Week Commencing 05.12.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Recapped all the Basics 2 sounds and Basics 2 tricky words.
- Practised our segmenting and blending skills.

In Maths this week we have…
- Heard and join in with the counting sequence to 10, including songs and rhymes.
- Used our fingers to represent quantities to 5 and to begin to represent quantities to 10.
- Matched different representations of quantities to 5 with amounts shown on their fingers.
- Remembered that the ‘stopping number’ tells us how many we need altogether.
- Begin to recognise numerals to 5.
- Develop their understanding of equals amounts.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Continued to work hard on our name writing. Please support with this at home.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Formed all of Lens Ladder letters l, t, i, u, y, p (See parents newsletter)

This week we have again been very busy practising for our nativity. I am sure you will agree that the children were absolutely amazing! They sang beautifully, remembered lots of words/ actions, and were super brave on stage. We were all bursting with pride. We would like to say another BIG thank you to all of you for your support with the costumes. The children looked absolutely brilliant. Also thank you for coming along to see our show, it was lovely to be able to welcome you into school and celebrate together. Unfortunately IT have been in today and we have just found out wiped all the iPads so we will be having a photo shoot to take some more pictures of your children that we can then send onto you. Due to our nativity practise we have not had the opportunity to read with the children this week but they should get a read as usual next week.
 

Week Commencing 28.11.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Recapped all the Basics 2 sounds and Basics 2 tricky words.
- All the children have also taken part in a phonics assessment. We were so impressed with their super sound and tricky word recognition as well as their sounding out and blending.

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Shared the story ‘Peace at last’.
- Discussed what onomatopoeia is and found examples of it in the story e.g. miaow, hum, snore.
- Helped baby bear get to bed on time. We spoke about our night time routines and ordered events such as putting on our pyjamas, brushing our teeth, getting into bed and reading a story.
- Heard all about the important job Mr Curtis does. We found out different ways we can help him such as putting rubbish into the correct bins, turning off the lights and looking after the toilets.


In Maths this week we have…
- Investigated ways to compose and de-compose sets of 3, 4 and 5.
- Explored how 1 and 2 are parts of 3.
- Used spatial language to describe shapes.
- Explained that different parts can make the same whole.
- Continued a repeating pattern. We spotted and corrected incorrect patterns.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Continued to work hard on our name writing. Please support with this at home.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Formed all of Lens Ladder letters l, t, i, u, y, p (See parents newsletter)

On Thursday we found an elf had appeared in our classroom alongside some Christmas. We have already had lots of fun getting into the Christmas spirit by writing letters to Santa, creating our own Christmas decorations and predicting what the elf will do next.

This week was also Early Bea Week. The children loved seeing Early Bea each morning and were very lucky to have been provided with a candy cane (in their book bag) for coming into school on time each morning.

Finally, we have been very busy practising for our nativity next week. The children are all working so hard and we are sure it will be fantastic. Please bring your child's costume to school by no later than MONDAY 5TH DECEMBER. Please let us know if you need any help or have any questions regarding this.

Week Commencing 21.11.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learnt the sounds l, ll, ff, ss and the new tricky words of and into.

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Discussed different kinds of nocturnal animals. We tried to sort animals into whether they were nocturnal (awake at night) or diurnal (awake during the day).
- Found out facts about owls. Did you know baby owls are called owlets? We watched a video showing how silently an owl can fly and also found out that some owls can change their shape in reaction to predators.
- Labelled the different parts of an owl e.g. talons, legs, feathers, beak.
- Used switch on writing to order the words ‘I want my mummy’ and then some of us had a go at rewriting this.
- Practised singing the songs from our nativity which will take place on the afternoon of FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER at 2PM. If you do not yet know your child's part please check in their reading diaries as it was placed in there.

In Maths this week we have…
- Identified a whole when shown a part.
- Heard the language ‘whole’ and ‘parts’
- Investigated ways to compose and decomposed sets of 2 and 3.
- Know that 1 and 2 are parts of 3.
- Continued a repeating pattern.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Continued to work hard on our name writing. Please support with this at home.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming Lens ladder letters l, i and t.

Week Commencing 14.11.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learnt the sounds h, b, f and the new tricky words has, his and as. 

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Shared the story the ‘Owl Babies’.  
- Joined in with repeated refrains including “I want my mummy” 
- Retold the story by creating a story map. 

In Maths this week we have…
- Practised subitising amounts to 4. 
- Revisited the vocabulary ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’.
- Compared groups of up to 3 items and said when there is an equal number, too many or not enough.
- Built towers with an equal number of squares. 

