4th November 2015.

Welcome back after half term.

We are very excited to roll out our new online learning journeys from today. As mentioned in our presentations, there are many benefits to using an online system. You will now receive weekly observations and read all about what your child has been doing at school, see photos and read about what learning has been achieved. Please try to send us your comments too so that we can collaborate and meet your child's needs more effectively. If you have any issues/questions with the new system, please come and see me.
 
Every child has fully settled into Foundation One now.It is a delight to see them enjoying their playing and learning. We will continue with daily phonics as the children love these short 5 minute interactive sessions and they are learning so much. This week we will revisit the s,a,t,p,i,n sounds and then introduce the next phonic sound next week. Please remember to keep an eye on the notice board outside F1 to see what phonic sound it is that week. We will commence with learning weeks next week too. The children love bringing in their chatter box and we enjoy linking the planning to their interests, so please continue to complete the feedback forms and returning them each Thursday. The more details you can share with us, the better we can meet their needs.

This next half term is a busy one, what with Christmas festivities. As always, our door is always open. Miss Cliffe and I thank you for your continued support.

Kindest Regards

Mrs Jennings

Welcome to a fresh new academic year!

Dear Parents / Carers,

Firstly, may I thank those of you who kindly bought me cards and gifts. They were very much appreciated. I hope you are all enjoying the summer holidays. I certainly am.

I want to welcome you all now in preparation for the start of a fresh new academic year, which starts on Thursday 3^rd September. We will welcome 9 new children into our class: Hadriel, Daniel, Joanna, Aviwe, Aleeza, Mikel, Amanda and Samuel, as well as welcoming back Tegan, Emil, Jamie and Liam. That makes a total of 12 children at the moment. Mrs Elliott has retired and Miss Cliffe will be the new F1 practitioner working alongside me. She has many years experience at a Bracknell nursery and is suitably qualified. We both look forward to nurturing, playing and teaching your child in F1 this term.

We will continue to incorporate your ideas for planning for your child’s development. Please watch out for the form to complete. This week and next are settling-in weeks.

I will be holding a short presentation for parents after the whole school presentation on  16th September at 6.30pm. I plan to inform you all about early years and what to expect in Foundation One. Please can everyone make a special effort to attend. Thank you.

Please note: PE is on Wednesday mornings. Please wear PE kit to school on this day. Assemblies in the hall are on Thursdays and Friday mornings so indoor shoes must be changed into on arrival on these days. Unless it is wet outside, outdoor shoes can be worn on Mondays-Wednesdays as we have free-flow outside. Our school day starts at 8.45am and ends at 12.10pm (morning only sessions) and 3.30pm for all day sessions. The whole school finishes at 12.30pm on Fridays so no lunch is needed to be brought in. Please remember to pack a healthy lunch that your child will enjoy and actually eat (if staying for lunch). No nut products please! Every child needs a morning fruit snack and healthy drink, although we have water and milk.

Please remember to read the F1 notice board outside the classroom every week for important information, including phonic sound of the week. More on this and everything else at the evening presentation….

So, welcome and remember our door is always open. Working in partnership with you benefits everyone.

If you have any questions before school starts, please feel free to email me at :

m-jennings@newboldschool.co.uk

See you on the 3^rd. J

 

Best Regards

Mrs Jennings

Our trip to Bird World

I have attached some photos of our children at Bird World, taken on Tuesday 23rd June 2015. We had an enjoyable day. We saw many different birds, visited underwater world, watched penguins feeding time, visited the discovery centre where we learnt more about Noddy the parrot, a snake, a rabbit, a tortoise and an owl. We even touched the snake if we felt brave enough. We enjoyed a picnic and a play in the farm and parks.

Tuesday 21st April 2015

Dear Parents / Carers,

I hope you enjoyed your Easter break. I certainly did!

We look forward to the start of our final term and hope that the sunshine and warmer weather continues so we can learn and play outside as much as possible. I would like to continue the weekly walks to Newbold College Grounds to observe changes, insects and growth that the warmer climate will bring.

PE

We will also be doing as much PE outside as we can. Our plan for this term is to focus on team-work, along with some competitive activities to prepare the children for our Sports Day later in the term. During the second half of this term, as well as our sports day, we will be celebrating international day and have our school trip to Bird World on 23^rd June. More details to follow….

Early Years Worship

Last term we looked at Jesus as a teacher .We talked about what Jesus wants us to learn to do in order to bring others to him.

This term we will be exploring Jesus as a healer. The children will develop their understanding that Jesus gives us the gift of healing. 

Stay and Play

We look forward to welcoming as many parents as possible to our ‘stay-and-play’ session this Friday at 11.30am – 12.30pm. This will give you an insight as to what your child enjoys doing at school and an opportunity to ask us any questions you may have.

