EYFS

This week we will be following closely the progress of our chicks. We will be naming them weighing them and drawing them. We will be learning about different creatures that lay eggs and learning about the baby animals that appear at this time of year. In Maths we will be looking at subtraction and counting back to find the answer. Although last week was charities week we will be raising money for our chosen charity - the RSPCA this week. On Friday the children will be taking part in a sponsored assault course in the playground. Sponsorship forms will be going home either Monday or Tuesday. Apologies as not all books were changed last week, we had a bit of a busy week. Please feel free to come and change books if you need to but I will try to get all books changed by midweek.

This week we are having some very exciting visitors. On Monday Chick eggs are being delivered in to school and we will be keeping them warm in our classroom until they will hopefully hatch towards the end of the week.  We have managed to keep it a secret from the children so far so hopefully it will be a big surprise for them tomorrow.

This week and the week after are therefore going to be dedicated to looking after and learning all about our eggs and eventually chicks. We will of course still be continuing our other learning. In Maths we shall be looking at estimation and recognising and ordering all the numerals to 20. In Phonics we shall be going over the sounds we learnt last week ear and air and using them in our writing. 

This week as the weather starts to get a bit warmer (hopefully) we will be starting our new topic all about Springtime. We will be talking about the different seasons and the differences between them. We will also be doing a bit of gardening and planting out some bedding plants in our outdoor area. Afterwards we will write some instructions as to what we did. We will go on a spring watch hunt to see how many signs of spring we can spot. 

In Maths we will be continuing to look at adding by counting on, using dot cards, beads and dice to help us. In Phonics we shall be looking at the sounds ear and air.

On Tuesday morning we are walking to Church to attend mass and you are very welcome to join us.

This week we are continuing our topic looking at Pets. We shall be playing reading games, making hutches for our pets and Writing letters from a rescued puppy! We will be practicing out tricky words in Phonics, focusing on words such as the, he, she, was, we and be.

In Maths we shall be taking votes on what is our favourite pet and producing a tally chart, talking about which is the least and most popular and why. We will also be counting and ordering numbers to 20.

This week is also STEM week (Science,Technology,Maths) Monday afternoon will be dedicated to Early Years and Key Stage 1 where the children will be given the opportunity to take part in exploration and investigation activities.

This week is very exciting as it's Storytelling week! We have lots of fun activities for the children to enjoy. On Tuesday each class will take part in a book riddle where the children will get the chance to solve clues and collect books from the school library. Thursday is World Book day, the children can come dressed up as a character from their favourite story. We will be sharing stories with children from other classes and in the afternoon teachers will be moving around classrooms sharing books from around the world.

In Phonics we will be learning the sounds ow and oi and in Maths we will be looking at subtraction.

I hope everyone has had a fun and relaxing half term and the children are raring to get back to school!!

This term our new topic is Vets and Pets. Mrs Waugh talked to the children last term about our chosen class charity which is the RSPCA. We shall be raising money for the charity in class this term and talking about the work of the charity so we thought it would be nice to link our topic to this subject. We shall be discussing the different animals people own as pets and hopefully will be getting some visits from different animals. We will talk about what we need to do to look after pets properly and who looks after our pets when they get poorly. We shall also set up a Vets surgery in our role play area.

In Maths we shall be looking at addition, both adding by bringing two groups together and adding by counting on

This week for Phonics we shall be going over the sounds we learnt before half term - ar, or, ur, to make sure the children are secure.

This week we will be concluding our topic on Traditional Tales. We will use our visit to Oakham castle to inspire us to come up with our own stories later in the week. We will also be looking at the sounds or and ur in Phonics and learning the tricky words he and she. In Maths we shall be moving on to the number 13. We will looking at 13 as 1 lot of 10 and 3 more and using pictures and ten frames to help us understand this better.

Remember the children will need a packed lunch for their trip to the Castle on Monday.

For our penultimate week looking at Traditional tales we will be looking at a more modern story - The Princess and the Wizard by Julia Donaldson. We will be writing invitations to the Princess's Birthday Party, labeling pictures and describing the different settings. In Phonics we will be learning the short sound oo as in look and the ar sound. We will also be learning the  tricky words 'was' and 'he'. In Maths we are now concentrating on numbers bigger than 10. We have been talking about how 11 is 1 set of 10 and 1 more and we will continue to practice this with the number 12, using ten frames, cubes and pictures to help us.

WOW cards - area of learning - Physical Development - Moving!

