The National Railway Museum
On Monday, the children had a fantastic time at The National Railway Museum. They were very excited to go on their first ever school trip – especially travelling there by coach! We were super impressed with how well-behaved the children were. Well done, Reception class.
The children enjoyed looking at different trains and making comparisons of old and new. They had lots of fun watching the miniature railway and it led to lots of great discussions about trains, tunnels and transport. The children especially enjoyed sitting on the Japanese Bullet train.
To end our wonderful visit, we drew our favourite train of the day!
Literacy
We’ve been reading The Hundred Decker Rocket, by Mike Smith.
This story is about a girl called Ivy who sets off on an expedition to space- expedition is our word of the week! On the way, she meets some very messy aliens. When her rocket breaks down, the aliens help to fix it and make their own deck.
The story inspired lots of discussion around keeping our planet clean and why this is important.
In our writing, we designed our very own rocket deck that we will be making next week- this is where we need your help…
Please send your child into school with an empty shoebox next week. The children will be creating their very own deck, based on their designs.
Computing; Beebots
We’ve continued exploring Beebots. Beebots are a fun, early coding resource. We program the bee using directional buttons. The children had to pre-plan the algorithm they needed to enter, to successfully get the bee to its intended location (for example, a specific spot on the carpet)
Living and learning; Celebrating differences
Our living and learning statement this week is: I know we’re all the same and we’re all different.
On Wednesday, were were visited by Lindsey from Diversity Role Models.
The children listened to the story Mixed by Arree Chung
a charming and thought-provoking picture book with characterful illustrations and humour. Follow the colours as they overcome their differences in this sweet tale of acceptance and celebrating difference.
The children loved the story and it introduced us to some new, important vocabulary; diversity, harmony, vibrant.
The children had some thoughtful answers to Lindsey’s questions:
Why is being different good? “’cause we all like different things”-Lola
What would happen if we were all the same? “it would be confusing”- Robyn, “it would be boring”-Delilah
World Book Day
Thank you to the parents and carers who were able to join us for our stay and read session on Thursday, for World Book Day.
As part of our celebrations, the children enjoyed talking about their favourite books from home.
Another highlight of the day was when our friends from years 5/6 came to class to read with us!
On Tuesday, the children took part in a live story and draw-along with the author (Swapna Haddow) and illustrator (Aditi Kakade Beaufrand) of The Night Before Holi
As well as an opportunity to enjoy a new story, the children learnt about this Hindu festival, which welcomes the arrival of springtime.
Phonics
This week, the children have reviewed air, er and longer words that contain double letters.
Help at home; phonics challenge
Write these words on paper and ask your child to underline the double letters before reading them.
hammer shimmer cannot chatter muffin
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practise tricky words. Here’s another you could try…
Secret password
Write different tricky words on paper and stick them next to different doors around the house.
Each time your child enters or leaves a room they must press and say the tricky word password.
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 was Pancakes by Christina Rossetti
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. Can your child re-tell this week’s poem to you?
We hope you enjoyed watching the children recite this week’s poem aloud, in LIVE ACTION during our stay and read on World Book Day!
Dates for your diary
Reception’s Class Assembly- Thursday 13 March, 2.45pm
Stay and learn: Number Session 2- Tuesday 18 March, 9-10am This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child learning in school. This session is our second with a focus on maths.
These dates are also stuck to your child’s classroom door or window to view whenever needed.