Category: Reception Blog

Across the week Reception had a focus on Maths across the whole week. The children made Rangoli patterns using the shapes learned in their Maths session, they looked at different ways to make both 4 and 5, the played a range of Maths games on the computers and they built and used obstacle courses and used positional language while tackling the course.

This week we will be continuing our work on celebrations. We will have a focus on birthdays and will be encouraging the children to talk about their last birthday celebration. We will be making cards and party hats and will play some party games to encourage turn taking and not always winning! Playing games with your child such as board games is a great way to encourage your child to wait, take turns and understand that they will not always win or come first in activities. We will also introduce the children to the Nativity story and will begin to learn some of the songs for our Christmas production.

The children will again bring home their reading activity in their reading diary. Continue to do this work every night and focus particularly on blending the sounds together to make words. There are some additional videos below for your child to watch for some additional phonic activities.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/AkLYBJw1/UF2kfTjl

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/BuJdXsmK/lj0YCHmQ

In Maths this week we will be continuing with the numbers 4 and 5. We will be subitising the numbers (recognising the amount without the need to count). We will also using our 5 frames to work out the different ways to make both 4 and 5. We will also looking at 1 more and 1 less of 4 and 5. Follow the link below to play a maths game of numbers to 5. Encourage your child to say what they can see e.g. a 2 and a 2 makes 4. Can they find the answer without the need to count?

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/ladybird-spots

Thank you to all of those parents who have supported the school over the past few weeks with our firework night and the art expedition. It was lovely seeing so many of you there supporting the school and helping us to raise vital funds to support your children in school.

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team

This week the children will be continuing with their work on celebrations. We will be focusing on the Hindu festival of Diwali. The children will be learning all about the celebration and will be learning about how people celebrate. They will be learning about the Diwali story and will be learning songs and dances as well as doing a range of craft activities. If you are celebrating Diwali in your home please send in photos so that your child can share them with the class and talk about their celebration. Email any photos to [email protected] or [email protected]

Your child should have brought home a reading diary on Friday. Please read the note inside and complete the activities with your child. Please remember young children learn through repetition so should do these activities more than once. Try to get into the habit of doing reading activities every night such as going through the flashcards, putting the cards together to make simple CVC words and getting your children to Fred talk the sounds then blend them together to read the word and doing the activities stated in your child’s diary. When you have carried out these activities sign the diary and write a short comment saying what your child has done.

This week in Maths, we will be looking at the numbers 4 and 5. We will be learning how to make the amounts 4 and 5 in different ways and will be identifying these without the need to count. We will be looking at groups and talking about what we see and how we see it. We will also be using five frames to check our amounts and recognising how many more we would need to make 5. We will also be looking a 1 more and 1 fewer. By the end of the week the children should be able to identify groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 without the need to count. At home see if your child can recognise groups of different amounts without the need to count. See if they can tell you what they see and how they see it For example “I can see a 2 and a 2 so I know that makes 4”.

On Tuesday and Wednesday this week we will be hosting a special Art exhibition in the school hall. Each child in the school has produced a piece of art work that will be displayed for you to come and see and purchase. It would be lovely to see you all there.

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team

Welcome back, we hope you had an enjoyable half term break and the children are feeling well rested. This term will be a busy one with lots to look forward to. Hopefully you received your letter about Ash End farm. This is a lovely trip for the children where they get to see and feed a range of animals as well as joining in with a range of Christmas activities such as the nativity story and a visit to see Father Christmas. We will let you know arrangements nearer the time. If you did not receive an email about the trip then please visit the admin team in the school office and they will be able to help.

This week we will be focusing on celebrations. We will be talking about celebrations that have already happened and will be having a focus on Bonfire night and Guy Fawkes. We will talk about how the children have celebrated bonfire night and will be learning about why we celebrate Guy Fawkes. The children will be involved in a range of creative and active activities and will be relating the celebrations to their own celebrations. On Wednesday evening the school is hosting a firework display. There will be a range of stalls available, hot food and a fantastic firework display for you all to enjoy. We hope to see you all there, tickets are still available from the school office.

The children have now all been assessed and have been allocated their new phonics groupings. They will begin working on the sounds they do not know and will then be introduced to new letter sounds. Continue to work on the letter sounds sent home and particularly on blending the sounds together to read words. We will be sending home reading diaries soon with links to home videos that we would like you to watch with your child. This will be your child’s reading homework so please sign the diary each time you watch a video or read some words to let us know how your child is getting on with the sounds at home. Below are some additional links to videos that you may want to watch with your child.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/cTvEvnIF/3yOSqdsT

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/W10err0a/EkdZGqmq

This week in Maths we will begin to look at some 2D shapes and their properties and positional language. We will be focusing on circles and triangles. We will be talking about number of sides and identifying shapes in the environment. We will be reading Rosie’s walk and will be going on our own walk that focuses on over, under, on top, in front and behind. See if your child is confident with positional language. Play a game where you give them an instruction to stand in front, behind, on top etc, or they could place a toy in the positions. Can they tell you where the toy is?

