Welcome to the Puffins Class!
Staff
Teacher: Georgia Jones
TAs: Carrie Ashworth, Carla Davies and Emma Hobin
Mid Day Leader: Charlene Harding
Newsletter
On The Move
Hello Everyone,
What an amazing start to the school year we have had! It has been great getting to know each other and build on making positive relationships with adults and children. We have enjoyed our topic ‘On the Move’ where we have been focusing on being active indoors and outdoors.
In early English we have been exploring the story ‘Walking through the Jungle’, where we listened to the story and matched photo symbols. Each week we have been exploring the different animals in the book, particularly looking at the animals’ colours and creating art pieces of the weekly animal. The Puffins have shown some amazing listening skills during our story sessions. We have also been practising our pre-writing skills in Move and Mark sessions and have enjoyed mark making in different mediums.
In PE we have been exploring movements and obstacle courses in different areas of the school including both halls. We have also enjoyed nature explore sessions in Jacks playground, Web playground and the Jungle. Exploring new spaces as a class around the school including the Puffins’ movement room (Rainbow room), soft play and shared play, which we have enjoyed expressing our imagination in our own way. Another opportunity for us to explore movements has been in swimming, where we have been finding our confidence in the water!
The Puffins have shown great skills in early maths; building, sorting, and manipulating sessions, and beginning to work on early number skills related to our individual targets. In creative development we have practised our mixing, mashing, and chopping skills along with building our tolerance to new foods. We have been looking at ‘me’ and created lovely photo booklets of our family.
We are excited for next term where we will continue to build on our skills and partake in different activities in line with the new theme ‘Winter Wonderland’.
We hope you have a lovely October break!
Thank you parents and carers, for all your support with the beginning of a new school year.
The Puffins class team.
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
- Copy what I do – sounds, facial expressions, body language. This will support your child’s communication.
- Give your child lots of opportunities to make choices and requests at home. Please contact me via Seesaw if you would like any symbols to support this. Exchanging symbols is a great step forward in communicating your wants and needs. Make sure you always model the language for them.
- Our story is ‘Stick Man.’ Can your child create a stick man with twigs? Read the book or watch the story at home! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbXZBT8wv1w
- Explore and play with different toys (noisy toys, bubbles, light up toys, balloons, and encourage the sign ‘more’ and ‘again’
- Sing lots of number songs: Our Favorite Numbers Songs | Kids Songs | Super Simple Songs – YouTube
- Model numbers throughout the day while with your child e.g. counting fruit, roleplay giving bears a t-shirt each.
- Practice game skills: throwing balloons to each other, kicking balls, pushing balls, stop-and-go games, having a race
- Get hands-on with cookery! Practice tearing, can your child help to open packets, and explore different textures?
- Encourage you child with their self-help skills and hygiene routine. We like to listen to a song in the Puffins.
Practice washing your hands: Sesame Street: Washy Wash Song | How to Wash Your Hands – YouTube
Practice brushing teeth: Brush Your Teeth | Kids Song | Finny The Shark – YouTube
Please access any of the activities suggested here or on the Medium-Term plan. If you need any more support or ideas, please send a message via Seesaw. We love to know about the learning that goes on at home! Let us know how you get on via Seesaw. Enjoy and have fun learning!
Puffins will be swimming on a Thursday afternoon, please can you make sure that your child has got their swimming kit in on that day.