Reception Weekly Updates on Learning 2023 - 2024

Friday 19th July

In literacy this week, we have been concentrating on the story of Thumbelina. We imagined what it would be like to be no bigger than a thumb. The children were amazed that Thumbelina had emerged from a flower. We completed a character description, thinking about how Thumbelina looked, her character and who she loved. We filled out a diary entry for her to describe how she was feeling when she was lost in the forest – we completed it in the first person and used some fabulous language to bring it to life. Finally, we looked in more detail at the lives of moles (one of the characters in the story). The children have really enjoyed all of the Traditional Tales that we have studied this half term.

In maths following on from our work on the composition of number, we have been focusing on the number bonds for numbers between 5 and 10.  We have been remembering that with number bonds we only use two numbers to make the total. We have been learning all the bonds to 5 by heart and then starting to become as comfortable with the numbers from 5 to 10.

For our Understanding the World we have been reading Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson and Emily Gravett. We have been noticing the differences between prehistoric times and modern times. The children made some interesting observations about what life must have been like for Cave Baby.

In RE, as a school we have been creating a new Catholic Social Teaching display in the school. Each class chose a character, and ours is Luc the Deer, he stands up for Human Dignity. The children collaged with a mix of papers to show a deer’s markings and then finished with special written messages of Luc, human, dignity and CAFOD.

It has been a great week!

Friday 12th July

In literacy this week, we have been reading Hansel and Gretel. We wrote setting descriptions about the witch’s gingerbread house and what sweet treats we would envision on it. We also wrote in speech bubbles about what the characters would say at different parts of the story.

In maths we have been reviewing how to double numbers to five and beyond. We have been listening to stories that deal with the concept of doubling and using objects, our fingers and our mental skills to practically double numbers.

In RE, we have been discussing the CAFOD Catholic Social Teaching principles and talked about Luc the Deer and the principle of human dignity. We are working together as a year to create a beautiful collage of Luc the Deer which will be part of our school’s RE display.

This week we have had a very busy Wednesday. We went to spend time with our new teachers from September and did some fun activities with them. After that we walked to the Cathedral for the Year 2 Leaver’s Mass to celebrate their achievements. Then we had Celebration Evening with our parents who got to look at our wonderful work from the year.

We also had fun at our drama workshop on Thursday where we used movement and dance to express a character.

Fingers crossed that the sunshine continues and we have luck on our side for Sunday!

Friday 5th July

In literacy this week, we have moved on to the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs. We compared 2 different versions of the story to notice and list the similarities and differences. We rewrote the story in booklets independently, noticing the beginning, middle and end of the story. Then, we revisited the idea of a ‘twisted’ tale, how characters can be changed or introduced that change the story, while keeping the main recognisable events. The story we listened to was: The True Story of the Little Pigs by A Wolf. We then put our own ideas into how we could ‘twist’ the story.

In maths we have been focusing on the composition of number. A total can be made up from any number of groups. This includes the number bonds which are only two numbers to make the total. We worked on making our own combination of numbers to reach a total and then to find a missing number. We used counters and our fingers to help us solve these.

In RE, we have been learning about the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Putting People Most in Need First. We discussed Popokotea, the CAFOD character to represent this virtue and our understanding of this principle, based on Popokotea’s Story. We learnt about how CAFOD helps communities in need around the world and wrote about what we had learnt.

This week we have had our fantastic Sports Day! With the sun shining, all the children participated in the event with great enthusiasm and skill. Everyone tried their best and all the support from families helped them to keep up the energy. The picnic was super as well, much fun was had by everyone. What a wonderful event!

We have had a really fun learning week!

Friday 28th June 

In literacy this week, we have been learning with the traditional tale Jack and the Beanstalk. We imagined what the castle might have looked like and wrote about what we would have liked to find inside. Then we also wrote independently about what we hoped our magic beans would grow outside our windows. We listened to different versions of the story and discussed the similarities and differences.

In maths we have been focusing on number bonds. We were given a number and had to record all the number facts that we could to represent our knowledge of the number bonds for it. Some of us even extended our learning by recording subtraction facts related to the given number. During our carpet sessions we were also exploring the composition of number, by understanding the smaller numbers that bigger numbers can be made up of.

In RE, we have been learning about the Catholic Social Teaching principle of The Common Good. We discussed Chikondi, the CAFOD character to represent this virtue and wrote about our understanding of the Common Good, Based on Chikondi’s Story.

This week we have been celebrating Art Week! We learned about the French artist Camille Walala, who is a street artist and has painted some buildings in London. We looked at how her work uses geometric shapes and bold colours to make an impression. Then we created out own prints in the style of Camille Walala. It was lots of fun!

We have survived the heat this week and stayed as cool as we could. Most of us had hats to help protect our heads from the sun so that definitely helped.

We have had a really fun learning week!

Friday 21st June

In literacy this week, we have continued to learn about traditional tales. We finished off studying The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin. The children created story maps to show how the story develops from the beginning, onto the middle and to the end. We have moved on to a new traditional tale: The Billy Goats Gruff. The children discussed together how we know it is a traditional tale including features such as the setting, the talking animals, the bad monster Troll and the happy ending. We then imagined and drew our own troll.

In maths we have been focusing on odd and even numbers and sharing. Practically, as a class we shared out counters, children and toys and then continued this independently. We are beginning to understand that an odd number of items cannot be shared between two people. We have been identifying the odd and even numbers to 10 and beyond and looking for the patterns in the numbers that help us to identify which they are. We practiced this by completing a red and blue pattern to match the odd and even numbers.