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Continued to work hard on our name writing. Please support with this at home.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Started learning how to form Lens ladder letters. We will be continuing this over the next few weeks. 

For Antibullying week we have…
- Discussed the 2 STOPs (Start Telling Other People, Several Times On Purpose).

- Thought about who we can talk to if we need help. We created our own ‘Hand of Friends’ showcasing this.
-  Designed our own pair of odd socks to celebrate ‘Odd Socks day’.
- Discussed what makes a good friend. We thought of ideas such as giving friendship tokens (smiles, hugs), sharing and playing with each other.  
- Discussed why Children in Need is important and what we can do to help. 

Week Commencing 07.11.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learned our first digraph /ck/ (2 letters that make one sound). We have also learned the spellings for the sounds e, u and r (see parent newsletter).
-Look out for the sound mat that we have sent home in book bags. This shows the spellings for the sounds and the picture prompt. Please use this resource at home to practise saying/recognising the sounds. We have covered up to /r/ in class. This activity can count as a read in the reading diary if you record it.

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Talked about Autumn and the changes that happen in nature at this time. We talked about different animals that hibernate.
-Looked at the work of Andy Goldsworthy and found out about all the different natural materials he uses for his sculptures. We were very surprised by some!
- Shared the story ‘Leaf Man’ and had a go at making our own natural artwork outside. We will carry on with this next week now the lovely autumn leaves have dried out again!
- Talked about remembrance using the lovely CBeebies resource ‘Poppies’. https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/poppies

In Maths this week we have…
- Deepened our understanding of the number 5
- Explored different ways to represent 5 with our bodies and other apparatus.
- Continued to practise accurate counting with 1:1 correspondence.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Worked hard on our name writing. Please support with this at home.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming a range of different patterns ready for starting letter formation next week.
 

Week Commencing 31.10.22

After a 2 week half term the children have all settled back into school brilliantly. We have loved having them back in the classroom and are excited to begin our new topic 'Light and Dark'.

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learnt the sounds g, o, c, k (see parent newsletter).

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Talked about Halloween. We discussed how people celebrate Halloween. The children loved sharing about what they dressed up as and who they went trick or treating with on Tuesday.
- Shared the story ‘Shubh Diwali’ and discussed how people celebrate Diwali. We shared the story of Rama and Sita and also had a go at creating our own Rangoli and Mehndi patterns.
- Learnt how to stay safe on Bonfire night. We discussed different sparkler, firework and bonfire safety rules.

In Maths this week we have…
- Represented a given number on our fingers without looking.
- Compared 2 sets of objects and said which is ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Warmed up our bodies by carrying out gross motor and fine motor activities.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming a range of different patterns.

Week Commencing 10.10.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Revised all the letter sounds taught so far (s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d-please see previous hand-outs for support at home).

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Continued with our text ‘Real Superheroes’.
-Talked about more keyworkers including postal workers, shop workers, carers, vets and firefighters!

In Maths this week we have…
-Built on our subitising skills.
-Looked closely at small quantities to observe whether the quantity has changed or only the arrangement.
-Investigated the shapes made by Numberblock Four.
-Represented quantities in different ways by using a number of fingers on one hand.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Continued work on our pencil grip, holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming a range of different patterns such as circles, lines, crosses, zig zag and wavy lines!

In Expressive Arts and Design, we all drew a self-portrait! What a wonderful gallery we created!

Our ‘R-Time’ this week was all about ‘Celebrating Differences’. We enjoyed discussing things that we have in common and things that we enjoy that are different.

All that remains left to say is well done to the children on a ‘Super Duper’ first half term in school! You have done amazingly well! Thank you, parents, for your continued support. We wish you all a very happy half term break and look forward to welcoming you back to school on Monday 31st October!

Week Commencing 03.10.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learnt the sounds i, n, m, d (see parent newsletter).

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Read and introduced a new text ‘Real Superheroes’.
- Talked about various keyworkers including police, teachers and refuse collectors (more to follow next week).
- Discussed the job that doctors, nurses and other medical staff do. We labelled parts of the body using a cut and stick activity.

In Maths this week we have…
- Explored how numbers can be composed of 1s.
-Investigated the composition of 3 and 4.
-Completed some composing and de-composing of numbers e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2.
In Handwriting this week we have…
- Warmed up our bodies by carrying out gross motor and fine motor activities.
- Continued work on our pencil grip, holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming a range of different patterns.
Our ‘R-Time’ this week was all about Harvest in preparation for our Harvest celebrations on Thursday afternoon. The children did an amazing job!

Week Commencing 26.09.22

Hello all,

In Phonics this week we have….
- Learnt the sounds s, a, t, p (see parent newsletter).

