Author: Marcella Towner

Welcome back to all of our children and families, we hope you had an enjoyable half term break and managed to have a rest. We are looking forward to a very busy half term where the children will continue to develop their independence and will now begin to show all the amazing things they have learned so far in this school year. Can you believe that the children are half way through their Reception year? Thank you for your continued support and we ask that you continue to reinforce the learning taking place in school, at home. Hopefully the weather will now begin to pick up a bit and we may even start to see some sunshine. We please ask that you send your child into school every day with a waterproof coat with a hood. As you know the British weather has a tendency to change by the hour so children need a waterproof coat incase of rain or cold weather throughout the day.

The children will move into their new phonic groups this week. They are doing remarkably well with the majority of children now on reading books or Ditty sheets. Please continue to hear your child read every night at home and sign your child’s reading diary to share how they are getting on. Don’t forget to log on to Oxford Owl to do the online work also. Practice, practice, practice is the best way to help your child on their reading journey- you are vitally important in helping your child to learn to read. Below are some extra practice videos that you can watch with your child and encourage them to join in with.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/resources/vc-pathways/353845/H7gBW9uGvuR8JXQN

This week, the children will continue to engage with activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. The children will also revisit the concept of cardinality – the idea that the last number in the count tells us how many things there are altogether. They will continue to be provided with opportunities to hear, join in with and develop their knowledge of the counting sequence and to become secure enough with their counting skills to be able to count out a set of objects from a larger set, remembering the ‘stopping number’ and knowing that this means they have selected the correct number. To begin to understand the word pattern embedded within most of our number names, the children will also be given opportunities to practise counting beyond 20. Attention is drawn to the repeating pattern of the counting numbers by the use of a puppet or soft toy. This is intended to support the children in joining in with verbal counts beyond 20 using the repeating pattern of the ‘1s’. Note that the expectation is not that the children should become secure with knowing ALL of the number names beyond 20, but rather that they hear the repeating pattern in the numbers and develop confidence in using the familiar sequence within 10 to count to bigger numbers.​

This week we will be learning all about people who help us. We will be talking about the different roles in our communities and how these people help us in our everyday lives. The children will get the opportunity to dress up and act out different roles as well as learning key facts about the different jobs people do. You could use this as an opportunity to talk about your job or your role as a parent and how you help your child every day. This is a great time to talk about your child’s role at home and in school and how they can be helpful.

We hope you and your child have a lovely first week back,

The Reception Team

This week we will be focusing on the book ‘Aliens Love Underpants’. The children will be hearing the story, will be talking about the plot and will do a series of activities across the week linked to the text. Talk to your child about the story and see if they can retell it to you and talk about their favourite part. If they are enjoying the story, there is a wide variety of ‘Aliens love . . . . ‘ books. Maybe you could visit the library and look for the books to enjoy together or you could find copies of the stories online to enjoy with your child. We have attached a few links for other Aliens love stories.

The children have been working in their phonics groups now for several weeks. Next week they will be having their next assessment to see if they are ready to move into the next colour group. They will be assessed on the sounds they have been taught as well as segmenting words to read. Continue to hear your child read every night and go through the letter flashcards that have been sent home with your child since they started in Reception. Don’t forget to log in to Oxford Owl and do the reading activities set by your child’s reading teacher. All groups except Mrs Alfords group should now be bringing home Ditty sheets or a book bag book to read and will have work set on line. Try to do one of these activities with your child each night and sign the diary to let us know how they got on. There are some additional links below to videos that you could watch with your child at home to reinforce the work being done in school.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/resources/vc-pathways/339718/QiFvHCa3OXl3NW6z

This week, the children will continue to engage with activities that develop their understanding of composition, or the numbers within numbers.​ A key focus will be on exploring ways to represent numbers using the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern). These key representations will help to underline the ‘5-ness’ of 5, and provide structures that will support exploration of its composition and its relationships with other numbers. The children will secure their understanding of the pairs of numbers that make 5, and then use double dice frames to begin to explore 6 and 7 as numbers that are composed of ‘5 and a bit’. ​The children have been working hard on their number bonds to 5 which is essential knowledge they need to help them understand how numbers are made up and will help them with future subitising. Below is the number bond song that the children have been learning in school. Play this for your child and see if they know their number bonds and can tell you the different ways to make 5.

