Reception
WELCOME TO THE RECEPTION CLASS PAGE
Weeks Thirty Six and Seven - Under the Sea (including Sports Day)
The weeks are speeding by! Can't believe we only have 4 more days until these Butterflies spread their wings too, and move onto Year One. And of course they also have their visit to meet their new teacher on Monday afternoon. They will still return to our base before the end of the day so need to be collected as normal. We have had a fun few weeks as you can see in the photos. Thank you so much to all who were able to join us for Sports Day. I know the children really enjoyed having you watching on! And thank you to everyone who has attended their parents meeting to get their child's end of year report. You should now all have your child's learning journey at home to have a look through though we ask that these be returned to us by Wednesday so we can pass them onto the year one teachers. Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Thirty Five - Minibeasts
This week we have been learning about lots of different minibeasts. We have also continued to watch our caterpillars grow and now they have all taken chrysalis form. We have completed lots of different activities thinking about whether the minibeasts are insects or not, can fly or not, and how many legs they have. In maths we carried on learning about sharing and also looked a little bit at 3D shape - thinking about how many faces, edges or points they had; if they were flat or curved; and if they could roll or slide. Next week we move onto our last topic of 'Under the Sea' - the children were very excited! Have a lovely weekend and don't forget that next Saturday (29th June) is our school fair! Goodbye and toodle-loo!
Week Thirty Four - Butterflies!
This week in the Butterfly classroom we have had new tiny visitors - but over the week they have grown and grown - Caterpillars! We have been learning a little bit about some other mini-beasts too and will continue next week. We looked at the story of the hungry caterpillar and have been doing some writing about all of the things he ate. In maths we have been learning about sharing and how when we share out a certain amount of things we have to make sure that everybody gets the same. In P.E. the children have started practising the skills they will need for sports day. It has been very rainy this week - please make sure you are sending a named raincoat on these days as even if we can't go out at playtime we still need to be able to walk across to the hall for dinner, thank you.
Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Thirty Three - Eid Celebration!
Last week was a strange week in the Butterfly class with having the Teacher Day on Monday, and then lots of our classmates away on Tuesday and Wednesday as they celebrated Eid at home, it meant we only had 2 days with everyone together. But then on the Friday everyone was back and we were able to all celebrate together and learn more about what Muslims celebrated and did on those days. We all enjoyed wearing our celebration clothes and doing lots of activities to remind us of what we had learnt. Then we really enjoyed having our parents in to share in our party.
Week Thirty Two - Growing Continued
In the lead up to half term we spent a few weeks on the topic of growing. We have planted beans (which are doing very well!), grass, strawberries, cress and flowers and learned about what we need to do to look after these. We also went on a walk to the farmer's fields to observe the changes since we went in Autumn. The children were amazed with how different it looked and loved running around in the open meadow between the planting fields, where they had great fun blowing dandelion clocks and we also found a frog!
We hope everyone has had a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow! Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Thirty One - Growing
Week Thirty - Vaisakhi
It was such a busy week in the butterfly classroom that we didn't manage to take any photos till Friday. So this week we just have some images of our celebration day for Vaisakhi. We had an assembly explaining what Sikhs celebrate and why this is an important day for them. Then we came back to the classroom and did some busy jobs helping us to remember the 5 Ks and all made a flag ready for our parade. We waited on the veranda for all the classes to process past us, and then joined in with the whole school on the main playground waving the flags we had made and clapping to the beat. Then in the afternoon we had a party and enjoyed having some of our parents join us too. Thank you so much to all who contributed or came along - it was lots of fun!
Week Twenty Nine - Life Cycle of a Frog
Welcome back! The Butterflies have settled really nicely back into the routines of school after our Easter Break. I hope you are all feeling well rested. We were very excited to have a visit from Mrs Shergill and Niryan (now 7 weeks old) this week - so lovely for all the children to see him in person. We're all missing Mrs Shergill a lot but pleased she's doing so well. In the classroom we've been learning about the life-cycle of a frog and as part of this we also went on a walk to the nature area. We were fortunate to see a frog in the small pond and a newt too! Some of us had never heard of a newt before so this was great fun! This week in maths we've covered the rest of the numbers to 20 and continued our counting in 2s. We haven't sent any homework this weekend but instead encouraged the Butterflies to really focus on their reading and make sure they are doing it at least 3 times a week but preferably a little bit each day. Don't forget on wednesday we have our maths morning where parents can come a bit about how we teach maths in the hall and then come back to the classroom to have a go at some activities with their child. It would be great to have as many of you as possible. Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty Eight - Easter
We have finally reached the end of our long term. In the lead up to the holidays we have been learning about Easter; what it means to Christians and the different ways people celebrate new life with the giving of Easter eggs and so forth. We have done lots of activities relating to eggs, chicks and rabbits and even made our own rabbit hat for the Easter bonnet parade on Friday - which is becoming a regular tradition at Brookside school. It's great fun to be able to join with all the other years and some of our Butterflies delighted in spotting older siblings. In maths this week we have been learning about weight; talking about things that are heavy and light and trying to make a prediction. We have loved using the scales to see if we are right; especially with the surprising things that were small and deceptively heavy or large and incredibly light! During the holidays please make sure you are still reading with your child and we have sent some holiday homework ideas in your child's book bag too. Please do make sure that all items of the P.E. kit is named over the holidays before you send it back - this would be greatly appreciated to ensure it is always returned to the right child!
