Week beginning Monday 6^th July 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception,

It has been lovely to be reunited with a few of you last week and welcome you back to school for a very brief but very enjoyable and productive return to (sort of) normality.

A huge well done and thank you for all the work you have completed last week on our topic, ‘Why do ladybirds have spots?’ It has been fantastic to see your enthusiasm for this topic and we have enjoyed looking at all of your activities, photographs and videos.

In school, we will continue to focus on well-being and re-establishing relationships. We feel that the children have gone through a significant amount of change and the primary focus must be to adjust them back into the school community. We will continue to send out Maths, Phonics, Literacy and RE every week which we will also look at in school. As Mrs Taylor has previously explained, the current Home Learning Menus will also continue until the end of the school term. If possible, please complete as many starters, mains and deserts as you can until the end of the school term.

If you would like to show us what you have done you can upload your work to Seesaw and we will do our best to comment as soon as we can. Please find below the home learning details for this week.

This Week:

• We have re-posted the Home Learning Menu to last until the end of the School Term (please see the additional resources on Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added phonics, maths and literacy activities according to the days we will teach them. Each day we will add some short videos of these activities.
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read.
• We have added a RE task and additional resources on Seesaw.

Please also be aware that we are currently writing reports and your child’s comments, which have previously been sent out, are very important. If you have not yet looked at the questions, please have a look and answer them as soon as possible so we can add them to their report.

We were hoping to run class zoom sessions on Friday but unfortunately due to safeguarding concerns we have had to cancel these plans. We will instead continue to make well-being check in calls with those of you not returning to school. We appreciate that these are unprecedented times and we wish to say a huge thank you for all of your support and continuing to work hard with your children at home. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Week beginning Monday 29^th June 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception,

Firstly, a huge well done and thank you for all the work you have completed this week on our topic, ‘Why do ladybirds have spots?’ It has been fantastic to see your enthusiasm for this topic and we have enjoyed looking at all of your activities, photographs and videos.

We look forward to welcoming those of you coming back to school this week. As you will be aware school will be very different and we will be doing our upmost to make the children feel as welcome and supported as possible.

In school, we will focus on well-being and re-establishing relationships. We feel that the children have gone through a significant amount of change and the primary focus must be to adjust them back into the school community.

We will continue to send out Maths, Phonics, Literacy and RE every week which we will also be working on in school. As Mrs Taylor has previously explained, the current Home Learning Menus will also continue until the end of the school term. If possible, please complete as many starters, mains and deserts as you can until the end of the school term.

If you would like to show us what you have done you can upload your work to Seesaw and we will do our best to comment as soon as we can. Please find below the home learning details for this week.

This Week:

• We have re-posted the Home Learning Menu to last until the end of the School Term (please see the additional resources on Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added phonics, maths and literacy activities according to the days we will teach them. Each day we will add some short videos of these activities.
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read.
• We have added a RE task and additional resources on Seesaw.

Please also be aware that we are currently writing reports and your child’s comments, which we have previously sent out, are very important. If you have not yet looked at the questions, please have a look and answer them as soon as possible so we can add them to their report.

We look forward to welcoming those of you coming back to school this week and will be making check in calls on Friday with those of you not in. As schools begin to open to more children, we understand that both children and parents may be feeling anxious. We have included some ideas below of how best to prepare.

We appreciate that these are unprecedented times and we wish to say a huge thank you for all of your support and continuing to work hard with your children at home. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Week Beginning 22nd June 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception!

Well done to all the children and parents for all your amazing home learning this week. We have enjoyed watching your videos, looking at your pictures and reading all your wonderful comments. Our minibeast topic has really made you all think, explore and investigate!

Thank you for being patient and supportive whilst we sort out our technical issues with Seesaw. If you require a new code for your child please email us so we can issue you a new code (see below for emails). Thank you to the parents who have already been in touch. If you are still having problems logging in, please email or call the school so we can address this quickly for you.

Thank you for your child’s comments for our reports. If you have not yet done this, please can we have them by 29^th June. This is important for us to make sure we have all the children’s final comments so we can make sure their reports are completed on time before sending out to you by the end of the academic year.

This week, we will be working in the Hub and preparing the school for our re-opening on Monday 29^th June (Reception only). We will be busy planning work for the children as well as making sure the environment is safe. Therefore, you may not see us comment on seesaw as quickly as before. Again, thank you for your support and we will mark/check/ enjoy the videos as soon as we can.

