Summer 1 2023

Friday 26th May 2023

Group one phonics: tw, scr, spr, str, spl and tricky words come and some.

Group two phonics: Review: ai, or, igh, air. They have been writing labels for pictures using these sounds.

This week in English we have been writing ‘I can see…’ sentences. We did it for a party scene and then later in the week we did it for a rainforest scene. The children really challenged themselves and it was great to see what they can produce independently.

In Maths we reviewed the subtraction game where we have 20 counters each and then roll a dice and take the amount away and then re count how many we have left.. this was a good reminder of teen numbers too. We then went on spatial awareness and had a Numicon square frame and had to roll a dice and fit the correct Numicon pieces into the square frame. It involved lots of rotating and rearranging, like completing a puzzle. We then had tangram puzzles to complete. We had to cut out all of the different triangles and then try to arrange them to fit correctly inside of the square frame – it was a very tricky challenge that required a lot of perseverance!

In PSHE this week we thought about how we could be a good friend and we decided to create a special friend recipe. We decided that we would like our friends to have qualities such as: be respectful; a good listener; gentle; comforting and many other super qualities. We has a story about Starry-Eyed Stan who wasn’t a good friend in the beginning but then he changed his behaviour and was kinder to others and helped them get better at singing.

We have taken part in lots of Sport’s day practice this week for PE to get us ready for the main event – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

We have enjoyed two nature walks this week and collected lots of leaved and flowers to create some butterfly sculptures – they were very detailed and beautiful. We then had colour sheets and had to go on a colourful scavenger hunt on the field We found pink flowers, green leaves, brown pine cones and lots of other lovely and colourful items.

I hope you have a truly wonderful half-term break and look forward to welcoming you back for the final half-term of the children’s reception school year! I cannot believe how fast it is going.

 

Miss G x

Friday 19th May 2023

Group 1: sp, st, sw, tr and then Friday was a games session of sorting alien and real words.

Group 2: reviewing air, ure, er, writing ‘I can hear you.; and Friday was reading a non-fiction book together ‘Summer Storm’.

 

This week children have been looking further at Humpty Dumpty and looking at words that rhyme. We made up some funny rhyming couplets and then wrote our own nonsense rhymes. We had to choose a picture of Humpty Dumpty either on a mat, a chair or a bed and then write a rhyming sentence. Eg ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a chair, Humpty Dumpty has green hair’. The children challenged themselves to control their letter size and try to write on the line. So many more children remembered to use finger spaces and every single person remembered a full stop at the end!

In Maths we have been looking at taking away. We had ten frames with a partner and had to listen to some first, then and now stories and  take away the number of counters and then count how many we had left. We enjoyed reading The Shopping Basket where the animals kept stealing the items and counting how many we had left. We played a fun subtraction game on TopMarks too.

In PSHE we thought about how we could control our emotions. We watched a video of a little boy getting very angry and shouting and throwing things at his mum who had asked him to tidy. The children suggested that he try some rainbow breathing, having some time and space to breathe, asking for a cuddle, listening to music or having a nap to help him to get calm and re-regulate his emotions.

In both of our PE sessions we have been Sport’s Day prepping – the skipping skills are progressing superbly. The children are remembering to look where they are going when they are balancing and remembering to bend their legs more to be extra springy and higher in their jumping. We really enjoyed the obstacle course and going underneath the net.

In RE we reviewed the special places for Muslims and Christians and thought about what we would like to have from a special place. We decided we might like it to be colourful and comfortable and set about creating our own space for quiet and reflection. We thought it should have nice materials and some pretty pictures on the wall and not a lot of noise near it.

The children have loved playing with blue water this week and creating their own fish tanks and rock pools. We added some little toy fish which made it extra exciting. The children have enjoyed having the ink pads out this week and creating some stamp pictures. Children have been setting up all of the measuring cylinders with different coloured water and using the pipettes to pretend that they are conducting science experiments. Our caterpillars have now gone to the top of the container and settled in their J shape which means it’s time to change! One of them formed its chrysalis before our eyes and kept shaking as the change takes place. We are ever so excited!

Please wear lots of sun cream during the weekend and a sun hat.

 

See you on Monday,

 

Miss G x

Friday 12th May 2023

Group 1: sk, sl, sm, sn and tricky word: so.

Group 2: reviewing ow, oi, ear and a language session where they wrote the sentence: A brown cow. Tricky word: be.

 

In Maths we have been adding and using first, then and now statements to help us work out the problems. We have been using counters and number lines with ten frames to help us find the total. We have read some lovely stories alongside such as: Quack and Count and Mr Gumpy’s Outing.

