Reception J

Welcome to Reception J

 

 

Teacher:  Mrs Jones

Teaching Assistants: Miss Waltho and Miss Hanlon

Homework will be given every Friday and expected to be returned by the following Monday.

P.E. is every Tuesday, please ensure that your child is dressed in their PE kit on this day.

Words of the Week – we are introducing our children to new vocabulary each week, please ask your child what these words are, what they mean and encourage your child to use them as often as possible when speaking.

Each week your child will have the opportunity to bring home a ‘library book’ from our classroom.  These books are for you and your child to share and enjoy together.

There are a wide variety of story books, information books and rhyming books for your child to choose from.  There are also a number of books that contain just pictures and no words.

After reading your child’s library book together, talk about what has happened at the beginning, in the middle and end of the story.  Can your child retell the story or answer questions about what has happened?  (Talking about the story will help to develop your child’s speaking and listening skills and will get them ready for reading and writing stories independently as the progress further up the school).

There is no set day for your child to change his/her library book – just get them to bring it back to school when you have finished with it and they can choose another to take home the same day.

We love to read in our school and believe,

 

The more that your read, the more things you will know. 

The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go’.

A child

A book

A read

A chat

That is the way the mind grows,

Not with a test, but a tale….

Michael Rosen

 

 

Some useful information for the year ahead...

 

Reception Curriculum Map 2020-2021

Reception Home Learning Lockdown Timetable

How to login to Google Classroom

 

 

Keep up to date with our latest news and suggested activities using our   Twitter pages

Our whole school Twitter page

and

Reception Twitter page

 


 

 

Every pupil from Nursery to Year 6 has a user name and password for Education City.  This enables children to continue their learning at home, playing fun activities linked to what they have been working on in class.   If you you have misplaced your password or login details, please get touch and we can reissue them J

Education City

 

 

 

NumBots is a curriculum inspired programme that adopts the best teaching practises to take children from counting on their fingers, to adding and subtracting two digit numbers.  The programme is primarily aimed at children between 5-7 years old.

The programme compliments what your child is learning in school and focusses on securing any gaps in their knowledge, before moving them onto the next challenge.  This self paced journey improves children’s confidence and means they are fully prepared to tackle each new topic.

We recommend playing for at least 3 minutes a day, 4 or 5 days a week. NumBots is available to play via our website or mobile app, so your child will be able to learn maths at home or on-the-go, whenever suits your family.

Pupils will need a user name and password for NumBots.  This enables children to continue their learning at home, playing fun activities linked to what they have been working on in class.   If you you have misplaced your password or login details, please get touch and we can reissue them J

NumBots

 

 

 

Thinkuknow is an education programme from NCA-CEOP, a UK organisation which protects children both online and offline.

The Thinkuknow websites offers advice about how to help keey your child safe when they’re playing on a phone, tablet or computer.  As well as advice, the website also offter a series of short age appropriate activities to do at home with your child linked to online safety.

Thinkuknow Parents Support Tools – home activity worksheets, early-years

 

 

Phonics

Some information on how we say the phonemes (sounds) to help our children learn to read and write.

There is more helpful advice as well as useful tips on learning to read with phonics on the Oxford Owl website:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/learn-to-read-phonics/

 

 

 

There are some useful phonic video lessons for children to watch too (in school we start off working on Phase 2 and progress through to Phases 3 and 4)

Twinkl Live Lessons Phase 2 Phonics

and

Twinkl Live Lessons Phase 3 Phonics

and

Twinkl Live Lessons Phase 4 Phonics

 

 

Phonics Play is a website that we use regularly to support our daily phonic lessons in class and there are lots of fun and engaging games for you to play online at home.  (To begin with we focus heavily on Phases 1 and 2 but as the year progresses, we move on to Phases 3 and 4.) 

