Author: Mrs Wood

This week, we’ve been learning all about Chinese New Year. We looked at where China is on a globe and world map. We’ve learnt about traditions, read the Zodiac story, watched parades and created our own Chinese dragons – they found this tricky challenge!

We  finished the week by having our own parade.

In PE, the children enjoyed moving like dragons. Click on the links below to watch two of the groups in action!
Dragon dance 1
Dragon dance 2

The new superhero office has been a big hit this week. The children have been using their super powers to save the world!

Next week, it’s safety week. We’ll be learning about how to keep safe in different situations. We even have some real superheroes coming to visit us!

Home-Link Challenge

 

In literacy, we found out lots of new facts about penguins and compared the two polar regions. The children chose their favourite fact and wrote it in a sentence.

In music, the children continued learning about pulse through movement. They listened carefully to the song When the cold wind blows again and responded appropriately by using coordinated movements with the parachute.

In maths, the children continued to develop their understanding of composition, or the numbers within numbers. We used the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern) to  explore ways to represent numbers. By using this die pattern, it is helping the children understand  the ‘5-ness’ of 5.

We started by sing the ‘5 Little Aliens in a Flying Saucer’ song to help us see remember the pairs of numbers that make 5.  When another alien joined the gang, they quickly realised there was no space! HN said, “We need to build another spaceship.” Therefore, we used a double dice frame to begin to explore 6 and 7 as numbers that are composed of ‘5 and a bit’.

 Outside, the children had fun making their own track games for their friends to play.

Have a look at what else we have been up to this week.

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Finally, a new maths app has come out called 1-minute maths. If you download the app, we recommend using the subitising section.

In literacy, we continued reading the story Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
We began by re-reading the story and talking about what we already know about Antarctica.

IM – It is very cold in Antarctica.
ZS – Penguins live in Antarctica.
CW – Antarctica is at the bottom of the world. It is also called the South Pole.

We talked about what the boy and the penguin would need to pack for their journey. The children came up with lots of fantastic suggestions.

FJ – A coat to keep them warm.
JD – A bowl to put their snacks in.
PB – A hat to keep the boy’s head warm.

For our writing challenge this week, we pretended we were going on a journey to the South Pole. Everybody successfully wrote a list of things they would pack in their suitcase.

On Tuesday, we closed our eyes and imagined what we would do if a penguin was standing at our door. The children shared their ideas using the stem sentence: If I found a penguin, I would…

SF – take it to the park and put it on the swings and slides.
OR – give it breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then put it to bed under my bed.
PB – take it shopping for some pretty dresses.
RF – play lots of games with it.

Some of the children had a go at writing their idea. Check out their amazing writing!

In Phonics, we recapped all of the phase 2 sounds. The children are really starting to show off their amazing phonics skills when doing their independent learning in the areas of provision. Thank you to those that have managed to get online and read your child’s eBook with them. A new book is issued each Friday.
Little Wandle has some great resources for parents, including videos and information sheets. Click here to find out more about supporting reading at home.

Reception had a fantastic PE lesson this week! We practised bouncing, throwing, and catching a ball. The children initially practised bouncing and catching the ball standing still. When they felt confident with that, we tried bouncing and catching the ball on the move. After that, we practised throwing and catching skills. A lot of children found this very tricky, but they didn’t give up!

And more…
Take a look at some more amazing learning from this week:

Diary Dates…
Tuesday 15 & Thursday 17 February – Parent-Teacher meetings
Monday 28 February – School closed: training day
Thursday 03 March – World Book Day

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Happy New Year! We hope that you all had a fantastic Christmas. It was lovely to see lots of happy smiling faces when I opened the classroom door on Tuesday morning. We particularly enjoyed listening to all of their wonderful Christmas memories.

Now that Christmas is over, we head into a very cold and frost half-term. However, we love the frosty weather in Reception because it’s a fantastic stimulus for our ‘mini’ topic: Frozen Planet. Throughout the next three weeks, we will investigate ice, use our senses to describe how the weather has changed. We will also look at the coldest regions on Earth and learn about different Polar animals.

