Category: Reception Blog

This week we will be focusing on the topic of dinosaurs. The children really enjoyed the monster stories last week and many of the children have an interest in playing with dinosaurs so we have planned in some activities to support these interests. We will be talking about fiction and non-fiction texts looking at examples of both. The children will learn the difference and will carry out a range of tasks linked to both types of texts such as role play, craft activities and helping to write a class fact file. We will be introducing vocabulary such as carnivore, omnivore and herbivore. Use this as an opportunity to ask your child what they have found out about dinosaurs and see if they can share any of the new words they have learned.

Last week the children were introduced to the first four letter sounds m, a, s and d. They should have brought home these letter cards on Friday. Please ask your child to practise these sounds each night to prepare them for when they get a reading book once they know and can blend the first set of set one sounds. We will continue to teach the children more set 1 sounds this week and again will send these sounds home to be practised alongside the other sounds. If your child is confident with their sounds then begin to put the sounds together to make simple words e.g. s-a-d, a-m, m-a-d. This will help your child to begin to read. Below is a link to the parent page for Read Write Inc if you want more information on the program. Below are some videos of the sounds learned this week.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/acuQfxFp/kQwDrhp3

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/u2LYOyQb/2Hr5ynP7

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/e0hAChKQ/7ym1NMo1

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/FDt2BX40/v79VAaUH

Parents and Carers

This week in Maths we will be looking at comparisons. We will be comparing height, length, size and capacity. We will be focusing on the language of comparison; bigger/smaller, taller/shorter, more/fewer etc. Can your child use the correct language at home to identify differences. For instance which shoes are longer? Who is the tallest/ shortest in the family?

The children have all settled now into school very well and look very smart in their school uniform. Please check your child’s items so that a name is clearly visible as we would like any lost items to get back to its rightful owner. If your child does not need a big backpack then please do not send one. The children find them quite difficult to carry and they take up a lot of room in the cloakroom. The only bag required for school is a book bag so that any letters, pieces of work or home reading activities can be put in for taking home. Please get into the habit of checking your child’s bag each night and removing anything not needed. Can we remind you that P.E is on a Monday and children should come into school on this day wearing their P.E kit of black bottoms, a red Coundon t-shirt and hoodie and suitable footwear such as trainers. If your child’s trainers could do up with Velcro that would be a great help to the staff.

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team

This week we will have a focus on transition. The children will be thinking about moving on from Reception and into Year 1. We will be listening to stories and songs and playing a range of games to get ready. We will have a pirate focus to the week concentrating on the story ‘Jakes First Day’ about a pirate. Lots of our activities this week will have a pirate theme. This is a great time to be talking to your child about the move to Reception. Discuss all the things they are going to look forward to and remind them that they have grown so much in Reception and are now ready to learn even more. All the children should now know who their teacher is for Year 1 and they have had the opportunity to meet them. The Year 1 staff will also be talking to the children as much as they can over the next two weeks.

This week in Phonics we will be carrying out our final assessment of the year to set the phonics group for the next academic year. Please go over all of the sounds that your child has learned and see if your child is reading the speedy green words at the back of the on line book speedily without the need to Fred talk. We will collect all books in on Wednesday so that we can get all the books sorted for next year. Please have a look at home for any books not previously returned. We will also collect in the children’s library books on Friday, again please have a look and return any school library books that you may have at home.

Our focus in Maths this week will be games. The children will play a range of different games practising some of the key skills they have learned throughout the year. The children really enjoy playing games. This is something that is lovely to do as a family. Simple games like snakes and ladders, snap, pairs, dominoes or any other simple game. Orchard Farm games have a fantastic range of games designed for young children that the children always love when we play them in school.

This week will be our last full week as we finish on Thursday the 18th July. We hope to see you at sports day on the 16th July. Children should come into school in their P.E kit with a named water bottle.