In RE, we have continued to explore the story of The Good Samaritan, role playing the characters in the story, putting into words what each of the characters may have been saying and feeling. We considered and wrote about how we could be good neighbours in our own lives. Jesus taught that everyone is our neighbour and we can be thoughtful, kind and helpful in many situations in our lives.

This week we have marked World Refugee Day with a school liturgy. This was an opportunity to learn about why some people are no longer able to stay in their own countries and seek refuge in another.

On Friday, we celebrated World Music Day. We made an instrument called a ‘rainmaker’ in class and then we all had the opportunity to play them all together. We had to decorate our cardboard tubes, choose beans and lentils to go in them and then seal them at both ends. We experimented with the different sounds we can make with them. Rainmakers originate from Chile, South America so as part of our Understanding of the World we looked at the region on Google Maps and identified Chile.

We have had a really fun learning week!

Friday 14th June

In literacy this week, we have been talking about traditional tales. We discussed settings and characters from familiar stories that we already know. Then we read a traditional tale that is less familiar to most of us called ‘The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin.’ We wrote menus for the main character and created fact files about some of the animals in the book.

In maths we have been practising the skills of doubling numbers. We are working on remembering our double facts to at least five. We used numicon to help us and our fingers to help understand the concept. Then we put our knowledge to practise by adding spots onto ladybirds, butterflies and dominoes to show our understanding and solve the double fact.

In RE, we have begun our new topic of Dialogue and Encounter. We read the scripture of The Good Samaritan and sequenced the story to retell the events. We used our writing skills to record what we knew about this story that Jesus preached to others and created our own ‘helping hand’ to go on our display.

This week has been Healthy Eating Week! We have completed a lot of engaging and educational activities such as, creating healthy food plates for the character in our literacy story and taking videos of our friends exercising for one minute. We also discussed the importance of eating fibre and cut and stuck together fibre rich snacks. One day we focused on hydration, trying to drink a full bottle of water in the morning and then again in the afternoon. We talked about ways to reduce food waste and on Friday we tried new fruits and vegetables during our snack time to add variety to our diets.

We have had a busy but fun week!

Friday 7th June

How lovely to welcome everybody back to school after a super half term holiday. Lots of children seem to have grown – perhaps a combination of the sunshine and rain during the week!

In literacy this week, we have been enjoying the text Naughty Bus. We have been considering the story, filling in the details that are not explained and deciding what we liked most about the text. The children have created story maps, they have recorded their thoughts about the book and created their own mini books giving their favourite parts of the book.

In maths we have been practising the skills of sharing and comparing amounts. This has included practical sharing activities, predicting whether a given number of items can be shared equally between 2, 3, 4 and 5 and using the language of more and fewer to compare quantities of items.

In RE, we have celebrated the end of our topic: To the Ends of the Earth. During the topic we have spent time learning about the Ascension of Jesus to heaven and the fulfilment of God’s promise to send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The children know that the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the languages and confidence to share the word of God with everyone in the world. We considered how we could also continue that mission, thinking about how our own actions can reflect God’s love for us. We also talked about how some people find themselves in danger and without a home and become refugees. We wrote a prayer to ask God to help the refugees get safely to a new home.

On Wednesday we were lucky enough to be visited by former Paralympian Vanessa Wallace. When she was competing, she took part in the shot putt events. She gave a very inspiring assembly and then worked with each class. She encouraged a range of throwing activities to improve their skills and to practise working with a partner. The children really enjoyed the experience.

On Thursday we all came to school in the colours red, white and blue to help us remember D-Day which happened 80 years ago on the 6th June 1944. The children learnt some facts about D-Day and we said prayers to remember the soldiers, sailors and airmen who were involved in this campaign.

What a busy week!

Friday 24th May

We have had such an exciting week! In literacy we have been making creations with our boxes and other junk modelling. We had to listen to and compromise with our partner to complete our project. We used tape to attach and added bits and pieces to enhance our designs.

On Tuesday we celebrated Cultural Diversity Day. We all talked about celebrations we have in our families and then drew pictures and wrote about one of our favourites. We learned that we are all unique and our families may do different things but that we love to learn about each other.

On Wednesday we had an amazing day at Hyde Hall on our educational visit. We took a coach and all had an indoor picnic lunch. We explored the theme of plants by planting sunflower seeds, sketching flowers, mixing herbs, doing rubbings with weird and wonderful seeds and looked at skeletons, snake skins and nests that have been left behind in the woods. We also went on a colour hunt and collected leaves and petals to sort and created a nature bookmark.

Thursday we had a special Games Day where we took part in a range of PE tasks. It was lots of fun as well.

In maths we have been working on a range of mathematical skills such as ordering numbers and thinking about more and less. Then we discussed what it means for a number to be odd or even, and worked on memorizing doubling facts and understanding the concept.

We have talked about what happens when the parish family gathers at mass. We looked at photos of people at church and wrote a list after sorting out what we do there and some activities that we do not do when at mass.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy half term break and look forward to seeing everyone back on the following Tuesday.

Friday 17th May

This week we have been continuing out literacy lessons with our Power of Reading text ‘On Sudden Hill’. The story, which follows the emotional journey of its main character Birt, has reached a fantastic outcome. We have been introduced the wonderful box creation called Mr Climbfierce, made by Shu for Birt. Birt has realised that he can have as much fun with Etho and Shu as he did with just Etho. The class have been using descriptive language to write about Mr Climbfierce, doing freeze-frame role playing – describing their emotions as one of the characters and plotting Birt’s different emotions on a timeline of the story. The classes have showed a really confident understanding of Birt’s experiences.

In maths this week we have continued to focus on subtraction. We have kept a lot of practical activities for the children to practice their subtraction, remembering that they need to put the larger number first and then subtract the smaller number to reach a total. Then the children had to ‘test’ a subtraction: to complete it to discover if the given answer was right or wrong. We used counters to support our learning.

