Summer Term 2018

W/C 9th July 2018

We are making the most out of the glorious weather and our new outdoor equipment. What a fantastic end to the year investigating new resources with our friends.

Highlights of the week have been in the outdoor area. We have seen the children create the most wonderful stories using the dressing up clothes and new imaginative play resources. One highlight has been the children dressing up as Police. They were ensuring the crates were stacked correctly and making sure other children were safe when climbing on them.

We have been really impressed with the children’s knowledge of sea creatures. This learning has taken place throughout they year and was evident this week as the children used the new bricks and boulders to create a sea wall. They used blue fabric to represent the sea and the boulders to create a rockery. The children understood what a sea wall is used for. I asked them why they were putting the boulders in the sea and they said, “ Creatures like crabs like to hide under the rocks.”

Lots of children have also created different ways for water to travel using the new guttering and pipe stands. Lots of problems have been solved through talking and trial and error. We realised that water travels quicker when the pipes are on an angle.

Lots of fantastic learning has taken place this week- the outdoors is an extension to our classroom!

W/C 2nd July 2018

On Monday, we had our last visit to the Library. The children have fully enjoyed going to the Library throughout the year. We have noticed a huge difference each time we have visited in their engagement levels. The children now understand how to use the library in a respectful manner. They choose their books quietly and enjoy sharing them with their friends. Throughout the summer, the Library has lots of free activities taking place. Go in and enquire and get the most out of the free sessions.

We did have a giggle at the photo on the right. Mason, Ryley and Logan found it in a football book and said that they could see Mason and Logan in the photo!

Can you see the resemblance? Bottom row,two children in the middle.

On Tuesday, it was Sports Day. The children walked very well to the field and showed great road sense. We are extremely pleased with how well the children participate. Every child had a go and tried their best to compete against their friends. Even when they fell over, they picked themselves up and carried on.  We loved how the children cheered for each other and for Kelly and Amie when competing in the teacher’s race at the end!

Thank you for coming and supporting us on a very hot afternoon.

On Wednesday, we had our summer trip to Tattershall Farm. It was a very hot day but very enjoyable too. The children’s behaviour was impeccable when moving around the farm and they were very mindful of the smaller children at the park too.

We enjoyed petting a guinea pig, tortoise and a bearded dragon. Some of us were very lucky to have the opportunity to feed the calves by giving them very large bottles of milk. They were guzzlers!

We then had plenty of time to explore the farm and have a go on all the play equipment. Once again the children were very behaved and listened carefully to the adults about their boundaries and expectations. The day was topped off by enjoying an ice cream to cool us down.

We finished the week off by learning how to draw/sketch animals. We also produced fantastic re-counts of our farm visit.

 Phew! Did someday say weekend?

W.C 25.06.18

A change to the usual schedule this week as it was Transition Week across Church Lane Primary School. Each class moved up to meet their new teachers, and in Reception we spent the week with Miss Cragg and Alex in Year 1. We are very lucky that Amie will move up with us too so there will be three grown-ups to help us in our new classroom. 

Miss Cragg and Alex were very impressed by our Year 1 readiness, we sat and listened beautifully and had a little introduction to the style of learning in the National Curriculum. But don't worry, there were still plenty of opportunities for play-based learning! This week we have learnt about Mexico, one of the World Cup countries we pulled out of the hat in assembly at the beginning of the football tournament. We looked at the geography of Mexico, talking about the countries it borders, its oceans and seas and the celebrations for the Day of the Dead. We decorated a Mexican flag for the whole school display on the work produced about the World Cup countries.

We also created a self portrait for a new display and read 'The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch' together, one of the stories we will be looking at in more depth when we come back to school after the big summer holidays as part of a Seaside topic. We have also completed some seaside art based on the work of Natalie Pascoe and shown off our understanding of numbers to 10 in a Maths lesson. In the outside area we have helped Alex to plant new trees and have enjoyed playing in a variety of ways including on balance planks, stepping stones, on the tuff spot, in the outdoor reading area, with chalks and in the small world areas.

Year 1 is not so scary after all! 

Pictures to follow...

Summer 2

W/C 4th June

This term we are learning the following:

Literacy 

• Continue to revise all set 1 and set 2 sounds and ‘tricky’ words
• Introduce set 3 sounds
• Continue to work on forming letters correctly
• Continue to read words and simple sentences
• Focus on capital letters, full stops and finger spaces
• Practice writing for a longer period of time
• To revise ‘tricky’ words that we send home

This term we will be focusing on writing sentences about different settings e.g inside a cave, under the sea.

As we are fast approaching the end of the year, reading with your child at home is crucial in securing the Early Learning Goal for Reading. Reading every night with your child significantly improves their reading skills.

Maths

We are going to be working really hard on our understanding to 20 and beyond. We are going to recap addition and subtraction in preparation for Year 1.

Thank you for supporting your child to come in on their own in the mornings. We are really pleased with how well the children are settling. This transition will really support their next step into Year 1.

Dates for your diary:

• W/C 25^th June 2018- Your child will be spending the week in Year 1

• Tuesday 3^rd July- Key Stage 1 Sports Day

• Wednesday 4^th July- Tattershall Farm trip (Please return permission slip ASAP)

 W/C 11th June

We visited the Library on Monday. Each visit we have noticed a big difference on how the children behave in the Library. The children really understand the rules and this has been noticed by the Library staff and school Governors.

We hope you have enjoyed sharing the little storybook that your child brought home. This book and activity sheet was kindly donated to us by Sleaford Library.

In Maths we have been re-capping our work on addition. The children have engaged well and are showing us that they understand the concept of following a number sentence.

Using fruit, sweets or any objects that you can move have a go at helping your child to complete the following:

• 10+4=
• 8+2=
• 15+3=
• 17+2=
• 5+3=

In Literacy, we have been writing sentences about different story settings. So far this week we have read, ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and ‘Jack and the Beanstalk.’ We then discussed what we would see in the jungle or in the Giants castle. The children then wrote down their ideas. We were very proud with their independent sentences.

We would like to say thank you for your continued support when encouraging your child to independently walk into school. We hope you agree that the children are doing exceptionally well and that tears are becoming few and far between.

We still have some outstanding permission slips for Tattershall Farm. Please return ASAP. 

Summer 1

 W/C 21st May

A very creative week in Reception-  we love a creative week!

We started off the week with a ‘Rock Art’ project. This project had been inspired by one of our children finding a painted rock at Sherwood Forest. We decided that this would be a super learning opportunity to follow this interest on.

We completed the whole project outside as it was a perfect opportunity to be close to nature. We began the project by reading a few stories about painted rocks. The children loved ‘Peter’s Pebbles.’ This story was all about Peter painting his own rocks and they turned into the animal that he wanted it to be.

Next, the children had to design their own pebble. They had to think carefully about what colours they wanted to use and what picture was going on the pebble.

Once the design was complete they had to carefully paint on the design using acrylic paints.  The children produced some fantastic painted pebbles.

This week has also been History week. Our task was to learn about Queen Elizabeth II. This learning was built upon from what we had already learnt when finding out about the recent Royal wedding. We painted her portrait carefully looking at all her features.  We hope you enjoyed looking at our paintings in the school hall.

We hope you all have a lovely half term and we hope the children come back ready to learn for the last 7 weeks!

Diary Dates:

11^th June- Monthly visit to the Library

June 25^th- June 29^th - Transition week- Reception children spend the week in Year 1.

2^nd July- Monthly visit to the Library

3^rd July – KS1 Sports Day

4^th July- Reception trip to Tattershall Farm

5^th July- KS2 Sports Day

23^rd July- School ends.

W/C 14th May

 We have had an incredible week with Louise from Bikeability.

 The children were split into small groups of 6 and went out for one session per day. The week began with Louise teaching the children how to put their helmets on correctly. They then learnt how the different names for each part on a bike and the purpose of it. Once all the safety checks were complete the children learnt the following:

1. How to correctly walk their bike across the playground.
2. How to get onto the seat and balance their bike to move from one fixed area to another.
3. As the week progressed they learnt how to move with greater speed and more accuracy.
4. They then moved from one point to another to gather an item (a cone) and carry it safely on their handlebar.
5. Next, the children learnt how to lift their feet up and drift the bike and to use their brakes to stop.
6. The last skill was to move in and out of obstacles and move with speed.

The children impressed us with the skills they learnt throughout the week.  Once the children had achieved the skills Louise encouraged them to play games to really embed the skills learnt.

Louise commented how enthusiastic all the children were to listen and learn. The rapid rate of how their confidence grew was impressive.

Balance bikes cost as little as £25.00 and have incredible benefits if you start your child on these bikes before a bike with stabilizers.

Read the benefits here

W/C 7th May

A glorious week means everyone is happy and lots of learning inside and outside the classroom.