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We have had very mixed weather recently with lots of rain, snow and frost. The children in Reception access the outside area in all weathers and we go outside every day no matter what the weather is. Please provide your child with a pair of wellington boots to stay at school so that they can go outside and play with their friends. Some children are getting wet feet especially as they have to walk over to the canteen at lunch time each day. If they have boots in school we can make sure they change into these when the weather is wet

We hope you have a lovely week

The Reception Team

This week we will be completing our topic on ‘Winter’. We will be looking at the story ‘The Snow Queen’ and will be using this to help us plan and write our own story set in the Winter. We will also be concluding the topic with a winter themed ‘Frozen’ day on Friday 23rd January. A separate letter has been sent out explaining this so please make sure you check your emails. We will have a frozen themed day with different activities and the children can come in dressed in Frozen colours.

The children have now settled in to their new phonics groups and are working hard to plug any gaps in their sound knowledge and are learning new sounds. When working with your child at home continue to go through the sound cards and if you notice they are stuck on a particular sound then please spend some time going over this. Continue to read the ditty sheets or book in your child’s bag and don’t forget to go on line to do the work on Oxford Owl that has been set by your child’s Phonics teacher. All groups except Mrs Alford’s should now have online work set. Mrs Alford’s group will have QR codes in their diary for videos that they need to watch to help with their blending.

This week, the children will continue to engage with activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. Adults will continue to name the objects being counted to emphasise the numerosity of the set, e.g. Would you please collect 6 crayons and bring them to me? The children will also revisit the concept of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us how many things there are ALTOGETHER. They will continue to be provided with opportunities to hear, join in with and develop their knowledge of the counting sequence. A key focus this week will be the stable order principle – rehearsing the order of the first 5 numbers and understanding that the position each number holds in our number sequence does not change. While continuing to work with numbers to 5, the children will develop their understanding of the ordinal aspect by investigating the difference in value of consecutive whole numbers. They will spend time discovering that each number has a value of 1 more than the previous number. Using blocks and squares to order quantities from 1 to 5 will help to embed this key understanding.

Reception have their PE session on Monday’s. Your child should come in to school on this day in a red Coundon Primary T-shirt and hoodie and black bottoms suitable for PE lessons. They should also wear suitable footwear such as trainers. We ask that children are able to do their trainers up and would recommend if possible that Velcro shoes be worn. The laces on some of the children’s shoes are often coming undone and staff are spending a lot of time doing up shoelaces multiple times throughout the day.

Thank you for bringing your child into school when we had the snowy weather it was lovely to see them enjoy playing in the snow. We noticed that there were a number of children that still do not have a pair of wellington boots in school. This meant that they could not join their friends having fun in the snow outside as their shoes and socks would have become wet and cold. Please provide a pair of cheap wellies for your child to be left in school so that they can change into them when the weather warrants it.

Have a wonderful week

The Reception Team

The children are back to school on Tuesday 6th January. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and managed to spend time with family and loved ones. We hope the children are well rested and ready for the busy term ahead where they will continue to develop their independence and apply their learning across the curriculum. Please continue to encourage your child to develop their independence at home by dressing and feeding themselves and helping with small tasks around the house especially tidying up after themselves.

This week we begin our topic on winter. We will find out what the children already know and will extend their knowledge with stories and songs and going outside to look for signs of winter. If the weather is particularly wintery talk about this with your child and see what they can tell you about the wintertime. You will be amazed at how much they are learning! Continue to send your child into school in a waterproof coat with gloves and a hat. The children are now used to keeping their gloves in their pockets when they come inside and their hat in the sleeve of their coat.

Before the break the children were assessed to see if they were ready to move on in our phonics scheme Read, Write inc. This week the children will move into their new groups and will be working on any gaps identified in their assessments. On Friday your child will bring home either a reading book, Ditty sheets or will have a QR code with videos for your child to watch. Please continue to do this work each night and sign the diary to say you have heard your child read. More children will now also have reading work set on line on Oxford Owl for you to do together. The reading teacher for your child will let you know in the diary if this applies to your child. If your child has already been accessing Oxford Owl then they will continue to do so.

This week, the children will continue to develop the skill of perceptual subitising. This form of subitising refers to instantly recognising the number of objects in a group without needing to count them. In this step, the concept of subitising zero objects is introduced, as well as the instant recognition of up to five objects. You could encourage your child to represent their subitising by showing the numeral ‘0’, showing no fingers or pointing out the difference between zero items and not zero.

