EYFS

WC - 13.7.2020

We made it to the last week of term! Well done everyone. I am so proud of all the hard work you have done both in and out of school.

This week I would like the children to write a letter to Miss Wilkinson. In your letter, I would like the children to tell her all about themselves. their family, their friends, what they have enjoyed in Reception and what they are looking forward to in Year 1. If you can upload the letters to Tapestry, I can then send them to Miss Wilkinson and she can reply to the children via Dojo over the summer. You can write the letter however you like. If your child is a confident writer they could attempt to write the letter themselves, you can share the writing with the children or the children can dictate and you can type/write. As long as the children have some input! Unfortunately the children won't be spending as much time with Miss Wilkinson as we would have liked before the end of term so this is a nice way for her to get to know them a little better.

This is all the work I will be setting this week but if you would like to do a bit extra, please access the Letters and Sounds Youtube lessons and here are some additional maths activities if the children are keen.

Addition

Roll and add game

10.7.2020

RE

Our World Lesson

WC - 6.7.2020

Phonics 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEL5mg2lOc4&t=288s 

The above lesson is a good over view of sounds learnt so far.

Under the sea Wordsearch

ch booklet

er booklet

Writing

This week we are going to move away from fiction stories about under the sea creatures and move to look at non fiction writing.

In school we would normally spend some time looking at the differences between fiction and non fiction texts. Explaining that fiction is a story but non fiction is all about facts and real life. We would look at contents pages, and fact files etc to show how a non fiction book is different from a story book.

This week we will be choosing our favourite sea creature or creatures, finding out  about it and producing a simple fact file. You can use information books at home, the internet or programmes such as The The Blue Planet which is on BBC iplayer to help the children find out about their favourite sea creature.

The children can produce their work however they like. They may want to do a poster or a simple leaflet or make their own little booklet. 

We will be using this at school .

To help the children further you can also use the following -

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/clips/zmxqxnb 

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/magic-door-under-the-sea 

Maths

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs8F_g3MGtM 

This is a short video to  help the children recognise and begin to understand the value of our coins.

This is a home learning challenge to help the children count with coins. If the children get to grips with this quickly, they could use 2p, 5p and 10p coins to make it a bit trickier.

Ice cream coin addition

RE - 3.7.2020

Our World Lesson

W/C 29.6.2020

Phonics

The following Lesson is excellent for practicing the 'th' sound. Don't worry if the children are saying 'f' instead of'th', this is very common . Gently remind them of the correct sound and encourage them to stick their tongue between their teeth and blow out.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0rEKvcXPm0 

This crossword would be nice to work on together. You can help them with the answers and the children can find the sounds they know.

Phonics crossword

The following lesson focuses on the sounds air,ure and er. These can be tricky so lots of practice is needed.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9trjxKwC0xY&t=1093s 

If your child likes drawing the following sound stories are a nice way to practice sounds in a practical way. Read through each sentence together, find the sound and underline it, and draw a picture to go with the sentence.

er sound story

ure sound story

air sound story

The children have enjoyed reading Tiddler and last week we spent time talking about the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Here are a couple of sequencing sheets to help them think about what happens first, next and finally.

Tiddler sequencing

Sequencing sheet

Maths

In maths we have been playing shops and talking about money. Here are some activities to help familiarise the children with the different coins.

Coin recognition

Coin cut and stick

Toy shop price labels

26.6.2020

RE

RE Lesson

Powerpoint

Heart

22.6.2020

Hi everyone. Thank you to everyone who managed to re-tell The Rainbow Fish. I saw some fantastic examples of re-telling.

We have realised that for those children who are at home on a Monday and Tuesday it can sometimes be a bit trickier to motivate them to start  the weeks learning than it would be if they were in school. With this in mind, I am going to record myself telling the story of the week to the class on a Monday morning and introduce the weeks learning. That way the whole class will have the same input at the same time. Hopefully this will help a little.

We will be following the same format as last week but this week we will be reading Tiddler by Julia Donalsdon. 

I have tried to add a link to a youtube version but it's not cooperating. There are however lots of versions available.

At the beginning of the week read through the story with your children to familiarise them with the characters, plot, setting etc. You might want to consider the following questions:

1)  Identify all of the rhyming words that are used in the story. Can you think of other words that rhyme with these? 