Please find the Literacy, Maths, Phonics and RE work below (also on seesaw) for this week which would need to be completed by the end of the week. 

We hope you have a wonderful week and we are looking forward to all the videos and photographs! The weather is meant to be lovely this week, so enjoy your home learning outside!

All the best, 

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

X X X

Reception: e.vile@stmichaels.wales 

Nursery: s.sims@stmichaels.wales
 

Please email the school if you encounter problems with your Seesaw logins. If you need any further support with any of our online learning platforms please email:

homelearning@stmichaels.wales

or for any other queries please contact:

head@stmichaels.wales

Week Beginning 15th June 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception!

Well done to all the children for all your amazing work last week that you have uploaded onto seesaw!

This week we will be continuing our new topic 'Why do ladybirds have spots'. 

We have attached (last week) our big menu for you to complete until the end of the term. Thank you again, for all the videos and pictures. 

Please find the Literacy, Maths, Phonics and RE work below (but also on seesaw) for this week which would need to be completed by the end of the week. 

Remember to have fun with the activities and enjoy your time with your child and family. If you need anymore guidance or support, please message us on seesaw and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

Please also be aware that we are currently writing reports and your child's comments, which we have sent last week, are very important. If you have not yet looked at the questions, please have a look and answer them as soon as possible so we can add them to their report. 

We hope you have a wonderful week and we are looking forward to all the videos and photographs! 

Keep safe and keep smiling 

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims
X X X

Week beginning Monday 8^th June 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception,

Firstly, a huge well done and thank you for all the work you have completed on our topic, ‘What happens when we fall asleep?’ It has been fantastic to see your enthusiasm for this topic and we have enjoyed looking at all of your activities, photographs and videos.

As Mrs Taylor explained last week, home learning is changing slightly from today. As of Monday 8^th June, the new home learning menu will last until the end of the School Term. If possible, please complete as many starters, mains and desserts as you can from now until the end of the school term. We will continue to send out Maths, Phonics, Literacy and RE every week for you to complete.

If you would like to show us what you have done you can upload your work to Seesaw and we will do our best to comment as soon as we can. There are also some online activities and games on there for you. If you need any support or suggestions please write a comment on the Seesaw app.

This Week:

• We have added a new Home Learning Menu to last until the end of the School Term (please see the additional resources on Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read.
• We have added daily phonics, maths and literacy challenges to Seesaw.
• We have added a RE task and additional resources on Seesaw.

As always, please remember not to get stressed about Home Learning. We realise that learning from home can be quite overwhelming. This is a strange and challenging time and we just wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you’re doing supporting your child’s well-being and learning.

Remember take care, spend time with your families and have fun at home during this time of change.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Week beginning Monday 1^st June 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception!

Welcome back to our final term. We hope you’ve had a lovely half term break and made the most of this beautiful weather. This week is our last week on our topic, ‘What happens when I fall asleep?' Thank you so much for all of your hard work! we’ve loved seeing all of your completed activities, photographs and videos.

We’re looking forward to starting our new topic on Monday 8^th June, 'Why do ladybirds have spots?' where we will be exploring minibeasts and their habitats. We will be covering:

• Minibeasts in the local environment
• Similarities and differences
• Growth and change
• Patterns and colours
• Plants and flowers

This Week:

• We have added a new Home Learning Menu (please see the additional resources on Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read.
• We have added a RE task and additional resources on Seesaw.

As always, please remember not to get stressed about Home Learning. We realise that learning from home can be quite overwhelming. This is a strange and challenging time and we just wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you’re doing supporting your child’s well-being and learning.

Thank you for your continued support, take care and stay safe,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Week beginning Monday 25th May (Half Term)

Hello Nursery and Reception,

It was so lovely to speak to you last week and hear what you have been up to. We miss you all very much. Thank you for all your fantastic work this half term. Take a break from the work this week, enjoy half term and we will see you back here on Monday 1^st June.

After half term we will finish our topic, 'What happens when I fall asleep?' and then begin our new topic, 'Why do ladybirds have spots?'

Why do ladybirds have spots? Why do spiders spin webs? We'll explore these questions and more in this project about minibeasts and their habitats. We will be covering:

• Minibeasts in the local environment
• Similarities and differences
• Growth and change
• Patterns and colours
• Plants and flowers

Please feel free to send us a note on Seesaw if you have any ideas you want to share.

