Welcome to the Kestrels Class! 



Staff

Teacher: Christina Marriott

TAs: Gemma McKeegan, Cheryl Round and Alex Lambert

Mid Day Leader: Jordan Maguire


Newsletter

Hairy, Scary Beast

The Kestrels have had a great start to the New Year with lots of learning over the last 6 weeks. 

In English, we have been looking at the fictional story ‘The Gruffalo’ where we have created our own maps showing the different characters we meet along the way in the story as well as re-tell it using pictures and symbols. We have been focussing on the Gruffalo character and looking at the different ways he is made to look scary by exploring the describing words used in the text using visuals to support our understanding. We have continued to develop our reading and writing skills in phonics sessions and we are trying hard to identify common words.

In Maths we have been focussing on finding one more and one less. We have explored this using lots of practical activities linked to common number songs and rhymes and we have begun to explore some number language such as add, take away, plus, minus and equals in order to write corresponding number sentences. 

We have had some exciting Science sessions this half term where we have had the opportunity to observe the lifecycle of a chicken in real-life with the visit of the Living Eggs Company. The children have explored the different stages of the chicken life cycle, observing them starting as an egg, hatching out of the egg with a chick appearing. They loved watching the chicks move together as we observed them once they had hatched and then we got to look at them closely as we each had a turn in touching and holding them. We looked at them closely and identified their different body parts and what they used them for.

In Design and Technology, we’ve been learning all about bird feeders and what these are used for. We have looked at the different designs and how the birds use them to access the food stored within them. We have then designed our shaped bird feeder, making these using bird seed and hanging them out for the birds to use in the outdoor area. 

In our Art sessions, we’ve been looking at the sculptor Angela Pozzi and how she has used rubbish from the sea to create her sculptures. We have picked our favourite sculpture and drew our own version of this using our drawing skills that we focussed on last half term.

In RE this half term we have been looking at where we belong, focussing on identifying that we belong to our class and our family. We have looked at who else belongs in our class as well as those in our families. We have sorted pictures of our friends in class as well as drawing those who are in our family. 

We’ve also had lots of fun in the snow when it snowed! We were very excited and loved exploring the snow and watching it fall!

It’s been another fun-filled half term and we thank all our families for their continued support and look forward to more learning experiences after the half-term holidays!


Follow along with this half term’s Signalong video!

Signalong

At Kingfisher we use Signalong as a part of a Total Communication Approach, we are constantly using core vocabulary with the children to support their language development and then through each of our topics we introduce new signs and language, which extends their vocabulary further. We also have two “Signs of the Week” which helps maintain and extend key knowledge and skills of everyday vocabulary.

Each half term we will be creating a short video showcasing and demonstrating signs relavent for the current term so that you can learn the signs and further this learning at home.

Click play to watch this half terms Signalong video!


Lunchtime

If your child has a school dinner, the school menus can be accessed by clicking here. For children who bring a packed lunch, please remember to provide healthy and balanced options. We are a Healthy School and will be focusing on healthy eating and how children can make healthy lifestyle choices.


How You Can Help at Home

Our theme for this half term is ‘Food Glorious Food.’ To support your child’s learning at home, here are some ideas linked to what we will be doing in school over the next five weeks. We will also regularly share your child’s learning with you through Seesaw.

  • We will be looking at the fiction text ‘Which Food Will You Choose?’ where we will use the text to help support our understanding of different types of food and healthy eating as we will use this to support our writing development by writing lists and labels for the food we like to eat.  

You can share the story as a book online together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LvxFNHPbE

Another version highlights the different text in the book and demonstrates following the words as we read if you want to share this with your child:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O9Sm3B27I4

  • Can you look at different books about food – where it comes from, how to eat healthily, and even share a cookbook together when making a recipe at home? 
  • Continue to develop your child’s interests in books at home by sharing as many as you can together – get them to turn the pages, follow the words with their fingers and attempt to read some simple words if appropriate. Encourage them to find the title on the front cover and the author’s name and ask simple questions about the text as you read it. Can they name any of the characters, or can they point them out when asked? Expand this to non-fiction books so that your child can see the difference between a fiction and non-fiction text. If your child is a confident reader, talk together about what they have read to develop their understanding of the text they are reading – ask them questions about the story/ text they are reading.
  • You can encourage letter and number formation at home by practising in different media such as shaving foam, flour, sand, sprinkles, cornflour, etc. Encourage your child to write their full name (including surname) – this is something your child will practice every day in school, along with some common high-frequency words. For some children, writing simple sentences about a picture can be a good way of developing their early understanding of the words they are reading – can they write about what they can see outside? e.g. I can see….. what have they done in their day? I have…….. They could even write a list for you for when you go shopping! Can they find some of their favourite foods at home and write what’s on their wrappers?
  • We always talk about what day of the week it is in school – encourage this at home to help support the children in identifying what day it is today, tomorrow and yesterday – what did they do yesterday? What are they going to do today? What will they be doing tomorrow? Talk about things you would do at specific points of the day, such as brushing your teeth or eating breakfast – do we do this at night or in the morning? 
  • Can you write a shopping list together and go and get these items from the shop – you could use pictures and write the words for things such as bananas, apples, bread – anything your family needs from the shop. 
  • Play simple games with your child to develop their understanding of the rules of playing simple games and taking turns, e.g. Connect Four/simple dice games.
  • Encourage your child to help make some meals at home so that they develop an understanding of where their food comes from and how it is made – how does it differ from what other people may eat?
  • Can you plant cress seeds together in cotton wool and watch it grow over a few weeks? Get your child to take daily pictures to show how it grows and changes.
  • Use fruit and vegetables to create prints with paint. Encourage your child to choose their own colours and explore the prints they leave on the paper.
  • Make playdough together and practise making their own sculptures and shapes using their hands and different tools and equipment.
  • Make a fruit kebab together where your child can practise their cutting skills and cut the fruit up, then add them to a skewer to eat. 

If you have any questions regarding supporting your child’s learning at home, please message via Seesaw. 

We look forward to another fun filled half term with many learning opportunities to share!


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