Being Healthy
This week, we’ve been learning all about Being Healthy and Reception have thoroughly enjoyed joining in with a range of themed activities.
Tuesday – Online Assembly
We kicked off the week by joining other classes across Sphere Federation for an online assembly focused on healthy living. We explored the Eat Well guide and learned about the different food groups.
The children looked at various packed lunch examples and discussed simple ‘food swaps’ they could make to create a more balanced meal.
We also investigated the sugar content in drinks. Most children predicted that fizzy drinks would contain the most sugar – but they were surprised to discover that a milkshake had the highest amount. Seeing how many teaspoons of sugar were in the drink was quite a shock!
Wednesday – A Visit from d:side
We welcomed a visitor from d:side, who talked to us about our feelings and how to look after our bodies and stay healthy. These sessions are always engaging and informative and the children came away with lots of new ideas for making healthy choices.
Personal Best Challenge
Throughout the week, we took part in our Personal Best Challenge. The children practised throwing and catching a ball, aiming to improve their score each day. It was wonderful to see their determination and how much they improved with daily practice. Well done, Reception – keep it up!
Literacy
This week, we read The Fish Who Could Wish. After reading, the children reflected on their own hopes and wishes as they look ahead to Year One. We had some very thoughtful (and imaginative!) ideas. In our writing, we wrote about some of the different things that we do to keep healthy.
Poetry Picnic
Each week, we learn and recite a new poem together. Saying poems aloud helps us hear the sounds and rhythms of words, which supports early reading skills. This week’s poem is Dance – ask your child to perform it for you!
We’ve learned so many poems this year – does your child have a favourite?
Other learning this week included weaving with paper, writing some super sentences and ‘fishing’ for words to practise our phonics skills.
Reminders
Swimming – Sunshine 16th July
Thursday 17th July Beach Party – Look out for a letter in your child’s book bag!
Carrier Bag – Please send a labelled bag on Thursday in order to send home your child’s books.
Summer disco
We had a fantastic time at the school disco on Friday. We danced and sang to some of our favourite music and played lots of games. Thank you to everyone for coming and as always, thank you for the support of FOSP for the end of disco treats.
WE HAD LOTS OF FUN!
The Snail and the Whale
The Snail and The Whale
We’ve been reading The Snail and The Whale, another book by one of our favourite authors, Julia Donaldson
We’ve been retelling the story in our own words and writing special blackboard messages, just like the snail trail messages in the story!
The book had some fantastic adventurous words to describe landscapes and actions. Our word of the week was humongous. We discussed the meaning of lots of other words too.
Can your child tell you what each of these words mean? They could use the images to remind them.
Transition
On Wednesday, the Reception children had a wonderful visit to their new Year 1 classroom. It was a delightful experience for the children as they met their new teacher and explored their future learning environment.
The children were excited and engaged, participating in fun activities to make them feel welcome and at ease. This visit was a positive step in helping the children transition smoothly into Year 1. They left with big smiles and lots of enthusiasm!
Phonics
Summer 2 week 5 has focused on root word ending in: –er, –est.
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 Sliced Bread
Nell Bank
On Thursday, we set off on our trip to Nell Bank. We began by listening to a story about Pete who liked to be TIDY but maybe a little bit too much.
We worked together safely to clear up a big mess! During this activity, we explored ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and discussed what would happen to litter if it was left.
Afterwards, the children had the opportunity to go on a mini-beast hunt to help Pete find lots of worms. Following this, it was time to help Pete make a new home in the woods. One of their favourite parts of the day (outside of lunch, of course) was the water play area.
Clean Up!
Clean Up!
This week, our story took us on a journey… all the way to Jamaica!
We discussed key words from the story: sanctuary and island.
The book had some great messages about looking after our environment. Linked to this, our word of the week was pollution.
In our writing, we’ve been writing about where our rubbish should go and what will happen to our seas and oceans if we litter.
Artist focus; Alexander Calder
We’ve been looking at Alexander Calder’s mobiles in art this week.
Using Calder’s art as inspiration, we drew around shapes, or created our own shapes, and cut them out of paper.
Later in the week, we used twigs and string to make our own mobile.
Maths
This week we’ve been revisiting careful counting to 20 and beyond- look at our collections of 20!