This week in RE, we have been learning that many people in the world have great challenges in their lives, particularly refugees. The children added their own person to a class artwork showing all of the people around the world. We then wrote a prayer, asking God to take care of all the people in the world.

We undertook another TAPS science investigation, this time making predictions and observations about mixing different liquids into water: squash and oil. The children were given the vocabulary of: mix, dilute and separate and then had to suggest what they thought might happen with the mixtures. Did they make a correct prediction? Could explain the outcomes?

We have been colour mixing for our creative activity this week. Practically mixing primary colours to see which secondary colours they would create.

Fingers crossed for some more sun this weekend!

Friday 10th May

This was such a fast and sunny week! We need to remember to bring in hats and have our grown ups put sun cream on us before school so that we are ready for this lovely weather.

This week we have been continuing out literacy lessons with out Power of Reading text ‘On Sudden Hill’. We have been trying to empathise with characters by role playing and writing letters from one character to another. We were focusing on identifying how the characters felt at different parts of the story and thinking of times when we may have experienced those feelings. We are working really hard at planning and recording sentences which can be read by others.

In maths this week we have been focusing on subtraction. We have completed activities by using children, objects and tens frames to help support our understanding of numbers and the concept of taking away. Then we chose our own numbers to solve as a subtraction challenge. We used counters to support our learning.

We have continued learning about the Pentecost story during RE. This week we drew pictures of Pentecost, made our tongues of flames and created liturgical dances to reflect on the scripture.

We have also chose our own collage resources and created pictures of whatever we wanted, planning what we wanted to make and carefully choosing appropriate materials.

During PE we have been focusing on aiming and throwing to a target, as well as using skills to catch bean bags.

On Thursday we went to the Junior school for mass. This was really exciting and we enjoyed seeing where we will end up in a few years.

We are hoping to enjoy this sunny weekend!

Friday 3rd May

Well, we have all enjoyed having a little bit of sunshine this week! Class RR loved watching the Class RS liturgy with the whole school on Tuesday. What a fantastic and informative liturgy all about Mary. We are going to be saying the Hail Mary prayer everyday during May, The Month of Mary.

In Literacy, we have started to explore the friendship of Birt and Etho in our Power of Reading book: On Sudden Hill. They are best friends who love to share their ideas and make up fabulous games involving their large boxes – today a pirate, tomorrow an astronaut. Then a new friend, Shu, joins them and Birt is confused about how he feels. We explored how Birt might be feeling and why through role play and writing diary entries as though we were Birt. We included some features of a diary entry: writing in the first person and including our emotions.

In Maths we continue to work on addition, this time trying to identify the important information in a number problem and solve it. This has included identifying the two numbers that need to go together and independently solving it. We have using counters, number lines, our fingers and our knowledge of number facts.  Well done everyone! We extended this task to ask children if they could say whether a given number sentence was correct or incorrect. Now that we are becoming confident adding two amounts together, we are starting to introduce subtraction.

Our new RE topic, To the Ends of the Earth, focuses on the period of time following the death of Jesus. This week we were looking at the Pentecost. We read the scripture and discussed the sequence of events. The children imagined how the disciples must have felt frightened when they were waiting together in Jerusalem for God’s Gift. Then, how their emotions must have changed when the Holy Spirit appeared to them and filled them with confidence and joy. We wrote about the sequence of events in the Pentecost.

This week for our Understanding of the World, we have been considering the different houses that people live in around the world and in our own community. We have talked about the features of houses and drawn pictures of our own homes. The children also explored ways of drawing the inside of our homes by drawing them in cross section.

We have loved sharing our pictures of ourselves as babies and toddlers (homework, 22.04.24). All those who had pictures were able to speak in full sentences to describe how they were different now, what they could do now and how they had changed. Keep those fabulous pictures coming in if you have not yet sent them. These can be emailed to foundation@st-helens-inf.essex.sch.uk or posted on Tapestry.

Friday 26th April

We had a lovely, but cold week, with a highlight definitely being RR’s liturgy. They all did brilliantly and RS was enjoying watching the performance and preparing for their liturgy next week.

In Literacy, we have started a new Power of Reading book: On Sudden Hill. We are slowly revealing parts of the story. We know the names of two of the characters are Birt and Etho and we know they like to play with boxes. We then explored using boxes in our play and even wrote about what we would turn our own boxes into. Furthermore, we wrote captions for photos of ourselves in boxes.

In Maths we have been focussing on addition. We have read word problems and then solved them using a first, then, now model. We are using our knowledge of number facts, our fingers and counters to solve the problems. We are becoming confident at adding two groups together!

We have begun our new RE topic which is called To the Ends of the Earth. This topic focuses on the period of time following the death of Jesus. This week we read the scripture about Jesus’s ascension into heaven. We then used our DT skills to create a cup to represent heaven and we use a string to pull Jesus up. We also wrote about how the disciples may have reacted when they saw Jesus rise into heaven.

This week we read information about bees and painted pictures of bees. We shared some of the interesting facts we learned with our friends on the carpet. Our bees will go on our PSED display as we are making a friendship garden and have written qualities of friendship on flowers. We are all hoping for a warmer week next week…especially the adults!

Friday 19th April

It was a great pleasure to welcome all the children back to school after a super Easter holiday – so many of them have visibly grown over the break! We are all looking forward to the fun and exciting learning opportunities in the term ahead.

In Literacy, we have started a new Power of Reading book: On Sudden Hill. In preparation for the text, we have been considering our friendships this week. We have chosen a friend to draw, written about what we like about playing with different friends and considered which qualities make a good friend.