Really hope you have a fun and restful holiday! Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty Seven - Farm Trip Week
It has been a momentous week for the Butterflies with our first trip off site to Stonehurst Farm. As you can imagine, all our busy jobs have centred around this during the week and since returning we have thought a lot about what materials and uses we get from the different animals. Tuesday was unfortunately quite a blustery, wet day. The children were real stars, coping with the rather unpleasant weather, and did us proud. We had some very brave children feeding and holding various inhabitants of the farm, as you can see in the photos. The children had great fun in the hay barn, eating their lunch and the playing in the hay. We were all ready to get back to school and the warmth at the end of the day! Next week we will begin looking at the topic of Easter. On Monday it will be Group 2 for swimming so please remember to send in their kits, and please make sure you are labelling all their kit and uniform. We are having a lot of children get mixed up between their items of clothing and it's tricky for us to sort this out when there are no names on the items. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful weekend. Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty Six - Farm Animals
This week we have began learning about Farm Animals in preparation for our trip next Tuesday (Remember to make sure you are on time for school with your child wearing their school jumper and sensible walking shoes and trousers - if they are bringing a packed lunch from home please ensure all items are completely nut free). We have learnt about the different animals we might see and what their babies are called. We have been building up various farmyards around the classroom too. In maths we have now gone up to 15 and talked about how with these teen numbers we have one group of ten and then however many more, and we can count on from ten. We are really working on our sentence writing at the moment; making sure we remember to use our finger spaces and full stops to make our writing clear. Have a wonderful weekend! Goodbye and Toodle-loo!
Week Twenty Five - Pets
We have been learning about pets this week in the Butterfly class. We have been lucky to have Mrs Worrall's guinea pig, Fudge, staying with us all week. All of us had a chance to see him close up in a group and ask questions and she's been in her cage in the classroom for us to watch her eat and drink and play. In P.E. we have been practising our throwing and catching skills. For our handwriting skills this week we have been practising 'n' and 'm' - starting at the top and bouncing up - for homework we're carrying this on with 'h' and 'b'. In maths we have been working on adding by counting on - holding the first number in our head and then counting on the number we want to add to it. On Wednesday we had our second phonics evening - thank you to all who attended. Then on friday we had another special visitor - Mrs Soni brought her dog Romeo to see us and showed us lots of tricks that he could do! Please make sure you respond to the farm trip letter and send your money via school gateway - the Butterflies are very excited! Have a great week and goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty Four - Spring! (supposedly)
This week we have begun looking at the signs of spring as we have had daffodils popping up ad blossom appearing on the trees. Unfortunately we had to postpone our walk to the nature area as the weather decided to be most un-spring like and has rained so much it made the ground too muddy. We have still enjoyed creating lots of spring busy jobs in the classroom though. In maths we have moved onto numbers 11 and 12; talking about how they are made of a group of ten and ... more. We are still working on hard on our pre-cursive handwriting. Next week we are moving onto a new topic and would really appreciate any small boxes and kitchen/toilet rolls you may have. It is Group one again on Monday for swimming so please make sure they have their costume, towel and swimming cap in a named bag. And it is also the phonics evening on wednesday - please return your form asap, thank you. Have a great weekend. Goodbye and toodle-loo!
Week Twenty Three - More Dinosaurs!
This week we have had a lot of fun but it has also been a bit of a sad but exciting week for the Butterfly class. On Tuesday Mrs Shergill brought forward her maternity leave slightly and had her last day. The children made her lots of cards and she is very grateful for all the well wishes and things you sent to her. We will miss her lots and look forward to sharing the happy news with you when baby Shergill arrives.
