Party day was a huge success. The children loved coming to school in their party clothes and enjoyed playing party games with their friends. Thank you to FOTs for providing the yummy snacks and Christmas crackers.

On Wednesday the children were surprised by a visit to Father Christmas at Miss Hill’s stables. It was such a wonderful and magical experience! Thank you to FOTs again for providing refreshments and presents.

Phonics- We have been learning the grapheme er (better, letter) and learning the tricky words ‘her’ and ‘all’.

Maths- We have been continuing our learning on 1 more and 1 less than numbers to 5. Continue to practise this at home.

Thank you for all of your help and support at home with your child’s learning this term. It makes a massive difference. Over the Christmas holiday, keep the reading, tricky word practise and caterpillar words ticking over. Little and often is the key!

However, most importantly make sure you enjoy spending time with each other over Christmas and make the most of a rest!

From January, Miss Machin will be teaching Reception class and I will be predominantly working from home with the exception of Forest school on a Tuesday afternoon. It will no longer be Welly Wednesday! Please ensure your child brings their waterproofs to school in a bag on Tuesdays and remember to send your child in with their wellies on the first day back.

Enjoy your Christmas break!

Literacy- The children have enjoyed role playing in the Christmas Post Office and have been busy writing and posting their letters to Father Christmas.

Maths- We have been learning about 2D shapes this week. The children have been describing the properties of 2D shapes and naming them. We have matched shape presents to shape Santa’s and created shape snowmen. The children have also been sorting shapes according to their properties and developing their positional language (e.g. in between, up, above, below, under, beside, next to) by describing the present in relation to the Christmas tree.

Phonics- This week we have been learning to spell the tricky words I, go, to, the, no, into and learning to read the tricky word they. We have also been learning the phonemes for the graphemes ear (fear, hear), air (hair, stairs) and ure (pure, cure). These are all trigraphs meaning three letters, one sound.

RE- This week we have been discussing how Christians celebrate Christmas and why. We sang a few carols and watched some clips about how Christmas is celebrated in churches. We have also been learning about Christingle and made a class Christingle discussing what the different parts represent.

Welly Wednesday- It was a VERY muddy session down in forest school this week but the children thoroughly enjoyed it and many of them loved jumping and rolling in the muddy puddle! We have been reading the story Stick Man by Julia Donaldson across the week in our whole class reading sessions so a few children made their own stick man in the forest school area.

We enjoyed a Christmas dinner on Wednesday and the pantomime on Friday. We are definitely feeling very Christmassy in Reception class!

We are looking forward to a fun filled week next week. Remember to wear your Christmas jumpers with your uniform on Friday 18th December. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Phonics- We have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes ur, ow and oi and learning to read the tricky word ‘you’. Your child should have received their tricky word Christmas tree and baubles. If you cut out the baubles, your child can practise reading the tricky words on the baubles and then placing it on the tree. If you could practise reading these ‘little and often’ at home it will really help increase your child’s reading fluency.

Literacy- We have been getting ready for Christmas by writing a Christmas checklist including items such as a ‘tree’, ‘sack’, ‘hat’ (Santa’s hat) etc. The children were encouraged to sound out the words carefully and use the alphabet mat to help them with their letter formation. The children have loved role playing in Santa’s workshop this week, wrapping presents and writing gift tags for the parcels.

Maths- This week the children have been finding out 1 more and 1 less than numbers to 5 and proving their answers using a range of maths apparatus such as the ten frames and counters, the part, part, whole diagram and counting objects.

Music- The children listened to Ganesh is Fresh by MC Yogi and closed their eyes. We discussed any emotions, pictures or colours they visualised or felt whilst listening to the song.

Welly Wednesday- We were busy filming for our next nativity video clip. The children enjoyed a Winter’s walk as we were doing so. They were amazed by the incredible views from the top of the hill. We talked about all of the things we could observe!!

Science- On Monday we made a class lava lamp which the children were very excited about. If you would like to make one with your child at home all you need is the following:
-an empty plastic bottle
-oil (vegetable or sun flower)
-food colouring (any colour!)
-alka seltzer tablets
Tip the oil into the bottle, add a few drops of food colouring then add the alka seltzer tablets (2 or 3 depending on how bubbly you’d like it) and then enjoy! Place a torch or light underneath the bottle to create that lava lamp experience.

IT and Computing- We have really enjoyed using the laptops to play an underwater counting game. The children had to count the sea animals and then click on the correct numeral. The children were developing their trackpad skills of moving the mouse and clicking it.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday!

Phonics- This week we have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes oo, ar and or. We have also been learning to read the new tricky words my, was.

