Holly Class

Children learn and develop more from birth to five years old than at any other time in their lives. If children are at risk of falling behind the majority, the best time to help them to catch up and keep up is in the early years. Every child can make progress, if they are given the right support.

(Development matters, DfE 2021)

Welcome to Holly Class

2023 - 2024

Holly Class children are in Reception and Year 1.

Class Teachers  -  Mrs Wallis and Mrs Chillitupa 

Class Teaching Assistants - Mrs May and Mrs Marsh

P.E. - Mr Dawley In2Sport (Monday) (CPD for Mrs May)

Class Organisation

Holly Class are taught by Mrs Wallis all day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and on Friday mornings and Mrs Chillitupa all day on Thursdays and on Friday afternoon. 

Mr Dawley from In2Sport teaches P.E. on Monday afternoons.

Walk to see the lambs.

A big thank you to Mr Stiles for allowing Holly Class to visit his sheep and lambs last week (20th March).

The class walked from school to the barn where the sheep were living, spotting signs of spring and plants on the way.

We saw a lamb that had been born only the day before and another lamb that was being bottle fed because its mother had got poorly when it was born.

The children enjoyed watching the lambs jumping around and matching the lambs' numbers on their fleeces to the number on their mum's fleece!

Thank you too, to all the parents who helped us to get there and back safely.

Forest School dates for Term 3

Children will need to come to school dressed for forest school sessions on the following dates.

Thursday 18th January

Thursday 1st February

Home learning and support

Please read with your child as often as possible.  There is much research to show that a broad vocabulary and good reading skills set children up well for learning across the subject areas.  Incidental and real life Maths such as counting, talking about shapes and measuring (eg ingredients, their height) in their every day lives is useful.  During the year teachers will suggest fine motor skills activities as well as phonics and number games to play.  Deliberately talking about the environment and nature within it helps children to start to notice details and to learn how to describe what they see, spot patterns and notice changes.  

Providing appropriate and clearly named clothing and footwear is a useful way to support your child whilst they are at school.  Children in our school will need wellies and coats (or sun hats) in school every day as we use our outdoor environment throughout the day.  We prefer wellies to stay in school.  Parents will receive further information about PE kit in the termly curriculum letter.

If you have any queries or want to know more about how to support your own child's learning at home, please don't hesitate to ask Mrs Wallis or Mrs Chillitupa.

Phonics

Reception children will be learning the following sounds:

Phase 2.

Term 1

Week 1 (18 - 22 September) - s  a  t  p

Week 2 (25 - 29 September) - i n m d

Week 3 (2 - 6 October) - g o c k

Week 4 (9 - 13 October) - ck, e, u, r

Term 2

Week 1 (30 Oct - 3 Nov) - h, b, f, ff

Week 2 (6 Nov - 10 Nov) - l, ll, ss

Phase 3 

Week 3 (13 Nov - 17 Nov) - j, v, w, x

Week 4 (20 Nov - 24 Nov) - y, z, zz, qu

Week 5 (27 Nov - 1 Dec) - ch, sh, th, ng

Week 6 (4 Dec - 8 Dec) ai, ee, igh, oa

Week 7 (11 Dec - 15 Dec) oo, ar, or, ur

Week 8 Read words containing -ing endings with no change to the root word.

Phase 2 Common Exception words (words that can't be sounded out) taught so far.

the, to, into, no, I, go

Phase 3 Common Exception words (words that can't be sounded out) taught so far.

me, we, be, he

Term 3 and Term 4

Revisit the sounds and common exception words taught in Phase 3

Breakfast and After School Clubs

Useful Websites