Reception parent/carer survey
At St James’ Primary School, we’re always keen to hear your views. We hope that you let us know any questions, comments and concerns (as well as causes for celebration!) whenever these crop up, but we like to gather the views more generally so we can keep reviewing and improving what we do.
This short survey is just for you to think about your child’s experiences in our Reception class. (There’s another annual survey at the end of the year for all parents/carers.) It’ll only take a few minutes or so. You’ve plenty of time to do this – the deadline is Friday 28 February 2025.
We can’t guarantee to meet the needs and wants of every parent / carer, but we do assure you that we consider all the points raised and aim to act on specific points that are raised by many, or a useful idea raised by just a few.
Previously, based on your feedback, for example, we alternated the days Stay and Learns were held – to give all parents an opportunity to attend.
Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. We’re looking forward to reading your views.
The Magic Paintbrush
This week our focus book has been The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson.
We talked about what we would paint if we had a magic paintbrush and wrote down our ideas.
We’ve be learning about Lunar New Year and have enjoyed making our own dragon in the workshop area that we showed in our whole school celebration assembly on Friday. We’ve also used our funky fingers to make snakes to mark the start of the year of the snake.
Poetry Picnic
Each week, we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. This week’s poem is A Little House.
I’m going to build a little house,
With windows big and bright,
And chimneys tall with curling smoke,
Drifting out of sight.
In winter when the snowflakes fall,
Or when I hear a storm,
I’ll go and sit in my little house,
Where I’ll be snug and warm.
We also recited this in our assembly and impressed the whole school with our wonderful prosody.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on our final sounds of phase 3: air, er
We’ve learnt the tricky words; are, sure, pure
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith.
Penguin Huddle
In our literacy lessons this week, we enjoyed reading Penguin Huddle by Ross Montgomery. In the story, the penguins huddled together during an icy storm but it was so cold that they got stuck together and couldn’t break free!
Our word of the week has been: huddle.
We located the UK and the Antarctic on a map and found their locations on a globe. We then talked about how they compared to find similarities and differences.
Maths -composition
This week, children consolidated their understanding of the composition of 5 using the familiar rhyme ‘5 Little Speckled Frogs.’ By singing the rhyme and moving the frogs during each verse, children investigated part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 5 can be made of 3 and 2.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 3 has focused on the digraphs ur, ow, oi and the trigraph ear.
We’ve learnt the tricky words; my, by, all. Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We have also played Tricky Word Bingo this week, which was great fun.
Help at home: please go through the home learning sheet with your child.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Mr. Smith.
Lost and Found
We have had another fantastic week looking at our focus book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
Our word of the week has been climate and we have been geographers. We have looked at the globe again and talked about the equator being the hot line.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on the digraphs oo, oo, ar, or
We’ve learnt the tricky words; was, you, they
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
In class we have also been
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called I can build a snowman
I can build a snowman,
I can build it high.
I can build a snowman,
Up into the sky.
Maths; the staircase pattern
In Maths, we’ve been looking at counting and ordinality- specifically, the ‘one more’ relationship that creates ‘the staircase pattern’.
We were introduced to the concept by the Numberblocks, before moving on to create our own staircase patterns in small groups.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Mr. Smith.
Lost and Found
Our story this week has been Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers and the weather has certainly helped us learn about cold climates.
In the story, a boy finds a penguin at his door and goes on an adventure to try to find his home, as he thought he was lost. Just like the boy, we explored and learnt about where penguins live and extended our vocabulary by learning a new word: iceberg. We used the globe to find Antarctica and enjoyed finding other interesting places.
“I have found my name Savannah!”
“When I’m big I’m going to go to Tokyo with my dad, I want to see the tall buildings!”
Phonics
We have begun learning our Phase 3 sounds. This week, we have learnt four new digraphs/trigraphs ai,ee,igh,oa.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Let’s Put on Our Mittens.
Let’s put on our mittens,
and button up our coats.
Wrap our scarves snuggly around our throats.
Pull on our shoes and fasten the straps.
And tie on tightly our warm woollen hats.
