A fantastic start to Reception!
What a fantastic week we have had in Reception. For a lot of children this will be their first full week at school – we are very proud of their learning!
Phonics
This week the children have learnt the phonemes (the sound a letter makes) i, n, m and d. The children have been listening to and saying words that begin with these phonemes (the sound a letter makes). They have also been practicing writing the graphemes (the written letter).
Your child could write the letters at home using a letter formation sheet.
Super subitising
This week we have been practicing our subitising skills. This means, we have been looking and saying how many objects we can see – without counting one by one! Ask your child how many spots they can see by subitising.
Families
Thank you to all of the parents who have emailed photographs of their child’s family. The children have really enjoyed sharing their home experiences with their friends! We have been reading ‘the big book of families’ where we have talked about how different families can look.
Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog (it’s along the play bar) and turn off auto play – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.
Swimming
Sunshine class have had their first swimming lesson this week. They have had lots of fun and the swimming teacher (Miss Joicey) was very impressed with their listening skills.
Learn at home phonics sheet
Today, your child has come home with a ‘learn at home’ phonics sheet. The sheets link to our current learning in phonics and will be sent home each Friday. Please support your child by practising their new sounds and reading skills at home.
Reminders
Welcome to Reception- week 2
Reception have had another fantastic week of settling into the classroom and getting to know eachother. We’re doing so well at remembering our morning routines and classroom rules, such as ‘3,2,1,stop’
We’ve particularly enjoyed outdoor explorations, planting some flowers and finding vegetables that have grown in our garden planters. We have some real nature lovers in Reception, who have been carefully handling worms, wood lice and spiders and sharing facts about them.
We’ve been using our artistic skills to paint and draw self-portraits and have been having a go at writing our name every day.
We also started our phonics lessons this week. The children have shown great listening and were proud to learn their first four sounds (s,a,t,p) We’ve been having a go at writing them too!
In music, the children made their very own marching band with Mrs Myers and had so much fun marching around the classrooms and outdoor area.
Take a peek at even more learning from this week:
Learn at home phonics sheet…
Today, your child has come home with a ‘learn at home’ phonics sheet. The sheets link to our current learning in phonics and will be sent home each Friday. Please support your child by practising their new sounds and reading skills at home.
Home link…
Next week, we’ll be talking about our families and using the book The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith, as our talking point. To help the children in our discussions, please send in a photograph of your child with their family. You can send the photos to the Reception email address.
Reminders…
- PE lessons start on Wednesday. Don’t forget to come to school in PE kits on Wednesday and Friday. If you’re in Sunshine Class, you’ll also need your swimming kit on Wednesday. Thank you.
Welcome to Reception!
Welcome…
We’ve had a lovely few days welcoming the first group of children into Sunshine and Rainbow Class.
We can’t wait to see everyone next week and welcome more friends into Reception. Here’s a sneak peek of some activities that will be ready and waiting for you!
A little reminder…
Don’t forget to bring a spare pair of wellies that you can leave in school too- we have lots of outdoor fun, in all weathers!
PE days…
We will be starting PE lessons week commencing 19 September. Please send your child to school in PE kit on Wednesdays and Fridays. Reception classes have swimming lessons on alternate weeks. Please bring a swimming costume and towel in a named bag, on the following dates:
Sunshine Class: 21 September, 05 October, 19 October
Rainbow Class: 28 September, 12 October, 2 November
Dates for your diary…
This year, we will be offering various opportunities for you to find out more about Early Years at school.
There’ll be stay and learn sessions where you can come into school and be part of a lesson.
Zooms, where you can find out about the Early Years curriculum from the comfort of your own home.
Then, opportunities to pop into school to share your child’s learning journey book with them.
We hope that you can join us for as many of these sessions as possible.
Stay and Play sessions
This is an opportunity for you to come into school to find out about the Early Years Curriculum and watch your child learning in school.