 

In English we came in to find some warning tape, a wall made of blocks and a broken egg! Humpty Dumpty had visited the classroom and fallen off the wall. We had a letter from the police telling us to figure out why he was up the top of the wall in the first place. We had some wonderful suggestions such as he was helping a friend who was stuck at the top of the wall or that he wanted to watch the sunset. One child even suggested that he wanted to see the top of a beautiful tree. We then had another letter from Little Bo Beep telling us that she had been a witness to Miss Muffet running across the top of the wall after seeing a spider.. was he pushed or was it an accident?!

 

In PSHE we looked at words and decided if they were kind or unkind and talked about how the words may make us feel. The unkind words make us feel like giving up and make us feel sad but the kind words make us feel motivated and like we can do anything. We looked at bubbles and discussed how the bubbles could be like unkind words – once they are said they cannot be taken back and put back in the bottle.

 

In PE we continued our sport’s day prep and looked at jumping techniques to assist with sack jumping. We had a go at learning to skip and had to pull the rope over our heads and then step over it to help us get ready for skipping fully. In our other PE session we had a go at being pirates and walking the plank before jumping off, making sure we landed with bent legs to keep ourselves safe.

 

In RE we looked at churches and mosques and talked about things that were the same and things that were different. They both have people lead services but they have different names. A person who leads a service in a Mosque is called an Iman. We talked about why people choose to go and visit these special places. We decided it’s because they feel closer to their God, that it’s a quiet and peaceful place where people can think and because people don’t feel alone in these places because it’s like a family to them.

 

In our continuous provision this week, the children have been exploring play doh and using different tools. We have had ‘tap tap’ out and children have been trying to copy pictures of scooters and cars for example. There have been some counting challenges where we had to be detectives and find how many nursery rhyme characters were in a picture. The children have really enjoyed seeing how much the caterpillars have grown and cannot wait for them to turn into butterflies. The children excitedly took their cress home too and lots said they are going to try it in a sandwich and use their confidence value.

 

Please keep reading. I cannot believe we only have two weeks left of this half-term already and then we will be in our final stretch of Reception year!

 

Don’t forget we have a full five day week again next week – eeek!

 

Miss G x

Friday 5th May 2023
 
Group 1: gr, pl, pr, sl and tricky word like. 
Group 2: Review: ar, or, ur and tricky word was. We also wrote a sentence during a language session: A bee on the tree. 
 
This week we finished off Jack and the Beanstalk and predicted what we thought would be inside of the golden egg. We had suggestions such as a unicorn, chocolate, a big van and lots of other lovely suggestions. We finished the week writing a few sentences about our Church trip. The children wrote two sentences and some even challenged themselves to use 'and' instead of writing two separate sentences!
 
In Maths we have been focusing on shapes and how a shape can match even if it has been rotated to look different. The children have completed Numicon puzzles where they had to find the piece to match the outline. They have created dog pictures using the Numicon outlines too and also copied cube models that a partner has made. This class are very good at jigsaw puzzles and rotating pieces to fit the right gaps!
 
In PE we have been completing some obstacle courses to help us prep for Sport's day and develop our skills of balancing, changing speed to jump over obstacles and keeping a ball on a bat just like the egg and spoon race. 
 
We have been creating Coronation sticks using red, white and blue ribbons and we decorated sticks that we found on the field. We had to use a ruler to make sure they were the right length. We have also been cutting and sticking King Charles' face onto toilet roll tubes and cutting the tubes to create him a crown. 
 
In RE we have discussed our trip and how the church is a special place for Christians, and now we are looking at what a special place for Muslim people is. A Mosque. We looked at lots of pictures of what they may look like inside and what people do inside of one.
 
In PSHE we looked at what we can do to solve conflicts within our friendships. Instead of getting angry and cross at people or hurting them, we could go somewhere quiet for some deep breaths, we could say sorry, give our friends a hug or even ask them if we can start again. 
 
Have ANOTHER wonderful bank holiday weekend. The children are looking forward to seeing Saint Edward's beautiful crown on the TV!
 
Miss G x
Friday 28th April 2023

Group 1: dr, fl, fr, gl and tricky word have.

Group 2: reviewing ee, igh, oa, oo and tricky word her.

We have had a very busy week this week! We have planted our cress because the Giant in the story decided that he needed to eat some healthier food. We followed some instructions and all wrote our name labels for our pots and then dipped cotton wool in water, poured on some seeds and then put our pots in a place where they should get some sun and light. They haven’t started to germinate yet but we have been watering them and checking daily. We took photos of the stages and have been writing instructions so the giant can do it himself. The children have written four sentences beside the photos. I am so proud of them. Many have used capital letters, finger spaces, full stops and their sound knowledge.

