Category: Reception Blog

This week we will be focusing on the story of ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. The children will be hearing the story, sequencing the story, acting it out as well as creating our own story based on the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Across the week the children will be involved in a range of activities that focus on the story and will be trying to build their own bridges for the goats to go over. Talk about the story with your child. Can they retell the story? Encourage them to use different voices for the different characters. maybe have a look at any other traditional tales you may have at home and compare the stories. Do any of the other stories have 3 main characters?

Please continue to regularly go through all of the sounds that have been sent home with your child. Put the sounds together to make CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant)words for them to blend and read. If your child is confident with CVC words then move on to words containing CCVC or CVCC words such as ‘stop’ and ‘tuft’. Below are some more blending videos that your child can try to support their blending skills.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Apcc4vdV/rhorbGkx

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/3k4aLMBr/h7gWvVsK

In Maths 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’. When the children can compose and flexibly decompose numbers mentally, they will become more fluent in their knowledge of number bonds and will be able to use these to become efficient when calculating in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

This week is Children’s Mental Health week. Across the school children will be involved in activities related to their own mental health. In Reception we will be focusing on the emotion of ‘Joy’ and will be discussing all the ways that we can find joy to help us feel happy and what to do if we are not very happy. This a great time to check in with your own child and see how they are feeling. Take time to sit together away from technology and any other distractions and ask them what makes them feel joyful and what you can do to help them feel joy in their life.

Have a lovely week,

The Reception Team

This week we will continue with our topic of winter with a focus on story structure. The children will be hearing the story ‘The Snow Queen’ and will be thinking about the characters, setting and plot. They will sequence the story and will also help to retell the story using a story map designed together. We will then use the ideas to help us map out our own winter story and use the map to tell the story. Encourage your child to retell stories that they are familiar with. It is a great way for your child to think about a story and to begin to understand story structure. You could also encourage your child to change parts of the story. They could maybe suggest a different ending or could retell their own similar story with different characters or a different problem or adventure.

The children are all working really well in their new phonic groups. They are now beginning to apply the sounds they have learned when not only reading but also writing. We are working hard on writing words and simple captions. The children are learning how to use their Fred fingers to help them spell out words that they wish to write. Below are some videos that you could watch and join in with, with your child to help them with their spelling of words using the sounds they know.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/gqMspnp3/aiGeRcQI

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/72cTMbte/ueWbgxNV

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 – 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.

Although, linguistically, they bear little relation to our number names in English, the children will hear ordinal numbers (first, second, etc.) alongside these ordering activities and as part of classroom routines. Using representations of quantity alongside these ordinal numbers will help to embed understanding.

To conclude our topic on winter we will be celebrating with a ‘Frozen’ day on Friday 24th January 2025. This is a day where the children can come into school wearing something the depicts frost/ ice/ winter. This could be something as simple as wearing winter colours, sparkles or ‘Frozen’ dressing up clothes, from the film. Feel free to express the term ‘frozen’ however you wish. Please do not go out and buy anything special, coming to school dressed in blue would be more than okay. If you are struggling please speak to a member of the team and we will help with an outfit. We will have different Frozen themed activities across the day and look forward to seeing all the children in their chilly frosty outfits.

Have a wonderful week,

The Reception Team

Last week we started on our topic of winter. The children went on a winter walk and explored signs of winter. This week we will continue with our work on winter with a focus on the changing season and how winter is different to the other three seasons. The children will be identifying differences with a focus on dressing for the weather. Please ensure your child comes into school dressed for the cold weather. They need to wear a warm waterproof coat (raincoats are not warm enough), a hat and a pair of gloves. Your child should be able to put all of these on by themselves. We encourage the children to then put their gloves in their coat pocket and their hat in their coat sleeve so that everything is kept together when they need it and decreases the risk of them loosing things. The children were lucky enough last week to get out and explore the frosty ground. Talk about the weather with your child especially in the morning when the frost and ice is evident and the temperature is significantly colder to help support the discussions we are having in school.

The children have now spent a few days in their new phonics groups. They are all working very hard and making great progress with their reading. If your child comes home with log in details on the front of their diary then please make sure you log in each week to get your child to read the book set on line and do the quiz linked to their reading. You can reread the online book by clicking on Fred the Frog. Your child will also bring home a book bag book that is linked to the book read in class that week. Encourage your child to read this several times until they can read it fluently. Remember to sign the diary every time you hear your child read. If your child is still not ready for a book yet then please go through the activities outlined in your child’s reading diary and continue to practice their letter sounds. Thank you for all the support in helping your child on their reading journey.