In the classroom we have continued with our phonics and maths - this week looking at the number bonds to 10; the children explored the ways they could make 10 with numicon and later in the week had a go at writing the number sentences.
With dinosaurs we have been looking more at the bones and fossils and thinking about volcanoes and the ways that all of the dinosaurs might have died out. There were lots of interesting ideas. On Friday we even had a go at making a volcano erupt - it was so fun that the Butterflies wanted to have another go! We have sent home the instructions on how to do this. We would love to see any photos you might take of attempts; which would be great to add into your child's learning journey! Have a great weekend! Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty One and Twenty Two - Dinosaurs!!!
The week before half term we began learning about dinosaurs after Mr Power found some mysterious rocks in the playground which we chipped away until we found dinosaur bones! This week we have continued looking specifically at the t-rex and stegosaurus! On Friday we all made dinosaur costumes - we thought about what we wanted our outfit to look like and then chose from lots of different materials to create our masterpieces. We looked at numbers 9 and 10 and have began doing some simple take-away sums. In phonics we've continued to learn some new sounds and are using these to write simple sentences; making sure we stretch and chop all the words to listen for as many sounds as we can.
Swimming starts for group 1 on Monday - dont forget your costume, towel and swimming hat.
Thursday is World Book Day and everyone can come to school in their pajamas with their favourite bedtime story!
Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Twenty - Chinese New Year Continued!
This week we have been preparing for our Chinese Assembly and celebrating Chinese New Year! In maths we have been looking at number 9 and beginning to think about subtraction. On Tuesday we made stir fry and ate it all together to celebrate. The rest of the week was spent getting everything ready for the big day. We had great fun on Friday performing our assembly to the parents and all our friends at Brookside. We are really so proud of all of the Butterflies for using their big, loud voices and joining in with all the actions. They were brilliant! Thank you to everyone that was able to come and watch. The Butterflies loved seeing you there! Now time for a well earned rest! Have a wonderful weekend! Goodbye-toodle loo!
Week Nineteen - Chinese New Year!
This week we have been learning about Chinese New Year in preparation for our Assembly next Friday (Friday 8th February at 9.15am) - it would be lovely for as many parents to join us as possible. Please send it a coloured top with your child's name in it (preferably red, yellow, orange, green - doesn't matter if it has a logo or writing we can just wear it inside out or back to front). This week we have been learning our lines, practising our song and doing lots of activities to create things for our Assembly. Please do help your child learn their lines and to say them in a loud, clear voice. We have sent home another piece of phonics homework.
Week Eighteen - Cold Places Continued
This week we carried on learning about cold places. We learnt about Inuits and the differences between the places that they live and what they wear. We also learned about polar bears. It has been fun learning about other cultures. Next week we will be learning about another one!
Week Seventeen - Cold Places
This week we have carried on our Winter theme learning about cold places and at the end of the week specifically at penguins. We have been filling out our own weather chart all week looking at our different kinds of weather. We've done lots of craft activities and lots of writing; putting together all the things we've been learning about Winter and Cold places and the kinds of animals that live there. Our classroom has been redecorated in lots of whites, blues and silvers. In maths we've carried on learning about number 7 and begun to try some basic adding. In phonics we are focusing a lot on our segmenting; writing simple captions to say what we can see in pictures for eg. A cat is on the mat. Have a good weekend. Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Sixteen - Winter
We had a great first week back after the break learning about Winter. We carried on doing apparatus in P.E. and even got out some of the bigger pieces of equipment. On Friday we went to a walk to the nature area to look out for lots of signs of Winter.
Week Fifteen - Christmas Continued!
We have had a lovely last week of term! We had a special session of Singing Sally on Monday. Then it was great fun to have our parents in school for the sing-along on Tuesday and serve them the mince pies we'd carefully made in the morning. Wednesday was super busy with our Christmas lunch and class party - we played so many games. Thank you for all your contributions! We got so much food we've been able to carry on having little treats for the rest of the week including popcorn during a short Christmas movie and a special group snack of the yummy fruits that were brought in - we have to say a special thank we the variety of foods we had this year; we think it was our healthiest yet! On Thursday we had a fun day getting busy in the classroom and some of our new Butterflies who are joining after Christmas came to visit. Then finally on Friday we had our pantomime of Aladdin in the morning and then enjoyed a day of playing with our class toys and finishing off lots of activities from the last two weeks. The Butterflies have worked so hard this time and so now it's time for a well earned rest! Enjoy your holiday!
Goodbye and toodle-loo! See you back on Tuesday 8th at 8:50!
Week Fourteen - Christmas!
This week we have been learning all about the Christian story of Christmas. We have completed activities to help us learn the story, and made angels and stars to decorate our classroom. On wednesday we got to see the key stage one Assembly which told us the story again in the style of strictly come dancing. We enjoyed clapping along to the music. Then on Thursday we had out trip to the church. The children were very busy trying on outfits, reading books, decorating the tree, looking at advent calendars, colouring and carrying out a spotter sheet. Lots of parents came along to help and we hope you enjoyed being with us. We also went to the post box to send our very special letter - keep your eyes on your post next week! It will be very busy with our sing-along on Tues 2:30 in our Butterfly classroom; Christmas jumper and dinner day on Wednesday along with our class party in the afternoon - a sign up sheet is now on the veranda for bringing items; and then on Friday we have the school pantomime (don't forget your £1.50 contribution if not already sent in).
Week Thirteen - Cinderella
This week we have been learning about Cinderella - we have done a lot of designing - making shoes, crowns, dresses, masks and wands. We have been getting so creative; using all kinds of materials. We were able to try some more balances on the apparatus in P.E. In phonics we learned y, x, z and zz - and have been practising lots more segmenting throughout the week; we were picking a picture from a tub and stretching and chopping and writing the words of whiteboards. In maths we have carried on working on number 6 and thinking about how you can have a whole number and it can be made up of parts; saying "a part of 2 and a part of 4 makes a whole of 6". On Friday we had our own little ball in the classroom - we all asked a partner to dance and did some beautiful movements!
Don't forget to bring back your signed letter to allow your Butterfly to walk to the church next Thursday with 58p for their stamp to post a letter. And also £1.50 for the pantomime in the last week.
Have a good weekend - Goodbye and toodle-loo!
Week Twelve - Princess and the Frog
This week we moved onto the topic of fairy tales and castles. We began with the Princess and the Frog - there were some amazing concertina legged frogs. Our cutting skills are getting so good now! In P.E we carried on with apparatus - the Butterflies are being very brave; learning to balance and complete safe jumping from the boxes. In phonics we've learnt j, v, and w. In maths we've been learning about number 6. In maths we have been using the numberblocks videos from the BBC to support our learning - the children really enjoy them and I'm sure would like to see them again, at home. We are all trying hard with our writing; stretching and chopping the words, and trying to listen to all the sounds we can hear. Keep encouraging this at home - making shopping lists, notes, reminders etc.
A letter will be coming out later next week to let you know all our important Christmas dates! Keep a watch in your child's bookbag from Tuesday. I will put them on here next Friday too.
Week Eleven - Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Our final traditional tale this week was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We learnt all about this cheeky little girl who did not behave very well at all! We have had great fun acting out this story. In phonics this week we have been learning about some greedy sounds who don't like to be on their own - they still only make one sounds though - ck, ss, ff, ll - these are usually found at the end of a word. Then in maths we have been looking at the number 5; counting accurately and looking at different ways we can make it. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our phonics evening; we hope you found it helpful! Next week we move onto our new topic of Fairy Tales!
Week Ten - The Gingerbread Man
Another week, another traditional tale. We have been learning about the Gingerbread man. The children had great fun chanting "Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man!" We have done lots of activities to order the story and think about the characters. In phonics we have learnt h, b, f and l! And in maths we've spent a lot of time making sure we are counting accurately. Then on Friday we had a special day celebrating Diwali with our Hindu and Sikh friends - we could dress up in our traditional dress or party clothes; we saw a wonderful assembly by the year threes and then in the afternoon some of our grown ups joined us for party food. Thank you to everyone who attended or sent in some food. The children love it when you can be here with us!
Don't forget next week on Wednesday it is the phonics evening at 6pm. Let us know if you can come along!
Week Nine - Little Red Riding Hood
This week we have continued with another traditional tale! This time Little Red Riding Hood! We've had lots of fun making masks and puppets and acting out the story - especially being the big bad wolf. We've heard lots of different versions of the story and found out that sometimes traditional tales can be told in not quite the same ways. We've had fun doing some outdoor P.E. In maths we've continued with the number 4 and the different ways we can show this number. In phonics we've learnt e, u and r. There has been some super writing and story telling in the Butterfly classroom this week.
Don't forget next week is parents evenings so if you can't remember your time or still need to make a booking then please get in touch.
Also if you want to order online to collect your child's photo from school then you need to have made this order by Sunday.
