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Week Beginning 12th October

Reminders

• Term starts on Monday 2nd November
• Please ensure that your child brings their drawstring bag back to school. This should contain a spare set of school clothes and underwear in case they need to change during the day. We also recommend including a plastic bag so that any wet or dirty clothes can be brought home.
• Read the Term 2 Letter in the 'Letters and Documents' section for all Term 2 updates. 

Maths

In maths this week, we have been learning about 'more' and 'fewer'. We have been comparing different quantities and explaining our observations using sentences such as, "X has fewer than Y" or "Y has more than X".

The concept of 'more' is often easier for children to understand because they have been hearing and using this language for a long time. 'Fewer' can be a more challenging concept to grasp. If you begin to use this vocabulary at home, it will really help to develop your child's understanding. For example: "I have fewer coins than you; you have more." Or, "Your brother has fewer cars than you; you have more."

Drawing Club

We looked at The Rabbit Listened. During these sessions, we drew pictures of Taylor, thought about the different emotions they went through within the story and also how the rabbit helped Taylor work through these.

Below are the words we learnt, linked to our story.

  

Phonics

This week, we have learnt the sounds h, b, f and l. We are focusing on using the pure sounds and supporting the children to pronounce them correctly. Here is a useful video for parents explaining pure sounds: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ You can also see on the graphic below the explanation we use with the children when forming the sounds with their mouths. 

Exploring Time 

The children have really enjoyed playing teachers this week. We have had children marching around the playground calling, "BCS 1, 2, 3!" and encouraging others to line up. We have also seen children testing each other on their phonics and setting up little classrooms with cuddly toys (and each other!) to teach phonics lessons. It has been wonderful to watch.

We have also had children choosing grapheme charts and using them to support their mark-making. (All children have a grapheme chart in their bag so that they can continue practising at home, if they wish.) Alongside this, children have been making dens, setting tables ready for dinner, creating inviting recipes in the mud kitchen, and building amazing worlds in the small world area.

It has been a pleasure to watch the children grow in confidence, independence, and creativity over the course of this term.

Week Beginning 5th October 

Maths

We have been developing our subitising skills by recognising small quantities without counting. The children have been identifying groups of 2, 3 and 4 in different arrangements, matching quantities to finger patterns, and listening carefully to identify and subitise sounds made with musical instruments. We have also explored Numberblock Four, using positional language to describe different patterns and arrangements of 4, and creating our own patterns using a variety of resources. The children have shown great confidence in spotting when quantities stay the same, even when objects are rearranged.

Drawing Club

We have been enjoying Ruby's Worry by Tom Percival. Through our discussions and drawing activities, we have explored a range of ambitious vocabulary linked to feelings and emotions, including emotions, anxious, isolated, invisible, relief, confront, persistent and communicate. The children have drawn Ruby, Ruby's worry, and someone who helps them feel happy and safe. Alongside this, we have been developing our mark-making and early writing skills, working hard to listen for and record initial sounds in our drawings and writing.

Phonics

We have learnt the sounds ck, e, u and r. The children have been incredibly enthusiastic and engaged, showing a real passion for learning new sounds. It has been wonderful to see them taking their learning into their play, with many children enthusiastically role-playing as phonics teachers and teaching the sounds to their friends. Their excitement inspired us to create additional sets of sound cards for use during exploring time, allowing them to continue practising and sharing their phonics knowledge independently. We are so proud of their enthusiasm and growing confidence!

  

 

Week Beginning 28th September

Maths

This week in Maths, we have been exploring the composition of numbers 2, 3 and 4 through our Numberblocks learning. The children discovered that 2 is made of 1 and another 1, that 3 is made of 1 and 1 and 1, and that 4 can be made from four 1s. We enjoyed finding and making our own collections of objects, spotting groups of 3 and 4, and becoming "Number Detectives" as we investigated different number challenges around the classroom. The children worked hard explaining their mathematical thinking using key vocabulary and stem sentences.

Drawing Club

In Drawing Club, we have been inspired by the story The Colour Monster. The children used their imaginations to create wonderful drawings, including pictures of the Colour Monster, an emotions thief and houses for the Colour Monster. Alongside their creative ideas, the children have been developing their early writing skills by listening carefully for initial sounds in words and recording these independently in their drawings and labels.

  

Phonics

We have been learning the sounds o, c, g and k. The children have been working incredibly hard to recognise these sounds and have enjoyed practising them daily in a variety of fun and engaging activities.

Exploring Time

The children have also continued to be very creative in our provision areas. In the dough area, they have enjoyed making a wide range of animals and delicious-looking pizzas. In the junk modelling area, many children were keen to create magic wands, so we enhanced the area with paper straws and star templates to support their ideas. Outdoors, the children have been busy building rockets and houses and have particularly enjoyed using chalks to draw pictures and make marks on the playground. It has been wonderful to see their imagination, creativity and collaboration developing through their play.

We are very proud of all the children's hard work, creativity and enthusiasm for learning this week.

