Welcome to the Sunshine class page. 

Mrs Harvey-Smith is the class teacher and she is supported by Ms Ndoda and Mrs Monika Dzierzanowska. This page will show you some of the exciting things the children have been doing in class and ideas for you to do at home to support learning.

Day 3 - Monday 7th September

Today we had a nearly full class. The children came into school very happily and settled quickly. We played some phonics games and read some stories. We played inside and out and are beginning to form new friendships. Ir was our first hot lunch today, the children seem to be excellent eaters!

Friday 4th September - Visit Day 2

The children settled very quickly. They have had lots of fun exploring inside and out. Most of them were excellent eaters! It will be hot dinners from Monday. We are looking forward to having the whole class together for the first time on Monday. Remember 8.50am start and 3.10pm finish. There are lots of photographs for you to see what we have been up to.

Thursday 3rd September - Visit Day 1

The children were very quick to settle and we had lots of fun. We explored inside the classroom, outside in our garden area, the woods and the trim trail. Here are a few photographs of our day. 

Looking forward to seeing you all again on Monday.

Homework Information

Phonics homework books go home on Fridays, they are expected back on the following Wednesday. Please practise the letter sounds every day.

Talk homework is sent out weekly - this homework should be easy to fit into your routine eg a chat around the dinner table. Usually this homework will be to prepare a child for a new subject we will be covering or to consolidate learning that has been happening over the week. 

Reading and Phonics in Reception Classes

Guided Reading 

The children read their guided reading books with an adult three times a week. They do this in a small group and with a different focus each time.

 Initially we walk through the book. We look at the title, the characters, the blurb on the back and talk about the pictures. Then we will see what the children can recall and will talk in more detail about the story, read the words (looking for words / sounds that we know). All they children have opportunities to contribute, offer ideas and predictions and answer questions. On our final session we will complete a worksheet related to the book.

Home Readers 

Initially we will change home readers twice a week. Occasionally they may bring home a book that they have had before (it can boost their confidence to feel secure with a book).

Please spend time with your child each day looking at the book. Ask them questions to prompt them to look at the details. Sometimes you could tell the story for them to model the kind of language we are trying to encourage them to use.

As they start coming home with books with words, encourage them to use their phonics knowledge to sound out the letters and blend them to make a word. They will use the pictures to help them work out what the words say – this is fine.

Please sign to show that you have read the book and please take it out of their book bag and put it in the reading book box every morning.

High Frequency Words

There are over 50 high frequency words (words which the children will come across regularly in their reading and writing) that we would like the children to know by sight before they leave Reception. Some of these words are phonetic (which means the children can sound them out) other are “tricky” and will just have to be learnt.

We will send home tricky words as part of phonics homework. A sticky label on a page will indicate the tricky words we are learning that week during phonics. You may find it useful to write them out on individual pieces of card. It would be good for the children to practise writing these words too as it will help them to remember them when they want to use them in their writing. 

We are aware that all children learn at a different pace but would encourage you to spend time working with these words every day to ensure that your child does not fall too far behind.