Enjoy your week,

The Reception Team

This week we will be looking at growing up and how humans change. We will be discussing our move to Year 1 and how we have changed in our lives so far. The children will be thinking about the changes that have already taken place and the changes that are to come. This would be a good opportunity to talk to your child about how they are changing and have changed over the last year. The children will meet their Year 1 teacher on Wednesday so some conversations around this would be good to help them prepare.

On Wednesday it is our end of year beach day. We have lots of fun planned for the children. They will have a go on the bouncy castle, eat an ice-cream, paddle in the water and play in the sand. The children do not need to bring in swim wear as they will just be paddling in the water. Unfortunately changing all 60 children throughout the day would prove really difficult. If your child would like to bring in a bucket and spade then they can but please make sure these are clearly named. We ask that each child brings in a small plate of picnic treats to enjoy in the afternoon. The children will have already had their lunch so will not need things like sandwiches, just a few small treats to enjoy. If you have not returned your permission slip then please do so as we need your permission for your child to have an ice-cream and a go on the bouncy castle. Payment for the day can be made on the school payment system, we are asking for a £5 contribution from each child.

Last week in Maths the children played some games that focused on counting on. They enjoyed playing these games which not only concentrates on counting on but also co-operation and understanding that they don’t always win! Board games are an excellent activity to do with your child. There is a lot of maths involved with subitising (recognising the number on the dice without the need to count), counting on as well as working out how many more they need to complete the game.

We will shortly be coming up to our next assessment in Phonics. This assessment will place the children in the group for their next year group. Continue to go through the sounds at the beginning of the online book. These are all of the sounds your child has been taught this year and should be confident in. Below are some extra review sessions to watch and do with your child.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/PEiJZ3ZU/o7Y3qQFj

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/22oem1Vo/7mH9Zmrk

Have a lovely week,

The Reception Team

This week is History week. In Reception we will be looking at homes in the local area and homes from the past. We are planning to take the children out on a walk around the block to have a look at some of the different types of homes in our local area. The children will be looking for older and newer build homes and the different types of homes in our area. When walking with your child in the local area, get them to talk about the different types of houses and what they know about them.

Reception are looking forward to their beach day on the 3rd July. If you would like your child to be able to go on the bouncy castle and have an ice-cream from the ice-cream van then please complete the disclaimer and contribute £5 on the school payment system. We would love for every child to be able to join in all of the activities on offer. If you did not receive a letter then please speak to a remember of the school admin team.

The children are continuing to work hard in phonics and most children are now on their set 2 or set 3 sounds. Those children still working at Red or Ditty group need to demonstrate a knowledge of the special friends sh, ch, ck, ng, nk and be able to read these in words. Please continue to work on these with your child to be able to move into the next group and set of sounds. The videos below continue practice of some of our set 2 sounds

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/u1ri1bFa/uCmb8Cb9

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/XcUEzipr/GBI3sAfx

This week in Maths we are looking at positional language and directions. We will be using the language of position to describe placement as well as draw and describing maps. Check your child’s understanding of positional language by getting them to tell you where certain things are in the environment e.g. describe where the T.V is, Are they using the language of in front, behind, next to, on, in, between?

We are currently finding that some of the children are disregarding the rules that have been in place all year and are demonstrating behaviour that does not fit in with our school values of Resect, Resilience, Responsibility and Kindness. We will be working on this over the next few weeks reminding them about the choices they are making and the consequences they will receive if they continue to make the wrong choice. Please reinforce this message at home if you are seeing your child act in a disrespectful or unkind way towards others. The children will be beginning to get ready for their move to Year 1 and will be involved in some transition activities that will help them prepare for the change.

We currently have a collection of jumpers without any names on. Please ensure your child’s uniform is clearly labelled and check regularly to make sure it is still visible. If your child has lost their jumper we will put them outside for you to check the ones we have got. Could we also ask you to check your child’s hoodie as Isabella in RMT has lost hers and it is named. We have one un-named hoodie so somebody must have taken hers by mistake.

Enjoy your week

The Reception Team

This week we will be starting to learn about the season of Summer. We will be talking about summer and the changes that will occur. We will also talk about the differences between summer and the other seasons. Encourage your child to talk about what they know about the other seasons and how Summer will be different.

