Reception Class News

Autumn, Harvest and Henrí Matisse

There was so much going on in class this week, we thought we’d celebrate even more great learning in Reception! Your second Class News post of the weekend! …

Autumn and Harvest

We’ve been discussing the season of Autumn and learning about the Harvest Festival.

Poppy D- It’s when you get in all the fruit and the vegetables… the farmers.

Max- Crops are chopped up by a machine and the machine is called a combine harvester.

We discussed why collections of food are taken in at churches, schools and community centres.

Lewi- It’s going to hungry people who need it.

We also made some Harvest posters and sang some Harvest songs!

Click here to watch Rainbow Class singing Big, Red, Combine Harvester.

Careful Counting

As well as continuing to learn about the numbers 1,2 and 3, we’ve been helping some toys do careful counting after they made some little mistakes in our Maths lessons!

We made sure we only counted each object once and that the number we identified as how many objects we had altogether, was the same as our stopping number. We said what we were counting after each number, to help us slow down (i.e. “one conker, two conkers, three conkers…”)

We used special tagging ‘wands’ to help us count our objects too.

Henrí Matisse Art Project

This week, Reception explored the art of Henrí Matisse. We focused on his ‘cut out’ artwork in particular. We listened to the story Henrí’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter, to learn about the artist’s life and methods used to create his cut outs.

The children chose their colour, painting a whole page. Next, using a stencil, they drew around the ‘leaf’ shape and cut it out. Together, we created a collaborative piece of art on a large canvas.

We can’t wait for you to see what we have created at our classroom drop-in sessions!

If your child would like to learn more about the artwork of Henrí Matisse, Tate.org.uk have some child-friendly videos and resources you can watch at home. Click here to visit now!

 Diary Dates…

 Tuesday 9 November- Maths in Early Years (Zoom)

Friday 12 November, 3.30-4.00- Classroom Drop-in, Rainbow Class.

Friday 19 November, 3.30-4.00- Classroom Drop-in, Sunshine Class.

What a Half Term

It has been a fabulous half term in both Sunshine and Rainbow class.   We are so proud of how well all the children have settled in and have begun their learning journey in reception.

This week, we have particularly enjoyed: dressing up in costumes, making patterns with pumpkins and scooping seeds out of pumpkins.

In phonics, we have learnt the new sounds – o, c, k, ck. We have been using our new segmenting and blending skills to write words.

In Maths, we have continued to deepen our understanding of the numbers one, two and three. We created our own number stories.

In PE, we enjoyed using the equipment to climb, balance and hang. This is all great for our core strength.

We have loved using dough to strengthen our fingers. Check out our different moves.

pat

ball

squeeze

roll

two finger dancing

Have a lovely half term break!

Autumn days are glorious days.

This week the weather has been very kind to us. Our Autumn walks have seemed rather magical with crystal blue skies and sunshine. The children have been so impressive observing the world around them and making links to their existing knowledge.  We saw aeroplanes, tractors, buses, sheep, horses and much more. We collected conkers, sticks, leaves and stones. The children enjoyed using their maps to locate local landmarks. Our learning has been endless and joyful.

Here are a few quotes from the children:

 Keep holding hands-Esmé

Stay with the grown-ups -Ella F

Up there is Chippy’s Pond – Bea

That’s to remember the soldiers – Reuben

Three aeroplanes! WOW! – Raife

I live there!- Stanley

In Literacy, we have focused on ‘The Everywhere Bear’ by Julia Donaldson. Each child planned their own story of where the bear could go. Our children have been most kind and taken the bear to the seaside, a castle, the zoo, soft play, a hospital or a park.

In Maths, the children have been working on subitising numbers 0-3. This is where we show children a number of items e.g. 3 conkers and they can instantly tell you that there are 3 (without counting them).

In phonics we have introduced the new phonemes m, d, g and the Tricky Word ‘and‘. Please find the new sound strip in your child’s bookbag and add it to the treasury tag of sounds.

Home-Link

Can you find the Tricky Word ‘and’ in your books, home, shops or out and about? If you do so,  please send a photograph to our email address: scholesreception@spherefederation.org Thankyou.

Diary Dates

Monday 18 October- Parent Teacher Meetings.

Wednesday 20 October- Harvest donation collections.

Wednesday 20 October- Parent Teacher Meetings.

Thursday 21 October– School closes for half term

Maps, Maths and more!…

This week in Reception, we’ve continued to think about Where we live and have even been creating our own maps!

In Maths, we’ve been comparing quantities- saying which group of objects has the most and the fewest. We’ve also been comparing capacity and exploring this in the classroom:

In phonics, we have now learnt our first six sounds; s,a,t,p,i,n. We’ve started to read words consisting of these letters, by segmenting (sounding out the individual sounds, called phonemes) and blending (reading the sounds all together)

When we are segmenting words, we put sounds onto our ‘phoneme fingers’, then swoop across them to blend. Here is Mrs Allen-Kelly with an example:

Can your child show you how we use phoneme fingers, when reading the words in their word book?

 We used our robot ‘metal mike’ to practice segmenting words. We’ve also started to write some simple words, by segmenting the sounds first.

Here are some more pictures of our busy week, having fun and learning with our friends:

Next week- Local Walk

Next week, the children will explore using maps as we take a short walk in the village. A letter has gone home with your child today. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your class teacher/s. Thank you.

