Friday 4th April

A busy final week in Reception. 

In PE we practised travelling at different heights using the equipment. The children were creative with how they could travel over, under and through a hoop.

We finished listening to the Easter story. We explored our school grounds for new life and even went on an Easter egg hunt. We have made a display with their Easter art work. 

Our maths sessions focused on 'counting on' which some of us found tricky. Please practise playing lots of board games over the holidays to embed this skill. 

Yesterday we had a special celebration in class. The children had made beautiful decorations for my wedding which I will cherish forever. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and well wishes.

I hope you enjoy the Easter break. 

Friday 28th March

There aren't many photo's this week but there was still lot's going on.

We all learnt the poem 'I'm building a rocket' by Kenn Nesbitt. We acted out the poem and then some children wrote the verses from the poem and read them out to the class.

Our maths lessons have focused on arrangements of 10. You can practise this at home- using 10 small objects, ask your child to make as many arrangements as possible e.g. 5 and 5, 9 and 1- all the number bonds to 10!

The children heard the story of Good Friday and we went in search of crosses and crucifixes around school. We also went to church to look at the stations of the cross which show Jesus' journey during Good Friday. 

We would like to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all our Mummy's. We hope you like the cards the children made and enjoy your special day on Sunday. We sang a song to show how much we love you :)

Friday 21st March

The children have been busy creating their 'Starry Night' master piece. We found out how Vincent van Gogh used small brush strokes to create the effect that the sky was moving. We tried to recreate this on our group project. 

In PE, we practised different types of rolls and jumps. We spoke about squeezing our muscles tight to hold our positions. 

Our RE lessons have moved onto the Easter story and this week we heard about Palm Sunday. The children made their own palm leaves and we acted this out as a class. 

We have continued with our maths learning of 'subitising' and using the stem sentence to explain our understanding. Play simple games at home to further develop this skill. Eg- have a group of objects to 6 and ask your child how many there are, they should use their 'fast eyes' and not need to count. They then close their eyes and you take some away. Ask how many are left, and how many are behind your back, how do they know this? "7 is made of 5 and 2 so 5 and 2 make 7". They can also use thier fingers to represent the objects. 

Friday 14th January

This week was Science week. We started off with the Science road show on Monday, exploring different forces. The children thoroughly enjoyed launching the rockets outside! In class, we learnt about different habitats and the children created a new species of animal in the creative area. We also did some sea creature yoga. 

In PE, we developed the skill of jumping from a height, ensuring we bend our knees and land on both feet without wobbling. There was lots of progress throughout the lesson!

We have continued learning about Africa. The children tried to carry a bucket of water around the track to see to difficult it was. Most children needed a friend to help them carry it. We watched a video about children in Africa that have to walk miles to collect water. 

We have also done some observational drawings of the fruit from Handa's surprise, these are displayed in the corridor. We then got to taste the fruit afterwards, the mango was very popular!

As part of our RE lessons, we listened to the story of the Good Samaritan. The children used small world figures to act out the story. We also dressed up as doctors and nurses to show how we can care for people. 

Friday 7th February 

The children have been learning about Africa this week. One of the children brought in some traditional clothing and artefacts from home. We have done some drumming, dancing and made African masks.

Mrs Poulton made pancakes for us on Shrove Tuesday. On Ash Wednesday, the children went to the whole school mass and were very respectful. We have begun learning about Lent and the children can recall the story of Jesus going into the desert for 40days and 40 nights. 

PE involved lots of stretching and balancing this week. We had to hold our positions on the bench for 5 seconds, which proved to be difficult!

In Maths we have revisited strategies for counting large amounts. Give your child a large group of objects and ask how they should count them. They should be able to tell you to group them, put them in a line, touch them, move them or cross them off if they cannot be moved. 

We enjoyed sharing our stories from home for World Book Day :)

Friday 28th February

We had a great first week back.

The children enjoyed making Mardi Gras bracelet's in RE. We learnt about the Catholic festival that is celebrated in different countries during Lent. 

We have been writing lists in Literacy this week, we wrote a list of ingredients needed for pancakes and a list of Handa's fruit. Ask your child to write your shopping list at home, remind them they need to use a bulletpoint. 

In Maths we focused on sorting large amounts of groups into different categories. The children had to be able to explain how and why they had grouped them in a certain way. 

Lot's of us found balancing tricky in our first gymnastics lesson. The children should be able to balance for 5seconds on each leg- see how long your child can balance for at home.

We also enjoyed our dance to the Teddy Bear's picnic in our Music lesson. The children learnt about the tempo and dynamics of the music. 

Friday 14th February

Happy Valentines day! There is a 'love bug' in your child's bag that they made today.  

We started our week by going for a walk to the old school house. Mrs Poulton told us lots of interesting facts about our school and what it used to be like in the past. There were only 3 classrooms and the toilets were outside! The children then wrote about this when back in class.

In Maths, we continued our learning on 'doubles'. The children have used different resources to create doubles this week e.g. patterns on a butterfly or spots on a lady bird. They then had to write the number sentence underneath. 

Our dance unit finished by creating a dance to 'Old McDonald'. The children came up with different actions for farm activities and then used these to create a group dance. 

As part of our RE lesson and collective worship, we looked at how Jesus shared with other people and how we might share with others. The children wrote a list of items needed for the local food bank and we will be collecting these after half term.

We hope you have a lovely week with your families and we will see you on Tuesday 25th February. 

Friday 7th February

We listened to the story 'The Big Umbrella' as part of our RE lesson. We spoke about being kind and caring towards others. The children painted an umbrella and we have displayed their ideas of how to be caring towards others. We discussed being 'forgiving' in PSHE and that one of the things we can do to forgive is to give a hug. We did a craft activity and displayed these on our washing line.

We have began to work on doubles this week in maths. This is a tricky concept for them to understand. We rolled 2 die to see if we could make a double. The children have learnt different stem sentences to describe doubles eg

' 6 is made of 3 and 3 so 3 and 3 make 6'

'This is a double because 3 is a part and 3 is a part'.

We want the children to recognise the whole amount and explain why it is a double.

We had a lovely walk to the Wetlands yesterday. We spotted different birds, minibeasts and even found a badger track! We will be using the photographs we took to help us with our writing next week. 

Friday 31st January

A very busy week with lots of different things going on.

We started the week by learning more about road safety. The children went out in their teams to complete a traffic survey. Over a space of 20minutes, 384 different vehicles passed our school, we were amazed!

In PE, we developed our firework dance using the scarves. We had to skip in a large circle, changing speed and direction. 

The children drew maps of Berry Lane, using Google Maps and our photographs that we took on the walk. They then used these maps to build Berry Lane using the construction materials. We stuck the photographs of shops onto cardboard boxes. 

On Wednesday we had a full day celebrating the Chinese New Year. We listened to stories, traditional music and made a stir fry. The children helped to write the instructions. 

In maths we have been learning about the composition of 7. The majority of the children now understand that 7 is made up from 5 and 2 more, 6 and 1 more etc. We did this by building a tower of 7 cubes, I hid the tower behind my back and then showed them 2 pieces, asking how many were left hiding. 

Friday 24th January

We have started creating maps this week. We linked this to our Literacy text, 'What the ladybird heard' and the children drew a map of the farm and labelled it. We will build upon this next week by drawing a map of Berry Lane. The children's writing is developing. Encourage them at home to write shopping lists and letters. They must use their phonics fingers to help them spell. At this point in the year, we expect the children to be able to label their work and write a short caption. 

Our RE focus was that Jesus welcomes everyone. We listened to the story of Jesus and the little children and then acted it out. We also made a handprint of everyone that Jesus welcomes. As part of PSHE, we thought about families and we drew our family tree. 

In PE, the children developed a 'firework dance', using the scarves. They had to come up with movements to represent 'bang', 'fizz' 'whooosh' etc. It was tricky to remember the footwork and the arm movements but we will work on this. 

Friday 17th January

We built on our ocean dance during the PE lesson this week. We moved like different sea creatures to the beat of 8. The children are thoroughly enjoying the dance unit and we have some fantastic dancers!

In PSHE, the children learnt about Jesus being the first role model and setting an example to all. They acted this out by 'washing' each others feet, as Jesus did. During RE, we learned more about the Epiphany and looked specifically at the gifts the wise men brought. We made our own gift tags to show our gifts of kindness and hung them on our tree.

In Literacy, we drew the story map for Mr Gumpy's outing. We used these to act out the story. This will then help us with our writing. In Maths, we focused on the '5 and a bit' method. The children were using the stem sentence '5 and 3 is 8 altogether', using their fingers to represent this. You could ask your child to show you a number between 6 and 9, always having '5 and a bit' then ask them to explain why it is that number. E.g- why is that 7? Because it is 2 more than 5. 

Yesterday, we enjoyed our walk down Berry Lane. We talked about the different shops we could see but the best part was definitely the park! We had lots of fun. 

Friday 10th January 

Reports will be sent home this week and for each area of learning it will state 'expected' or 'emerging'. I will also attach the Early Learning Goals with the reports. For your child to be at the 'expected' level they should be able to do the majority of the ELG. 

If your child is 'emerging' in any areas it means they are still working within the Development Matters and have not quite reached the expected level of the ELG yet. We hope that most children get the 'expected' level by the end of the year. I have uploaded the Reception statements onto the class page so that you can see the expectations before the ELG's. Go to the Spring 1 folder and you will find them there :)

We listened to the Epiphany story in RE and discussed the wise men's journey. Lot's of the children understood that the wise men followed a star and went to visit Jesus. We made our own constellation of stars with paint in the creative area. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed the introduction lesson to dance. We pretended we were at the beach. We had to listen to the different sounds and follow the movements. From there we learnt the first part of our dance, counting to 8 for each section. The children will perform their dance in teams to the rest of the class. 

In Maths we introduced the language of 'more than' and 'fewer than'. We want the children to be confident using a stem sentence, for example,  'Pat has more boats than Sam' or 'Sam has fewer boats than Pat'. We realised the size, shape and property of the toy did not alter the fact who had more or less. To extend this, I challenged the children to explain why Pat had more. We want the children to be able to explain and say ' he has a bigger amount' or 'he has 7 which is more than 5' or 'he has 2 more than Sam'. You can practise this at home with every day objects, give yourself and your child different amounts and ask them 'What do you notice?' and then get them to explain.

We have moved onto Phase 3 sounds in phonics. The majority of the children are now blending and you will see in the reading diaries that we want the children to 'smooth read'. This is the fluency of reading rather than the robotic sounding out. Children do not need to sound out every word if they are now confident with their blending. Encourage your child to 'smooth read' or 'read in their head'.

Friday 13th December

A fun filled Christmas week for Reception class. The children finished off decorating our class Christmas tree which is now in our reading area. We also made baubles and a class Advent wreath. 

On Wednesday the children enjoyed their Christmas dinner followed by the Nativity performance. Thank you to everyone that came, we were really proud of them all. 

Our PE session revisited 'dribbling' and controlling a ball. There was a marked improvement on our previous lesson! 

In Maths the children have been learning their number bonds to 5 and can now say a number sentence E.g. '5 is made up from 1 and 4'. We have looked at all the variations and we did this through singing 5 little speckled frogs. 

We are consolidating all our Phase 2 learning in Phonics and are carrying out assessments. There will be different phonics groups and interventions running in the New Year. We may want to speak to individual parents about your child's progress in Phonics and what you can do at home to support. 