The children have been working well in their new phonic groups. Please continue to hear your child read every night, either the book bag book or reading activities sent in their diary or the online book or quiz. Sign the diary every time you hear your child read. Below are some set 2 videos to help with learning the set 2 sounds.

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/wrQ3V3pY/vRqEC22O

https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/3BWGwXlp/NZyKzqKK

In Maths this week we will be looking at

Thank you to all of those parents that came to RMT’s class assembly. We hope you enjoyed seeing your children talk about some of the things they have been learning in Reception. This week RCG will be performing their class assembly on Wednesday 12th June. All RCG parents are invited to come along and watch – it would be lovely to see you there.

Now that the weather is beginning to warm up please remember to send in a waterproof jacket every day as we know the weather changes all of the time. Please put sun cream on your child before school, we recommend using an all day cream. If you want your child to reapply sun cream then please teach them how to reapply and provide them with a named bottle of sun cream to keep in their bag. Children will also need a named hat. We would rather children not wear sun glasses as these can be dangerous on the large equipment and also have a tendency to get lost or broken.

Have a lovely week

The Reception Team

The children had a fabulous time doing their sponsored wheels run. They cycled, scooted and pushed their way around 10 laps of the playground in the drizzly rain. We hope this encourages the children to get out on their bikes or scooters more and enjoy exercising to help they stay healthy. A big thank you to all of the parents for supplying bikes, scooters and pushchairs. The children were very excited to have them in school. Thank you for all of the sponsor money sent in so far. Please send in the money as soon as you can and we will let you know the total. Pass on our gratitude to all of the people who sponsored your children it is very much appreciated.

This week is culture week across the school. Early Years will be focusing on the country of Spain and its culture. The children will be involved in a wide variety of different activities across the week. They will be learning all about Spain and where in the world it is. They will be learning different Spanish greetings, how to count in Spanish as well as learning to flamenco dance. At the end of the week the children are encouraged to come into school dressed in traditional Spanish clothing or to wear the colours of the Spanish flag which are red and yellow. We are also hoping to end the week with a delicious Spanish treat of churros.

This week we will be assessing the children in their phonics to see if they have retained the sounds taught this half term and can segment and blend words containing those sounds to see if they are ready to move into the next Phonics group. Please continue to go over the sounds your child has learned. Although no books were set on line this week you can access all previous books set by clicking on Fred the frog on Oxford owl once your child has logged in. If you are looking for your own set of sound cards these can be purchased quite reasonably on Amazon.

https://amzn.eu/d/3An56eW

https://amzn.eu/d/bL7vgZ1

We will also be assessing the children in Maths this week in a fun practical way to check their knowledge and understanding of all of the topics taught this year. We will then use this information to plan for the rest of the summer term so that we can plug any gaps the children may have. If you would like to try a range of Maths activities with your child, Topmarks maths has a wide variety of games covering a variety of topics which the children love to play.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=1

Can we please remind you once again to send your child into school with a waterproof coat with a hood. Even if the forecast is saying it is going to be dry the weather can change easily and children are getting cold and wet. When doing our sponsored wheels run many children had non waterproof jackets such as denim jackets or did not have a jacket at all. It is better that your child has a jacket if they need it as it can stay on their peg rather than not having a jacket and not being able to join in the activities they want to join with. Remember unless it is raining heavily the children will be outside at lunchtime.

School breaks up for the half term holiday on Friday 24th May. Enjoy your break

The Reception Team

We are currently enjoying our ‘Healthy Me’ topic. The children have been discovering different ways of keeping healthy such as eating healthy food, exercising, getting a good nights sleep, visiting the dentist, limiting time on technology and even made our own fruit kebabs. This week we are continuing to look at a balanced diet and making good food choices. Use this time as an opportunity to explore healthy food with your child and encourage them to tell you what they have learned.