Take care and stay safe!

Love,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Week beginning Monday 18th May 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception,

Well done for completing another week of home learning! It was so lovely to see all of the different ways you celebrated VE day. The bunting, cakes, costumes and wonderful activities looked amazing!

Please see the weekly Home Learning Plans and guidance for all the information you will need for this week’s home learning. Remember, do not worry if you do not get everything completed. If you have any questions, you are able to contact us on Seesaw by sending a note from your child’s account directly to us.

This week:

• We have added a new Home Learning Menu (please see the additional resources on Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read.
• We have added a RE task and resources on Pentecost this week.

We miss you all very much but are so proud of the Home Learners you have become. Take care, stay safe and have a great week of home learning.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

Home Learning Resources

Week beginning Monday 11th May 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception,

We hope you are all safe and well. The weeks seem to be flying by. Well done for completing another week of home learning. Once again, please do not worry if you did not manage to get everything completed. Thank you for the feedback we have received. It is really helpful to know how things are going at home as this helps to inform the learning we set.

Please find below the Home Learning Plans for this week:

• We have added a new home learning menu (Look at the additional resources we’ve added onto Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)

• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read this week.

Please do not get stressed about Home Learning. We've all had to adapt to new ways of working, so we wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you're doing supporting your child's wellbeing and learning during this time. We realise that learning from home can be quite overwhelming. It's definitely been a strange and challenging time, so it's ok if you and your child feel wobbly and worried at the moment. We're here for you every step of the way as we figure this all out together.

Please say a big hello to all of the children - we are really missing them. If you have any questions, you are able to contact us on Seesaw by sending a note from your child’s account.

Thank you for your continued support, take care and stay safe,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

Home Learning Resources

Week beginning Monday 4^th May 2020

Well done for completing another week of home learning. We are both very proud of all the activities you have completed and shared with us over the past few weeks. Please do not worry if you did not manage to get everything completed. Thank you for the feedback we have received. It is really helpful to know how things are going at home as this helps to inform the learning we set.

Please find below the Home Learning Plans for this week:

This Week

• We have added new home learning menus (Look at the additional resources we’ve added onto Seesaw which assist with some of the activities)
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read this week.
• As Friday 8^th May marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, we have included a selection of activities for you to choose from so you can take part in the celebrations too.

We’ve all had to adapt to new ways of working, so we wanted to take the opportunity to say what an amazing job you’re doing supporting your child’s wellbeing and learning during this time. We realise that learning from home can be quite overwhelming. It’s definitely been a strange and challenging time, so it’s ok if you and your child feel wobbly and worried at the moment. We’re here for you every step of the way as we figure this all out together.

We miss the children very much, but we must follow the government’s guidance to keep everyone in our community safe. Please send us a message/note on Seesaw if you have any problems with the work or if you are unsure of anything.

Thank you for your continued support, take care and stay safe,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Home Learning Resources

Week beginning Monday 27^th April 2020

What a fantastic start to the Summer Term Nursery and Reception! We are both very proud of all the activities you have completed and shared with us over the past week. We’ve loved looking at all of your work, pictures and videos.

Thank you to everyone who added their ideas to our pupil voice activity. Feel free to continue to add to this as we learn more about our topic- ‘What happens when we fall asleep?’

This Week

• We have added new homework menus (Look at the starters, mains and desserts activities we’ve added onto Seesaw which assist with some of the tasks)
• We have added more books on Bug Club for you to read this week.

As always, please remember that these activities are optional, if you can do them that's great. Please send us a message/note on Seesaw if you have any problems with the work or if you are unsure of anything.

We can’t wait to see what you create this week.

Stay safe and take care,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims xxx

Home Learning Resources

Week beginning Monday 20th April 2020

Welcome Back Nursery and Reception!

I hope you had a lovely Easter Break? Thank you for all your hard work and kind Easter messages.

I'm glad you all enjoyed the video the staff made for you. What a fantastic Easter surprise it was receiving yours Reception! Thank you so much for making it and making us all smile 💚💛 What amazing children we have in St Michael's! It was lovely to see all those smiling faces again, we miss you all so much.

This term our new topic is called 'What happens when we fall asleep?'

