Reception Class News

Staying Safe

It’s great to be back! I had a lovely week with the children last week -I had really missed them!

This week is a themed week, ‘Staying Safe’. The children will be learning all about how we can stay safe in our home, near water, on the roads and around dogs. We have lots of visitors coming in to school and I am sure it will be a very exciting week.

Phonics

We are continuing to learn digraphs (two letters that make one sound). This week our new digraphs are oo, ar and or.

Reading

The children read their phonics book at least three times in the week with an adult. This book will be sent as an e-book at the end of the week. If you are having problems accessing your child’s book, please let me know. Most of the children are telling me they enjoy reading these at home.

Maths

This week we are learning to compare sets of objects and use the language more, fewer and equal. We are continuing to investigate numbers to 6.

We have a trainee teacher, Miss Brownbridge, with us this term. She will be teaching some activities and sessions.

A request

We really need some junk modelling materials for our technology area. These could include boxes, cereal packets, egg boxes and plastic containers.

Welcome back!

It was great to see Mrs Burke back at school today; I know she’s been missed by children, parents and staff.

Thanks to everyone who joined our early reading workshop this evening. As always, if you have any further questions about phonics, e-books or any other issues, please ask one of us at school.

Some more great learning in Reception last week. There was some fabulous den building and exploring – children going on lots of adventures discovering all sorts of things.

There was also some awesome jumping in PE and phonics learning, along with some building and investigating the dark.

I wonder what we’ll discover this week!

Can penguins fly?

In Friday’s assembly, I was reliably informed that penguins can’t fly but that they are very good swimmers. Just an example of the learning that has been happening in Reception.

They haven’t just been learning about penguins; one of the new phonemes in phonics was ‘ng’ and there has been lots of investigating about the number 5.

We hope that your child is enjoying the e-books – they’re showing excellent reading skills in school and they can show you at home that they are ‘readers’. Lots of practice in school means that they will be familiar with the e-books that they can see at home. Happy reading!

Let’s get reading!

Another busy week in Reception and despite the disruption of Covid cases, the children have been amazing.

Thank you for your patience with regards to the e-books that we are using as part of our reading practice. As Mrs Burke has been unwell, there has been a slight delay but you’ll be pleased to know that each child has been allocated three e-books. This means they can read with you at home and show you that they are ‘readers’.

Normally, they’ll only get one allocated but we’ve made more available to keep you going and then hopefully, Mrs Burke will be back and we’ll get into more of a routine. In the meantime, enjoy the e-books and sharing them with your child.

If you have any issues in logging on, please ask a member of staff and we’ll try and sort it out for you.

As always, thank you for your support and patience.

Free White Rose Rugby event for all pupils

What’s been happening this week?

We’re very proud of Reception this week; there have been a lot of staff changes (because of illness and other things) and the children in Reception have been amazing!

There’s been so much learning going on that it is hard to know where to start! They have shown that they’re ready to learn and they’ve shown that they are able to take responsibility for their own learning – brilliant.

Some great PE has been happening this week – here are some photos from a movement lesson:

In Maths, they’ve been finding out all about the number ‘7’ including finding different ways of making 7 and counting 7 objects – they’re now experts so make sure you test their knowledge!

Just a reminder that there is a bit of a change with the books that are coming home. Children will bring a book home to share with you; this isn’t a phonics book but a book that you can just enjoy with your child. They have read their phonics book in school, several times this week, and this can be accessed as an e-book with the details that have already been sent home. This is a very new system for all of us so if there are any issues, please be patient.

A great week for Reception – well done everyone. Have a great weekend.

This week in Reception

We will continue with our mini-topic, ‘Frozen Planet’.

Phonics

This week the new phonemes are sh, th, ng and nk.

Reading

There are a few changes to how we will practise reading and sending phonic reading books home.

To practise reading in Reception, the same practice book that’s been read in school will then be available to read at home as an e-book. Because we’ve read it at least three times in school, your child should be able to read the text independently. If they’re reading it with very little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.

• Listen to them read the e-book.
• If they can’t read a word, read it to them.
• After they have finished, talk about the book together.
• Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success!

Your child should have received their e-book login details. You will be able to access the e-book this week. We will inform you which day by writing in your child’s reading record.

If you have trouble accessing e-books at home, please let us know.

To develop a love of reading, your child will continue to bring home a separate book. To encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it’s important that they learn to read for pleasure. This sharing book is a book they have chosen for you to enjoy together.

• Don’t expect your child to read this alone – read it to them or with them.
• In a fiction book, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters.
• In a non-fiction book, explore the facts.
• Discuss the book’s cover and the title, and discuss the pictures or diagrams.
• With this sharing book, the main thing is that you have fun!

Any questions, please ask!

Stay and Learn Sessions

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel the sessions on 20/01/22 and 07/02/22.

PE

This half-term, PE will be on Wednesday and Thursday. Please send your child in their PE kit on these days.

City of Leeds Basketball

Happy New Year!

Welcome back! We hope you had a great holiday.

This term in Reception, our themes will be ‘Fire and Ice’, ‘Superheroes’ and  ‘Chinese New Year’.

Frozen planet
Our return to school often coincides with frosty weather. We use this as a stimulus for learning. As a scientist, your child will investigate ice: making it and melting it. They will use their senses to describe how the weather has changed and the effects on their environment. Linking to Geography, your child will find out which are the coldest regions on Earth, using globes or maps of the world. They’ll learn about animals which live in these places and what it’s like to live there.

Superheroes
This theme is all about different superheroes! At first, your child will use their imagination to create their own fictional superhero stories using small world resources to develop their ideas. Your child will then learn that superheroes are in their lives every day.  Developing their drama skills, they’ll take on the role of doctors, paramedics and police during role-play times. Your child will also consider what makes them special, learning how important and individual we all are.

Chinese New Year
This theme takes place during the week that Chinese New Year occurs each year. As a geographer, your child will find China on a globe or world map. They will find out about the story relating to Chinese New Year, learning about customs and traditions. They will watch dragon dances and create their own versions of these with their friends.

Phonics

We will continue to learn digraphs(two letters that make one sound) in phonics. This week the new phonemes are sh and ch.  The children will be learning how to blend plurals eg cats, naps, hits.

Literacy

The children will be encouraged to continue to use their phonic knowledge to write labels and captions for their drawings. They will begin to write sentences.

These are the main books we will be reading and retelling this half term.

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson

Supertato by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra

Maths

The children will be encouraged to continue representing quantities in different ways, including by showing amounts on 1 hand ‘all at once’. There will also be a new focus on the symbolic representation of number and the children will work on their recognition of numerals to 5, matching numerals to correct quantities in various games.
They will play games which involve counting on and use  number tracks (with numbers placed in equal spaces in ascending order) to play dice-based games. Playing games with dice will consolidate the children’s understanding of the stable order of numbers.

Why not play some board games at home?

This week in Reception

The last two weeks of the term are always really busy. As we head towards Christmas we will begin our mini-topic of Christmas by decorating our home corner.

Phonics

This week we will learn the phonemes z, qu and ch.  The children will be taught the term ‘digraph’- two letters making one sound.

We are really impressed with how well the children are doing with their phonics learning. Please keep practising the phonemes and listening to your child read at home.

Literacy

The class have been enjoying listening to Julia Donaldson stories and talking about their favourites.

Christmas events

Guess how many ‘reindeer poos’ are in the jar.

The children have seen the jar and have made some guesses about how many ‘reindeer poos’ they think there are. You can enter the competition on the app.