What's been happening.... What is happening in reception class this week.

Hello to all the followers of this blog.
We have had a great  week in Reception enjoying our work on Fairtrade and where chocolate comes from.
The children have waited all week for the chocolate they were promised at the end of the week. They have done so well and the learning this week has been super. Try asking the children where chocolate comes from and how it is made. Or what the Fairtrade logo means. They were really getting on board with this.
You may have seen a rather interesting sculptor in our class this week too. It has created a great deal of  dialogue among some staff about what it may be. We think the most bizzare was Mr Butchers sugesstion..... A Milan Super model !! Have the children told you what it is?
This said sculptor caused much hilarity among the staff in reception, when one child having decided he was done with slushy sticky gloopy paper mache jumped up and hugged the T.A. standing next to him shouting "wash hands wash hands......"
We have also done some great writing about chocolate and we were very encouraged with so many children willing to sound out the words they wanted to write and then having a go at writing. One little boy was so thrilled when I said I would move his caterpillar, that before  I knew it, he had jumped on a chair and done it himself beaming and grinning from ear to ear. So please keep up the good work on the cursive writing boards.
We are also learning to count in 2's and transfer what we know about groups of 2  to buying chocolate bars with 2p coins. This is a very difficult concept to grasp as it requires some abstract thinking.
Lastly we have had fun making pancakes ( with chocolate sauce in)  and having pancake races. The children have been learning about Shrove Tuesday and Lent.

So what's happening in Global awareness week.
Building on the learning about Fairtrade we will be learning some geography this week with a visit to the Gambia, where we will meet a little girl called Fatou and her family and the children will hear about a different culture and faith.We will also be doing some cooking and making a citizenship display.
Please come and join us on Friday afternoon.

Week Beginning 6th February

Dear All
Next week we will be continuing our theme of dragons  knights and princessess with a drama story. I will be picking 3 children out of a hat to use the 3 dragon costumes we have in school, otherwise your  child may choose to dress up in a knight or princess costume what ever their gender.  They will need these costumes for Thursday morning.
Thank you.

We are  also having a week of investigations which includes investiagting how water moves things and different ways of cooking eggs. Please could we borrow any water wheels pumps and other water toys you may have. Your child will also need to bring in an egg cup.
Thank you.
 In  our Personal Emotional and Social   (PSE)  curriculum I am focussing on Going Goals. I have been asking the children to think about acheiving an aim in Let's Explore like persevering and finishing a task before moving on. I am trying to encourage perseverence and resilience.

Science Family Fun - THS

The Thomas Hardye School is pleased to invite you on Saturday 17th March, 2012 from 1.00 till 4.00pm to 'Science Family Fun' in the Science Area. Bring your family and friends and come and work through a range of experiments and problem solving activities. This is a rolling programme of events involving St. Osmund's, Dorchester Middle, Puddletown St. Mary's and the Thomas Hardye School. Participating students will be awarded a school ceetificate. Attendance at three Science Family Fun Days will lead to the award of a CREST Science Investigators Star certificate. -Celebrating National Science and Engineering Week "Our World in Motion" - Open to all members of the public - Admission free - Refreshment available donations to Julia's House - Fair Trade produce available.

A note from Mr. Butcher's Blog - FREE SMARTIES

Taken from Mr. Butcher's Blog - I (Mr. Butcher) am giving away Free tubes of smarties to those that want to help with fundraising. There is a catch……you can eat the smarties but then save up all those odd 20 pence pieces putting them in the empty tube, once full you bring the tube to me with the money inside (about £6) and I will give you a new tube full of smarties to start all over again.

Song for Dorchester - Tag Cloud

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our tag cloud for the 'Song for Dorchester'. The tag cloud created can now be seen by clicking the image on our blog, the more popular a word was, the bigger it appears in our tag cloud. I have now sent this through to the Mayor of Dorchester so that it can be used as part of the wider project. Thank-you again for your help. Mr. Spracklen

WOW

We hope you are enjoying reading the WOW moments we have displayed in the classroom the children are quite excited to see them on display please keep them coming

WOW moments include sharing times when your child helps with cooking, or you go on a family walk and your child asks an interesting question. It might be when your child draws a picture or makes a card to send to grandparents and is especially kind and caring towards a younger brother or sister.  Other WOW! Moments might be finishing off a bedtime story or making an attempt at writing a postcard, thank you letter or invitation. If your child goes to a club or activity you could share their achievements there! Some parents have included the first time their child has tidied their room or successfully got dressed independently.

Please keep these WOW moments coming and please ask for more copies from the Reception Team.

Video Problems

If you are having any difficulties in playing the Reception Parent Information Session video through the school website please can I encourage you to download a copy to play in one of two formats: .m4v and .wmv (recommended for Windows users). These downloadable videos are listed on the same webpage as the original. Mr. Spracklen