Welcome to Autumn 2! This half term, our theme is light and dark.
We’ve covered lots of important events and topics this week…
Bonfire Night
We learnt about why some people celebrate Bonfire Night, with an introduction to The Gunpowder Plot. The children enjoyed sharing their experiences of Bonfire Night and how they celebrated at home or out and about.
In the construction area, we built replicas of The Houses of Parliament. We explored casting shadows of our models with torches and used colour paddles to make the shadows look like fire!
Diwali
We found out about the Hindu festival of lights – Diwali. Our focus book was Binny’s Diwali by Thrity Umrigar.
We also found out about the festival through sharing non-fiction texts and watching My first festivals.
Take a look at some of the activities we explored, when learning about Diwali.
Our word of the week is: festival.
Maths; identifying and composing 5
In Maths, we’ve been using our fingers to identify 5. We ‘grew our fingers’ using the peas in a pod song.
Five little peas in a pea pod pressed,
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest,
They grew and they grew and they did not stop,
Until one day the pod went pop!
Later in the week, we used 5 frames and 5-die frames to explore the different ways to compose 5.
Phonics
This week, we focused on the new digraphs ff, ll, ss and the single letter phoneme j.
We’ve also learnt the tricky word; as
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We start by identifying which part of the word is ‘tricky’. In as, the ‘s’ is tricky because it makes the /z/ sound.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and we recite this poem 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 Who has seen the wind?
Click the link to watch Reception recite this week’s poem! Who has seen the wind?
Help at home; World Nursery Rhyme Week
Next week, we’ll be celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week.
If your child would like to, we’d love to share a recording of them telling their favourite nursery rhyme in class. Please send your videos to the email address below.
Dates for your diary
Anti-bullying Day and Odd Socks Day- 12.11.24 To support anti-bullying week, please send your child to school wearing a pair of odd socks (Tuesday only).
Maths Stay and Learn – 13.11.24 – 09.00 – 10.00 Please join us in the classroom to watch a short maths session and enjoy some maths activities with your child.
Children in Need – 15.11.24 Non-uniform day for Children in Need.
Swimming
Rainbow class loved their first swimming lesson this week! There were lots of happy faces splashing in the pool on Wednesday. Next week, Sunshine class will be swimming.
On your child’s swimming day, please provide a swimsuit/swim shorts, a towel and a pair of goggles if needed. No floatation equipment is required, as we provide these in school. Your child should still come to school wearing their PE kit.
