We come back, to the final half term of the year. It does not seem possible that after everything we have been through in recent months that we have reached this time already.

Learning: We will be continuing our work from the first half of the term with children working on expanding their concentration skills further and working for longer periods with an adult in readiness for the next stage of school.

This term so far we have learned about the world, our country and the local area as part of the world. We will now move onto our work about lifecycles. We started this before the half term with our incubator and chicks. We will now look at caterpillars and humans in particular as well as plants. We will look at how a baby turns into a child, teenager and then into an adult. To help with this could I previously requested a photo of each child as a baby? If you have already sent this then thank you, I have it safe. If not, there is still time to help with the project. You can email it to me or bring in a printed version. If there were any adults willing to help, I would love photos of you as a baby, child, teenager and now. I promise not to share them beyond the classroom! I cannot guarantee that photos will not become dog-eared so probably best not to send originals.

In phonics, Reception have now completed phase 3 so will be using the time to consolidate everything that they know already developing their application of sounds in reading and writing.

In maths we will continue to embed composition of numbers to 10 and numbers beyond 10. We will also continue to learn more about; adding more and taking away, doubling and sharing quantities, odds and evens.

As the weather warms up:

• Children will still need to keep One FULL spare set of clothes on their peg to include – top/trouser or skirt, socks or tights, pants, jumper. This is even more important as the weather gets warmer and the need for coats and waterproof trousers becomes less.
• Children will also need a sunhat and will need to come to school with sun cream applied.
• Please also remember to send in your child’s water bottle so that they can stay hydrated – Please ensure that, in line with school policy water bottles only contain water (unless there is a specific reason that has been discussed with me)
• Children with long hair should have this tied back away from their faces. We have not had any cases of head lice recently but they are never far away and they find it much easier to transfer from head to head when children’s hair is in contact with another’s. Tying it back can limit this contact.

Transitions: Reception pupils have already begun their transition into pine class. Mr Lamoureux has been teaching them on a Wednesday morning so that they are already becoming used to him and he too they. Over the next few weeks, there will be some opportunities for them to join him in Pine Class with the current Year Ones so that they get a feel for what September will bring.

There are also some transition sessions booked for new Reception pupils who will be joining current nursery children in Reception next year.

Finally: At any point before or during the return to school feel free to drop me an email me on n.jones@wvpschools.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Many thanks

Nikki Jones