 2)  At nine o'clock on Wednesday, Tiddler was 'dawdling'. What does this mean?

 3) Imagine that you could go diving underwater. What might you see? What words could you use to describe things? Watch this video to give you some ideas -

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjAbHbQVU2w 

We will then be re-telling and sequencing the story in exactly the same way as last week so if you could use the same sequencing resources that would be fantastic.

Phonics

After spending time with the children over the last couple of weeks, some of them need some practice on the phase 3 digraphs such as or, er, igh etc. If your child needs some more support with these you can watch the following Letters and Sounds lesson

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W4WiN3NeE4&t=922s 

Then complete the following worksheet

Phase 3 worksheet 

If your child has a good grasp of the sounds but needs practice blending them to read, you could watch the following lesson

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9DY5Hfjkck&t=1016s 

with this booklet

In Maths this week we will be looking at money. Coins and money can be a very tricky concept for the children to grasp so we start with lots of role play using money. Shops in any form using real or plastic coins. If at first they don't consider the value of the coins but just count out the coins that is fine. Talking about how much things cost, labeling items in your shop with price tags including a p for pence and talking about getting change are all good ways to introduce the concept gradually. 

19.6.2020

RE

Friends Lesson 2

WC 15.6.2020

Phonics

We have now covered all the sounds in Phase 3 of Letters and Sounds. That doesn't mean however the children will be secure with reading or writing them. We now need to spend lots of time reading, writing and playing games with those sounds to really embed them in to the children's understanding. 

Rest assured that if your children don't seem to know all of the sounds and are struggling to retain them, Miss Wilkinson will spend time reviewing Phase 3 sounds at the beginning of Year 1 but before then we will do as much as we can to help the children remember and use the sounds when we read and write. The most fun way of doing this is with games and short activities so I will be adding a couple of games a week to practice with your children. I will also include games using tricky words because these also need to be practiced regularly.

Some sounds are always tricky for the children to remember. For some reason ch, sh and th need lots of practice.  Roll and read game.

We use these cards regularly in school as it helps the children to recognise and read the phase 3 sounds specifically. Reading cards

Writing

The children really enjoyed reading The Rainbow Fish last week.  We got to know the characters and talked about the beginning, middle and end of the story.  By the end of this week the children will ideally produce their own re-telling of the story. This can be in whatever form the children are comfortable with. It may be  a written version including the main points of the story, a series of pictures with some labels. It may be pictures the children have drawn with the children's descriptions that you have written for them. At this stage  the language they are using is just as important as what they can write themselves. Story language such as 'One Day', 'Once upon a time', 'then, 'next' etc are all great and the children using them in their speech is just as important as writing them down. If the children wanted to do a short recording of them re-telling the story that would be brilliant too!

In school this week we will concentrate on sequencing the story at the beginning of the week using templates such as this and this. We will then begin to re-tell the story ourselves. You could use this or this. Don't expect the children to complete the whole thing in one sitting. They may want to do a couple of pictures or a sentence and then have a break and do some more later. 

Obviously if the children are in school at the end of the week they will be doing their re-tell in school so I wouldn't expect them to do it at home as well!

I have noticed in school this week that some of the children's handwriting skills have gone a bit wobbly!

I have added some handwriting sheets to use if there are any letters in particular you know your children struggle with or possibly write backwards.

Handwriting sheets

Maths

Here are some problem solving activities to do with measuring time that can be done at home

I hope all that makes sense and please get in touch with any questions.

12.6.2020

RE 

Lesson

Heart Template

WC 8.6.2020

Over the next term I shall be uploading work on a Monday for the children to complete across the week. For most children they will be completing some of this at home and some at school. It has been quite a challenge to plan work for those at home, those in school and those in Key worker classes ensuring they are all covering the same work. 

To make it as simple as I can I will plan Phonics  this week as follows:

Home Learning - Monday/Tuesday - 'ear'          School Learning - Monday/Tuesday - 'ear'

Home Learning -Wednesday/Thursday  - 'air'       School Learning - Thursday Friday - 'air'

Writing:

We will be reading a new story every 2 weeks. Across this time we will learn all about the story, re-tell the story, sequence the story and by the end of the 2 weeks - write a version of our own story.

Home Learning - Monday - Share a Story  Wednesday - Re-tell the story  Thursday - Sequence the Story

 On Friday Mrs Waugh will also plan RE including writing activities.

