Week 17 in K2

RRR Booklets

Please remember to send the ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!’ booklet back to school on Monday 7 December. The children will be sharing and using their booklets so please make sure they are in the blue folders. We hope you have had fun at home focusing on reducing, reusing and recycling.

As a reflection on the booklets, we are asking the children to choose one thing that they think they can continue doing all year (turning lights off, reusing or sending books and clothes for others to use).

It is important that they understand that reducing, refusing, reusing and recycling should be ‘a way of life', and does not stop when our unit has been completed. With your support, we would like the children to continue thinking about the rubbish people produce, where it all goes, what we can do to help reduce the amount of waste we all create and preserve the environment.

End of Term Party - Thursday 11  December

The Infant End of Term party is on Thursday 11 December.  Please make sure the children come to school in party clothes, ready for a fun-filled day of special activities.

Please note that there will be no PE on Thursday, as all the Infant classes will be in the Main Hall at our normal scheduled PE time so there is no need to send in kit.

You will have received a letter this week giving you details about the party, with a request for a small plate of food.  Bite-sized food is ideal, in fact the smaller the better.  If you are at all concerned about what you have been asked to bring in, please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible.  We do not want stressed parents!

Please remember to send your food contributions in a named container (if you want it back) to school on Thursday morning. In response to a question earlier this week, your food contribution is for your child’s class only. Thank you in advance for your wonderful culinary efforts!

Writing Workshop

You will be receiving your child’s latest folder of books he/she has made very soon. Please celebrate your child’s work with him/her. All of the children are very proud of their work and are eager to share their books with you.

Always recognise and acknowledge what your child can do, not what he/she cannot do quite yet. Honour his/her approximations with both illustrations and writing. Young children will not get everything correct every time they write – nor should they. Positive reinforcement and praise for his/her efforts will make your child feel good about writing, even though it is hard for many of our children at this stage of K2.

Leaving early for the holiday?

We are busy right up until the end of term and we do not encourage families to leave early for the holidays.  However, we do understand that it can be difficult to get flights at this busy time of year. If you do have to leave  before the last day of school (Friday 12 December), please let the teacher know so that items can be sent home with your child on his/her last day.

You will receive your child’s report at the end of the final week of term. Unfortunately, if you are leaving early, you will not be able to have this ahead of schedule. However, you will be able to read the report on ePortal after Friday 12 December. The actual report will be posted to you.

Library Books and Reading Books

All K2 children will be borrowing two David Watson library books to keep over the holidays. These need to be returned at the start of next term.

Please note: Levelled reading books will not be sent home in the holidays. The last day for sending levelled readers home will be Wednesday 10 December. All children will choose 3 readers to bring home on the first day of Term 2.

We would like you to read as much as you can with your child over the holiday and to  encourage him/her to continue with his/her own reading, too.  Keeping the reading process going over the three week break will make things much easier when he/she returns to school in January.

Last Day of Term

The last day of term is Friday 12 December. The Infants finish school at 11:00am.  Buses leave campus at 11:00am. Please make sure there is someone at home to meet your child from the bus at the earlier time.

Car children should be collected at 10:50am from the normal pick up point. All cars need to have left the campus by 11:10am to allow the buses to assemble to take the older students home at 12:00pm.

Reminders

• There will be no eBrief or K2 Blog on Friday 12 December

• The next eBrief will be on Friday 2 January 2015

• UWCSEA re-opens on Monday 5 January 2015

Thank you so much to all class parents and classroom helpers for your invaluable support this term. We really appreciate the time you give up to come to school and help the children with their learning.

We would like to wish you all a very happy, safe holiday.

Week 16 in K2

Performers' Assembly

On Wednesday performers from K2 and G1 entertained the Infant children during our Term 1 Performers’ Assembly. Congratulations to Isabella and James from K2SMH and Akhil from K2HWe for being such great risk-takers and performing their vocal, piano and violin pieces so beautifully.

RRR Booklets

Today, your child has brought home a ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!’ booklet. The children all know what they have to do as we have discussed it in class. It would be good for them to come up with their own thoughts of how they can help reduce, reuse and recycle at home but you may need to help them write their ideas on page 3.

Please keep these booklets at home and return them on Monday 8 December (not before). We will be reflecting upon these booklets and the ways in which the children reduce, reuse and recycle at home.

Recycling at UWCSEA

Unfortunately the Recycling Centre at school is only taking paper at the moment so please don not send in any materials for recycling. However, we still want all your CLEAN RUBBISH that the children can reuse in the classroom for models and construction.

