Our Learning this week
Week ending 28/02/2020
We have had a great start to Term 4! This week we have learnt all about the number 18. We have also read 'The Smartest Giant in Town' by Julia Donaldson and have written some thank you letters from the animals he helped. In Phonics, we have revisited the sounds /oi/ & /ai/ and have learnt the sight words 'all', 'call', 'little' and 'one'.
Next week we will be:
- Learning the story of Jack and the Beanstalk through Talk for Writing.
- Writing some speech bubbles for the characters in the story.
- Introduced to the concept of subtraction in Maths.
- Exploring our World Book Day text: Abigail by Catherine Rayner.
Week ending 13/2/2020
We have been enjoying our last week of Term 3! We have learnt the sight words, 'like', 'do' and 'have' in Phonics. In Maths we learnt about the number 17 and also practised knowing one more and one less than numbers to 20. We have also been enjoying drawing portraits of our friends using oil pastels. Some of us have read the book 'Elmer on Stilts' and have been enjoying doing Elmer collages as well as making our own Elmers on stilts!
Next term we will be:
- Continuing to learn about the process addition as well as being introduced to subtraction.
- Continuing to learn new sight words and consolidate our Step 2 and 3 phonemes.
- Reading the book 'The Smartest Giant in Town' by Julia Donaldson and doing some writing based on this text.
Enjoy your half term!
Week ending 7/2/20
This week we have been enjoying the story Zog, we read the story and discussed how Zog was a 'Stickatops', keeping on trying to achieve new learning to earn a golden star! We also described the dragons in our writing books. We have been continuing to explore the operation of addition by counting on and some of us have enjoyed consolidating this in our independent learning time.
Next week we will be:
- Learning the sight words 'like', 'do' and 'have' in Phonics.
- Consolidating counting, one more and one less and exploring the number seventeen in Maths.
- Talking about how to be safe when using the internet and discussing what we like to do on the internet on Safer Internet Day (Tuesday 11th).
Week ending 31/02/20
This week we have enjoyed reflecting on our trip to the Library. We read The Cave again in class and retold the story in our writing books. For maths we explored the operation of addition by combining two groups.
Some of us have been learning about Chinese New Year. We also enjoyed learning about The Snail and the Whale and how so many characters in the book were a 'Solveadactyl' and solved big problems despite their size!
Next week we will:
- Be reading Zog and describing some of the dragons in the story.
- In Phonics we will be learning the sounds /air/ ure/ er and sight words 'are' and 'was'.
- In maths we will continue our work on addition and be looking at the strategy of 'counting on'.
Week ending 17/01/20
This week we have enjoyed some 'Story Squares' sessions. We picked the characters to be in our class story, chose what happened to them and then acted it out in the 'Story Square'. We all had a go at coming up with our own ending and some of us had a go at Story Scribing, where we told our own story to an adult who scribed for us and then we could perform it to the class. We enjoyed reading lots of published stories as always which are definitely starting to inspire our own storytelling. In maths, we have been focusing on ordering numbers and finding the missing numbers.
Next week we will:
- Learn some new sight words: me, be, she, he, we
- Think about one more and one less in Maths.
- Enjoy a trip to the library
Week ending 10/01/20
We have had a great first week back to school! We have been reestablishing school routines and enjoying our learning. We wrote about what we did over the Christmas holidays and have recapped some Step 3 sounds in Phonics. In Maths we have been learning to identify how many objects are in set without needing to count (subitising, e.g. on a dice) and then counting to check.
Next week we will be:
- Ordering numbers to 20 and identifying missing numbers.
- Learning the following sounds and sight words in Phonics: /oa/ /ar/ /or/ /ur/ they & her.
- Story Squares: verbally constructing our own stories and acting them out as a class then writing different endings with adult support.
- receiving a special visit from Noah's Ark Zoo Farm. They will hold an interactive assembly which will involve meeting some animals.
Week ending 20/12/19
This week we have been busy learning about repeating patterns. We have been completing them, correcting mistakes and creating our own. We made Christmas cards using repeating patterns and then wrote inside them. In phonics we learned the sounds /ai/ /ee/ /igh/ /oa/ and the sight word 'you'.
In our first week back we will be learning:
- To subitise numbers (using a 10 frame).
- To write our 'holiday news'.
- To recap all Step 3 sounds and sight words learned so far.