This week we thought it would be a good idea to look at the area of Physical Development. The children have been doing really well in our PE sessions where we are focusing on gymnastic skills, however it would be lovely to hear about what they have been up to at home too. Perhaps they have got particularly good at the monkey bars lately or there ball skills are improving and they're playing football on the park. Maybe they like making assault courses and are getting really good at balancing, whatever it is - let us know!

This week we will looking at Nursery Rhymes as part of our Traditional tales topic. We shall be singing as many Nursery Rhymes as we can and hopefully learning some new ones too. We shall be setting up pipes for the Incy Wincy Spider, making and testing Row boats and making Porridge! In Phonics we shall be looking at the sounds igh and oa and our words of the week will be you and was. In Maths we shall be looking at the number 11 and understanding that 11 is one set of 10 and 1 more. 

A reminder that we have PE on a Tuesday afternoon, in case PE kits are still at home.

This week we will be reading Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be making wanted posters to try and find the giant, making beanstalks and counting gold coins. In phonics we will be learning the igh and the oa sound and in maths we will be looking at number bonds to 10.

WOW cards - Area of Learning - Not giving up.

As part of our Route to Resilience programme we have been talking about not giving up and keeping on trying when things get difficult. Maybe they have been trying to do their own coats up, building a particularly difficult lego model or trying hard to colour in the lines. Whatever it is, let us know!

This week we shall be continuing our Traditional Tales topic and reading Little Red Riding Hood. We shall be writing character descriptions, talking about the setting of the story and making maps to help Little Red Riding Hood get to Grandma's house using lots of positional and directional language such as right, left, next to, over and under. In Maths we shall looking at the number 9, concentrating on addition using objects to help us. 

This week is also Aspirations week. We will be taking part in lots of activities to do with finding out, team building, concentration and perseverance, with a fun filled Healthy Living Day to finish the week on Friday.

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas break and is looking forward to 2019.

You can find the Topic Web for our new topic Traditional Tales here.

We will be following our Traditional Tales topic this term but it is very important to us that we are following the children's interests and fascinations as much as possible. Therefore, if the children have a particular story or character that they love or want to find out more about we will follow there interest and plan accordingly. Sometimes this might mean we will be doing something completely different than we had planned to do that morning but that is part of the fun and hopefully means the children stay fully engaged in their learning. 

7.1.19 Wow Cards - Suggested area of Learning - Writing

Have the children been doing any writing at home? Have they been practicing their names or using their phonics to write labels at home. Maybe they have written Wish lists to Santa or Thankyou letters? Let us know. I will put WOW cards in book bags on Monday.

Apologies for not updating the website last week we had a few technical difficulties with the site.

This week is Christmas Around the World week. We have an exciting week learning all about the traditions and customs of different cultures. Thank you to those parents who are coming in to share their knowledge. I am on a swimming course on Monday so Mrs Waugh will be kicking the week off looking at Christmas in Poland. 

Key Learning this week:

This week we will be reading Owl Babies. We shall be sequencing the story and re-telling it using puppets and actions. We will be learning about nocturnal animals and why they come out at night instead of during the day. We will be making outside artwork of owls and nests using natural materials and creating our own artwork using the interactive white board. In phonics this week we shall be learning the sounds j,v,w and x. The children's blending is coming on really well and we shall continue to practice our blending to read and segmenting the sounds to write words. In maths we are moving on to the number 5. We shall be looking at estimation and learning how to make a good guess about an amount without counting. Another busy week!

WOW Cards - Suggested area of Learning for W/C 12th November - Expressive Art and Design

Have the children been getting crafty at home? Do they put on performances for the family, do they like re-telling stories or maybe doing puppet shows? Do they make, draw or paint fantastic pictures or make models? Let us know!

Key Learning this week:

This week we will be continuing our Autumn topic. We shall be reading The Very Helpful Hedgehog and learning all about animals that hibernate, looking at why they hibernate and where they go. We shall also be making information booklets about the animals we learn about. We shall be reading stories about animals and woodland such as Mr Percy the Park Keeper and looking at non fiction books from the library. You are very welcome to bring in any books you may have at home linked to the topic and the children can share them with the rest of the class. In maths we will be looking at the number 4. We shall be using ten frames to make 4 in different ways, using the language of more and fewer to compare two sets of objects and looking at how we can split 4 into different numbers.

We shall also be making a poppy bouquet for the Remembrance Liturgy on Friday.

