The Thursday sessions are just for the children who will be going to school the following September, and they have a bit of a different structure. At the start of the year, there is not so much difference to the other days, but as the year goes on, we will introduce more activities and experiences for the children.
Language and Literacy
We have a longer story and circle time, where we can read longer stories, talk about the characters and events in more detail, and also practice identifying rhyming words and counting syllables. After Christmas we will start introducing some simple Phonics sessions on a Thursday. There is no expectation for your child to be able to read or write before they start school, but it is useful if they are starting to be able to recognise some letter sounds and most importantly be able to hear the sounds in words. For example, to be able to hear and say that “ball”, “blue” and “bucket” all start with a “b” sound. If you are working on recognising sounds with your child at home, please ensure you use the letter sounds and not the letter names, as this is what they need to know for reading and spelling. Knowing the letter names can come later. You can also really support your child by spending lots of time sharing books at home, developing their attention and concentration to listen to longer stories, and also being able to talk about the stories – for instance identifying characters, talking about what they do, what events happen in the story and in what order. It is also good to share different types of reading matter with them, including information books and magazines. Even if there is a lot of text you can look at and talk about the pictures together. If children’s language is well developed, this puts them in a very good position for learning to read and write when they get to school.
Maths
We also continue to develop maths skills through a variety of specific activities, but also through their general play. You can continue to support your child by practising counting, recognising numbers, sorting and classifying objects, identifying simple shapes and talking about the properties of shapes. You can obviously do this through specific maths activities and games (Orchard Toys have lots of brilliant games for young children) but you can also do it when playing with just about anything, on a car journey, on a walk, in the garden, sorting the washing, and at mealtimes!
Independence
Developing your child’s confidence and independent skills are also very important this year as they head towards school. Please can you support this by encouraging your child to dress themselves as much as possible, especially coats and shoes, and by being as independent as possible when going to the toilet. Obviously, we will help children when they need it, but we will be encouraging them to try themselves first. In the summer term we will be asking the children to bring a PE kit and we will be doing PE sessions on a Thursday morning, working towards a Sports Day at the end of the year.
We will also have a few Thursdays during the year where we provide the children with a hot lunch, school lunch style. We will let you know the dates of these in due course.
Scruffy Bear
We have a teddy bear at pre-school called Scruffy Bear who likes to go home and visit children and their families. Those of you with older children may remember him. He would like to start coming home again, so each Thursday a different child will bring him home with a notebook. It would be lovely if you could take some photos and record Scruffy Bear’s adventures with your family. Scruffy will need to return to pre-school by the following Thursday, when your child will be able to share his adventures with the other children.
School applications
Although it may seem a long time away, it is time to start thinking about your child’s school place! You will need to apply for your child’s primary school place online here: Primary school places – Essex County Council
Due to our location, we have children go to many different schools, but we will always liaise with your child’s school to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. In recent years we have children go to Newport Primary, Debden Primary, Great Chesterford Primary, various schools in Saffron Walden and other villages. Most of the schools will be running Open Mornings in the Autunm term and they will always be happy to speak to you, so please do not hesitate to contact any schools you are interested in. Primary school applications open on 8th November and close on 15th January 2023.
Please do not hesitate to speak to us if you have questions. We understand that this time in your child’s life is exciting but can be hard as parents too, so we are here to help you in any way we can.