Poetry Basket: Monkey babies
This week’s poem is called Monkey babies
We’ve been focussing on the words swamp (ground where water collects), lurking (staying in a place quietly, like hiding) and breeze (a soft and gentle wind).
Summer 2: Week 1
This week, we’ve started exploring The Night Pirates by Peter Harris. Using our story map, we’ve enjoyed retelling the story with actions and expression. We’ve heard some fantastic pirate impressions!
The story has inspired lots of learning across our provision. We’ve been building pirate ships in the construction area, creating pirate adventures, collecting treasure at the finger gym table and reading lost tricky word keys.
On Tuesday, we thought about what type of pirate we would be and what we might look like. Check out our amazing pirate pictures.
We’re looking forward to continuing our pirate adventure next week.
Maths
This week, we introduced the children to Rekenreks. We continued to develop our subitising skills by using our “fast eyes” to quickly identify the number of beads shown. Rekenreks help children explore the structure of small numbers and build confidence in recognising quantities without counting.
We learnt that all of the beads should start on the right-hand side. This is known as the ‘ready position’. The children practised using the ‘pause (think), place (one finger), push (the beads)’ method. We always make sure we’re only using one finger when carefully pushing the beads.
Phonics
Now that we’ve reached the final half-term, we’ll be revisiting and consolidating all of our phonics learning in preparation for Year 1. Please keep your red phonics books at home and continue to use them regularly.
Important dates
- Learning Journey drop-ins – Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th June at 3.15pm
- Our class assembly – Wednesday 17th June at 2.40pm
- Class photo day – Thursday 18th June
- School trip – Friday 19th June
- Zoom: Reception to Year 1 information meeting – Monday 22nd June at 6pm
- Sports Day – Tuesday 30th June at 1.30pm
Cities and seasides
Staying safe: Personal hygiene
As part of our safety week, we welcomed visitors from Catering Leeds who came to talk to us about germs and the importance of hand washing. The children were fascinated to see how many germs were on their hands under the special lamp!
Staying safe: Water safety
This morning, we welcomed a visitor from Canal & River Trust. They spoke to us about the importance of water safety. We practised a special song to help us remember to stay away from the water’s edge. We had so much fun!
Staying safe: Sun safety
One of the challenges this week was to create a sun safety poster. We talked about the key things we need to remember to stay safe in the sun.
You must wear a hat to protect your head.
I always put sun cream on.
When it’s hot, you need to drink more water.
I play in the shade when I get too hot.
Help at Home: With the weather looking very sunny next week, talk to your child about how they can stay safe in the sun.
PE – throwing and catching!
In PE lessons this half-term, we’ve been developing our throwing and catching skills. We’ve played games where we throw a ball back and forth with a partner, taking a step back after each pair of successful passes. We’ve also practised accurate throwing by creating towers out of cones which we then try to knock down by throwing the ball at them.
Staying safe: Road safety
Yesterday, we were joined by the Leeds City Council Road Safety team for a special assembly focused on keeping ourselves safe. We learned how to stay safe when walking to and from school, travelling in cars, and crossing roads. We also explored the Green Cross Code (Think, Stop, Look, Listen) and met their travel mascot, Arlo!
After the assembly, one of the team stayed to speak with us in more detail about how to stay safe near roads.
Poetry basket: A little shell
This week’s poem is called A little shell.
We’ve been focussing on the words crept (to move slowly and carefully to avoid been heard or noticed) and upon (more formal term for on).
Summer 1: Week 4
Thank you!
As we come to nearly the end of another busy and successful half-term, I would like to say how incredibly proud I am of all the Reception children. They have shown such enthusiasm, resilience and curiosity in everything they do, and the progress they have made across all areas of the Early Years curriculum has been wonderful to see. The children should be very proud of all they have achieved this half-term.
A huge thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support at home. Your encouragement and involvement make such a positive difference to your child’s learning and development, and it is greatly appreciated.
Literacy
This week in Literacy, we have loved exploring Walking Through the Jungle by Julie Lacome. The catchy, repetitive language has really helped us to build confidence with retelling the story.
We loved joining in with the repeated phrases and actions as we travelled through the jungle to find different animals! The predictable pattern of the story supported us in remembering the sequence of events and retelling the story independently.
Help at home: Use the story map in your child’s bag to practise retelling the story together at home.
In our construction area, we have also enjoyed designing and building jungle habitats for the animals from the story. The children worked creatively to add trees, rivers and hiding places, using their imaginations to bring the jungle to life.
Living and Learning
In Living and Learning, we explored the importance of healthy eating. We looked closely at the different sections of the Eatwell Guide plate and discussed how it helps us make healthy choices.
After a thoughtful class discussion, the children drew pictures of healthy meals, carefully including a range of foods from each food group.
Maths
In maths, the children developed their understanding of numbers to 10 through practical activities and games. Using the rhyme 10 Fat Sausages, they explored different ways to make 10 and learned that numbers can be made up of smaller parts.
The children used their fingers, 10-frames and number patterns to investigate ‘5 and a bit’ numbers to 10, helping them understand that numbers such as 7 can be made from 5 and 2 more.
