Ducklings Newsletter 19/12/19

Newsletter – 19th December 2019 Our News We hope that you all enjoyed the performances of ‘What a Star!’ The children really enjoyed performing for you and we are extremely proud of them all. They sang beautifully and were all so confident with their speaking parts.

Thank you once again for all of the lovely costumes that you provided. The Little Explorers Nursery also expressed how much they enjoyed watching the children during one of their dress rehearsals.

Thank you to all of those children and families that attended the Carol Concert at Rossall last night. It was a lovely evening to celebrate altogether as a school. The children sang beautifully.

The children have had a lovely week, enjoying a Christmas lunch, a visit from Father Christmas this morning (taking along their Christmas lists and letters that they have been busy writing in school) and a great time at their Christmas Party this afternoon.

STARS OF THE WEEK Mya O’Byrne for being a very kind and caring Duckling, Jaxon Ireland for coming into school with such a big smile every day and Teddy Hodgin for being such an enthusiastic learner.

Lola Webb for her kind and caring attitude, Isaac Glover for his ‘I can’ attitude towards his learning and Blake Kelly-Bodell for his learning, especially his phonics.

Little Chicks We have been…

- Reading all about the nativity story and sequencing it - Dressing up as the different nativity characters and playing in our Santa’s Grotto - Making Christmas cards and calendars - Writing Christmas lists - Doing lots of Christmas themed counting and number recognition - Using different tools with care to make ‘reindeer soup’

Ducklings We have been…

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Reading, retelling and writing the nativity story and putting it in the correct sequence

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Finding out about Christmas around the world in different countries

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Cutting and printing our very own party hats

Finding out who celebrates Christmas and why. Talking about how different families celebrate Christmas in their homes and what advent means.

Writing letters and lists to Father Christmas Estimating groups of objects and then checking by counting accurately In Phonics we have been carrying out assessments to find out which sounds and tricky words we know and to be able to break simple words down into their different sounds

Our Learning Our topic for the new year will be ‘Where in the World are we?’ We will start this by looking at the immediate world around us and particularly exploring the seasonal weather. We will talk about why it is winter in our part of the world and what effect the winter weather has on our everyday life.

We will be reading lots of Winter themed stories, poems and information books. We will be doing lots of Winter and frosty themed art activities, along with designing and creating our own sledges in DT. We will explore ice with our different senses and learn some Winter themed songs. In mathematics we will look at adding two groups of objects together and counting on to find the total.

The Ducklings will be starting to learn to identify and apply a new phase of letters and sounds in phonics.

Our outdoor learning will take on more of a seasonal theme based on winter, observing the changes to the weather and our garden and helping to look after the plants and animals throughout this time.

Reminders Names on belongings After Christmas, please can we make sure that if children bring in any new belongings such as hats, gloves and coats that they are all clearly named? Many thanks.

Little Chicks and 2020/21 School Applications Please remember to apply for your child’s school place online at www.schooladmissions.lancashire.gov.uk by 15th January. You still need to apply even if you have a brother or sister already at the school.

Puddle Suits, Wellies and PE Kits These will be sent home for washing and to check the size. Please can you ensure that these are returned on the first day back to school?

Please can all Ducklings have a pair of warm jogging bottoms and a hoodie in their PE bags for doing outdoor PE in the new year?

Many thanks.

We need: Please keep (and send in after the holidays,) materials for our winter art activities such as foil, shiny ribbons, mince pie tins, polystyrene packaging, bubble wrap and so on! The more, the better! We are also needing old white sheets, net curtains or fabric for our role play areas.

BLOG Visit the school website and have a look at our class blog with your child. This is another way for them to share with you what they have been learning at school. They can chat to you about what they have been doing in the rainbow challenges at school. You could even write and leave a comment together!

How can you help at home?

Little Chicks Read some different Christmas or Winter themed stories or information books together Practise comparing different numbers/amounts and saying when they are the same Play games with simple rules or turn taking games together over the holiday

Ducklings Talk for Mathematics Estimate how many objects are in a group and then check by counting, for e.g. how many red baubles on the tree, or apples in the fruit bowl.

Find the total of two different amounts by counting on, for e.g. 4 cars in the garage and 2 more join them. Now there are 4… 5, 6 altogether. Make sure your child understands a range of vocabulary such as add, makes, totals, altogether, equals and plus when doing practical adding with real-life objects. Make your own addition number stories up, such as “I have 2 biscuits and Daddy gives me another one, so now I have 3 altogether.” www.ictgames.com/numeracy www.topmarks.co.uk Talk for Reading and Writing Practise any letters/sounds and tricky words that you are still unsure of Share some Christmas and Winter themed stories or information books ~ Bring in any of your favourite winter themed books in, to share with the class Keep a Christmas holiday diary to bring in and share with the class in the new year!

Write a thank you letter to Santa or a family member for your gifts Practise your cursive handwriting by tracing over the letters in the booklet sent home www.phonicsplay.co.uk www.ictgames.com/literacy www.phonicsbloom.co.uk www.oxfordowl.co.uk Talk for topic Think about a promise or a wish for the New Year Find out about the season of Winter Find out how you can help wild animals through the cold winter months Look on a map of the world or a map of Great Britain and find out about where we live Go on a Winter walk with your family

Dates for your diary: Monday 6th January 2020 ~ School re-opens at 8.55am Thursday 30th January ~ Chinese Dragon Dancing workshop Friday 14th February ~ Break up for half-term at 3.30pm

On behalf of all the staff we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

See you all in 2020!

Our next newsletter will be on Friday 17th January and will give details about all the fun activities we have planned for the next two weeks.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ring, email or come and see us.

Staff email: Mrs Lees s.lees@carletongreen.lancs.sch.uk Mrs Catterall m.catterall@carletongreen.lancs.sch.uk Mrs Stock j.stock@carletongreen.lancs.sch.uk