This week, the children will use their perceptual subitising skills (seeing the quantity without counting) in increasingly complex arrangements, moving from dots in a line and arrangements of 2, to a focus on standard dice arrangements. For larger quantities, the children will begin to use skills of conceptual subitising, beginning to quickly see the sub-groups within these larger numbers. A key focus will be on developing skills of visualising; the children will be encouraged to look carefully at arrangements of dots and then to close their eyes and explain what they saw. Using spatial language to describe sub-groups within these arrangements will deepen the children’s understanding of part–whole relations and allow them to further consider composition (the numbers within numbers).
They will also be encouraged to continue representing quantities in different ways, including by showing amounts on 1 hand ‘all at once’. There will also be a new focus on the symbolic representation of number and the children will work on their recognition of numerals to 5, matching numerals to correct quantities in various games.
Towards the end of the week, the children will use a number track (with numbers placed in equal spaces in ascending order) to play dice-based games. Playing games with dice will consolidate the children’s understanding of the stable order of numbers and allow them to link the numbers on a track to the quantities on a die.

If you have any photos of your child enjoying the winter weather then please send them into us on [email protected] or [email protected]

Have a wonderful week

The Reception team

Our Nativity rehearsals are well underway and the children are very excited to perform to you at the end of the week. They have been working hard at learning the songs and should have brought home their lines if they have any to learn. We will have a focus on the Nativity story this week to reinforce what the children have been rehearsing and give them the opportunity to link the story with their play. The children will be involved in a range of activities across the week and will learn why the story is important to Christians around the world. We understand that some of our families do not celebrate Christmas but like the other religious celebrations we look at throughout the year it is important for children to understand that different cultures have different celebrations. We want our children to be accepting of others and their beliefs and to learn that it is fine for people to have different beliefs to our own. We hope you agree and if your child wishes to talk about another religion or celebration to your own, then you answer any questions they may have in a respectful way.

We all had a wonderful day at Ash End Children’s farm. The children had a lot of fun and got fully involved in all of the activities. They were very brave feeding and touching the animals and saw a wide range of farm animals in their natural habitat. The children helped to act out the Christmas story and had a great time visiting Father Christmas and telling him what they wanted for Christmas. Hopefully your child told you all about the visit and you have had a chance to look through the sample of photos of what we got up to through out the day on the Friday Focus. The children were all very well behaved and listened very well to the farmer guides. We had a lot of tired children on the way home with a few even falling asleep!

This week we will be assessing the children on what they have learned over the last 6 weeks. The children will then be put into their new groups ready for January. Please continue to practise the sounds your child has brought home and reading the 3 and 4 letter words. We will not be sending a reading book home over the Christmas break but continue to practise the sounds and words as often as you can.

This week, the children will build on their understanding of the composition of numbers by investigating the composition of 3, 4 and 5. Composing and de-composing numbers involves the children investigating part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. Through practical experience, they will consolidate their understanding of a whole being made up of smaller parts. They will begin to recognise that numbers can be made by combining parts in different ways. A key focus will be the spatial arrangements that can be made with different combinations of the same number of objects.

This week Reception will be going on a walk to the post box on Southbank Road to post the letters that they wrote last week, to Father Christmas. We will be walking down in our classes, talking about what we see in the local area as we walk. We will send our letters on their way with a song and hoping that they reach Father Christmas before the big day. If you do not want your child to take part in this activity then please let your child’s teacher know.

We are looking forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Nativity this week. If you do not yet have your tickets then please speak to the office staff. Entrance is by ticket only.

Have a lovely week,

The Reception Team

We are continuing on with our topic of ‘Celebration’ this week by looking at ‘Advent’. The children will learn about advent and how it is celebrated and will be able to link this to the advent calendars that they may be opening at home. We will talk about the countdown to Christmas and will link the season of Advent to their Nativity play as we continue to rehearse ready for their production later this term. The children will learn about the significance of the candles in an advent wreath and we will be talking about advent calendars being more than just a chocolate treat. In class we will be making our own ‘Kindness’ Advent calendar that we will open each day throughout December with an act of kindness that the children will be encouraged to carry out. Use this topic as a time to talk to your child about Christmas and what they know and have learned.