Home-Link Challenge

Following on from our learning in class this week, have a go at comparing capacity in simple ways at home. Here are a few ideas:

 Diary Dates…

 Wednesday 13 October- School Photographer in School (Individual Photos)

Monday 18 October- Parent Teacher Meetings. Please book an appointment if you have not done so already.

Wednesday 20 October- Harvest donation collections.

Wednesday 20 October- Parent Teacher Meetings.

Christmas cards

We have completed our designs, sent them off and now received our sample cards. If you would like to order anything, send the money into school with the order form or using the Gateway app by FRIDAY 15 OCTOBER. Thank you!

Where I Live

This week the children have been exploring and discussing where they live.  We have been discussing the different rooms in our homes and how each home is different. We also learnt the poem – Home by Nancy VandenBerge. We created actions to help remember the words.

Can your child recite it for you?

In Maths, we have explored matching. The children have been finding matching objects which are the same. They enjoyed making matching models, matching objects to the shadows and finding matching pairs.

In Literacy , we have been using our new phonics knowledge to add initial sounds to our pictures.

Check out what else has been happening this week.

Home link

Take a walk around your local area. Can your child spot local landmarks or features. You may choose to make a map of your journey, a bird’s-eyed view of your street or make a model to represent your local area.

All About Me.

This week we have been celebrating our wonderful selves! The children have drawn: self portraits and their families. There have been lots of ‘Talk Time’ opportunities in which children have thoroughly enjoyed telling us about their unique families. Thankyou to those who have emailed a family photograph to us as children have been immensely proud to talk about their family.  We have also looked at different families through the use of a book: ‘The Great Big Book of Families’ by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith .

In Maths we have been learning about the number zero. The children came up with some fabulous number stories about zero.

First, there was two fidget spinners.  Next, I gave them away. Now, I have zero.-Ronnie

First, I had three apples in my tree. Next, they all fell on the floor. Now, I have zero left!-Freya

Perhaps you could come up with your own number stories about zero using: First, Next and Now.

In Phonics we have been listening to sounds all around as well as deciding if our instruments make a high pitched or a low pitched sound.

The children are doing exceptionally well for this time of year. We are very proud of how they are settling into the routines and learning in Reception. Take a look at the learning that has been taking place in our fabulous Rainbow and Sunshine rooms or outside:

Home-link Activity- Week Commencing 27.09.21

Our current learning is All About Me! This week, we’ll focus on our homes and the different types of homes that people live in. Please send in a picture of your child’s favourite part of their house or the front of their house.  You could email the photo to the email address below.

Please also feel free to use the Reception email address any time, to share achievements and learning from home. We’d love to celebrate these in class!

Early Reading

Help your child at home – recent workshops

Thank you to everyone who has attended our recent Zoom sessions to help you support your child at home. Watch the phonics session and the Early Years introduction.

Welcome to Reception: Week 2!

We are so pleased to have all of our children in full-time! They have all settled into Reception so brilliantly and we are very proud of them all. We are enjoying getting to know them and all of their unique personalities and interests.

Take a look at what we’ve been up to this week:

Did you know…

Your child has their very own named space on display in the classroom, where they can choose to display the learning that they feel most proud of!

School library visits and books for home…

Each week, your child will visit the school library with their class. When they visit the library, they will be able to choose a book to share with their adult/s at home. It’s important that alongside teaching the children the skills they need to become readers, we help to develop a love and enjoyment of reading too! Here are some fun ways that you can support your child’s reading at home:

• Have conversations about the pictures in the book- what can you see?
• Introduce the author, illustrator and blurb. Discuss whether you have read any other books together, written by the same author. Does the blurb seem similar to anything else you have read together?
• Ask your child to predict what might happen in the story? What happens after the story finishes?
• Ask your child how the character feels. How do they know? Do the pictures give us clues?
• Ask your child to retell the story in their own words.

Snacks and Water…

In class, we provide a healthy fruit or vegetable snack each day. If your child would prefer to bring in their own snack, please ensure this contains only fruit and/or vegetables and that it is in a named container, which your child can keep in their tray. We are a nut-free school, so no nut products in snack or lunch boxes please.

If your child brings grapes as part of their morning snack, please always ensure that they are cut lengthways.

Water bottles should contain plain water. Your child can choose to have milk with their morning snack, which is free until they turn five. If you would like your child to continue having milk after their fifth birthday, you can contact the school office. The cost of milk is £12 each term.

Home-link Activity- Week Commencing 20.09.21

Our current learning is All About Me! This week, we’ll focus on our families and the way that all families are different. Please send a photograph in, of your child with their family.  You could email the photo to the email address below and we’ll print it in school.

Please also feel free to use the Reception email address any time, to share achievements and learning from home. We’d love to celebrate these in class!

Helping Support Your Child at Home…

Thank you to everyone who has attended our recent Zoom sessions to help you support your child at home. Watch the phonics session and the Early Years introduction. (And apologies for the distracting cursor in the latter – maybe that’s a nervous habit of Mr Roundtree!)

Isolation Home Learning Emails…

This week, you will receive an Isolation/ Home Learning Email. This will be sent each week, to provide home learning activities. The activities should only be used if your child needs to isolate and cannot attend school.

Reminders…

Please ensure all of your child’s clothing and property is clearly labelled with their name. 

Diary Dates…

–Reception: Support your child’s reading– 6.00pm, Thursday 30 September 2021 (Zoom link TBC)

–Individual School Photographs– Wednesday 13 October 2021