I would firstly like to thank you all for your support in attending the Christmas performance on Wednesday. The children have worked so hard, understanding the story, learning lines, singing their hearts out and putting on a fabulous performance. I’m sure you’d all agree they were fabulous!!!
This week we have also had Christmas jumper day and Christmas dinner. It was delicious! Yummy!
In Literacy we are enjoying our new book ‘We are going on an Elf chase’. The children have been impressing me with recalling features of a front cover. They then created a story map for the chase and also wrote some CVC words independently using their sound knowledge.
In maths, we are continuing to explore numbers to 5, practising recall of number bonds to 5, more/less than numbers and subitising. We have also been exploring shortest/longest/taller/shorter. We have been comparing different lengths of items found around the classroom and ordering these.
We have also really enjoyed our hot chocolate starting during our continuous provision this week. Making hot chocolate and working on strengthening our finger dexterity.
Wow what an incredibly busy week we have had.
We were very Lucy to be joined in school by Poet,
In Literacy, we have been very busy continuing our work on Lost and found, looking at character descriptions and words to describe appearances and feelings for the two characters in the book.
In Maths, we have been looking at part, part, whole models - please ask your child all about these and if they can use it. They will use these throughout Numbots and throughout school.
We have been busy with singing, making music and performing this week.
In art, we have started looking at using our small and large movements to draw observational drawings. The children loved trying to draw parts of Tulips and some managed to draw the vase full of tulips. To achieve this, we looked carefully, closely and looked for detail.
In continuous provision, the children have LOVED making snow villages and creating stories with their peers. Excellent teamwork and communication.
We are now well on our way with practising our Christmas songs which has actually turned into more of a Nativity :)
The children have blown me away with how quickly they are picking up new songs and actions. The lines they are saying are stuck in their reading records to practise at home.
This week, we have continued our English work on the story book ‘Lost and Found’. We have been looking at the characters in the story and how their emotions change throughout. We learnt how to do emotion freeze frames to show how the characters felt.
In maths, we have been forming numbers to 5 and also beginning to write addition and subtraction facts within 5. We work on 5 for a period of time as these are numbers the children are confident with whilst we introduce new concepts.
In music this week, the children enjoyed learning Kwanzaa music in our celebration topic.
Thank you for sending in waterproof clothing and wellies. We now have the majority of children in which means we can get into these next week to explore our wildlife area.
We have had another brilliant week in Reception.
To start the week, we learned all about Remembrance Day. We observed a two-minute silence at 11am, and the children were very respectful during this time.
We have enjoyed drawing, painting, and making our own poppies during continuous provision.
We then had a fantastic Number Day on Tuesday. We particularly enjoyed cleaning up the Numicon and sorting them according to their amounts. Some fabulous subitising skills were on display.
We finished the week with a brilliant day for Children in Need. The children worked on their fine motor skills throughout the day, making Pudsey masks, completing dot-to-dots, and adding spots to Pudsey's face.
On top of all our busy days, we have explored our new literacy book for the next couple of weeks, Lost and Found. The children have worked on their prediction skills by looking at the front cover and making a "good guess" about what the story might be about. We are also working on our vocabulary skills, including terms such as front cover, title, author, illustrator, and illustrations. When you share books with your child at home, it would be a great skill for them to try and point out any of these features or to predict what might happen in the story.
In maths, we have been working on finding one more and one less. The children have found this concept particularly difficult. If you could try playing some games related to this at home, that would be great.
We have also started preparing for our Christmas Songs Event, which will take place on Wednesday 11th December at 9.15am.
Week 9 in Reception
We have had a fantastic first week in Reception.
Our learning has been all about bonfire day and the story of 'The Gunpowder Plot'. The children could recall some important parts of the story and they were all very pleased that they caught Guy Fawkes and his team before they killed the king.
We have also celebrated Diwali in Reception. We have looked at the celebration of Diwali and how Hindus celebrate this festival of light.
In expressive arts and design we have been mark making with wax crayons and exploring patterns, as well as exploring the effects of water on chalks and paints. We made fantastic firework pictures.
In maths we have been ordering numbers to 5. we have been matching numerals to objects including on a five frame to make the correct amount.
In PE, we have started our Jumping unit of work. Looking at the correct technique to jumping effectively.
We have a visit to the Library every week. This week we were lucky enough to take our Nursery children and read some books to them. We set a brilliant example of how to behave in the Library and how we care for our books.
Great first week back Reception!
Week 8 in Reception
Wow, what an incredibly busy half-term we’ve had! I’m so proud of how the children have settled into their new environment and adapted to their routines. In phonics, we’ve been reviewing some tricky sounds and practicing blending them to create CVC words.
In Literacy, we have completed our unit on The Little Red Hen. To wrap up the term, we focused on basic sentence writing. If you’re practicing at home, please remind your child to use capital letters, finger spaces, and full stops.
In computing, we have been learning valuable skills on the iPad, including how to navigate coding characters. We also had a fantastic time creating our Halloween pictures.
In addition, we’ve engaged in some spooky continuous provision activities, such as making play dough cookies, mixing colors for potions, and developing our fine motor skills by transferring spaghetti to the skeleton and witches’ stew in the sand.
I am wonderfully amazed with how well the children behaved and joined in during the two Harvest Festivals. Fantastic singing and signing.
I hope you all have a wonderful week off and get rested for an even busy run up to Christmas
This week, we kicked off our Halloween activities with lots of fun and excitement! The biggest hit with the children has been our Witches' Potion Station, where they’ve enjoyed mixing colourful potions in test tubes. The children also loved ‘freeing’ the spiders from the witches’ sticky web—this activity was a great way to strengthen their fine motor skills as they worked on improving their finger dexterity.