Why are there stars in the sky at night? Does everyone go to bed at the same time as me? Explore these questions and more in this project about night time. We will be covering:

• Bedtime routines
• The moon and the stars
• Nocturnal animals
• People who work at night
• The importance of sleep and rest

Thank you to those of you who have already responded to the question put to you on Seesaw before Easter. 'What happens when we fall asleep?' 

We will be using your ideas to map out a pupil voice plan that we will share with you over the coming weeks.

Please find below your home learning menus and guidance for this week. We will also be adding more books to your Bug Club accounts and some online games and activities for you to complete on Seesaw.

If you have any problems please contact us via Seesaw.

Stay safe at home and take care,

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

Reception Resources (optional)

Below are some resources you are able to use to support with this weeks work.

Easter Work - Topic ideas.

Please can all parents have a look at our new topic question. Follow the information on the Pdf page and upload any ideas onto seesaw. This will allow the teachers to plan new activities for our next exciting topic!

This is not compulsory work, but this will give your child the opportunity to relfect and share their 'pupil voice' ideas with the teachers. 

Thank you for all your support, you are all amazing.

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

Home Learning Resources

Week beginning Monday 30th March 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception!

We hope you are all well and staying safe at home. It has been lovely to see all of your home learning activities as well as the extra fun you have been having at home.

As this would have been our last week in school before the Easter break, some of this week’s additional activities are linked to Holy Week. You can find these available on Seesaw.

We have attached the timetables for week 2 below.

Remember to use Bug Club. We are adding books weekly.

Have fun this week and stay safe.

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

School Closure Resources

Week beginning Monday 23rd March 2020

Hello Nursery and Reception! We've attached the weekly timetables below for this week. It has been great to see lots of you adding your work, pictures and videos to Seesaw.

If you log onto Seesaw you will find additional activities added daily.

Remember to log into Bug Club also - we will be adding new books weekly.

Have fun and stay safe!

Miss Vile and Mrs Sims

Welcome to Nursery and Reception

Welcome to our St Michael's Early Years Unit!

Nursery Staff - Mrs Sims/ Mrs Dorman/ Mrs Brown/ Mrs Probert
Reception Staff - Miss Vile/ Mrs Hughes

General Information

RE
Celebration
 

Topic

Are Eggs Alive?
 

PE 
Nursery - Mondays
Reception - Mondays
Please can all children come dressed in their PE kits. 

Forest Schools/ Outdoor Learning
Nursery - Mondays
Reception - Thursdays

Please make sure all children are to bring wellies into the unit. If possible, please label and leave the wellies in school to ensure that weekly sessions can go ahead especially when it is raining!

Snacks / Drinks
Please provide a healthy snack for your child - fruit or veg.
We would like to kindly remind you that we will not allow any special treats (such as pastries/chocolate bars/crisps) as we are promoting healthy eating in school. For health and safety reasons, we also have a number of allergies in our unit and will refuse any nut products to be opened or consumed inside the learning areas. 

Please provide a labelled water bottle for your child as we encourage them to drink often throughout the day. We also provide fresh water in our setting which always available for our young learners. 
 

Milk
We provide milk for our children in the unit which is consumed during snack time for Nursery and story time for Reception.
If your child has an allergy to dairy, you are welcome to provide an alternative drink (soy, oat etc) which we will keep in our fridge. Please make sure that it is well labelled with your child's name and class.

Toileting
Sometimes our learners are very busy challenging themselves with an activity and can have an accident. Please make sure your child has spare clothes in their bag or on their peg, especially the Nursery children. 

Nursery Doors
The nursery doors will open at 8.45am and will close promptly at 9am due to the children starting their learning. If you arrive at 9am onwards, you will need to go through the office doors and sign in late. 

Please can we remind Reception parents that the side door is open in the morning for the Nursery children and parents to access until 9am. All Reception children will need to walk into the yard.

 

NATIVITY REMINDER FOR NURSERY PARENTS

Next week will be our Christmas concert.
On Tuesday 10th December, your child will need to stay in school all day so they can take part in the afternoon concert.
Please make sure that your child has a packed lunch or alternatively request and pay for a school dinner at the beginning of the week so that the staff can inform the kitchen staff. As the performance starts at 1.30pm, we are hoping to release your children at 3.30pm (normal pick up time for the rest of the school).
However, if you are watching the afternoon performance, you can collect your child once the performance has ended. Please be patient when we are releasing the children as we would like to make sure that they have all their belongings with them and to make sure that their costumes are ready for the following day.