In Maths we have been spending time revising, exploring and memorising our number bonds to 10. There have been opportunities to enjoy this practically, instructing passengers off and on the bus – working out how the different groups make up the 10 passengers. We have also been finding the missing number that would make up the number 10 and solving word problems involving the number bonds.

We have concluded our RED topic, Desert to Garden. This week we considered how things we have in our lives – do we need them? Or, do we just want them. Then we moved on to consider how Jesus sets us the example and encourages us to help others who have trouble meeting their needs. We thought about how the St Helen’s school community help others through collections for the Brentwood Foodbank and the Penny collection for CAFOD. As a class we learnt about the work did in Uganda to provide fresh water for a village. We discussed ways that we can be Good Water Citizens and wrote about what we can do to conserve water.

We have been searching for signs of Spring in our school grounds, noting the things we can see, hear and smell. In addition we painted pictures of school blossom, using cotton buds to create the flowers.

Friday 22nd March

This week we continued our exploration of Yucky Worms. We learnt how worms travel through the soil and why they might move up and down through the soil (to stay damp, to avoid flooding of tunnels, to eat and to stay warm.) In addition, we considered whether we might become a wormologist – how do we feel about worms now?

In Maths we have been looking at doubles and odd and even numbers. We have been sorting items according to given criteria and our own. What is the same about the items and what is different? This helps us to decide which group items might fall into.

We have continued to learn, understand and retell the events of the Easter Story. We moved onto Good Friday this week. The children were learning about what happened to Jesus before his crucifixion. They considered how Jesus must have felt and how he asked his Father, God, for his help to be strong. The children also considered times that they might say a prayer, asking God for help.

We have also been rehearsing our Palm Sunday Assembly to tell the first part of the Easter story to Years 1 and 2 on Monday. The dry weather this week has allowed us to investigate our flower bed further for worms and we have been keeping an eye on our wormery.

Friday 15th March

This week we were learning more about worms using our Power of Reading text, Yucky Worms. We learnt about what worms eat and then wrote menus for worms. We also learnt about how worms help the soil and make plants grown stronger.

In Maths we have been working on double numbers. We used our fingers and dice to represent doubles. Independently, we have been counting out objects on one half of a plate and then doubling them, writing a number sentence to show what we have done.

We have continued to learn, understand and retell the events of the Easter Story. We moved onto the Last Supper by reading the scripture and acting out the story. We related the scripture to the words and actions we see and hear at mass.

For Science Week we took part in different investigations, exploring our scientific skills. We made jelly and used double the water in one bowl to see what would happen. We also used photo paper to create pictures and then watched as they disappeared with exposure. We also made butter by shaking cream. It was a super fun week!

Friday 8th March

This week we took a break from our Power of Reading text, Yucky Worms. Instead we focussed the whole week on our World Book Day text, The Day the Crayons Quit. Our activities included role playing the crayons to say how they felt, trying to express their various emotions with our words and voices. We made crayon puppets to continue our role play. We also chose our favourite colour and explained what we would use it to colour. On Thursday we all dressed in the colour of a crayon to celebrate. It was a very fun week.

In Maths we have been looking at how we can make amounts to 7. We identified the number bonds to 7 and showed them on our hands. We thought about how we could add numbers together to make 7 and then take them away to get a smaller amount. This is all consolidating what we have already learnt and extending it to larger numbers.

In Phonics we are revisiting our digraphs and trigraphs and working to recognise them in words. We also wrote words, phrases and sentences including these sounds. Our sounds this week were: ee, igh, oa, ar. Our words of the week were: about, could, make, take and after.

This week in RE we have been starting to learn about the Easter story. We listened to the scripture, Mark 10, 9-10, recalling the events of Palm Sunday. It was a time of celebration as Jesus came into Jerusalem. The children made palms and we acted out the arrival of Jesus on the donkey. The children wrote sentences to retell the story of Palm Sunday.

Friday 1st March

This week in Literacy we began reading our new Power of Reading book called Yucky Worms. Firstly, we thought about how yucky worms are and placed our names on a scale to represent this. Then we received a letter from a worm called Waldo who wants us to learn interesting information about worms. We even went on a worm hunt in our green area! We carefully dug up lots of worms, comparing them and counting them. Then we wrote information that we already know about worms and thought about what we would like to know about worms.

In Maths we have been making comparisons between numbers. We have counted out toppings to put on our own paper pizzas. Then we compared our pizzas with our friends, ordering them in sequence. We have also been practising subitizing and recalling our number bonds.

We have been using some of the recyclable materials we have in class to create junk modelled flowers. We chose from a range of materials, thinking carefully about our choices and design. They all look amazing!

In RE we began our topic of Desert to Garden. We read the scripture of The Greatest Commandment and recorded how we could show love to our neighbours.

We have had a lovely first week back after half term!

Friday 16th February

This week we continued our exploration of Handa’s Noisy Night. We answered comprehension questions about the events, characters and settings in the book; we read sentences that tell the story and put them into the correct order of the story and we also role played the main characters.

In Maths we have been looking at how we can add amounts to 5 to make bigger numbers, ordering those numbers and counting out a given number from a larger amount. This is all consolidating what we have already learnt and extending it to larger numbers.

At the beginning of the week the classes discussed Lent and all the children had made a Lenten Promise. On Wednesday the children attended the Ash Wednesday Service, marking the start of Lent. We also finished our RE topic: Galilee to Jerusalem this week. We considered how the school shared and helped others within our community, just as Jesus helped and shared with his. We remembered the collection made for Brentwood Food Bank in the autumn term. The children explained how foodbanks worked and who could make use of them if they needed to – everyone!

It’s been a very busy and fun half term, learning so many new things. We wish you all a very happy and restful half term holiday.

