
We are taking part in the ‘100 Book Challenge’ across the school. The challenge is an ideal way to support and promote reading for pleasure. More information can be found in the information pack below, along with the link to log your reading on-line. How many books can you read?
CLICK HERE TO LOG YOUR READING
https://tinyurl.com/coundonprimary100books
We love reading at Coundon Primary! On this blog page you will find our latest news about upcoming events aimed at raising the profile of reading within our school. We have created this blog to enable us to work as partners with our parents to share in our pupils’ reading development and celebrate their reading achievements.

If you have any exciting news to share about your child’s reading development or simply want to recommend a book title for others to read, please feel free to email your comments or photographs to Mrs Sweet at the email address below.
- Week Beginning 18th November 2024
This week we will begin introducing the children to the Nativity story in preparation for our visit to Ash End Children’s Farm and for their Nativity performance near the end of term. The children will be introduced to the story and will begin to learn some songs. During our trip to the farm the children will have the opportunity to act out the nativity story with a real life donkey so it is important that they have an understanding of the story. Over the next few weeks the children will be practising our nativity and will all have a part to play in the production. Please do not worry about costumes as we provide all of those. All we ask is that if your child brings home some lines to learn that you practise these with them. We will be performing our Nativity on the 12th December at 2.15 and the 13th of December at 9.15. Please keep an eye on the Friday focus for details about tickets.
Thank you to all those parents who did their child’s reading activities with them last week and signed the diary each night. Remember this just needs to be a little note to let us know that your child has done the activities set and how they got on. Your child’s phonics teacher will read these notes and can answer any questions you may have in this diary. We do not need to know about you reading the library book to your child, this is an extra activity for you to enjoy with your child in your own time. Below are some videos to continue learning to blend.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/4cleUOGi/5tG9JYaP
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/A3e8n53O/Axx7AIWV
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Kt5zfEJ6/2XLugvu8
The comparison of quantities is something that children begin to do as babies. The activities this week will focus on developing this innate skill as children are encouraged to look carefully and use the language of comparison to describe sets of objects that they can see. Language is a key focus and adults will model the language of ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. ‘Fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ because the focus is on countable things. Another key focus this week is deepening their understanding of 5 as a quantity by linking the number itself to the 5 fingers on one hand. The children will also begin to explore ways to represent numbers to 5 using both their fingers and the Hungarian number pattern. These key representations will help to underline the ‘fiveness’ of 5 and provide structures that will support later exploration of its composition and its relationships with other numbers.
This Friday some of the children in Key Stage 2 will be setting up a book swap shop on the playground. This shop is open to everyone. No money is needed, just a story book that you have finished with and would like to swap for another one. This is separate to your child’s library book so please do not swap your child’s library book. The children will be opening the book swap shop every Friday after school and will be a lovely way for your child to experience different books without any additional costs to you as parents. If your child does not have a book at home that they can swap then please speak to a member of the team and we will see what we can do about getting your child their first book and then when they are finished with it they can swap it for another one.
We are really looking forward to our upcoming trip to Ash End Children’s farm. We ask that children come to school on the day dressed warmly as they will spend a significant amount of time outside. They do not need to wear their uniform. Please make sure they have a warm waterproof coat, a hat and a pair of gloves all clearly named. Your child should also wear suitable footwear for walking around a farm. They will mostly be on concreted areas so please remember wellington boots can be quite cold so ensure they have warm socks on with them. The children will be asked to bring a packed lunch in a named carrier bag. Please only supply the same amount of food as your child would eat on a normal lunch time as every year we end of having to throw away quite a lot of uneaten food. If you would like your child to have a school packed lunch then please let the office know and this will be provided for them on the day. We will send a letter out nearer the visit to confirm all of these details.
Have a lovely week
The Reception Team
- READING CHAMPION
Our first Reading Champion
A massive congratulations to Billie (6HM) who is our first pupil at Coundon Primary School to complete our ‘100 Books to Read Before Leaving Year 6’ challenge. A reading superstar! Well done! ⭐????