Reminders for next week- 

Tuesday- toy day- bring a toy from home

Wednesday- wear party clothes for our EYFS party which will be in the afternoon with Nursery. 

Friday- last day, normal finishing time

Friday 6th December

We have been very busy building our gingerbread houses. The children used their designs to help them. It involved many skills such as drawing, folding, cutting and attaching. We will keep them in class next week on display and then they will be bringing them home!

We have started making our own class Christmas tree with the left over junk modelling so keep your eye out next week for the photo's!

In RE, we listened to the party of the nativity story where the shepherds visited Jesus. The children sequenced the story so far and have started making their own sheep. Next week, they will have to be shepherds for the day and look after their sheep. 

Our maths sessions have focused on building towers from 1-5, making sure they are in the correct order and each tower has 1 more than the previous tower. Ask your child to make a 'stair case of towers' at home. You could cut out 15 square pieces of paper for the activity. Ask them to explain what they have done.

In Literacy, we finished our oral re-telling of the gingerbread man, using our talk for writing map to help us. We will try to video some groups next week and share them on the website. 

The children did their best with aiming and kicking in PE. They learnt how to kick a ball correctly, using their standing foot next to the ball and then kicking with the side of their foot. We then aimed at targets. 

Friday 29th November

There aren't many pictures this week but the children have been very busy.

We have designed out gingerbread houses and will be building these next week. We are also learning to re-tell the story using our 'talk for writing' actions. 

In maths we have been recognising dot patterns and playing track games that involve rolling a dice and counting on the correct amount of spaces. Lot's of the children found this difficult. You could play a board game as a family this weekend and practise moving to the 'stopping number'. 

PE focused on controlling a ball with our foot. We tried dribbling and stopping with both feet. This is a skill we will be building upon. 

We have started to learn about Winter and explored some stories, looking out for signs of Winter. 

All the children were so well behaved today at the Pantomime. We had a fantastic time and then enjoyed a picnic lunch in the classroom when we got back. 

Friday 22nd November

We have started our Literacy work on The Gingerbread Man. The children wrote lists of ingredients and equipment that we needed for baking. We enjoyed baking with Mrs Poulton and decorating our gingerbread men. We completed an obstacle course in the hall as if we were the gingerbread man.

In PE we practised the skill of throwing and catching. We found this tricky and will be working on this some more next week. Try this at home with larger balls such as a football, throwing the ball just above head height and having both hands together in 'a glove' ready to catch. 

The children loved playing out in the cold and were keen to find ice and snow that they could explore. We were able to make snow castles but not enough for a snowman!

Our RE focus this week was the birth of Jesus. The children have made their own baby Jesus laying in a manger. Lots of children decided to draw scenes from the story. 

Thank you to everyone that came to the showcase. We hope you enjoyed looking at the work we have been doing. 

Friday 15th November

We have continued reading Supertato in Literacy. The children acted out parts of the story and some children tried to write their own speech bubbles for the characters. We even made our own little Supertatoes in the creative area.

For maths, we have built upon our knowledge that numbers are made up of other numbers. We have looked at 4 and 5 and the different combinations that make them. The children made 'stampoline' patterns which will be show cased next Wednesday afternoon. 

We practised our aiming and throwing skills with a beanbag in PE. The children had good control and accuracy!

During our RE lessons, we heard the story of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem. The children made their own maps and we built a road from Nazareth to Bethlehem outside using the large bricks. We found out some interesting facts about donkeys too, see if your child can remember any of them!

Year 6 came and delivered a class worship yesterday about kindness. The children listened carefully and talked about times when they have shown kindness. 

Please remember it is our showcase of learning at 3:15pm in the school hall on Wednesday. 

Friday 8th November

This week the children spent more time learning about Diwali and made their own diya lamps. During topic time we spoke about bonfire safety and learnt a new song- see if your child can remember it. 

To the tune of 'here we go round the mulberry bush' the first line is 'this is the way we build the fire'.

We have started reading Supertato and some of the children made a wanted poster to find evil pea! We will be doing more work around this next week. In Maths, we are looking at parts and 'a whole'. The children have identified objects that are a whole and are made up of different parts. This moves onto numbers being made up of different parts. E.g 3 is made up of 2 and 1 or three 1's. You could make a tower of 3 square pieces of card and ask your child to show you the parts.

In PE we continued our ball skills but with the focus of stopping the ball with our hands and then our feet. This is something you could easily practise at home. 

During our RE lesson we heard the Annunciation story and the trust Mary had in God. We played a game using a blind fold to show that we trust our friends. 

Friday 1st November

A great start to the half term! The children showed good concentration and perseverance in PE when rolling and controlling a small ball. There are many skills involved in rolling a ball accurately, such as bending low, keeping their arm straight and aiming. 

Our phonic sessions have re-visited our prior learning and the children have been able to identify the graphemes and also write cvc words using their phonic fingers. Ask your child to spell cvc words at home using the phonemes s a t p i n m d g e.g dig.

In our maths lessons we have started to explore what equal means and how to share equally. This has involved doing lots of problem solving and using mathematical language to explain their decisions. At home you could use 3 teddies and have a variety of objects such as 3 forks, 5 spoons and 2 knives. Ask your child to share them equally and explain why they can or cannot do it. 

We spent time in RE looking at the children's Baptism pictures and then had our own Baptism in class. Some children were able to share that this means they become part of God's family. 

During music the children learnt a Diwali dance, moving in time to the tempo. We will be looking at this festival some more next week. 

Friday 18th October

Our final week has been a busy one. The children enjoyed being 'stewards of creation'. They walked around the school grounds talking about how we can look after God's world. 

In PE, the children visited a 'woodland', we had to balance across fallen tress and tried our best not to fall in the stream. The children's fundamental skills have developed well over the past 7 weeks.

Math's sessions have focused on 5 and representing 5 in different ways. We sang 5 peas in a pea pod pressed' which you could do at home. We added peas to our hand prints and found that 5 + 5 = 10.

We finished our learning about owls, using the non fiction text. Ask your child to tell you a fact about barn owls, you will be impressed!

Have a great week off. We are back in school on Tuesday 29th October. 

Friday 11th October

The children have started to apply their phonic skills to their writing! We have been writing cvc words and some children even wrote a caption! As part of our Literacy unit we will be learning about owls and we will be writing a fact file next week. If your child is not ready for writing, do not worry. Practise letter formation, name writing and most importantly oral blending! 

Within maths, we have been comparing amounts using the mathematical language of 'more than' and 'fewer than'. You could make 2 groups at home and ask your child to say in a full sentence which group has more/ fewer. We used 2 puppets to help us e.g "The monkey has more than the bee"

We went to the farm in our PE lesson and moved like farm animals. We focused on our galloping which was very tricky and we will be revisiting. 

During topic time we looked at the images of them as a baby. We had lots of fun guessing who they were. We have spent time talking about similarities and differences between the different age groups. Mrs Poulton's key person group said that babies like to sleep a lot like the elderly!

In RE, we looked at our wonderful world on Google Earth. We then made our own pictures of the creation story and ordered this as a class. 

Friday 4th October

Another busy week in Reception class. We have been subitising within 4 and representing 4 in lots of different ways. We played a game, hiding objects under a cloth and quickly saying how many were hidden. You could try this at home.

We have been listening to the children read individually this week. It is important they know the phoneme on its own, be able to segment it in a word and then blend. This skill will come over time but do keep practicing. Thank you to the parents and carers that have commented in the diary. It was lovely to read that they are excited about reading at home. 

In PE the children had to jump in lots of different ways, bending their knees, using their arms and keeping their feet together. This was quite tricky for some of our children so do practice this at home. Practice jumping on the sot, jumping over something and jumping in different directions. 

During RE and PSHE we focused on looking after our bodies for ourselves and God. The children went on an adventure, moving in different ways. We spoke about what we need to do to look after ourselves e.g. eat fruits and vegetables, wash our bodies, get lots of sleep etc. 

In collective worship the children thought about God's love for them and who they love. They were quiet and respectful and hung their hearts on the tree. 

We really enjoyed making our Arcimboldo pictures using the real fruit and vegetables. We will share these during the showcase along with our other work on Wednesday 20th November. 

Friday 27th September

Our PE focus was moving our bodies in different ways but also being able to hold a position. We pretended we were at the beach and the children had to move like crabs, seahorses and sharks. They enjoyed 'sunbathing' the best!

In maths, we have spent lots of time making groups of 4. Ask your child to look out for groups of 4 in the house. Can they make a group of 4 in different ways? We want the children to be able to say " you need four 1's" or " you need a 3 and a 1" or " you need two and two".

We consolidated our learning of s,a,t,p,i,n by finding them in the classroom and writing the graphemes. As of next week the children will be split into two smaller groups. Both groups will be taught the same skills but this will help the children's attention and concentration if they are in a smaller group. Please do look at the video of how to pronounce the phonemes :) 

In RE and PSHE, the children spent time thinking about being unique and what that means. We spoke about special times with our family and have drawn a family portrait which will be displayed in the classroom.

Friday 20th September

In Phonics we have introduced p, i, and n this week. Use the letter cards in their book bag to make cvc words e.g sat, pin, tap, pit. Place the cards down and point to each sound. Encourage your child to say the sound and then blend. We will talk more about this at the phonics meeting next Wednesday. It is at 6pm in the school hall. 

Our maths focus has been counting, cardinality and ordinality. The children have learned that anything can be counted. They found counting 'sounds' quite tricky. Practise this at home. The adult claps/ stamps X amount of times and your child tells you how many. They are not allowed to count out loud. Only in their head or on their fingers. 

We have started our topic work around Autumn. The children looked for signs of Autumn in the play ground and eco garden. We made leaf necklaces and faces using the natural materials we collected.

The children also decorated their birds and fish as part of the creation story. They know that God made the world and everything in it. In RE and our collective worship, we have thought about how special we are and what makes us special. The children have coloured in their named bookmarks which they will bring home with their reading books. 

For PE this week we went on a safari. The children had to move their bodies like different animals., reaching up high like giraffes, swinging like monkeys and stomping like elephants. The children practised the skill of moving from fast to slow.  

Friday 13th September

The children have learned the phonemes 's' 'a' and 't'. They will bring home the letter formation cards in their bags. Practise reading and writing them. Look for the graphemes in the environment too.

We will not be sending reading books until after the Phonics meeting on Wednesday 25th September.

We have introduced numbers 1,2,and 3. It is a gradual process and we want the children to fully understand the number and it's concept. We have been subitising and making arrangements with counters up to 3. Please practise this at home, using the language of 'straight lines' 'horizontal lines', 'vertical lines' and 'diagonal lines'. Talk about where the dots are on the page. We encourage the children to say 'Don't count, know the amount'.

From our maths baseline this week we noticed that a lot of the children struggled to count up to 20 objects in a group. Practise point counting and moving objects to help your child count. 

We have painted our self-portraits as part of our topic work. In PSHE and RE we have started the Creation Story. Talk to your child about who made them and our beautiful world. We will be learning more about this over the coming weeks. 

Friday 6th September

The children have had an amazing first week in school. There has been a lot of new routines to remember, rules to follow and tasks to complete! We have been busy exploring our classroom and making new friends. 

We have spent time talking about our 6 golden rules that we must show for green behaviour. Ask your child if they can remember what they are! Everyone has remembered where their new carpet space is, well done!

