Mark-Making

Here are some photos taken during these last couple of weeks. I am undergoing my dissertation research for my final year of my BA (Hons) degree in Children's learning and development and have introduced some new ideas to encourage my reluctant boys to engage in mark-making by following their interests. It has been a fantastic few weeks exploring various fun ways to mark-make.....

Welcome to the Spring Term 2016

Tuesday 5th 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 would like to welcome 3 new starters: Jasmine, David and Thomas who all join Foundation One this week, as well as Leila (who starts at the end of January). We will continue to combine F1 and F2 in the afternoons and on Friday mornings when I’m at university as this has many benefits and means we will still play and learn with the F2 children.

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 THURSDAY. We cannot plan accordingly otherwise.

Daily registers close at 9am so please arrive at 8.45am, in time for registration. It is very disruptive for all concerned if you arrive late with your child. Please also ensure you collect your children on time as it can be upsetting for them if they are left waiting for you. We will only discharge your child to you or to another pre-authorised adult. 

Also, please be aware of our new policy: Please do not use any mobile device when collecting your child. Local safeguarding procedures will only allow us to discharge a child to an adult who is NOT on the phone or using a mobile device. No photos or videos can be taken of your child inside the school building. We will be happy to take any photos on the school's device and send them to you via Tapestry. Thank you for you understanding and cooperation in this.

There will be some changes to staffing during the month of January as Miss Cliffe is not able to attend every day, however, rest assured it will return to normal after then. We have made appropriate plans to ensure the day-to-day running of the class will be unaffected during this time.

We have not yet covered all our phonic sounds so will continue to have a phonic of the week until all sounds have been covered. I will then inform you of how we plan to run 2 phonic ability 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. Prior to any changes, I will hold an interactive parent phonic workshop. This will provide an opportunity for me to answer any questions, explain what we will be covering during the phonic sessions and offer any support to you, the parents, who would like to know more about phonic sounds so you can support your child at home.

For the new parents, I will be doing a short informal induction presentation at 12.10am for 15 minutes. I will let you know the date of that shortly. 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. If you are an existing parent, you are also welcome to attend.

I start my research for my dissertation (on boys and mark-making) this week, so will be in touch with the relevant parents this week to organise a short group interview. Thank you to those affected. I am most grateful.

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

Best Regards

Mrs Jennings