Literacy- We have really enjoyed reading the nativity story this week and acting out different parts of the story. The children were also labelling baubles with the different colours. The children practised hearing the initial sounds in each word and used an alphabet mat to help them form the letters.

Maths- This week has been all about repeating patterns. The children have been creating patterns in a range of different ways using unifix cubes, numicon, musical instruments and pictures. We practised making AB repeating patterns e.g. blue, yellow, blue, yellow, blue, yellow, ABB repeating patterns e.g. blue, yellow, yellow, blue, yellow, yellow and even ABBC repeating patterns e.g. blue, yellow, yellow, red, blue, yellow, yellow, red.

PE- The children practised creating different shapes with their partner and were interpreting different animals through the movement of dance.

Welly Wednesday- It was a very wet Welly Wednesday this week! We definitely needed our wellies for our wet walk across the fields. The children were on the hunt for holly. We were looking for those red berries and shiny, spiky green leaves.

Christmas! Yes, we are well and truly in the swing of the festivities now! We have been dressing up as different characters from the nativity, acting out different parts of the story and learning a couple of Christmas songs. We have also started making some Christmas cards. We may send these home a little earlier than usual this year just to make sure they definitely make it home to you! We are really looking forward to all the Christmas fun we have planned over the next few weeks.

Birthday party and cinema afternoon- Friday was full of fun with a birthday party in the morning celebrating those children who have had their birthday in September, October and November. We will be having a monthly birthday party for those children who are turning 5 and may be missing out on having a big birthday party. In the afternoon, it was Cinema afternoon which the children really enjoyed. Thank you to FOTS for our yummy treats and we thoroughly enjoyed watching Peter Rabbit’s The Tale of the Christmas Star.

Enjoy your weekend Reception. See you next week.

Phonics- We have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes ai, ee, igh, oa. Remember a digraph is two letters one sound such as ai and ee and a trigraph is three letters making one sound such as igh (bright, night).

Literacy- The children have been enjoying Owl Babies by Martin Waddell as our whole class text this week. Linked to this text we have been labelling a picture of an owl.

Maths- The children have been practising showing more and less than/fewer using a range of counting objects and counters on a ten frame. We have discussed adding objects to find out more than and taking away objects to find less than or fewer.

PE- This week the children were incorporating shapes into their dance moves and during our ‘Games’ PE session the children were changing direction to avoid others, travelling in different ways (modes of transport) and listening carefully to the rules of each game.

Music- The children were discussing how they felt when listening to Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind and Fire and discussed what colours/pictures popped into their heads when listening to the song. The children then listened to notes on a glockenspiel and had to decide whether it was a high or low pitch.

Science- We had a whole class discussion about hibernation and carried out an investigation using two hot water bottles, one with a furry cover and one without. These were then placed in a box (cave) and left for a couple of hours. The children predicted which would go cooler and lose heat the fastest. Afterwards we discussed the importance of fur, blubber and wearing hats, scarves and gloves in the Winter.

We also went on a hunt outdoors for some of Percy the park keeper’s animals and have been learning some facts about these animals throughout the week. One of the key words we have been learning is ‘nocturnal’.

The children found a few worms in our outdoor area on Tuesday and were fascinated so on Welly Wednesday we went on a worm hunt in the forest school area and returned to the classroom to learn some facts about worms. Some children decided to then have a go at writing some worm facts.

We have also started learning about the first Christmas when Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. We are already getting excited about the festive season in Reception and have started to learn a song for the first part of our Christmas clips to be posted on Class DoJo. Watch this space!

Enjoy your weekend and we will see you on Monday!

Phonics- We have been learning the phonemes for the following digraphs; ch, sh, th and ng. We have also been learning to read our new tricky words he, she, we.

Literacy- The children have been making up their own stories for me to scribe. They have been having a go at writing any tricky words or initial sounds they may know and then these stories are acted out in front of the class.

Maths- We have been learning what the following vocabulary means; describe, pair, match and set. The children have been sorting objects into different sets and explaining to their peers how they have sorted the objects. For example, according to size or colour.

PE- The children took a trip to the jungle this week. They were sneaking past the tigers, jumping on the lily pond, avoiding snakes and swinging through the trees. They were then interpreting 5 animals through dance; crocodile, snake, elephant, lion and monkey.

Welly Wednesday- This week we have been reading the story ‘Leaf Man’ by Lois Ehlert. It has the most wonderful illustrations of Autumn leaves creating different animals. The children were then given the opportunity to create their own leaf creatures in the forest school area. They were also very busy collecting worms and building a ‘worm house’, climbing the ‘climbing tree’, getting very muddy and rolling around in the large tunnel. Some children also enjoyed role playing with the fire fighters hoses we have down there.