Maths

We will be focusing on Writing and Phonics for the rest of this term. I think this is important to ensure the children aren't too behind when they start Year 1. Overall I am happy with the progress the children had made in Maths up until Easter and we had covered most areas. Therefore I will not be planning specific lessons but will be covering maths in the form of games and group activities. I will be uploading a selection of Maths activities at the beginning of the week which the children can use at any time. As well as these I would encourage you to continue to practice Number recognition 1-20. After speaking to Miss Wilkinson she has said the most helpful maths skills the children can take in to Year 1 are the ability to recognise and order numerals 1-20 and basic addition. 

With all that in mind, here are the activities for this week -

Phonics

Monday/Tuesday - Phonics ear

ear sound activity

Wednesday/Thursday -Phonics air

air sound activity

Writing

This week we are going to be reading The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. This is a firm favourite with the children and links in with our Under the Sea topic. 

Monday - Read the story - either using the book if you have it or watch it online. There are numerous Youtube videos re-telling the story.

Spend some time with the children discussing the characters, the plot and the setting. While you are reading together ask the children if they can predict what might happen next before you turn the page. Are there any words in the text that the children don't know or don't understand? If so, look up the meaning and find pictures that represent that word. For instance if your child doesn't know the word scales, show them some pictures of fish but also show them a picture of some kitchen scales. Explain that the word is the same but can mean very different things.

Wednesday - Re-tell the story together. You can use puppets, pictures or toys from home to represent the different characters in the story. Don't worry too much about following the story exactly but talk about what the characters say in certain parts of the story and how they might be feeling. How can we change our voices to show how the fish is feeling? Remember to stick to the sequence of what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Friday -  Today have a go at sequencing the story using one of the templates below. Your child may want to just draw pictures, write simple captions or write a sentence to go  with each picture. Whatever they choose to do concentrate on the order of events and stick to the main parts of the story without going into too much detail.

Story sequencing 1

Story sequencing 2

Story sequencing 3

Maths activities for this week.

This week we are going to concentrate on Time. In Early Years we need to ensure the children can:

  - Use everyday language related to time 

  - Order and sequence familiar events. 

- Measure short periods of time in simple ways.

This week we will be looking at ordering and sequencing events. Here are some activities you could choose:

Days of the week

Sequencing sheet

Sequencing cards

Number work

There is a LOT of information here but I am sure after a week or so of following a new way of doing things we will ease into a regular pattern that works. Please get in touch with any questions or concerns. 

Thank you as always for your continued support and all the hard work you are putting in at home. I know it's not easy!

RE activity from Mrs Waugh

  Please could the children say the Lord's Prayer at home together and decorate. They should remember and know that Jesus loves all of us. Can they think about that whilst they colour in the sheet of Jesus and his friends.

Jesus loves us all

The Lords Prayer

Hi,

As we prepare to return to school next week, there will be a lot of questions from both yourselves and the children. We understand there will be excitement but also apprehension from children about the prospect of returning to school. While some children will run in to class, others will feel a huge mixture of emotions and may be more cautious. 

With this in mind we would like to provide you with some resources to help answer some questions and hopefully ease any worry the children may be experiencing.

The following is a 'Social Story' talking through the return to school.  Social stories are used to 'teach communal skills through the use of precise and sequential information about everyday events that your child may find difficult or confusing, thus preventing further anxiety on the part of your child.'

Returning to school 

Talk this through with your child slowly, showing them the pictures as you would a normal story.

When the children arrive into class they may notice lots of changes. Following guidelines from the government we have removed a lot of toys so there are a lot of empty shelves. Similarly we have been advised to remove soft furnishings, toys, blankets etc - anything which cannot be cleaned easily. Therefore there are no teddies or cushions in the book corner. It might be helpful to talk these changes through with your child and this is a  social story that may help you to do that.

My classroom looks different

Please can you also talk to your child about the importance of hygiene. We will remind the children too when they return to school. We will be regularly hand washing and hand sanitising as well as teaching the children how to use tissues to  'catch it, bin it , kill it.'

Each child will be given a free wash bag to take home encouraging them to change out of the clothes worn at school as another precautionary measure.