The website is currently free to access (just type in the username and password below). 

https://new.phonicsplay.co.uk/

Username: march20
Password: home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phonics Bloom is another website that we use regularly in class (we especially love playing the ‘Yes/No Yeti’ game in Reception and if you give the game a go, I’m sure the children will amaze you with their confident, independent reading of the captions J)  Many of the games are free to access on this site (we only use the free ones in class) and again we focus on Phases 1 and 2 to begin with before moving on to Phases 3 and 4 as the year progresses.

https://www.phonicsbloom.com/uk/game/list/phonics-games-phase-3

 

 

Boom Boom Shake the Alphabet

We love singing and dancing along to this cool rap song!  It has been helping us to learn the letter names and sounds (remember to look at the letters on the screen though as you sing and dance Reception…) J

 

 

Reading

A class account for ‘Oxford Owl’ has been set so that your child can continue to read at home.  The ebooks are free and are from the same reading scheme (Oxford Reading Tree) that we use in school and for home reading. 

On the web page go to the pink/purple ‘My class login’ button and insert the username and password:

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/please-log-in?open_loginbox=true

Username: recjones
Password: Stanley

 

 

Teach your monster to read is free game that make learning to read fun.  It covers everything from letters and sounds to reading in full sentences and it complements all the synthetic phonics that we have been learning in class.  The computer version in 100% free (there is a small charge to sign up on your tablet or phone though) and you only need an email address to register.

We use this programme in class and all children have their own login in details to ensure that their reading journey is tailored to their individual needs.  If you you have misplaced your password or login details, please get touch and we can reissue them J

https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

 

Corma Beanstalk are working with Very UK, to bring you a series of online Storytime sessions.  There are some brilliant books featured and they are being read by some very familiar faces.

Each week a new story will be available, and each one will also be accompanied by some top tips to help make sharing books fun and engaging!

Beanstalk Charity – Storytime with Very UK

 

 

 

 

Oak National Academy is a new collection of high-quality lessons and online resources.  Backed by the Government, it has been created in response to the coronavirus lockdown.

Their online classrooms offer free access to great teachers, delivering video lessons, quizzes and worksheets.  Available at Reception,  primary and secondary levels, it covers a range of subjects.  All of the lessons are ordered so your child can learn along a clear plan.  New lessons and resources are provided each week to ensure continuity and continued progression.

https://www.thenational.academy/online-classroom/reception#subjects

 

 

 

Some useful videos from BBC Children in Need.  Dr Radha shares her top tips on looking after your wellbeing.

BBC children in Need –  Dr Radha’s Wellbeing Tips

 

 

 

CBeebies Radio | CBeebies Wiki | Fandom
CBeebies Radio takes you to a world of sound and music, where you can share imaginative adventures and listen to stories with your favourite CBeebies friends and characters.
 
 
 
 
 
Using the Hungry Little Minds brand - GOV.UK

Many little things light up hungry little minds.  Children take everything in, and even the smallest things you do with them can make a big difference.

Children love it when you chat, play and read with them, even when they’re too young to understand everything.  Whatever the time and wherever you are, you can turn almost anything into a game and every little thing you do together will help set them up nicely for their return to school.

We understand that due to the coronavirus outbreak, you and your children are spending more time at home and you might be looking for a bit more inspiration for things to do.  Start by trying some of these simple, fun activities.

 

 
 
25 simple and fun non-screen activities that children can do at home
To help with well being, we’ve rounded up some fun, non-screen activities that can be done at home to support independent learning.
 
 
 
 
 
Family Zone 0 to 4Family Zone 5 to 8
 
 
and
 
Family Zone works to improve reading, writing, speaking and listening skills across communities in the UK.
Family Zone is full of free activities and ideas to keep your child busy at home, whilst also benefiting reading, writing and language development. 
 
 
 
 
 
Learn to Read Systems for Kids | Reading & Writing Systems | LeapFrog
Some lovely ideas on interactive learning to encourage creative, confident and happy learners J
 
 
 
 
 
The Great Indoors | Scouts
Lots of fun and creative ideas and activities to inspire young minds at home J
 
 
 
 

49 fun physical activities to do with kids aged 2 to 4

This list of 49 activities is the ultimate go-to for any playdate, home child care setting, or a morning or afternoon with a caregiver.  Whatever the situation, short attention spans mean that it’s a good idea to have a few of these up your sleeve.

 
 
 
We have a lot of fun in our class have a look at our year so far J

 

 

Reception J

Class of 2020-21 

Sad farewells are given to those people who are extremely prized and special J

What an amazing year we have had!  We’re going to miss you lots Reception J but we know that you’re going to have an awesome time in Year 1! 

xxx Enjoy the next part of your adventure xxx

 

 

J Easter Fun J

What a surprise we had when we came into school and found carrots and footprints all around our classroom…  
I wonder who have made such a mess?

 

World Book Day 2021

We love stories and we love to dress up!  What a magical day we had on World Book Day JThis year we got to celebrate twice – once at home during lockdown, and again on our return to school!

We all dressed as our favourite book characters and enjoyed lots of book themed activities – we had so much fun J

How many book characters can you recognise from our class gallery?

 
 
Understanding Number
We’ve working hard to deepen our understanding of number in Reception.  We’ve spent a lot of time looking at how numbers are made up and investigating different ways to represent them.  
 
 
 
Inventors, creators and artists…
We love to design and make things in our art area… 
 
Being creative helps us to develop our imagination and creative abilities
while challenging us to explore, investigate
and problem solve as we bring our plans and ideas to life.
Sometimes we like to work on our own or co-operate with others,
learning to negotiate and share our ideas. 
When we create something new it gives our confidence
and self-esteem a big boost J 
It also challenges us to consider how our plans have worked out
and it helps us to think about what we might do differently
or how we have might improve our work.
 
There’s a lot more to our art area than you might think – it’s about the process of creating, not necessarily the end product… (although we do think that these end products are simply amazing!)
 
   
   
 
 

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Chinese New Year was a little different this year as many of us were working at home because of the lockdown.  We still had a lot of fun learning about how this exciting festival is celebrated both in our school bubble and also through Google Classroom at home!

J  Kung Hei Fat Choi  J

   
 
 
Happy New Year
We’ve been working very hard on our calendars for 2021. 
The children all thought hard about what they would like to paint before we looked up their ideas on our class iPad.  We looked carefully at the colours that we would need for our designs and then carefully copied the pictures – we think the children have done a wonderful job. 
We’re so proud of their observational skills J
 
 
A very happy Christmas 
We’ve been working very hard in the run up to Christmas…   
We helped our teachers to decorate the huge Christmas tree in our classroom.  We also wrote our own Christmas wish list letters to Father Christmas and posted them off to the the North Pole (we’re hoping to get a replies from the big man in red so keep checking your mail at home as the children wrote their home addresses on their letters for their replies!) 
We have also made and written Christmas cards for our families, measured out and mixed our own wildlife friendly reindeer food to help to guide Santa’s sleigh as well as decorating and making lots of Christmas crafts! 
We also enjoyed a Christmas party in our classroom and had a delicious Christmas dinner J
 
 
 
 
Children In Need 2020
We’ve had a lot of fun raising money for Children in Need – another busy day in Reception J
J Thank you so much for your kind donations J
 
 
 
Lest we forget

We have been learning all about Armistice Day.  We have found out that it is on 11th November and is also known as Remembrance Day.

It marks the day World War One ended (at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918).

People wear poppies and hold a two-minute silence to remember the people who have died in wars.

Remembrance Sunday is also marked each year, this falls on the second Sunday in November.  We have painted pictures of poppies for the special Remembrance Day Service that will be held at St. Anne’s Church on Sunday.

“We will remember them…”

 
 
 
“Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum…”

Lots and lots of measuring in Reception this week… 

We found a ‘giant’ footprint in our outdoor area and we found lots of different ways to measure it.  We also made footprints of our own using green paint and measured them using multi-link cubes.  We used the multi-link cubes to measure different sized beanstalks in our maths area too – it was wonderful to hear all of the fabulous mathematical language going on such as, ‘huge’, ‘enormous’ and ‘gigantic’!

To finish off our “Jack and the Beanstalk” inspired week, we made ‘magic’ beans on toast! 

We’re only a couple of weeks into school and look at how independent our new Reception children are becoming…

 

 
 
“Run, run as fast as you can…”

We’ve had a lot of fun reading the story of the ‘Gingerbread Man’!  We’ve used our phonic skills to make ‘Wanted’ posters and practised our counting and number recognition skills too by counting out buttons for him.  To finish off our exciting week of learning we also had a go at following a recipe to make our own Gingerbread people!  (We had to eat them quickly though…  We didn’t want them to run away!)

     

 

 

J Reception J  J
We’ve had an amazing first day back in school!  Reception children have settled well into their new school and class and we’ve all had a lot of fun exploring our learning environment and making new friends J