Sounds this week

Hello everyone,

We are eagerly working away at our sounds and below is a list of what we will be covering. Any practice with these is fantastic and we will be sending home a sound pot with each child this week. More to follow regarding this.

'ck' - as in duck - Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck. the same as 'c' and 'k'.

'e' as in egg - Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a bowl and crack it into the bowl, saying eh, eh, eh.

'u' - as in umbrella - Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u.

'r' - as in running - Pretend to be a lion roaring, hold out your hands and say rrrrrr.

Reception team

All was quiet in the deep dark woods...

Hi all,

Today we started our new topic: The Gruffalo! We read the story; although most children could have told it by themselves! We then went to see what else there was to do in the classroom i.e. making a Gruffalo from play-doh, making stick puppets, giving the Gruffalo back his purple prickles and getting stepping stones to get across the bog. 

For the rest of the week we will be busy developing the story. We are going to create our own journey through the woods to act out as well as begin to write some labels for characters in the story. In maths we're going to be continuing to count up to and beyond 10. This will involve playing some games to help the children become confident. We'll also be preparing and cooking some soup. This will be linked to our Harvest cafe that takes place next Friday (9th) so we'll be taking vegetables that can be harvested now and practicing our knife skills - an adult will be working with all children during this. You will be able to try the soup we make if you come in on the 9th! 

Some fantastic home learning brought in to school this morning, thank you very much! 

Reception team

Home learning for the whole school!

Home Learning  - Harvest celebration

(week commencing Monday 5^th October)

 During the week of Monday 5^th October as usual we have planned opportunities throughout the week where the children learn about: food and where it comes from, visits to Maiden Castle farm, creating art pieces, cooking, thinking about seasonal food, creating goodies for the Harvest café using our orchard goodies, looking at India farming and of course the reason behind Harvest itself!

 

We thought this year we would have a ‘Bake off’ format to the week as the ‘Great British Bake off’ has been inspiring staff as well as the nation!

 

So, if your child wishes to, the Home Learning for the children is to…

 

Create their own bread and bring into school through the week leading up to our Harvest celebration! The class will taste it and talk about how it was made.   Everyone will need to share the ingredients and how they made their bread (write down or be able to talk about).   ‘Bread’ products are wide and varied across the world, so experiment, create!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through the week each class has also been set the challenge of creating a ‘master piece!’

 

These will be displayed outside of the hall for our Harvest celebration.

 

We will have our very own ‘Mary and Paul’ to taste each class’s efforts and decide upon a winner! Be ready to ask your child all about it!

 

The Gruffalo home learning...

Hi all,

Next week we will be starting our first big topic of the year: The Gruffalo. We will do lots over the next few weeks including retelling stories, going on trips, looking at how the world around us is changing in to autumn and coming up with alternative plots for stories. To get us started I have put some potential home learning ideas below for you to do with your children. We will go through these in school too. Please bring any home learning you do into school for us to show! Thank you so far for all the lovely things you've brought in, especially for Mr. Bump!

• See if you can find any other books by Julia Donaldson at home or in the library/Waterstones. 
• Draw or bring in a picture of your favourite place to walk - just like the mouse. 
• Discuss the words scary and brave. What does each mean? Are we all the same?
• Draw a picture of the Gruffalo! 
• Find out about foxes, snakes, owls or mice. Where do they live?

These are just a few ideas but we are always interested in any home learning that you do, so please bring it in. We have been practicing writing our names so any name writing would be fantastic! 

Reception team

Sounds this week

Hi all,

Today reception children will have come home with a home learning diary. These are for your child to keep but we do ask that they are in book bags for us to write in. There is currently nothing written in them. When we begin group reading we will write in them each week. If you do any reading or home learning at home please jot it down so we'll be able to read it when we write in them. Thank you.

Below is a list of the sounds that we will be covering this week and their actions:

'g' - as in gate - move hand to mouth as if having a drink and say g,g,g,g

'o' - as in off - Pretend to turn the light switch on and off and say o, o; o, o

'c' - as in cake - Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say c, c, c.

'k' - as in kick - Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say k, k, k.

The action for the 'c/k' sounds is the same as it makes the same sound, but looks different. This is where phonics begins to increase in its complexity. 

Reception team

 

 

Mr. Bump!

Hello everyone,

Today the reception class were introduce to Mr. Bump. He is a soft toy that comes home with children each day to see what you get up to. He is given to children based on determination to finish a task, going the extra distance to help others or the effort put into work. Of course, this isn't everything but the idea is that children show qualities that help them become better learners. It is up to you what you do at home with Mr. Bump - all we ask is that he gets a nice dinner. If you want to bring pictures or home learning in related to Mr. Bump please feel free. At the end of the week Mr. Bump will go home for the weekend with a child that we feel has shown the above qualities throughout the week. Congratulations to Jacob, who took Mr. Bump home today.

Also today we put up our first display at the back of the classroom. all the children carried out a speaking and listening job to give you clues as to which picture is theirs. That will make much more sense when you see it! The children spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was who. 

Lastly, tomorrow children will be coming home with their home learning diaries. Please could we ask that these are kept in book bags. If you're unsure about the home learning diaries please come and chat to us. 

