Friday 30 November 2018

Friday 30th November


Useful information and requests:
  • The Christmas Fayre is on Saturday 1st December, 11-2pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
  • Reception Christmas play dates: Wednesday 19th December at 9.15 or Thursday 20th December at 10.15. Tickets are in the children's book bags today.
  • There will be a celebration Assembly for Mrs Pattrick on Friday 21st December at 9.15am.
  • Please send costumes in by 14th December.
  • We are in need of more junk modelling materials please- egg boxes, cereal boxes, yogurt pots, tubes small boxes etc
  • If you have any Amazon boxes with the logo on we would be grateful if we could have them for our Post Office.
  • If you have any children's tights that you no longer require we would love them for a gross motor activity. 
  • Things to do...
  • Listen to your child read everyday. Morning time is best! Don't forget to read to your child.
  • This week the children have continued phonics focusing on individual letter sounds. They have learnt the sounds 'm''d', 'g''o' and 'c' . See if your child can sound out and blend back the CVC words below.

In maths this week we have focused on the number 9. We also thought about ordering numbers and one more and one less. The children worked with an adult in a group of 15 and then in groups of 5. When they weren't with the teacher they worked on independent maths activities such as making number 9 shapes using 9 multi link pieces and  counting 9 bears, making 9 with the numicon, formation of the number 9, counting arrays of 9, making pictures by drawing around 9 shapes. The children also cut a strip of numbers up and re ordered them correctly.

One activity focused on using the tens number frames. They used reversible counters and systematically turned the counters over to show different ways of making 9. Some children then recorded what they had done in pictorial form.




Another activity focused on making 9 in different ways by splitting 9 ducks between the pond, island and nest.


The third activity was based on number problems. The teacher modelled a problem and then asked the children to use the play people to work it out e.g. There were 3 children in the class, 6 more came to join them, how many altogether?  2 children on the swings 7 on the slide, how many altogether? There were 4 children on the red team and 5 on the blue team. How many altogether? 
In the last activity children took turns to roll a dice and count out the correct number of counters. They then had to say who had the most  and who had the least.










The other half of Reception had their woodland learning this week. They made their monoccular and went on a bug hunt.





In phonics this week the children have learnt the sounds m,d,g,o and c. 
m- mug, mop, mat, map, Mum, man
d- doll, Dad, dig, dog
g- got, dog, dig, get, 
o- on, off, cot, dog, 
c- cat, cot, can, cup, cap, cub

The children have all been given their parts for the Christmas play this week. There was a letter in their bag explaining their part and the costume they need. So please have a look if you haven't already seen this. We would be grateful if the costumes could be brought into school in a named bag by  December 14th.
The children who are speaking have also been given their lines. We would be very grateful if you could help them learn these. We have been practising their lines, group dances and singing this week. The children all helped to choose their part, saying whether or not they wanted to speak.

The children had great fun making a river in ChIL  this week. They worked together to join the guttering together and use the hose to spray water down the river. They explored how they could move different toys and materials down the river. The children then developed their shoulder and arm muscles by sweeping the water down the hill. We mixed in some washing liquid to make it even more fun!! They also enjoyed driving cars in the sand tray and strengthening their arms by laying on the floor and drawing on paper stuck underneath the table. The maths mystery box was a hit. This week it was based on ordering numbers. The children enjoyed painting and adding glitter to their pictures. They enjoyed some ipad time (they were allowed 5 mins and had to write their name on the paper to show that they'd had their turn). 






































Next week we are going to start planning a Post Office for our role play area. We would like the children to come up with ideas of what we may need in our Post Office. It would be wonderful if you were able to take your child to visit a Post Office so they know something about them. If you have any old envelopes of varying sizes that they could use to wrap their parcels we would be very grateful to receive them.

See you at the fair!
The Year R Team

Friday 23 November 2018

Friday 23rd November

Useful information and requests:
  • The Christmas Fayre is on Saturday 1st December, 11-2pm. Raffle tickets were sent home this week- please check your child's book bag.
  • Reception Christmas play dates: Wednesday 19th December at 9.15 or Thursday 20th December at 10.15.
  • There will be a celebration Assembly for Mrs Pattrick on Friday 21st December at 9.15am.
  • Things to do...
  • Listen to your child read everyday. Morning time is best! Don't forget to read to your child.
  • This week the children have continued phonics focusing on individual letter sounds. They have learnt the sound 'n' . See if your child can sound out and blend back the CVC words below.


Each day has started with finger strong activities. The children have rotated around the 5 activities. These have included writing their name, practising letter formation in the glitter sand, cutting and colouring a snake, putting elastic bands on a clave, and observational drawing. The children are very good at coming in and getting on quietly with their finger strong activities.




















This week the children have had 4 adult directed maths activities and and 4 adult directed Jigsaw  (PSHE) lessons.

The Jigsaw topic this half term is 'Celebrating Differences'.
 We've been celebrating our differences, we talked about what we are good at and how we are all good at different things. We Watched the story Barry the fish with fingers on You tube.
We talked about the story and decided that even though they are good at different things they can still be friends.
We  thought about famililies and how we are all different but also have similarities.  We finished by explaining that although we are all similar we all have things that make us different, unique and special. 

We talked about standing up for ourselves and resolving conflict and how to use kind words.
We set the scene – two teddies are playing together. One starts to say unkind things to the other e.g. I don’t like your fur, it’s horrible, you’re not doing it right, it’s not yours its mine, I don’t like you, you’re not coming to my party. We asked questions:
How does it make you feel when you see unkind behaviour?
How do you think the teddy felt?
Why is it not OK to say e.g. you’re not doing it right?
What could be done instead?
We then explained that if we don’t like what someone says or does what can we do to fix it? Say - stop it I don’t like it.
We discussed not having to tell a teacher every time something happens especially if you have said stop it….. and they have stopped. 

We have been doing a lot of work on counting accurately. There are some children who would benefit from practising counting objects accurately at home. Ask them to lay the table, telling them to get 4 forks, 4 knives (or however many you need) and ask them questions such as how many knives and forks do we have altogether.

This week we have focused on the number 8.
Maths Activity  1:
The children used 'Part part whole'  They had to carefully count out 8 unifix into the ‘whole’. They were then asked to split them into the two parts and asked how many they had in each part. The children found different ways to make 8.







Some children went on to split the parts into further parts.




Activity 2: Tens frame -  The children carefully counted out 8 counters and put them on the tens frame. We modelled turning one counter over at a time (systematically) how many yellow counters do we have? How many red counters? How many altogether? Do we have to count them every time?
Some children then recorded this.


Activity 3: The children used compare bears to solve word problems - For example: there was a delivery in a toy shop and 4 compare bears were delivered.  4 more have been delivered, how many do we have now? How can I work out the answer?
We worked together to solve some of the problems, taking the correct amount of compare bears to work out the answer. 

Activity 4: Each child was given 8 double sided counters The children were asked to make 8 in different ways on the octopus tentacles.







The children made a monocular in woodland learning. They decorated them with woodland animals, bugs and leaves.They then went outside into the Robin Hood trail and looked at nature in detail through their monocular!
















The children have painted their Diva lamps this week. They are looking fab!









It's been cold this week, but the children have still been out for ChIL.






















In PE the children were throwing and catching with the scarves. They were making gymnastic positions.













Enjoy your weekend.
The Year R Team