Friday 9th February

This week in Literacy we began reading Handa’s Noisy Night. To begin, we discussed the characters and setting of the story. Then we talked about nocturnal animals and wrote fact files about some of the animals that feature in this story, after voting on which animal we would like to learn about. Outside, we matching some of the animal names with their pictures and sounds in the black out tent, using torches.

In Maths we have been using the vocabulary more than, fewer than and equal to when comparing amounts. We had different objects and practised sharing them out with a friend, using the maths vocabulary to describe what we could see. Then we had a go at sharing an amount out equally.

We have had a busy week completing activities on e-safety week and Children’s Mental Health week. We made a happy jar with things that make us feel good and we also discussed what personal information should not be shared online. We also shared what it means to feel proud and drew pictures of things that we are proud of ourselves for. We also read a story about Digiduck and talked about how he learned about safer internet choices.

On Friday we celebrated Chinese New Year by creating paper chain dragons and having a musical parade around the school. What a busy and fun week we have had!

Friday 2nd February

This week in Literacy, we have been retelling the story of Handa’s Surprise, verbally as a class, then individually. We needed to think about the beginning, the middle and the end of the story to get it in the correct order. Again, one of our targets this week was to remember to leave finger spaces between our words so that we can read our writing back.

In Maths we have continued our work on the composition of numbers to five. We have been creating different ways of making 5 using counters on dice patterns and recording what we have discovered on whiteboard. We then went on to make different combinations of two groups to make numbers to 5, to 8 and to 10. We had to try to record what we had discovered and started writing number sentences.

In PSHE we have been learning about keeping healthy. This week we focused on how to keep our teeth healthy. We shared that we needed to brush our teeth at least twice a day. This would brush away any food or sugars left on our teeth. We know that we need to visit the dentist regularly so that he can check how well we are brushing our teeth. Finally, we discussed the best foods to eat and drinks to help our dental health, AND the ones to avoid!

During RE the scripture we learnt the Glory Be prayer. We discussed how it is a prayer of glory and joy, telling us that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will always be loving and guiding us. The children created paintings to express how they had responded to the prayer and the wrote about how the Glory Be made them feel: safe, secure, loved, happy, excited.

In PE we have been working on controlling the movements of a small ball and we even enjoyed some sunshine while we did this.

Finally, we had a fabulous dance workshop on Monday helping us to learn about Chinese Lunar New Year. The children were able to follow dances using parasols and fans. They also became the Dragon, working together to move around the room.

Friday 26th January

This week in Literacy, we have been learning about some of the African animals in our Power of Reading text Handa’s Surprise. We wrote fact files about elephants, zebras, giraffes and ostriches after reading and watching information about them. One of our targets this week was to remember to leave finger spaces between our words so that we can read our writing back.

In maths we have been learning about the composition of numbers, focussing on the number five. We have been painting number bonds, singing about them and representing them using fruit. An important part of our learning this week was explaining how we know and comparing our representations to others.

In PSHE we have been learning about keeping healthy. This week we discussed different ways that we enjoy exercise in school and when we are at home. We also learned about germs and how they are spread. Our teacher pretended to sneeze on us, using glitter to represent germs. Then we spent the rest of the day noticing how the glitter covered us. We are now practising sneezing and coughing into our elbows, if we cannot get a tissue in time.

During RE the scripture we read was the Feeding of the 5000. We discussed how Jesus teaches us to share. We even broke bread with our friends and ate once we knew we all had enough.

In PE we have been working on making shapes with our body and balancing on different parts. We really enjoyed playing flamingo tag. It has also been nice to enjoy our outdoor area this week after that cold spell.

Friday 19th January 

We have continued to explore our new Power of Reading book, Handa’s Surprise, by Eileen Browne. This week we thought about describing words (adjectives) that would help us make our writing more descriptive and interesting. We spent time collecting a variety of adjectives to describe animals, traditional tale characters and finally fruit. The children each wrote a Fruit Poem, including words to describe each of the fruits that they wrote about. Well done!

In maths, we worked again on the counting and ordering numbers. This included making physical representations of numbers in order, for example multilink towers and building brick staircases. This week was as much about noticing if the numbers were not in order by looking at all the towers together and correcting it by moving them around.

In RE we are learning about the topic of Galilee to Jerusalem. This week we read the Scripture relating the occasion when Jesus called the children to Him. The children heard that Jesus got cross with the disciples when they tried to send the families away, instead saying “Let the children come to Me.” The children retold the story in their RE books.

During PE we used the equipment in the hall: benches, mats and stools to practise making shapes with our bodies when we moved and jumped. The children enjoyed making star and straight shapes when jumping off the stools, remembering to bend their legs when they landed. In addition, they crawled flat and found a variety of ways of moving on the mats.

Friday 12th January

It has been lovely having all the children back in school this week! We have had an exciting week starting our new Power of Reading book, Handa’s Surprise, by Eileen Browne. We talked about where our food comes from and discussed the setting of the story. We also tasted all of the fruits that feature in the book. Furthermore, we recorded what our favourite fruits were and talked about the most and least popular. Lastly, we drew and wrote about what kinds of surprises we would like to take our friends if we visited them, just like Handa plans on doing.

In Maths, we have been working on subitising and looking at which groups we can see in dot patterns. This is helping us with our understanding of number bonds and preparing us for calculating. We are getting really quick with our subitising and explaining our understanding.

In RE we are learning about the topic of Galilee to Jerusalem. We read the scripture about the Epiphany and discussed why the Magi brought Jesus such special gifts. We also role played the story using some props from our Nativity performance.

During PE we practised ball skills by rolling and bouncing. We are also learning to copy shapes with our body in our PE lessons. We practised drawing fruit bowls and painting number books in the Creative Area this week. We’ve had a great first week back, trying to keep warm and settling back in.