Reception team

Sounds this week

Hi all,

Below are the sounds we are looking at this week. The effort of all the children has been super during phonics and they are very keen to learn. 

'i' - as in ink - Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers on your cheek and squeak i, i, i

'n' - as in nap - Make a noise, as if you are a plane hold arms out and say nnnnnn.

'm' - as in mum - Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm

'd' - as in dad - Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d.

After next week's phonics lessons we will begin sending home sound pots. These are for you to keep for the year. More information will follow. 

Reception team

What we are up to this week...

Hi all,

Thank you to all those that came to the parent information session on Monday. If you missed it, there will be a newsletter going out this Friday with all the information and some extra bits. As always, if you have any pressing concerns, please come and see us. Another thank you to all of the super home learning that we have had in! Its great to see all of the creativity. 

This week we are continuing to set our expectations and are gradually expecting children to develop their independence with the more routine parts of the day. We're continuing to develop our current topic: All about me! This week we'll be looking at likes, dislikes and how we would describe ourselves. We'll also be making....... cookies! The children will get to choose a flavour and then make it. You may have already noticed some children coming home with a bag at the end of the day. 

We are working towards putting up our first display on the back wall. You may have already noticed we have put up the birthday balloons with a picture of your child that they have painted. See if you can spot yours! 

Reception team

Parent information session tomorrow

Hi all,

Just a quick note to say that the reception parent information session will be tomorrow morning at 9.00am. We will discuss what we'll be up to this half-term and will be a chance for you to ask any questions you have after the first full week! This will take place in the hall and you are welcome to head straight their after drop-off tomorrow morning. See you all tomorrow!

Reception team

Name writing home learning!

Hello everyone,

Every now and then I will put up some potential home learning ideas. This will be linked to what we are doing in school. It is not compulsory. We will show all the home learning that comes in to school and will put it up on the display board at the back of the classroom. So please bring in anything that your child does at home. We have already had a couple of pieces in! 

In class we have been thinking about our names! For home learning we want to see who can write their name in the most interesting way. Previously we have had names written, painted, collaged, glittered or play-dohed. It would be great if you could bring it in to school but if you can't, a picture would be fantastic. There may even be a prize for the most interesting way! We look forward to seeing what you come up with. 

Reception team

Sounds this week

Hello all,

As promised I have put below all the sounds we will be covering this week. Please feel free to practice these at home with your children. Please note we cover one new sound a day so we won't have covered them all until Friday. I have put them in the order we will do them though. For every sound there is an action that goes with it to aid children with remembering them all! 

• 's' - as in snake - Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss
• 'a' - as in ant - Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say a, a, a
• 't' - as in tennis - Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t.
• 'p' - as in pig - Pretend to be Peppa Pig and puff out the candles and say p, p, p.

If you do any practice at home don't forget to write it down on a Wow! Moment! We've already had several in so thank you very much! 

Reception team

My word we've been busy!

Hi all,

In the last couple of days reception have accomplished a lot  of 'firsts'. We had our first phonics session yesterday where we looked at the 's' sound. I'll put another blog up outlining all the sounds we're covering each week. We then had our first literacy session. As our topic is 'All about me!' we will be looking at names in literacy this week. We clapped syllables for names and will move on to recognising your name written down and eventually writing your name. Everyone has also had their first PE session - for the first half-term we'll be looking at movement. Jigsaw Jenny has also been introduced during Jigsaw time. This is a scheme of work that the whole school follows and will be built on each year. Finally, we've also had our first music lesson! Fantastic to see that the children already know a lot of songs and rhymes. 

Over the rest of this week we will continue with phonics and literacy. Beginning next week there will also be a maths session. 

Reception team

Teddy jobs tomorrow morning

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow morning we will begin working in our Teddy job groups. There will be six groups and all children will be in a group. We will work in these groups throughout the year and tomorrow morning will be the first time we use them. On the tables and carpet will be all the group cards. We would like children to find their group card and stay at that activity until 9.00am - when we will stop for the register. The children were told which group they were in on Friday but  may need some help finding the card. Below I've listed the groups:

The Gruffalo

Mr. Bump

Mrs. Armitage

The Hungry Caterpillar

Stick Man

Elmer

Please come and see us if there are any problems. We will see you all tomorrow morning! 

Reception team

Welcome to the Beginning of POW

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a brilliant summer! From listening to some of the children today, it sounds like you have been up to all sorts of lovely things! It was great to see all the children today and have the whole class together for the first time. They all settled very quickly and showed a keen sense of intrigue of the classroom environment.

Throughout the year there will be regular blogs (roughly 3 a week) explaining what we have been up to, suggesting different home learning activities and other bits of business that are relevant. 

Please don't forget to bring in any Wow! Moments for things that your child has done/accomplished over the summer. It would be great to read these out to the children! 

Tomorrow will be largely the same as today; children may come in and put coats/bags away but then have to choose an activity that is out on a table or the carpet. From Monday this will change to grouped tables where the children will work their way round the room on a rota - more to follow. 

Thank you very much for your positive support today and here's to a great year! If you feel unsure about anything, please come and ask one us.

Reception team