WANTED!

We still need plastic bags of all colours for a special Art project so please do continue to send them in.

Leaving early for the holiday?

We are busy right up until the end of term and we do not encourage families to leave early for the holidays.  However, we do understand that it can be difficult to get flights at this busy time of year. If you do have to leave  before the last day of school (Friday 12 December), please let your child's teacher know so that items can be sent home on his/her last day.

You will receive your child’s report at the end of the final week of term. Unfortunately, if you are leaving early, you will not be able to have this ahead of schedule. However, you will be able to read the report on ePortal after Friday 12 December. The actual report will be posted to you.

End of Term Party - Thursday 11  December

Early next week you will receive a letter from the class teacher indicating what food items are needed for the party.

Please could you send food into school on the morning of Thursday 11 December. If you are at all concerned about what you have been asked to send in, please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible.

This is a non-uniform day for Infant children. They may come to school wearing party clothes or festive colours.

Next Week

Maths

Running parallel to our number work will be a new unit on Data Handling and Probability.
Ways of classifying and sorting objects into given categories and counting the numbers of objects in each category will be explored. Questions will be asked: How can I organise and present the data I have collected? How do I use the information I have found?

Literacy

Our main areas of focus will be:
• Handwriting (numbers, name and ‘one armed robot letters’ r, b, n, h, m, k, p)
• Writing Workshop
• Reading Workshop
• High Frequency Words
• Phonics
• Vowels
• Blending and decoding of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) e.g. mop, fan, pig and CCVC words e.g. plug, frog, trip.

Week 15 in K2

UN Day

Thank you for coming to support the children for UN Day today.  From comments made by the children, they all seemed to love visiting the other classrooms and doing so many different activities, as well as doing the parade and singing for you all. Hopefully they will have also learned something about other countries, too.

We were so proud of all of them and the effort they put into the celebrations in the Main Hall. They had to learn a great deal of words and sang beautifully. We had many parents giving us positive comments and feedback on the parade and singing and we are delighted that you enjoyed it so much.

Performers' Assembly

On Wednesday 26 November, performers from K2 and G1 will entertain the Infant children during our first Performers' Assembly. If your child is one of the performers you will have been contacted by Susanne Khalek and are invited to the RBT at 1:00pm to watch.

Food Festival - Friday 28 November

The Primary School Food Festival takes place on Friday 28 November. The K2 children will have the opportunity to visit the food stalls in the morning and sample the many tasty fares. We will provide biodegradable containers so you do not need to send one from home.

Children will not need any Brain Food on this day but can still bring a snack. As they will have eaten at the Food Festival before snack time, maybe some fruit would be a good idea.

IMPORTANT

We would like all children to come to school in a national costume, national colours or clothes that reflect their national identity.

HELP NEEDED!

A letter was sent home on Wednesday asking for a few volunteers to help at the Food Festival. If you are able to join us, please return the slip and your child's teacher will confirm what time she would like you to arrive in the classroom.

Next Week

Maths

Running parallel to our number work will be a new unit on Data Handling and Probability.
Ways of classifying and sorting objects into given categories and counting the numbers of objects in each category will be explored. Questions will be asked: How can I organise and present the data I have collected? How do I use the information I have found?

Literacy

Our main areas of focus will be:
• Handwriting (numbers, name and ‘one armed robot letters’ r, b, n, h, m, k, p)
• Writing Workshop
• Reading Workshop
• High Frequency Words
• Phonics
• Vowels
• Blending and decoding of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) e.g. mop, fan, pig and CCVC words e.g. plug, frog, trip.

Week 14 in K2

Reading Programme

On Wednesday evening Celena Larkey, a lead staff developer from Teachers College, Columbia University, gave a presentation to parents about reading. During her talk, Celena focused on 6 essentials that teachers strive for every day in their classrooms. She suggests parents do the same at home to support their child’s reading in the best possible way. The 6 essentials are listed below:

1. Children need to choose their own books and spend quality time with their eyes on 'just right' books.
2. They should read ‘just right’ books with 98% accuracy. Research shows that acceleration takes place when reading is 98% accurate.
3. Children need to read something that they understand. This means a lot of re-reading of text that they find engaging.
4. Children need to write about things that are personally meaningful so choosing their own subject matter is vital.
5. Every child needs to talk with his/her peers about reading and writing. Research has shown that conversations with peers (and parents at home) improves comprehension and engagement with text.
6. Children need to listen to a fluent adult reader read aloud. This increases their own fluency, comprehension skills, expands vocabulary, background knowledge, awareness of genre and text structure.

