Reception just love to learn!
This week, our classroom has been bursting with positivity! I’m super proud of all the children. At home time, the children are trying really hard to be independent and organise their own belongings. Independence is something we really encourage in Reception. When exploring the areas, new friendships are developing. Many children are wanting to challenge themselves and think of their own learning. Take a look at the learning that has been taking place in our classroom this week:
In literacy, the children changed the main character and some of the obstacles the family went through on their bear hunt. Before drawing our versions of the story, we worked together to come up with lots of different ideas. The children came up with some fabulous suggestions. Below are some examples:
We’re Going on a Spider Hunt by CW
We’re Going on a Unicorn Hunt by PB
We’re Going on a Butterfly Hunt by DA
In maths, we moved on to learning the number 2. The children have been great at pairing the socks on the washing line in the home corner. We’ve explored 2 in lots of different ways…
We drew around our friends to spot pairs of body parts.
Counting pairs of animals into the Ark.
Using the part-whole model to support addition. See if your child can remember the parts to make 2.
We played a game where we had to get into groups of 1 or 2. An adult called out 1 or 2 and the children had to either stand in a hoop alone or in a pair.
Number 2 number stories
“First there was one wet me. Then Mummy came along. Now there is me and Mummy.”
“First there was one bird. Then it had a baby. Now there are two birds.”
“First there was one tree. Then another tree started to grow. Now there are two trees.”
Phonics
We’ve finished learning the first set of phase 2 sounds: s,a,t,p,i,n.
The children are brilliant at saying the pure sounds. It’s great to see lots of children beginning to blend. This week, the children were really excited when they received their first reading book. Please make sure you read with your child as much as possible.
Word passports
Today, your child will have brought home their word passport. This book is to stay at home. Every two weeks, your child will bring home a new set of words to stick in their passport. The new set of words will be in their book bag.
Important dates
Home-Link Challenge
This week’s bible story
Four friends help a paralysed man: Luke 5: 17-25
If I asked you to tell you one of the things they liked doing best of all, I imagine it would be playing with their friends. Have a think about your friends and think about what you feel is special about them. In our story, we hear about how four friends help a paralysed man.
Reflection:
Think about the story.
Were there good friends in it?
Think about your friends.
What makes a good friend?
Think about yourself.
Are you a good friend?
Prayer:
Dear God
We thank you for our friends and for the happy times we share with them. Help us to be a good friend to them. Teach us how to play fairly and to share. Help us to recognize loneliness in others and show friendliness towards them. We know that you are our friend and will be with us always.
Amen.
Another busy week!
Reading Zoom meeting
Thank you to all the parents that attended the Zoom reading meeting. I hope you found it useful. For those parents that were unable to attend, click here to watch the recording.
Below are the links some of you requested during the meeting.
– Unfortunately, the pure sounds video created by two of our federation teachers is not working. However, click here to watch this video.
– Jolly Phonics rhymes
Literacy
Our focus story is We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
On Tuesday, we went on our very own bear hunt around school and found a bear hiding in the pond area!
They had fun doing actions, using instruments, and drawing their own story maps. They were fantastic at remembering the order of the obstacles!
Click here to watch us retell the story.
One of the chilli challenges this week was to retell the story using the stick puppets. We witnessed some amazing retelling!
Next week, the children will be making up their own versions of the story by changing the main character and some of the obstacles.
Maths
Every week, the children will be introduced to a new focus number. This week, it was number one. We’ve explored what one is, watched the Numberblock 1 video, drew pictures of our own One Wonderful Worlds, and introduced the part-whole model.
One is a part. Zero is a part. One is the whole
Zero is a part. One is a part. One is the whole.
Some examples of the children’s One Wonderful World pictures:
Library Time
Every Thursday, we visit our school library. The children really enjoy visiting the library, sharing books with their friends, and listening to a whole class story at the end.
Reminders!
– A sound book has been put in your child’s bookbag. Have fun practising the first three phonemes (s, a, t) at home.