We will be working hard to make sure the children's well being is our priority when they return to school. We will be incorporating the Rainbow of Resilience which has been designed by educational psychologists into our learning everyday and using the strategies to help boost the children's confidence, allow them an opportunity to communicate how they are feeling and eventually equip them with the skills that will help them transition successfully into Year 1. Below is some information about the Rainbow of Resilience.

Rainbow of Resilience

Finally here is a short youtube video that you can watch with your child all about the return to school.

 http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JUda5y8PAUE 

As always, if you have any questions or concerns please get in touch.            

Week commencing 1.6.2020

Hello everyone. I hope you are all well and have been enjoying the great weather and sunshine.

As you are aware, our original plan was to return on Monday June the 1st. As this has been put back a week I have decided to postpone the start of our new topic until children return the week beginning the 8th. Similarly I will wait until then to introduce the final set of sounds we need to teach in Phonics.

Therefore this week I am going to provide some stand alone Maths and English lessons for the children to access before we start our new learning next week. Some of this will be online learning so if you have any problems accessing this i can send worksheet based alternatives instead. I am in school this week, getting the classroom ready for the children's return so I may not be able to get back to you until the end of the day.

I have decided to put the whole weeks learning on together but as always just do what you can and there is no expectation to do everything.

Monday 1.6.2020

Phonics

ictgames.com/mobilePage/viking/index.html

Maths

  https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/   Lesson 1 - Superworm

Printable version of the above powerpoint 

I thought it might be nice for the children to reflect about their time at home during the last  couple of months. You could either help the children to complete this or discuss with them their favourite, most memorable things during lockdown and draw/write them on here. 

I will be sending out more resources to help the children to transition from home to school soon.

Wednesday 3.6.2020

Phonics

ictgames.com/mobilePage/tellATRex/index.html

Maths

  https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/   lesson 2

printable version of the above powerpoint

Friday 5.6.2020

Phonics

ictgames.com/mobilePage/lcwc/index.html      Select Year 1  then Tricky words and then choose which words your child may need to practice.

Maths

  https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/   Lesson 3

Printable version of the above powerpoint

Friday 22.5.2020

Can I say a huge thank you to everyone who sent messages and pictures and videos yesterday. It made my day! xx

Phonics

Several parents have let me know that their children are really enjoying the work booklets.  I have added booklets on three tricky words that children often get stuck on. You don't have to complete all of them but you can if you wish! Once the children are comfortable with reading and writing them, encourage them to spot them in their story books and use them in their own writing.

all booklet

was booklet

the booklet

Maths

Halving activity

Doubling and halving game

As part of Mental Health week can the children think about all the things they are grateful for in the activity below.

What do you treasure?

Wednesday 20.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson oo

oo activity

Maths

Ladybird halving

Mental Health Week

As part of Mental health week can you encourage the children to take part in our kindness activity. This will replace our RE lesson.

Kindness activity

Monday 18.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson ow

ow activities

Maths

We will be looking at halving this week. Again, I suggest you start in a very practical way. If you have any fruit or veg spare, it is really helpful to show the children a whole apple/orange, explain it is a whole piece of fruit and then cut it in half. Show the children the two halves and explain how they are the same and one has been shared into two halves. Explain that when something is halved, it is shared into two equal parts. Practice with beads, sweets etc using 'one for you, one for me'.

  If your child already has a good grasp of what halving means. Use larger numbers or give them an odd number. Can you half this amount? Why not?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p017kztf 

Topic

Show the children the two maps. Do the children know or recognise any countries? Where do you live? Where have you been on holiday? Explain to the children that Pirates sailed all over the world to find treasure. 

Can they colour in the countries where Blackbeard, Anne Bonny and Black Bart came from (see attached sheet). They might want to stick the picture of the pirate next to their home country. Show them how far they sailed over the sea to the Caribbean and the Americas.

UK map

World Map

Pirates

Friday 15.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson she all

Tricky words Booklet

You don't need to complete the whole booklet - just what the children want to do.

Maths

A practical lesson today. We have looked at 3d shapes many times before but the children often find the names hard to retain so we need to regularly practice them. Here is a link to a short BBC bitesize video. Watch together and then see if the children can find the same 3D shapes around the house. Make sure the children are regularly using the correct names - cube, cuboid, pyramid, sphere. Can they make a model using 3D junk model materials? Or collect as many 3D objects as they can and put them in to groups?