Week ending 13/12/19
This week we have enjoyed learning about the life of John Wesley. We did a piece of artwork about him and enjoyed walking around the school looking at the John Wesley artwork made by the other year groups. We have learnt the Phonics sounds /ch/ /sh/ /th/ /ng/ and the sight word 'my'. In Maths, we have learnt ordinal numbers and enjoyed using these on rosettes in our independent learning time.
Next week we will be:
- Learning /ai/ /ee/ /igh/ /oa/ and the sight word 'you' in Phonics.
- Making Christmas cards using repeating patterns.
- Writing inside our Christmas cards.
Week ending 06/12/19
This week we performed our Nativity to the wider school and then to parents. We hope you enjoyed the show. Our teachers are very proud of the hard work we put in to performing an excellent show but also the way we’ve really embraced the story of the first Christmas in our Independent Learning Time.
In maths we worked hard on our individual maths targets for number recognition and counting. In Phonics we revisited all of the Set 2 sounds.
Next week we will:
- Begin to learn the Set 3 sounds in Phonics.
- Learn about the concept of ordinal numbers in a range of contexts (including advent).
- Take part in the whole school John Wesley Day.
Week ending 29/11/19
This week we have put lots of time and effort into practising our Nativity, we can't wait to perform it for you next week! We have learnt the story of the First Christmas and why it is important to Christians. In Phonics, we have learnt /z/, /zz/ and /qu/. We now know all of our Step 2 sounds!
Next week we will be:
- Continuing to practise our Nativity ready for our performances later in the week.
- Practising counting and number recognition in Maths.
- Revising all of our learnt sounds alongside blending and segmenting in Phonics.
Week ending 22/11/19
This week we have been enjoying our learning linked to our story 'Aliens Love Underpants'. We designed our own alien and wrote about it in our writing books. We loved looking at our school on Google Earth and zooming out until we were in space! We have also learnt the 3D shapes: sphere, cone, cylinder and cube and have learnt the following new sounds and sight word in Phonics: /v/, /w/, /x/, /y/, 'so'
Next week we will be:
- Practising our Nativity!
- Learning the Christmas Story and why it is important to Christians.
- Learning /z/, /zz/ and /qu/ in Phonics.
Week ending 15/11/19
This week we have been enjoying our story 'Whatever next'. We have created rockets by drawing around 2D shapes, gone to explore the moon in our role play, written about what we would take on a trip to the moon and learnt the following sounds and sight word in phonics: /l/, /ll/, /ss/, /j/, 'no'. We have also been enjoying using our imaginations in our new deconstructed role play areas.
Next week we will be:
- Continuing to explore a space theme reading the story 'Aliens love underpants'
- Learning basic 3D shapes in Maths.
- Designing aliens and using our sounds to write about them.
- Learning the following sounds and sight word in phonics: /v/, /w/, /x/, /y/, 'so'
Week Ending 8/11/19
We have had a great start to Term 2! This week we have been talking about what we have been doing over the half term break and settling back into our school routines.
In Literacy we have done some super writing about all of the exciting things we have been up to over our week off school. In Phonics we have learnt /h/, /b/, /f/, /ff/ and the sight word 'go' as well as practising our blending and segmenting. In Maths we have enjoyed learning the values of coins and using them in our play.
Next week we will be:
- Reading the book 'Whatever Next' and doing some writing based on this.
- Learning the following sounds and sight word: /l/, /ll/, /ss/, /j/, 'no'
- Learning 2D shapes in Maths.
Week Ending 25/10/19
This week we have been developing our work on the story 'Rosie's Walk'. We used 'Talk for Writing' to learn the story off by heart. Ask us what the actions were and see if we can remember it.
In Phonics, we have revised all the sounds learnt so far. We enjoyed a sound hunt and continued to practise reading and writing 3 letter words using our segmenting and blending skills.
In Maths we have revised all the concepts we've learnt this term including careful counting, positional language, height and number recognition.
During our first week back we will be:
- Learning about the number 6 and exploring money.
- Learning the phonemes /h/, /b/, /f/ and the digraph /ff/.
Have a great half term holiday. Please do share with us what you have enjoyed and achieved during the week by adding some photos to Tapestry. We'd love to see what you've been up to. Term starts again on Monday 4th November.
Week Ending 18/10/19
This week we have been getting to know the story 'Rosie's Walk'. Some of us made a Rosie the Hen collage, whilst others explored the Beebots and attempted to navigate them around the obstacles that Rosie came across in the book.
In Phonics, we have learnt the sounds /ck/e/r/ and /u/ and the HFW 'and'. We have continued to practise reading and writing all of the sounds.