Friday 8th December

We continued working on the poem, Gruff and Dave from the anthology of poems by Michael Rosen called ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. This week we considered what the setting of a story and poem might be, the place where it takes place. We then learnt some facts about Kew Gardens, the setting of Gruff and Dave. The children suggested describing words and then sentences to write about the setting. Finally, the children considered the friendship between the dog and frog and why it worked. They went on to make thank you cards for their own friends, writing about why they were grateful.

During Phonics, we have been continuing to embed our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt so far. We are then applying these skills when writing sentences. We have all been given high frequency words to read and then learn to write. As we learn our high frequency words we will receive new lists, so ensure to practise! This week we specifically focused on using words from the set 1.3 and including them in our sentences. This helps us to remember how to write the word as this is usually more difficult than reading the word.

In Maths we have been working on exploring pattern in number, in particular, recognising odd numbers. We thought about the patterns of odd and even numbers in numbers to 10 and then to 20. We had to spot the odd numbers, sort numbers into odd and even, use the outdoor areas such as hopscotch to challenge ourselves to only go on odd or even numbers. Finally, we filled in the missing odd numbers in number sequences.

During RE are continuing the topic of Birthdays. This week we read the Gospel, describing Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem and finally finding somewhere to stay. Jesus was born in the stable. The shepherds were told by a host of angels that they should go to visit the new King. The kings travelled from far away to find the new King. The children chose one person from the Nativity story and talked about their role in the story.

Last week we began to plan our DT project of making a stable for Mary and Joseph, with a roof. This week the children made the shelters from recycled materials, trying to follow their plans. They all succeeded in making a comfy space with a cover. Well done!

Friday 1st December

In Literacy we are reading an anthology of poems by Michael Rosen called ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. We are focusing on a poem with a dog and a frog as the characters so this week we did some non-fiction writing. We watched information videos about the different animals and wrote sentences about the facts that we had learned. Then we discussed which animal we would prefer as a pet and gave reasons for our answer. We wrote guides on how to look after the pet that we chose.

During Phonics, we have been embedding our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt so far. We are then applying these skills when writing sentences. We have all been given high frequency words to read and then learn to write. As we learn our high frequency words we will receive new lists, so ensure to practise! This week we specifically focused on using words from the set 1.3 and including them in our sentences. This helps us to remember how to write the word as this is usually more difficult than reading the word.

During Maths we have been working on exploring 2D shapes. We have been discussing the properties of shapes and going on shape hunts in the classroom. Later in the week we focused on using 2d shapes to make another shape and exploring the patterns that shapes can make. We even designed our own wrapping paper using shapes.

During RE are continuing the topic of Birthdays. We have learned about the Advent wreath and used a program to build our own wreath on the interactive screen. We then described the wreath and its meaning. We also learned more about Mary and her special role in the Christmas story.

In PSED we have been talking about positive relationships and thinking about both adults and children that we have healthy relationships with. We have begun planning our DT project of making a stable for Mary and Joseph, thinking about what materials we will need and what their purpose may be.

Friday 24th November 

Michael Rosen’s wonderful poems in A Great Big Cuddle have still been keeping us learning and amused this week. We really investigated the poem I am Angry: who do we think is saying this? When have you ever been angry? What did you do or say when you were? We thought about why the poem was funny. In addition, we recited the poem trying to include expression in our voices and expressions that would make the poem come alive to the listener. Finally, we wrote sentences to show the ‘nonsense’ things that we might say when we are angry, e.g. I will scramble an egg! We then listened to a short selection of poems from the anthology to decide which was our favourite and why we liked it.

During Phonics, we continue to bed in the sounds we have covered so far and to use those sounds practically to write words and sentences and to read and blend words. The sentences have included our tricky words and high frequency words we have been also practising at home.

In Maths this week we have been enjoying all the challenges and clue solving in our Pirates themed Maths Week. The children had to solve the 4 clues they had been left, so that we could help to open the pirate treasure chest on Pirate Day on Thursday – the treasure was shiny Maths Star stickers for everyone. In addition, we had a daily challenge based around estimating or subitising. So much pirate fun, not to mention, Pirate Day on Thursday!

Alongside Maths Week activities, we have been building on our previous learning, bringing together counting, sequencing numbers and cardinality. Can we recite numbers accurately to 20 and beyond? We have been recognising numbers and selecting them from a sequence of numbers. The focus when counting objects and actions this week has been to show we understand the cardinal number: the number we stop counting at. Also, that if you have counted them out once, we can say how many there are without having to recount the objects or actions, just remembering the cardinal number.

Outside, the children were getting physical to count the number of times they could throw and catch a beanbag. They had to remember their previous total and then try to beat it. The children were performing I am Angry in our performance area and using chalks to write the high frequency words on the playground.

Friday 17th November

In Literacy we are reading an anthology of poems by Michael Rosen called ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. We practised writing questions to a character from the poem ‘Lost’ this week. We learnt about question marks and how to use them properly, also discussing question words such as who, what, where, when and why. We are still practising performing poems by using intonation and actions.

During Phonics, we have been embedding our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt so far. We are then applying these skills when writing sentences. Our tricky word of the week is into. We have all been given high frequency words to read and then learn to write. As we learn our high frequency words we will receive new lists, so ensure to practise!

During Maths we have been working on breaking numbers into two parts, to help us understand number bonds. We have talked about the composition of different numbers and used objects to demonstrate our understanding.

It was anti-bullying week this week. On Monday we wore odd socks to celebrate that we are all different. Then we have talked about the definition of bullying and ways we can help to stop bullying if we experience it or witness it.

