This week in Reception
We had a busy week last week and really enjoyed seeing all of the children’s costumes on World Book Day.
Phonics
We have learnt all the phonemes we need this year and during the next few weeks, we will be practising reading longer words and gaining fluency.
Reading
The children are doing really well with their reading and becoming more fluent and confident. Remember, they will have read their reading practise book four times before it is assigned as an e-book. We are aiming for fluency and your child should not need to blend the words.
I hope you will be impressed with how fluent they are becoming.
Any problems with accessing the e-books, please let me know.
Maths
This week we will continue to look at comparison and using the language of ‘more than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ to describe the relationships between numbers.
‘Less than’ is used instead of ‘fewer than’ when the focus is on each number’s position in the counting sequence.
Considering equal quantities and equal distribution will prepare the children for the meaning of the equals (=) symbol.
Welcome to Spring 2
We hope you had a great half-term. Let’s hope for a more settled half-term and better weather!
During the next few weeks our theme will be ‘Let’s Go!’. This theme will include the following mini-topics.
Great outdoors
As the weather becomes warmer, children will begin to notice the first signs of spring. Your child will observe the changes in the environment and will observe the bulbs that we planted grow earlier.
This theme is Geography-led. Your child will look at a contrasting locality within the UK. They’ll compare life in a city to life in the countryside by looking at books, photographs and drawing on the children’s own experiences.
On the move
Following on from the Great Outdoors theme, we’ll extend our geographical comparisons to a different part of the world. Your child will look at life in that country and compare it to their own life here in the UK.
The outdoor area will be used to promote your child’s scientific understanding. Your child will plant seeds and care for beans, peas, carrots and potatoes. They will watch them grow and will learn what conditions are needed for plants to grow.
New life
As a scientist, your child will continue to develop their understanding of growth through our incubation project this term. They’ll watch eggs incubate, chicks hatch and develop. They’ll care for the chicks by making sure that they have food and water. From this experience, they will gain early scientific knowledge relating to life cycles.
Easter
Easter is another festival that your child will learn about. We’ll talk about how some families celebrate Easter. Your child will take part in various traditions such as egg decoration, egg rolling and hot cross buns. We’ll share the Easter story. We’ll link Easter to our previous theme of New Life by discussing animals they may see out and about – sheep and their lambs, for example.
Phonics
We will be practising all the phonemes learnt so far and using these to read and write captions and simple sentences.
Literacy
We will read and retell the following texts.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Maths
The children will continue to develop a deep understanding of numbers to 10, (including the composition of each number).
They will practise their ability to subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5 and verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system.
Through day to day practical activities they will compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity.
As always, please ask if you have any questions and let us know about your child’s ‘wow moments’ at home.
Learning how to stay safe
A great week of learning all about staying safe.
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.