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjv39j6/articles/zcsjqty 

Some fun pirate craft ideas here and here

Wednesday 13.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson or

or activity

or activity

Maths

Doubling

Addition colour by numbers

RE

As May is the month of Mary could you practice saying the Hail Mary together and then have a go at colouring in the picture of Mary

Hail Mary

Mary Colouring

Monday 11.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson ur

ur activity

ur game

Maths

Pirate counting

Pirate counting checklist

Pirate addition

Writing activity

For our writing activity this week I would like the children to write a message in a bottle. I have written my own message and if possible it would be nice to print it out and put it in a bottle for the children to find.

Message in a bottle from Mrs Long

Blank Message in a bottle

Wednesday 6.5.2020

Phonic lesson oi

oi activity

oi colouring sheet

Maths

Doubling Problem solving

Doubling to 20 (slightly trickier)

RE

RE lesson

Monday 4.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson ar

ar activity

Maths

We are now going to move on to doubling. This is new learning for the children although they may already have a good concept of it. If possible today should be kept very practical, giving the children chance to explore doubling before trying to solve problems about it.

 If you explain doubling as - 'Adding 2 numbers that are the same'

Here is a link to a Youtube video giving you some ideas about how to explain doubling to children in a practical way.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry65EUJ-QV0 

Our writing activity this week is to make a Wanted Poster for a pirate. I have added a template but feel free to create your own.

In school we might help the children to write WANTED at the top, draw a picture of the pirate and then either

 a) think of some describing words to write around the picture - for example bad, hairy, mean, dirty, greedy etc. 

Or

b) Encourage and support your children to write a simple sentence  underneath the picture. e.g.

'This Pirate is missing. He is bad and  greedy.'  

You can make this  as simple or as detailed at school.

Wanted poster template.

Friday 1.5.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson they, you

Writing practice

Maths

Ordinal Numbers

Using ordinal numbers is new learning for the children so spend a bit of time demonstrating how to count objects using ordinal numbers - 1st, 2nd,3rd etc before you attempt the work sheet.

Addition challenge

This is an optional worksheet if you're child wants a bit of a challenge.

The Pirate Song Lyrics

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVfVIcW1alo 

A bit of singing fun for Friday. At the beginning of the year. A lady came in to sing with the children and The Pirate Song was one of the children's favourites so they should recognise it.

Wednesday 29.4.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson oa

oa/ow worksheet

Maths

Capacity worksheet

RE

Powerpoint

RE lesson

Monday 27.4.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson igh

igh Dice game

igh worksheet

Maths

Capacity Challenge

Dinosaur ordering

Junk Model Pirate Ship

Friday 24.4.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson was,my

Tricky Words Bingo

Bingo Cards

Maths

Capacity Activity

Science

Materials - Making a Treasure Test

Wednesday 22.4.2020

Phonics

Phonics lesson ee

ee activity

Maths

Capacity activity

Number activity

Writing activity

RE

RE lesson

Story

RE Knowledge Organiser

Remember, all of the above does not need to be completed in one day. I have given an extra maths piece of work and the weekly written activity but these only need to be done if the children are keen!

Here is the Home Learning Ideas sheet for Week 2. I have kept some areas the same but have updated the Learning areas of Writing, Number, Topic and Art.

Please have a look at these Early Years Home Learning Ideas. They  have some fun ideas to support Maths and Phonics learning at home.

Here are some practical activities to consider but I mainly added this as it has some good recipes for play doh and cornflour doh on the last page! We do the cornflour play a lot at school and the children love it!

I would rather not put worksheet type activities on here as I am aware that all the children are at different levels and not everybody has access to a printer. However if you would like some extra Phonics or Maths activities please just email me and I can send you some more resources directly.

I hope everyone is staying well. You are all doing brilliantly, home schooling is tough!!

Storytime with Mrs Long! - The Scarecrows' Wedding

Here is a great website for daily Maths activities for Reception aged children.

  https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/early-years/ 

This week in Phonics we shall be looking at ow and oi. In maths we will be focusing on measure and linking our learning to our story this week Jack and the Beanstalk. We shall be measuring beanstalks and recording our answers and using the correct vocabulary to describe and compare length of beanstalks.

St Josephs Day Mass at church - Thursday 19th March - 9.30 am

This week we will be looking at the sounds or and ur in Phonics. We shall also be practicing our tricky words, especially we, she and he. In maths we will be focusing on addition and introducing subtraction.