During RE we celebrated Interfaith Week by learning about the story of Hannukah. We explained parts of the story and drew illustrations to go with it.

Outside, we have been going on number hunts and writing the high frequency words we find. We have also been putting on puppet shows and role playing with the house and food.

Friday 10th November

In Literacy we continue to explore the work of Michael Rosen, referring to his anthology: A Great Big Cuddle. This week we have been looking at three particular poems: Let Me Do It, Oh Dear! and Once. We all thought about what we would like to be allowed to do and this showed lots of imagination. The children thought about how we can use expression and gestures to make the text interesting and entertaining. We have been focusing on rhyming words, thinking of words that would rhyme with a given word, eg peas, hat and cake. Finally, in Once, we thought about what a Berrible, a monster, might look like. Using the power of the words to spark our imaginations.

During Phonics, the sounds we have been learning are: j, v, w & x. We have been learning to hear the sound, say the sound and then identify words that begin with the sound. Then we practise writing the graphemes (letters) for each sound, using whiteboards and pens. We have also been trying to hear the sounds in simple words and write them down. We are continuing our work on blending the sounds we know to read words.

This week in Maths we have been starting to think about the composition of numbers. How can we make a whole from parts? We started off thinking about familiar things: toys and animals. We can see all the parts of those things and when we put them together, it makes a whole. We then moved on to numbers, looking at how the numbers 2-5 can be broken into parts and put back together again. This is one of the steps that will lead to us learning our number bonds.

On Thursday and Friday we have been marking Remembrance Day. We have considered how some people have gone beyond what might be expected to keep us all safe. We have remembered that servicemen have fought and died in wars on our behalf. We have created printed poppies and explained their importance as a symbol of remembrance. The whole school observed a 2 minute silence on Friday at 11am.

In addition, in the classroom this week, the children have been investigating different materials and sorting them into plastic, wood and metal.

Outside, we have been practising recognising and writing our tricky words: the, to, I, no, go. In maths we have been independently counting amounts and labelling them.

Friday 3rd November

In Literacy we are reading an anthology of poems by Michael Rosen called ‘A Great Big Cuddle’. To introduce the author, we read through his most popular book ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’. We joined in with the story and talked about how we enjoyed the onomatopoeia in the story, making the sounds the most fun to say. We illustrated and wrote about our favourite part of the story.

During Phonics, the sounds we have been learning are: h, b, f/ff, l/ll and ss. We have been learning to hear the sound, say the sound and then identify words that begin with the sound. Then we practise writing the graphemes (letters) for each sound, using whiteboards and pens. We are now working on blending the sounds we know to read words. Our tricky word of the week is I.

During Maths we have been working on counting for accuracy and comparing numbers. We have been matching objects to characters and people to ensure we have enough and have been counting forwards and backwards.

This half term we are talking about how we are all different. We have talked about our families, appearance and likes and dislikes. We painted paper dolls and talked about something that makes us special. We also created maps of going on a bear hunt on our Creative Table.

During RE we are still in the topic of Welcome. We have been learning about the sacrament of Baptism and what role each person has. We created a Baptism candle and then carried the message forward by telling our families about what we learned.

Outside, we have been trying to stay dry and writing words from ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.’ We have also been building towers and finding the numbered stone to match the bricks in our tower.

Friday 20th October

In Literacy it has been the last week of learning from our Power of Reading book: A Brave Bear. We sequenced the events in the story, telling each other what order they should go in and then working by ourselves to get a set of pictures from the text in the correct order.  We also talked about how we had enjoyed the book and why, practising forming sentences, counting the words and helping me to write them down.

During Phonics, the sounds we have been learning are: ck, e, u r. We have been learning to hear the sound, say the sound and then identify words that begin with the sound. Then we practise writing the graphemes (letters) for each sound, using whiteboards and pens. We are now working on blending the sounds we know to read words. Please let your child practise these sounds over the holiday by showing you things or noticing words that contain any of our letters so far: s, a, t, p, I, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, ck, e, u, r.

During Maths we have been working on counting and getting our numbers in order. We have been concentrating on the cardinal number – this is the number we count up to and stop at. This is also the number of objects we remember we have counted, without having to count them again.  Over the half term holiday, perhaps you could ask your child to collect you or find a given number of things and see if they can just bring you that number and remember how many there are.

This week we learnt more about Harriet Tubman, noting the key events in her life and when she died, 1913. We placed the key dates in her life on our Classroom timeline. In our exploration of our feelings, we discussed tiredness and excitement this week – very appropriate with the holidays at hand!  We created painted leaf prints with a collection of different leaves and made faces using natural found objects.

During RE we are still in the topic of Welcome. This week we heard the scripture passage:

The children thought about which virtue they would choose to follow in the steps of Jesus: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. They talked about how they would show that in their actions.

Outside, we have been conducting a science experiment with pumpkins. The children used the skills of observation and questioning when inspecting these pumpkins. What do you see? What do you wonder? The children then enjoyed opening up the pumpkins and exploring what the inside looked like, how it felt and smelled.

Friday 13th October

In Literacy we are still learning with our Power of Reading book: A Brave Bear. We read other stories with bears as the characters, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. We talked about what some of the differences and similarities were between the stories. Then we practised role playing parts of each story.

During Phonics, the sounds we have been learning are: g, o, c, k. We have been learning to hear the sound, say the sound and then identify words that begin with the sound. Then we practised writing the graphemes (letters) for each sound, using whiteboards and pens. We are now working on blending the sounds we know to read words.

During Maths we have been working on identifying groups of objects using more and fewer to describe them. This helps us to make estimations, subitise and then count for accuracy.

