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EYFS

Children in Reception have returned this half term confident and ready to learn. In English, we have been reading 'Traditional Tales' and so far have read 'The Little Red Hen' and 'The 3 Billy Goats Gruff'. We have been retelling these stories using actions and sequencing them to show the beginning, middle and end. Children have been using their phonics knowledge for writing:  lists of ingredients for how to make bread and we even made our own bread in class and ate it for snack (it was delicious), and writing speech bubbles for the characters in the Billy Goats Gruff.

 

Since we have set the children in smaller phonics groups, we have noticed that they are more focused and have been learning their sounds and blending more rapidly. Well Done!!

 

In Maths, we have been investigating which groups of object have more and fewer and have been showing one more and one less than a given number using objects.

 

We visited Aveley Library on the 14th November and the children behaved beautifully. They walked sensibly and participated well during the story telling session. They now have their own library cards, so go and get lots of books out for Storytime 🙂   

 

We are looking forward to our upcoming Fairytale day on Friday 29th November (please refer to the email sent about this, or speak with your class teacher), and of course our Christmas Nativity on Tuesday 10th December 2-2.30pm. The children can't wait to showcase their songs and talent for you. 

The children in Reception have settled in well with our routines and structure. They have been learning to write their names, learning the sound of the day and how to write it and how to access our continuous provision. It is lovely seeing the children interacting and playing with each other; learning to listen attentively, share and take turns, whilst exploring both the outdoor and inside provision available to them. 

 

They are still exploring and enjoy having free flow time for child led activities. However, they are now beginning to understand the importance of good sitting and listening during whole class and small group teaching. We are excited to see the children develop further in their learning journey.

Reception Parent Meeting Slides

2023-2024

This half term the children have fully immersed themselves in our topic, Splash! One of the books we looked at was 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch'. The children had a go at making their own lighthouses and wrote instructions for making jam sandwiches! They enjoyed our trip to Chalkwell beach and despite the rain we still enjoyed an ice-cream. Following our trip, they loved using the large construction materials to build their own beach houses, and have used them to develop and act out their own narratives. In maths we have been challenging them with some of the things they will be looking at in Year 1, including money, time, place value and multiplication patterns, and they have really impressed us!

This half-term our topic is Splash! So far, we have looked at the story 'Somebody Swallowed Stanley' and discussed how plastic pollution affects the ocean. The children have used a range of art techniques including printing, collaging and junk-modelling to create their own sea animals. These, along with the posters they have been making in English, have been added to displays to encourage people to re-cycle and re-use their plastic in order to keep the oceans clean! In Maths, we have been consolidating our addition and subtraction skills, and look forward to looking at new concepts like money and time ahead of our transition to Year 1. The children are already so much more independent in their learning and have been setting themselves their own challenges - just look at some of their independent story scribing and number sentences!

As part of our topic 'Growing', Reception have been learning and innovating the story 'The Enormous Turnip'. We have some keen writers who have been using their phonic knowledge to make their own Zig Zag books during choosing time! We have been learning about what plants need to grow, and investigating what happens when cress seeds don't get everything they need. Some very hungry caterpillars have also arrived in class and we are excited to watch them grow and change! In Maths we have been looking at number patterns, including number bonds to 10 and doubles facts, and it's been great to see some of the children writing their own number sentences!

Reception definitely looked the part for their Superhero Enrichment Day - it was lovely to see them dressed as the real-life heroes they aspire to be! We spent the morning making superhero masks and capes, and had a visit from a member of the Essex Fire and Police Service who told us more about the roles of firefighters and police officers. After lunch we came back to class to find a crime scene in our outdoor area! We became detectives and followed clues to find out who pushed Humpty Dumpty (it turned out to be a very sorry Witch). We finished the day by making some Evil Pea biscuits to enjoy before home time.

December - Reception have had another fun-filled half term! The children have used the number knowledge they gained in Autumn 1 to explore a range of different concepts in Maths, including measurement, pattern and number bonds to 10. They have enjoyed exploring well-known traditional tales like 'Little Red Riding Hood', and we have loved seeing them act out these stories using masks and props. It was also great to see their love of reading during our recent trip to Aveley Library, and we were so proud of how well they behaved! We have also seen some fantastic writing this half-term as the children have used adjectives to write setting and character descriptions. And, of course, we have also enjoyed lots of festive activities, including making Christingles, our sponsored Santa Run and the amazing show the children put on during our Christmas performance - they have all worked so hard!

Our topic this half term is ‘Traditional Tales’. In Literacy we have enjoyed learning and retelling some very familiar stories, like The Three Billy Goats Gruff. In Maths we have been building on our basic number knowledge by comparing amounts and finding 1 more and 1 less. We have also really enjoyed learning about significant events in the calendar, like Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali, and we’ve even had a go at making our own Diva lamps!

In Reception, we have been learning Phonics with Read, Write, Inc.! We are able to recognise an increasing number of sounds and have started to apply our phonic knowledge to our writing, attempting to write some initial sounds and even some CVC words like 'cat' and 'dog'! In Maths, we have been learning all about numbers to 10, including how to recognise and represent numbers in different ways. As part of our 'All About Me' topic we have looked at the story 'Funnybones' by Janet and Alan Ahlberg. We have had a go at putting the different parts of the body (and skeleton!) together, and have learnt about our 5 super senses and all the amazing things our bodies help us to do.

We are so proud of how well the children are settling into Reception! We have spent lots of time learning to follow the rules and routines of the classroom, and have been practising our speaking and listening skills with circle time games so that we are ready for learning when we come to the carpet. In Literacy, we have been looking at the book 'What Makes Me a Me?' by Ben Faulkes and talking about what makes us unique, including the things we can do, our likes and dislikes, and the way that we look. The children have been busy creating some brilliant self-portraits!

This half term the children have fully immersed themselves in our new topic, Splash! They have really enjoyed using the large construction materials to build boats and ships in the outdoor area, and have used them to develop and act out their own narratives. We have been looking at and comparing different environments around the globe, including the snowy mountains of Canada and the beachy shores of Ghana. We were able to see how this was similar and different to our own shores on our trip to Chalkwell Beach. The children enjoyed our seaside scavenger hunt, building sandcastles and paddling in the sea! In Maths we have been developing our knoweldge of number patterns including odds and evens, and had a go at creating some odd and even monsters.

The planting saga continues in Reception and we are finally starting to reap the rewards of our hard work. This week the children used the cress they grew to make and enjoy some egg and cress sandwiches! We are hoping that our lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes will be ripe for the picking after half term. We have also been keeping a close eye on our caterpillars and are thrilled that our first butterfly has made an appearance! The children have really enjoyed exploring life-cycles and drew some beautiful butterfly pictures using symmetry.

In Reception we have been innovating our current text ‘The Enormous Turnip’ and happen to think our version, ‘The Ginormous Carrot’, is even better. Some of us have even had a go at scribing our own stories about a flat potato, a magic rabbit, and a unicorn! As part of our Growing topic we have also enjoyed getting messy planting seeds and making seed bombs!

YR Remote Learning Timetable 2021/22

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