Please enjoy looking through our hopes and aspirations for next term's learning when hopefully we shall get some dryer, sunnier weather to enjoy.  Please note we will be having additional PE lessons with our Coach James on a Friday afternoon.  Please ensure your child is in PE kit on both Wednesdays and Fridays each week, just for next term.

Enjoy the half term break from school.

Kate, Amanda and Jo. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR FAMILIES IN OAK CLASS.

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and your children are well rested and fighting fit ready for the new term ahead.

Our new learning is hinged on the changing season of Winter and more details about this can be found on the parent planner below.

The Christmas holidays have provided the opportunity for a clear up, sort out and redesign of the children's learning space.  More tables = moving their learning on to the next level .  Please make some time to show the children the photographs to prepare them for the new term. See you soon...

6^th February 2026

oakclass@winterbourneearls.wilts.sch.uk

Phonics and Reading

This week in Phonics we have been learning longer words and to read these words we’ve been using the ‘chunk it up’ method.  We’ve read words such as ‘farmyard’, ‘classroom’ and ‘carpark’.  We first of all read the word ‘f-ar-m’ followed by ‘y-ar-d’ and then put it together. We’ve focused on the same sounds as previous weeks as we’ve learnt them all now so a lot of our work has been repetition and consolidation.

Mrs Tattersall has assessed all of the children and you will see in the Reading Records, how your child has done.  Please aim to help to fill any gaps and we will look to reassess them after the half term holiday.

Maths

We’ve been learning odd and even numbers this week.  This helps with the early work of the 2x table and division!  By sharing larger numbers of quantities between 2, we can ascertain whether a number is odd or even.  Who knew your children would be dividing and multiplying in Reception!

School Disco

I know that Mrs Tattersall will be contacting you in due course but we will be holding an Oak Class disco after the half term holiday.  The other classes will have theirs today after school but this has been found to be too overwhelming in the past so Reception class always enjoy their Disco separately from the rest of the school.  This will take place during the school day and involves dancing, games and refreshments.  A Thursday seems like to most likely day but we will let you know an exact date nearer the time as they will need to bring party clothes into school to change into on Disco Day 😉

30^th January 2026

oakclass@winterbourneearls.wilts.sch.uk

Phonics and Reading

This week we have been learning the trigraph air (as in chair) and the digraphs/double letters, bb, rr, gg, dd, pp, ff and tt in words such as rabbit, rubber, carrot, toffee, kitten and ladder.  Our tricky words were are, pure and sure.  The sentences we have been reading are sentences such as, The kitten has hidden in the ribbons and I was as high up as the ladder.  We have written chair, hammer, kitten and pair to name a few. 

A shorter newsletter this week in an attempt to save paper! 

If anyone is able to donate white board pens (for the children to use on their individual white boards in phonics) or washing up liquid (for help with washing up their milk bottles each day), we would be eternally grateful!  Thank you.

23^rd January 2026

oakclass@winterbourneearls.wilts.sch.uk

Phonics and Reading

This week we have been learning the digraphs, ur (as in fur), ow (as in owl), oi (as in boing) and ear (as in hear).  Our tricky words are my, by and all.  We have had a go at reading sentences such as ‘We curl and turn in the surf’ and ‘I can hear the owl in the night’ as well as writing, down, join, hear and turn from memory

World Faith Day and Mrs Natt

Oak Class, along with the rest of the school, took part in World Faith Day on Wednesday this week.  The day began with a whole-school Bollywood style dance workshop in the hall followed by kindness pebble decorating with our RE Subject Leader’s daughter, Lily.  In the classroom, we enjoyed making Diva lamps from clay and sequins (coming home!) and doing leaf rubbings after learning about Hindu Ahimsa (an appreciation of nature and living things and how we must care for them). At the end of the day, two brave girls from Reception Class, stood up in front of the school and told the children and staff what we had learnt during our special day.

Poor Mrs Natt has been off school poorly this week.  We are looking forward to her return next week.  There has been a lot of poorliness amongst the children too, particularly last week.  Just by way of a reminder, if your child has a temperature, they should not be in school.  It is always incredibly difficult to judge when to send your child in if they tell you they are poorly.  Carrying out a quick temperature check before school will act as a ‘back up’ if you’re not sure.