The staff would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’, for all the very kind gifts and cards so kindly given to us before the Christmas break, they were very much appreciated by us all.

Have a wonderful week,

The Reception Team

This week the children will be continuing to practise their Nativity play. They will get to choose what sort of part they would like to have in the play and will get the opportunity to practise a run through of the play in the hall with the stage. If your child comes home with some words to learn for the Nativity in their reading diary then please practice these regularly so your child knows them and can read them from memory. We will not require you to provide a costume for the Nativity. We have all of the costumes in school so please do not go out and buy any costumes. Details on how to purchase tickets will be sent out to you nearer the time.

On Thursday we will be going on our trip to Ash End Children’s farm. We are looking forward to an exciting day. You will have received an email regarding arrangements for the day. Please read carefully and ensure your child is dressed appropriately and has a packed lunch that can be thrown away afterwards not requiring boxes or bottles that need to be returned. Please only pack the usual amount of food that your child will eat as we will only be stopping for food once in the day. Children do not require any spending money. We will take lots of photos and these will be shared in next weeks Friday Focus.

The children are all making great progress with their phonics. Thank you to all those parents who are hearing their child read or accessing the online videos. This is the best way to help your child make progress with their reading. Remember to sign the diary every time your child reads and add a little comment to say how they are getting on or what you have done together. A message such as ” . . . . . . . went through all her sound letter cards and we made words that she was able to read such as sat, pin, tap.” Please find some additional blending videos that you can watch together to help support the learning at home.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/resources/vc-pathways/289160/OxMMrd8mXJwAzIFQ

This week the children will be encouraged to compare the number of objects in 2 sets by matching them 1:1. Seeing that objects in some sets can be matched without any being left over will draw the children’s attention to instances when the quantities of objects are equal.​

Language is the key focus and we will reinforce the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’ and ‘an equal number’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. As the focus this week is on countable things, ‘fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ and ‘more than’ is used rather than ‘greater than’.

We would like to Welcome Mrs Beynon who will be working Monday’s and Mrs Frost-Townsend who will be working Tuesday – Friday in RKB. Both are experienced members of staff who have previously worked at Coundon Primary. We look forward to them joining the team and know they will fit in perfectly. Please pop along to say hello to both of them so that they can get to know you all.

The weather has got noticeably colder over the last week. Please make sure your child has a warm waterproof coat with a hood and help them to practice doing up their own zip so that they can do this in school for themselves. Your child will also need a hat and gloves (we don’t recommend scarfs as these can be dangerous on the equipment and usually spend more time on the floor than around children’s necks). All gloves and hats should be clearly named. We encourage the children to put their gloves in their coat pockets (not bags) and hats into their coat sleeve once they have taken it off. This prevents them from getting lost.

Have a wonderful week

The Reception Team

This week we are continuing with our work on celebrations. We will begin the week looking at Remembrance day. We will be talking about the significance of the day and why it is celebrated and the way that it is celebrated. The children will join in with a minutes silence to remember those that fought in the war. We will also talk about the war and when it happened in relation to our history. This would be a good opportunity to talk to your children about the poppy and why they are worn. We will also be talking about celebrating in other ways. We will have a focus on celebrating our differences and how we are all unique.

Last week the children were put into their new phonics group from the results of our assessment before the half term break. Your child will have brought home their reading diary on Friday containing the reading practice work your child’s phonics teacher would like them to do. We ask that you try to do these activities for a few minutes each day to get your child used to the routine of daily reading. Please sign the reading diary with a comment on how your child managed each time so we can see what practice your child is having at home so that we can support it in school. If your child has log in details at the front of their diary then please log in to see what work has been set for your child online to support the book/ditty sheet in their book bag. There are some more blending videos below for extra practice.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/resources/vc-pathways/276313/ZQgdOxrjRhhPUKqK

