26th May 2023

Hasn't the first half of summer term flown! 

We've enjoyed the weather again this week and have completed lots of our learning outside - the theme has been dragons. We've painted, made lava and built dens. Inside we've made dragon eggs, constructed castles and used Scratch coding on the iPads to create a dragon world.

We've done some excellent writing and have reviewed the sounds - or, oo, ar and air.

In maths we have been practising adding and subtracting to 20. we have introduced number lines and will continue to use these after half term. 

Homework - in addition to the RWI reading and spelling:

Ask children to make a diary of their half term week - it could be a small picture for each day with a one word (or phrase) caption. 

Lots of children this week have needed help counting out larger numbers from a set. e.g. I've given them a big pile of buttons and asked for 14. You could support your child with this. No bigger than 20 though please.

Counting games like snakes and ladders are excellent too for number recognition of large numbers. 

19th May 2023

What a wonderful week we've had.

In writing, we've written instructions for 'How to catch an evil lizard' based on the book Superworm.

The phonics sounds we have learned are: oy (toy), ir (dirt) and ou (cloud).

In maths we have been learning about shape and rotation through the story 'Grandpa's Quilt.' The children produced some excellent designs and should be able to tell you about triangles, squares (and fictitious diamonds!), and rectangles. Ask them if they remember what a quadrilateral is and to draw a rhombus!!!!! 

In RE we have learned about the story of Moses - focussing on its meaning in the Jewish religion.

I hope you enjoy the photographs of the children learning about dinosaurs. I have been amazed at how the children have learned that dinosaur scientists are called paleontologists and about herbivores and carnivores. 

12th May 2023

Weve had a wonderful week, even though the weather outside hindered our ability to be outdoors as much as we’d like.

Our text this week, and next week is Superworm and we’ve enjoyed learning about it. 
In maths we’ve begun to learn about subtraction. We have thought about what happens when we take one away. We’ve used first, then, next stories and played some logical thinking games involving subtraction.

Homework:

RWI links for reading and spelling have been sent home.

Writing, we are practising recognising and writing capital letters. Please help your child to recognise the capital letters in the alphabet on things around the home and in stories you read to them. 
Maths, we played a great game in maths and I’m sure the children would love to play with your at home. ..

2 players: Line up 10 objects in a row. Each player takes turns to take away either 1, 2 or 3 objects. The winner is the person who avoids taking the last object in the line.

Please encourage your child to talk about the maths that is happening when taking away and also to begin to think logically about how to make their next move.

5th May 2023

This week we have been celebrating ahead of the King's coronation. We have completed some excellent writing about the King and have written invitations to our coronation party.

We have decorated our classroom and the outdoor area, including making the Gold State Coach.

In maths, we have continued to work on our addition skills: adding more by counting on. 

As part of our PE, we made dance routines using red and blue props. 

After our picnic lunch on Friday, we sang the National Anthem. 

In RE, we learned 2 Islamic stories which teach the importance of caring for all of God's creatures. 

Homework.

Phonics Links have been sent via Dojo for reading and spelling.

Writing/ physical development. Please practise more complicated cutting skills e.g. around the petals of a flower. We’ve noticed most children need to work on this… which means more drawing and cutting in school. The children always ask for this so they will be pleased!

In maths next week, we will be comparing lengths. Encourage your child to talk about length using the words longer, shorter, longest and shortest.

28th April 2023:

We've done some excellent writing this week. Children have written facts using their newly acquired knowledge of minibeasts. 

In maths, we have been practising adding. We used the First, Then, Now 'story' method. Children found finding the missing value particularly challenging. e.g. 2 + ? = 4.

As part of our continuous provision children have enjoyed using the water wall to wash away Incy Wincy, painting minibeast stones, creating symmetrical butterfly pictures and using the iPads to create code on Beebot and Scratch programs. 

In RE, we learned the Sikh story of The Milk and the Jasmine Flower; then we made our own Jasmine flowers from tissue paper. 

We are sure you'll enjoy looking at the photographs below...

Homework 28th April:

RWI links for reading and writing homework have been sent via Class dojo

Maths homework: Task 1: write the numerals 1-9, fix any that are incorrectly formed. Task 2: Look for 2D and 3D shapes in and around the home - can you find and name: triangle, square, circle, rectangle, cube, cuboid, pyramid, cylinder and sphere?

Please also remember the topic project is due in a few weeks time. Our display is getting fuller now and the work on show is excellent. 

** SPECIAL HOMEWORK

The children in Reception class have been enjoying using Miss Wood's sisters special cocoa playdough. We've had chocolates and chocolate waffles (though we couldn't eat them, they smelled delicious). Our other school playdough is now past its best and keeps crumbling apart. We would be very grateful if any parents and children would like to make some playdough (any colour - and you can even try an added scent if you'd like) and donate it to the class. This can be the maths and English homework for the week as the children will need to help communicate and measure. Please see the recipe below or use your own. 

Topic homework for this half term - to be brought into school on or before Friday 12th May

Topic homework is to learn about a minibeast that lives either in the UK or elsewhere around the world. Your child could:

• Make a model of the creature they have learned about
• Send in a photograph on a mini-beast hun and/or reading about the creature.
• Bring in a piece of artwork. 

Please help your child to remember 1 fact about their minibeast to share with the rest of the class (encourage them to speak in a full sentence).

The photos/ art/ models and a transcript of the fact will be put on display. 

I look forward to seeing what your child has done at home. 

Miss Wood

21st May 2023

We have had a wonderful first week of the summer term - and the skies have been blue and bright too.

Children have worked very hard in their new phonics groups and I can already tell they are going to make a great amount of progress.

In English, we have been writing names of farm animals, instructions for how to steal the cow and police report forms - all inspired by our book What the Ladybird Heard. 

In maths we have been writing numbers to 20 and beyond and have begun to learn about adding amounts together using the count all approach. 

in our We're not Scared topic, children have completed lots of activities about minibeasts. We have had the indoor and outdoors areas open. the children have enjoyed completing the writing, drawing and fine motor activities; playing in our theatre role play; hunting for bugs outside; painting ladybirds and exploring in the sand and water.

Homework - 

RWI phonics links have been sent and reading books as the reading and spelling homework.

For maths, we are continuing to practise recognising numbers to 100. First, focussing on numbers to 20. See if your child can write the numbers you say to them. 

English - get your children to retell and perform this weeks story using the song link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXGzF8zeD7o