Week Eight - Three Billy Goats Gruff
This week in the Butterfly classroom we have continued our topic of traditional tales; this time looking at the story of the the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Again the teachers acted out the story for us and we had a chance to have a go too in the new role play area. On Tuesday we had our individual photos taken and you should have received your ordering form in your child's book bag. Reading books are now also being changed every week; please make sure you are looking at your child's book with them at least 3/4 times a week. There has been some really wonderful story telling. In maths this week we've been working on the number four and how we can make four different ways; for example 4 and 0, 3 and 1, or 2 and 2, but that even if we separate them in different ways altogether we still have four. In P.E. this week we had a session of dance write, where we have movement to music and then do some gross motor writing on a big scale.
Thank you to everyone who has returned their parents evening letter; if you haven't yet, then please get this to us as soon as possible.
Have a great weekend. Goodbye and toodle-loo!
Week Seven - The Enormous Turnip
This week we have begun learning about traditional tales; that have been passed down through the generations. We started with the enormous turnip. We had great fun acting out the story with masks or puppets, which we made ourselves too! We've been looking at the number three, and learning about having more or fewer. We've been continuing to practise our fine and gross motor skills and writing our names. On Friday we even made our own books and there have been some super attempts at 'have a go' writing. Please keep making up your own stories with your child's lilac book at home. Have a great weekend. Goodbye and toodle-loo!
Week Six - Harvest and Healthy Eating
We have had a fun week in the Butterfly classroom. We've all had a go at chopping some vegetables; taking great care. Then on Tuesday we mixed it all up and made soup with what we had chopped and all got to eat some. On Wednesday we had our gross motor session. Thank you to all the parents that were able to attend. I know the children loved getting busy with you. Hopefully anyone else who was not able to come this time should have received a letter with the information given in your child's book bag. We have been working hard on name writing this week and you will have some holiday homework to keep practising. This week we've looked at number 2 in maths and learnt p, i and n in phonics. We hope everyone enjoys the week off and a much needed break. We look forward to seeing you all again on the 22nd October. Goodbye and toodle-loo for now!
Week Five - Autumn
This has been a very busy week in our Butterfly class! We have been on two Autumn walks, including our first trip out of school to the farmer's field. Thank you to all the parent helpers who came along with us. We have spotted so many changes to the world around us. It was the most successful week we've ever had for finding conkers and acorns! We've made the most of the sunny weather this week and done lots of outdoor learning in the playground too - some of the children took over taking the blog photos one afternoon. We went to assembly on Friday and learnt more about Harvest and the importance of sharing to make things fair.
Don't forget it's the gross motor session on Wednesday morning - if you've not returned your form please do so soon as soon as possible. It would be great to have as many people joining us as you can.
Week Four - Families
During week four we have been learning about Families. We started by looking at the Robinson Family and looking at lots of of stories from the Oxford Reading Tree series. We have begun by looking at lilac level books where there are no words and we make up the stories ourselves. You can do this with picture books at home too! Then later in the week we started talking about our own families and used our homework sheets to talk in a small group about them (thank you to everyone for sending them in).
Don't forget on Wednesday 3rd October we are going for our Autumn walk so make sure you have filled in your child's permission slip and let us know if you'd like to come too. The children will need wellies and a warm coat with a hood.
Week Three - Ourselves
Sorry for the delay in adding in Week Three - we have had some updates to the website and had to wait for it all to be sorted out. This week we started looking at ourselves and all the different parts that make up our face and body. We drew round one of our friends and thought about all the things we know that make up a person. We did lots of activities where we could think about what we looked like and what our friends looked like too! On Wednesday we did our first P.E. lesson in the hall - we only just took off our shoes and socks and jumpers this time but we had lots of fun. Back in the classroom we started looking how with our letters we usually start from the top and go to the bottom. We had a go at rolling tyres up to the top of the hill and then let them go back down and talked about which was easiest - it was definitely rolling top to bottom!
Week Two - Nursery Rhymes
We have had a busy week in the Butterfly Classroom. We are settling in really well and getting used to the rules and routines of schools. We have been doing so many different activities and playing with lots of different toys - learning so much everyday! And telling our teachers lots of things about what we already know! We also had our first go at outdoor P.E. this week. We've been learning new songs and looking at some well known Nursery Rhymes.
Week One!
We have had a super week in the Butterfly classroom! Everyone has settled in so well and it's great to see so many smiling faces coming into school! We have been playing a lot outside to make the most of the last bits of summer weather so please do make sure your child brings a coat with a hood and a named water bottle for the trolley. Hope you have a lovely weekend and we look forward to our first full day on Monday. We start at 8:50 and the Butterflies need to be collected at 3:10.