I’ll huff and I’ll puff!
Nursery have had a busy week of learning. The children have been engrossed in purposeful play within our circle time’s and within provision. As we’re getting to know everyone, we like to talk about our families and home life.
To encourage children to tell us more about their family life, please e-mail or bring a photograph of your child with their family to Nursery next week. Our email is: stjamesnursery@spherefederation.org
We will use these to create our own family trees to display in the classroom.
Our focus story this week has been The three little pigs. The children really enjoyed listening to the story and thinking about what might happen next. We used our themed tuff tray to role-play the story in provision.
Just a little reminder…
Have a happy and healthy weekend!
Miss Ward
Maths: Place Value
This half term, we’re focussing on Place Value in Maths. Numbers are very important so it is important we know everything we can about numbers 0-100. We have been using base ten, place value charts and part-part-whole models to recognise which number represents the ‘tens’ and which represents the ‘ones’. We’re now thinking about how a number can be partitioned flexibly and we’ve used base tens and part whole models to show this practically.
Help at home: draw a part whole model and partition numbers to 100. Use the stem sentence to consolidate the learning.
Topic: Seas surrounding the UK and maps
We’re really enjoying our Geography topic. We’ve enjoyed using an atlas to locate and name the four seas surrounding the UK.
Help at home: Can your child name the four seas surrounding the UK? (Irish Sea, English Channel, Atlantic Ocean and North Sea)
We’ve also used Google Earth to help us understand what a map is and we’ve looked at some examples of maps to help us learn how to read a map key.
We looked at a map and used the key provided to answer the questions. We then added some of our own symbols to the key and thought about why maps are useful.
Help at home: Talk with your child about how maps are useful to help us to keep safe? What should you do if you were lost and you didn’t have a map? Here are some of the responses we talked about in class.
“They show you where to go to keep you safe. Like where the hospital or fire station is.”
“They help you if you are lost!”
“You could ask someone around you for help (if there is someone to ask).”
“You should stay where you are and your grown-ups will come and find you.”
RE – The Creation Story
This half term, we are reading, learning and thinking about The Creation Story (This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip).
In our lessons so far, we have ordered the Creation Story and thought about the following questions:
We’ve also looked at two pieces of art by artists who used The Creation Story as inspiration. Thinking about the following questions together:
‘Breisheit’ (In The Beginning) by Jackie Olenick
‘Premordial chaos’ by Judy Racz
“It’s all the days of the story in one painting. I can see the sea, the sky and the land”
“I like how the colours are nice and bright”
“I can see the different days from the story in each picture”
We then created our own piece of art.
Help at home – Ask your child to retell The Creation Story to you. What do they think the story tells us about God?
How can we look after our world?
This half term, we are thinking all about The Creation Story. We have been learning what happened on each of the seven days that the world was created by God.
This week, we thought about how it feels when people do not respect things we have made. This led us to consider how people do not always look after the world God created. We looked at pictures of pollution and thought about rules God might have for his world.
We then made some fabulous posters about how we should look after the world.
Reading with prosody
Each week, the children are learning a poem. With daily practise, along with added prosody, the class can recall the poem off by heart by the end of the week.
Here is the poem for you to enjoy with your child.
Read by Mrs Freeman
Living and Learning: I know that rights come with responsibilities.
I have a responsibility to ……pick up litter – Olly/Woodylook after my friends – Poppy/Esmelook after my dog – Athenalook after my dad – Kupalook after my sister – Daisyput rubbish in the bin – Alexato look after our family – Arthurto look after animals – Oscarto walk the dog – Harry/Freddyhelp our friends when they fall over – Alfieto listen – Vincent
The Big Book of Families
The children have had another fantastic week settling into Reception, they’ve really begun to make some lovely friendships and have continue to learn our daily routines. We’ve had lots of fun exploring and learning this week- we’re so proud of them!
A big Thank you to all the grown-ups who came to our ‘Welcome to Reception’ meeting on Wednesday. It was fantastic to see so many of you! Any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Phonics
This week the children have learnt the phonemes (the sounds a letter makes) i, n, m and d. The children have been listening to and saying words that begin with these phonemes. They have also been practicing writing the graphemes (the written letter).
Poetry Basket
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite the poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line.
Our first poem is Chop Chop.
Chop, Chop, Choppity Chop.
Cut off the bottom and cut off the top.
What there is left, we put in the pot.
Chop, Chop, Choppity Chop.
I am sure your child will enjoy reciting and performing it for you, they have done so well learning it in school.
Super Subitising
This week we have been practicing our subitising skills. This means, we have been looking and saying how many objects we can see – without counting one by one! Ask your child how many spots they can see by subitising.
Families
Thank you so much for the family photos already sent in, the children have really enjoyed sharing their home experiences with their friends! We have been reading ‘The Big Book of Families’ where we have talked about how different families can look.
Help at home
Today, your child has come home with a ‘learn at home’ phonics sheet. The sheets link to our current learning in phonics and will be sent home each Friday. Please support your child by practising their new sounds and reading skills at home. Your child will also be coming home with their reading diary and information explaining how to log on to the ebook, your child’s personal log in details are stuck inside the front cover, under the dinosaur! They will be visiting the school library next week to pick a reading for pleasure book to bring home too.
Reminders
We will be doing PE on Monday, so please send your child to school wearing their PE kit and trainers. They will stay in this all day.
Stay and Learn Sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child Learning in school.
Phonics Phase 2- 12.10.23- 8.50am-9.30am
Maths- 15.11.23 2.20pm-3.00pm
Phonics Phase 3- 16.1.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
Early Writing- 05.02.24 2.20pm-3.00pm
World Book Day 07.03.24 -8.50am-9.20am
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’ learning journal with them.
Times- 8.45am-9.15am and 3.15pm-3.45pm (Tuesday and Thursday)
Week beginning 11.12.23
Week beginning 25.03.24
Week beginning 08.07.24
Don’t forget to email your pictures from home stjameseyfs@spherefederation.org thank you, have a lovely weekend!
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Miss. Feldman
Hello Everyone!
The children have all been busy settling back into nursery routine and we also have some new faces!
Here’s what we’ve been getting up to over the past few weeks …
Notice
- Library day is on a Tuesday. Your child will bring home a story from our library once a week so this must be returned the following week.
- PE day is on a Wednesday. Your child may come dressed in a PE kit (joggers, t-shirt, jumper, trainers) just something comfortable to move around in.
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Ward
Help at home
Help at home
Geography – Where in the world am I?
- Ask your child to point out major UK cities on a map.
- We have been locating mountains and rivers and I am sure they would love to show you where these are too.
- We have also been learning about the capital cities of the United Kingdom, ask them about what they have learnt and any facts they remember.
Times tables
We are having a big push on consolidating our 2’s, 5’s and 10 times tables as well as learning our 3’s and 4’s.
- Encourage your child to access TT Rockstars.
- Practice for our tests every Friday.
Reading
- Hear your child read through the week and sign their reading record.
- Encourage the use of expression in their reading.
- There are lots of extra ideas, of ways to help, in their reading record books.