What is my child learning?
Phonics
You’ve probably heard your child talking about digraphs, trigraphs and tricky words. A few parents have been asking what their child is talking about so we’ll be sending an information flyer home to help.
Your child has been learning all the letter sounds for the alphabet – please see the YouTube video for help pronouncing the ‘pure’ sounds.
Since January, your child has started to learn the letter names for these ‘pure’ sounds. We have enjoyed singing a song that sings the letter sounds AND names. Your child has also been learning to read digraphs and trigraphs.
Digraphs consist of two letters (graphemes) but they only make one sound (phoneme). The digraphs are shown below:
|
qu |
ch | sh | th | ng |
|
ee |
oo | ar | or |
oi |
|
ai |
oa | ur | er |
ow |
|
|
Trigraphs consist of three letters (graphemes) but they only make one sound (phoneme). The trigraphs are shown below:
| ear | air |
ure |
igh |
Using their digraph and trigraph knowledge your child will be able to read words such as…
The sound buttons/lines shown underneath the letters help your child sound out words. A line is shown when the letters make a digraph or trigraph- that way your child will only make one sound when reading a digraph/trigraph.
Sound buttons and lines are not everywhere so we need to teach your child to independently spot the digraphs and trigraphs so that they only make one sound when reading a digraph/trigraph!
Can your child spot any digraphs or trigraphs in their reading book?
Tricky words are words your child cannot sound out using their phonic knowledge – they just have to know them by sight… that’s what makes them tricky!
|
the |
to |
I |
|
no |
go |
into |
|
he |
she |
we |
|
me |
be |
was |
|
you |
they |
all |
|
are |
my |
her |
Scholes swimming lessons
Most of the Year 1 and 2 children are working on or towards their ASA Learn to Swim Stage 2 Awards in school swimming lessons this half term. Nicole (our swimming instructor) is pleased with their progress and will assess the children at the end of term. If your child achieves the award, a slip will be sent home. There has been a focus on breaststroke, water confidence (including swimming 5m under water), swimming through a hoop and picking up sinker rings. The next award will be 10m badge which requires breaststroke, backstroke and front crawl. The strokes will be a big focus next half term.
Children in Reception class (F2) are working on their Duckling 1 badge and will also be assessed soon. Their water confidence and ability to get changed independently has also improved since they started swimming lessons in school.
Here are some comments from children about their swimming lessons…
- ‘I can now do backstroke.’
- ‘I have enjoyed doing different strokes.’
- ‘We do frog legs. Bend, out, together!’
- ‘When I first went under the water, it was a bit scary. I enjoy going under the water now!’
- ‘I like going under the water to fetch the mermaid toy.’
Super Skippers
The whole school enjoyed sessions delivered by Jodi Corcoran from Skipping School this week. The primary aim is fitness through fun and she includes every child in the sessions, regardless of their skills. There is a clear pathway through the skills to ensure all children make progress. After all the sessions, there was a celebration assembly for the whole school. Lots of children demonstrated their achievements.
Please bring skipping ropes into school after half term so the children can continue to improve their skills.
See children demonstrating the skills below for more skipping ideas. Which ones can you do?
Pupil voice
Your child will be coming home with a pupil feedback form. Please talk to your child about the questions and record their answers. Your child’s voice matters and we would like to know their feelings and opinions about their learning at school.
Reading Workshop
Thank you to all the parents who attended the reading workshop during parents’ evening last night. Don’t worry if you missed it because the workshop will be running again during the parents’ evening on Wednesday 07 February between 5pm and 7pm.
The workshop provides tips and advice on how to support your child’s reading at home. The year 6 children running the workshop demonstrate games and activities to encourage a love of reading. If you have five minutes after visiting your child’s class teacher, then pop in and see what the children have to offer.
Below are some comments from parents who attended the workshop:
- “This was a useful and informative workshop. Useful for our two younger children.”
- “Good descriptive information to support at home.”
- “Really fun and enjoyable. I’d recommend coming.”
Letter Formation
This week, the children have been practising their letter formation in lots of different ways – with paint, sand, white boards, the interactive board and chalk.
Can your child practise their letter formation at home? You could get creative and use other materials to write letters such as shaving foam, sand or paint in zip-lock bags. It’s also really important to practise holding a pencil with a tripod grip and practising letter formation with a pencil will support your child’s writing journey.
Please send us an email to share how your child has been practising their letter formation at home. Your child will receive two challenge bricks for practising at home!
The Big Ink Cartridge Collection
WANTED!
School council are collecting used ink cartridges to raise money for our school and our chosen charity – The Donkey Sanctuary.
All collected used ink and toner cartridges are recycled in an environmentally friendly way and the money raised is donated back to us! The more cartridges we can collect, the more we can raise.
If anyone’s workplace throws their ink cartridges away, we’ll be happy to recycle them for you!
An ink cartridge recycle box is waiting for your donation in the main office reception.
Pure sounds!
A number of parents have been asking how to pronounce the ‘pure’ sounds when reading with their children. We also teach the children the letter name. However, the ‘pure’ sound helps children to segment and blend words when reading.
Here are the pure sounds pronounced by Mrs Flynn and the actions shown by Miss Eckersley! Can you get your child to show you at home?
We are now working on the Phase 3 sounds which are all digraphs. A digraph is a combination of two letters representing one sound. Can your child tell you any of the digraphs we have learnt so far?
People who help us
Our topic after February half term is going to be ‘People who help us’. We’ve noticed that the children are interested in police, doctor and vet role-play. As part of this topic, we’d like to organise for a visitor to come into school to talk to the children about their job. Examples of the types of people we are looking for are a police-officer, doctor, nurse, vet builder, librarian, paramedic or firefighter. If you, or someone you know, is in a profession along these lines and you would like to come and talk to the children about your job, then please speak to a member of the F2 team.
Thank you!
Thank you to those of you who were able to attend the ‘marvellous maths’ stay and play today. It was great to see so many of you there and the children enjoyed sharing their learning with you.
We focused on the number 9. We focus on numbers to twenty throughout the year to get a depth of understanding of what the numbers represent. We talked about what number 9 looks like – not just the numeral but also what it looks like in our environment. For example, 8 flowers and 1 tree – that makes nine!
If you were unable to attend, your child will be bringing home an information booklet with ideas of how to support your child at home. The children also enjoy watching number blocks – a great conversation starter about numbers!