Parents Evenings and Progress Reports – February and March

Staff are in the process of organising dates for the next Parent Evening Appointments.  A Mid-Year assessment update will come home with your children just after the half term holiday and appointments to discuss these results and any other matters usually follows this but if you have any other questions or queries, please don’t forget to email us on the above address and we aim to respond within 24 hours but usually before. 

16^th January 2026

oakclass@winterbourneearls.wilts.sch.uk

Phonics, Reading and Homework expectations

This week we have been learning the digraphs, oo (as in moon) and oo (as in book), or (as in born) and ar (as in dark).

We have learnt the tricky words, you, they and was.  We have also been reading phrases such as, ‘The moon is up high’ and ‘I can see the car in the dark’ and writing a number of words with our new sounds in.

Next week, we’ll be running some checks in your child’s reading diaries of how many times a week they are reading their Phonics book and over-learning their new sounds.  These 4 or more occasions should be recorded in their diaries so the staff can see your endeavours at home.  Please remember that although staff are helping your child to learn to read in a group, three times a week through our Group Reading sessions, there is no substitute for reading with your child one on one (a luxury we don’t have the time for at school under normal circumstances).  If you have any questions about this, please speak to one of the team; we know that every child is different and so too is each individual family set up…we’re here to help whenever we can.

Start of Day Timings

Whilst the children are welcomed in through the gate between 0850 and 0900 in the mornings, we do a ‘post teach’ maths lesson from 0850, just before the close of the register at 0900.  This mini lesson focuses on the maths learning from the previous week and acts as a recap.  We understand how rushed and hectic the mornings can be, not to mention the difficulties with parking but we really appreciate a prompt start to the day.  I shall also endeavour to be there to open the gate on the dot of 0850 as I know that sometimes our staff discussions in class about the day ahead, can run over J

Changes of clothes

Please can you check with us if you are unsure whether your child has a change of clothes in school with them.  We do still have the occasional accident in class (even if you think your child is past this phase) and we don’t always have a stock of spare knickers, pants, tights, socks, dresses or trousers (the children sometimes don’t want to wear clothes that aren’t their own either).  We may ask you to pop in to check in their PE bag at the start or end of the school day.  If your child is at Fox Cubs or on the bus, drop us an email and we can check this for you. Thank you.

Friday January 9th 

New term project and visit from the theatre company

We have started our new term by thinking about the enquiry question, ‘Is it OK to be cold?’ This elicited some interesting answers to begin our project such as “The cold might get into your blood.” and “If you get cold you might get a fever.” So, the overwhelming thinking was, that it is not ok to be cold however as the term progresses we’ll be thinking about what the cold weather means to mammals such as Polar Bears and what might happen if their environment doesn’t remain cold.  Deep thinking for such young minds!

On Tuesday afternoon, all the children in school were lucky enough to have a visit from the M&M Theatre Company.  I didn’t see the performance myself but the reactions were very positive from children and staff alike.

Phonics and Reading

Mrs Tattersall and I have been really encouraged to notice that a lot of your children have evidently been practising their Phonics and Writing over the holidays.  Thank and well done if this is you J.

This week we have been learning the digraphs, ee, ai, oa and the trigraph (3 letters, one sound) igh. 

We have revised the tricky words, I, the, pull, put and full.  We have also been reading phrases such as, ‘It is a sheep with pink feet’ and ‘Get into the boat and sail off!’  and writing a number of words with our new sounds in, all whilst remembering correct formation of the letters they have learnt. What clever children!

Maths

In Maths, our focus has been, ‘Alive in 5’ where we have explored everything to do with numbers to 5; the composition of 5 (3 and 2, 1 and 4, 0 and 5), knowing one more and one less and thinking about symbols to write simple sums (although not on the EYFS curriculum, the children love to be stretched and it’s all good practise for next year!

PE this term

We will be moving to whole class PE from this term onwards.  Please could all children come into school on a Wednesday in full PE kit.