Open the door, and out we go.
Out, into the soft and feathery snow.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Maths – super subitising!
This week we have been practising our subitising skills. This means, we have been looking and saying how many objects we can see – without counting one by one.
Notices
Stay and Learn – Tuesday 14 January 2.20pm – 3pm
Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home. This session is all about Phonics (phase 3).
Happy New Year
Happy New Year everyone! This half term our theme is Fire and Ice.
Our first focus book is Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
Our word of the week this week is iceberg and we will be exploring freezing water and making ice. We will use a globe to help us to find the land and the sea and make our own Antarctic themed tough tray. We definitely have a great fun filled week ahead!
If you have any photos from the Christmas break or from the snow today please send them to: stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
We can’t wait to see you all tomorrow,
Mrs Kendrew, Mrs Rippon, Mr Smith and Mrs Small
The Christmas Story
Christingle
The children enjoyed making Christingles last week, we talked about the different parts to the Christingle and what they all mean.
Help at home: ask your child if they can tell you about the Christingle?
This week our focus book is The Christmas Story.
Our word of the week is Nativity.
We’re so excited to be sharing our nativity story with our grown ups this week, we’ve polished off our star costumes and are definitely ready to shine in our performances on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Phonics
This week in our phonics we will be focusing on our tricky words, please look out for a set in your child’s book bags to learn over the Christmas break.
Send your photos to: stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Miss. Feldman and Mr. Smith.
Owl Babies
This week our focus book has been Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.
We’ve really enjoyed the story reciting the repeating line ‘I want my mummy!’ Our word of the week has been swoop and we’ve enjoyed using it during the week.
“The owl swoops to catch a mouse.”
“I can swoop when I put my arms out.”
We’ve also continued exploring nocturnal animals this week.
Help at home: Ask your child if they can explain what a nocturnal animal is and if they can name any.
Phonics
Autumn 2 week has focused on words with s /s/ added at the end (hats, sits), words ending s /z/ (his) and with s /z/ added at the end (bags)
We’ve learnt the tricky words; we, me, be
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Wise Old Owl.
A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke.
The less he spoke, the more he heard.
Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?
Maths; counting, ordinality and cardinality
In Maths, we’ve revisited careful counting. Making sure we say our numbers in the correct sequence (ordinality) and stopping ‘at the stopping number’ (cardinality).
Help at home: The Journey of a letter
Next week, we’ll be reading The Jolly Christmas Postman and learning about the journey of a letter when it has been posted.
To help with our discussions, we’d love to share some photos of your child at their local post box.
Send your photos to: stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org
We are also asking you to send in one stamp for your child, to support our learning next week.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman and Mr. Smith.
National Santa Dash
On Friday, all children took part in the National Santa Dash. This event was all about having some fun whilst being active.
We’ve decided to extend this event: we’ll be holding an Easter and Summer Dash, too! Our goal is to allow pupils to set some targets and improve on their personal bests through the year.
Here are some photos – enjoy!
How to Catch a Star
This week our focus book has been How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers.
The children have really enjoyed thinking of different ways to catch their own star.
“I would use a lasso to catch a star.” Joey
“I would eat 9 peeled apples and collect the seeds and plant them to grow a tree. I would climb the tree to the top and get a star.” Carson
“I would use a really big ladder and climb to the top.” Ella
Our word of the week has been reflection and we looked closely at shiny and dull objects. We also looked at the artist Claude Monet who created lots of artwork looking at the Houses of Parliament.
Phonics
This week, we focused on the new digraphs sh, th, ng and nk.
We’ve also learnt the tricky words; she, he, of, go, no
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We start by identifying which part of the word is ‘tricky’.
Please continue to revisit this week’s sounds, by using the learn at home sheets. Thank you.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Shoes.
Before I jump into my bed,
Before I dim the light,
I put my shoes together,
So they can talk all night.
I’m sure they would be lonesome,
If I tossed one here or there,
So I put my shoes together,
For they are a friendly pair.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and please don’t forget to email any pictures from home to stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman and Mr. Smith.