Phonics- We have been learning to spell the tricky words so, said, have as well as read them. We have also been revising the graphemes we have recently been taught. Next week the children will be introduced to split digraphs e.g. cake, bike, smoke, rude, athlete etc.

Literacy- The children have been working with me to write their ‘Supertato Veggies Assemble’ stories. This is the sequel to Supertato which we previously read. The children have yet again thoroughly enjoyed this story and their story writing has really impressed me! So many of the children are now using their sounds when writing. They were also encouraged to use finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.

Maths- This week the children have been making teen numbers using the giant ten frames with Miss Smith. She has sent home a follow up activity for the children to complete at home. Remember, every teen number has one ten and … ones (note: we do not call them units, they are ‘ones’ instead). We have also been continuing our work on subtraction and have been solving subtraction number problems, calculations and using a number line to count back on.

PE- This week we have been focussing on developing the accuracy of our throwing so the children practised throwing a range of different balls at different stations. The children practised scoring baskets with a basket ball, throwing beanbags into hoops and cones and throwing dodgeballs into nets and at targets attached to the wall. We practised our over arm and under arm throwing.

RE- We are continuing our unit on ‘Where do we belong?’ and this week read the story of Jesus welcoming the children to him, despite the disciples trying to send away the children. The children were able to represent this story in a variety of ways and we discussed how Christians believe they are ‘a child of God’ and are very special to God. Next week we will be learning about how any Muslims welcome a baby into the world through the aqiqah ceremony and Shahadah.

IT and Computing- We have been discussing the purpose and use of technology around the home and sorting objects into those that use technology and those that do not.

Have a fantastic weekend and see you on Monday!

Literacy- The children have really enjoyed reading the next Supertato story, ‘Supertato, Veggies Assemble!’ Miss. Smith has been working with groups of children to create story mountains using pictures from the story to map out what happens in the beginning, middle and end. They have also been practising retelling the story so that they are confident when writing the story next week.

Maths- We have been subtracting using number bonds, subtracting by crossing out and subtracting by counting back on a number line. The children have been predicting their answers before solving a calculation. For example, if it is a subtraction calculation we know the answer will be smaller. We have also been comparing different quantities and talking about the difference between these.

Phonics- This week the children have been learning to read HFW and practising reading and writing words with adjacent consonants.

PE- The children developed their target throwing during a team game in which the children had to pass the ball to each member of their team before attempting to throw the ball into the nets or hoop. Next week we will continue to develop our accuracy when throwing by engaging in some target activities.

IT and Computing- We are continuing to develop our ability to program algorithms for the BeeBot (the robot and on the laptops) as well as debugging algorithms to ensure they are correct.

Have a super weekend Reception! See you on Monday.

Welcome back Reception! We hope you had a fun-filled and relaxed break. We are excited to be in the Summer term at school as we get to look forward to Sports Day, Activity week and getting to know our Year 1 teacher and teaching assistant. However, we also cannot believe it is our final term already!

Phonics- This week the children have been revising the following graphemes; ue ay, ou, ie, ea, ew, oe. We have also been reading and writing the Phase 2, 3 and 4 tricky words.

Literacy- It has been so lovely to hear about the children’s Easter holiday. The children have been writing about all of the exciting activities they got up to during their 2 weeks. We were practising segmenting and blending the sounds in all of the words, using finger spaces between words and using capital letters and full stops.

Maths- The children were given a more/less maths number problem and asked to prove their answer. They were asked which superhero had more apples and had to use the appropriate maths resources to show why. We have also been solving Maths problems in our Number Time sessions this week as well as show number bonds 0-10 using unifix cubes and the part, part, whole diagram.

IT and Computing- Creating algorithms for a BeeBot, using the robot and an online resource, got the children very enthusiastic in our IT and Computing session this week. The children had to first listen to a set of instructions given by their partner. E.g. ‘Move to the ‘J’ and then the ‘A’. They then had to create an algorithm so that the BeeBot would move in the correct direction. If the children made a mistake, they then had to work together to debug their algorithm to get it working successfully!
RE- Thank you for sending in the stars explaining why your child is special. These were so lovely to share with the children in our RE session. We also discussed occasions when we have felt special and then talked about the Christian beliefs about how people are special to God. This introduced our new unit on ‘Where do we belong?
I have been away with Year 4 on the Condover Residential trip from Wednesday to Friday but look forward to being back with Reception next week.

Have a brilliant bank holiday weekend Reception!