In Literacy, we’ve continued exploring The Little Red Hen. This week, the children practiced writing the names of the characters, focusing on sounding out words and forming letters correctly. They’ve also been learning about the bread-making process, from sowing the seeds to harvesting the wheat, taking it to the mill, sifting the grains, and finally turning the wheat into flour. They did a fantastic job of sequencing these steps!
In Maths, we focused on ordering numbers 1–5. The children worked with a variety of hands-on materials such as Numicon, cubes, and five frames to practice ordering and arranging numbers in different ways.
For our brain breaks this week, we’ve been working on teamwork skills. The children have started learning about relay races and following rules to complete fun, cooperative races. While the weather wasn’t too kind at the start of the week, we made the most of it by practising some yoga moves as we “took a trip to the farm,” which was a nice calming activity.
Thankfully, we had some sunshine later in the week, which allowed us to get outside and have fun. The children especially enjoyed creating conker courses, and I was so impressed by their teamwork and collaboration as they worked together to design these fun challenges.
What a fabulous week, Reception!
Just a quick reminder that our Harvest Festival is taking place next Thursday and Friday. Please check the newsletter for more details. We also have the walking bus happening all week. If your child would like to join, please meet us at the Plough car park by 8:15 am.
Week 6 in Reception
Well Reception, haven’t we been busy this week!!
This week we have had a big focus on our school value ‘teamwork’. We have been working in groups to achieve specific outcomes. We have also put this skill to good use in our finger fidget activities.
We have began learning about our new story book ‘The Little Red Hen’. I am so pleased with how the children are listening during input sessions and what they are retaining and using during continuous provision time.
The children have acted out the story and made their own character masks to help with this. They have also sequence the story thinking carefully about how the story started, what happens in the middle and how it ends.
In maths we have been looking at the number 5! The children have been singing their song to help them. This is a tricky number to form so if you could practise at home, that would be excellent.
We have also been learning about a 1p coin and that when we go to the shops we have to buys different things for different amounts of money.
We had our own shop in Reception this week, and the children were shop workers, customers and shop managers. This got them thinking about how much things are and how many pennies make that amount.
In PSHE we have continued to learn about feelings and what these look like.
In PE, we have been learning all about movements and how to move effectively. We have played games and worked in teams.
We have continued learning about Autumn, children have painted using leaves, made habitat homes out of leaves and grass they have collected.
We are also doing brilliantly in the WOW walk to school challenge and are currently first out of all our classes. It was great to see so many odd pairs of shoes being worn on Thursday!
Well done Reception on yet another fantastic week!
Week 5 in Reception
What a brilliant week, Reception!
This week, we have been learning all about the number 4. We have practised forming the number 4 correctly and explored different ways to represent it.
In phonics, we have focused on the sounds e, l, h, r, and j as part of our RWI programme. I hope you’ve all found your sound cards in your reading book wallets. Please continue practising the sounds and blending them to make CVC words, such as c-a-t (cat).
We finished reading our book, Once There Were Giants, where we compared the needs of people at different ages, from babies to adults. We really enjoyed playing Guess the Baby (thank you for sending in the pictures!).
We also went outside on an Autumn senses walk to create our Autumn cards.
We are continuing to work in various ways on our fine motor skills, including tracing straight and curved patterns.
What a fantastic first month we’ve had in Reception! The children have settled into their new classroom and routines very well. I’m really impressed with how they’re adapting to life in Reception.
In Phonics, we’ve been learning a new sound each day. Please remember that we add each sound to their reading bags every day for practice at home. Recognising and forming letters is very important at this stage, as it builds the foundation for reading and writing.
In Maths, we’ve been comparing numbers using "most" and "least." We’ve used different methods to help the children understand this. Some found "least" a bit tricky, so if you get a chance, please help them with this new vocabulary and understanding. Everyone did great with "most."
In PSED, the children are learning about feelings and emotions. I’m amazed at how quickly they’ve picked up new vocabulary related to the Zones of Regulation, and they are using techniques to get back to the Green Zone effectively.
This week, we were lucky to have Mr. Bailey visit and talk about online safety. He read two books, Chicken Clicken and Goodnight iPad. The children were very engaged and remembered key information well.
I’m really proud of how well the children are doing after just four weeks, and you should be pleased with their attitudes and behavior.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs. Horsley
Week 3 In Reception
What a brilliantly busy week we have had!
In maths, we have been exploring the number 2. We have also been working on identifying and describing 2d shapes. We have played find the shapes, identified simple 2d shapes within the environment and also practised some fine motor skills on cutting out and sorting 2d shapes (square, triangle, rectangle and circle).
In literacy we have been exploring our new book, Once there were Giants. We have talked about the different stages of growth, from a baby to an adult. In line with our PSHE work we have also identified different feelings and emotions and linked these to the zones of regulations.
We have learned all about another classroom value our Respectful Rhino. We have also created tents, train stations, cakes made from sand, dinosaur lands and a whole lot more.
Keep being brilliant!
Week 2 in Reception
This week we have been continuing to explore our new environment as well as establish new school routines.
In literacy this week, we have been talking about what we like to do in our school shoes just like in our book ‘Pete the Cat’. We have also been working on our listening skills during carpet time and our brain breaks after phonics.
In maths, we are exploring the number 1. We have been finding the number 1, and writing the number 1. We have also been learning colour patterns and creating these during continuous provision.
Great week Reception!