We will be reading Jasper's Beanstalk, sequencing the story and re-telling it using pictures and labels. As the story talks about days of the week we will also be practicing putting these in order.

We will be keeping track of our pea plants and if our cress has grown enough, we will be making cress sandwiches!

Don't forget it is class photos on Monday morning.

This week is National Book week. We have lots of exciting activities for the children to get involved with and oppurtunities to get to know some fantastic books and stories.  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to send in a shoe box size box by Thursday along with their favourite book as the children will be making their own dioramas.

We will also be learning the sounds 'oo' and 'ar in Phonics and in Maths we shall be looking at teen numbers. Don't forget the Phonics borrowing box is in the classroom if you want to take any games or activities home linked to the sounds we are learning in school.

** Forest School for Group 1 - Tuesday am.

Welcome back  and I hope everyone has had a relaxing week.

This term is a busy one. We have World Book Day and a whole week of celebrating all things books and reading. We also have Science week this term when the children will enjoy getting stuck in to all sorts of investigations and experiments.

Our topic this term is Growing and we will be trying to answer the question' How does the world around me grow?'

See our Curriculum plan here

This week we will be looking at the digraphs igh and oa and in Maths we shall be concentrating on 2D and 3D shapes and their properties.

Important Dates

Wednesday 26th February - Mass in School 11am - all welcome

Thursday 27th February - EYFS Phonics Workshop 3.30pm

W/C 2.3.20 - Book Week

W/C 9.3.20 - British Science Week

Thursday 19th March - St Joseph's Day Mass at church - 9am

This week in Phonics we shall be going over all the sounds we have been learning this term. We shall be using them to practice reading and writing simple CVC words and short captions and sentences. In Maths we will be playing lots of number games to consolidate the learning we have done so far this year. We will also be bringing our Winter topic to a close by looking at what this time of year looks like in Australia and comparing it to winter in this country.

If possible we would like to ask parents who are able to do so to come into class for ten minutes after drop off on Wednesday morning so the children can show you how well they have learnt One Snowy Night. For those who can't make it we will try to record it and put it on to Tapestry.

Thanks again to all those parents who came to help at Fineshade Woods.

This week in preparation for our visit to Fineshade Woods we are moving away from Arctic animals and we will be looking for signs of Winter closer to home. We will be finding out what animals in our country do to take care of themselves over winter. We will also be choosing a tree in our school playing field and tracking it from winter, through spring and in to summer.

In maths we will be moving on to addition and looking at number bonds to 10 and in Phonics we shall be looking at the sounds ai and ee.

As the Parentmail letter explained we will be visiting Fineshade Woods on Thursday. We will be going with the Early Years class from St Mary and St John Primary School in North Luffenham which will be lovely for the children. We will be taking part in Forest School type activities so please dress the children in warm clothes which you don't mind getting a bit messy and a waterproof/showerproof coat. Depending on the weather on the day either wellies or old trainers will be fine. The children will need a packed lunch and drinks bottle. We hope to be back at school around 1-1.30pm.

Monday is Healthy Living Day. The children will be taking part in yoga sessions, cooking and meeting a professional athlete. Please can children come in to school in PE kits. If PE kits are in school, the children can change when they arrive.

The rest of the week we will be continuing our winter around the world theme. We will be learning about Polar animals and how they stay warm. We will also be starting to make our own One Snowy Night story maps to re-tell to the rest of the class.

In Phonics we shall be learning the sh, th and ng digraphs.

In Maths we shall be looking at the number 13 and doing some work on estimation.

This week in Phonics we will be moving on to digraphs ( two letters that make one sound). We will look at , zz, qu, ch and sh. In maths we will be moving on to number 12. The children have done really well taking on the concept of tens and ones and we will be continuing this looking at 12 being ten and 2 ones or ten and 2 more.

As part of our winter topic we will be learning about Arctic animals. We will be taking a trip to the school library to find information about our favourite Arctic animals and making posters to display what we have found out. We will also be comparing their homes and diets to animals that live closer to home.

We shall also be building our story map for One Snowy Night. The children are enjoying using the actions that go with the story.

Can I remind everyone to keep reading books/diaries in book bags. We read with the children on different days each week and it is a shame when we can't read with their chosen book because it isn't in their bag.

Thank you.

