The Tiny Seed
This week our focus book as been The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle.
In the story we follow a tiny seed traveling on its journey through the seasons. We went on our own seasons walk to find signs of spring, we spotted blossom, buds, daffodils, insects and leaves. We even stopped to listen to the sound of lots of birds singing.
Our word of the week was miniscule: something that is even smaller than tiny.
Maths
In Maths, we’ve been doubling!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and recite it every day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Hungry Birdies.
Hungry Birdies
I have built a little nest,
look inside, look inside.
Hungry birdies with their beaks,
open wide, open wide.
And the little birdies grow,
day by day by day.
‘Till they spread their wings and fly,
far away, far away.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
Jack and The Beanstalk
This week’s book has been Jack and the Beanstalk.
It has inspired us to plant our own seeds so we can observe them over time.
We’ve also written some instructions for what we did.
First we put in the soil.
Then we put in the seed.
Next we covered it.
Finally water it.
Maths
This week we have started looking at the number 7 and the different parts it can be split into. We used the stem sentence “7 is made of 5 and 2; 2 and 5 make 7.”
Help at home: by practising partitioning 7. You can do this using pasta, teddies or anything else that you can find at home that you have 7 of.
Thank you to all of those that came to the stay and learn this week.
Have a happy and healthy weekend and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
The Hundred Decker Bus
It’s been another busy week in Reception this week. We have been looking at the focus book The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith. The children loved the journey the bus took.
Our word of the week was Countryside- land that is away from big towns and cities. We’ve also used Google Earth to find school and some of our houses. We had so much fun, we will continue looking for more places next week.
Maths
This week in our Maths we have been comparing and considering where numbers to 8 are in relation to each other. We have used the vocabulary ‘more than, less than and equal to’ to describe the relationship between them. The children have enjoyed making the stair pattern to help them to describe each number.
“7 is more than 6”
“3 is less than 4”
“5 is more than 4 but less than 6”
Phonics
Spring 2 week 3 has been a review of phase 3 sounds, reading words with two or more digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound). We review tricky words (a word you can’t sound out – you just have to know it) daily.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! Tricky Word Bingo is still a huge hit in class and the prizes are becoming incredible, this week we have been playing for a trip on a cruise ship and a golden helicopter!
Poetry Picnic
Each week we learn a new poem and recite this poem every day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is the traditional nursery rhyme Pat a Cake, Pat a Cake. We turned this in to a clapping song and the children enjoyed singing it with a partner.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. Can your child tell you the rhyming words in this week’s poem? We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Reminders and Dates
‘Number’ Stay and learn – Tuesday 18 March 2:20-3:00pm
Our Stay and Learn sessions are a chance to find out more about your child’s journey through Reception. You can observe some teaching and learning, and pick up some tips to support your child at home. This session is all about Number.
Please send your child into school with an empty shoebox next week. The children will be creating their very own deck, based on their designs.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
A school Trip to the Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum
On Wednesday, we had a fantastic time at The National Railway Museum. We were so excited to go on on our first ever school trip – especially travelling by coach! All the grown ups were super impressed with how well-behaved the children were. Well done, Reception class.
We enjoyed looking at different trains and making comparisons of old and new. We had lots of fun watching the miniature railway and it led to lots of great discussions about trains, tunnels and transport. We even played a game of spotting Mrs Kendrew and Mrs Rippon at the miniature station! We also had fun sitting on the Japanese Bullet train.
To end our wonderful visit, we drew our favourite train of the day!
The Hundred Decker Rocket
We’ve been reading The Hundred Decker Rocket, by Mike Smith.
The story inspired lots of discussion around keeping our planet clean and why this is important.
In our writing, we designed our very own rocket deck that we will be making next week- this is where we need your help…
Please send your child into school with an empty shoebox next week. The children will be creating their very own deck, based on their designs.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith
The Train Ride
What a busy first week back it has been for team Reception! Our topic this half term is Let’s Go, Let’s Grow and our first focus book was The Train Ride by June Crebbin.
Our word of the week has been destination– the place someone is going.
We have also been historians this week and sorted out old and new trains. We looked at pictures of the early steam locomotive- Robert Stephenson’s Rocket. We compared it to the trains we use today.
Phonics
Spring 2 week 1 has been a review of phase 3 sounds: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, oo, ow, oi, ear, in words and sentences. We review tricky words daily.