The children are all progressing well in their phonic groups and those children practising their sounds and word blending at home are showing increasing confidence. We have started to write simple CVC words in our writing sessions so please continue to work with your child on blending sounds together as this will also help them to then segment words to be able to write them. Please continue to watch the videos below which show how to use the sounds to blend.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/kmjuSM2j/jJzxCxlN

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/QiZfS3RY/NSMOFZWS

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Pk2im77W/7cW4OaOQ

The comparison of quantities is something that children begin to do as babies. When comparing, children notice attributes and begin to understand similarities and differences. This week’s activities focus on further developing these innate skills. 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 a key focus and adults will need to 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’.

The children are very excited for their trip to Ash House Children’s Farm on Thursday. You should have received a letter by now outlining key information such as clothing and lunch. Please make sure you have read the letter and follow the actions suggested. Please do not send your child in with lots of food. They only need the same amount of lunch they would have on any normal day. The lunches will be kept on the coach until lunchtime and any remaining food will be disposed of after lunch so they will not be able to access it throughout the day. The children are set for a lovely day where they will get the opportunity to see and feed some different animals as well as get to hold a baby chick. They will also take part in a Nativity story as well as meet Father Christmas and receive a lovely gift. Please talk to your child about the trip before they come so they know what to expect. It would be really helpful if you also talked to your child about keeping their hands out or their mouths and noses as they will be feeding animals and we do not want children transferring anything into their own bodies. We will be washing hands regularly but we seem to have quite a few children that have their hands in their mouths or regularly up their noses, so we would be very grateful for help with this message

As we now move in winter and the colder weather can we ask that your child comes into school ready for the drop in temperature. Please send your child into school with a warm waterproof coat with a hood, a pair of gloves and a hat. All these items should be clearly named. We do not recommend scarfs as they are often left trailing on the floor and can become dangerous on the equipment. Encourage your child to put their coat on first, then their hat and finally their gloves. When taking their outdoor items off they should remove their gloves first and put them into their coat pockets. They should then remove their coat and put their hat into the sleeve of their coat so that it doesn’t get lost on the floor and is easy to access when then need to get ready to go outside. Please do not ask your child to put their things in their bags as they are difficult to access on the coat pegs when all of the children’s coats and bags are on there. This will help them with getting themselves ready and forging their own independence.

We hope you have a lovely week and will take lots of photos on our farm visit to share with you all.

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.

The children started in their new phonic groups last week. They will have brought home their reading diary and there will be some reading activities inside. Please sign the reading diary each time you do these activities with your child. Continue to go over the letters that have been sent home and make simple CVC words to practice word blending. Below are some blending videos to help with this.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Gh9DWQ1y/5enu8z7l

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/zTqoCMH6/tzvnlWpI

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/kgzmG4wl/zCGesfGh

This week, 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 learning. 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. We will also look at squares and rectangles having four sides and four corners

We are looking forward to our upcoming trip to Ash End Children’s farm. You should have received an email with the details for payment. Unfortunately if we do not get enough money to cover the cost of the trip we will have to cancel it. We will provide more information closer to the day on what your child will need to wear on the day. It is a lovely trip for the children and I’m sure they will have lots of fun which will begin to get them in the mood for Christmas.

Thank you to those parents who have been contributing to our weekly 50p fund. This money allows us to buy additional resources to enhance the children’s learning such as the pumpkins that the children had great fun bashing with golf pegs and dissecting them to see what was inside as well as the Indian food that we tasted when celebrating Diwali. It is very much appreciated and all of the money contributed will go on enhancing your child’s learning in Reception.

Have a great week

The Reception Team

This week we will continue with our topic of celebrations by looking at Bonfire night. We will be learning about Guy Fawkes and the reason for bonfire night. We will do a variety of crafts and activities linked to bonfire night and will be discussing bonfire night in relation to the other celebrations we know about. We will also focus on firework safety and how the children can stay safe when watching fireworks. Ask your child what they have learned about bonfire night and see if they can tell you some of the safety rules. Coundon Primary are hosting their own firework display on Monday the 4th of December so please contact the school office if you would like tom attend and join in with out celebrations.