Next week we will be introducing more structure and implementing our first phonics and maths sessions. These lessons are only short to begin with and we build up to 25minutes inputs over the year.

I have not uploaded any photo's this week as we do not have the permission list from the office yet. 

Have a wonderful weekend in the sun.

Friday, 5th July

Reception have been happy as a splash and having a swashbuckling, fun time at our Pirate Day today! The children looked exquisite in their pirate and under the sea themed attire and enjoyed a bit of play acting as their costume character. The children participated in a Design and Technology challenge and their brief was to create a junk modelling boat that will float and keep their cardboard tube puppet pirate (that they made the day before) onboard the ship. Reception did a terrific job carefully choosing materials to join together and being creative in their design choices. The children enjoyed testing their boats out in the water tray and we reflected on which materials and shapes worked best, and why some boats unfortunately capsized. 

Reception had a lovely time using loose parts to create pirate ships, collaboratively draw treasure maps using chalk and engage in some thrilling role play with some rather dramatic plots! The children loved being dressed up and role playing as their character. 

In the hall, Reception played some fun pirate themed games. They played Captain's Commands where the children had to follow fast directions such as scrub the deck, run to the island and abandon ship etc. The children embodied their character through mime and dance when playing musical statues. Reception really impressed us all with their strength and determination when playing tug-a-war. 

Friday, 14th June 2024

Reception had the most delightful time at WildWood Days on Monday! They were beautifully behaved on the coach and made Alston Lane proud by how well they conducted themselves by being enthusiastic, persevering, daring to try and cooperating collaboratively when working in teams. 

We started with a minibeast hunt; finding painted minibeast stones and then discussed the difference between insects and other minibeasts. We were impressed with Ronnie's sticky knowledge, as he explained to the group (when asked), "insects have six legs".

Reception had a fabulous time exploring the WildWood Days' interactive nature playground. The children particularly enjoyed swinging on the rope swing, making nature crowns, riding the balance bikes over the ramps, playing in the mud pit with diggers and making percussive beats with recycled musical instruments. 

Children were engaged in teacher-led activities such as designing and moulding clay minibeasts and decorating them with nature materials. Reception bravely and sensibly took on the challenge to use a bow saw 1:1 with the group leader and surprised themselves with how strong their shoulder and hand muscles are to saw off a piece of wood. The children then decorated their 'tree cookie' with some colour permanent markers. 

To end such an exciting and adventurous day, the children demonstrated tremendous teamwork making dens and toasting marshmallows around the campfire. They definitely had earnt that sweet treat! 

Friday, 7th June 2024

It was lovely to welcome all of our Reception children back to our summer 2 term and introduce them to our new topic, 'Sandcastles and Suitcases'. We started with a splash right into reading the story, 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch.' We enjoyed making seagulls and learning more about lighthouses, even building our own in the construction area.

We travelled back in time to find out about Grace Darling, who was a heroine of the sea. We were amazed to find out that she saved many lives by being courageous to rescue a capsized boat out at sea near the Farne Islands, in the north east of England. We discussed times when we have been brave and shared how we overcame our fears. Some children even illustrated their own heroic stories and challenged themselves to write a bit about their experiences.

We also enjoyed finding out that puffins live near the Farne Islands, and we discovered more fascinating facts about puffins by watching a little clip from David Attenborough's 'Wild Isles'.

In Maths we have been ordering and comparing numbers 1 - 10, and making our own number tracks and hopscotch activities in our outdoor environment.  

Wow! What an amazing first week back we have had! 

Thursday, 23rd May 2024

This week we read the story 'Teddy Bears Picnic' which inspired our exploring time to have tea parties, and bring in our favourite teddy bear! We loved talking about our special teddy bears and having them join us for a scrumptious Teddy Bears Picnic! We made honey sandwiches, in our house teams we created some teddy bear quizzical questions and we enjoyed singing and dancing on the field.

We were excited to see our butterflies had emerged from their cocoons over the weekend! We loved watching them flitter and flutter about the butterfly enclosure, however it was time to bid them farewell and safe travels by Thursday. We released the butterflies into the wild and wished them well, and who knows maybe they might visit us again! 

Such a lovely way to end the half term. We wish all our Reception children and their families a wonderful half-term break and we look forward to seeing you back at school again for the next term :)

Friday, 17th May

Reception have been enjoying their week investigating minibeasts and being amazed at the cocoon stage of the life cycle. We are watching intently to see if there are any changes and sightings of butterflies!  

Reception went on a minibeast hunt in our outdoor environment and in our Eco-Garden. They were fascinated to find over 10 species of minibeasts. 

"I found a spider in the bug hotel inside a log," Corrine. 

"I saw a butterfly on a flower in the field," Jessica.

"I saw an ant camouflaged [under a tree stump]," Hunter. 

"We found lots of woodlice under logs," Ronnie. 

Friday, 10th May 2024

Reception have had a wonderful week reading the story, 'Oliver's Fruit Salad' and being inspired to make our own fruit kebabs. They were delicious! 

We have been excited to watch the enormous growth of our caterpillars and on Friday we noticed many of them had begun the next stage of building their cocoon. We are keeping a close watch and patiently observing for signs of the next stage in the life cycle. 

To understand the life cycle of the butterfly we have been acting out the different stages within the life cycle, and making our own paper plate life cycle of a butterfly using pasta and rice.  

This week's phonics sounds: /air/ and /eure/

This week's tricky words: some and there 

Friday, 3rd May 2024

It has been such a pleasure to get to know Reception this week, and we have had such a delightful time together! 

This week we started our new Literacy text called, 'Oliver's Vegetables' which links to our topic about growth and the Great Outdoors. Reception immersed themselves in sensorial activities using a variety of vegetables such as, potato scrubbing, vegetable printing patterns, scooping seeds and cutting vegetables to prepare for a super veggie salad! 

During R.E this week the children discussed how the Holy Spirit is our friend and gives us strength and confidence, like a tree bearing fruit. We learnt the fruits of the Holy Spirit are kindness, gentleness, love and joy. We created freeze frames to demonstrate these important qualities that the Holy Spirit gives to us. 

The new Phonics sounds for this week are: /oi/ and /ear/

The new tricky words for this week are: so and were

Thursday 25^th April

We have had a fantastic week so far with lots of fun learning. We continued our learning about our senses and Spring and wrote a poem.

On Tuesday, the children really enjoyed the visit from the petting zoo. There were lots of different animals including a snake and a spider. The children carefully held the animals and we talked about how we look after God’s wonderful animals.

In RE, we learnt all about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost. We know Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our friend and look after us. We made a fire headband and danced to the Holy Spirit song. The children enjoyed the song which I have uploaded below if you want to sing it at home.

On Wednesday, we planted seeds. We sung a song to help us to remember how to plant a seed. We need to water them everyday and hopefully our beans will start to grow.

New Phonics sounds: ur, ow

New tricky words: come, do

Thursday 18^th April

We have had a busy week back in school. We enjoyed listening to the children’s Easter news in key worker time on Monday. We read the story ‘Stanley’s Stick.’ In the story, Stanley has a special stick which turns into lots of different things. We used our imagination and thought of lots of other things we could turn the stick into. The children drew a picture and wrote a fantastic sentence about it. In Phonics, we revisited all the sounds and tricky words we already know. We will be learning new sounds next week.

In RE, we have been learning about Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. We know Jesus went to heaven to be with his father. We talked about heaven and imagined what it might be like. The children drew some fantastic pictures of heaven. We went on a walk, looked at the clouds and thought about what we wonder about. Tomorrow, we are going to go to church and look at the Tabernacle.

In Maths, we have been concentrating on counting. We played lots of different counting games in our coloured teams. We know we can count things which can and can’t be seen. We also revisited our learning about odd and even numbers. The children have a homework activity in their book bag which focusses on odd and even.

On Wednesday, we went outside and talked about Spring. We used our senses to think about what we would see, hear and feel outside. We also talked about Eid and had a little Eid celebration. The children coloured a prayer mat and enjoyed dressing up.

Thursday 14th March 

This week in school, we have been celebrating British Science Week. We have been learning all about Mary Anning who was a palaeontologist. We learnt all about fossils, went on a fossil hunt, drew fossils and made a fossil out of salt dough. Tomorrow, we are going to take part in a Science Roadshow in the hall. 

The children enjoyed designing their rockets which we have begun to make. The children had to think about how to attach all the parts onto their rocket. We will be finishing our rockets next week and then the children will be able to take them home.  

In Literacy, we have been learning about non-fiction texts. We learnt lots of facts about Space and made a fact file. In Maths, we have been learning about doubles. We played lots of games to understand how to double a number. We know when we double a number the numbers are equal. 

In RE, we have been learning about when Jesus went to Jerusalem on a donkey. We made palm leaves and shouted “Hosanna!” as children pretended to be Jesus entering Jerusalem.  

In Phonics, we have learnt 2 new sounds and tricky words. 

Sounds: oo (long) – moon, food, soon, oo (short) – book, look, good 

Tricky words: said, when 

Thursday 7^th March

The children really enjoyed celebrating world book day today. They looked amazing in their costumes and had a fantastic time reading in our reading café in the hall. We read lots of stories throughout the day and used our imagination to make up stories too. Please see some photographs below of the children.

We have started learning all about Space. We painted a huge box and made it into a space station. The children enjoyed painting and drawing pictures to stick onto the box. We made aliens and wrote a caption or sentence about our alien.

In RE, we have been learning about the story The Good Samaritan. We know during Lent we grow in love for others and the Samaritan helped the man. We retold the story and decorated a heart. We sat in a circle and shared how we can be loving in school and at home.

In Maths, we have been comparing numbers. We have also been focussing on numbers from 11 to 20. The extra Maths homework this week, which your child will take home tomorrow, is focussed on numbers 11-20.

In Phonics, we have learnt two new sounds and two new tricky words.

New sounds: igh, oa

New tricky words: are, like

Please see photographs below of our learning from the past few weeks and World Book Day.

Thursday 29^th February

This week, we have been learning about shapes in Maths. We learnt 2D and 3D shapes. We sorted shapes, drew shape pictures, went on a shape hunt and completed a 3D shape experiment. We made a ramp and found out if the shapes can stack, roll or slide and talked about why. Your child will bring home some 2D shape activities tomorrow to complete at home.

In RE, we have continued our learning about Lent. We planted a seed to remember we grow in love for Jesus during Lent. We are going to water it everyday and hopefully it will start to grow soon. We have been talking about how Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights alone in the desert. We thought of I wonder questions about how Jesus felt, where he might have slept and what he might have seen in the desert. The children thought about the story and made a fantastic picture of a cactus in the desert. The children enjoyed singing a song called ’40 days’ which I have uploaded below.

The year 6 children came into our class this morning and led a collective worship, all about the Bible story The Good Samaritan.

We have continued our learning about Africa and learnt lots of new facts. The children changed the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ and chose a different fruit to put in Handa’s basket and a different animal to steal the fruit. The children orally retold their story. We also completed an observational drawing of a piece of fruit and finished making our African animals out of paper plates for a wonderful display.

In Phonics, we have learnt some new sounds and tricky words. Your child has a Phase 3 tricky word bookmark in their bag.

Sounds: ai, ee

Tricky words: her, all

What a busy week! We are looking forward to dressing up for World Book Day next Thursday and another fun week in school.