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Reread the story ‘Supertato’.
- Drew their favourite part of the story.
- Created a character description for the Supertato.
- Today we received a letter from the Pea to say he had escaped from the freezer and hidden Supertato and all of his friends. The children then set out on a mission to find them outside!
- Discussed what makes a healthy diet and created a healthy lunchbox for Supertato.

In Maths this week we have…
- Heard and joined in with the counting sequence to 5 using songs and rhymes
- Saw that counting is useful because it tells us 'how many'
- Saw that the last number in the count tells us 'how many altogether' (cardinality).
- Practised counting each object, action or sound once and only once.

In Handwriting this week we have…
- Warmed up our bodies by carrying out gross motor and fine motor activities.
- Practised holding our pens using a tripod (three fingered grasp)
- Continued forming a range of different patterns.

Week Commencing 12.09.22

In Phonics this week we have….
- Made a silly soup using rhyming words.
- Played a game with Listening Len and a box full of different items. We segmented the word e.g. b-u-s and then had to blend the sounds together to reveal what was in the box.
- Made different voice sounds e.g. the sound of going down a slide, hissing like a snake.
- Practise segmenting and blending words together to guess what a toy wants.
- Listened carefully to ‘toy talk’ to find out what our new friend likes.

In English/ Topic time this week we have…
- Read the story ‘Super Duper You’.
- Talked about what makes us super.
- Discussed the different emotions in the story. Spoke about what we do when we are angry, sad etc.
- Discussed the different stages we go through as we grow up e.g. babies, toddlers, child, teenager, adult, elderly.
- Talked about what we would like to do when we are older.
- Met Super Soap. He showed us the importance of using soap and water to get rid of germs. We spoke about when we should wash our hands e.g. before eating, after blowing your nose/ sneezing, after going to the toilet.
- Met ‘Super Skipper’ the penguin who taught us all about how to keep safe online. We discussed what we use technology for whether that is playing games on phones and tablets or watching a video on a laptop. We then considered what to do if something pops up that we don’t know or if something makes us feel unsure or worried. We learnt a chant ‘Before you tap and click, you need to stop and think, and TELL SOMEONE!’.
- Met Pantosaurus who taught us the PANTS rule. We know how to behave in the toilets and that privates are private. If you would like to read more about the PANTS rule you can visit https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/
- Carried out two practise fire alarms. Fireman Sam told us about smoke alarms and why we have practise fire alarms at school. We learnt that although smoke alarms make very loud noises that aren’t very nice it is important for it to be loud so that everyone can hear it. We acted out stopping what we were doing, walking into a line to go straight outside and then following the grown up all the way to the big playground. We also watched ‘Woolly and Tig’ to show that having a practise fire alarm at school isn’t scary.

Week Commencing 05.09.22

We have had an exciting and tiring first full week at school.

This week has been purely focused on settling the children in, getting to know each other, making friends, learning new routines and having lots of fun!
It has been a joy to see how the children have already gained confidence in their new school environment. They have loved exploring the provision whether that is making potions in the mud kitchen, building obstacle courses outside, painting pictures or making beautiful creations with a variety of materials.

Each morning we have come into school super smiley, put our things away all by ourselves and found something to play with. We then sat on the carpet to talk through the calendar and say good morning for the register. After this we did a quick phonics game. This week we have learnt all about rhyming and alliteration with Listening Len. He set us little missions each day such as creating a silly soup with rhyming words (fox, box, socks, rocks) and trying to spot the odd one out (mug, milk, cat, mail). Following this we played inside and outside with Ladybirds and Butterflies altogether. In the morning, we stopped to refuel by sitting on the carpet to have our milk and fruit once we had washed our hands. Before lunchtime we all sat on the carpet for English where we shared the story 'The Colour Monster'. During this time we explored facial expressions, talked about our feelings and reflected on strategies to help manage our feelings. At lunchtime we have lined up so smartly, had a go at using knives and forks and have been brave enough to try new foods.
In the afternoon we have calmed down by doing some deep breathing. We met Ready Boy and Ready Girl who taught us to use our listening muscle to be whole body listeners. We also met Captain Responsible who told us about special jobs we could volunteer for in school. These included 'Class Ambassadors', 'School Parliament' and 'Eco Team'. Two children were selected for each job, although everyone can help out as we are all a team. We have also reflected on what we can do to make sure our classroom is a happy and safe place to learn. Once we finished on the carpet we had some more time to play indoors and outdoors before story and home time.

Next week we will be starting our topic 'Super Duper You'. This will begin with us celebrating what makes us super special.