In provision, we’ve been playing a game of roll and build- subitising the total amount rolled on 2 dice, building that number in a tower and matching to the correct numeral!
Releasing our butterflies!
We released our butterflies on Thursday! It has been magical to see them grow from caterpillars, turning into chrysalis and then emerging as beautiful butterflies. They were keen to start their lives in the great outdoors but one or two of them said a quick goodbye before flying away!
PE; Sports Day
We’ve been practising some different events we will be taking part in on Sports Day!
Phonics
Summer 2 week 3 has focused on words ending in the suffix -ed but sounding like ‘t’,’ id’ or ‘d’ such as helped, floated and stormed.
Please continue to use the Little Wandle sheets, sent home with your child each week.
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 Five Little Peas.
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
More of our learning this week…
Reminders, Messages and Dates
Baby photos – Please send in or email (scholesreception@spherefederation.org) a baby picture of your child to support their learning. We will be discussing how they have grown and changed.
Wednesday 2 July, 10.00-11.30am- Meet your new teacher. Your child will visit their new teacher this morning.
Thursday 03 July- Class trip to Nell Bank.
Friday 04 July, 3.15-4.15pm- Rec/KS1 FOSP summer disco.
Tuesday 08 and Thursday 10 July – 8.35am or 3.15pm – Learning journey drop-in.
Friday 11 July, 9.15-10.30am- Sports Day.
Swimming
Rainbow- 09 July
Sunshine- 02 July
Sharing a Shell
We’ve continued our learning on coastal habitats this week, by taking a closer look at rockpools and some of the sea creatures you may find in them.
Sharing a Shell
We enjoyed reading Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson.
We looked at the characters, events and settings and matched them with real images and text in a non-fiction book. In our writing, we wrote about what you might find in a rockpool.
The book also had some great messages about sharing and how to treat others. Linked to this, our word of the week was thoughtful.
Maths; counting and recognising the pattern of the counting system
This week, we’ve revisited our some of our key counting skills. Here are some of the skills that we have practised:
- tagging each object in a group of up to 10 objects (1-to-1 correspondence)
- knowing number names to 10 and their order (stable order principle)
- knowing that the last number counted gives the total in the set (cardinal principle)
- counting up to 10 things that can’t be seen or tagged, such as jumps, hops, sounds, etc. (abstraction principle)
- understanding that the quantity remains the same when (up to 10) objects are counted in a different order (order irrelevance principle)
- developing strategies to keep track of what has and has not been counted (e.g. rearranging objects into a line, moving objects as they’re counted.
Holidays in the past
We’ve been looking at the way people enjoyed a seaside holiday in the past, specifically in Victorian times. We’ve talked about the similarities and differences with seaside holidays in the present day.
Home Learning – Ask your child what they can remember about seaside holidays in the past.
Phonics
Summer 2 week 3 has focused on:
Phase 4 words ending –s /s/
Phase 4 words ending –s /z/
Phase 4 words ending –es
Longer words
Please continue to use the Little Wandle sheets, sent home with your child each week.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and 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 the traditional rhyming song- The Big Ship Sails.
The big ship sails on the ally ally oh,
The alley ally oh,
The alley ally oh.
The big ship sails on the ally ally oh,
On the last day of September.
The captain said, ‘It will never, never do,
Never, never do,
Never, never do.’
The captain said, ‘It will never, never do,’
On the last day of September.
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea,
The bottom of the sea,
The bottom of the sea.
The big ship sank to the bottom of the sea,
On the last day of September.
More of our learning this week…
Reminders and Dates
Wednesday 2 July, 10.00-11.30am- Meet your new teacher. Your child will visit their new teacher this morning.
Thursday 03 July- Class trip to Nell Bank.
Friday 04 July, 3.15-4.15pm- Rec/KS1 FOSP summer disco.
Tuesday 08 and Thursday 10 July – 8.35am or 3.15pm – Learning journey drop-in.
Friday 11 July, 9.15-10.30am- Sports Day.
Swimming
Rainbow- 25 June, 09 July
Sunshine- 02 July
Seaside Poems
This week, we’ve explored differences and similarities between cities and the seaside.
