Welcome to Tiger Moths!
We are delighted to welcome you and your child to our class and our school. The Tiger Moths staff are always available to answer any questions you might have or to help in any way we can.
The Team
The children will be taught by Mrs Edmondson on a Monday, a Tuesday afternoon and a Wednesday afternoon and Mrs Desforges the rest of the week. Mrs Bridle is our teaching assistant.
Tapestry
In Tiger Moths, we use an online learning journal called Tapestry – you may recall we sent a letter home on the induction days asking parents to provide us with an email so we can sign you up to this. If you haven’t already, we strongly urge you to return your letter so we can add you on. Tapestry is a fantastic way of sharing with you, your child’s learning. Previous parents have talked about how much they enjoy seeing what their child has done in school and say they feel like they have a better understanding of what their child needs to work on to make progress in all areas of the Foundation Stage.
We also post messages and memos on here so you can see photos of special events or reminders about things happening in school. If you don’t have a letter or would like any support with Tapestry, please speak to a member of our team. We also love to see what you have been up to at home, it helps us to inform our assessments of where the children are, so please add any learning activities to Tapestry – we really enjoy sharing them in class!
Reading
A little later in the term we will assign phonics eBooks to the children which will be changed weekly (you will receive a letter about this) – it is important that children read and share stories as often as possible at home, it really helps with their progress in school. Please remember to record whenever you read with your child – even if it is just sharing the story together or looking at the pictures – in your child’s reading record. The books are linked to your child’s phonics level and will contain sounds they will be familiar with from our learning in class. The text may sometimes appear ‘too easy’ but your child will be learning to apply what they have already learnt and consolidating the sounds they have seen in class. It is important reading books are linked to your child’s level to help their confidence and build skills slowly. There are lots of other ways you can help your child progress at home. Reading to them is a great way to improve vocabulary and develop knowledge of story structure. Discussing the story in detail, making predictions about what might happen next and thinking of a new ending will improve those all-important inference skills. You can help to improve your child’s fluency by reading the story through together for a second or third time. Children will also bring home a 'Sharing Book' of their choice that they can share with you - they do not need to be able to read this book independently - they might want you to read it to them or they might just want to look at the pictures.
For more information on how we teach phonics and reading in school, please click on this link.
Knowledge Overview
At the beginning of each term we send home a ‘Knowledge Overview’. These show what we will be learning that term in class, the vocabulary we will be using and an outline of the objectives we will cover in each subject. Please refer to these as often as you can through the term with your child. Share them at the beginning so they are prepared. Talk to them about what they are learning throughout, share the words they will need to know and ask them questions about what they have done so far. We will also refer to them in class on a regular basis.
You can find a copy of the overview below.
Break
We have a morning break on the main playground. Children are welcome to bring one healthy snack for break, fruit is also provided for the children. Children can also bring in 20p for a healthy Tuck Shop snack.
PE
Our PE day is a Friday. Remember, children can come to school in their PE kit.
We will be working hard to make sure your child settles in beautifully and that their first experience of school is memorable and exciting. If there is anything you need to tell us or if you have any worries, no matter how small, please do not hesitate to let one of the Tiger Moths team know – we are always happy to help.
The Tiger Moths Team x
Term 1 - Let's Celebrate!
This term our theme is Let's Celebrate! We will learn all about different occasions and celebrations including Christmas, Birthdays, Bonfire Night and other important times people remember each year. We will create celebration themed art work and have lots of fun learning our songs for the Nativity!
We will continue our phonics learning and begin to recognise digraphs (2 letters that make one sound) and read words - soundtalking and blending them accurately.
In our maths learning, we will learn about the numbers 4 and 5 in detail and become more confident when finding the number one more and one less.
Our learning, as always, will be based on lots of stories, including:
In our English focused learning we will read Winnie the Witch and our traditional tale of the term is The Gingerbread Man. We will enjoy Christmas stories including, Mog's Christmas and A Letter to Father Christmas.
Our PE day is Friday - we will work on our gymnastics skills this term.
Below you will find this term's Knowledge Overview, which contains more detail about what we will learn this term.