Diwali- We have really enjoyed watching clips of Hindu children preparing for Diwali and learning about how Diwali is celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs. The children created some very colourful diva lamps to remind themselves of the story about Rama and Sita. We have listened to traditional music played at Diwali celebrations and watched fireworks (virtually!) at a Diwali celebration. The children also created rangoli patterns using coloured pasta and craft materials and drew their own mehndi design on a handprint. Unfortunately we didn’t use real henna!

Remembrance/Armistice Day- We hope you were all able to see our cross that we decorated with poppies. If not, I have posted a picture on Class DoJo. The children have been learning about Remembrance Day and we have discussed why people wear poppies on this occasion. On Wednesday we held a 2 minutes silence to remember those who have died in the wars and to think about our current brave soldiers.

We hope you have a great weekend!

Literacy- I have loved hearing about your half term holiday and the children have enjoyed drawing a picture of their holiday. We have practised writing labels, captions and our name next to our holiday pictures.

Maths- This week we have been learning the words ‘describe’ and ‘the same’. The children have practised describing different objects and groups of objects and talking about what is ‘the same’ and ‘not the same’. These observational skills will really help them when solving number problems and calculations.

Phonics- We have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes y, z and qu and have been learning to read the tricky words he and she.

PE- This week they were engaging in creative dancing incorporating animal movements using different body parts. They were also practising following more difficult instructions whilst moving around the room.

Music- The children were listening to and describing how the music made them feel. They discussed what instruments they could hear and whether it was a man or woman singing. Also the children practised finding the pulse using different techniques and then some chose a rhyme to beat the pulse to.

Percy the Park Keeper topic entry point- we had a special Autumn welly walk on Wednesday to introduce our new topic, Percy the Park Keeper. The children enjoyed a frosty walk including a hot chocolate pit stop! Each child carried an Autumn checklist with them and ticked off when they spotted these signs of Autumn.

Remembrance Day- We have started to learn about Remembrance Day and why people where poppies. Some children have been making poppies using the craft materials. We will continue to learn about Remembrance Day over the next week.

Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night- We discussed the story about Guy Fawkes and his gunpowder plot again the government and King James and then shared ways in which we celebrate bonfire night and why this year we may be celebrating slightly differently due to lockdown. We also watched Fireman Sam’s bonfire safety tips. The children have created some beautiful bonfire and firework paintings and collages. They were so wonderful we decided to create a display of the children’s artwork!

Using part of our enrichment fund, this year we have decided to have a birthday party on the last Friday afternoon of each month so that the children can have a party with their friends at school. Don’t worry, those children with September and October birthdays will be celebrated during November’s party as well. We realise that the children are missing out on parties with their friends at the moment so thought this would be great fun for all!

Next week we will be learning all about Diwali, the festival of light.

Have a super weekend, see you on Monday!

Wow, I cannot believe the first half term has already come to an end! What a first half term it has been!! We are so proud of the children and how they have settled into Tardebigge life. We are now well into the swing of things and are enjoying our school routines.

Literacy- Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman! This week has been all about Jack and the Beanstalk. On Monday we received a special package from Jack himself. Enclosed in the envelope were 5 magic beans!! Throughout the week, the beanstalk has been growing across the classroom. We have been amazed!

On Friday, we celebrated the end of our topic with a Jack and the Beanstalk castle banquet in the hall. We set up the lunch tables with plates and table cloths and the children created name place cards and crowns for the banquet. We also enjoyed some party games afterwards!

Maths- We have been continuing to develop our knowledge of number 5 and have been splitting 5 in different ways (number bonds) e.g. 5 and 0, 4 and 1, 3 and 2. The children have then been representing these number bonds in a range of ways. We also watched a Maths lesson by Mrs Harris on Oak Academy so the children are familiar with this online lesson format if we were in a situation where home learning had to take place.

Phonics- This week we have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes j, v, w and x. The children have also been practising reading the tricky words; I, go, no, to, the. We also watched a Letters and Sounds Reception lesson with Jess on YouTube, again just in case the children have to switch to online learning. They really enjoyed taking part in Jess’ phonics session.

Science- We carried out a gummy bears experiment on Tuesday in which we placed one gummy bear in an empty cup and one in a cup of water. The children made some brilliant predictions earlier on in the week and on Friday we observed the changes and similarities. We found that the gummy bear in the water had grown in size and the gummy bear in the empty cup remained the same.

The children have also been planting runner beans. We discussed what the beans would need to grow; sunlight and water. We hope you enjoy growing these at home! We would love to see any updates. Feel free to send us photographs on DoJo.