Celena also had some suggestions on how you can encourage more reading at home:

• Become an expert at your local library and book store.  
• Keep books organised and have your child help you to organise his/her books.
• Encourage different kinds of reading.

As teachers we have learned so much this week from Celena about teaching young children to read and in the coming months we will be implementing many of her ideas in our classrooms. We are very excited about our Reading Workshops and look forward to witnessing the growth and development of the children’s skills.

More information about Reading and Writing Workshop can be accessed via this link to the Teachers College site:

http://readingandwritingproject.com/

Magic Materials

Our Unit of Study, ‘Magic Materials’ is well under way and we have all been thinking about and discussing ‘Where does all the rubbish go?’  

Each classroom will be setting up its own Recycling Centre, in order that we can focus on 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle'. Please send in your clean rubbish. Anything that you would normally throw away, or recycle somewhere else, we will be able to put to good use! Please make sure all items are washed and clean as we do not wish to attract ants!

The children can decide what they want to do with their rubbish. Items could be put in the junk modelling box for reusing and reducing waste or put into the various recycling containers. We will be making visits to the UWCSEA Recycling Centre, located by the Bus Bay, when our bins get full!

PLASTIC BAGS WANTED!

We will be doing some art projects using plastic bags. Please could you continue to send in any plastic bags you have – the brighter, the better! Thank you.

PE and Swimming

K2SMH and K2HWe have now finished their swimming programme and will be doing PE on both Tuesdays and Thursdays.

UN Day in the Infants:

Friday 21 November

UN Day is nearly upon us! 

The morning will begin in your child’s classroom. Each K2 class is going to focus on two countries (see below). There will be hands-on, practical activities set up in each room, and you will be able to go around the different K2 classrooms, doing a variety of arts and crafts, whilst learning a little about those countries along the way.

The following countries will be represented in the classrooms:

K2HWe

Japan & The World

K2SMH

Great Britain & The Netherlands

K2JiS 

Mexico & Indonesia

K2ZBr

India & Vietnam

The timings of the morning will run as follows:

8:50am  Arrive at UWCSEA

9:00am-10:00am  Activities in classrooms  

10:30am  Infant Parade and songs in the Main Hall

11:00am  Finish

Week 13 in K2

K2 Morning of Sport

The children thoroughly enjoyed demonstrating their agility, dexterity, hand-eye coordination and speed in a wide range of activities yesterday morning. It was lovely to see them showing their skills, and to see how they are all developing their ability to listen to and follow a set of instructions.


It was wonderful that so many parents, grandparents, siblings and helpers were able to watch and cheer the children on, too. Thank you to everyone involved, especially the P.E. Department, for making it a very special morning.

UN Day in the Infants: Friday 21 November

We look forward to welcoming you to school for another UN Day!

The morning will begin in your child’s classroom. Each K2 class is going to focus on two countries (see below). There will be a couple of hands-on activities set up in each room, and you will be able to go around the different K2 classrooms, doing a variety of arts and crafts, whilst learning a little about those countries along the way.

The following countries will be represented in the classrooms:

K2HWe
Japan & The World

K2SMH
Ireland & England

K2JiS
Mexico & Indonesia

K2ZBr
India & Vietnam


The timings of the morning will run as follows:

8:50am  Arrive at UWCSEA

9:00am-10:00am  Activities in classrooms

10:30am  Infant Parade and songs in the Main Hall

11:00am  Finish

If you have not yet filled in the google doc informing us which flag(s) you would like your child to make for our UN Day celebrations, please do so by Monday 10 November, as we wish to start making the flags. If we do not hear from you, we will use your child's nationality as indicated in the UWCSEA documentation. If you are unable to stay for the Infant Parade and songs, please arrange for another adult to take your place.

Events like these are an important part of our philosophy of holistic education and develop many skills, such as cooperation, spatial awareness, social, gross motor and communication skills.

Staff Training Day - Monday 10 November

UWCSEA will be closed for Staff Training on this day. We are welcoming Celena Larkey back from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York who is running further training on Reading Workshop. Our staff training continues throughout the week, both during the school day and after school. There will be times when the teachers are involved in labsites (training in classrooms with the children). When this occurs, we will have cover teachers taking our classes so your child may come home and tell you that for a small part of the day, he/she had a different teacher.