Thursday 22^nd February

We have had a busy week in school. We started our topic learning all about Africa. We looked at lots of pictures and compared Africa to where we live. We enjoyed playing in our new Africa role play area and looking at lots of animals in books. We have been reading the story Handa’s Surprise. In the story, Handa was carrying a basket of fruit on her head and lots of animals stole the fruit without her knowing. We went in the hall and retold the story using actions. The children drew a piece of fruit in Handa’s basket and wrote about it. The children are making fantastic progress with their writing.

In Maths, we have been learning one more and one less. We played lots of games to understand one more and one less. At home, give your child a number and see if they can tell you one more and one less. They can use objects to help and either add one or take one away.

In RE, we have been learning all about Lent. The children helped to change our class worship table to purple. We made a huge tree for our display board and made a Lenten promise. We also learnt about Ash Wednesday. Everyday during Lent, we are going to choose one child to say a prayer about something we are grateful for.

In Phonics, we revisited all the sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far.

Thursday 8^th February

We have had a fantastic final week of the half term. We enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year. The children worked together to make a Chinese New Year role play area. We completed lots of fun activities such as dancing, making paper chains, fans and dragons. We learnt the story ‘The Great Race’ and retold it using actions in groups.

On Monday morning, we received a letter from the farmer in our story, asking us to make a map. He was relieved Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len didn’t manage to take the cow. He decided he wanted to let people visit the animals so asked us to send him a huge map of the farm. We worked as a team to cut out pictures of animals for the map and label them. We sent a picture of our map to the farmer.

Yesterday afternoon, we completed a road traffic survey. We learnt how to make a tally chart. We talked about which types of vehicles we saw the most of and which we saw the least. Ask your child what they saw! 

In RE, we learnt that Jesus wants us to help the poor and look after everyone. We have a pretend class pet rabbit who the children named 'Elsie'. We made her a shelter, food and water. We played with her throughout the day to make her feel loved and cared for. We know we have to look after other people, just like we do with our class pet. We talked about giving food to the food bank and helping children and families who are not as fortunate as we are.

New Phonics sounds: th, ng

New tricky words: you, they

Please see the photographs below of our fantastic week in school. Happy half term! 

Thursday 1^st February

This week, we enjoyed listening to the story ‘What the Ladybird Heard.’ We labelled pictures and some children wrote captions. We have been learning about using finger spaces when writing a caption or sentence.

In Maths, we sung the song ‘5 little men on a flying saucer.’ The link to the song is below. We performed the song using our fingers. We then used a dice frame to represent 5, 6 and 7. We know we need 2 dice frames to show 6 and 7. We talked about more and less and played turn taking games.

In PSHE, we have been learning about rules. The children were very cheeky and broke some of our rules. We talked about why we have rules at home and in school. We followed the rules and played board games. Have a go at playing some board games with your child at home too.

In RE, we continued our learning about the story ‘Feeding the 5000.’ We talked about how Jesus helps and cares for us all and wants us to help others. We played parachute games in the hall and made sure everyone felt cared for and included, just like Jesus does. We painted pictures of people who care for us and made a huge class umbrella.

In Phonics, we have been learning some new sounds and tricky words.

New Phonics sounds: qu, ch, sh

Tricky words: was, my

Thursday 25^th January

We have had another busy week in school with lots of exciting learning. The children enjoyed moving in different ways on their hands and feet in PE. They moved around the hall like different animals and performed the movements in groups. Please see the photographs below of our recent learning in PE.

In RE, we have been learning the Bible story ‘Jesus feeds the 5000.’ We painted a pattern on a fish using celery and weaved paper, just like on a loaf of bread. In the story, Jesus performs a miracle and gives the people bread and fish.

On Monday, we read the story ‘In every house on every street.’ The children enjoyed talking about the different rooms in their houses and what they do in each room. We talked about the kitchen and making food. We followed a recipe and made delicious Rice Krispie cakes. The children then worked together to write an ingredients list and the instructions for the recipe.

In Maths, we have continued our learning about 5. We enjoyed listening to the song ‘5 speckled frogs.’ We talked about one more and one less. We also made different amounts on our fingers to 10.   

In Phonics, we have been consolidating our learning of the sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far this half term. We know that the digraph ‘zz’ comes at the end of a word. We have enjoyed playing lots of games in our Phonics area. Please make sure you read with your child every night at home.

Tomorrow, we are going to be learning about school now and in the past. We will be working hard to make a video of our school which I will post for you all to watch.

Thursday 18^th January

We were very excited to see it had snowed this week. We talked about the season Winter and painted our window. Some of the children made some snowflakes too.

We continued our learning about Mr Gumpy. The children drew their own animal to go in Mr Gumpy’s boat and wrote some words or a caption about it. The children tried really hard and wrote some fantastic words.

In Phonics, we have been working hard to learning lots of new sounds and tricky words.

These are the sounds and tricky words we learnt last week and this week.

Sounds: j, v, w, x, y, z

Tricky words: we, he, she, me, be

In Maths, we helped to put the Numberblocks back in order. They got all mixed up and needed our help. Some of the Numberblocks ran away and we had to work out which ones went missing. We compared the Numberblocks from 1-5 and we know we add 1 more every time. We played some games, focussing on one more.

We had lots of fun playing with the Bee-Bots this week. We learnt about the directions forward, backwards, left and right. We know how to turn a Bee-bot on a make it move. We followed the pictures and programmed the Bee-Bot to move. The children also enjoyed playing on the Bee-Bot App on the Ipads. This learning linked to our learning about Maps. The children drew their own Map and told us how to get to different places on their map.

In RE, we have been learning about Jesus. We know Jesus welcomes all of us. We talked about the special places in school where we can speak to Jesus. The children worked together to improve our worship area. They asked to add some cushions, pictures and flowers. We learnt the story about when Jesus welcomed the little children and blessed them.  

Thursday 11^th January

Happy New Year! We have had a fantastic week back in school together. The children enjoyed sharing news in Key Worker groups. 

In RE, we learnt that the Wise Men travelled to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus and they gave him gifts. We know they followed a star and rode on camels. The Wise Men were very kind giving the gifts to Jesus. We talked about all the ways we are kind to our friends and family and made a big star. We also talked about the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh and made a present to give to someone special. We also learnt the Glory Be prayer. There is a video below of the Glory Be prayer and the story of the three Wise Men visiting Jesus. 

Our core story this week is called ‘I wonder why…’ We had lots of fantastic discussions about what the children wonder about. In Literacy, we have begun our learning about the story ‘Mr Gumpy’s Outing.’ It is a funny story where Mr Gumpy goes on a boat down the river and lets lots of animals and children join him. Suddenly, everyone falls out of the boat into the river. The children enjoyed retelling the story and made a story telling area in the classroom for Mr Gumpy.

The children have been amazing in Maths this week. We have had lots of fun playing subitisng games and moving counters on a number line. The children enjoyed taking a ‘picture’ in their mind of the arrangement of dots and then remembering where they all go. We played games on the interactive whiteboard. At the start of every Maths lesson, we say our number bonds to 5 using our fingers. These are:

5 + 0 = 5

4 + 1 = 5

3 + 2 = 5

2 + 3 = 5

1 + 4 = 5

0 + 5 = 5

See if your child can say the number bonds to 5 to you at home.

In topic, we have begun learning about maps. We looked at lots of different maps including a map of Longridge, Google Maps, tube maps, map of a zoo, London map. The children drew fantastic maps and made a huge map of Longridge as a team on the carpet. It would be great if you could show your child Google Maps and see if they can spot the roads, fields, ponds, houses, churches, schools etc. 

Thursday 14th December

In RE, we learnt the next part of the Nativity story when the shepherds were visited by an Angel and told the good news that baby Jesus was born. The shepherds then went to see baby Jesus in the stable. We enjoyed making a sheep and retelling the story.

In Maths this week, we have been focussing on shape, space and measure. We made repeating patterns in lots of different ways. In exploring time, some children chose to make a repeating pattern with cubes or colour a pattern.

In PE, we had lots of fun performing different rolls. We learnt how to egg roll, pencil roll and rock and roll. The children all performed a short routine to each other.

In DT, we have started making Gingerbread Man houses. On Wednesday morning, we came into school and found Elfie in our house in the role play area. He was sitting in the bath. He left us a note to say his friend the Gingerbread Man was feeling sad as he didn’t have a house. We looked at pictures of houses, designed our house and we have started to make them.

In Phonics, we have been consolidating all our learning from this half term.

We are looking forward to performing our Nativity show this afternoon!

Thursday 7^th December

In RE, we have been learning all about the birth of baby Jesus. We have a manger in class and used role play and pretended to be Mary and Joseph. The children know Mary gave birth to baby Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem and laid baby Jesus in a manger. We enjoyed singing the song ‘Away in a Manger’ and learnt some actions. We also watched a short video called ‘Room for a little one’ all about the Nativity story.

We have a naughty Elf in our class called Elfie. On Monday, we came to school and found he had left us some letters to write to Santa and a huge envelope to put them in. He also left us a story called ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’ which we have enjoyed reading. The children wrote fantastic letters to Santa and I posted the letters last night. We are hoping Santa replies soon.

In Phonics, we learnt 2 new sounds. These are: ll and ss. These are digraphs and come at the end of words for example, bell, tell, mess, less.

We have continued to learn the 6 tricky words: I, no, to, go the and into.

This week in school is assessment week. We have been seeing all the wonderful things the children have learnt since September. The children have really impressed us with all their learning and we are very proud of them all. We are looking forward to the school fair tomorrow after school.

Thursday 30^th November

In RE, we have been learning all about Advent. We know Advent is a time for waiting. We all coloured a circle and made a path for Mary and Joseph to travel on to Bethlehem. Every day during Advent, we will move Mary and Joseph along and say a prayer. We also made a class Advent wreath and talked about the different coloured candles. 

On Wednesday, we went on a very exciting trip to the pantomime. We had an amazing morning and the children really enjoyed the show Little Red Riding Hood. On Tuesday in PE, we had took part in a yoga session. The children enjoyed learning breathing and relaxation techniques and lots of different animal poses. Please see the photographs below. In Maths, we dipped pom poms into paint and made patterns. We talked about the different ways we made patterns using 5. We also made patterns using cubes. 

In Phonics, we learnt 3 new sounds and another tricky word.

New Sounds: f, ff and ll. We know ff and ll come at the end of words.

New tricky word: into

We have now learnt the first 6 tricky words. These are: I, no, go, to, the, into. Your child has a tricky word bookmark in their book bag with them all on. Please help your child to learn these tricky words at home. See if your child can spot them in their reading books too.

Thursday 23^rd November

We have enjoyed learning all about people who help us this week. The children helped to changed our role play area. They decided to add a doctors, vets, hairdressers and farm. The children also asked for a post box to pretend to be postmen. We enjoyed lots of role play activities and talked about how the different people help us.

In RE, we learnt the next part of the Nativity story when Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem. We made a donkey and the children drew a picture using oil pastels to make a big collage of Bethlehem. We used role play and retold the story. The children made the long and dusty road to Bethlehem using the large wooden blocks. 

In Literacy, the children were amazing at retelling the story ‘The Gingerbread Man.’ See if they can orally retell the story to you at home. In Phonics, we have learnt 3 new sounds.

New sounds: r, h, b

Tricky words: no, go

In PE, we focussed on climbing up equipment safely. The children pretended to be Jack climbing up the beanstalk and climbed on the climbing frame safely. They also climbed up onto apparatus and safely jumped off.

