Summer 1  

Welcome to the Summer Term and a few new faces in Butterfly Class. Each week you will receive a new entry in this section of our class page outlining the main highlights from the week.

Just to remind you who we are.

Mrs Jones Classteacher Monday -Thursday

Miss Dowden Classteacher Friday 

Miss Nagle TA Monday- Friday

We are very fortunate to also have Mrs Collacott with us everyday as she knows the children very well. Thank you Mrs Collacott for all of your help settling us in!! You are amazing. We are all thinking of Mrs Anthony and send her lots of love and get well wishes. She is really missing the children and we are really missing her.

Just to confuse you all, Miss Dowden and I swapped days last week but from now on our days will be as listed above!

Thank you to all of the children who returned their home learning. It is a really good idea to help your child to complete some tasks each week as the ideas suggested always compliment our learning in class. We would like the home learning to be returned on Monday's and we will send new learning home on each Wednesday.

Please could your child's reading bag come into school every day as we listen to children read during the school day. New books are issued every Wednesday and some Read Write Inc groups receive another book on Friday.

For the children in Ditty group, you will have noticed a new green folder in their bags. Please find time every day to practise the words on these sheets. Every practise makes such a difference to your child's progress in phonics. They will enjoy sharing their learning with you. In class they point to the words with a lolly stick so I will send one home in their bags next week.

I will also be sending home some Read Write Inc handwriting sheets so that you can see how we teach handwriting and the little rhyme or sentence we use to remember the letter formation. We encourage the children to say these as they write. For example, when they write the letter s we say slither down the snake. Really focus on the starting point and the direction of the letter. You can make it more fun by putting some sand or salt in a small tray. Use their finger to make the letter then shake the tray and start again. Paint brushes dipped in water (no paint!!) on the side of a fence or shed, or on a dry patio are fun activities too.

This half term we will be planting seeds. If you have an empty plant pots, big or small, plastic or terracotta, we would be very grateful to receive them as we will be setting up a garden centre role play for them. In a few more weeks, once the weather is warmer we will ask for any kind donations of summer bedding plants. Thank you.

We always love to watch the development of tadpoles and their journey into frogs at this time of year. If anyone has some tadpoles in a pond or who has a family member who has, we would be most grateful to have some. We always return them once grown.

I am also keen for the children to access loose parts and junk modelling whenever they wish to be creative. Please could you collect plastic bottle tops, cardboard toilet rolls, kitchen roll or wrapping paper tubes, small boxes, cereal boxes, ribbon, string, and tape.

Finally the PTA have kindly given our class £100 to spend on new things for our children in Butterfly Class. I have asked the children for ideas and am now in the process of compiling our Amazon order. Thank you so much for this generous offer.

Thank you for making Miss Dowden, Miss Nagle and myself so welcome.

We are really looking forward to an amazing term of learning.

Mrs Jones and the Butterfly Reception Team