– The cold weather is creeping in! Please make sure your child comes to school wearing a suitable coat.
– Next Wednesday, your child will need to come to school wearing their school uniform.
Home-Link Challenge
This week’s bible story
David and Jonathan: 1 Samuel 18-19
Friendship is a precious gift. Everyone wants to have friends. If we are fortunate, we will have a group of close friends, people with whom we can share our lives. However, sometimes, things go wrong. There can be disagreements that lead to friends falling out and maybe not talking to each other altogether. When David was a young boy, he had been told that one day, he would be the future King of Israel. As he grew up, David became famous for defeating the giant, Goliath, and for being a skilled soldier. He also wrote many songs that are recorded in the Book of Psalms in the Bible.
When David was a boy, a man called Saul was the King of Israel. Saul had a son who was called Jonathan. David and Jonathan became great friends. One reason was that Saul (Jonathan’s dad) was the present king and David was going to be the future king. David was also a great soldier and King Saul became very jealous of him! Another reason is that, if the usual practices were followed, Jonathan would have followed in his father’s footsteps as the future king – not David! Jonathan had a good reason to be jealous of David!
Reflection:
It would have been very easy for Jonathan to be jealous of David. Instead, he always protected him – sometimes, even saving David’s life!
How do we treat our friends?
Do we get jealous when they are successful or if they are better than us at something?
Or do we encourage them? Do we stand up for them? Do we feel happy when something good happens in their lives?
In David’s case, he really did get by ‘with a little help from his friend’.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for friends whom we can trust.
Thank you for friends who stick with us when we need them.
Please help us to be a friend to anyone in need.
Amen.
What have we been up to this week?
Maths
This week, we’ve been learning all about repeating patterns. We’ve been noticing patterns everywhere. The children even pointed out my patterned dress on Tuesday! Each day, the children were asked to make a repeating pattern using different objects/resources. They were fantastic at talking about their patterns and spotting mistakes – oops!
Phonics
This week, our daily phonics sessions have been a mixture of phase 1 activities. Phase 1 focuses on listening to different sounds and oral segmenting* and blending* skills. We went on a listening walk, made rhyming silly soups, and played I spy. Next week, we will begin phase 2. By the end of next week, the children will know the first three sounds: s, a, t.
PE
The children loved their first PE session! Mrs. Palmer will be teaching PE every Wednesday morning. The children had lots of fun travelling around the hall like animals. Mrs Palmer was very impressed with their amazing listening skills – well done Reception! Even though we only do one PE session a week, in early years we make sure we stay active throughout the week.
Snacks and Water…
Please make sure your child’s water bottle only contains plain water.
Every day, we provide a healthy fruit or vegetable at snacktime. If your child would prefer to bring their own snack, please ensure this contains only fruit and/or vegetables. Snacks from home will stay in the children’s bookbags until snack time at 10 am.
If your child is having grapes for their snack, please ensure that the grapes are cut lengthways.
Chilli challenges
The children have been introduced to the chilli challenges. Each week, there will be six green chilli challenges in different areas. The children will be encouraged to complete the challenges and tick them off on their chilli challenge card (see below). There will also be some red chilli challenges. These challenges are to extend their learning further.
Home-Link Challenge
*Segmenting – breaking down a word into individual sounds.
Blending – combining all the sounds to read a word.
Early Reading
The session will start at 6 pm and last around 20-25 minutes, plus there will be a question and answer session at the end of around 5-10 minutes.
The link to this zoom session will be emailed to all parents and carers by Monday 27th September. If you do not receive a link and would like to attend please contact the school office.
This week’s bible story
Zacchaeus is friends with Jesus: Luke 19: 1-10
In today’s story, we hear about a man called Zacchaeus. He had always been a loner. He had never had as much as one friend. Not surprising, really. He had lived most of his life as a cheat. It was easy. Just demand more money. That was the beauty of his job as a tax collector. People were a bit afraid of tax collectors. You would not want to get on the wrong side of a tax collector, especially one like Zacchaeus.