The children have now been introduced to all of the set 1 single letter sounds. Please continue to practise these so that your child is confident with them. We are now focusing on blending to read. Put three of the cards together to make simple CVC words such as s-a-t and p-i-n. Can your child say each sound and then read the word? keep going through these activities to help your child become confident at blending words to read, On Friday your child will bring home a reading diary. Please look to see what activities have been set by your child’s Read Write Inc. teacher. Please get into the habit of doing the activities every night and signing the diary to record what your child has done. Below are some blending videos for you to watch with your child to help develop their blending skills.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/jAOyBYmC/h4H2J7jG

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/5leuE8mt/pU8lrgvz

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/o1PcHoIC/iFrwS2hm

This week in Maths we will be looking at both circles and triangles and their properties with a focus on number of sides/ edges to link with the number work already done. We will identify shapes in the environment and we will also be looking at position and direction with a focus on the mathematical language. Have a look at home for circles and triangles. Can your child identify any in their environment? What can they tell you about circles and triangles?

As we lead into the winter and the weather gets colder, ensure your child comes to school each day in a warm waterproof coat with a hood. We would also ask that your child brings in a hat and a pair of gloves. Please take the time to help your child learn how to put these on by themselves so they are not relying on an adult to do it for them. We also ask that when your child takes off their gloves and hat they put their gloves in their coat pocket and their hat in the sleeve of their coat before hanging it up. This allows them to access them easily when they need them as their bags are too difficult to get to on the coat pegs when they are all on there. Please can you make sure that ALL ITEMS are clearly named so we can return lost items to the right child.

Have a lovely week. We hope to see you on the 4th at our firework display.

The Reception Team

This week we will begin our work on festivals. This is a topic that runs across the year looking at different festivals that are celebrated across our school community. This week we will be talking about the festival of Diwali, how it is celebrated and by whom. The children will be involved in a series of different activities ranging from making Rangoli and mehndi patters, making their own diva’s and tasting some Indian food. We will learn about the story of Rama and Sita and the children will have the opportunity to act this story out. This will form the basis of the children’s understanding of how festivals are celebrated and will be further enhanced as we celebrate other festivals over the coming months. The children love to share their new knowledge so ask them about what they have learned and what they can tell you about the festival of Diwali and how it is celebrated. If you and your family are celebrating Diwali over the half term break, we wish you a very happy celebration and would love for you to send in photos of your child celebrating Diwali so that we can add them to our class books. Please send in any photos or notes of how you have celebrated to [email protected] or [email protected]

Last week the children were assed in their phonics session and we are now sorting them into their new groups for after the half term break. Some children will move on to learn the next set of sounds where others will need to recap the sounds already taught before we move on to teach more new sounds. Please do not worry and begin comparing your child to others. We will teach your child what they need. We will now be having a focus on blending the sounds taught to read simple words such as s-a-t, t-o-p etc. Please do this as part of your reading work with your child. After the half term break your child will come home with a reading diary with a reading activity to do. Please do these activities every night and sign the diary to say what you have done and how your child got on. All reading diaries should then be returned on a Wednesday ready for staff to add new reading activities to go home on Friday. When your child is ready they will get login details for an online account where reading activities will be set for them. We will let you know more about this when your child is ready. below are the videos for the last few sounds learned

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/xuKSEfkr/N5NaclAn

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/yPDKz3G1/fi07pPEW

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/k7Vmgexm/wgVc2pZy

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/9oxkBvZx/xgQ6YAZ8

In Maths 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 will 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. Can your child tell you how many there are up to 4 without the need to count? Can they tell you/ show you different ways to make an amount up to 4?

Over the last few weeks the children have been working hard at their independence. They have been set the challenge of putting on their own shoes and coats and most children can now do up their own coat. Please continue this at home and allow the children the time to foster their own independence by allowing them to dress themselves and getting their own shoes and coats on when they are going out. Try to continue going over the sounds that have been sent home so that they do not loose any of their learning over the break. Once the children have had a week at home they may get upset again about coming back in to school. This is completely normal after a break (think how you feel going back to work after a holiday) so don’t worry that there is something wrong.

It was lovely to meet so many of you last week at parents evening. Thank you for taking the time to come and chat about your child. We hope you have a lovely half term break and that the children get recharged for the term ahead.

The Reception Team