Welcome to the Emus Class!
Staff
Teacher: Debbie Riley
TAs: Sam Walters, Beth Brook and Runa Lyla
Mid Day Leader: Janice Stockton
Newsletter
On The Move
What a fantastic start to the school year! We have welcomed our new children into the Emu’s class and have enjoyed watching the children create and build new friendships within the class! The theme this half term has been ‘On the Move’ here are some of the amazing things we have been learning…
In Early English we have enjoyed exploring our sensory story ‘The Journey Home from Grandpa’s’. The children have listened well to the story and have explored the different props and vehicles. Using our fine motor skills, we have been able to push the vehicles in different directions to overwrite patterns and numbers 1-10!
In Early Maths we have been exploring lots of different activities! We have been sorting by colour and building big towers with our Lego bricks. We have developed our fine motor skills to complete inset puzzles and to manipulate shapes into the shape sorters. We have enjoyed learning new number rhymes and exploring the props, our favourite has been 5 little speckled frogs!
We have enjoyed exploring the outdoors in our school outdoor area in as part of our understanding of the world sessions. There are lots of things to find outside! We have been collecting natural resources to explore in our class tuff tray. The children have looked very carefully through their magnifying glasses to identify different natural objects and creatures.
We have been very busy in our sensory and physical sessions. The Emu’s have been on the move a lot this half term and have loved to explore the different areas within school. We have had lots of fun in our soft play area and have explored the big swing in our sensory room. Jordan has helped us to develop our PE skills and has been able to support the children to complete different obstacle courses.
We believe the children should be able to communicate their choices and to help do this we have been using our communication books to tell the adults what we would like to eat for our snacks. This is something we are really good at and are going to continue to do throughout the year.
Well done to all our Emu’s for all their hard work, what a fantastic first half term it has been!
Signalong
At Halcyon Way we use Signalong as a part of a Total Communication Approach, we are constantly using core vocabulary with the children to support their language development and then through each of our topics we introduce new signs and language, which extends their vocabulary further. We also have two “Signs of the Week” which helps maintain and extend key knowledge and skills of everyday vocabulary.
Each half term we will be creating a short video showcasing and demonstrating signs relavent for the current term so that you can learn the signs and further this learning at home.
Click play to watch this half terms Signalong video!
Lunchtime
If your child has a school dinner, the school menus can be accessed by clicking here. For children who bring a packed lunch, please remember to provide healthy and balanced options. We are a Healthy School and will be focusing on healthy eating and how children can make healthy lifestyle choices.
How You Can Help at Home
- Our story is Journey to Elmer’s Christmas, if you have any stories you can read them with your child at home.
- Encourage your child to make marks with pens, crayons and even sensory materials like cocoa powder or porridge oats at home.
- Immerse your child in numbers and embed this into their daily lives e.g. counting as you walk up the stairs.
- Play with your child and try to tap into their imaginary play skills.
- Take your child outdoors and see what they can find and if they can find what you ask e.g. 2 leaves, 1 pine cone etc. Then bring this home to make paintings and art work.
- Immerse your child in language and talk to them/encourage them to talk to you throughout the day. Get them to ask for items and ask for ‘more’ if they enjoy things.
- Try to say ‘finished’ when an activity is over and see if your child can accept this and listen to your instruction.
- Ask your child to get things e.g. get a drink or get some food and see if they can follow the instructions that you ask.
- Play with musical instruments at home and play music for your children to dance to and enjoy.
- Make musical instruments at home e.g. guitars with elastic bands and tissue boxes or shakers with rice and bottles.
- Use technology with your children where appropriate.
- Use cause and effect toys with your child so they know if they press something on a toy, something else will happen.