Phonics- This week we have been revising the graphemes aw, ir, ue, ay as well as the Phase 4 tricky words.

Literacy- I have been completely wowed by the children’s ‘Supertato’ stories this week. Last week the children created a story picture map which they then used to help remind them of the sentences they want to write. We were encouraging the children to sound out the words carefully, use finger spaces between words, capital letters and full stops. These were amazing! The children have been extremely inspired by the ‘Supertato’ story and so we will be continuing this as part of our ‘Reception to the Rescue’ topic after Easter. ‘Supertato’ is part of a series of stories so I’m excited to explore a couple of these with the children.

Maths- We have continued to explore subtraction and have tried solving subtraction calculations using a range of methods such as the ten frame, part, part, whole, Numicon and counting objects.

Science- The children were set the challenge to create a superhero vehicle and then to move it without touching the vehicle! After lots of discussion, the class decided to use magnets. We were amazed at the successful results. We talked about the science behind it, developing the children’s subject knowledge around materials and magnets.

Home learning- Please practise reading and recognising the tricky words sent home earlier this week as well as engage in the other activities suggested on the home learning sheet. Spelling shed has been updated with new words for the children to engage with over the holiday too. Most importantly, read and enjoy sharing books with each other and have lots of fun and a well deserved rest!

From Wednesday 1st May - Friday 3rd May I will be joining Year 4 on their residential trip to Condover Hall. Reception class will continue being taught by Miss Walker and Mrs Barnett for these three days and I have already explained to the children so there will be no surprises!

We cannot believe that we are going into our third and final term in Reception! Where is the year going? We are so proud of the children and all they have achieved so far.

Finally, have a very happy Easter and enjoy the break.

Maths- This week the children have been revising and developing their number fluency when recalling the number bonds to 10. We have also been counting on and back in 2s, 5s and 10s.

Phonics- The children have been learning the new graphemes wh (when, whizz), ph (phonics, dolphin), ew (flew, blew) and oe (toe, foe). We have also been revising our Phase 3 and 4 tricky words.

Literacy- We have continued reading Supertato and then created a story map using pictures as sentences, similar to our text mapping which we do each week. The children were then able to retell the story Supertato from beginning to end using these picture map prompts. Next week the children will be using this to help them write the Supertato story.

RE- We created Easter gardens using Spring plants, sticks, stones, compost etc. and talked about the symbolism within our garden. The children have been creating an Easter booklet in which they have written about the Easter story found in the Holy Bible.

PE- The children really enjoyed playing our version of Dodgeball which they were introduced to last week. We are already becoming more accurate when aiming our ball to knock over the skittles. It has also been an excellent opportunity to introduce team games and sports.

IT and Computing- The children have been creating Superhero shape pictures on Paint. They have been developing their control and accuracy when using the trackpad on the laptops.

Remember, next Friday is our Easter parade and concert so make sure you bring in your decorated cross or bonnet for the parade on the playground at 8.45am.

See you next week, have a fabulous weekend!

Phonics- This week the children have been revising the graphemes oy, ir, ue ay, ou, ie and learning the new grapheme aw (saw, jaw, yawn).

Literacy- On Monday we returned from the weekend to find that evil pea had captured our super vegetables which we created last week. We found them trapped in a cage. The children have been designing and creating traps to capture the evil pea. They have also been writing speech bubbles for the super vegetables who are trapped and scared!

Maths- We have been showing number bonds to 10 in different ways such as using the part, part, whole, bar model, numicon, objects and ten frames. The children are developing their number fluency and need to be able to recall these number bonds quickly. E.g.
10 and 0 make 10
9 and 1 make 10 and 1 and 9 make 10
8 and 2 make 10 and 2 and 8 make 10 etc. etc.

PE- We really enjoyed developing our throwing skills whilst playing a game which was similar to dodge ball. The children worked in teams to try and knock down the pins by throwing the ball at them.

RE- We have been learning about the next part of the Easter story in which Jesus died on the cross. We looked at hot cross buns and spotted the cross symbol and discussed how this may remind Christians of the Easter story. We then enjoyed tasting the hot cross buns afterwards! The children created a beautiful piece of pastel artwork representing the cross.

Mothering Sunday Concert- Thank you to all of those parents who attended our concert and craft morning. The children have enjoyed practising the ‘Have a Day Off’ Mothers Day song and we thought they performed this brilliantly on the day.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Literacy- We have started reading the story, ‘Supertato’. This week the children created ‘super vegetables’ using parsnips, carrots and leeks. We were quite alarmed to read about the ‘evil peas’ so the children have been designing a trap to capture evil pea.