If you have any queries, please talk to Mrs Sims or any other staff member in the Early Years Unit.

Thank you  

OUR CLASS BEARS 
(Starting from the first picture - see above)

Rosie      Mike       Peggy     Paddy

We have been very lucky to have 4 new bears join our Unit this term after making them on our Build A Bear trip. 

Every Friday starting from 21st November 2019, the bears will choose a boy and girl from both classes to go home to. The bears will choose the children based on fantastic learning and following the St Michael's Way rules.

The children will love having our class bears and we know you will too! 
In the bears' learning journey books, you can write as much or as little as you want. The class teachers have put in an example to show that the bears love having a movie night in or even a quick trip to Tescos. Once the book and bears are back in school each Monday, your child can share their adventures which will promote confidence in talking in front of their peers and develop their communication skills. This is such a fun activity to do with the children and we know they will have lots to say once they have a Bear for the weekend! 

Quick Bear reminder
Fridays: Bear goes home with a child.
Saturday and Sunday: Fun weekend with your child!
Mondays: Bear returns to school along with the Learning Journey Book.
Wednesdays: Learning Journey Book to be returned (only if it is not back by the Monday).

Our bears have been made with love by the children, so please make sure they feel plenty of love when they come to you for a visit 

We have been busy singing and preparing for our Nativity. The children have been given roles for the concert in which they will need a costume. Please see a member of the EY Unit if you are unsure of what your child is wearing. 
 

The following dates for the foundation phase performances are ...

Monday 9th December at 10.30am (doors open at 10.15am)
Tuesday 10th December at 1.30pm (doors open at 1.15pm)
Wednesday 11th December at 10.30am (doors open at 10.15am)

Please check our Twitter and Home page to see the remaining availability in tickets as they are selling out fast! If you are purchasing tickets, you must make sure the slip and payment is placed in an envelope with your child's class and name on it. Due to the demand in tickets, we can't issue any tickets if you have not payed. 
 

A kind reminder that videos and pictures will NOT be allowed during the concert due to safeguarding reasons. Thank you!

WB 18-11-2019

Literacy / PSD

This week we have been exploring Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have discussed why The Bears felt sad at the end of the story and discussed Goldilocks' behaviour. The children had the opportunity to come up with various ideas on how Goldilocks could say 'sorry' to the bears. We decided to make 'sorry' cards by using our emergent writing skills. 

How can you help at home ...
Discuss with your child the story and talk about why it is important to say sorry when something unkind has happened. It is important for our young learners to also understand that we are all learning and that saying sorry is a great way of making our friends and family happy! 

Mathematical Development

This week we have been able to look closely at the concept of 'more'. In Nursery, we have been sharing pizza slices with our new friends (Mike and Rosie). We could see who had 'more' pizza and we even got challenged to compare different amounts.
In Reception, we have looked at 'one more' any given number to 5, 10 and some of us were challenged to 20!

How you can help at home ...

At the dinner table, you can serve food to your family and discuss 'who has more?'. Sharing items or objects with your child will enable them to see an amount getting bigger which will support their addition understanding in the future. 
Why not play a fun game where the adults forget the next number? for example, 'What is one more than 5?' Our learners love to be little teachers so why not play along! 

Learning Week Beginning 14-10-19

We have been busy learning about  ...

Literacy
Nursery - Drawing a friend and explaining why we love him/her. We have also looked at the story 'Guess How much I love You' to see how love can be stretched to the moon and back!
 

Reception - Writing a list of the qualities our friends by making a friendship recipe. We have been discussing why we have friends, what friendship means and why we love our friends so much!

How can I help at home … Why not discuss with your child about their friends in school and why they are special to them. Can they draw a picture of them?

Numeracy

Nursery - We have been recognising numbers to 3 and beginning to count using out finger. We have been counting the bears on the bus!

Reception - We have been counting to 5, 10 and 20! We were able to listen to the story 'Handa's Surprise' to see why Handa was bringing special fruit to her friend Akayo. We were able to recognise a number, collect an amount of fruit and check if we were right by counting the amount. 

How can I help at home … Why not go on a number hunt in your local area and find numbers in the environment (doors, car reg, shopping aisles...)
Why not ask your child to collect  certain amounts of fruit or veg when you go shopping? Can you collect 4 apples? How many red cars can you count? etc.