** - The children are very keen to bring toys in to school and although it is lovely to share them with the rest of the class we are finding them quite a distraction during the school day, even when they are safely in book bags!! By way of a compromise we shall be introducing a  'Chatty Bag' which the children will take turns taking home. If your child brings the Chatty bag home, they can put a favourite toy or anything they would like to share with the class in to the bag and bring it in to school the next day. The toy can then be shared and the children will have chance to ask questions about it. We will try and send the bag home every day so should only take a few weeks to get round all the children, after which we can start again. 

• This term we will be attempting to get the children changed ready for PE. We will be doing indoor PE on a Tuesday afternoon and outdoor PE on a Thursday afternoon, weather permitting. Could you ensure children have PE bags in school as of next week if they are not already. Trainers will be needed for Thursday PE and Monday when they have the opportunity to go on the Astro turf at lunchtime.
• Friday morning is celebration assembly. This takes place every Friday at 9 am and you are very welcome to attend.
• Before half term we had a lot of interest from people wanting to take Raymond the Guinea Pig home! If anybody is interested in taking him home this weekend or any other, please let us know!

Topic: Please see our Autumn topic web.

Wow Cards - Suggested area of learning for this week - Technology. 

Have the children been helping at home with any household appliances? Do they help you to program the washing machine? Do they have any toys with programmable instructions? Do they use cameras, ipads etc to take photo's or can they use devices to play music? Any Wow moments to do with technology around the home - let us know.

Thank you to those of you who have brought in Wow cards so far. It has been lovely reading everybody's fantastic achievements.

This week we are continuing our People Who Help Us topic. After our paramedic visit and Fire station visit we shall be discussing different occupations such as doctors, nurses, policemen and women, fire fighters and lots more. We shall talk about what they do to help us and what their jobs entail. We shall set up a Dr's surgery inside and a Fire Station outside. We may even have our own crime to solve! In Phonics we shall be learning the sounds g,o,c,k and in Maths we shall be continuing to look at the number 2, thinking about one more and one less, number order and different representations of two.

Before half term we will be sending home letter fans to help the children learn the new sounds they have been taught so far. I will also send home a copy of the rhymes that go with each letter. We will be holding a Phonics session for parents in the near future but if anyone has any questions about Phonics and how to help your children at home, please don't hesitate to ask.

This week is a very busy week. It is Art week and the whole school is going to be looking at the work of Kandinski. We shall be looking at shape, colour and creating art to music. It is also the start of our new topic 'People Who Help Us'. To introduce this we have a visit from a Paramedic and a trip to the Fire Station. Finally on Thursday we also have a trip to Uppingham Theatre to see How to hide a Lion. A fun filled week!!

This week is the last week of our How do you do topic. We shall be concentrating on where we live. We will be looking at Oakham and the different places we regularly visit in Oakham. We will be looking at maps  of Rutland and Great Britain. We shall be programming BeeBots to find their way around maps we have made and making our own street scene. This week we are also starting our Phonics sessions. We will be looking at a new letter a day. This week is s, a, t and p.

Thank you to everybody who has been reading at home. We will read at least once a week with the children and change books once a week. However if you feel your child is ready for a new book sooner please feel free to swap books when you drop off in the morning, making sure you write the new book in the reading diaries.

Thank you also to those who have returned WOW cards. It has been lovely sharing the children's achievements.

This week as part of our How do you do topic we will be reading You be You by Linda Kranz. It has a lovely message all about being you in a sea full of fish! We will be talking about our favourite things, our families and what makes us special. In maths we will be concentrating on pattern and making our own repeating patterns in lots of different ways. We will be playing circle games in PE and will hopefully join the rest of the school on the playground at lunchtime.

Our key learning this week: 

Welcome to Early Years! We hope everyone has had a fantastic summer and is looking forward to starting school. For the first week or so we will concentrate on settling the children in to school and getting them used to routines and the structure of the day. There will be lots of familiar activities, painting, drawing, building and role play. We will be reading lots of stories and giving the children the oppotunity to share what they got up to over the summer.

 A reminder that Thursday 30th and Friday 31st will be a 12pm finish and the week commencing the 3/9/18 will be a 1pm finish. 

Topic: Please see our 'How do you do?' topic web.

You may want to look at these sites/information in order to help when you are looking at the letters/sounds with your child.

For help with sound pronunciation-

http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/sound-pronunciation-guide/

To help with letter formation, this is a list of the letters and the rhyme to go with each as your child forms the letter.