Phonics

In phonics, we have been learning two new sounds: r and h.
The children have been practising:

• Saying each sound clearly

• Blending words containing r and h

• Segmenting words to hear the sounds

• Writing the new sounds

• Writing simple words containing the sounds

We also learnt a new tricky word: I.
The children practised reading it, writing it, and using it in simple sentences.

Drawing Club

This week in Drawing Club we explored the story “The First Christmas.”

The children’s drawing challenges were:

1. Draw the stable where Baby Jesus was born.

2. Imagine a different way Mary and Joseph could travel to Bethlehem—children created brilliant ideas such as magic carpets, cars, planes, rockets and even flying unicorns!

3. Choose a gift to give to Baby Jesus—children suggested blankets, dummies, toys, food, teddies and many other thoughtful ideas.

Our vocabulary focus was: travelled, manger, shepherd, wise.
We discussed what each word means and how it links to the story.

RE

In RE we looked closely at pictures of the Nativity scene and talked about who is the most important person in the story and why Christians think this.

We also looked at photos of the children in their nativity costumes. We talked about:

• Who they dressed up as

• Why we dressed up for the Nativity

We also discussed how Christmas is sometimes referred to as Jesus' birthday. We compared Christmas to a birthday celebration—exploring how many people celebrate with decorations, music, special food, presents and even cake, just like a birthday.

We then shared our own Christmas traditions at home and enjoyed hearing about how different families celebrate in their own special way.

Nativity Performance

This week we had our Christmas Nativity, and the children were absolutely wonderful.
They worked so hard to learn their songs and/or their lines, and they performed with such confidence and joy.

A huge thank you to parents and carers who were able to come along and watch—we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Star of the week: Congratulations to Phoebe, who is our star of the week, for moving up a level with her reading. Phoebe will be taking home her certificate and Wilfred the Elephant to write in the book all about her time spent with Wilfred over the next week and will bring him back next Thursday.

Please remember to read with your child, even for just 5 minutes! Please also remember to record it in the reading record. We will only change your child's book if you have read with them 2 or more times in that week! Reading books are changed on Tuesday's and Friday's. Please remember to have the library book in your children's book bag on Thursday to be changed. 

Any issues or concerns we need to know about, please speak to the Acorn team before and after school or email at: acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk