Welcome to Year R!

2024-25

In Year R, our teachers are Mrs Jandula (Class 1), Mrs Baker (Class 2), Mr Tagarsi (Class 3), and Miss King. Mrs Searle oversees all three classes as Assistant Headteacher and Early Years Manager. We are also supported by our dedicated Learning Support Assistants (LSA): Miss Drury, Mrs Bright, Miss Candy, Miss Croft, Mrs Eldridge, and Mrs Howlett. 

If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher. If they are not around at pick-up, you can speak to them by phoning the school and requesting an appointment.

Keep referring back to this page for regular updates about the children's learning. 

Curriculum Newsletters

• Year R Curriculum Newsletter - Spring 2025
• Year R Curriculum Newsletter - Summer 1 2025
• Year R Curriculum Newsletter - Summer 2 2025

Update - Friday 6th June 2025

This week, we have been learning about the amazing life and achievements of Sir David Attenborough. The children learnt that a significant person is a role model for others and somebody who, through their inventions and ideas, makes changes in the way people think. Another topic this week was 'the farm', and we have been learning about animals and plants that we would expect to see there. We have closely looked at how crops grown on farms such as wheat, barley, or potatoes can be used to make bread, porridge or chips. That has informed our writing, and we wrote sentences such as: Cows and sheep are on the farm. Oats grow on the farm.

In Daily Maths, we talked about sharing and the children had a go at sharing objects fairly into groups. We have helped the three bears get a fair number of sweets and have also discussed our findings by using stem sentences such as: It is fair because all three bears have two sweets each./It is not fair because daddy bear has more sweets than mummy bear and baby bear.
In Phonics, we started revising all the tricky words we have learnt this year and played a pair game to consolidate our knowledge. The children have been reading some CVCC and CCVC words with long vowels, for example, bright, joint, start, toast or flight. We also continue practising reading with automaticity and writing dictated sentences.

Whilst out at Forest school this week, we searched for items in our environment that were shaped like numbers.

Update - Friday 23rd May 2025

This week we have been reading 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', and the children retold the story and then sequenced the main events. We also wrote some sentences during Topic Time, and we looked closely at a timeline and discussed how the kitchen appliances, such as a kettle, looked in the past and how they changed. We also sequenced the process of making porridge, and we wrote using sentences such as: First, we put the oats in the bowl. Next, we add milk. Finally, we mix it up.

Our Daily Maths focus was manipulating, composing and decomposing shapes. We learnt how we could build the shapes and take them apart, for example, we made a rectangle with two squares and cut a rectangle diagonally in half to get two triangles. The children also practised their number formation while completing special worksheets and tasks.

In Phonics, we practised blending in our heads to develop automaticity in reading some of the words we have learnt this term. This will help children read their books assigned on eCollins platform with more fluency.

              

Update - Friday 16th May 2025

This week, we read The Enormous Turnip. Together, we worked on retelling the story and explaining what happened first, next, and last. The children then wrote sentences like: The man pulled the turnip. The dog pulled the turnip, etc. We have looked at the timeline and recalled some events from the past, such as the first story of The Enormous Turnip being written or the teacher and the children being born. That informed our next topic, which was comparing the farming tools from the past to the ones that farmers use now. The children have also learnt about different fruit and vegetables and drew and wrote about their favourite ones.

In Phonics, we have been reading longer words ending in -ing, -ed, and -est, such as plumpest, swimming, smashed, or stamped. Our tricky words this week were out and today. 

Our focus in Daily Maths was subtraction, and we looked at how the amount changed when we removed some objects. The children used stem sentences to talk through their work and calculations: First there were..., Next we took...away, Now there are ...

The children explored colour mixing on the art table and created their own story maps for The Enormous Turnip.

This week we started our handwriting lessons and the children practised writing c, o and a, making sure they used the correct letter formation and wrote their letters on the lines. 

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Update - Friday 9th May 2025

This week, we have focused on another Traditional tale: Jack and the Beanstalk. We read the story, and the children joined in with the repeated refrains. We watched the video explaining how to grow beans and discussed what we could see. Next, the children planted their own beans using a plastic bag and wet paper towels and then attached them to a window. We will watch them grow for the next few days.

We also sequenced the main events of the story and used our phonics knowledge to write sentences such as: 

• Jack took the harp and the hen.
• The hen laid some eggs.

In Phonics, we read some longer words, such as tantrum, forest, chapter, freshness, blossom, or children, and some compound words, such as handstand, windmill, or sandpit. Our tricky words this week were what, when, one, and there.

Our Daily Maths focused on adding and taking away. The children counted from the given number to work out how many new objects were added or taken away from the initial set. Some of the stem sentences we used were: First, there were …. and then …. were added/taken away. Now, there are….altogether. 

We all had a great time celebrating the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. The children decorated their own Union Jack flags and created their own acrostic poems.

             

Update - Friday 2nd May 2025

This week, we continued to use the Gingerbread Man story to inform our learning.

We have looked at the history of the story and learnt about when the first story was written. We compared this to when other important events happened that the children know about, e.g when Florence Nightingale was born and when we were born.

We looked at kitchens from when the story was written and compared them to modern-day kitchens. This has also informed our writing. Some of the sentences we wrote were: 

• I have a sink. 
• I have a kettle to boil water.

In Maths, we have focused on building numbers 10-20, and we have also looked closely at the number patterns, consolidating our knowledge of one more and one less. Some of the stem sentences the children used were:

• '15 has 10 and 5'
• '16 is one more than 15'
• 'One less than 15 is 14'

In Phonics, we have practised reading CCVC and CCCVC words such as squelch, crisp, strong or scrunch and sentences such as:

• The string was strong and held me up. 
• My boots went squelch in the mud. 

The children learnt new tricky words: were, here, little and says. 

The children enjoyed decorating their own gingerbread men and also had a go at designing some kitchen appliances and making them using junk modelling.

Update - Friday 25th April 2025

Update - Thursday 3rd April 2025

This week we have learnt all about Easter and why and how it is celebrated. The children listened to the Easter story and had a go at sequencing the main events, such as crucifixion, resurrection, and betrayal. We shared different ways of celebrating Easter. For example, going on an egg hunt, visiting a church, or eating hot cross buns. We also listened to Easter-themed stories and wrote captions and sentences inspired by our topic. For example:

• Chicks that cheep.
• She has hot cross buns. 
• I go to church.

Our focus in Daily Maths was patterns, particularly AAB and ABB. The children had a go at creating their own patterns and finding a mistake in the ones that had been created for them. We recapped 3D shapes, looked for shapes such as cones, cubes, and cuboids in the environment, and talked about their features, such as flat circular faces or curved surfaces.

In Phonics, we have started reading and writing CVCC words such as lift, wind, help, hand, fact or lump and learnt new tricky words: said, so, have, like. Some of the sentences we read this week were:

• Help the farmer put up the tent.
• Lift up the lamp to see the lump.
• The best gift is the big box.

On the art table, the children enjoyed creating their own Easter eggs and hot cross buns and decorating Easter cards.

        

Update - Friday 28th March 2025

This week our topic was spring. We have learnt about the changes of the seasons and the first signs of spring, such as flowers blooming or lambs being born. The children observed blossom on the trees and the daffodils outside our classroom. Later, they had a go at writing some captions and sentences about the observations they made. We have also planted cress seeds and wrote sequenced instructions on how to do it: First, you need a pot. Next, we put in some cotton wool. Then you need to put seeds on top. Finally, water the seeds to help them grow. 

In Daily Maths we revised number bonds to 10 and 5 and the children had a go at recording their calculations, both pictorially and numerically. We have also started a new topic and learnt about 3D shapes. We looked closely at the features of a cylinder, cone, cube, cuboid, pyramid and sphere. The children enjoyed finding real-life objects, such as tins, gluesticks, party hats or dice, and comparing them to the corresponding 3D shapes. 

In phonics, we read longer words using the chunking up method, for example, chatt-ing, ear-ring. We have also practiced reading some words ending in 's', such as fights, queens, or chains. We kept revising all the tricky words we have learnt so far and wrote some sentences and captions to consolidate our knowledge. 

Our art activities were inspired by the first signs of spring- the children mixed red and white to paint pink blossoms and mastered their observational skills while drawing daffodils.  

   

Update - Friday 21st March 2025

This week, we continued the dinosaurs topic. We learnt more facts about fossils while reading a book about the first woman palaeontologist, Mary Anning. We also talked about what animals lived alongside the dinosaurs and where different foods came from.

We revisited doubles to 10 in maths and completed various activities to consolidate our knowledge. We also began looking at our number bonds to 10 and practised them through the use of songs, different activities and during our daily maths practice.

The children worked very hard this week and had lots of fun exploring.

Update - Friday 14th March 2025

On Monday, we found a golden egg in our classroom! We quickly predicted which animal or bird might be hiding in the egg and wrote some sentences. For example, I think it is a rabbit, or I think it is an owl. We have also spoken about how eggs hatch. 

The next day, we discovered footprints on the floor, which prompted us to play detectives. We went around our playground area to look for hints, clues, and, most importantly, the creature that hatched from our egg! The children found some cracks on the ground, more footprints, and even something that looked like a giant tooth!

We have been learning facts about carnivores and herbivores, discussing what palaeontologists do and what fossils are. This information informed our writing and the That’s Not My Dinosaur book. The children wrote sentences to describe dinosaurs. For example, its neck is too long, and its legs are too short.

In Phonics, we continue revising digraphs and trigraphs ao, ar, oo, oo, igh, ear, air, ur, er, ow and read words with two or more digraphs, for example, chart, cheep, corner, power, torch or thinker.

In Maths, we learnt about the composition of 9 and 10 and used stem sentences such as:

I know…is a part and ….is a part. The whole is… to describe what we can see when looking at different arrangements in ten frames. We revised what we knew about the concept of one more and we played games such as one more bingo or number spinner to consolidate our knowledge. 

Our art activities focused on the discovery of an egg in the classroom - the children drew what they thought was inside the egg and also practised joining two eggshells with a split pin.

      

Update - Friday 7th March 2025

This week, our shared read was about Florence Nightingale's life. We discussed when and where she was born and how she looked after the patients and changed hospitals. We wrote sentences, such as:

You will need a bar of soap.

You will need fresh air.

You will need fresh food.

In Maths, we closely looked at numbers 9 and 10 and learnt about finding, representing and composing these numbers. The children practised comparing numbers from 0 to 9 and were encouraged to use stem sentences. For example:

I have fewer counters.

I have more counters.

I know that….is fewer/more than…

In phonics, we have been revising and consolidating our knowledge of digraphs, trigraphs, and some of the tricky words we have learnt previously. The children practised reading longer words such as pattern, muffin, fantastic or shimmer, and chunking them up.

On Thursday we celebrated the World Book Day and enjoyed sharing books with the Year 4 children. We then made a paper bridge to show how many books we had read- each bridge link was one book we shared. 

         

Update - Friday 28th February 2025

On Monday we found a golden egg in our classroom! We quickly started making predictions about which animal or bird might be hiding in the egg, and then we wrote some sentences. For example: I think it is a rabbit. I think it is an owl. We have also spoken about how eggs hatch. 

The next day, we discovered footprints on the floor, which prompted us to play detectives. We went around our playground area to look for hints and clues and, most importantly, the creature that hatched from our egg! The children found some cracks on the ground, more footprints, and even something that looked like a giant tooth!

We have been learning facts about carnivores and herbivores, and we also discussed what the palaeontologists do and what the fossils are. Our writing was informed by this information, and That’s Not My Dinosaur book. The children wrote sentences to describe dinosaurs. For example: Its neck is too long. Its legs are too short.

In Phonics, we continued revising digraphs and trigraphs ao, ar, oo, oo, igh, ear, air, ur, er, ow and read words with two or more digraphs; For example, chart, cheep, corner, power, torch or thinker.

In Maths, we learnt about the  composition of 9 and 10 and used stem sentences such as:

I know…is a part and ….is a part. The whole is… to describe what we could see when looking at different arrangements in ten frames. We revised what we knew about the concept of one more and we played games such as one more bingo or number spinner to consolidate our knowledge. 

Our art activities focused on the discovery of an egg in the classroom, the children drew what they thought was inside the egg and also practised joining two eggshells with a split pin.

            

Update - Friday 14th February 2025

We had a busy last week before half-term!

In Shared Read, we used Sue Hendra’s book ‘Keith the Cat with a Magic Hat’ to discuss different ideas for Keith’s hat. The children wrote sentences and captions such as: ‘He has a velvet hat.’ or ‘The chair hat’. We worked together to retell the story and revisited the topic of magnetism while trying to find a magnetic hat for Keith. 

In phonics, we have focused on consolidating tricky words and all the diagraphs and triagraphs we have learned this term. The children are doing incredibly well and are beginning to be able to apply their phonics knowledge to complete various reading and writing tasks. We are very proud of their achievements!

In Daily Maths, we looked closely at length, distance and height, and we found different ways of measuring how long and short and tall and short objects were. During the retrieval practice, we looked at the number patterns, remembering all the important stem sentences, such as I know that….is one more/one less than…’.

Update - Friday 7th February 2025

This week, our Shared Read was informed by Sue Hendra’s book ‘Barry the Fish with Fingers’. Together, we recalled the story to sequence the main events, and then the children worked hard to build and write sentences describing what Barry could do; for example, he can hammer the ladder or the coin.

In Maths, we concentrated on doubles and used stem sentences such as ‘I know that double 2 this 4’. We have also consolidated our knowledge of combining groups to find the total amount. 

In Phonics, we practised reading longer words such as ladder, chicken or market. We chunked the words up to read and write them. Next week is a phonics assessment week and the children have been working hard to recall tricky words and diagraphs and triagraphs they have learnt this term. 

Everyone enjoyed art activities that included colour mixing red and yellow to make orange, to paint a puffer fish and creating their own hand print fish. 

            

Update -Friday 31st January 2025

This week in Phonics, the children learnt the sounds air and er, and tricky words are pure and sure. We also practised reading longer words like hammer, rabbit or carrot. We practised recalling and writing tricky words and played games such as spot and splat a tricky word.

Our learning was informed by Sue Hendra's book 'Norman the Slug with a Silly Shell', and we were busy writing speech bubbles for the main characters and creating new shells for Norman. The children used phonics knowledge to write words, captions, and sentences. For example, he has a light shell.

In Daily Maths, we learnt about numbers 6,7 and 8, their composition and finding one more and one less than a given number. The children used stem sentences such as: I know 8 is one more than 7 and I know that 6 is one less than 7, to describe their findings.

 

Update - Friday 24th January 2025

This week, the children learnt the sounds ur, er, oi and ear

The tricky words the children read were my, by and all. 

In maths, we compared the mass and capacity of different objects. We used these stem sentences to model our answers:

The...is heavier/lighter than the...

The scales are balanced because...

The mass of a... is ____ cubes. 

The capacity of the container is...

Our shared book was another Sue Hendra novel called 'No-Bot: The Robot Who Lost His Bottom'. We completed many robot-themed activities and had so much fun.

The children worked really hard with their writing and the formation of letters. We have been carefully looking out for what sounds we need to spell different words. We have been looking at out grapheme mats to assist with our spelling. We have seen a big difference in our writing when we look at it. 

         

Update - Friday 17th January 2025

It was amazing to see everyone again after such a long break!

Year R children set straight to work and tried their best at everything they did this week. 

In Shared Read, we continued to follow Supertato's adventures. This time, we focused on his antagonist, Evil Pea. Together, we built sentences to describe Evil Pea and some of his mischievous ideas. We also worked on writing speech bubbles and sequencing the main events in the story. The children learnt about freezing and melting and investigated and observed the melting of an ice lolly and ice cubes. 

In Phonics, we learnt more diagraphs: oo, oo ar and or, and tricky words were, you and they.

The children worked hard to practice writing and reading words such as: book, hook, food, wood, car or horn. We read in our new reading groups as well - please remember to log on tothe  Collins hub, where you can find reading materials assigned to the children.

Our math’s focus this week was finding one more and one less than the given number. We practised adding and taking away using counters and number blocks and using sentences such as :’ Two is one more than one’ or ‘Three is one less than four’. The children also had a go at writing numbers and simple calculations. We also looked at the composition of 5 in preparation for learning about number bonds.

Update - Friday 10th January 2025

This week was slightly different. Instead of welcoming Year R children back to the classrooms, we had to do some online learning. The children enjoyed participating in Shared Read, Phonics, and Daily Maths lessons and did a fantastic job completing their daily challenges. 

In phonics, we learnt new diagraphs: ai, ee, and oa, as well as a trigraph high. We also revised some of the tricky Phase 2 words, such as I, the, put, pull, and full.

In Maths, we examined the representation of numbers 0-5 and subitising up to 5 objects. We also learnt about the number, which is one more than a given number.

In Shared Reading, our book was Supertato by Sue Hendra and Paul Linett. Together we described what Supertato looked like, sequenced the main events in the story and wrote captions. We also created our own supermarkets and stocked the shelves, which we labelled using the sounds and tricky words we have learned.

Update - Friday 13th December 2024

This week the children have continued to practise their nativity. They listened well, worked hard and were amazing on stage. 

In maths, we looked at the numbers 6,7,8,9 and 10. We discovered different ways the numbers could be represented. The children then completed some activities to enhance their provision. 

Our shared reading this week was all about Christmas, and how we celebrate. The children enjoyed sharing what they do at Christmas and loved learning about the different celebrations that took place. Thank you to everyone who shared their pictures. We also completed lots of Christmas themed activities, such as: making cards, christmas trees and festive baubles. 

In phonics, the children completed their phonics assessment for Autumn 2. The children did incredibly well and have made a massive amount of progress.

        

Updated - Friday 29th November 2024

This week our story was Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson. During the partner talk we sequenced the main events in the story and also learnt that some young animals look different from their parents. We also used action words to describe what the animals were doing in the jungle. 

In Maths, we looked closely at shapes with 4 sides. The children used stem sentences to describe the features of the quadrilaterals, such as squares or rectangles. They also explored combining shapes in order to make new ones, for example, folding a rectangle to make a square.  

On the art table, the children practised using different techniques such as folding or joining with split pins to make the main characters from this week’s story. We also created a story map together and next the children had a go at creating their own ones.

In Phonics, we learnt new diagraphs: sh, th, ng and nk, and a few more tricky words: push, he, off, she. Everybody worked extremely hard to consolidate their phonics knowledge during phonics lessons, blending-blast-quick catch up and during adult-led and independent writing and reading activities. The children especially enjoyed our tricky word matching game that they were able to make themselves at the cutting table. 

          

Updated - Friday 22nd November 2024

This week we learnt the new phonemes z,zz,qu and ch. Everybody worked really hard to read new words and practise writing them. Examples were: chip, quick, zip and buzz. 

The children also read their new book fluently and were able to answer comprehension questions. Well done!

The children completed various writing tasks, cutting tasks to practice their word recognition and maths worksheets, looking at 1 more, 1 less and the composition of 4 and 5. 

The children were extra lucky to have their first-ever disco, where they had so much fun. They enjoyed dancing with all their new friends across the year group. The children also got to attend a pantomime called Sleeping Beauty. They enjoyed it a lot and liked being able to boo, hiss and say the classic saying, "They're behind you!".

            

Updated - Friday 15th November 2024

Our book this week was The Gruffalo. The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story, sequencing the main events and describing the main characters and their features. Our role play also changed to the Gruffalo Cafe, where the customers were served scrambled snake, owl ice cream and roasted fox.

In Maths, we learnt about numbers 4 and 5, and we spoke about their composition, subitising and matching the amount to the numeral.

In phonics, the children were introduced to 4 new sounds: x, y, w and v and also new tricky words. We enjoyed bingo and memory games, which helped with recognition and recalling of the CVC and tricky words too.

The children are all working incredibly hard during their reading sessions, and therefore gaining increasing confidence in decoding words, comprehension and using prosody.

         

Updated - Friday 8th November 2024

      

This week in Shared Read we focused on Diwali and Bonfire Night. We listened to the Diwali story and discussed how it is celebrated, during the whole class and partner talk. Children enjoyed making their own Rangoli patterns and diya lamps as part of the art activities related to our literacy topic. We also created fireworks pictures by printing.

In Maths, we looked closely at triangles and circles and the children learnt to describe the features of both shapes. Everybody enjoyed playing a shape matching game, as well as the shape hunt with the special-shaped magnifying glasses.

We learnt four new sounds in Phonics ff, ll, ss, j and practised oral blending, even throughout the day when the teachers decided to sound talk words such as s-t-o-p, s-i-t or p-e-n. The children had a go at writing words and captions to label the fireworks pictures and did a fantastic job segmenting words in order to write the correct graphemes. 

We continued our reading practice this week-the children were given their reading books on Thursday and are looking forward to showing their reading skills to you. The books are also available on eCollins platform. Please make sure you continue reading at home with your child at least 5 times a week. It would also be lovely to share some of the children’s favourite stories in class, so please feel free to send them in the children’s book bags next week. 

Updated - Friday 25th October 2024

This week in Shared Read we enjoyed reading Funny Bones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. We sequenced the story and described the main characters and events. We learned more about our bodies and bones. We looked at X-rays and tried to guess which part of the bodies we could see.

It was our Phonics assessment week, so we revised all the sounds we have learnt this term, and we practised writing graphemes and blending phonemes to read words, such as red, man, peck or sat.

In Maths our focus was numbers 1,2 and 3, and we looked at number composition, representations and also the concept of 1 more and 1 less.

The children all had fun creating their own skeletons and X-ray pictures on the art table. We also all enjoyed spending time in our new outside area, where we explored resources and learning jobs inspired by Humpty Dumpty, which was our rhyme of the week.

         

Updated - Friday 18th October 2024

This week we continued celebrating Black History Month and in Shared Read we concentrated on a story ‘We are Going to Find a Monster’ by Malorie Blackman. We talked about the main characters and sequenced the most important events in the story. The children enjoyed making maps of how to get to the monster’s lair and learnt how to use a timeline to recognise the difference between past and present. 

In Maths we have been consolidating our knowledge of patterns and we learnt to recognise a unit of repeat. The children showed an interest in making their own movement patterns and practising them with the rest of the class.

In Phonics we learnt sounds f, b, h and l and we have worked really hard to practice oral blending and segmenting to spell and write the words such as ten, dog or mum. The children listened to initial, middle and final sounds to write the words and label the pictures. We also played CVC words bingo, wrote words to match the pictures and joined in with listening games, such as ‘blend from the box’ or ‘can you touch your…?’ to further consolidate our phonics knowledge.

