimes, first PE lessons and for some children, first time meeting their new teachers and friends!

 

 

This week has also seen the children spending their first full week at school and despite the long days, the children have coped fantastically with all of the new experiences that each day brings and settled beautifully into the daily routine of life in Reception.

The first year of school is an exciting time for the children and we will keep you updated with news and photos as we continue to 'play, grow and learn together'.

"You're off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so... get on your way". - Dr Seuss

Toys!

After a busy end to the last term and perhaps an even busier Christmas holiday, it is lovely to be back to school and settling into a brand new term.

Reception have decided on a toy theme for this half term and have kicked off the topic by learning about and creating their own moving toys.

After cutting out their chosen toy template, the children learnt how to use split pins to attach the different parts together.

 

During their research into different kinds of moving toys, the children learnt how to use the internet to find out information. We used a search engine designed for children and reminded the children how important it is to stay safe online. 

http://www.kidrex.org/parents/ - please follow this link if you want to find out more about 'kidrex' the search engine for children