 

Week Beginning 21st September

A few reminders:

• Long hair needs to be tied back.
• Nail varnish shouldn’t be worn in school.
• Harvest Festival is on Monday 5th October at St Stephens church

Drawing Club

We looked at Our Class is a Family. During these sessions, we drew pictures of ourselves in our uniform, thought about our favourite things within our environment and what we could add to make it even better.

Below are the words we learnt, along with the actions linked to our story.

  

Maths

In maths this week, the children have been developing their understanding of counting and finding out "how many" objects there are in a group. They have been using their subitising skills to recognise small amounts without counting and are now learning to count larger groups carefully. This helps them understand cardinality, which means that the last number they say when counting tells them how many objects there are altogether.

How you can support this learning at home (starting with numbers to 5):

• Play games that involve counting, such as skittles, and count how many are left standing or knocked down.
• Throw beanbags, balls or other safe objects at a target and count how many hit the target. 
• Ask your child to collect a specific number of items, such as 5 leaves, 5 stones or 3 toy cars.

These simple activities help children practise counting accurately and strengthen their understanding of number.

Topic

We have continued our termly topic, All About Me. We have been thinking about communities and our class as a community. We have been working on making connections, looking at similarities (what we like) and how to make friends.

Exploring Time

Please take a look at some photos from our Exploring Time sessions. We have enjoyed using lemon playdough to create ‘biscuits’, foraging for ingredients to use in our mud kitchen, mixing different colours in the water area creating different worlds in our block area.

Phonics

This week, we have continued our phonics teaching and have learnt the sounds i, n, m, d. We are focusing on using the pure sounds and supporting the children to pronounce them correctly. Here is a useful video for parents explaining pure sounds: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/ 

We have also been learning how to form these letters correctly. The children practised using large arm movements and air writing. You can continue this at home using toilet-roll "ribbons", torches or paintbrushes with water on a fence.

A Huge Thank You!

Thank you so much for everyone’s contribution to our mud kitchen herb garden. It looks fantastic. The children are taking good care of it and even picking some bits for their creations. We will be calling upon families for their support in the future with the continued development of our Early Years learning environment.

Week Beginning 14th September

A few reminders:

• Please ensure your child has wellies and full waterproofs in school, as they will not be able to go outside when it is wet without them.
• Only fresh fruit and vegetables, plain crackers, and plain breadsticks should be brought into school for snack time. This is to minimise the risk for children with allergies. Please do not send dried fruit, cheese biscuits, or breadsticks containing seeds.
• To support your child’s independence when finding their book bag, it can be helpful to add a small keyring so that it is easily identifiable. Please only add one keyring.

What a Wonderful Start to School!

What a wonderful start to the school year we have had!

We don’t know about you, but it feels as though time is flying by. The children have had so much fun getting to know one another, exploring their environment and making new friends.

Drawing Club

We spend a week focusing on a book, reading it several times to familiarise ourselves with the story, characters and setting. This helps the children feel confident talking about the book, using the story in their play and exploring its important themes.

During our sessions, we learn new vocabulary linked to the book. We practise these words every day and use actions to support understanding and recall.

Week 2

We looked at Elmer. During these sessions, we drew pictures of Elmer and discussed his multicoloured patchwork pattern and his large, wide, stumpy legs. We also designed houses for Elmer and created new patterns for him.

Below are the words we learnt, along with the actions linked to our story.

Week 3

This week, we have been looking at the book Super Duper You!. We have learnt about what makes each of us special. We have had lots of discussions about what makes us unique, what we enjoy doing and what we are good at.

Maths

We are learning about subitising. This is the ability to recognise how many objects there are in a small group without counting them individually.

You can find more information about subitising and ways to support your child at home here.

We are focusing on the numbers 1, 2 and 3 to help consolidate the children's understanding. You can support your child by encouraging them to subitise in everyday situations, such as spotting ducks on a lake, blocks in a tower or cups on a table. Please ensure there are no more than three objects at a time.

Topic

We have started our termly topic, All About Me. We have been thinking about what makes each of us unique and special. Next week, we will be moving on to learning about families and communities.

Exploring Time

Please take a look at some photos from our Exploring Time sessions below. We have been working on developing our core strength, shoulder pivots, elbow pivots and pincer grip. All of these skills will support the children as they develop their handwriting throughout the year.

The children have enjoyed using ribbon wands to create large movements, climbing on the climbing frame, mixing thick mud, creating treasure maps, building roller coasters with crates, digging in the sandpit and transporting water.

Phonics

This week, we have started our phonics teaching and have learnt the sounds s, a, t and p. We are focusing on using the pure sounds and supporting the children to pronounce them correctly.

Here is a useful video for parents explaining pure sounds: https://www.littlewandle.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

We have also been learning how to form these letters correctly. The children have practised using large arm movements and air writing. You can continue this at home using toilet-roll "ribbons", torches or paintbrushes with water on a fence.