We have reached the end of the penultimate week of term! And what a week it has been. We are so incredibly proud of the children and their Nativity performance. The children’s enthusiasm during rehearsals was infectious, and we could not wait for them to take the stage and shine for you all. Thank you also for your help with costumes, and your time spent coming to see the show. We really appreciate your continued support.

Phonics

We continue this week to learn set 1 sounds, with some groups learning special friends. Special friends are sounds with 2 or more letters making one sound, such as sh. These can be trickier to spot in words we read, so we spend time practising looking for special friends in words before fred talking. All groups are spending time orally blending, listening to the adults segment words eg c-a-t, so children can hear the word cat! Every lesson also includes time to read green words to practise their own fred talking and blending skills.

Maths

This week we have been learning about mass using balancing scales to weigh objects. We learnt the vocabulary of heavy/ light and comparing mass including heavier and lighter. We discussed how the scales reminded us of a seesaw with heavier objects weighing the side down. Later in the week, we began to estimate which objects would be heavier than others, then checking by weighing them.

Next week we will be recapping patterns and shapes.

Thematic Curriculum

This week we learnt about emergency vehicles and the people who drive them. It was important to learn that we only call the emergency services in an EMERGENCY! We discussed different scenarios of what this might be, and lots of children already knew to call 999! In DT we designed our chosen emergency vehicle, and labelled what it would need eg on a fire truck, we would need wheels, a ladder, a hose, windows and steps. Using our plans, we then used junk modelling to create our emergency vehicle. We learnt different joining techniques to help us put different materials together, including a flange join. We practised different paper techniques, including rolls (for the wheels), pleats (for the ladder) and spirals (for the hose).

To celebrate our learning about transport, we had a visit from a fire engine. The firefighters explained to us a little about their jobs, and we got to look around their truck. 

Next week we will be learning about Winter.

Love to Learn

Your child will soon be bringing home their love to learn with a new task glued in. So that you have ample warning, the love to learn task is:

At the start of next term our topic will be superheroes!  Your challenge over the holidays is to create your very own superhero, deciding what your outfit would look like and what your superpowers would be.  We would like you to draw your superhero in your love to learn book with labels and maybe a brief description of what your superhero is like.  For example, Mrs Cotton could be Goggle Girl, with the superpower of making all children like swimming.  Her cape could be blue with a pair of goggles drawn on the back. On Monday 8^th January we will be asking the children to come to school dressed as the superhero they have created (the staff will all be dressing up as well). The costume can be as simple or as elaborate as you would like (we would like you to use resources which you have at home, rather than spending money). We hope you all have a wonderful break and we look forward to seeing your designs. 

Reminders

• PE kits need to be worn in to school each Friday please.

• Please ensure that children have a named water bottle which is already filled with water at the start of each day.

• All clothing to be named please!

• Please complete the WOW moment sheets regularly so that we can add these to the children’s learning journey books (please do not put these in love to learn books).

Christmas Fayre

On Wednesday 13^th December we will be having our Christmas Fair from 3.20-5. As part of this, we need some voluntary donations from our community. On Tuesday 12th December, please can you ask you to send in the following donations with your child:

-KS1 – Bring a bottle for the tombola 

-KS2 – Bring a gift for the raffle. We ask the children bring a gift that matches their house colour e.g. if they are a red roman, they donate a red gift and so on. We will also be running a ‘Take home a Teddy’ stall. 

-If you have any good quality, unwanted cuddly toys please also send them into school on Tuesday 12th December to be used on this stall. 

-Lastly, we will also be running our traditional ‘White Bag’ stall. All children will bring home a white bag on Friday 8th December. We ask that your child decorates the bag, and you pop a small gift inside (sweets, notepad, pens, small toy etc). Can this also be returned to school on Tuesday 12th December.

 

Chilton's Christmas Events:

Monday 11^th December 

• Year 1 Christmas Performance - doors open 9:00 for a 9:15 start

Tuesday 12^th December 

• Year 5&6 Christmas Performance at St Laurence Church from 10:00

• Reception, Year 1 and 2 Christmas Parties - children can wear their own clothes to school (sensible footwear please)

• Year 3&4 Christmas Performance at St Laurence Church from 2:00

Wednesday 13^th December 

• Year 2 Christmas Performance - doors open 9:00 for a 9:15 start

• Christmas Fair (on the field) 3:15-4:45

Thursday 14^th December 

• Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 Christmas Parties - children can wear their own clothes to school (sensible footwear please)

Friday 15^th December 

• Christmas Jumper Day (just for fun - wear a festive jumper, top or t-shirt with usual uniform) and Christmas Dinner. School ends at 2pm (no after school club).

e-mail addresses

nicki.cotton@chiltonprimary.co.uk

emma.dudley-smith@chiltonprimary.co.uk

kirby.walker@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Many thanks for all your continued support,

EYFS team