In Maths we have been following on from our story to use positional language (next to, around, beside, in front of, under, over, behind, through).
Next week we will be:
- Learning about the number 5 and revising all of the concepts we have explored this term (counting forwards and backwards, measuring height, using positional language).
- Revising all of the sounds, sight words and HFWs that we have learned so far.
- Using 'Talk for Writing' to learn the story 'Rosie's Walk' from memory.
Week Ending 11/10/19
This week we have been learning about Harvest, we have enjoyed singing harvest songs and reading harvest themed stories. We also had a visit from the school Guinea Pigs which was very exciting!
In Phonics, we have learnt the sounds /g/o/c/ and /k/ and the sight word 'the'. We have continued to practise reading and writing these sounds.
In Maths we have been looking at the size of pumpkins, ordering them based on their height and using the language 'taller', 'shorter', 'tallest', 'shortest'.
Next week we will be:
- Learning about the number 4 and using positional language such as next to/on/in/behind.
- Learning the following sounds: /ck/, /e/, /r/, /u/ and the sight word 'and'
- Exploring the story 'Rosie's Walk' and doing some writing based on this.
Week Ending 04.10.19
This week the children have especially enjoyed playing outside with the big blocks, building ships and castles for their imaginative play.
In Phonics, we have continued learning step 2. The children now know /s/, /a/, /t/, /p/, /i/, /n/, /m/, /d/ and have been continuing to practise blending with these sounds. They have also learnt the sight word 'I'.
In Literacy, the children have completed their first piece of writing in their writing books. They wrote their own recipes for pumpkin soup, we were very impressed with their enthusiasm!
In Maths, our focus has been the number 3 and we have also learnt how to use a ten frame.
Next week we will be:
- Learning the following new sounds in phonics /g/, /o/, /c/, /k/
- Looking at the number 3 and learning to compare and describe height
- Continuing to explore the story pumpkin soup.
- Continuing to practise writing our first names.
Week ending 27/9/19
This week we have continuing explore new areas within our environment, and in particular have enjoyed the mud kitchen. We are extremely proud of all the children and how they continue to make good choices in both their learning and behaviour.
In phonics, we have started Step 2 and have learnt the sounds: /s/, /a/, /t/ and /p/ and the Jolly phonics songs for these sounds (you can find these on youtube if you would like to use them at home). We are learning to hear when words start with this sound and also starting to practise writing these letters. We also learnt to read the sight word 'to'.
In maths, we've looked at the story of the number 1 as well as practising a lot of careful counting.
Next week we will be:
- Learning some new sounds in phonics: /i/, /n/, /m/ and /d/
- Looking at the number 2, counting forwards and backwards and matching numerals 1-10 to quantities in maths.
- Exploring the story 'Pumpkin soup' and enjoying activities related to it.
- Practising writing our first name, focussing on making sure we start all letters in the right place and form them correctly.
Week Ending 20/09/19
What a busy week we have had settling into full time school life. At lunchtimes we have been busy exploring different playground zones with the help of our teachers and Year 5 playground buddies. In our Reception area we have discovered the mud kitchen and have been using the 'big blocks' to enhance our learning.
In phonics this week we practised auditory discrimination and rhyming. We have been using our mark making skills to take messages at the 'messaging centre'.
In Maths we have been practising counting objects and orally counting forwards and backwards from and to 20.
Next week
In Phonics we will be learning the sounds /s/a/t/p and the sight word 'to'.
In Maths we will be learning to count sets of objects and how to use a ten frame.
Week Ending 13/09/19
The children have settled really well into our Reception classes! We have been enjoying learning new school routines and exploring all of the resources in our classrooms. We will continue to explore the wider school next week and become more settled as we stay in school whole days.
Week Beginning 06/09/19
The children in both Bay and Mint class have had a fabulous start to their school life this week. They are quickly picking up class routines and have been making new friendships and relationships with the staff in Reception.
Please be sure to read our Term 1 Reception Newsletter so that you can help your child to settle quickly in the morning with their 'morning jobs'. The children now have their very own Share Books. Please read through and sign the purple pages. We will check these daily and ask you to do the same.
If you notice some areas of our classroom environment are still covered up, this is because we are introducing each area at a time to ensure your children know what is on offer and how they might like to use the resources.
Next Week:
The children will work together to make a class promise as well as staying for school lunches for the first time.
English - We will be recapping some of the Step 1 phonic skills that your children will have been exposed to at home and during their previous setting. This includes rhyming games and auditory discrimination.
Maths - We will begin to sing counting songs and practise our orally counting.