This week in Maths , the children will build on their subitising skills. They will be encouraged to look closely at small quantities and observe whether the quantity has changed or only the arrangement. ​When investigating the shapes made by Numberblock Four and making similar arrangements, children may also begin to develop their skills of ‘conceptual’ subitising. They will begin to notice the sub-groups that can be perceived within a larger set, and recognise the whole at the same time. For example, they will see that Numberblock Four can be arranged with 2 blocks on top of another 2 blocks or as a line of 3 with 1 on top, and connect both to 4. This will further develop their understanding of part–whole relations and the composition of number from previous weeks. ​The children will also be encouraged to represent quantities in different ways by using a number of fingers on one hand. Some children will be able to show an amount ‘all at once’ while others will need a lot more practice to be able to do this. Build confidence by allowing the children to ‘grow their fingers’ – putting up one finger at a time – before showing them, and gradually introduce the idea of making an amount ‘all at once’ when they become more familiar with finger patterns. ​

This week we will be celebrating Children in Need by raising money in a variety of ways. All details of the different activities can be found in this weeks Friday focus. On Friday we would like you to send in some cakes for a cake sale and the children can come dressed in their pyjamas for a donation of £1. Please remember children will need to wear sensible shoes as they will still be spending a portion of the day outside.

Have a wonderful week,

The Reception Team

This week we will be learning about the celebration of Diwali. The children will be learning about the celebration and how people celebrate and why. We will be learning about the story of Rama and Sita, making our own clay diva’s, making and designing rangoli patterns as well as tasting some Indian food. If your family celebrates Diwali please talk about it with your child so that they can share their celebrations with us all. If you are celebrating Diwali we hope you have a fantastic time and would love to see photo’s of your family’s celebration that we can then share with the children. Please send any photos to [email protected] or [email protected]

The children have all now been assessed on the first 16 sounds taught. These have been sent home with your child. If you have misplaced the cards then please speak to a member of the team. Alternatively if you would like to buy a more durable set of cards with all of the sounds, these can be purchased on Amazon for approximately £6 https://amzn.eu/d/4oH8i9z This week we will continue to recap the sounds and work on blending the sounds to make simple words. Pease watch the videos below with your child for extra practice. The children will start in their new phonic groups after the half term break.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/resources/vc-pathways/264623/13p2Qe3nCAl6ekv8

This week, the children will explore how numbers can be composed of 1s and, from this, begin to investigate the composition of 3 and 4. Composing and de-composing numbers involves children investigating part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. The children will learn from practical experience that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts. ​​
The children have experience of subitising small quantities and will use their skills to identify the numbers within 3 and 4.​ They will begin to recognise that 3 and 4 can be made by combining sets in different ways. When children are able to compose and flexibly de-compose numbers mentally, they will become more fluent in their knowledge of number bonds, and be able to use these efficiently when calculating in KS1 and KS2.

We break up for the Autumn term on Friday for a well deserved rest. The children have had a wonderful first half term in school and have already learned so much. Please continue to encourage your child to develop their independence by dressing themselves, wiping themself when they go to the toilet and walking rather than being carried or in a pushchair. Half term is an ideal opportunity to get out to a park and encourage your child to hang, swing and climb on equipment which will help to develop their shoulder strength which in turn will help them with their core strength and fine motor control which is essential for writing. Try to allow your child to take risks and not always lift them or hold them on equipment.

Have a wonderful week and we will see you on Monday 3rd November

The Reception Team

This week we will be starting our topic on Autumn. Please bring in any collections of natural items such as conkers, coloured leaves, acorns, pine cones and twigs. We will be using these for a wide variety of activities throughout the next few weeks. The children will be focusing on signs of Autumn and how the Autumn is different to other seasons. Talk to your child about the changes taking place and see if they can spot signs of Autumn.

This week the children have learned how to read and write the letter sounds g, o, c and k. They have also been blending the sounds together to make simple CVC words with the sounds previously taught such as s-a-t, g-o-t, m-a-n. This is something you could do at home with your child using the flashcards. Below are some videos to help with the letter sounds taught.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/AcDPJwtX/ctKf9jJk

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/uC1z772J/riAWJjar

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/kf2DhTrb/z32jsJa0

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/C4ed4JHB/oDbKUl8z

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/knycXbNr/CJuyyM91

In Maths this week the children will explore different representations of 1, 2 and 3. The focus is on finding the representations rather than making them at this point. We start by ensuring children can confidently say the number names ‘one’, ‘two’ and ‘three’ out loud. Once they can do this, they will match the verbal number names to numerals and quantities. We will encourage the children to count to three using objects in different arrangements by touching each object as they count. They should recognise that the final number they say is the quantity in that set. You could encourage your child at home to identify sets of 1, 2 and 3.

