Friday 4th October
This week we have been continuing learning with the text The Everywhere Bear. We finished reading the story and created our own story maps to represent the beginning, middle and ending of the story, attempting to write initial sounds to represent where the bear was. We also made our own mini books of the story and made missing posters for The Everywhere Bear, imagining what his next adventure might be.
In Maths we have been working on the composition of numbers to five. We are using the stem sentence: 1 and 1 and 1 makes 3, to help us understand that numbers are composed of ones being grouped together. We built our own number clocks and gathered objects of specific amounts from around the classroom.
During RE we started learning about the Catholic Social Principle of stewardship. This means that we are responsible for looking after God’s world. We listened to ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong as we painted images of what we love about God’s world. Then we wrote about what we painted in our RE books.
Friday 27th September
What a busy and fun week!
The daily routines and sitting and learning during carpet sessions are improving everyday.
This week our Little Wandle Phonics phonemes have been: I, n, m, d. We have been saying the sound (phoneme), listening for it in words, practising writing the grapheme and even began to blend sounds together to read words.
The children have had their reading books changed and we urge you to read either or both the library book and reading book everyday, noting briefly or even just initialing the yellow reading diary. We are aiming for 5+ reads a week.
The Everywhere Bear, by Julia Donaldson, has been continuing his adventures this week in our Literacy. We created a soundscape to reflect the stormy conditions at sea, using percussion instruments and blue fabric. In addition, the class considered the advice they would give someone who had found a lost bear; questions they would like to ask the Everywhere Bear; and role played what it would be like to first catch a glimpse of the bear after he was lost! Amazing!
During RE we are learning about the Creation Story. The class continued the Creation Story learning that God made Adam and Eve. Then we discussed how God made each of us and that we are all unique. The children sand ‘God Loves Me’ inserting their own name, and then talked about how they were unique and different to everyone else (something they were good at, that they loved or how they looked).
This half term we will be talking about people who are familiar or related to us. Please could you choose two people who are very familiar or are related to your child (outside those who share their home). For example, grandparents, friends of the family, uncles or aunts. Once you have decided, please email a picture of each person to foundation@st-helens-inf.essex.sch.uk . Don’t forget to have a chat with your child so they know what they would like to say about the people they have chosen. Thank you
Friday 20th September
We have had a great first full week of Reception!
Overall we are getting super at following the routines and sitting and listening when on the carpet.
This week we practised sharing our ideas with our Talk & Listen Partners, as per our Teaching and Learning framework.
We started our Little Wandle Phonics lessons this week. We have focussed on the phonemes: s, a, t, p. We have been saying the sound (phoneme), listening for it in words, practising writing the grapheme and even began to blend sounds together to read words. This week all children got sent home their guided reading book and reading diary to begin their reading journey in reception.
In Literacy we have been learning with the book The Everywhere Bear, by Julia Donaldson. We chose a name for our class bears which will be taken home by the Star of the Week each week to be read with. We also drew faces on teddy bears and practised forming shapes on paper.
During RE we are learning about the Creation Story. We have practised sequencing the story and retold the parts of the story we could recall.
We also had our first PE lesson in the hall this week. We practised listening to instructions, stopping and starting and moving our bodies different ways.
Thank you to all of the parents who have volunteered to make playdough this year. We have handed out a timetable and recipe to all the parents who are assigned a week in Autumn Term. If you are assigned a week in Spring or Summer term then we will give you the recipe and timetable closer to the time.
Friday 13th September
What an amazing week – well done to all the children in Reception!
The children have been introduced to the morning and afternoon activities, to their Literacy groups, to the lunchtime routine and to the overall schedule of the daily classroom. In addition, everyone had their First Day of School photograph taken and painted their portraits. They are starting to take it in their stride.
The classes are learning to sit in their spaces on the carpet and to listen quietly when they are learning during our teaching sessions. They have learnt all about the Class Rules and why we have them. Each child has agreed that they will do their best to remember the rules to help make a happy and peaceful learning environment.
On Friday we loved bringing in and sharing our favourite teddy or squashie – what a variety of friends we introduced to our friends and adults. The children explained why their toys were so important to them and places that they took in their soft friends. This ties in with our Power of Reading text: The Everywhere Bear, by Julia Donaldson. We will be starting to read this book next week for our Literacy.
In RE we introduced the Creation Story, reading from the Bible. The children were considering what happened on each day, the things that God created.
All the Reception children should be very proud of their start to school.