Reception

This week, our Reception children have continued exploring our Fairytale topic and have started to become familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Through play, exploration and adult-led activities, the children have enjoyed making wolf masks, sorting and comparing different foods, exploring materials that could be used to make a cloak for Little Red Riding Hood, and using positional and directional language as they explore maps and routes.

The children have also been developing their early writing skills by making cards and messages for characters from the story. Outdoors, they have been noticing the changing season and using natural and autumnal materials in their play, investigations and creative work.

Year 1

Our Year 1 children have also been using Little Red Riding Hood as a stimulus for their learning, with activities providing opportunities to develop and apply their skills at an appropriate Year 1 level. Children have been learning to retell the story, develop their writing through cards and messages to the characters, investigate and describe the properties of materials, and use maps and directional language to describe and follow routes.

In maths, Year 1 have continued developing their understanding of number and place value, including recognising tens and ones and exploring one more, one less, ten more and ten less.

Across both Reception and Year 1, children continue to take part in Read Write Inc. phonics sessions matched to their current reading and phonics stage.

2. Important information and dates

Home reading books

From Monday 28 September, children working at Read Write Inc. Red level and above will begin bringing home reading books matched to their current stage. Please make sure your child brings their book bag into school from Monday. Books will then be changed on Fridays.

For children who are at an earlier stage of Read Write Inc., we will explain the appropriate home-reading arrangements separately. Romilly Plaza Open Day and Upda…

Read Write Inc. Parent Workshops – Monday 19 October

We will be holding Read Write Inc. workshops for parents on Monday 19 October. These sessions will help parents understand how Read Write Inc. is taught in school and some of the strategies you can use to support your child’s reading at home. We will send further information, including workshop times, shortly. 

Other dates

• Wednesday 30 September, 2:00pm – Macmillan Coffee Afternoon
• Friday 2 October – Visit from PC Dan, including age-appropriate learning about staying safe and Stranger Danger
• Tuesday 6 and Thursday 8 October – Parents’ Evenings, providing an opportunity to talk individually with your child’s class teacher. 

3. Plaza Open Day – thank you!

A huge thank you to all the parents and carers who joined us for our Plaza Open Day tours today. It was lovely to welcome so many of you into the classrooms and give you the opportunity to see the children learning in their everyday environment.

We have been incredibly proud of how well the children have settled and of the hard work, care and commitment of our Plaza staff. Thank you too for all the positive comments, questions and constructive feedback you have shared with us. We really appreciate your support as we continue to develop the Plaza together and make it the very best it can be for our children.

For anyone who would like to revisit the information shared ahead of the Open Day, we have attached the Plaza Open Day and Updates for Parents information again below. It includes information about how children are supported and challenged, Read Write Inc., maths, what happens next in the development of the Plaza and ways to share questions or feedback. 

4. How you can help at home

Reception

Please continue helping your child to:

• recognise their first and last name;
• practise putting on their own coat, including pulling their sleeves through correctly;
• talk about the sounds they are learning through Read Write Inc.;
• develop independence with their belongings.

If you are out on an autumn walk, we would also love children to bring in interesting autumnal natural objects such as leaves, conkers, acorns or pinecones for us to explore and use in our learning.

Year 1

We are continuing to develop our understanding of number and place value. You can support this at home by asking questions such as:

• How many tens does ___ have?
• How many ones does ___ have?
• What is one more/one less than ___?
• What is ten more/ten less than ___?

Please also continue helping children develop their independence with coats and belongings and practise their Read Write Inc. sounds and reading at home.

This week, Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed continuing our ‘Scrumdiddlyumptious’ topic! We have been learning about the United Kingdom, exploring a map of the UK and identifying the four countries that make it up. We then zoomed in on our local area and explored a map of the Wales, helping to develop a better understanding of where we live and the area around us, as well as helping us understand where the food we eat comes from.

In Literacy, the children have been busy creating their own poems about the grumpy Grandpa from our class text, ‘George’s Marvellous concoction’. They have been working hard to include the adjectives, powerful verbs and imaginative phrases that we have been exploring in our recent Literacy lessons.

To bring the story to life, the children also used the bottles they brought in from home to create their very own marvellous concoction! Using natural materials they collected from outside, they mixed and created their own imaginative concoctions. This was a fun and creative way for the children to visualise the story and bring elements of the book to life.

In Mathematics, we have been focusing on partitioning numbers up to 1,000 and using a range of visual resources to support our understanding, including number flip charts. We have also been exploring flexible partitioning, helping the children to understand that numbers can be partitioned in different ways while still representing the same total. The children have worked hard to explore different possibilities and explain how they know their answers are correct.

In phonics, children have been practising their sounds and applying their phonics knowledge when reading and writing.

We were also very fortunate to have a special visit from ‘BulliesOut’, who delivered some engaging and thoughtful activities with the children. The sessions helped the children to develop a clear understanding of what bullying is, how it can affect others, and what we can all do to prevent bullying and support one another. It was a lovely opportunity for the children to learn, discuss and reflect on the importance of being kind, respectful and inclusive.

2. Important information for next week

• PE Reminder: Children have PE every Tuesday, so please ensure they come to school wearing their full PE kit on this day.
• We would greatly appreciate any volunteers who are able to come in and read with our Year 3 children. This would provide valuable opportunities for the children to develop their reading skills, build confidence and continue to challenge themselves, while also helping our more confident readers to maintain and further develop their fluency.

3. How you can help at home

You can help your child at home by:

Mathematics: Practise partitioning numbers up to 1,000. For example, 347 = 300 + 40 + 7 or more flexibly  140 + 200 + 7

Reading: Please continue to read with your child every day, encouraging them to talk about the story, characters and new vocabulary they come across.

Our Topic – Scrumdiddlyumptious: As you travel around the Vale of Glamorgan, encourage your child to look out of the window and spot the different crops, fruits, vegetables and other plants growing in the fields or wild. Can they identify what is growing?

Resilience: Talk to your child about resilience and facing new challenges. Encourage them to understand that it is okay to feel upset, worried or frustrated when something is difficult, but that with time, patience and perseverance, they can overcome challenges and keep trying

This week, Year 3 have had a fun-filled and exciting week as we introduced our new topic, ‘Scrumdiddlyumptious’! We have been fully immersing ourselves in our new topic through lots of exciting food-related activities. The children enjoyed creating their own fairy bread, decorating delicious biscuits and, on Friday, enjoying their treats during a lovely afternoon picnic with their favourite soft teddies.  

This week, Year 3 have been settling into their new classroom, getting to know their new routines and becoming familiar with the expectations of Year 3. We have been really pleased with how well the children have settled in and how enthusiastically they have approached their learning.

In English, children have been learning about verbs and identifying words that describe actions. We have also started to read our new class reading book, George’s Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl.

In phonics, children have been practising their sounds and applying their phonics knowledge when reading and writing. In mathematics, we have been exploring numbers to 100, including reading, writing and ordering numbers.

2. Important information for next week

• Please practise missing numbers from 0–100 and 100–0.
• Year 3 children are expected to bring in a clean plastic bottle to create a marvellous creation as part of our literacy work.
• Please continue to encourage your child to read regularly at home.

3. How you can help at home

You could help your child by practising counting forwards and backwards to 100. Try starting from different numbers rather than always starting at 1, for example, 35, 36, 37... or 72, 71, 70...

Please also practise writing numbers to 100, helping your child to form their numbers correctly.

As we have started reading George’s Marvellous Medicine, you could talk to your child about the story and ask them what they think might happen next. Encourage them to explain their ideas and give reasons for their predictions.