Dear parents and carers, 
We have had a great week in school and the children have continued to settle back in to the regular school routine. We’ve had a few very wet days, but fortunately we’ve been able to have the majority of playtimes and lunchtimes outside still. Each year group are beginning their new topics and the curriculum newsletters which have come out today will give you more information on the learning for the term.
Dreams and goals were the focus of our assembly on Monday. We discussed that dreams and goals were something that you wanted to achieve. This might be:
- A goal for this week – e.g. learning to spell a tricky word
- A goal for this year – e.g. learning to ride a bike / finding your own fossil (lots of our Year 2 children were inspired by studying Mary Anning last term)
- A longer-term goal – e.g. becoming an author
We also talked about the importance of having dreams and goals and that to reach them you would need to overcome obstacles and be like two of our learning heroes, Carly Can Do (determined) and Bobby Bounce Back (resilient).
As an infant school, our most important academic role is teaching children to read and promoting a love of reading, because reading is the gateway to almost all learning. This year we really want to support children with developing their love of reading and we’re busy planning some events to support this.
Attendance has a significant impact on reading. Early reading is very much based around phonics and phonics is a cumulative and fast-paced area of the curriculum. Missing even a small amount of time can lead to significant gaps, for example a child who misses just one week of phonics lessons could miss four new sounds and up to four tricky words. But it is not just about the phonics lessons. There are also daily practices of each new sound to reinforce learning, daily keep-up sessions for children needing extra support and the application of phonics in reading sessions which happen three times per week in Reception and Year 1.
In addition to absence, persistent lateness is a problem that adds up to hours of missed learning each year. Phonics lessons can be disproportionately affected as they often take place first thing in the morning. Phonics is foundational to literacy and every missed lesson matter. Without intervention, absent children quickly develop gaps in their learning which can compound over time.
We look forward to seeing the children’s reading and phonics progress this term.
Have a lovely weekend.
Best wishes,
John Mortimer
Head of School