Billie was presented with our ‘100 book challenge’ school trophy during the Head Teacher’s Awards assembly and received a keepsake trophy, certificate and a £10 ‘Love to Shop’ voucher for her fantastic achievement.
Billie’s photograph sits alongside the trophy in our school trophy cabinet to inspire others to follow in her footsteps.
Who will be next?
- Week Beginning 23rd October 2023
This week we will be looking at rhyming words. The children have struggled to recognise words that rhyme. We will be playing a range of rhyming games and activities to develop the children’s understanding of the end of the words having to sound the same. See if your child can carry on a rhyming string i.e. rat, cat, sat, mat . . . . made up words are fine as long as they containing the rhyming sound at the end of the word. Story books are a great place to find rhyming words. Choose a bed time story that rhymes and see if your child can help you find which words rhyme.
This week we will be assessing the children to see if they have retained the sounds learned so far and are able to aurally and orally blend simple cvc words. Continue to practise the sounds sent home every night and combining the sounds to read simple words. Your child could also practise writing the letters and even have a go at writing simple cvc words.
This week we will be continuing to work with the numbers 1,2 and 3. We will be focusing on the language of more and identifying what one more is as well as recognising which group has more. We will finish he week playing a game with 3 beanbags and seeing how many we get into the hoop, identifying who scored more.
The weather has now got significantly colder. Please be reminded that the children spend a large portion of the day outside even when it is raining. It is essential that your child has a warm waterproof coat with a hood in school every day. We encourage children to put their gloves in their coat pocket when they are not wearing them and hats to be put into the sleeve of their coat when they take them off. This allows them to be easily accessible for when your child needs them and doesn’t require them to search through bags or drawers. Please encourage this at home also so that the children are receiving the same message.
We would like to say a big thank you to those parents that have contributed to our weekly 50p collection. The money is helping us to purchase resources to help enhance our provision. We were recently able to buy pumpkins for the children to bash and dissect and a range of vegetable for our Harvest shop which helped the children learn about different types of vegetable. Your support is very much appreciated. If you would rather send in a donation for the year rather than weekly then please send it in with your child in an envelope and we can add it to the collection.
The children break up for the half term holidays on Friday 27th October. Have a lovely half term break and enjoy any Halloween celebrations you may be having.
The Reception Team
- Week Beginning 16th October 2023
This week we will be continuing on with our Autumn topic with a focus on hibernation. We will be looking at both fiction and non-fiction texts and will be finding out about different animals that hibernate and what they do. The children have been very excited this week at our resident squirrels who have been coming in to the Reception outdoor area and stealing our conkers and acorns. If out and about at the weekend talk to your children about Autumn and what they know. Ask them about hibernating animals and maybe you could make a den for your garden to encourage any wildlife that may need a home for the winter.
In phonics this week the children will be learning the sounds b, f, e, l, h. They will be learning how to say the sound correctly and will be learning how to form the letter. They will also start to read the sounds in simple words. On Friday your child should have brought home their next set of sounds. Remember to practise these each day and help your child to start to blend the sounds together to read simple words. Below are some videos that you could watch with your child and they will show you how to blend the sounds together.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/5gQsA07O/jLfNiDQT
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/1ycf5BAw/nAcROMVj
This week in Maths we will be looking at the numbers 1, 2 and 3. We will be delving deep into the number so that the children can subitise (recognise amounts without the need to count). We will be looking at how the numbers are made up which will prepare the children for the work that comes later on number bonds and fully understanding number. When at home with your child, get them to look for items in groups of 1, 2 or 3. Use the language ‘what can you see?’ and ‘how do you see it?’ See if they can identify groups of 1, 2 or 3 in their every day life.
We are currently talking to the children about kindness and respect. A number of children are not showing kindness towards others or respect for the resources, the environment or each other. Please take the time to talk to your child about being kind and about how they should look after the equipment both in school and at home. Our budget is extremely tight and we will not be able to replace toys and equipment if they are not looked after. Our Rules in Reception are:
- To use kind hands, feet and words.