K-G2 Parent Presentation: Nurturing Our Young Readers

Celena will also be doing a presentation for K-G2 parents 'Nurturing Our Young Readers'. This will take place on Wednesday 12 November, in the Multi Purpose Hall at 6:30pm. Learn more about the research behind Reading Workshop and how parents can nurture and support young readers at home. If you would like to attend please sign up through the link in the e-Brief.

iLearn Parent Workshop: iPads for Learning 

Tuesday 18 November   6-7pm David Watson Library

It will not have escaped the notice of many parents that iPads are quickly becoming a popular tool for enhancing teaching and learning throughout the Primary School. What is perhaps less obvious is the why, the how, and the 'what do we use them for?'. This workshop will explore the most common apps your children use at school, particularly in the Infant School and Grade 2. iPads will be available for you to use, although you are welcome to bring your own.

Please RSVP here. For more information contact Sean McHugh. We recommended that you visit the Dover DLC blog and read this post prior to the workshop.

Next Week

Maths

Investigations will continue with Measurement, alongside our number work.

Why is it important to know how heavy things are and how long they are?
Which words can we use to describe length?
Which words can we use to describe weight?

The children will be learning how to describe an object using different measurements e.g. length, height, weight, size. Comparisons between two objects will be made: Which is longer/shorter, taller/shorter, heavier/lighter?

Literacy

Our main areas of focus will be:
• Handwriting (numbers, name and ‘one armed robot letters’ r, b, n, h, m, k, p)
• Writing Workshop
• Reading Workshop
• High Frequency Words
• Phonics
• Vowels
• Blending and decoding of CVC words

The K2 Team

Week 12 in K2

Writing Workshop

We do hope you enjoyed looking and sharing your child's books that he/she made during the last half term. It is wonderful to see the eagerness and enthusiasm during workshop time, as the children make and create their books.

Do remember that as both teachers and parents we need to encourage our children to develop their love of writing. We can work together to achieve this by:

• nudging not pushing
• honouring approximations
• recognising that writing composition is the primary focus at this age

Firstly, resist the urge to push your children with their writing. Ultimately, you will end up with a reluctant writer. Always recognise and acknowledge what your child can do, not what he/she cannot do yet. Nudges work better and your child will be more likely to embrace a suggestion rather than you pointing out what he/she has not done.

Secondly, honour their approximations with both illustrations and writing. They will not get everything correct every time they write – nor should they. Learning to write is a process and like any skill it takes time and mistakes will be made along the way.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the primary focus should be on the composition. Whilst writing conventions are important, the stories children have to tell and their powers of imagination are crucial to them becoming good writers. If we spend too much time focusing on conventions, such as punctuation and spelling, we lose the spontaneity of children’s writing at this very early age.

Unit of Study

Our 'Materials' Unit of Study continues to the end of this term, with a special focus on ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’.

The Enduring Understandings are:

• I can sort rubbish in different ways.

• I understand that I can use less and I can reuse things to help the earth.

• I can reuse materials to make something.

The Essential Questions are:

• Where does all the rubbish go?

• What happens to material waste?

• What can we all do to help the earth?

• Why is it important?

Many of the children are already familiar with the idea of recycling; they use ‘rubbish’ for junk modelling or 'Make and Take' at school. Each classroom has a box for recycling scraps of paper and card, and the children are encouraged to use paper that has already been printed on one side for their drawings and craft work. 

We are sure that you have ways of recycling things at home too, and we will be exploring and investigating many different aspects of the three Rs! It is a very interesting and exciting part of the unit for the children, and one in which they will be able to take ‘action’ readily. 

WANTED - PLASTIC BAGS!

We will be doing some art projects using plastic bags. Please could you send in any that you have – the brighter, the better! Also, please do continue to collect and send in any boxes, tubes, bottle tops, egg cartons and other rubbish that can be reused for the children's junk modelling.

K2 Morning of Sport Thursday 6 November

Our Morning of Sport will take place come rain or shine! The tabloid events will take place in the Sports Halls, and we will finish with relays on the Casurina Field. We aim to start at 10:30am and should be finished by 12:00pm. The children will take part in a variety of athletic activities, which demonstrate skills they have been learning in their PE lessons this year.

Obviously PE kit must be worn, together with a hat for the running events outside. Should the weather be inclement on the day, the relays will take place in the sports hall. All parents are warmly invited to come and join us for a morning full of fun and action!

Staff Training Day - Monday 10 November

UWCSEA will be closed for Staff Training on this day. We are welcoming Celena Larkey back from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York who is running further training on Reading Workshop.