Funky Phonics Phase 2 – Wednesday 12 October 9.00 – 9.30
Marvellous Maths – Thursday 17 November 9.00 – 9.30
Funky Phonics Phase 3 – Monday 16 January 9.00 – 9.30
Fiddly Fingers – Friday 03 February 2.50 – 3.20
World Book Day – Thursday 02 March 9.00 – 9.30
Parent Partnerships Zooms
These 30 minute zoom sessions relate to various areas of the Early Years Curriculum. Join us to find out how and what your child will be learning at school.
An Overview of the EYFS – the curriculum, assessment and how you can get involved in your child’s learning journey. – Thursday 15 September at 6pm
Storytime – snuggle up at home with your child and listen to a story. – Monday 19 September at 6pm
Early Reading – an introduction by your child’s class teacher to our reading scheme, Little Wandle – Wednesday 28 September at 6pm
Early Maths – supporting your child to become a confident mathematician – Monday 14 November at 6pm
Early Writing – supporting your child to become an independent writer – Wednesday 01 February at 6pm
If you’re interested in attending any of these Zoom workshops, please either send us a message on the School Gateway app or email the school office. We’ll then email the Zoom joining details out to all those who have expressed an interest.
Learning Journey Drop In’s
An opportunity to “drop into” school and share your child’s learning journal with them. You are welcome to join one of the three sessions in the week.
9.00 – 9.30 Monday 12 December
9.00 – 9.30am Tuesday 13 December
3.30 – 4.00 Thursday 15 December
9.00 – 9.30 Monday 27 March
3.30 – 4.00 Tuesday 28 March
9.00 – 9.30 Thursday 30 March
9.00 – 9.30 Monday 10 July
9.00 – 9.30 Tuesday 11 July
3.30 – 4.00 Thursday 13 July
Keep in touch…
We love to receive emails and photos from home. If your child has been learning at home or achieved something outside of school, please let us know. We’ll share your child’s home news with their friends in class.
Welcome to Reception!
Welcome to Reception!
Our last week…
Our last week…
We’ve had a lovely final week in Reception. We’ve continued revising our skills through phonics, maths and literacy carpet sessions. We’ve been writing about our favourite memories throughout our time in Reception and thinking about ‘spreading our wings’ into year one.
The children managed fantastically well during the heatwave. We spent half an hour outside in the morning on Monday and Tuesday, keeping to shaded areas and keeping cool by paddling. Some of the children picked the peas that had grown in our garden. Regular water breaks, blinds down, cooling wet paper towels or spray bottles and less active activities, ensured we kept happy and healthy. Thank you again to parents and carers, for your cooperation in sending your children to school in cooler clothing and collecting earlier on Tuesday.
The children were happy to get back to full playtimes and outdoor explorations, as the weather cooled down.
The Selfie Station…
The children have throughly enjoyed being in charge of photography this week! They’ve captured moments at the selfie station and around the classroom. Take a look at their snaps in the video below!
The beach party…
We had some brilliant beach- themed fun on Thursday! What a way to celebrate the end of the year!
A special performance…
As part of our topic this half term, Where in the world, we’ve been learning about coastal environments and the sea. Over the past few weeks, Mrs Myers has been working her magic, teaching the children a special song. The children also collaborated in their artwork to create sea animals and seaweed as props to perform the song. We are proud to present to you Octopus’s Garden by The Beatles:
Octopus’s Garden- Reception 2022
A final message…
On behalf of the whole Reception team, I would like to finish by saying how proud we are of all the children in Reception. We’ve had such an amazing year together. It is always difficult to say goodbye to our classes, who we cherish so dearly, but we’re equally excited for them to start their year one adventures. They are so ready to wow their new teachers!
And to you, our wonderful parents and carers. Thank you for your partnership this year; through general support, home-link challenges, emails, photos, doorway chats and kind words.
Enjoy a relaxing, fun-filled Summer holiday together. We’ll see you again on Tuesday 6 September!
Ahoy there matey!