Phonics

We will continue to have our daily ability phonic groups and will be focusing on encouraging each child to write their name using the correct tripod grip. Please encourage this at home too. We will do our best to help prepare your child’s holistic development for their move to F2/reception (if applicable).

On a personal note

I will be doing a charity ‘tough mudder’ event. This is a 12 mile obstacle course involving mud, more mud, electric shocks, fire, iced muddy water; all testing my stamina, upper body strength and endurance. If you would like to sponsor me I have a sponsor form in my classroom and in reception. I will be very grateful as all money is going to MND-a degenerative terminal disease that affects my brother-in-law and many others. Thank you in advance. I will be extremely grateful for every donation, even if it’s a pound.

As always, we welcome your feedback and enjoy working in partnership with you. Thank you for your continued support.

God Bless

Best Regards

Mrs Jennings and the F1 team.

A reflective account - April 2015

A REFLECTIVE ACCOUNT

FOUNDATION ONE – SPRING TERM (Jan-Apr 2015)

This term seems have flown by!

Our new children who started this term have now all settled. We have enjoyed the many dry and sunny days recently; resulting in more children spending time in the great outdoors. Every week, this half term, we have enjoyed Spring walks in Newbold college grounds. We have been focusing on change and growth and have enjoyed watching the daffodils and crocuses change and grow each week from buds to fully open flowers, and taking photos at every visit.

We have continued with our learning weeks and enjoyed a range of interests and activities each week. We really value input from you and your child into their learning. We want to thank every single one of you for taking time to sit with us to share your child’s progress and development. We feel very blessed to be working in partnership with such committed parents.  Thank you for your continued support.

The different phonic groups are working well. They ensure that your child is working to their own full potential. This half term we have enjoyed Easter activities, Mother’s Day celebrations and zoo lab, as well as all the wonderful and fun learning opportunities that occur on a normal school day.

We wish you a wonderful and peaceful Easter. See you on the 21^st April.

 

Mrs Jennings and the F1 team.

February 23rd

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back after the half term. I hope you enjoyed the rest and kept warm!

This half term, we say good-bye to Catarina who has moved back to Brazil with her family, and a big hello to Emil who joins our class.

Over the break, Mrs Dye and I came in and improved our outside provision. We have made a mud kitchen area, a literacy area, a water play area and a creative arts area. We hope the children will enjoy playing and learning more outside this half term. I plan to take them on many spring walks in Sylvia's Garden; looking at growth, change and patterns/shapes.

Please provide a pair of NAMED wellies for your child to keep at school. This will help keep your child's school shoes clean when they play in the mud kitchen, when it's wet/snowy weather and when we go for weekly walks around muddy areas. Thank you.

This week, the children will be learning more about Chinese New Year and partake in related activities, if they choose. Phonic groups remain unchanged this half term. All children are doing so well in their perspective groups.

Next week, the learning weeks start again. Please remember to return your completed feedback forms by Friday, AT THE LATEST. It is really important to gain your perspectives and your child's interests into their learning week. Please also remember to add 3-4 objects in the chatter boxes; preferably including a couple of books and photos.

We will keep you informed on the upcoming events, such as Mother's Day, book day and a 'stay and play' parents session! More on all that soon.....

Thanks, as always, for your continued help and support

Kind Regards

Mrs Jennings

Tuesday 6^th Jan 2015

Dear Parents / Carers,

Firstly, may I wish you a very happy new year! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas break. I certainly did! Thank you for all your cards and gifts. Your kindness and generosity were very much appreciated.

We look forward to another great term. We will continue to incorporate your ideas for planning for your child’s development. Please watch out for the form to complete. This week is a settling-in week, so the rota starts again next week. PLEASE remember to return your completed form before or on the Friday. We cannot plan accordingly otherwise.

We would like to welcome 3 new starters: Jamie, Liam and Lily who all join Foundation One this week. We say a partial ‘good-bye’ to Ryan who moves into F2. We will continue to combine F1 and F2 in the afternoons and for an hour on Friday mornings as this has many benefits and means we will still play and learn with Ryan and the F2 children.

We have made a slight change to the timetable. On Tuesday mornings, we will now have an Early Years structured music session following the ‘jolly music’ program. The afternoon sessions will also incorporate a short structured time for phonics. We are splitting our daily phonic session into 2 ability groups (red and green groups). Our class will consist of new children and children who have a secure understanding of phonics so this will ensure we cater for everyone’s needs. Please remember to check the notice board to see what the phonic sound(s) for the week is/are. That way you can help secure your child’s knowledge at home too.

I will be holding a short presentation for parents/carers very soon (the date will be communicated later this week). I will be discussing the classroom procedures and phonics, so if you are a new parent please make a special effort to attend. It will be a great opportunity to ask any questions.

 As always, we welcome your feedback and enjoy working in partnership with you.

Best Regards

Mrs Jennings