This week we will be looking at the sounds w,x,y and z in Phonics. We shall be starting to think about the actions that will help us re-tell our Talk for Writing story - One Snowy Night. As the week goes on, we shall also be making our story maps. 

As part of our Winter topic we shall be finding out what winter is like in the Arctic. We will be looking at the animals that live there and how people live in that part of the world. We shall also be making our own classroom igloo so if anyone has any large cardboard boxes at home we would certainly make use of them.

In Maths we will be moving on to the number 11. We will be using ten frames to help us understand tens and ones and thinking about how we can count larger quantities accurately.

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone has had a relaxing and fun break.

Here is the Curriculum Map for the next term.

This week we will be recapping all the sounds we have learnt so far and also introducing the sounds j, v, w and x.

In Maths we will be looking at the number 10 and begin to look at tens and ones.

We will also be introducing our new 'Winter' topic.

PE will be Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons so can I ask that PE kits including trainers can be in as soon as possible please.

Can I also remind you that as of Monday the 6th children are to be dropped off at the door.

This week in Phonics we will be learning the l sound and will also be looking at the tricky words 'the' and 'I'. In maths we shall be moving on to the number 10 and reviewing what we have learnt in maths so far. 

We will be watching the KS1 Nativity dress rehearsal on Monday aftrenoon and will be practicing for our own Christmas play which we will be performing on Thursday afternoon. I had thought we would start at 1.30 but realistically we probably need a little more time to get changed so we will be aiming to start at 2pm.

Thank you for your support in providing items for the children's costumes.

This week will be rehearsing our Christmas performance and practicing our songs. In Phonics we will be looking at the sounds h, b, f and ff. In maths we will be moving on to the Number 9 and talking to the children about what they have learned so far in maths.

I hope the children have shared the Little Red Hen story maps with you. They have all done so well using story language and expression to re-tell the story. From this week we will be talking about and learning about the Christmas Story and will be slowly starting to get into the Christmas spirit!!

Apologies for not adding much to Tapestry in the past week. We had a few technical issues!

This week we will be learning the sounds ck, e, u and r. As we have now learnt a number of sounds we are starting to blend  sounds to read simple words. This week during our Phonics sessions we will be using lots of different strategies to help us blend sounds to read both as a whole class and in small groups.

The children are doing brilliantly re-telling The Little Red Hen during out Talk For Writing sessions and this week they will be bringing home their story maps so they can share the story with you at home.

In Maths we will be looking at shape this week . Talking about the properties of both 2D and 3D shapes.

This week will be learning the sounds g,o,c and k. In Maths we are on to the number 7 and we will be looking at more than and fewer than.  Looking at two different amounts and using our knowledge of number order to work out which has more or fewer.

It is Judaism week at school this week and the whole school will be taking part in activities to learn more about the Jewish faith. In Reception we shall be learning a very simple story behind Hannukah and looking at artefacts to give us a better understanding of Judaism.

We will be doing PE on Thursday this week and if the weather is kind we will try and do it outside so please remember PE hoodies and tracksuit bottoms if they are not already in school.

This week we will be starting to draw our story maps for The Little Red Hen. We will also be learning the sounds i,n,m and d. In Maths we will be looking at the number 6 and finding the numbers which make up the number 6. On Wednesday we shall be visiting the bakery and on Thursday we will be setting up our own bakery in the classroom. 

Monday morning is our Armistice Day Liturgy, we have the school disco on Thursday and Parents Evening is Monday and Wednesday evening. Don't forget Children In Need on Friday when the children can wear their own clothes/fancy dress in exchange for £1 donation.

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing half term break and the children are excited to get back into the school routine.

This term we shall be starting Phase 2 of our Letters and Sounds Phonics programme. We will start off by learning a new sound every day and this week we will be learning s,a,t,p. We will be doing lots of activities connected to these letters as well as explicitly teaching the sound. This will help the children to really get to to know the sound as they use it in their everyday speech. I will be adding activities to our borrowing box connected to our new sounds so please feel free to help yourself if the children are keen to do a bit of practice at home.

In Maths we shall continue to look at one number a week and this week we will be looking at the number 5. We will also be thinking about estimation  and how to make a good guess.

Last term the children responded so well to our Talk for Writing lessons and I was amazed how quickly they picked up the story and could re-tell it independently. This term we shall be looking at The Little Red Hen, in connection with learning about harvest and bread making. We will be acting out the story, re-telling it in lots of different ways and drawing story maps to help us. We will also hopefully be visiting Hambleton's Bakery in the next few weeks.