PE- Mr Taylor will be the PE coach teaching the children on a Thursday now. They are really enjoying getting to know him and taking part in his PE sessions. This week the children were developing their balancing skills, tiptoeing, hopping and balancing cones on their heads whilst walking with their arms out or on their hips.

After half term we will begin our new topic ‘Percy the Park Keeper’. We will be continuing to observe seasonal changes and will enjoy learning about Percy’s animals, some of which hibernate or are nocturnal. If you have any ideas or contributions towards our planning for this topic, please send me a message on DoJo. Perhaps have a discussion with your child and see if they have any wonderful ideas too.

We hope you all have a well-rested and enjoyable break next week. Be kind to yourselves and to each other. You are all doing a brilliant job! See you on Tuesday 3rd November (remember Monday is a teacher training day!)

Literacy- We have really enjoyed reading and acting out the story Goldilocks and three bears. The children have had a go at writing and drawing a list of porridge ingredients and thought about what topping they would have on their porridge.

Science- This week the children were scientists researching ‘what makes porridge yummy?’ They tasted porridge with ketchup (!) and discussed what it tasted like and gave their review. They then tasted the porridge with strawberry jam and compared the tastes. We were encouraging the children to use vocabulary such as ‘too salty’, ‘too sweet’, ‘just right’. Surprisingly, a few children thought tomato ketchup and porridge was delicious!

Maths- The children have been splitting numbers 1-5 into two parts. These are called number bonds. For example, the number bonds to 5 are 5 and 0, 4 and 1, 3 and 2, 2 and 3, 1 and 4, 0 and 5. We have practised showing this in different ways such as using bead strings, part, part, whole diagrams, splitting groups of children on chairs at the ‘bus stop’ etc.

Phonics- This week we have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes h, b, f and l. We have also been learning to read the tricky words go, to, no, I, the, into.

PE- On Thursday the children continued to work on different ways of moving such as hopping, jumping, ducking to touch cones. The children were then given a ball to incorporate within their movements and they had to complete an obstacle course and bounce the ball 4 times and catch it.
On Friday the children were introduced to some apparatus; benches, mats and table tops, and we also practised our different shapes; pike, straight shape, tuck and star.

Music- The children were moving to the rhythm of the music and joining in with the dance. They also used claves to tap the pulse of the music.

Welly Wednesday- We have continued to spot signs of change during the Autumn season. We walked to the oak tree and discussed what we could observe this week and then visited the horse chestnut tree on the church meadow in which we collected hundreds of conkers, some of which were still inside their spikey shells. The children then explored the forest school area.

IT and Computing- We were developing our trackpad control on the laptops this week and the children were set the challenge to program the wolf around the 3 pigs houses by clicking on the different arrows. This involved the children moving their finger around the trackpad and clicking the left hand button.

Have a super weekend Reception and see you next week for the last week of the first half term! Time is flying!

Literacy- The children have loved reading The Three Little Pigs and joining in with the repeated refrains. We have been building houses for the pigs using a range of materials and retelling and acting out the story using masks and story spoons.

Maths- In our Number Time sessions this week we have been practising how to count objects accurately using strategies such as place the items in a line, move the objects as they count and to count using numbers in the correct order.

Phonics- We have been learning the phonemes for the graphemes ck, e, u and r. We have also been learning to read the tricky words to and the.

Welly Wednesday- This week the children were spotting signs of Autumn. We observed the oak tree, talked about the features and Autumn changes and discussed the squirrels collecting the acorns to bury them in time for Winter. The children also enjoyed creating Autumn bracelets.

PE- The children really enjoyed their first gymnastics session. This week we were practising holding different shapes such as a tuck, a pike, a star and a stretch.

On Thursday they were developing their special awareness and had to move around the room using different techniques.

Science- We have really enjoyed our three little pigs investigation! The children were set the challenge to build houses using a range of materials such as straws, hay, lollipop sticks and Duplo bricks. They then practised blowing the house down using their own breath and then the hairdryer air (the big bad wolf)! We recorded our results in a table.

RE- This week we began the unit ‘Where do we belong?’ from the Worcester Agreed Syllabus. We discussed times and events in which we feel/felt special. Examples included, birthdays, playing with Daddy, kisses from Mummy, caring for my chickens etc. We talked about Christians believing that God thinks we are special too and that in the Bible it says He loves us before we are even born (Psalm 139) and that he has our names in the palm of His hand (Isaiah 49:16). The children drew around their hands and wrote their name on their hand outline and decorated it to remind themselves that they are special.

We have also been practising our Harvest song which will be recorded and posted onto Class DoJo next week.

We hope you have a super weekend Reception! See you on Monday.