Can we please remind all parents to check that all of their child’s clothes are labelled. We have a number of jumpers and cardigans without names on. Names written in pen wash off very quickly so please check them regularly.

We are looking forward to an exciting term in the run up to Christmas. The weather is likely to get much colder now so please make sure your child has a warm waterproof coat and they will need named gloves and a hat.

The Reception Team

We are continuing with our topic on Autumn this week and will be reading the story “Don’t Hog the Hedge”. We will have a focus on animals and hibernation as well as being a good friend and learning to share. Can your child tell you about Autumn and some of the things they have learned. Take the time to look at signs of Autumn and collect some autumn foliage for our collection in school.

In Phonics the children have continued to learn new sounds. Keep going over all of the sounds sent home so that your child becomes confident in these letter sounds and can use them to build simple words. Below are some links for videos of some of the sounds the children have learned so far and how the children are learning to blend.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/kxDzGr4R/kZHKxtWi

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/mKGMkvQ2/kXhuRsMW

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/eqmaSrc8/1NvVDAPI

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/puLrWFwz/g4Xu8x4D

This week in maths we will be looking at patterns. The children will be continuing patterns with what comes next as well as making their own patterns. Your child will be able to make a pattern with anything – it could be their toys or cutlery or even fruit. See if your child can continue the pattern. If confident see if they can continue a trickier pattern such as fork, knife, knife, fork . . . . . We have added a link below to a shape pattern game that your child may wish to play at home.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

With the varied weather at the moment the children are wanting to put their jumpers on and off but many are struggling with this. Please work with your child to teach them how to put on and take off their jumper so that they can do this themselves instead of having to wait for an adult to be available. The staff are encouraging independence in the children so would really appreciate your help with this. Please ensure all jumpers and cardigans are named as the children have a tendency to leave them everywhere and we want to get clothing back to its rightful owner.

Have a wonderful week

The Reception Team

Welcome to the Reception Blog. We will regularly update this blog, sharing the different activities we will be doing during the week ahead. This will give you an insight into the activities your child is doing in class and will give you ideas of things you could do at home to support your child’s learning.

This week we will be starting our Autumn topic. The children will be learning all about Autumn and the changes that occur. We will be going on an Autumn walk around the school site looking for Autumn foliage to make a classroom collection and use the collection in both our play and learning times. If you are out and about on a walk please collect any leaves that have changed colours, acorns, conkers or any other Autumn foliage that we could use and send them in to school – all donations will be gratefully received. We will be looking at the story of ‘Leaf Man’ and will be making our own leaf people or animals. Talk to your child about the Autumn and the changes that occur. How is the Autumn different to summer that we just experienced. How do we dress in the Autumn?

The children have now completed their second week of Read, Write Inc phonics and have been introduced to a number of letter sounds. Your child should have brought home a print out of the letters covered so far. Please cut these out along the small dotted line and fold them so that the picture is on one side and the grapheme (letter) on the other side. Get into the habit of going through these every night as this is your child’s reading activity. Start putting the sounds together to make simple CVC words such as m-a-t and s-i-t. Your child will need to be fluent with all of the set 1 sounds and able to blend them into words before they move on to a reading book. The children bring a Library book home on a Friday for you to share. Please read this to your child and enjoy the story together several times over the week. Return the book each Friday so that your child can choose a new one.

In Maths this week we will be looking at comparison and using the correct language. We will be looking at more and less, tall and short, big and small and long and short. It is important that children understand the language of maths to be able to solve problems and explain their thinking. See if you can use this language with your child while they are playing. Can they find the big item and the small one? Can they identify which toy is taller or shorter or longer or shorter. Can they tell you which group has more and which has less?

That children have all settled in well to school and have been working hard to learn the routines and expectations. Over the year we will be working hard on helping the children develop their independence. You can help at home by encouraging your child to put their own shoes on and take them off, by dressing themselves, by tidying up their toys and by helping them to learn how to do things by themselves. Over the next few weeks the children will be encouraged to put on their own coats and try to do them up by themselves. Please work with your child on this so that they are not always waiting for an adult to this for them.

We would like to say a big thank you to all those parents that have been contributing the weekly 50p to help enhance our continuous provision. We have been using the money to make things like playdough and buying resources to support children’s creative play. Please contribute if you can so that we can offer a variety of experiences for the children and make their time in Reception as varied as possible.

From Monday 2nd of October Reception’s P.E day will change from a Friday to a Monday. Please send your child into school on Monday in their P.E kit. Can we also ask you to please check that all of your child’s clothes are named. We have already gained a selection of un-named items and if not named then it is difficult to know who to return them to. Please also name shoes as many of the children have the same shoes and they take them off weekly for yoga sessions.

If you have any problems or concerns then please speak to a member of the team or email [email protected] or [email protected]

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team