** A quick reminder about Reading Books ** 

I understand how keen parents and children are to change books after they have been read a few times. However it is really important the children are given enough time to really get to know the story in lots of different ways. This may mean for the first few days talk through the story with your child, asking questions, predicting what may happen on the next page After that they may be keen to re-tell the story independently to you or a brother or sister or teddy bear! One reading time could be spent asking questions about why a character behaved in a certain way.  Also remember, you don't have to read the school book every day, books from home shared together are just as valuable and will really help to expand their knowledge of stories and story telling. We aim to read with the children at school at least once a week and so suggest changing the books weekly also. As the children begin to learn the new sounds, they will start to bring more word books home. This can completely change story time as so much concentration and energy is spent decoding the words which can sometimes put the children off so remember above all else to enjoy the story and if they are too tired just do a couple of pages . 

Thank you for all your support.

This week we are continuing to look at Autumn and we will be reading 'Leaf Man'. We will be making leaf puppets, conker rolling and making salt dough leaf decorations. In Maths we will be playing skittles and using dominoes and ladybirds to make numbers up to four.

To remind everyone - We now have a phonics games borrowing box in the classroom. You are welcome to borrow any of the games which we will also be playing at school. Just fill in the borrowing book and bring them back after a few days. Any questions - feel free to ask at drop off/pick up.

This week we will begin to think about the changing of the seasons and look at Autumn and the changes it brings. We will be doing lots of autumn related crafts and learning about animals who hibernate. In maths we will be moving on to the number four and what numbers make up four. We will also be learning about the properties of both 2D and 3D shapes.

  The Briars youth team will also be visiting school on 9th October to run workshops with children on Discipleship. Families are welcome to join us for a special liturgy at 2.30pm. Early Years will be listening to stories about the Apostles John and James the Greater  and will be producing a piece of art to take to the Liturgy.

We will be introducing the Chatty Bag this week. It is a small backpack that will go home with the children and that evening they can choose a special item to bring in the following day to share with the rest of the class. This can be a toy, book, photo or anything the children would like to share. Nothing too precious though!

This week we will continue to think about our local environment. On Tuesday we are visiting Oakham library and taking part in a story session there and hopefully, if the weather allows, we will be taking a trip to the park near the school.

In Maths we will be lookng at numbers 3 and 4. We will be ordering numbers and learning how to represent 3 and 4 in different ways.

The children have been learning our Talk for writing story - The Sleepy Bumblebee. They have done so well and can re-tell most of the story themselves using the actions we have learnt.

Finally, a reminder of the Phonics Workshop on the evening of Thursday 3rd at 6.

This week we are looking at the world around us. We shall be learning about living in Oakham, looking at maps of Oakham and thinking about where Oakham is in the world. In Maths we will be moving on to the number 2 and practicing touch counting. Maggie will be coming in to sing with us on Monday morning and hopefully we will be doing some more baking on Thursday. 

We are slowly starting to send reading books home, don't worry if your child hasn't received one yet, they will do soon.

This week we are continuing out All about me topic. We will be painting portraits, making posters of our favourite things on the ipad and measuring our heights. In maths we will be starting our Maths Mastery program and looking at zero and the number one. In Phonics we shall be listening to instrumental sounds and playing our own instruments.

This week we will be sending the Chatty Bag home. The Chatty Bag is a small rucksack which the children will take home. In it they can put something they want to share with the rest of the class and bring it in the following day. This can be anything, it doesn't have to be a toy, a favourite book or a special momento. Just nothing breakable please. We will choose a different child every day.

We will attempt to do PE this week. We may not get completely changed but if you could make sure the children have trainers in school please.

Welcome to Early Years! I hope everyone has had a fun and relaxing summer and the children are all ready to start their school journey. This week we will be concentrating on settling the children in to school. Getting used to the routines and getting to know each other. Remember school starts at 8.45 and for this week only will finish at 1pm.

Here is our curriculum plan for the first  term. Our topic this term is broad and flexible to take on board the ideas of the children as their learning progresses. The curriculum plan will show you the objectives we will be working on in each area for this term.

Further information on how to support your child's learning will follow.

Here is our Knowledge Organiser for RE for this term.