 

On Tuesday we looked at features we would expect to find in a church, ready for our trip that we had on Wednesday. We found lots of the things we saw such as the font, pews, crosses and an altar. The children were so well behaved and really enjoyed their picnic on the beach. We also got to make Easter gardens with the open the book ladies too and now have them in our outside area at school.

 

In PSHE Jigsaw Jenie was upset that he didn’t have any friends or people to play with so we came up with some things he could do to fix this. He could ask people if he could play their game and use his Confidence. We thought about if we saw someone on their own, that we could go and invite them to play with her. We then worked in pairs to cut up some body parts and build ourselves a new buddy!

In PE we have been balancing beanbags on our heads and trying to take big and small strides with it on our heads. We then played a game where we had to throw the beanbags that landed in our area, into the other team’s area and see who had the least when the whistle blew. It was tricky stuff!

Maths has seen us matching numerals to amounts, focusing still on numbers 11-20. We are able to identify more of those numbers now. We have also played snakes and ladders and had to say what number we landed on as well as recognise the numbers on the dice. Today we had to do a counting challenge and write the missing number, using number lines to help us remember what the number looked like. Careful counting is always a super thing to practice, and it helps us to learn the sequence of numbers as we sometimes get confused with these larger numbers.

Yesterday saw the arrival of our new class pets – five teeny tiny caterpillars so we have been talking about the life cycle of a butterfly and what we can expect to happen over the coming weeks.

Enjoy the bank holiday weekend and stay safe.

 

Happy reading!

 

Miss G xx

Friday 21st April 2023 
 
Group one: bl, cr, cl, br and tricky word said. 
Group 2: review ch, sh, ng, th, ai and wrote the sentence: I can sing. Tricky word: all.
 
In Maths we have been looking closely at the numbers 11-20 and how they are made. We have been making them with numicon using the ten pieces and the smaller pieces. We have been playing turn taking counting games and spotting mistakes in number lines to familiarise ourselves with what the numbers look like. 
 
In English we have been looking at Jack and the Beanstalk and talked about how naughty Jack was for ignoring his mother telling him not to climb up the beanstalk. The children were so shocked that he stole some things and the children made lost item posters with labels for the giant's missing things. The children also wrote a food list for the giant because we saw him eat only chicken three times and this isn't a healthy diet!
 
The children have been showing off their super cutting skills by cutting out giant beanstalks that are hanging from the classroom ceiling. The children have also been playing in our new garden centre role play and counting out the coins for how much things cost. 
 
Outside the children have been challenging themselves to write 'I can see..' Spring themed writing. We have been really enjoying the sunshine and have been making different sized and shape bubbles. The children have been working collaboratively to creae giant pirate ships using the milk crates in our outside area. 
 
In PSHE we have been thinking about who is in our family and what their special jobs are. Some of our mummies change the beds, some daddies cook the dinner and then we thought about what our jobs are. Some of us shared that our job is to tidy away our toys or to put our shoes away. 
 
In PE we pretended to be different animals who moved at different speeds and in different directions. The funniest one was a jellyfish because they dart around really fast. We talked abaout small and large strides and how far we get with them.
 
We started off our new RE topic by thinking about things that are special to us and places that are special to us. This is to lead on to our trip on Wednesday where we will be visiting the local church because it is a special place for some Christians. 
 
It's the final term of the reception year so please keep going with name writing and reading. 
 
Have a restful weekend, 
 
Miss G x
 
Friday 9th June 2023

Group one: phase 4 language sessions to apply all of their phase four consonant blend knowledge.

Group two: Review ear, introduction to phase 4 and some consonant blends and we wrote the sentence ‘Can I have a plum?’.

We have just finished up the week with our Beach Tribe trip. I could not be prouder of Class Plym and Class Cremyll for how they conducted themselves in front of the public and the BeachTribe leader. They have solved riddles, created beach sculptures and talked about beach safety. The children played lots of games too and enjoyed having their lunch in the sunshine.

This week we have started our new book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The children have enjoyed retelling the story and counting all of the food that he ate. We liked making links to the catterpillars that we have just had in class. The children worked in pairs to story food into healthy and unhealthy and then the children worked in pairs to write labels for all of the food that he ate in the story.

In Maths we have been looking at doubles. We have been singing a really catchy doubling song and have been using dominoes and numicon to help us visually see double an amount and help us to count the total. We played a fun game too with dice and a partner and had to try and roll a double and say what they added up to.

In PSHE we started to look at our body parts and labelled a big outline of a body. We talked about external and internal organs. The children knew lots!

In outdoor learning we made stick and leaf caterpillars by threading leaves onto sticks.

Please keep reading over the weekend