Pioneers Class

Pioneers children are Reception and Year 1, aged four to six years old. Children enjoy a range of creative and engaging play based activities, as well as formal inputs, to support their development and growth. Children in Pioneers are taught by Mrs Hann,  Mrs Gurney, Mrs McGill and Miss Greaves.

Learning begins the minute they walk through the door. The classroom is a carefully curated collection of wonderful things to allow the children to flourish. The classroom is theirs and everything in it is there for a purpose. What they chose to do may be completely different for each individual. This is when the learning happens. The resources are ready to use and accessible and the team work together to create, to communicate, to count and to grow 

Each day starts with exploration of the resources and suggestions for learning set out around the room. The Pioneers will come together for teaching. This will happen in small groups, as a whole class and often one to one. Across the day we will gather for mathematics, reading, writing and phonics sessions, to share stories and to learn about the world.

PE kits are in school all week to allow us to do PE at any time. This term, the Pioneers have dance on a Tuesday afternoon. 

Mrs Gurney teaches computing on a Thursday morning.

We are rolling with phonics and children will bring a book and their reading record home each day. Please read little and often and write a message in the reading record. All reading is good reading. This is such an exciting time.

Please look out for a text message to let you know when we will go to the forest. We will use our wonderful outdoor space as much as we can and this will not always be on the same day each week. 

Children’s progress and activities are recorded in their own Learning Journeys. These act as a summary of the journey children embark upon during their time in Reception and Year 1 and demonstrate the progress and success that has been achieved, as well as the next steps that may need to be taken.

Maths Magic

The new year has started with new maths. Many of us are ready to use numbers to represent our thinking.The Pioneers are so organised that we can all sit on the carpet and work together with Numicon. This is really amazing.Everyone has returned with an excitement about number so we have worked hard this week. We have had fun with the number wheel,talked lots about zero and written down our calculations using plus and equals.

So much going on. So many questions.

Happy Maths.

New Year.New Books

The Pioneers have really got the hang of choosing a new book. When we visit the library they go straight to the shelves and delve in. Some go straight to fiction picture books,choosing authors and illustrators that they recognise. Others go to the big non-fiction encyclopedia type books and pour over the pictures. Others have found the books that they can actually read themselves and this is a great joy. They then assume a reading position and chat and browse. The whole class was really intent on reading when we visited this week. It was wonderful to stand back and watch the interactions.

Take a look in bags to see which book your little reader selected.

Happy Reading

The Best Christmas Dinner

The whole school gathered to celebrate Christmas. The tables were set with crackers. Governors,helpers,staff and friends joined the children to enjoy a wonderful Christmas dinner prepared by Mrs Eglon and Mrs Harland. We were treated to a feast of turkey, stuffing, little sausages and brussel sprouts. The gravy was very nice and the veggie option was so good that some people had seconds!  The atmosphere was just lovely and the Christmas Pudding and custard was a real treat. Some people got a bit sticky eating their choc ices!

From the smallest to the biggest;from the oldest to the youngest,everyone was looking after each other and having fun and enjoying their food together. This is what makes Sleights so special.

Christingle in Church

The Church was full for this beautiful service. The Sleights School Family were altogether again to think about those less fortunate. Many of the older children lead us in prayer and gave the readings. The choir,led by Mrs Rowland sang for us all. The Year 6 children lit the candles and shared the light.

Well done to everyone who managed not to eat their jelly tots before returning to school!