This week the children enjoyed being back with their friends and have been settling back into their daily routines.
Here are some highlights from a fantastic first week back.
Making igloos with sugar cubes.

Reading the new winter books in the igloo.

Making different arrangements with five 2d shapes.

The small world and construction area was a very busy area this week. We saw lots of great teamwork, designs, and building skills.

Reading
Yesterday, your child brought home a letter explaining our new phonics scheme (Little Wandle) and the new Collins e-books. Please make sure you read this letter. If you have any questions about this, please do ask!
Moving forwards, your child will read in school at least three times a week. After your child has read in school,  your child will be assigned the same book as an e-book every Friday for them to show off their reading skills. They will also bring home an extra physical book to read at home.
Library books will continue to be changed every Thursday.

What will my child bring home to support their reading?

• E-book – assigned every Friday
• Extra physical book – changed every Friday
• Libary book – changed every Thursday

Reminders

• The weather is very mixed at the moment. Remember to wear a warm, waterproof coat to school and bring a named hat and pair of gloves.
• PE is every Wednesday. Please make sure your child comes to school wearing the correct clothes. If you are unsure and need a reminder, please see our uniform policy.
• Due to the current situation, the stay and learn sessions (20/01 & 07/02) are cancelled.

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It’s been a very busy exciting last week in Reception.
At the start of the week, the children enjoyed doing some Christmas activities…
Making reindeer food.
We hope you remember to sprinkle your magical reindeer food outside on Christmas Eve. 

Having fun (and getting very sticky!) making Christmas decorations.
On Wednesday, Miss Feldman kindly brought in some freshly baked  Gingerbread Men for us to decorate.

After decorating our Gingerbread Men, it was time to sit down for Christmas dinner. It was lovely to see the children enjoying their Christmas dinner, laughing together, and pulling crackers with their friends.

After eating our Christmas dinner, the excitement continued… it was time to PARTY! We were amazed at the children’s dance moves. They popped, boogied, and danced the afternoon away.

After some party games, we sat down to eat our party food and watched a video from Santa.

Finally, we hope you have a happy and healthy Christmas. Enjoy spending some quality time with friends and family.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from all of the Reception Team!

The Christmas production is live!
Make sure you scroll down our class news page to watch it.  Well done to all the Reception children. You really were the STARS of the show!
Christingle
On Tuesday, we made our Christingles. We talked about the different parts and what they mean.
The orange represents the world.
The candle represents Jesus being the light of the world.
The raisins represent God’s creations in the four seasons.
The red tape represents the blood of Jesus when he died on the cross.

The children were fantastic at following instructions when making their own Christingles.

Yesterday, we walked to St James’ Parish Church to join the rest of the school at the Christingle service. You wouldn’t;t have thought it was their first time because they were all so sensible – well done Reception! A big thank you to the four Reception parents that helped us get there and back in one piece.

Talk to your child about the Christingle service and see if they can remember the meaning.

Next week…
Wednesday 15 December
Christmas party day
Your child can wear non-uniform.
&
Christmas dinner day

Your child will be bringing home lots of lovely Christmas things on Wednesday. Please make sure your child brings a labelled carrier bag by Wednesday 15 December.

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Have a lovely weekend! See you next week for a jam-packed fun Christmas week.

It was a chilly one Monday morning!
The children were amazed at how thick the ice was on our tuff trays. After lunch, we brought the ice inside and decided to do some ice painting.

Chilli challenge number 3 
The Christmas cards are ready!
These will be coming home with the calendars.

Chilli challenge number 4
The children explored navigating Bee-Bots around the mat to get to one of the Christmas pictures. They had lots of fun watching the Bee-Bots move in different directions.

The Naughty Elf has been very cheeky!
On Wednesday, we found him doing snow angels in the flour.
On Thursday, he was swinging off the Christmas covered in toilet paper!
I  wonder what he’ll be doing tomorrow…
Fantastic maths!
Number 6 is our new focus number. We watched the Numberblock 6 video and talked about what 6 makes us think of.
“6 spots on a dice.”
“6 is the biggest number on the dice”
“6 spots on the wooden ladybird”
“2 and 2 and 2”
“5 and 1”

After the maths input, the children explored making an insect with 6 legs and 6 eyes.