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team

This week we are beginning a topic all about dinosaurs. We will be looking at both fiction and non-fiction texts and the children will help to write a class dinosaur fact file. We will be learning about dinosaurs being alive a very long time ago and will look at our class timeline and where dinosaurs belong. We will also earn about the terms herbivore, omnivore and carnivore and what these mean. The children will have the opportunity to try a range of different crafts and activities linked to dinosaurs such as collaging, painting, developing fine motor skills and playing games.

Well done to all of those children that cut out their flashcards and were practicing at home over the weekend. This practice will help your child become confident with their letter sounds and make blending words easier. This week the children will be introduced to four more letter sounds t,i,n,p. They will also start to put the sounds taught so far together to blend and read simple words such as mat, sad, sit etc. This is something you could nor do with your child at home with the letter sound flashcards that have been sent home. below are some videos to help with learning the new sounds and one to show how to blend sounds to read.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/RNdeQ5vB/qipkd8Vc

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/EOrzRORb/lkUmBXuA

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ZbhgAG1w/oPAQM98a

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/AKtRW6Ih/ngYSW8K2

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/MLpqXtkx/79oG62op

In Math’s this week we are looking at comparisons. In this small step, children will build on their previous skills of sorting. They will learn that sets can be compared and ordered. Children will use the language ‘more’ and ‘fewer’ when comparing sets of objects. The focus of this small step is on comparing sets of objects specifically. It is easier for children to make comparisons when the difference between the sets is greater. You could do this at home by asking your child to compare sets of 5 and 2 objects rather than sets of 5 and 6 objects.

Can we please remind you to label all items of clothing, including shoes. If items get misplaced around the school going to P.E or the lunch hall then they can be returned if clearly named. Please also provide your child with a warm waterproof coat with a hood so that they are appropriately dressed for the ever changing British weather. In Reception we go outside in every weather and your child spends a substantial part of the day outside so needs to be kept warm and dry.

Remember staff can be contacted on [email protected] or [email protected] or we are available for a chat most evenings at the end or start of the day on the door. Please be mindful of safeguarding procedures through please and allow us to welcome/dismiss the other children before having a chat.

Have a wonderful week,

The Reception Team.

This week we will be focusing on the story ‘A Monster Surprise’. We will do a lot of work this week on story retelling and sequencing, with a focus on children being good talking partners, discussing different aspects of the story. We are encouraging the children to not only talk to their partner but to be a good listener and be able to repeat what their partner has said. Parents can support this at home by encouraging their child to wait when they require attention, and to also involve them in two way conversations where your child is looking at you when you speak and you model being a good listener towards them. This blog is a great place to discover what your child has been learning in school and can give you topics to discuss in conversation.

This week the children have started to learn their phonic sounds. They have learned how to read and write the sounds m,a,s and d. Your child will bring home flashcards of these letters on Friday. Please cut them out and fold along the line to make a set of flashcards for your child. Go through these cards every night so that your child can read them confidently. This is the start of your child’s reading journey. Each week they will get the next letter sounds they have been introduced to, to add to their pack of flashcards. Once the first set of sounds have been taught we will assess the children and then sort them in to groups so that those children ready to learn more sounds and begin to read will focus on that and those children that need more practice on the first sounds can review them before moving forward. Below are a few videos of the sounds taught that you can do with your child.

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/eksr3UNO/eD4wfxMK

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/trj4BJTR/ojSQjbPu

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/lZDDCfql/wnpamoqM

http://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/5GKMgUj7/Xc5SvKyM

This week in Math’s we will be concentration on matching, grouping and finding ‘the same’. The children will be playing games like ‘Snap’ to find pairs that match as well as sorting items into groups that go together. Snap is a great game that you can play with your child that will help them to not only identify matching pairs but will also encourage them to take turns, understand that they can’t always win and have to wait and be patient. Below is a link to a simple snap game that you could print off if you haven’t got playing cards at home.

Click to access Snap.pdf

This week the weather has started to get a little bit colder. Please ensure your child comes to school each day with a NAMED, warm, waterproof coat with a hood. Thank you to those parents that have sent in wellington boots for their child. Again please name these and add to the boxes outside the classroom doors if you have not provided any for your child.

Have a lovely week,

The Reception Team