This half term we are learning about identifying and managing our emotions. We have talked about when we feel worried. We are making faces with natural objects to display different feelings as well. We have also been learning about Harriet Tubman for our Black History Month lesson. We made lanterns to remind us about the dark journey she helped others through.

During RE we are still in the topic of Welcome. We have been learning about the sacrament of Baptism and what role each person has. We role played a Baptism and talked about what happens.

Outside, we have been enjoying our new climbing frame, looking at natural objects related to autumn and using magnets to hunt for letters in the sand tray.

Friday 6th October

In Literacy, we thought about how the characters might be feeling as the story progressed. The bears decided to make the journey to the river to cool down, Little Bear had a fall and Daddy Bear was worried. The children thought about a time when they had tried to do something on their own and it had not gone completely right. We also decided on the questions we wanted to ask Daddy Bear about how he would cheer Little Bear up enough to complete their journey. We have continued with our Class Reading Race and it has been brilliant to see how many spaceships have made it to Saturn for reading and having a note in their Reading diaries 5 times or more – don’t forget to make a note everytime you read with your child.

In Maths we have been focusing on subitising this week. This is the skill that allows you to see how many objects / pictures / fingers you can see without having to count them. We were working on these skills up to the number 4. The children enjoyed playing a subitising bingo game as well as getting lots of practise in our carpet sessions and with the class teachers.

During RE started our new topic of Welcome. This week we thought about the Big Question: Why is Welcome Important? We thought about times we had been made welcome and how that felt as well as when we made someone else feel welcome. The children talked about how the Early Years adults made them feel welcome as they came into school everyday.

In PE this week, we were learning a new game where we had to listen to instructions and then act. This was quite a challenge to remember when they were supposed to move! However, they were practising the skills of moving safely in a space while avoiding others in a safe way, listening and starting and stopping.

Our Reception School Councillors have created some fine posters to promote the Brentwood Food Bank collection drive next week: 9-13th October. Please give generously if you are able.

Friday 29th September

We are doing a great job learning new routines and skills such as: sitting on the carpet and listening, following rules on the playground and during PE and speaking with our Talk & Listen Partners during lessons. 
 

In Literacy we are still learning with our Power of Reading book: A Brave Bear. We came up with a list of ways the bears could cool down. Then we wrote a letter to the bears telling them what our idea was. We have been working on hearing the initial sounds in words and accurately recording the graphemes (letters).

We have started Phonics lessons this week! The sounds for this week are: s, a, t, p. We have been learning to hear the sound, say the sound and then identify words that begin with the sound. Then we practise writing the graphemes (letters) for each sound, using whiteboards and pens.

During Maths we have been working on the composition of three. We have been gathering groups of three objects, explaining how three is made and making towers of three objects inside and outside. We have also practised spotting when there is not three, and using reasoning to explain our answer.

This half term we are learning about identifying and managing our emotions. We have talked about things that make us happy and excited. We have drawn pictures of different faces and have recorded a video of ourselves sharing one thing that makes us happy.

During RE we completed the topic of Myself. We have been practising sitting in a circle and joining in with group prayer. We enjoyed singing our class hymn ‘I am Special.’ and sharing the knowledge that we are precious and God knows all of our names.

Outside, we have still been enjoying playing with the water tray and scooting on the playground.

Friday 22nd September 

This second full week, we have continued to learn the class routines, including our self-register in the mornings. We are trying hard to focus and listen during the day, particularly during our carpet sessions.  

In Literacy, we started the week thinking about what we might like to ask the bears in our Power of Reading book: Brave Bear. We have then been learning facts about different kinds of bears, including brown bears, polar bears and pandas. We then wrote fact files about the bears, sharing what we have learnt and drew a picture, choosing our colours carefully. We got to use our class Reading Races this week as we read to our adults and moved our names along the race. 

In Maths we have been working on our counting skills. We helped our class puppets to get their counting in the correct order, stopping when they had finished counting and then saying how many items or actions there were. The final number when counting gives us the total (it is the cardinal number).The children matched numbers and counted out amounts to match, they did a class survey on What is you Favourite Animal and then counted actions. 

During RE we continued our topic of Myself. This week we considered how God knows each of us and knows our names. We are precious to God. Then we thought about who is precious to us and why. The children drew a picture of someone precious in their life and told us why. 

On Thursday we celebrated International Day of Peace. We thought about the things that make us feel peaceful and we related it to our reading of the Colour Monster last week. We thought about how our class rules help us all to enjoy a peaceful time with kindness around us. We decorated a beautiful white dove with our fingerprints which will be displayed in our classroom. 

Friday 15th September

We have had a fantastic first full week in Reception!

We have been learning new routines and skills such as: sitting on the carpet and listening, lining up for lunch in the dinner hall and speaking with our Talk & Listen Partners during lessons.

In Literacy we started reading our Power of Reading book: A Brave Bear. We focused on the text on the first page ‘Everything was hot.’ Then we identified things that are hot and described times when we have been hot. We created collages to display our concept of hot, by gluing paper and pictures and drawing pictures to represent our ideas.

During Maths we have been working on the skill of subitising: knowing how many there are without having to count each object separately. We have enjoyed learning with some of the Numberblocks characters. We have also been counting out objects and matching them to the correct numeral.

This half term we are learning about identifying and managing our emotions. We read the Colour Monster and talked about times when we have felt these different emotions.

During RE we began our new topic of Myself. We talked about how special our names are and how we feel when someone says our name. We also painted self portraits which look amazing in our Creative Areas in the classroom.

We have also enjoyed our time playing in the Green Area this week! We have been filling and pouring in the water tray, creating structures using the waffle bricks and playing shop with the food market and then cooking in the kitchen.

We have all had a great time getting to know our friends and teachers!