Tricky words can be just that-tricky! We’ve previously introduced a few fun games you can play at home to practice tricky words.
Help at home– Play Bingo with your child using the game sent home, we love playing this game in school.
Reminders and Messages
Wednesday 5th March- Class Trip to The National Railway Museum.
World Book Day 2024- Thursday 06 March Please join us in the classroom, where you can relax and read books with your child. We’d also like your child to share their favourite book with their friends. Please send your child into school with their favourite book and please ensure the book is named. As stated on the school calendar, this not a dressing up year.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith.
Supertato
Our focus book this week has been Supertato by Sue Hendra.
Our new word of the week was: mischievous. A perfect word to describe the small, green villain in our story!
Phonics
Spring 1 week 5 has focused on reading longer words, by using the chunking method (segmenting and blending longer words one syllable at a time, i.e. “s-u-n, sun, s-e-t, set, sun, set, sunset”)
Ask your child to show you how they ‘chunk-it-up’
Reception parent/carer survey
At St James’ Primary School, we’re always keen to hear your views. We hope that you let us know any questions, comments and concerns (as well as causes for celebration!) whenever these crop up, but we like to gather the views more generally so we can keep reviewing and improving what we do.
This short survey is just for you to think about your child’s experiences in our Reception class. (There’s another annual survey at the end of the year for all parents/carers.) It’ll only take a few minutes or so. You’ve plenty of time to do this – the deadline is Friday 28 February 2025.
We can’t guarantee to meet the needs and wants of every parent / carer, but we do assure you that we consider all the points raised and aim to act on specific points that are raised by many, or a useful idea raised by just a few.
Previously, based on your feedback, for example, we alternated the days Stay and Learns were held – to give all parents an opportunity to attend.
Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey. We’re looking forward to reading your views.
The Magic Paintbrush
This week our focus book has been The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson.
We talked about what we would paint if we had a magic paintbrush and wrote down our ideas.
We’ve be learning about Lunar New Year and have enjoyed making our own dragon in the workshop area that we showed in our whole school celebration assembly on Friday. We’ve also used our funky fingers to make snakes to mark the start of the year of the snake.
Poetry Picnic
Each week, we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. This week’s poem is A Little House.
I’m going to build a little house,
With windows big and bright,
And chimneys tall with curling smoke,
Drifting out of sight.
In winter when the snowflakes fall,
Or when I hear a storm,
I’ll go and sit in my little house,
Where I’ll be snug and warm.
We also recited this in our assembly and impressed the whole school with our wonderful prosody.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on our final sounds of phase 3: air, er
We’ve learnt the tricky words; are, sure, pure
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon, Mrs. Small and Mr. Smith.
Penguin Huddle
In our literacy lessons this week, we enjoyed reading Penguin Huddle by Ross Montgomery. In the story, the penguins huddled together during an icy storm but it was so cold that they got stuck together and couldn’t break free!
Our word of the week has been: huddle.
We located the UK and the Antarctic on a map and found their locations on a globe. We then talked about how they compared to find similarities and differences.
Maths -composition
This week, children consolidated their understanding of the composition of 5 using the familiar rhyme ‘5 Little Speckled Frogs.’ By singing the rhyme and moving the frogs during each verse, children investigated part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 5 can be made of 3 and 2.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 3 has focused on the digraphs ur, ow, oi and the trigraph ear.
We’ve learnt the tricky words; my, by, all. Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We have also played Tricky Word Bingo this week, which was great fun.
Help at home: please go through the home learning sheet with your child.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Mr. Smith.
Lost and Found
We have had another fantastic week looking at our focus book Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers.
Our word of the week has been climate and we have been geographers. We have looked at the globe again and talked about the equator being the hot line.
Phonics
Spring 1 week 2 has focused on the digraphs oo, oo, ar, or
We’ve learnt the tricky words; was, you, they
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
In class we have also been
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called I can build a snowman
I can build a snowman,
I can build it high.
I can build a snowman,
Up into the sky.
Maths; the staircase pattern
In Maths, we’ve been looking at counting and ordinality- specifically, the ‘one more’ relationship that creates ‘the staircase pattern’.
We were introduced to the concept by the Numberblocks, before moving on to create our own staircase patterns in small groups.
Have a happy and healthy week and thank you as always for your support.
Mrs. Kendrew, Mrs. Rippon and Mr. Smith.