This week we will not be having Read Write Inc. sessions as some of the staff are needed to support Year 6 SAT’s. We will be having whole class phonics recapping on the sounds already taught ready for our next assessment the following week. Please support this at home by continuing to practise the sounds and reading words using ‘special friends, Fred talk, read the word’. Your child will be bringing home a reading book that is slightly different to their normal book. This book will have the sounds in that your child should already know and will be a good opportunity for you to see how your child is progressing in their reading – are they using their strategies to read the word? Are they recognising words that are not new to them and reading them speedily? Remember to ask your child to read the book more than once until they are reading it speedily and fluently. There will be no online work set.

This week in Maths we will be focusing on grouping and sharing. We will be looking at putting amounts into different sized groups and will be sharing amounts out equally between groups. This is the early stages of multiplication and division and is essential before we move on to children reciting times tables or division facts as they need to understand what the terms mean. You could support this work at home by encouraging your child to share items into groups of . . . . . . . and group items into groups of . . . . . . . your child could then finish the sentence stem such as 8 can be shared between . . . . . . groups of 2.

The sun has finally come out and is hopefully here to stay. Please make sure your child has a sun hat, a water bottle containing only water please, not squash and apply sun cream before they come to school. We recommend using an all day sun cream as the children struggle with applying their own cream and often make quite a mess of themselves and the surrounding area. We also ask that your child brings a waterproof coat to school everyday. The British weather is ever changing so it is better that your child has the right clothing with them if it gets colder or rains. Remember the children in Reception spend a large portion of the day outside and we go out in all weathers.

On Thursday the children will be taking part in a sponsored wheeled event. You should have received an email all about it. Please send your child in to school on Thursday with a bike, scooter or pram to join in with our event. Th children will pedal, push or scoot around the playground 10 times to encourage them to be active and to show them that exercising can be fun. Sponsor sheets can be obtained from your child’s class teacher or from the school office or you can print off a copy that was sent with the email. Speak to a member of the team if you are struggling to provide a wheeled item and we will do our best to help.

Enjoy the lovely sunshine

The Reception Team

This week we are continuing with our superhero topic with a focus on real life superheroes. We will be talking about the different qualities people show that makes them a superhero. This will include occupations such as police, doctors, teachers etc. On Thursday the children have been asked to come into school dressed as a superhero. This does not need to be a pre bought costume. We do not want you to go to any extra expense. Children can come in dressed as a certain colour or theme e.g. rainbow colours or sparkles or all one colour. We would like you to talk to your child about the quality that their superhero will have e.g. kindness, happiness, love, sunshine so they can talk about it with the class. Children do not need to have a cape or facemask but if your child would like one they can easily be made with a pillow case and some cardboard. Please speak to a member of staff if you are struggling for ideas.

In Maths this week we will be looking at shapes and how they can be manipulated. We will be looking at tangram puzzles and will be giving the children the challenge of copying some pictures and then using the shapes to make their own tangram pictures. The children will be focusing on how to rotate the orientation of shapes to change them.. We will also be looking at what different shapes we can make out of other shapes such as putting two triangles together to make a square.

The children are working hard in their phonic groups and most of them have now been introduced to all of the set 2 sounds. We are working hard on using the sounds to both read and write words. Continue to go through the sounds at the front of the on line reading book to check that your child knows all of the set two sounds and work on any that they are less confident of. Its lovely to see so many children doing their online work as well as their book bag book. Remember to sign your child’s diary every time they read with you.

The children are enjoying using the junk modelling to create their own models but we are often running low on supplies. Please send in any appropriate recycling for the children to use as it will always be used. We would like to say a big thank you to all of the parents who continue to contribute 50p each week. This money helps us to enhance the children’s learning with each of our new topics. Next week we will be making fruit kebabs and will need to purchase fruit for the children to be able to make these so all contributions are vital to help us provide these experiences for the children.

Can we please remind parents that your children should not be playing on or with the equipment at the start or end of the day. The equipment in the outdoor area is for the children’s learning and can easily get damaged by children not playing with it appropriately. Please supervise your children when waiting in the playground and remove them from any equipment if they begin to play on or with it. Your help with this is very much appreciated.

Have a lovely week,

The Reception Team