In Maths, our focus this week was learning how lots of parts make up one whole. We cut shapes into parts and put them back together again like a jigsaw. We used Mr Potato head to learn how all his body parts needed to be put back together to make one whole. We also know numbers can be broken up and added together to make a whole.

Thursday 16^th November

We have had another fantastic week in school with lots of new learning. We started our week by making gingerbread, The children helped to measure the ingredients and followed the recipe. They rolled the dough and cut a gingerbread man. We put them in the oven and enjoyed eating them in the afternoon whilst watching the story on the board.

In Literacy, we found some gingerbread men with pictures on. We had to write the words on a whiteboard. We left our work for the gingerbread man to see and he wrote us a note to tell us he was very happy with our writing. In Phonics, we have learnt 3 new sounds and some more tricky words.

New sounds: ck, e, u

Tricky words: I to

In Maths, we have been learning about more than, fewer than and equal to. We played a game called ‘who has more?’ We played lots of games where we compared amounts and explained our reasoning.

In RE, we started to learn the Nativity story. We started with the Annunciation. This is when Angel Gabriel went to visit Mary to tell her she was going to have a baby. We know the baby was going to be called Jesus. We also know that Mary said ‘yes’ to God and agreed to have the baby. We enjoyed making angels and whole class angel wings. We thought about how Mary felt and wrote a message to Mary on the angel wings. We also used role play masks to pretend to be Mary and Angel Gabriel and retold the part of the story.

Thursday 9^th November

In Phonics, we have been learning 3 new sounds. These are: o, c and k. We have also learnt our first tricky word: the. This is a word that the children can’t use their Phonics to say the sounds, they just have to read it by sight.

In Maths, we sang the song ‘5 little peas’. We used our hands to say and make 5. We played a game where we rolled the dice and added the correct number of toppings onto the pizza and grouped objects and made marks on a whiteboard to show the amount.

On Tuesday, the children were very surprised somebody had been in our classroom. Chairs were on the floor and someone had made a big mess. After lots of searching and thinking, the children decided it must have been the evil pea. They made wanted posters and stuck them around school and kept an eye out for evil pea in our classroom.

We continued our learning about keeping healthy and the children enjoyed making fruit kebabs. See the photographs of the activity below. They carefully cut and peeled the fruit and stuck them onto cocktail sticks. The children know lots of ways of being healthy.

In RE, we learnt the story ‘Jonah and the big whale’. The children sequenced the story in groups and coloured a picture of Jonah and the Whale. Tomorrow, we will be talking about Remembrance Day and decorating a poppy. We will also be celebrating Diwali which is on Sunday.

Thursday 2nd November

We have had a great first week back after half term. The children enjoyed telling us all about the exciting things they did over half term during key worker time. We completed lots of spooky activities in our classroom this week including pinching the spiders and sitting them on the masking tape. 

In Literacy, we read the story Supertato and the children enjoyed making their own Supertato. They used cellotape, masking tape and glue independently to stick different materials onto their potato. We also made lots of different words using letters with the sounds we have learnt in Phonics. The children enjoyed playing with our pebbles and phoneme frames to make words during exploring time. 

The sounds we have learnt so far in Phonics are: s a t p i n m d g 

We have started our number of the day learning. We have been focussing on number 1. We sang a number of the day song and used the interactive whiteboard game to learn all about the number 1. The rhyme to help us write the number is 'go straight down and that is all.' We have also been learning about 'more than' in Maths. We compared different amounts and played a game with our marvellous maths partners. 

We have begun our learning about Music and set up a new Music area outside. We have also been learning about democracy in PSHE. Tomorrow morning, we will be taking part in a collective worship all about our gospel value humility. 

We had lots of fun in our PE lesson. We read the story Jack and the Beanstalk and retold the story for our warm up. We then pretended to be Jack, the giant and the cow. The children moved in different ways around the hall. We then completed 5 station activities. The children's favourite was throwing the bean bags (magic beans) through the climbing frame, pretending to be Jack's mother. 

Thursday 19^th October

We have come to the end of our first half term in school together. We are incredibly proud of all the children and how well they have settled into school. We have had a fantastic half term and we are looking forward to seeing the children for our next half term together. Thank you for coming to our showcase of learning. The children enjoyed celebrating their fantastic learning with you all.

This week, we learnt how to overarm throw in PE. The children threw bean bags as far as they could and then aimed into hoops. We also enjoyed throwing and catching with a partner. Have a go at doing some overarm and underarm throwing with your child at home. We got the big balls out and bounced them on the ground and caught them. The children enjoyed playing catching games with their friends.

In RE, we have been learning about Baptism. We used role play and pretended to Baptise a baby. We enjoyed looking at photographs of some of the children getting Baptised in church. We also visited our school church. We looked carefully at different parts of the church and talked about what we could see.

We also compared ourselves now and as a baby. We talked about the similarities and differences and drew a picture of ourselves when we were younger. We looked at the baby pictures and guessed who the picture was. We enjoyed learning about the seasons and completing lots of activities about Autumn.

In Maths, we learnt about number 4. We made Numberblocks and found different ways of making 4. We played a dice game where we had to make the pattern on the dice. In Phonics, we learnt sounds m, d and g.

What a busy week! Have a wonderful half term!

Thursday 12^th October

This week, we enjoyed throwing and catching in PE. We played a game called roll ball where the children hat to hit the cones in their house point teams. The children are fantastic at getting changed for PE.

In Phonics, we continued learning the sounds p, i and n. Go on a hunt around your house and see what you can find beginning with the sounds. We enjoyed reading the story The Hug and we retold the story in groups. We learnt different actions for different words in the story. We have also been learning the nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of York. See the link below for the song. 

In Maths, we have been learning about the composition of numbers. We talked about making 2 using 1 and 1. We watched a Numberblocks video and talked about what we have 2 of on our bodies. We also found different ways of making 3. We read the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears and gave each bear the same item. We know 1 and 1 and 1 makes 3. 

In RE, we listened to a story called Somebody Swallowed Stanley. Stanley is a plastic bag and lots of sea creatures eat him. We talked about caring for God’s world and putting rubbish in the bin. The children enjoyed leaf rubbing and making bubbles and told us what they wonder about God's wonderful world.  In collective worship, we listened to the story Noah’s Ark from the Bible. The children enjoyed playing with our Ark during exploring time.

We drew a self portrait and painted a portrait too. We talked about mixing paint to make the colour lighter or darker The children looked in mirrors to help them. We look forward to showing you the portraits on Wednesday at our showcase of learning.

Thursday 5^th October

We have had another fantastic week in school filled with lots of fun and learning. In PE, we learnt how to under arm throw. We enjoyed rolling a ball to a friend and throwing bean bags into hoops.

In RE, we talked about how we can look after God’s creation. We went for a walk in our school grounds and talked about how we can look after the world. We drew around our hands and talked about how we can use our hands to care for the world. We stuck them around our big painting of the world.

We continued our learning about Owl Babies. We talked about woodland creatures and made a fact file. We read a non-fiction book in core story time and learnt lots of facts about Owls. Ask your child to tell you a fact they have learnt.

In key worker time, we used our listening ears and played a game called ‘don’t wake grandma.’ The children had to listen carefully and when they heard the keys they pointed to where the noise came from. Yesterday, we talked about members of school and our church community. We looked at pictures and drew a picture of someone in our community.

In Maths, we have been doing lots of counting and one to one correspondence. We lined objects up to count them accurately. The children enjoyed meeting our Marvellous Maths Monkey who helped us with our counting. 

In Phonics, we learnt 3 new sounds: p, i and n. We learnt the rhymes for forming the letters, played lots of blending games and even wrote some cvc words. Try writing these words with your child at home: sat, pin, tip.

Wednesday 4th September 

In RE, we changed the lyrics to the song 'He's got the whole world in his hands.' Ask your child to sing it to you using the image below. 

Thursday 28th September

We have had another busy week in school. We enjoyed reading the story funny bones. We played with the skeletons in the reading area and used the pictures to retell the story. We also started learning all about the story Owl Babies. We read the story Owl Babies and retold the story using props. We used actions to learn some key words from the story. We also enjoyed singing a song all about owls.

We enjoyed using lots of different materials to make things in the creative area. We learnt how to use the cellotape to stick cardboard and plastic together. Some children made cars, binoculars and a house. We talked to the children about choosing something to make before starting. Tomorrow, we are going to be making owls and doing lots of owl crafts.

In Phonics, we have continued to learn sounds s. a and t. We enjoyed writing the letters on whiteboards.

We talked about our families in key worker time and drew a picture of all the people who live in our house. The children used a pencil to carefully draw the outline of the people in their family. We really enjoyed listening to the children tell us all about their special families in key worker time.

In RE, we continued our learning about creation. We know we have a special book called the Bible which we keep on our worship table. We lit the candle and took part in a worship. We talked about what we wonder about God’s creation. During exploring time, some children drew a picture for a thank you prayer and shared them with the class. We have a special floor book where we keep all our learning in and children enjoyed drawing pictures of something God created and stuck it in our book.

In Maths, we played lots of games for subitising numbers 1 to 3. We looked at different sets of dots and described the different patterns. We played a matching game with large squares and 3 pom poms and talked about the patterns.

Thursday 21^st September

The children enjoyed using the white boards and pens to write their names in the morning. The children know our morning routine and put all their belongings away by themselves.

In PE, we focussed on jumping. We learnt how to jump for distance and enjoyed doing lots of activities in our house point teams. Ask your child to show you their jumping at home. We read The Gruffalo story and the children enjoyed retelling the story in our reading area using the props.

In Phonics, we have learnt three sounds. These are: s, a and t. We found lots of objects beginning with these sounds, sorted objects and learnt how to form the letters. Your child has the sound cards in their book bag. Please help your child to learn the sound and write the letter at home. We will give more information about this at the reading and phonics meeting next week.

In Maths, we focussed on matching and sorting. We enjoyed listening to the story A pair of socks by Stuart Murphy. We paired some socks and completed a cutting activity during exploring time where the children had to match the socks to make a pair.

We have also been learning all about the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. We made faces out of fruit. We used our cutting skills to cut different fruit out and stick them down to make a face. We used mirrors to look at our different features on our face.

Thursday 14^th September

We have had another fantastic week in school. We looked in our talking basket and found lots of things related to our Marvellous Me topic. We found a face, mirror, house, people and lots of things to talk about. We went on a walk around school and used our listening ears and talked about all the different noises we could hear. The children enjoyed finding their sibling’s classrooms, the school office and lots of other places. We enjoyed making faces out of playdough, writing about how we are feeling and making a ‘name train.’

On Monday, we had our first PE lesson. I can’t believe how amazing the children were! They met Bobby the bear who showed the children how to get changed for PE. In the hall, we travelled in different ways and jumped in hoops and over cones. We played a car game and pretended to go on a journey to the beach. I can’t wait for our next PE lesson on Monday.

On Tuesday, we had a visit from the life education bus. Katie talked to us all about how to look after our bodies. We also enjoyed meeting Harold the giraffe who told us all about how he keeps healthy. The children enjoyed watching him brushing his teeth and having a wash.  

In RE, we have begun to learn a special song called ‘God loves me.’ The link is below if you would like to sing it at home with your child. We also learnt how to do the sign of the cross. The children decorated a cross. We have a very special worship table in our classroom. We say prayer every morning, before lunch and at the end of the day. We have started to learn our special prayers together.

In Maths, we sung 5 current buns and read the story Ten Little Dinosaurs. We counted and recognised numbers to 10. I was very impressed with the children’s fantastic counting. We also enjoyed learning a dinosaur counting song, ready to sing to you at our showcase of learning at the end of the half term.

We introduced house points and the children now have a special carpet place. The children have earnt lots of house points for their teams and we look forward to counting them all tomorrow.

Please see below some photographs of our learning from our first 2 weeks in school.

Friday 8th September - Our first week in school

We have had an amazing first week with the children. We have really enjoyed getting to know all the children and seeing them making lots of new friends. 

We have had lots of fun playing matching games and learning number songs. We enjoyed singing the nursery rhyme '1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once I caught a fish alive' and a dinosaur counting song. In Phonics, we played lots of fun listening games. We enjoyed listening to the story called The Colour Monster. 

We have learnt our new class routine. We know where to put all our belongings and played a fun game to find our names. In circle time, we snag a song to introduce ourselves and our names to our friends. The song is below. We made lots of marks in our writing area and some children chose to paint on our easel. The children also enjoyed showing their friends all the exciting things from home in their chatter bags. 

Welcome to Reception

Class of 2023-24

This page will be updated at the end of every week with photographs and lots of information about our learning. 

We can't wait for the year ahead. 

Thursday 13^th July

I can’t believe we only have one week left until the summer holidays. We have had a year full of laughter, fun, smiles and made so many memories together. The children have had an amazing first year in school and I am incredibly proud of them all.

This week, we have been learning about the seaside now and in the past. We were given a special box with lots of items from the past including a bucket and spade, penny lick, clothes children used to wear in the sea and lots of pictures. We played a sorting game and sorted all the objects into now and in the past. We also enjoyed singing the song ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside.’

The children have thoroughly enjoyed playing with our puppet theatre. Yesterday, the children were very excited to find real Punch and Judy puppets. The children worked in groups and performed lots of funny shows. Lots of the shows involved the crocodile stealing the long sausages! We listed to the story The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch and answered lots of questions in core story time.

In Maths, we used our problem-solving skills to build bridges. We worked in groups to build the longest and strongest bridges. We measured the length and strength of the bridges using bean bags. The children worked well as a team and used fantastic problem-solving skills. We have been talking about animals and their babies. We played a matching game and matched the animals.

Tomorrow, it is Pirate day! The children have enjoyed helping to make a fantastic Pirate area in our classroom. They decided to bring the large wooden blocks inside and made a boat. They also drew a treasure map and pretended to be pirates. We can’t wait for our Pirate Day tomorrow.

Thursday 6^th July

We have had another busy week in school. As part of our Phonics this week, we have played lots of games to see all the sounds and tricky words the children know. We were blown away with how well they did! I am very proud of all the children.

In Literacy, we made a puppet theatre. The children chose to use blue paint to decorate the box. We cut out the front and some children helped to stick the sides together to make it stand up on the table. Yesterday, we made puppets and performed shows to our friends. The children have enjoyed playing with our puppets too. This morning, we talked about Punch and Judy and watched a Punch and Judy show during carpet time. 

We have been learning all about the  different seasons. We learnt a song about summer, made ice lollies and we treated the children to an ice cream. The children enjoyed pretending to come to the ice cream shop and buy their ice cream with pretend money. They were challenged to say whether the cost of their ice cream was an odd or even number. We sat together to eat our ice cream and enjoyed listening to a story.

This afternoon, the children took part in the races for Sports Day. They were fantastic! It was great to see all the children taking part and enjoying the fun races. Thank you to you all for your support and cheering the children on. 

Thursday 29^th June

I can’t believe we are nearly at the end of June. The children have had a fantastic week, full of lots of new learning. We have had lots of friends join us in class this week. Danny the Dinosaur joined us for Phonics and kept spelling words wrong. The children worked hard and corrected him. They decided to let him sleep in our classroom and some children made him chocolate in the creative area for his breakfast! The children have enjoyed having Danny in our class and wrote him lots of sentences and drew him pictures.

We also had a visit from Bod and Stephen. Bod is odd and Stephen is even. They were very naughty and threw numbers all over the classroom. The children worked very hard to sort them into odd and even numbers. I have made a video of the children singing the song and attached it below. Ask your child to sing the song at home and help them to learn the odd and even numbers. Here are the lyrics to the song…

I’m a number cruncher and my name is Stephen,

I like numbers if they’re even!

0 2 4 6 8

I’m a number cruncher and my name is Bod,

I like numbers if they’re odd!

1 3 5 7 9

On Monday, when we came into school, the children were very excited to see we had 4 butterflies in our net. We mixed sugar and water and put it into the net for the butterflies. After lunch, we went into our eco garden and set the butterflies free. The children have really enjoyed learning about life cycles. During core story time, we read a story all about the life cycle of a frog. The children also enjoyed watching a video all about the life cycle and some children even chose to make a frog in the creative area.

We have enjoyed talking about Summer. The children packed a suitcase and chose what to put inside. They labelled all the things in their suitcase. We set up an ice cream parlour outside and the children have spent lots of time pretending to buy and sell ice creams.

Have a look at the photographs below of our learning from the past few weeks.

Thursday 22^nd June

In PE this week, we enjoyed using tennis rackets to guide the balls around cones. We also used the rackets to push balls to our friends and through cones. The children showed fantastic control and really enjoyed the fun games. Our class caterpillars have turned into chrysalides. They are currently hanging from the lid and we have put them into our large net. The children are very excited to watch them turn into butterflies. We continued our learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. The children coloured a butterfly and drew the life cycle inside.

In Maths, we have been learning all about grouping and sharing. The children enjoyed sharing and grouping animals into equal amounts. This morning, we learnt about odd and even numbers. We sorted the Numicon into odd and even numbers and matched them to the amount.

Thursday 15^th June

We have had another hot and sunny week in school. In PE on Monday, we focussed on doing the crab walk. We learnt how to do the crab and held it for 5 seconds. We then completed 5 different stations with fun activities. In Maths, we have been learning all about doubling. We sang a fun doubling song and tried to learn the doubles off by heart. The video link is below.

We continued our learning about under the sea. We used celery to print patterns on a fish and wrote sentences all about our favourite sea creatures. The children really enjoyed watching a video with lots of sea creatures. They particularly liked looking at the turtles. We have our very own caterpillars in class. The children have enjoyed seeing them grow over the past few days. We learnt about the life cycle of a butterfly and tomorrow we will be painting butterflies. 

In Phonics, we have moved onto Phase 4. There are no new sounds introduced in Phase 4. I have attached a document below with the Phonics Sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far.

Thursday 8^th June

We have had a fantastic first week back in school. In our key worker groups, the children told us all about what they did over half term. The children enjoyed looking at pictures from my wedding day and they asked lots of questions about my wedding! They enjoyed eating some chocolates from the day too!  

As part of Environment Day, we read the story ‘Somebody Swallowed Stanley.’ The story is all about a discarded plastic carrier bag, who is swept into the sea. As he drifts through the ocean waves, he is mistaken for a jellyfish and swallowed by a series of unsuspecting animals. We talked all about pollution and how we can look after the earth. We went litter picking and for a nature walk. We chopped up petals and used a pestle and mortar to make some perfume. We also used different flowers and things we found on the nature walk to create nature art. We talked about how we can care for the environment and made a promise. The children enjoyed learning an environment song. The video for the song is below.  

The children worked hard in Maths this week, focussing on addition. They enjoyed playing our alien addition game and solving tricky sums. In phonics, we have been revisiting all the sounds we have learnt so far.

New tricky word: little

Thursday 25^th May

On Tuesday, the children worked hard to write their invitation for our picnic. We hope you liked it. Thank you to you for joining us for our Teddy Bear’s Picnic yesterday. The sun was shining, and the children really enjoyed eating their lunch with you all. Well done for finding the name of the bear too!

The children enjoyed telling their friends all about their favourite bear in circle time. We have also been busy drawing pictures of flowers. We looked at the detail in the flowers and carefully drew them. We then used water colours to paint them.

We have been enjoying lots of time outside in the sun. The children asked to paint stones they found and made bubbles. They have been enjoying playing in our outdoor small world area and some children made a fire and pretended to toast marshmallows, just like on our class trip!

This week in Phonics, we have been consolidating our learning from this half term.

Have a wonderful half term! 

Wednesday 17^th May

Yesterday, we went on our class trip to WildWood Days. We all an amazing day! The children loved playing on the rope swing, bike, climbing post, mud kitchen and music area. We found lots of mini-beasts and looked at all the nature. We toasted marshmallows, made tree cookies, clay mini-beasts, built dens and fed the chickens. Look at the photographs below of our fantastic day!

Today, we wrote all about our trip to the woods. We have also been busy finding lots of different ways to sort mini-beasts. The children’s marvellous monkey task this week is to use the watercolours and paint their favourite mini-beast.

Phonics

New sound: er

Tricky words: there

Thursday 11^th May

The children really enjoyed our Coronation activities. We made crowns, sung the national anthem, made a throne and flags. The children even worked together to make a long paper chain for our classroom. This week, we became Marvellous Monkeys! At the beginning of every week, we will set out one or two challenges for the children to complete independently during exploring time. The children complete the activity on the monkey table in the classroom. Once the children have completed the challenge, they post it into the post box and move their picture. This week, the challenge was to draw a vegetable and write a sentence about it. We had some fantastic pictures and writing posted in the post box when we had a look this morning! The children have enjoyed being marvellous monkeys and completing the challenge.

On Tuesday, we wrote instructions for how to make vegetable soup. Yesterday, we went on a mini beast hunt. Ask your child what we found! We enjoyed singing the mini-beast song. Here is the link to song if your child wants to sing it at home:

If I Were A Minibeast - Makaton Signing with Singing Hands and Out of the Ark Music - YouTube

In PSHE, we have started to learn about money. We made a garden centre shop and pretended to buy some vegetables. In Maths, we learnt how to match shapes and patterns. We made a structure using cubes and challenged a friend to copy the pattern.

Phonics

New sounds: air, ure

Tricky Words: some

Thursday 4th May

Yesterday, the children really enjoyed making vegetable soup. They worked hard to peel, grate and chop all the vegetables. The children decided they wanted to blend the soup using the blender. It was absolutely delicious! We are looking forward to writing some instructions for how to make the soup.

Our bean plants have grown! The children watered them daily and every seed has grown. This morning, the children helped to re-plant the beans into our large planters outside. They were fascinated by the seed and the roots when we took them out of the soil. In RE, we continued our learning about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. In Maths, we have been exploring numbers to 20. We ordered numbers to 20 and made a number line. We were then sneaky kangaroos and hid a number or swapped some numbers around. The children then had to work out which numbers the kangaroo had changed on the number line. The children enjoyed this activity and asked to take it home for homework tomorrow! We also completed subtraction from 10 and 20.

Tomorrow, the children can come to school wearing red, white and blue for the coronation. We have lots of fun activities planned for the day, including our special coronation lunch. Due to the bank holiday on Monday next week, we are hoping to complete PE outside on Wednesday morning. Please make sure your child has their PE kit in school. 

Phonics - we revisited our previous learning this week. 

