Science – planting
We have a brilliant time planting seeds and bulbs in 1A. In January we planted some mystery bulbs. We kept them inside the classroom for a few months so that they were warm. They have started to grow and have some strong stems. We are excited to find out what type of flower they grow into.
We also spent time planting sunflower seeds. We put soil into our pots, made a hole, put the seeds in the hole and covered them back up. Our star of the day is in charge of making sure they are watered each day in class. They will stay inside for a few weeks and then we will put them in our garden alongside the bulbs!
Help at home by encouraging children to help with planting seeds. Can they discuss the order in which a seed is planted and discuss a plants basic needs?
Growing and changing
Children enjoyed learning about how they’ve grown and changed from being a baby this week. We looked at our baby and toddler photos in group time; thanks for emailing them to us. We talked about some of the things that the children can do now , that they couldn’t do when they were a baby such as talking, riding a bike and eating food.
To continue our learning about ‘growing up’, we helped to take care of the babies in the water tray, carefully giving them a bath and washing their hair.
As we drank our milk at snack time, we continued to talk about how to keep our bodies healthy and how to look after our teeth. We used toothbrushes in the sensory area to clean the dirty teeth and we listened to some songs all about how to brush our teeth. We talked about how important it is to brush them twice a day.
This song helps us to remember how to brush our teeth.
In our group times this week, we learnt about the number 5. We looked at 5 candles on a cake and put 5 objects into a 5 frame. We could see that there were no spaces left now.
Help at home: As you play with your child have a go at including some of these things into your play and conversation.
- Can you count 5 objects? Remember to line them up and touch/point to each one carefully as you say one number for each item.
- Can you count to 5 and show 5 on your fingers?
- Can you spot the number five on house doors or car number plates?
- Count 5 objects from a pile and remember to STOP when you get to 5.
Next week’s learning
Next week, we’ll learn all about celebrating Easter.
Nursery Rhyme of the week
Can you join in with the rhyme at home
Sound of the week– Ll
Reminders
Green group’s parent teachers consultations are on Wednesday 01 April via zoom. You will receive an invite for your ten minute appointment via the school office.
If you have not yet booked an appointment please speak to a member of the Nursery Team.
Nursery closes for the Easter break on Thursday 02 April returning on Monday 20 April.
Jack and the Beanstalk
This week, we continued re-telling the traditional story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
Children have loved orally rehearsing the story and have become more confident at using the story map to help re-tell all the key events.
Help at home: Ask your child to use the story map and to re-tell the story for you at home. We’re sure you’ll be impressed with their story telling skills!
Our word of the week was miniscule, which means something extremely small. We linked it to ‘mini’ and talked about minuscule objects like seeds and grains of sand.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been doubling with the help of our Numberblock friends – Double Trouble!
Children developed their visualising skills by looking carefully at dot patterns and describing what they could ‘see’ in their minds. They used their subitising skills to recognise amounts without counting and explored the idea of equal groups.
Through practical resources, pictures and familiar patterns like dice and fingers, the children learned about doubling numbers up to 10.
In this week’s maths Rainbow Challenge, children demonstrated their knowledge of the composition of number 7. They investigated the numbers within 7 e.g. seeing that 7 can be made of 5 and 2.
Phonics
This week, we’ve reviewed the phase 3 sounds and we’ve practised reading:
- longer words (lightning, mammoth and earring)
- words with s in the middle /z/ (visit, poison)
- words ending –s (cheeps, cooks and boots)
- words with –es at end /z/ (foxes, fizzes)
Poetry Basket
Each week we learn a new poem and recite it every day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line, helping us to become better readers. This week’s poem is called Hungry Birdies.
Gardening
Reception made the most of the lovely spring weather by helping to weed and prepare some of our garden area. They worked together to clear spaces, making them ready for planting after the Easter holidays. Children were really keen to get involved and showed great care and enthusiasm. Watch this space for how you can help us next term…
Egg reminder!
It’s our annual Egg Rolling competition on Thursday 02 April (see email for further details). We would be grateful if your child could bring to school a decorated, hardboiled egg on that day, if they would like to take part in the competition. Thank you!
Maths: dividing and multiplying with fractions
Children in Year 6 have been thinking about how to represent number sentences using pictures. They have been telling stories to help them understand the concept of dividing a fraction by a whole number.
Living & Learning: I know the importance of a healthy diet
Children discussed the Eatwell Guide from the NHS. They designed a day a food that would fit into the guide.
Help at home: Discuss dinner options with your child. What would their ideal healthly meal be? How could you switch out an item to make your meal even healthier?