Literacy
We’ve been reading Seaside Poems– collected by Jill Bennett. We used the poems to explore features of coastal environments- the seaside.
Later in the week, we were introduced to our word of the week: city.
We sorted pictures of cities and the seaside.
We revisited the name of the city we live in and some features that Leeds has, that makes it a city.
In our writing, we also compared the environments of the city and seaside. We wrote about what we would see in each.
Maths
We have deepened our understanding of numbers up to ten by engaging in various activities:
- Combining two parts to form a whole number
- Dividing numbers into two equal groups
- Exploring doubles and non-doubles to understand odd and even numbers
Phonics
This week, we’ve continued to focus on phase 4 words with long vowel sounds.
In provision, we’ve been reading words on boats and matching them to the correct picture.
Art; Watercolour landscapes
We’ve been painting coastal landscapes, using famous existing paintings as our inspiration!
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 called Thunderstorm.
Science
We tested whether foil boats float by constructing them and setting them gently on water. Then we loaded them with counters or toy cars to see how much weight they could support before sinking.
Check out our other learning…
Reminders and Dates
Monday 16 June, 6.00-6.30pm- Zoom: Reception to Year 1 information meeting. This remote meeting is an opportunity for you to meet the Year 1 teachers and to find out a little more about Key Stage 1.
Wednesday 18 June- Class photos.
Wednesday 2 July, 10.00-11.30am- Meet your new teacher. Your child will visit their new teacher this morning.
Thursday 3 July- Class trip to Nell Bank.
Friday 4 July, 3.15-4.15pm- Rec/KS1 FOSP summer disco.
Tues 8/ Thurs 10 July, 8.35am or 3.15pm- Learning journey drop-in.
Friday 11 July, 9.15-10.30am- Sports Day.
Swimming
Rainbow- 25 June, 9 July
Sunshine- 18 June, 2 July
Reception to Year 1 information meeting
As the weather becomes brighter and we near the end of the academic year you may be thinking about your child’s next steps as they journey into Year 1. Moving to Year 1 is perhaps a less significant change for children, and that’s because we’re a happy and healthy place to learn where we all know each other.
A zoom meeting for parent’s starts our transition process, here you will meet the Key Stage 1 staff and find out about the Year 1 curriculum.
The zoom meeting is on Monday 16 June at 6pm please follow the link that will be emailed to you.
The next step is for your child to spend some time in the Year 1 classrooms. They’ll meet the teachers and join in with the learning, they’ll get a taste of what it’s like to be in Year 1. The whole-school transition, later in July, completes the process, by spending a morning with their new class teacher.
This is a really exciting time of year, moving on and taking those next steps whilst continuing to strengthen the effective learning behaviours they have established in Reception.
Cities and Seasides
Ahoy there!
We’ve ‘sailed’ into our last half-term of Reception and are ‘diving’ into our new topic- Cities and seasides.
Think maps, coastal environments and trips to the seaside. Of course, where there’s the sea, there’s pirate fun to be had!…
The Night Pirates
We’ve been reading The Night Pirates by Peter Harris.
(Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off auto play – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.)
This is a story about a group of ‘Rough, tough little girl pirates‘ who take a little boy called Tom, on an adventure.
We looked at some repeated phrases in the story and how the author had chosen to end the story exactly as it had begun.
We had a go at imagining what different characters in the story were thinking, based on their pictures and the events that had occurred in the story.
In our writing, we transcribed our rehearsed sentence (He is looking at the moon.) and then had a go at writing either a repeated phrase from the story or something we could see in an illustration from the book.
Understanding the world; Identifying land and sea on a map
Our ‘Word of the week’ is country. We know that we live in the country of England.
We’ve been looking closely at maps and atlases, both of the United Kingdom and across the world. We’ve been discussing how we can identify which parts are the land and which is the sea.
Maths; Rekenreks
We’ve been subitising, using a special maths resource this week- the Rekenrek.
We learnt to “pause, place, push” the amount we need to represent, moving the full amount in one go (that’s where our subitising skills were put into action!)
We replicated some pictoral representations of number onto the Rekenreks.
In provision, we’ve been practising our maths skills by playing a pirate-y track game.
Music; Being conductors and responding to music
Our music lesson this week saw us responding to music using our bodies- waving our arms like a conductor’s baton, in time to what we heard.