New Phonics sounds: ear, oi

New tricky words: so, were

Thursday 27th April

The children really enjoyed the walk to the Wetlands yesterday. Mr Small, Phil and Mike led the walk and told us lots of information about the Wetlands. They are all trustees of the Wetlands. We used binoculars and spotted lots of different birds, plants, flowers and mini-beasts. We also found a duck egg and a hole, dug by a fox. Have a look on the Grimsargh Wetlands page and ask your child to point to what they saw. Following our walk, we wrote a recount and made thank you cards for Mr Small, Phil and Mike. 

Explore by Season | Grimsargh Wetlands

We have also been learning all about plants. On Tuesday, we planted our own seeds. We sang a song to help us remember the steps for how to plant the seeds. We are keeping our pots on the windowsill and hopefully they will start to grow soon. The children have also been busy putting soil into our planters in our outdoor area. Over the next week we are going to plant some seeds in their too and hopefully they will grow. The children used 3d shapes to make repeating patterns. We also made numbers 11-20 with the Numicon and talked about the number patterns. In RE, we have started a new topic about good news. We pretended to be on television and shared our good news with our friends.

New Phonics sounds: ear, oi

New tricky words: so, were

Thursday 20th April 

We have had a fantastic week in school. The children enjoyed sharing news and telling us all about their half term. They particularly enjoyed eating lots of chocolate! We started our new topic by looking in our new talking basket. We found mini-beats, a butterfly and caterpillar, gardening tools, seeds, a watering can and lots more.

In Maths, we have been learning about 3D shapes. We went on a shape hunt in the classroom and outside and talked about the shapes we found. We also explored if the 3D shapes could roll, slide or stack. The children also enjoyed singing a number bond song. The song is below so you can sing it together at home.

In Literacy, we have been reading the story ‘Stanley’s Stick’. We went outside and found lots of sticks. We used our imagination and pretended to turn our stick into something exciting, just like Stanley did. Some children made wands, dinosaurs, stars, boats or even themselves! We are looking forward to writing about our sticks tomorrow.

New Phonics sounds: ow, ur

New Tricky words: come, do

Number Bond Song

The children have really enjoyed singing this song this week. Sing it together at home!

(to the tune row row row your boat)

9 and 1 are number bonds,

8 and 2 are friends,

7 and 3,

6 and 4,

5 and 5 are twins.

Row row row your boat,

Gently down the stream,

Don’t forget the other pair,

10 and 0…scream!

Thursday 30^th March

We are nearly at the end of another busy half term in school. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the parents who came to our Art Exhibition. I am sure you are all incredibly proud of the children’s work and we are very grateful for your continued support with your child’s learning. The children performed the songs beautifully and really enjoyed showing you all their work.

This week, the children have been busy learning lots of facts about space and making a fact file. We talked about non-fiction books and looked at lots of books about space. We enjoyed reading the story ‘Whatever Next’ and pretended to go to space in a cardboard box, just like the bear in the story. The children used their imagination and made their own stories.

The children have really enjoyed performing lots of songs on our stage outside. They have been working together to writing the lyrics during exploring time and then performed their songs to the class. Some children even decided to be the conductors and others played instruments alongside the children singing. It has been wonderful to see the amazing team work and smiles on the children’s faces as they perform to us. Yesterday, we enjoyed our Cricket session and we are looking forward to a Dodgeball session tomorrow. In RE, we have been learning the Easter story and attended whole school Mass in church this morning.

In Maths, we have been comparing amounts to 10. We counted to 20 and built a tower and compared the number of bricks in our towers. Some children made a number line to 10. We also enjoyed playing in the water tray where we had to find 2 pieces of Numicon which added together to make 10 in the water beads.

This week in Phonics, we consolidated our learning so far. In your child’s book bag, they have a grid with the phonics sounds we have learnt so far and all the tricky words.

Please see the photographs below of our busy week in school. I hope you have a fantastic Easter, and we look forward to seeing the children when we return.

Thursday 23^rd March

This week has been assessment week in school. We are incredibly proud of all the children in Reception class and the amazing progress they have made with their learning this year.

The children have started making their rockets. We looked at lots of different pictures of rockets and talked about the different parts. We drew a picture of our design and made it on the floor with the materials. We talked about how we will attach all the parts together and what we will use to decorate it. The children have started decorating their rockets today and will hopefully finish them tomorrow. The children are excited to show you their rockets at our Art Exhibition on Tuesday. Thank you for all the materials you sent into school for our rockets.

Phonics sounds: ar, or

Tricky words: have, one  

Thursday 16^th March

The children have enjoyed learning all about Space this week. We have started to learn a song all about going to Space in a rocket. We made aliens and wrote all about them. On Tuesday, the children were very surprised to find their aliens went missing. They made posters to stick around school and worked together to make a trap. In PE, we practised our under arm and over arm throwing. The children enjoyed trying to throw the bean bags through different parts of the climbing frame. Yesterday, we looked at the painting ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh. We looked closely at the colours and lines on the painting. We have started to make our own picture using different media. The children enjoyed experimenting with water colour paints and wax crayons on large pieces of paper.

In Maths, we have been representing and sorting numbers 9 and 10. We used a tens frame to represent the numbers. Some children made their own tens frame outside using sticks. We ordered numbers to 10 and talked about the composition of numbers 9 and 10.

In Phonics this week, we revisited the sounds and tricky words from last week.

Phonics sounds: oo as in ‘food’ and oo as in ‘book’

Tricky words: when, said

Thursday 9^th March

We have had a busy week in school. In PE, we practiced our throwing and catching. We enjoyed playing a target game where we had to hit the cones with beanbags. We enjoyed watching a video about a little girl who lives in Africa. We looked in her house and her school. We compared it to our own houses and school. We learned that she must walk to get water every day. We learnt all about life in Africa and sorted lots of pictures.

In Literacy, we have been focussing on full stops. We wrote sentences to label pictures. We spotted all the digraphs in our words too. We enjoyed listening to the story ‘Stuck’ by Oliver Jeffers which the children chose to buy on World Book Day from St Catherine’s Hospice. In Maths, we played lots of games to consolidate our learning about addition. We also learned about length. We ordered the children from shortest to the tallest and measured our feet. We also made play-dough snakes and compared the length of the snakes using shortest and longest. 

New Phonics sounds: oo as in ‘food’ and oo as in ‘book’

New Tricky words: when, said

Thursday 1st March

On Monday, we had a visitor come into school who showed us lots of different science experiments. We had to predict what was going to happen. Our favourite experiment was when we made a fizzy drink explode. It nearly touched the ceiling!

Yesterday, we had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day. The children looked amazing in their hats. We read the story Elmer and decorated our classroom door as Elmer. The children had the opportunity to buy a book, year 5 came and read our favourite stories to us, we made animal masks and went on a book treasure hunt outside.

In Maths, we continued to learn about addition. We played a game with dice and dominoes and wrote addition sums. We learned all about the numbers 18 and 19. In PE, the children enjoyed playing our star game. We learnt how to do an over arm and under arm throw. We enjoyed throwing lots of different equipment into hoops.  

We continued our learning about Africa. We talked about animals in Africa and made an animal out of a paper plate. We also performed some African dancing and made an African necklace. The children used cotton buds to decorate their necklaces.  

Please see the photographs below of our learning this week.

Thursday 23^rd February

Welcome back! We have had a fantastic week in school. We enjoyed listening to all the children’s news about half term during Key Worker time.

We have started our learning about our wonderful world – far away. We looked in our new talking basket to begin our topic. Inside the basket we found lots of different flags, the Eiffel Tower, a rocket, an astronaut, an aeroplane, and an Australian Hat. We enjoyed listening to the story ‘Handa’s Surprise.’ We retold the story using dance in the hall. We also wrote a list of all the different fruits in Handa’s basket.

In Maths, we played a matching pairs game and compared numbers 6, 7 and 8. We also learned how to combine two sets of objects together. In PE, the children found lots of different ways of being a star. They balanced using their hands and feet. We travelled along equipment and balanced on benches and boxes. The children jumped off and made a star shape. They enjoyed playing our catch a star game for the warm up too.

We also compared Longridge to Africa. We talked about Africa and looked at lots of pictures of houses and schools.

New Phonics Sounds: igh, oa

Tricky Words: are, like

Thursday 9^th February

Our final week of the half term has been very exciting. This week, we celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week. We took part in mindfulness activities, played a skittles feelings game, made friendship bracelets, wrote kind messages to our friends, sang songs with Miss Borgen and took part in a talent show. We enjoyed playing lots of turn taking games and completing jigsaws with our friends. We are looking forward to wearing something that makes us feel happy to school tomorrow. The children have been amazing this half term and made fantastic progress with their learning. We hope you all have a wonderful half term with your family! 

Phonics

Our Phonics Sounds: ai ee

Tricky Words: all, her

Thursday 2^nd February

This week, we have compared our school now and in the past. Tomorrow morning, we will be going for a walk to the old school house, down the back lane. We looked at photographs of school in the past and been on a tour of the school to compare the rooms. We also made a video of our school for new children to watch and find out about our wonderful school. In PE, the children learnt lots of different ways of travelling on their hands and feet. The children enjoyed listening to the story ‘What the ladybird heard.’ Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh used a map to try and steal the cow. Some children then chose to make a treasure map and we set up a pirate area outside. In Maths, our focus numbers this week are 16 and 17. We continued our learning about capacity. We also used the scales to measure the weight of different objects. We compared the objects using the language heavy and light. We also sorted numbers 6, 7, 8 and learned how to make each number using Numicon.

Phonics

This week in Phonics, we re-capped our learning from the past few weeks. Below are the sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far.

Our Phonics Sounds: s a t p i n m d g o c k ck e u r h b f ff l ll ss j v w x y z zz sh ch th ng qu

Tricky Words: I, no, to, go, into, the, you, they, was, my, be, he, she, we, me

Thursday 26^th January

This week, we have been celebrating Chinese New Year. We listened to the story about The Great Race, made dragons, danced, wrote our names in Chinese, decorated our classroom, and made a rabbit. The children also really enjoyed eating prawn crackers!

In Literacy, we have learnt the story 'Mr Gumpy’s Outing' off by heart. We worked together to think of lots of different actions for all the animals in the story. We innovated the story and added our own animal into Mr Gumpy’s boat. In Maths, our focus numbers are 14 and 15. The children enjoyed making the numbers using Numicon, writing the number and learning one more and one less than the number. We have also been learning about capacity. We enjoyed filling cups with different amounts of rice and comparing the amounts. 

In PE, the children turned into monkeys! They were challenged to climb under and over lots of different equipment. The children particularly enjoyed climbing under and over our climbing frame.

Phonics

New sounds: th, ng

Tricky Words: you, they

Thursday 19^th January

Yesterday, we had lots of fun playing in the snow. We wrapped up warm, put our wellies on and went outside. We found lots of signs of Winter. We wrote phonics sounds, our number of the day and our names in the snow. We played some Phonics games and even made a snowman!  The children named their snowman 'Snowy.' We then read a story all about animals that live in the Arctic. The children asked to make some iceburgs for our Arctic water tray. We put water in the freezer and waited for the water to turn into ice. We have also continued our learning about Longridge. The children painted a cardboard box and turned it into a building in Longridge. They also drew their own map of Longridge. In Maths, we have been writing addition sums to make 4 and 5.