- Always listen to the grown ups.
- Look after the equipment
- Walk inside.
A large number of children are still struggling to put on and take off their own jumpers and coats. If your child still struggles please work with them to dress and undress themselves so that they are not always relying on an adult to help. We also have a lot of jumpers and cardigans without names. It is very important that all clothing is named so that we can return them when children leave them around the setting.
We are looking forward to meeting you all at Parents evening this week. Your child should have come home with a slip confirming your appointment time.
Have a lovely week,
The Reception Team
- January 2023
Up coming events 2023
Taking place from 30 January to 5 February 2023 December 2022
Congratulations to the following pupils who were awarded certificates at the end of the autumn term, for reaching the next milestone on their 100 book challenge:
Pavan S: Bronze Certificate
Billie F: Bronze Certificate
Amelia Lusk: Silver Certificate
Ben Lusk: Silver Certificate
- Welcome to a new reading year! 2022-2023
It has been wonderful to see so many children take up our very own, Whole School, Reading Challenge: ‘100 Books to Read Before Leaving Year 6’.
At the end of the Summer Term, the following children received their Bronze Certificate for reading 10 books: Lewis Scott, Sophie Scott, Ben Lusk, Amelia Lusk, Miles Court, Arlo Grant, Finley Grant, Grace Pegley and Elodie Grisdale.
The following children also received their Silver Certificate for reading 25 books: Arlo Grant and Finley Grant.
In addition, a £10 book token was awarded to the children in each key phase who had read the most books by the end of the summer term:
Ria Kaur Dosanjh, Arlo Grant, Grace Pegley, Finley Grant, Amelia Lusk, Billie Farrell, Sophie Scott, and Safeenah Jamil.
Well done all! We can’t wait to see how many books you will have all read by the end of this term! ?
If you would like to join in with the ‘100 Books to Read Before Leaving Year 6’ Whole School Reading Challenge, then please then click on the information at the top of the blog for more information or speak to your class teacher.
- COMPETITION WINNERS!!
Well done to our World Book Day ‘Whose Who?’ competition winners who each received a £10 gift book voucher Take a look at the World Book Day ‘Whose Who?’ answer sheet below to see how many characters you guessed correctly.
- AFTER SCHOOL LIBRARY SESSIONS March 14.3.22
This week has seen the launch of our after-school library sessions for pupils whose year group do not already have an allocated lunchtime library session. It has been wonderful to see the children come into the school, choose a book to borrow and it take home to read. Our library is open after school 3:30p.m. – 4:00p.m. Please collect your child as normal from their classroom door and walk around to the front entrance of the school to gain entry into the library. The allocated sessions are:
Mondays – Reception Groups
Tuesdays- Year One
Thursdays – Year Two
Fridays – Year Three
If you are unsure which day your year group’s lunchtime session is on, then take a look at the library class timetable below.
- WORLD BOOK DAY 3.3.22
Take part in our newest event: The Who’s Who? Quiz, for a chance to win a £10 book gift voucher. Your child will have been sent home with the recording sheet today. All you need to do is look at the World Book Day Staff Photo sheet attached, look at each numbered photograph, identify the staff member and the character that they are and hand your completed sheets back to your teacher with £1 to enter on Monday 7th March. Unfortunately, any entries after Tuesday 8th March will not be counted.
- WORLD BOOK DAY THURSDAY 3rd MARCH 2022
Just a reminder that we will celebrating World Book Day in school on Thursday 3rd March.
For a donation of £1, children can come into school dressed as a well-known children’s story book character. There will also be a ‘free to enter’ poster competition to promote children’s favourite book titles. Posters will be displayed in our school library and there will be a small prize for the winning entries. There will also be a family ‘guess the staff and story character’ competition. This will be a photo competition where you will need to identify the members of staff and the story character that they are dressed up as. This competition will be sent home after World Book Day and will cost £1 to enter. The first correct winning entry pulled out of the hat for each key stage will win a £10 book voucher.