A few of the children asked for an icecream shop because it is the perfect way to cool down a class full of hot and sticky children. We listened and set up an icecream parlour outside. We used playdough for the icecream, beads for the toppings and lollipop sticks for the flakes. We used our phonic knowledge to take orders. We used real money to buy the icecreams. The children fully enjoyed this activity.

Have you heard about our snail races? Rachel from Year 2 brought in some snails. We had a snail race! We put them inside a hoop and watched them race. The children agreed that the first snail to reach the edge of the hoop was the winner. We had three snails. From the activity we learnt about ordinal numbers- 1^st, 2^nd and 3^{rd .}

We then placed the snails on the Art table and did some observational drawings using pastels and wax crayons. It has been fascinating to watch them move.

In Maths, we have been learning about doubling numbers. We have been very proud of all the children at how well they have understood how to double. Some children need counters/numicon to work out the answer and some children can work in out in their head!  We are getting ready for Year 1.

On Monday, our Bikeability sessions commence. The children will be working in small groups to develop their biking skills with a trained instructor.

We are also looking forward to learning about the upcoming Royal Wedding. We will be involved in lots of activities related to weddings.

A busy week ahead!

W/C 30th April 2018

 Hope you have all enjoyed the lovely bank holiday weather!

On Monday, Hayley brought in some photos of ducklings that she had spotted in Sleaford. This discussion led us to learn more about ducks and ducklings. Whilst finding out information we stumbled across the message that bread is unhealthy for ducks to eat.  Bread to them is like a bag of sweets to us- a real treat and should only be given in moderation!

 A couple of children then suggested that we could make duck food. We used a search engine to find out what they can eat. With this new information we made bags of healthy duck food. We chopped up pears, green leaves and mixed with porridge oats. We then labeled the bags so everyone knew what it was for.

Did you use the food to give to the ducks? We would love to see some photos.

We have also carried out some number assessments this week.  We are really happy with the progress that has been made. Please continue to order numbers to 20 and to count up to 20 objects.

Dates for your Diary:

W/C 14^th May

Bikeability team are joining us to work on our cycling skills using balance bikes. They will be spending the week with us J

Friday 25^th June

School ends and return on Monday  4^th June.

Wednesday 4^th July

 Trip to Tattershall Farm Park

W/C 23^rd April 2018

To support our learning about Spring we read the story ‘The chicken that hatched a Cow.’ The children found this story very funny and wanted to read it over and over again. To follow on from this interest we researched which animals are born from an egg and which animals that are born live.

Once we had researched different animals we set the children a science sorting activity. The children were challenged to sort the animals into two groups- no eggs and eggs. This activity also encouraged their independent reading skills as they had to also read some of the animal names. The children demonstrated fantastic listening skills as they used their knowledge that they had previously learnt to help them in this activity.

We then asked them to write this information down. The children impressed us with their keenness to write and complete this challenge.

Bluebots have been in the Reading area. The children are very good when directing the Bluebots to a chosen word.

Thank you for all your kind donations to support our local food bank- our class collected 72 items!

We hope you have all received the latest curriculum letter about what we are learning this term. Please continue to read the ‘red’ words that were also sent home. We can always recognise the children who practice at home- thank you for this!

Please be reminded that Kelly is now running Morning Yoga on a Tuesday at 8.00am. Reception are more than welcome. Please bring an optional £1 for a fresh smoothie. 

The following planned learning will support your child in meeting the Early Learning Goals for Literacy and Maths.

Literacy

ELG09 – Reading

Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read

ELG10 – Writing

Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spokensounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.

• Continue to revise all set 1 and set 2 sounds and ‘tricky’ words
• Continue to work on forming letters correctly
• Continue to read words and simple sentences

We are going to focus on planning a story with a beginning, middle and end and attempt to write different stories with support. We will be reading the following books to support us in doing this:

• Naughty Bus
• Oi Get Off My Train
• Gruffalo
• Marvin Wanted More
• Nemo

After reading each text we will be discussing new endings and predicting what will happen next to the main characters.

 As we are fast approaching the end of the year, reading with your child at home is crucial in securing the Early Learning Goal for Reading. Reading every night with your child significantly improves their reading skills.

Maths

ELG11 – Numbers

Children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.

ELG12 – Shape, space and measures

Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

We are going to be working really hard on our understanding to 20. We will be taking part in practical activities to solve problems. Doubling and halving will be introduced this term. We need to secure counting objects to 20 and beyond-Please practice this skill at home.