Sounds we have learnt this week: qu, ch, sh

Tricky Words: my, was

Thursday 12th January 

We have had another busy week in school. Please see below some photographs of our learning this week. We begun our learning about Longridge. We know that our school is near Longridge. We looked at photographs of different parts of Longridge including the Library, Post Office, Aldi and High Schools. The children learned that there are lots of shops on Berry Lane and a long time ago there used to be a train station. We used the construction materials to make a large map of Longridge. 

Maths 

In Maths we have been focussing on one less. We played lots of games to help us understand one less. The children particularly enjoyed standing in a line and pretending to be on a bus, stopping and letting one person get off, then counting how many people were left on the bus. Ask your child at home to tell you one less than numbers to 10. You could play the bus game too! 

We have continued learning about a different number every day. We have been learning about numbers 11 and 12 this week. Write the number and ask your child to tell you what it is. 

Literacy and Phonics

The children enjoyed following a recipe to learn how to make Rice Krispie cakes. The children wrote instructions and enjoyed eating them on Wednesday. We invited 2 year 1 children into our class and taught them how to make the cakes. 

Sounds we have learnt this week: x, ,y, z, zz

Tricky words: we, me, be 

Thursday 5th January

Happy New Year to you all! We have really enjoyed seeing the children again and hearing all about the exciting things they have been doing over Christmas. The children enjoyed telling their friends all about their Christmas holidays in key worker time.

In Literacy, we read the story ‘In every house on every street.’ We talked about our own houses and what we use the different rooms for. We drew a picture of our favourite room and wrote some words about it. In Maths, we have been learning all about number 5. We used Numicon to find different ways of making 5. The children helped me to write addition sums and some children even wrote their own on a whiteboard. We made different shapes with 5 blocks and compared the different shapes. We also talked about one more and one less than numbers to 10. As part of our morning routine, the children have enjoyed learning about a new number every day. 

We shared our topic basket with objects related to our new topic. We found a map, brick, house, people, pig and pictures of Longridge. We are looking forward to learning all about our local area next week. In RE, we started our new topic called 'Celebrating.' We met our new friend Bobby the Bear and celebrated his birthday. We talked about lots of different things we celebrate with our friends and families. 

Phonics

New sounds we have learnt this week: j, v, w

Tricky words: he, she

Phonics game - write the following words on pieces of paper. Hide them in your house. Ask your child to go on a hunt to find the words. Bring them back and read them. 

jet, vest, will, wig, van

Thursday 15^th December

We have had a very fun week in school. The children were amazing in the Nativity show on Tuesday. We are so proud of them all for their fantastic singing and dancing. We hope you enjoyed the show. On Wednesday, we enjoyed a delicious Christmas dinner wearing our Christmas jumper. We pulled crackers and sang Christmas songs. We have also been learning the Nativity Story. The children worked in groups to sequence the story using pictures and used role play to retell the story. They have enjoyed playing with our Nativity scene during exploring time.

Thursday 8^th December

Our Elf has continued to get up to mischief this week. He has been watching us all week and left us some challenges. We have been working hard to practise the Nativity songs, ready for our performance next week. Thank you for coming to watch our performance of the gingerbread Man story. The children really enjoyed retelling the story and we are very proud of the children for learning the story off by heart. In RE, we have been learning the Nativity Story. The children have enjoyed playing with our Nativity scene and retelling the story with their friends.

Our learning

We have been assessing the children to see all the sounds and tricky words the children have learned this half term. The children have made fantastic progress with their reading. Thank you for all your support with your child’s reading at home.

New sounds we have learnt this week: ll, ss

Tricky words: I, no, go, to, the, into

Friday 2^nd November

We have had a very busy week in school. The children really enjoyed the pantomime on Thursday. In RE, we made a class advent calendar which we have hung on our washing line. The children enjoyed decorating our Christmas tree and our classroom. We have a class Elf who seems to be getting up to lots of mischief. On Thursday, we found him reading a story in our reading corner and this morning he was hanging from the washing line.

Literacy/Phonics

We have continued our learning all about The Gingerbread Man. We are looking forward to our performance of the story for you all on Tuesday.

We have been learning some new sounds this week. 

New sounds: f, ff, l

Tricky words: I, no, go, to, the, into

Maths

In Maths we have been learning lots of positional language e.g. behind, in front, under, in, on, between

We have also been learning all about number 4. Some children made the number 4 ‘Numberblock’ during exploring time. We have been talking about the composition of number 4.

Extra homework challenges:

1. Go and hide a teddy in your house. Ask your child to go and find it. When they find it, ask your child to describe where it is using positional language. E.g. The teddy is under the chair.
2. See if your child can tell you some numbers which add together to make 4. E.g. 3 and 1, 2 and 2, 4 and 0.

Thursday 24^th October

We had lots of fun this morning completing the Superhero assault course for our chosen charity, St Catherine’s Hospice. The children were amazing superheroes! They climbed onto equipment, jumped off, went through tunnels, over bridges and lots more. Please see the photographs below. We will let you know how much money we raised soon.

Literacy/Phonics

We have continued our learning all about The Gingerbread Man. Yesterday, we made some delicious gingerbread biscuits. The children followed the recipe and measured all the ingredients. They put them into the oven. Luckily, none of the Gingerbread biscuits escaped and the children ate them all up at the end of the day. The children labelled some pictures of things they used to make the biscuits.

We have been consolidating our learning in Phonics this week. Please see below all the sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far.

Sounds (phonemes): s a t p i n m d g o c k ck u b r h e

Tricky words: I, no, go, to, the, into

Topic and RE

In RE, we have begun our learning about Advent. We made an advent calendar together which we will open every day in December. We have been learning all about Florence Nightingale. Last week, the children wanted to make a hospital in our classroom. We then decided to compare hospitals now and in the past. We learnt all about Florence Nightingale and how she was a very special nurse. We looked at lots of pictures and used role play to compare the hospitals, no and in the past.

Thursday 17^th October

What a busy week! We have celebrated Safety Week and National Nursery Rhyme Week. Please see below all the exciting things we have been doing.

Literacy/Phonics

In Literacy, we have been learning to orally retell the story ‘The Gingerbread Man.’ The children worked in groups to choose actions for different characters in the story.  The children wore masks and pretended to be characters from the story. The children enjoyed going to the Library and choosing a new book to share at home.

Sounds we have been learning this week in Phonics: h, b, r

Tricky words: no, go

Maths

In Maths, we have been learning all about shapes. We went on a shape hunt, made shape pictures and had lots of fun making shape patterns. The shapes we have been learning about are circles, triangles, rectangles and squares. We talked about the similarities and differences between the shapes.

Go on a shape hunt in your house and see how many different shapes you can find!   

RE

In RE, have started a new topic called ‘Birthdays.’ We had a birthday party. We played pass the parcel, danced to music and even ate some chocolate cake.

We also talked about looking after God’s wonderful world. We went litter picking and recycled some of Miss Ollerenshaw’s rubbish from home.

Topic

This week is safety week. We have been learning all about people in the community who keep us safe. We used role play to show how people in the community help us. We dressed up as nurses, doctors, firemen and policemen. The children decided to turn our home corner into a hospital.  This morning, we talked about road safety. We talked about how to cross the road safely. We stood by the church and crossed the road safely. Mrs Poulton surprised us by driving past. We had to make sure we waited for her to go past before we checked the road was clear and then crossed the road. Miss Ollerenshaw pretended to be a lollypop lady too.

The children have also really enjoyed singing and learning lots of nursery rhymes. Ask your child to sing their favourite rhyme to you!

Thursday 10^th November

Literacy/Phonics

In Literacy, we have continued our learning about Supertato. On Monday afternoon, we found somebody had stuck our carrots onto the table. The children guessed it was the evil pea and decided to make a trap to try and catch the evil pea. We also made wanted posters and stuck them around school. We told other classes to watch out for the evil pea and let us know if they saw him. On Wednesday, we came into school and found the evil pea was caught in Oliver’s trap. The evil pea and his friends were splatted all over the table. The children have continued to make lots of traps, just in case he returns! 

Sounds we have been learning this week in Phonics: ck, e, u

Tricky words: to, I

Maths

In Maths, we have been learning one more and one less. We played a game with bean bags and buckets and compared the amounts in the buckets. Ask your child to tell you one more and one less than numbers to 5.  

RE

In RE, we shared our Baptism pictures with our friends. During class worship, we talked about Remembrance Day and made poppies. We painted the window display in our classroom.

Topic

The children wanted to learn all about Sleeping Beauty. We read the story and retold it with our friends. In PE, we retold the story Jack and The Beanstalk using actions. We also completed lots of jumping activities and even learned how to play hopscotch. We have been enjoying playing hopscotch in our outdoor area.

Thursday 3^rd October

We have had a fantastic week back in school.

Please see below some of the activities we have been doing this week.

Literacy/Phonics

In Literacy, we have been reading the story Supertato. We had lots of fun making our own Supertato. We described our Supertato to our friends during key worker time. The children also enjoyed listening to the story ‘Funny Bones’ and making skeletons.

Sounds we have been learning this week in Phonics: o, c, k

Tricky word: the

Maths

In Maths, we have been sorting and matching numbers 1, 2, and 3. We hid the numbers around the classroom and played a matching game to match the number to the quantity. We sorted numbers 1, 2 and 3 and some children were even able to tell us one more or one less.

RE

In RE, our topic is ‘Welcoming.’ We visited our church before half term and talked about how we are welcomed into God’s family. We looked at pictures of our visit to church and recalled the different parts in the church. We have also begun our learning about Baptism. If your child has been Baptised, please send a picture in of their special day to show everyone. We attended Mass on Tuesday with the whole school to celebrate All Saints Day.

Topic

Our topic this half term is Fantastic Fantasy. We started our topic by looking in our talking basket and discussing all the things inside. We found a knight’s helmet and sword, characters from fairy tales, superheroes, and lots more. The children asked for a Superhero Area outside. They worked together to decide what they wanted in the area and helped to set it up. We also celebrated Diwali, the festival of light. In PE, we experimented with different ways of moving. We learnt how to control an object by touching, pushing, patting, throwing, and catching.

In PSHE, we have been talking about all the things that make us special. A dinosaur came to visit us and taught us his favourite song. We looked into a mirror and sang his song. Ask your child to sing it to you and talk about what makes them special. 

I'm special. You're special.

There's no-one quite like me.

I'm special. You're special.

Clap if you agree. (Clap, clap).

Thursday 20th October

What a busy first half term we have had. The children have been amazing and settled into school. We have enjoyed sharing lots of stories, learning numbers, patterns and comparing length in Maths. In Phonics, we enjoy learning new sounds and we are beginning to segment and blend words.

We enjoy learning through play during exploring time and we have made lots of new friends. Please see below some pictures of our learning from this half term.

Thursday 6th October

Art - Arcimboldo 

We have been learning all about the artist Arcimboldo. We made fruit faces in the style of Arcimboldo. We then cut out lots of pictures of our favourite fruit and made a face. 

Can you guess who is hiding behind the fruit face?

Our first few weeks in school

We have had an amazing first few weeks in school. We have made lots of new friends, settled into the school routines and had lots of fun. Our topic is Marvellous Me and we have been learning all about ourselves. We shared our chatter bags with our favourite things and talked about our wonderful families. 

In Literacy, we have really enjoyed reading the story 'Owl Babies' and retelling the story. Mr Fitzgibbon gave us an egg. We are so excited to see what is inside when it hatches. We have learnt the phonics sounds s, a and t and played lots of fun games to help us to segment and blend. We have taken part in collective worship and learnt our special school prayers.