At the creative table we have been making recycled modelling monsters and mixing colours to decorate them. 

We absolutely love looking at all the Tapestry updates and the children are very excited to talk about their achievements and adventures at home. Please keep posting your news!

All of the children had a reading book to take home this week. The books have also been assigned on eCollins platform and you can find login details in your child Reading Diary. 

Updated - Friday 11th October 2024

To celebrate Black History Month in shared read we looked at 'My Hair' by Hannah Lee and we talked about ways we look after our hair. We sequenced the main events in the story and we worked hard to retell it. 

In maths we learnt about mass, capacity and patterns. Chldren enjoyed making their own repeating patterns using objects, movements and sounds. We also checked how much rice different containers can hold and worked in pairs to find out which objects where lighter or heavier.

In phonics we learnt four new sounds ck, e, u, r and practiced oral blending, writing grapmemes and reading words independently. We also started our reading groups this week and the children were very excited to be able to take books home to share them with their grown-ups. 

Update - Friday 4th October 2024

In shared read we listened to 'We are all different' story and the children enjoyed sharing facts about themselves, as well as their families. We looked at the photos shared on Tapestry and talked about festivals and celebrations such as Eid, Diwali, Christmas or weddings and birthdays. Class 1 children then enjoyed making special occasions cards and creating their own birthday cakes made of recycled modelling.

In Maths we explored concepts omore, less and the same and the children had a go at playing games such as funky fingers counting to support this topic.

In Phonics we learnt new sounds g,o,c and k and we worked hard to consolidate our knowledge by playing oral blending bingo and taking part in grapheme hunt.

Update - Thursday 26th September 2024

This week in we talked more about how we feel and how our actions can affect other people and their emotions. Our book of the week was 'Have You Filled a Bucket Today?' and we have spent a lot of time thinking about how we can ‘fill others buckets’ with kindness and how not to ‘dip in someone’s bucket’, as it would make them feel sad. 

In phonics, we have learnt new sounds: i, n, m and d and the children blended to read words, such as sit, tip, nap, mat or pan. Everybody worked really hard to practice writing graphemes and using ditties to help with letter formation. 

We discussed matching and sorting in maths. The children enjoyed matching pictures to the objects and finding pairs of the same items. We have also made sets and compared them. We have revisited counting from 0 to 10 and then from 10 to 0.

We all really enjoyed exploring colour mixing and using white and black paint to change the shades of the colours. Year R children were also busy making and decorating their own buckets.

Update - Friday 20th September 2024

In our shared read, we focused on 'The Colour Monster'. We looked at the front and the back cover and we talked about what title and blurb were. We sequenced the story and shared some comments about our feelings and emotions and how they can be expressed through facial expressions and actions. 

We continued singing number rhymes during daily maths. We have also worked on matching the numerals to the correct amount and counting out the sets and stopping at the given number. Children enjoyed a range of maths activities, such as number hunt or counting out the stickers to match the numeral. 

We were very excited about starting phonics this week. The children learnt sounds s,a,t and p and then had a go at writing their graphemes. We played I spy phonics games and listened to the initial sounds in words to label the pictures. 

At the art table, the children had fun making Colour Monster collages and exploring mixing blue and yellow in order to paint green waves.

Updated - Friday 13th September 2024

We have had so much fun during our first week of school.

We have learnt new routines and rules. Have learnt about our school ‘Rainbow Rules’, which are: good listening, good sitting, respect the environment, challenge yourself, be kind and kind hands.

We have explored our feelings display and had regular check ins to show how we are feeling throughout the day. We thought about how we can help our friends if they are feeling sad or angry.

We have been doing lots of name writing practise, have been refining our cutting skills and have been following instructions to complete activities.

We started foundations for phonics, listening for syllables in words, hearing rhyming words and learning nursery rhymes.

In maths we have been identifying amounts, making sets, using shapes to create pictures and subitising.

As you can see we have been incredibly busy this week.