“2 legs on this side and 4 legs on this side.”

“3 legs here and 3 legs here”

“My insect has got 6 eyes. 2 and 2 and 2.”

“My insect has got 6 eyes and 6 legs.”

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5… I need one more leg.”

Some of the children played a track game using 10 hoops and a die. Before starting the game, they were asked to work together to make a track of 10 hoops. We observed some amazing counting and teamwork! The children took turns to roll the dice, subitise and move along their tracks.
“I need 2 more.”
“I need 3 more.”
“I need 3…I can still move because I got 2… Now I only need one to win.”
“I’m one more than you.”
“I think … could win because he only needs one more.”

Library Books
Your child will have a library book in their book bag. Please look after this book at return it next Thursday so your child can choose a new library book.

Finally, this week we’ve been reading The Christmas Story. To help us remember the story, we used some actions. Click here to watch us retell the story.

Home-Link Challenge

 

 

This week, we’ve had lots of fun being scientists. In Literacy, we read Potion Commotion by Peter Bently. After reading the story, we had a go at making a rainbow with Skittles. First, the children helped by placing the Skittles in a circle on the white plate. Before pouring the warm water onto the plate, we talked about making predictions and what that word means.
“I think it will make a rainbow.”
“I think the Skittles will turn white.”
“I think the water will turn purple.”

When the water was poured, the children observed carefully what was happening.
“Wow! It’s a rainbow.”
“The Skittles are turning white.”
“They are disappearing.”

After the experiment, the children wrote a sentence about what they saw.

On Tuesday, we had a go at another rainbow experiment. This time, we used felt tips, a piece of kitchen roll, and some water. We made predictions and then observed to see if we were right.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Who says it’s too early to put up the Christmas tree?

Writing Christmas wish lists.

Getting the home corner ready for Christmas.

Making cvc words using phoneme baubles.

Wrapping presents in Santa’s workshop.

The children have made their calendars. We used Matisse’s cut-outs as inspirations for our calendars. They will be bringing them home at the end of this half-term. Click here to see a sneak peek.

In maths, we finished learning all about the number 5. The children are fantastic at recalling number bonds to 5.

Making 5 using the balance scales.
The children put the Numicon pieces 5 in one side and had to work out which pieces could go in the other side to make it balance.

Using Christmas hats to help us with part-whole models.
How many children are wearing a hat?
How many children are not wearing a hat? 

Drawing pictures that represent 5 inside a handprint.

Subitising arrangments of dots up to 5 and matching them with the correct numeral.

Using beanbags to help us with part-whole models.

Important!

• Next week, your child will start bringing home a library book. The children will choose a new book every week during library time. Please make sure this book is returned every Thursday.
• Due to us starting to use our new phonics scheme, we will be collecting all reading books on 13 December. The children will take home a library book to enjoy over the Christmas holidays.

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Finally, thanks to all the parents that have brought in a star costume for the Christmas production. We look forward to posting the performance for you to enjoy watching at home with your child.

 Have a lovely weekend!

 

This week, we celebrated Nursery Rhyme Week. In Literacy, we read Each Peach, Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg. When reading the story, we played ‘I Spy’. The children were encouraged to describe where the characters are using prepositional language, for example, Cinderella is hiding behind the cupboard.
After reading the book, they had to find a nursery rhyme character hiding in the classroom. The children had a go at writing the character’s name or a sentence describing where the character is hiding.
Of course, the chilli challenges were all linked to nursery rhymes…

Building a wall for Humpty Dumpty.

Playing ‘Busy Bus’ with our friends in the maths area.

Baking a cake as fast as we can in the playdough area.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once we caught a fish alive!

Helping Old Mcdonald on his farm.

 The children noticed the dolls were sick, sick, sick. So, they phoned for the doctor to come quick, quick, quick!
Drawing part-whole models using 5 Little Speckled Frogs.
How many frogs are sat on the logs?
How many are swimming in the pond?

Reminders!
– Please return your child’s sound book on Monday 22 November.
– Christmas production clothing needs to be in school by Friday 26 November. Please make sure it’s in a labelled carrier bag.

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