Learning Journey Drop-in
Thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to join us this week to look at your child’s learning journey book. We’ll be inviting you back to view these again on specific dates in the summer term, but they are also available at any time in the classroom if you would like to take a peek.
A few parents and carers asked about the written observations and the numbers that were written next to them. Our Early Years Curriculum Guide describes our curriculum and explains the age-related expectations for children in Reception. Please ask if you have any questions.
Oliver’s vegetables
This week we have explored vegetables and herbs. In the creative area, we did some observational drawing of different vegetables and looked at the shape and colours as we drew.
In the sensory area we used our sense of touch to investigate frozen peas at the beginning of the week. At the end of the week we had lots of herbs to explore, we smelt, looked closely and touched thyme, basil, mint, rosemary and coriander.
In the play dough area, we rolled tiny balls of dough to make peas and counted out the correct number to go into each pod.
In the maths area, children looked at lots of carrots and sorted them by length. There was lots of conversation using different vocabulary related to size. Look how long this one is! This carrot is tiny, it’s very short. Your carrot is longer than mine.
Lots of children have now taken home their beans or sunflowers to continue to grow and care for. Children have enjoyed learning how to take care of their plants and the importance of caring for the world around them.
Hasn’t it been wonderful to see the sunshine this week! Once the sun makes an appearance our outdoor water play becomes a very popular area. We enjoyed pouring, filling and exploring the resources. Hopefully this is the start of some lovely weather.
Help at home.
We have been thinking about positional language in our maths. Using words such as “above,” “below,” “next to,” “in front of,” and “behind.” We used toy characters and placed them in different positions.
Can you give your child an instructions including some positional language when playing? For example, “put the car in front of the house.” Then let them be the teacher and give you the instructions too.
Next week
Nursery rhyme of the week
Sound of the week
Bb is for bear.
Reminders
We still need your baby and toddler photographs for our learning. . If you haven’t had a chance to yet, please see our previous post and e-mail us one if you can.
2C Update
Red Nose Day-Thankyou for all of your kind donations. The children have enjoyed wearing red to read in the library.
We have been working on our defense, dodging, kicking and throwing skills through our class game of ‘Mouse Trap.’ All classes in KS1 have been enjoying this PE game!
In Science lessons we are enjoying the discipline of Biology. This week we have been for a Spring walk. We spotted lots of blossom, daffodils and buds on trees. We have been comparing the different seasons. Our Poem of the Week is by William Wordsworth and it expresses the beauty of daffodils.
Help at home: Ask your child to read or recite the poem to you.
Jack and The Beanstalk
It’s been another busy week in reception!
Jack and the Beanstalk
This week, we’ve been reading the traditional story ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
We discussed how this story has been re-told many times and some versions of the story are different. Just by looking at the front covers, we could spot similarities and differences. We’ve been orally rehearsing the story and we’ve begun to use a story map to help us.
This week, our word of the week was gigantic. We discussed other new and interesting vocabulary from our story too: poor, crumbling, clutched, furious.
Writing sentences based on the story:
“Jack is coming up.”
Building a beanstalk and reading the tricky words:
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practice tricky words. Here’s another you could try.
Tricky Word Jigsaw
A game to help the spelling of tricky words
- Write 5 tricky words on paper.
- Chop the words into individual graphemes.
- Ask your child to reconstruct the tricky words, by calling them out one at a time.
It doesn’t need to be as fancy as the picture above, a plain piece of paper and hand-writing the words will work just as well!
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 Spring Wind.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Maths
One of our Rainbow Challenges this week was to create a pattern and represent it in our own way. The children have been very creative in thinking up their own patterns.
Outdoor play
The sun has finally decided to share it’s rays with us. We’ve enjoyed some time outdoors this week looking at and enjoying the Spring weather.
We’ve also been using amazing team work to create and adapt our own obstacle courses. We listened to each other’s ideas and negotiated where we could place the resources within the obstacle course.
Help at home: Look for the signs of Spring when you are out and about. Think of new or interesting words to label and describe your surroundings eg warm, sunny, sun-drenched, breezy, colourful, tulip, daffodil, blooming, sprouting, blossom, floral etc
Dates for your diary:
This coming week we have two learning journey drop ins where you can come and look at your child’s learning journey book. The dates are Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th.
Red nose day
We’ve had a fantastic day today for Red Nose Day! Thank you to all parents and carers for sending children in with non-uniform and a donation to the Comic Relief charity.
Help at home by discussing what Comic Relief is all about an how the money raised supports those living in poverty.
When is Red Nose Day in 2026 and how did it start? – BBC Bitesize