A well-earned rest…!
The final 2 weeks of the half term have flown by!
The children have continued to love our Geography learning, finding out about human and physical features and even following maps whilst on our expedition around Collingham.
On NSPCC Number Day, the children loved dressing differently and creating huge collaborative number posters in groups.
This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week. Using the theme of This is My Place, the children created a map of things that are special to them. This linked perfectly with our Geography learning and school RESPECT Code and Christian Values.
In Maths, we have been super busy continuing to learn about number 5, addition and even subtraction! The children have continued to learn about shapes, focusing now on 3D (chunky/ solid) shapes.
They continue to wow us with their phonics, handwriting, spelling and writing skills throughout the week and we are so thrilled that so many children are choosing to write independently in our provision. We’ve even had lists and some stories this week! 😊
We think the children definitely deserve a big rest and we hope that you all have a relaxing holiday.
The Reception Team 😊
What a lot of learning and play!
Despite the cold and wet weather, sniffles and general tiredness that comes with this time of year, the children have tried hard to remain super focused on their learning and make some really good progress.
Many children are now confident with many of the Phase 3 digraphs and trigraphs that we have been learning in phonics and we are delighted that some children are now choosing to write independently during their play, such as labels on their drawings and maps, lists of words or notes/ cards for family. Please continue to encourage any independent writing at home, whether it’s labels on drawings or objects, shopping lists, writing words or a diary in their own notebook (for example, I went to the shop). Anything like this will really help to improve their confidence during our writing sessions as well as during their play.
The children have continued to show great enthusiasm for maths this half term, focusing on numbers 5 and now addition – using 5 frames, Numicon and part-part-whole models to support their learning. They are also enjoying learning about 2D (flat) shapes, their names, properties and how they can be combined to make other shapes, just like numbers. This week we have begun learning about 3D (chunky/ solid) shapes. Again, any practise at home would add to their confidence in these areas.
During our topic learning, we have started to answer the question Where is our school? by using maps and atlases to learn about the countries of the UK, where Collingham is located, the differences between villages, towns and cities, and human and physical features. The children love this geography-based learning and are very excited for our fieldwork expedition around Collingham next week! They are developing a real thirst for knowledge and love of learning. 😊
Have a lovely weekend!
The Reception Team 😊
Winter is whizzing by!
How can we have been back for 2 weeks already! The time is absolutely whizzing by in school, perhaps because we’ve been so busy!
Last week, our focus story was Noah’s Ark from the Bible. The children have listened to and discussed the version in our children’s Bible, focusing on important and perhaps new language such as Ark, flood and promise. We have also read other versions of the story and the children have enjoyed playing with Noah’s Ark small world toys. The children even thought about a new year promise that they could make such as tidying their playroom or going to sleep on their own – this might be useful to discuss at home! 😊
This week, we have begun our main topic for this term – Frozen! The children started by exploring what winter is like in our school grounds here in Collingham. After that, we discussed hibernation and migration and will continue to recap these concepts next week. We had great fun making bird feeders which we hope will attract lots of birds to your garden this weekend. Don’t forget to do some bird spotting or counting for the Big Bird Watch next weekend and tell us about what you’ve done for homework!
In Maths, the children have continued to consolidate their learning about number 4, working out all the ways that 4 is composed (2 + 2, 3 + 1 etc). We have also continued learning about 2D (flat) shapes, with a focus on the 4-sided shapes, square and rectangle. They loved watching the Numberblocks Flatland programme and finding out about some other 4-sided shapes – trapezium, rhombus, kite, dart and, Miss DL’s favourite, parallelogram! Lots more on this next week, as well as number 5!
In Phonics, the children have been trying hard to remember all our Phase 3 sounds and were excited to learn another trigraph (3 letters 1 sound) this week – ear. Many children are becoming more fluent when reading and we love how their prosody (expression to give meaning to the words) is developing. Regular practise at home really does help both these skills and gives them so much confidence when reading in school. We have also been working super hard on our handwriting, ensuring that all letters are formed correctly (using the formation phrases), with some children now even able to write on the lines on their whiteboards and in their books – fantastic! Again, any writing at home is such a help for them – shopping lists, labels on drawings/ on toys/ on anything (!), cards, word lists, playing school and so on! Please encourage correct letter formation if they are writing at home. 😊
Have a lovely weekend and happy bird spotting!
The Reception Team 😊