Maths- The children have been developing their number fluency. They have been showing number bonds to 10 in a range of ways.

Phonics- This week the children have been learning the alternative graphemes for ea (teacher, beach), oy (toy, boy), ir (girl, twirl), ue (glued, blue). We have also been revising our tricky words.

RE- We have started our new unit ‘Why do Christians create an Easter garden?’ Over the next few weeks we will be learning about the Easter story. This week we acted out the story of Jesus riding through Jerusalem on a donkey. The children created a palm leaf and shouted ‘hosanna’. Next week, we will be tasting hot cross buns and discussing the symbolism of these.

PE- We have also began our new topic in which the children will be developing their ball skills. This week we were rolling the ball and throwing the ball with a bounce to a partner.

Science- Using mentos and coke the children created a superhero fountain! We observed what happened when the two ingredients mixed together.

Have a wonderful weekend Reception!

Today the children had a very exciting morning learning about firefighters and fire officers. We were learning about the role of Sam’s Dad, who investigates fires and also some fire safety rules and tips.

• Stop, drop and roll- what to do if you’re on fire. Ask your child to demonstrate this as we all had a little practise.
• What is a toy and what is not? The children discussed which items they were and were not allowed to play with. For example, matches, lighters, plugs are for adults to use. We learnt a helpful rhyme; matches, matches never touch. They can hurt you very much!
• Not just fires! Some of the children were surprised to learn that firefighters attend emergency’s where there is no fire. For example, a car collision or a flood.
• A firefighters uniform. Mrs Hartle was fortunate enough to try on the kit. I could not believe how heavy the boots were!
• The fire engine! What a wonderful surprise to have a fire engine waiting for us on the community hall car park. Each child got to sit in the fire engine and use the hose. The firefighters showed us the equipment they have on board and showed us the lights and siren too.

Have you got a smoke alarm in your home? The children have been sent home to check that 1. They have one and 2. That it works! If you do not have one, please let me know and we can get a free one from the fire service to give to you.

The children have also been asked to go home and check that they know their home address in case they ever have to make a 999 call to the emergency services.

A huge thank you to James, Sam’s Dad who gave up his morning to come in and teach us about the fire service. We had so much fun and each child loved receiving a Fireman Sam badge at the end of the session.

British Science Week

What a fantastic week it has been!

Thank you to all of those parents who were able to attend the after school Science on Wednesday. We had so much fun exploring the different investigations and hope that it will inspire Science learning at home.

A huge thank you to Emily (Oliver’s mum) and Claire who came into school to share the hover board with the children. This was a definite ‘wow’ moment in the week and made our science investigation in the morning, in which we made mini hovercrafts, really come to life!

We have been learning about Brian Cox and discussing the skills scientists may have which help them carry out their work. For example, perseverance and resilience.

On Monday, three scientists from Birmingham University came to carry out an investigation called ‘Seaweed slime’ with the Reception children. We talked about what a polymer is and the children used calcium and alginate to create ‘slime snakes’. The discussion between the children and the questioning was amazing!

We have also carried out some superhero science investigations in which the children rescued the superheroes from slime (corn flour), made superheroes fly (using balloons) and saved superheroes from sinking (using materials that float). We explored the properties of different materials and encouraged the children to make observations and ask questions about their investigations.

Phonics- We have been learning the alternative grapheme for ai (snail)- ay (play, stay), ow (brown, cow)- ou (cloud, proud), igh (light)- ie (pie). The children have also been taught the tricky words do, out, what, some.

Maths- The children explored the bar model and used this as a tool for helping them solve calculations. We have also introduced the children to the Numberblock 10 and have been representing 10 in different ways.

Protective Behaviours- We have also been talking about feelings this week. We have told the children there is no such thing as bad feelings and good feelings. Feelings are just feelings. It is OK to feel sad, happy or angry. We have also been identifying our very private parts using the vocabulary penis, testicles and vagina. We also discussed how the mouth is a very private part. We talked about our body belonging to us so it is up to us who touches it. We discussed times where an adult might ask to look or touch our very private parts such as visiting the doctors or if we have a toilet accident. We explained that everyone has the right to feel safe all the time, including adults! The children practised saying 'no stop!' in a loud voice if somebody is doing something they do not like. 

Have a super weekend Reception!