Marcham C of E Primary School

"Living and learning with Faith, Community and Hope"

Newsletters

Pandas

Pandas Class Letter - Autumn 2025

Welcome Back!

We hope you have all had an eventful, but restful, half term. We have recharged our batteries and are ready for our exciting term which is titled ‘Let’s celebrate!’ The curriculum web attached will give you an understanding of what learning will be taking place this term.

Our Panda Team

Our lovely Panda team consists of:

Teachers:

Mrs Wagstaff (Monday to Thursday)

Mrs Salter (Fridays)

Student teachers:

Mrs Phillips (Monday to Wednesday)

Miss Baily (Monday to Thursday)

Teaching assistants:

Miss Taylor (Monday to Friday)

Miss Hodge (Thursday and Friday)

Mrs Sandal (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 2-3pm)

P.E.

Physical development is embedded into our curriculum, and we will be developing both gross and fine motor skills every day. On Wednesday afternoons, we have a hall session where the children will be learning simple balancing and ball skills. For this session, they will change into their PE kits, so please ensure your child keeps a named PE kit in school throughout the week, as additional sessions may occur.

While at school, children practice getting dressed and undressed independently to support their motor skills. You could also encourage this at home by letting them practise getting ready for school in the mornings or dressing themselves for bed.

Homework.

Homework will continue to be set every Thursday. This will focus on the two newly taught sounds each week and will include two segmenting activities and two new flashcards. Please continue to review all previously learned sounds in the phonics folder, and you might also encourage your child to spot these sounds in the environment. Remember to return the phonics folder the following Wednesday so we can add the new sheets and flashcards, ready to go out on Thursday.

Reading: Children will begin bringing home reading books this term. Books will be sent home on Thursday and should be returned the following Wednesday.

General

Please ensure that all items of clothing, not just PE kits, are clearly named to avoid mix-ups, as many children have similar items. It can also be helpful to add something small to the front of their book bags, such as a sticker or keyring, so they can easily identify their own bag.

We recommend that children have wellington boots for wet and muddy days. These will be kept at school on the wellington rack. As the weather gets wetter, it would also be useful for children to have waterproof over-trousers, as we often visit our wild patch area and can get quite muddy.

We provide a different piece of fruit each day for snack; however, if your child prefers or is not eating the fruit (we will inform you if this is the case), you are welcome to send in your own. This term, we will also introduce “Toasty Tuesday”, where children will learn to make their own toast in small groups with adult supervision.

Please remember to send your child with a named water bottle (preferably non-spill) each day, as learning through play can be thirsty work. A book bag is also essential, as this is where children keep their work to take home and where we will place reading books and phonics folders.

If you have any queries or concerns, we are available after school most days or you can contact the school office to arrange a suitable meeting time.

Best wishes,

The Panda class team

50 things to do before you're five:

50 Things To Do aims to provide inspiration for parents and carers to connect with children through a range of activities, all designed to have a positive impact on learning and health, please click on the link below:

https://50thingstodo.org/

What to expect in the Early Years:

What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete-FINAL-16.09-compressed.pdf (foundationyears.org.uk)

Pandas Curriculum Web