This term we have many exciting things planned under our topics of ‘Marvellous Me’ and ‘Celebrations’.

Some of our texts which support these topics are: On Sudden Hill, The Best Diwali Ever, All the Colours of the Earth, The Family Book and The First Christmas Night.

In Communication, Language and Literacy the children will:

• Understand how to listen carefully and why listening is important.
• Learn new vocabulary. 
• Ask questions to find out more and to check they understand what has been said to them.
• Use talk to help work out problems and organise thinking and activities explain how things work and why they might happen.
• Engage in story times.
• Listen to and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development the children will:

• See themselves as a valuable individual.
• Build constructive and respectful relationship.
• Express their feelings and consider the feelings of others.
• Show resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge.
• Identify and moderate their own feelings socially and emotionally.
• Think about the perspectives of others.
• Manage their own needs and personal hygiene.

In Physical Development the children will:

• Develop the overall body strength, co-ordination, balance and agility.
• Develop their small motor skills so that they can use a range of tools competently, safely and confidently. Suggested tools: pencils for drawing and writing, paintbrushes, scissors, knives, forks and spoons.
• Use their core muscle strength to achieve a good posture when sitting at a table or sitting on the floor.
• Combine different movements with ease and fluency.
• Confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outside, alone and in a group
• Further develop and refine a range of ball skills including: throwing, catching, kicking, passing, batting, and aiming.
• Develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient.

In Literacy the children will:

• Read individual letters by saying the sounds for them.
• Blend sounds into words, so that they can read short words made up of known letter– sound correspondences.
• Read some letter groups that each represent one sound and say sounds for them.
• Read a few common exception words matched to the school’s phonic programme.
• Read simple phrases and sentences made up of words with known letter–sound correspondences and, where necessary, a few exception words.
• Re-read books to build up their confidence in word reading, their fluency and their understanding and enjoyment.
• Form lower-case letters correctly. 

In Maths the children will:

• Count objects, actions and sounds.
• Subitise
• Link the number symbol (numeral) with its cardinal number value.
• Count beyond ten.
• Compare numbers.
• Understand the ‘one more than/one less than’ relationship between consecutive numbers.

In Understanding the World the children will:

• Talk about members of their immediate family and community.
• Name and describe people who are familiar to them.
• Comment on images of familiar situations in the past.
• Compare and contrast characters from stories, including figures from the past.
• Understand that some places are special to members of their community.
• Recognise that people have different beliefs and celebrate special times in different ways.
• Understand the effect of changing seasons on the natural world around them

In Expressive Arts and Design the children will

• Explore, use and refine a variety of artistic effects to express their ideas and feelings
• Create collaboratively sharing ideas, resources and skills.
• Watch and talk about dance and performance art, expressing their feelings and responses.
• Sing in a group or on their own, increasingly matching the pitch and following the melody
• Develop storylines in their pretend play.
• Explore and engage in music making and dance, performing solo or in groups.

• Your child should read or be read to for 10 minutes every day. Please talk to your child about the book and check their understanding by asking questions about events and the characters’ actions. Please also explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary. Their bookbag should come into school every day. 
• Your child will have PE once a week. Their PE kit should stay in school in a named draw-string bag.
• Your child needs to bring in a named water bottle every day.
• The weather is often cold at this time of year and the children will go outside if there is light rain. It is important that your child has a waterproof coat, gloves, hat and a scarf. Please name all items of clothing.
• We are a Healthy School. Please do not put sweets or chocolate bars in your child’s packed lunch. Please do not send in sweets or other treats when it is your child’s birthday. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates, you could buy the class a book, send in a healthy snack such as boxes of raisins or buy stationery such as pencils, but due to the impact on the environment, we ask you not to send in plastic toys.
• The weekly 50p donation that purchases snacks and other miscellaneous items is collected on a Friday morning. You are welcome to pay weekly, half termly or termly. Thank you.
• If your child will be absent from school, please contact the school office. You can call 020 8850 5486 and leave a message detailing why your child is absent, send a message via ParentMail or email office@gordon.greenwich.sch.uk . If your child has vomited or had diarrhoea they can return once they are feeling better. They do not need to be clear of symptoms for 48 hours. Please try to book medical appointments outside the school day and note that absence due to family holidays will not be authorised.
• If you have any questions or wish to raise a concern, please contact the class teacher in the first instance. Please use the email addresses above. 

Please note the following events and add them to your diary:

• Wednesday 13th September - Safer Neighbourhood Meeting -6:30pm / Lower Hall 
• Thursday 21st September - Reception Welcome Meeting - 1:30pm
• Friday 22nd September - First full-day for Reception pupils
• 25^th to 29th September - Cycle to School Week
• Tuesday 26th September - Nasal flu vaccinations
• Thursday 28th September - FoG Annual General Meeting – 7pm / Lower Hall
• Friday 29th September - Book Fair (until 4^th October) 
• Monday 9th October - Open Evening – 3:30pm to 7pm
• Wednesday 11th October - Open Evening - 3:30pm to 6pm
• Friday 13th October - Inset Day – school closed to pupils
• Thursday 19th October - Cultural Evening – 5pm to 6:30pm / Sports Hall
• 23^rd to 27th October - Half Term Break
• Friday 3rd November - FoG Quiz Night - 7pm / Sports Hall
• Monday 11th December - EYFS Christmas Sing-along - 2pm / Sports Hall
• Tuesday 12th December - EYFS Christmas Sing-along - 9:30am / Sports Hall
• Thursday 21st December - last day of the Autumn Term