Welcome to Class 1

Mrs O'Brien and I would like to welcome you to the Foundation unit and the first year of your child's school journey.  We hope the children settle well and enjoy their Reception year with us.

Hopefully you have or can find all the information you need but if you have any questions or queries please don't hesitate to email or message us via Class Dojo and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible .  For really important information and messages such as illnesses or a different person collecting your child please phone the school office as emails and Dojo messages are often not seen till later in the day. 

Mrs. Williams email address is jpinnegar@glebelands.leicester.sch.uk

Mrs. O'Briens email address is mobrien@glebelands.leicester.sch.uk

This year the teachers in Class 1 are:

Mrs. Williams (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday) 

Mrs. O'Brien  (Tuesday and Friday Friday)

Other staff within the Foundation base:

Mrs. Hobson and Mrs. Savage (Class 2 teachers)

Miss. Duke

Miss. Elliott (Nursery staff member)

Mrs. Holt (Nursery and Reception)

Mrs. Finnemore 

Throughout the year we also have student placements and parent volunteers.

Water Bottles

Children are encouraged to bring a clearly named bottle containing water, which they will have access to throughout the day.  

The children are expected to take this home everyday and bring it back the following day, clean and refilled. This is particularly important at the moment.

P.E.  

Our PE day is Thursday 

The children will need to wear the following NAMED PE kit to school on that day: 

a white t-shirt, a pair of dark coloured shorts or jogging bottoms, their school jumper, cardigan or fleece and trainers.

They will also need to have a pair of plimsolls in school (these can be left in school) for lessons taking place in the hall.

For health and safety purposes, ALL jewellery should be removed at home including earrings (or covered up with micropore tape provided from home), and long hair tied up.   

If your child has items that cannot be removed please speak to a member of staff.

Phonics and reading

The children have daily phonics sessions, learning 4 new letters and their corresponding sounds each week. 

These are the 'phase 2' sounds that the children have already learned:

These are the 'phase 3' sounds that the children are currently learning:

You can access some useful games to play at https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/  

The website www.teachyourmonstertoread.com is also a fun way for children to practise their phonic sounds.  There is a small charge to use it on a tablet.

Using the phoneme frame and letter cards that have been sent home is another way for the children to practise their sounds.  It can be used in two ways:  blending practise reading words you have made in the frame, segmenting practise  sounding out words to putting the right letter cards  in the frame. 

High frequency words (see it say it words)

The children also learn a new set of sight words each week. These have been sent home and you can also find them on the 'English' tab on dB Primary.

Practising these at home on a regular basis would be useful.  You could:

• Write them out on cards and stick them up around the house for your child to read each time they see them
• Have two or more of each word on cards and play snap or pairs
• Look for the words in the stories that you share together

Maths

We would encourage regular counting to and from 20. 

You could also complete a number or shape hunt around your house. 

There are resources on the following website which you may find useful:  https://www.topmarks.co.uk under the Early Years section.

Extra information 

The following website by Foundationyears.org.uk has useful information and guidance for parents about your child's learning and development stages and expectations.