This week, our book focus has been ‘The Night Pirate’ and many other pirate books.
The children know so much about Pirates:
They fight.- Adriana
Fire the canon!-Jack
They hunt for gold or treasure!-Max
They sail in a boat.-Ronnie
They wear eye patches.-Sofia
They have pirate hats on and a ship.- Stanley
We made predictions about the book and made some amazing story maps. Each child could re-tell the story using the story maps. The book has some adventurous vocabulary too. We like to stop and discuss any new vocabulary and it’s meaning. We also try to use the new word in a variety of sentences-perhaps you could do this at home.
Story map examples:
Here’s how we extended our learning in ‘pirate provision’ this week:
Transition-On Thursday afternoon all children spent time with their new class teacher for next year. The children really enjoyed this opportunity to be in their new classroom and get to know their new teacher/s and classmates.
D-I-S-C-O!
We had the best time in the hall dancing, playing games and eating our FOSP organised treats. Thankyou FOSP.
Next week:
Sadly, this will be our last week but we will not stop learning or making memories!
Spare bags-please could you send a heavy duty bag (such as a carrier bag or fold-able shopping bag) into school next week. We plan to send each child’s books and special things home. Please name the bag where possible too.
Home-link
Please could your child draw a picture of themselves in Reception with their friends. If your child could write a sentence about a favourite memory from the year that would be wonderful!
WUSU Crew 2022
Scholes in Bloom – winning design
A group of children went out to meet the Britain in Bloom judges today. The winning designer of the Scholes in Bloom competition was there and everyone admired the planted design in the flowerbed outside school. It looks fabulous!
Holidays in the past…
Wow! What an exciting week we’ve had! Starting with our sports roundabout on Monday. The children had a fantastic time and showed amazing team spirit. Thank you to all of the families who came along to support.
Abbey House Museum…
On Tuesday, we had a brilliant trip to the treasure trove that is Abbey House Museum. The children enjoyed learning about holidays in the past, which ties into our current topic work. They tried on costumes, learnt about souvenirs, woolen swimsuits, the ‘penny lick’ ice-cream, Punch and Judy shows and more! Lunchtime was in the beautiful setting of Kirkstall Abbey and park, before more explorations inside the museum. The children were so sensible and we’re really proud of how they represented our school whilst out and about on our adventure. A big thank you again to our parent volunteers.
There are so many photos, that we’ve made a video. Enjoy!
Literacy…
The children used their experience of the trip, to write recounts of their day. We discussed how we can use words such as ‘first’, ‘next’, ‘later’ and ‘finally’ to show how time has moved on and to sequence the events of the day.
Maths…
As we move through the last few weeks of the school year, we are revisiting and revising skills. This week we worked on recall- remembering number bonds within five automatically and some within ten. In provision, we have supported this through using part-whole models to again explore the parts that make a whole number.
Here are some more snapshots of learning this week…
Home-Link Challenge
Oooo arrrrrr… next week we’ll be embarking on a pirate themed adventure! We’d like you to use some old packages, boxes and other reusable materials to make a pirate themed accessory. It could be a treasure chest, a telescope or even a parrot!
Diary Dates…
14 July-Transition afternoon 1.30-3.00: Please collect your child from their usual classroom, at the usual time.
15 July-End of year disco 2.30-3.30: Children are to come to school in school uniform. Please send named disco/party clothing, in a named bag. Thank you.
Sports Roundabout
We had a successful Sports Roundabout this afternoon after a break since 2019, due to the pandemic. All the children enjoyed collecting points for their team and showed great teamwork and support for each other. Thank you to all the families who came to show their support too. The points are listed below.
1st Northern Ireland 507 points
2nd Iceland 518 points
3rd Germany 502 points
4th Portugal 493 points
5th Sweden 483 points
6th Italy 477 points
7th Belgium 454 points
8th Spain 394 points
9th Netherlands 379 points
10th Norway 366 points
11th France 360 points
12th England 346 points