We then had an opportunity to respond to what we heard through art and drawing.
Art; Making maps and observational drawing
We’ve been making our own ‘treasure maps’ in the art area, using some real symbols you might find on a map.
In the discovery area, we’ve been looking closely at some special shells and making some observational drawings, using charcoal.
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 called The Fox
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.
We always look at two words in the poem and share the definition. This week, we looked at the following words.
sly – having or showing a cunning and sneaky nature
trunk – the main woody stem of a tree
Click here to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
Rainy day play
The weather has been out to trick us this week. We haven’t let those summer showers dampen our mood! We play and explore in all weathers. Take a look at our rainy day fun!…
Help at home; Seaside photos
(sent in a text message earlier in the week)
Next week, we’re learning about the seaside. If you’d like to email or send in a photo of your child at the coast, they’ll be able to use it for their writing challenge. Thank you.
Dates and Reminders
Monday 16 June, 6.00-6.30pm- Zoom: Reception to Year 1 information meeting. This remote meeting is an opportunity for you to meet the Year 1 teachers and to find out a little more about Key Stage 1.
Wednesday 18 June- Class photos.
Wednesday 2 July, 10.00-11.30am- Meet your new teacher. Your child will visit their new teacher this morning.
Thursday 3 July- Class trip to Nell Bank.
Friday 4 July, 3.15-4.15pm- Rec/KS1 FOSP summer disco.
Tues 8/ Thurs 10 July, 8.35am or 3.15pm- Learning journey drop-in.
Friday 11 July, 9.15-10.30am- Sports Day.
My Body is amazing!
This week, we wrapped up our topic ‘Life on Earth’ by diving into the fascinating world of the human body.
Using a range of non-fiction books, we shared what we already knew and discovered even more amazing facts about how our bodies work. The children were especially engaged as they explored the many ways our bodies help us live, grow and stay healthy.
In Music, the children listened to a fun skeleton song and enjoyed working as a team to put together a life-size skeleton. (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).
Science
We had a very special visitor on Monday – Professor Myers! The children were excited to take part in a fun experiment all about dental health. Using eggs to represent tooth enamel, we explored how different drinks affect our teeth.
We began by applying toothpaste to one half of each egg before placing them in different liquids: milk, water, cola and fresh orange juice. We talked about the sugar content of each drink and made predictions about which ones would be the most or least harmful to our teeth. It was a great way to see how everyday choices can impact our dental health.
Living and Learning – Healthy Me!
Throughout this half term, we’ve been learning about what it means to be healthy – not just physically, but mentally too. During Circle Time, we explored real-life scenarios, such as why someone might feel very tired at school. The children shared thoughtful ideas, including going to bed too late, not eating well, not drinking enough water and spending too much time on screens.
We’ve played fun circle time games focused on healthy eating and the importance of getting our ‘five a day’. We also discussed the different ways we stay physically active and how this helps both our minds and bodies.
Poetry Picnic
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. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Monkey Babies.
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.
Home Link
We hope that you have a wonderful holiday and if you go on any adventures, please share them with us using our email.
Rumble in the Jungle
Rumble in the Jungle
This week, our focus book has been Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae and David Wojtowycz.
The book is a collection of fun animal poems. Whilst reading, the children enjoyed listening for rhyming words and noticing the patterns made with the words.
Our word of the week is Rainforest. We’ve been learning all about geographical features of rainforests and about some of the animals who live there.
In our writing, we’ve been writing facts about rainforests. Lots of children are challenging themselves to write more and use finger spaces!
Maths
In maths this week, we’ve continued to develop our understanding of the composition of numbers to 10. Using the rhyme ’10 Fat Sausages’, we have found different ways to represent 10.
We have also used 10 frames and dice patterns to show ‘5 and a bit’ numbers to 10.
Phonics
This week we have continued to read longer words as well as compound words such as windmill, handstand and lunchbox.
We’ve learnt the tricky words; there, when, what, one.
Help at home- Please continue to work through the weekly learn at home phonics sheets. We’ll continue to send these home each Friday.
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 called A Little Shell.
More learning from this week…
Reminders and Dates
Friday 23 May- School Closed: Training Day