P1 Parent letter

P1

Dear Parent,

     The first few weeks of term will be very much a settling in period for the children. We hope that they will be content and happy in their new environment.

     During the course of the year I will send out newsletters outlining the topic we are covering in class and giving suggestions for how you can help your child.

     Our topic for September is ‘All About Me’, October ‘Harvest’, November ‘Autumn in the Forest’ and December ‘Christmas’.  They are good topics to start the term with because it provides opportunities for the children to learn about their own bodies and the changes in the world around them, as well as letting them have some fun.

 I hope the following planner is of use to you.

Yours sincerely,

                                                                  RSMoore

Below are some of the activities we will be doing in class.

• Naming parts of the body: head, chest, tummy, arms, hands, legs, feet.
• Talking about our birthdays, our names and our families.
• Talking about differences and similarities and how each of us is special, e.g. our physical features (eye and hair colour), people from other countries with different skin colours, our feelings, how we each have special talents.
• Naming the people in our families.
• Comparing ourselves now with when we were babies: what we looked like, what we could/ couldn’t do, how we have changed.
• Exploring how we can move: jump, run, crawl, skip, hop, etc.
• Learning about how the harvest and farm work was done in the past.
• Learning about Halloween, Autumn and Christmas traditions.
• Listening to lots of stories linked to the topics.
• Developing manipulative skills through activities involving threading beads, using peg boards, cutting and sticking, etc.
• Encouraging the correct hold of a pencil and paintbrush.
• Drawing to develop pencil control.  Encouraging the children to write their name.
• Learning how to correctly form a new letter each week and the sounds they show.
• Learning about the different parts of a book: the front, back cover, page, spine, words, pictures, where to start reading & on which page.
• Matching objects that go together, e.g. pairs of sock, lids to pans, cups to saucers.
• Learning about and recognising the numbers 1 to 5.
• Counting forwards to 10 and backwards from 5.
• Copying and continuing simple repeating patterns.
• Joining in and learning rhymes and songs (See the booklet of rhymes for this year)
• Sorting objects, e.g. by colour, shape, type and size.
• Talking about how to lead a healthy lifestyle: eating the ‘right’ food, taking exercise, getting enough sleep, etc.

Below are ways in which you can help your child.

• Talk about the different parts of the body.
• Talk about their name. Was there a special reason you chose it? Do you have a picture of their christening?
• Let them look at their reflection in a mirror. What colour are their eyes and hair? Do they look like somebody else in the family?
• Let them look at baby photos of themselves and even of yourself. Talk about how they have changed.
• Encourage them to adopt healthy habits such as eating a piece of fruit instead of crisps or chocolate and encouraging them to get enough sleep.
• Read your child stories and say rhymes with them.
• Asking your child to count to 10 and backwards from 5.
• Encouraging them to speak clearly and loudly when they talk.
• Encourage them to draw pictures, anything that involves getting a pencil into their hand.

P.E. - Please make sure that your child brings his/her P.E. kit in a bag to school on Monday each week. All clothing should have a name tag and if your child has long hair, it needs to be tied back for PE. Pupils will be changing into their kit in class every Monday and Tuesday for P.E. then the kit will go home every Friday to be washed.

Jewellery - No jewellery is permitted except a watch for health and safety reasons.

Water – we recommend that children bring a bottle of water with a pull up sport cap to school each day to drink during class.

Break -A plain yogurt

   Fruit

   Vegetables

   Mini cheese

   Plain pancakes/scones/crackers - buttered/ unbuttered

   Dry cereal - no chocolate or sugar-coated e.g. Cheerios

   Sandwich - healthy filling 

Please check Facebook regularly LPS Parent Messages for group messages or Facebook messenger for private messages. The school website will also have lots of useful information too: langfieldps.com

If you wish to speak to me:

• Ring the school (outside of teaching hours)
• Private message on Facebook
• Email – info@langfieldps.drumquin.ni.sch.uk