He was a small man, was Zacchaeus. Perhaps he was bullied or laughed at. Sometimes people get picked on by others – the tall ones, perhaps, or the short ones, or ones with straight hair, or ones with curly hair, or ones with the wrong clothes. People are certainly not born cheats.
Or perhaps Zacchaeus just thought that money could bring him happiness, or friends. Or maybe he was just a rogue!
One day Zacchaeus was out and about in the streets of Jericho. He heard people talking about Jesus. All excited, they were, that Jesus was going to be passing through their town that day. Read the story to find out what happened to Zacchaeus.
Reflection:
Zacchaeus was a man with a hard heart and no friends. We don’t know why, but Jesus cared for Zacchaeus. Jesus also believed that Zacchaeus had some good in him, if only he could be persuaded to change his ways. Zacchaeus mattered to Jesus, and Jesus’ friendship was able to change how Zacchaeus acted. Think about yourself and your friends. Are there any ways in which you can treat people that might help them to become friends?
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that you know us and that you care for us.
Help us to be kind and generous to other people,
like Zacchaeus after he met Jesus.
Amen.
Transition: Week 2
This week, we welcomed groups 2 and 3. It has been lovely to see the classroom full of busy children doing lots of fantastic learning.
Click here to see what groups 2 and 3 got up to this week.
On Thursday, we had a circle time session. We read the story All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. We talked about the book’s key message. No matter what we look like, we all have a place in our school. The children were asked to work with a partner to spot things that were the same and things that were different.
Miss Marsden introduced the class bear to the children. They were asked to think of some names for the bear – we had a variety of names! We wrote their suggestions on the whiteboard and the children voted for their favourite. We counted the votes and Sparkle Shots won!
Isolation work
Next week, we will start emailing isolation work to your personal email addresses. Your child only needs to do this work if they are self-isolating.
PE
PE starts next Wednesday. Please make sure your child comes to school in their PE kit.
Parent Partners
This half-term, we’ll be learning about different families, where we live, and autumn changes. Alongside the main themes, we try to plan other areas of learning according to the children’s interests. To help us with this, Parent Partners are key in this process! Throughout the year, we really encourage that you send photos of any ‘WOW’ moments or new interests your child has at home. You can bring these moments into school or send them to stjameseyfs@speherefederation.org.
Reception Zoom session
Thank you to everyone who has attended our recent Zoom sessions to help you support your child at home. Watch the phonics session and the Early Years introduction. (And apologies for the distracting cursor in the latter – maybe that’s a nervous habit of Mr Roundtree!
Home-Link Challenge
Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)
The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is statutory for all schools from September 2021.
It is a short, interactive and practical assessment of your child’s early
literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin
school, using materials that most children of your child’s age will be familiar with.
All Reception children will be participating in the reception baseline assessment (RBA) within the first 6 weeks of starting school.
The purpose of the assessment is to provide the starting point for a new measure that will help parents understand how well schools support their pupils to progress between reception and year 6 / the end of key stage 2.
For further information about the RBA, please see this guide.
Introduction to Reception – Zoom session
We’d like to welcome new Reception parents to our school by inviting you to a short Zoom session on Wednesday 15 September at 6pm. This session will be a 30 minute introduction to Reception at our Sphere Federation schools.
The sessions will outline the recent changes to the EY’s Framework and the introduction of a Reception Baseline Assessment. It’ll also offer you a few top tips on how you can support your child at home.
The session starts at 6pm. It will last around 20-25 minutes, plus there will be a questions and answer session at the end of around 5-10 minutes.
If you’re interested in attending this Zoom session, please either send us a message on the School Gateway app or email the school office. We’ll then email the Zoom joining details out to all those who have expressed an interest.
Watch out for further workshops relating to both English and Maths on your child’s class website page in the coming weeks.