K-G2 Parent Presentation: Nurturing Our Young Readers

Celena will also be doing a presentation for K-G2 parents 'Nurturing Our Young Readers'. This will take place on Wednesday 12 November, in the Multi Purpose Hall at 6:30pm. Learn more about the research behind Reading Workshop and how parents can nurture and support young readers at home. If you would like to attend please sign up through the link in the e-Brief.

iLearn Parent Workshop: iPads for Learning 

Tuesday 18 November   6-7pm David Watson Library

It will not have escaped the notice of many parents that iPads are quickly becoming a popular tool for enhancing teaching and learning throughout the Primary School. What is perhaps less obvious is the why, the how, and the 'what do we use them for?'. This workshop will explore the most common apps your children use at school, particularly in the Infant School and Grade 2. iPads will be available for you to use, although you are welcome to bring your own.

Please RSVP here. For more information contact Sean McHugh. We recommended that you visit the Dover DLC blog and read this post prior to the workshop.

UN Day - Friday 21 November

The Infant School will be celebrating UN Day on Friday 21 November. For this event we will need you to accompany your child around a series of activities in school from 9:00am to 10:15am. You are then invited to the Main Hall where the morning will culminate with singing and a parade. Watch for more details in upcoming Blogs and eBriefs.

Primary School Food Festival - Friday 28 November

We will be asking for some parent helpers to take small groups of children around the amazing food stalls so do mark this date in your diaries. Your child's teacher will get in touch with you nearer the time.

Next Week

Maths

Our next unit is Measurement, where we will be looking at the Essential Questions:

Why is it important to know how heavy things are and how long they are?
Which words can we use to describe length?
Which words can we use to describe weight?

The children will be learning how to describe an object using different measurements e.g. length, height, weight, size. Comparisons between two objects will be made: Which is longer/shorter, taller/shorter, heavier/lighter?

Literacy

Our main areas of focus will be:
• Handwriting (numbers, name and ‘one armed robot letters’ r, b, n, h, m, k, p)
• Writing Workshop
• Reading Workshop
• High Frequency Words
• Phonics
• Vowels
• Blending and decoding of CVC words

The K2 Team

Week 11 in K2

We hope you have all had a very pleasant break and we are very much looking forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday.

Handwriting

Formal handwriting practice is being taught in the classrooms on a regular basis and pencil grips are being modified where intervention is needed. If your child has an awkward pencil grip, please do try to correct it at home as well, as engrained habits can be so hard to change. Correct letter formations and orientation need to be practised again and again. As children become more capable and dexterous, letters will automatically be formed correctly, which in turn makes the whole writing
process easier.

Mark Your Diaries! 

Dress Up Day

October 31 is Dress Up day in the Infants. Although it is Halloween and some children will want to come dressed as witches or skeletons, your child can come dressed up in any costume he/she wants to wear e.g. a cowboy, pirate, fairy or princess. Anything goes, as long as it is practical for a normal school day so no masks or restrictive clothing please!

Morning of Sport - Thursday 6 November

On Thursday 6 November, we will have our K2 Athletics Morning of Sport. Tabloid events will take place in the Sports Halls, and we will finish with relays on the Casurina Field.

The day is a chance for every child to participate in activities that he/she has practiced in his/her PE lessons this year.  This is a morning of maximum participation and we do hope to see all the children taking part.

The programme will start at 10:30am and is scheduled to finish by 12.00noon. The children will take part in a variety of athletic activities, showing their agility, balance, speed and hand/eye coordination.

It is important that your child has a good breakfast and is wearing his/her PE kit. Should we face inclement weather on the day, the relays will take place in the sports hall.

We very much hope that you will be able to join us for a morning full of action and fun!

Staff Training Day - Monday 10 November

UWCSEA will be closed for Staff Training on this day. We are welcoming Celena Larkey back from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York who is running further training on Reading Workshop. Celena will also be doing a presentation for K-G2 parents 'Nurturing Our Young Readers'.
This will take place on Wednesday 12 November, in the Multi Purpose Hall at 6:30pm. Learn more about the research behind Reading Workshop and how parents can nurture and support young readers at home. If you would like to attend please sign up through the link in the e-Brief.

Infant UN Day - Friday 21 November

The Infant School will be celebrating UN Day on Friday 21 November. For this event we will need you to accompany your child around a series of activities in school from 9:00am to 10:15am. You are then invited to the Main Hall where the morning will culminate with singing and a parade. Watch for more details in upcoming Blogs and eBriefs.

Primary School Food Festival - Friday 28 November

We will be asking for some parent helpers to take small groups of children around the amazing food stalls so do mark this date in your diaries. Your child's teacher will get in touch with you nearer the time.

The K2 Team