Welcome to Reception!

Every week this page will be updated with information about what we have been doing for that week. There will be recaps of the learning, activities recommended to try at home, phonics videos to watch with your child and photographs of the children learning at school. We recommend that you check the website weekly and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask your child's class teacher.

Week 7

Week beginning 16.10.23

It has been a very busy last week in Reception before half term. It was lovely to meet with parents during the learning reviews this week and discuss with you how the children have settled into school life. Thank you to everyone for attending. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

With the weather getting colder and wetter, please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes in school. 

Phonics 

In phonics this week we learnt the sound ‘x’ and have also begun to learn about our ‘special friends’ which are 2 letters that make one sound. These included: qu, sh, ch and th. Please continue to practice the sounds at home with your child using the sheet provided. Here are this week’s phonics videos for you to watch at home together. 

Please note these videos will expire after 3 weeks.

Maths

In maths this week we have been finding and describing patterns. We have identified patterns on animals, clothes and in the environment around us. We have talked about colours and shapes within these patterns. We also created our own patterned socks by repeating both the design and the colour on each sock. 

Wider Curriculum 

In topic this week we thought about the ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and discussed why the straw and stick houses were blown down, but the brick house was not. After reading the story, we explored other materials such as metal, glass, stone, wood and fabric and evaluated whether they would make good materials to build a house. We then had fun creating our own houses for the pigs and acted out the story using puppets. 

In Jigsaw time we learned about ‘responsibility’. We talked about what this means and how we can be successful showing it and have been focusing hard on the different ways we can keep ourselves and each other safe at school such as by using kind hands and picking up after ourselves. 

In music we have been continuing our learning about ‘The sorcerer's apprentice’. This week we looked at different percussion instruments and explored the sounds they made, maintaining a rhythm with them and also experimenting with tempo (faster/slower). 

Makaton 

We learned 2 new Makaton signs this week including ‘drink’ and ‘toilet’. See if you can use it at home this weekend.

This half term has been very busy and all the children have been brilliant settling into school life and learning all of the new routines. We are so proud of how much they have learnt already! We would like to thank you for all your support in your children’s learning. Have a lovely and safe half term and we look forward to seeing you all back on Monday 30^th October. Happy Half Term!

Week 6

Week beginning 9.10.23

Reception have had another amazing and busy week! This week, we had a visit from the builders who chatted to us about what it is like being a builder and we also got to see some of their amazing machines outside and watched them do cool tricks. Later in the week we also got to explore using our brand new PE equipment and learned how to climb and jump safely. On Friday we got to entertain all of our grown ups in our fabulous Harvest Festival assembly. We had fun making flap jacks in the morning and loved sharing our songs with you all. Thank you for coming. 

Phonics 

In phonics we have been learnt the sounds j, v, y, w and z. Please continue to practice the sounds at home with your child using the sheet provided. Here are this week’s phonics videos for you to watch at home together. 

Please note these videos will expire after 3 weeks.

Maths

In maths, the children have been learning to add and take away. We used counters to help us add and take away and we also looked at the different ways we can make 5 looking carefully at the 2 parts. 

e.g. 3 + 2 = 5

       1 + 4 = 5

Wider Curriculum 

In topic, we thought about homes. We discussed how homes can look different and explored a wide range of homes. We then thought about our own homes and drew pictures of what they look like. We also thought how explorers often bring snacks on their journeys and have picnics outside. We then made our very own sandwiches!

We continued to learn about ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ and this week we acted out the story and retold it using key phrases. We also looked in depth at the different places the family walk through and thought about interesting words we could use to describe each place. 

Makaton 

Our new Makaton signs this week was ‘help’. See if you can use it at home this weekend.

We hope your child has enjoyed this week as much as we have. Have a lovely weekend! We look forward to seeing you for our final week of term next week and to meet all the grown ups for our learning reviews.

Week commencing 2nd October 2023

We have all had another lovely week in Dragonfly class which culminated in a school trip walking around our local area. We spotted lots on our journey and had a great time playing in the park with all our friends. Thank you to all the helpers who came along today, it was really nice to have all of your support and all of the children appreciated it! Next week we will be focusing a bit more on harvest and thinking about the signs of Autumn. Please help us by hunting for some Autumnal treasure to share in our investigation station next week. This could be anything from colourful leaves, acorns, conkers or anything else that looks interesting.

Phonics 

In phonics we have been learning the sounds e, l, h and r. Please continue to practice the sounds at home with your child using the sheet provided. It makes such a huge difference to their recollection of the different sounds. Here are this week’s phonics videos for you to watch at home together. 

Please note these videos will expire after 3 weeks.

Maths 

In maths, we have been working on finding 1 more and 1 less. We have used counters to help us solve simple problems as well as drawing one more or crossing one out. We are also beginning to use our fingers more confidently to show 1 more and 1 less. 

Wider curriculum

As part of our topic ‘Let’s Explore’, we looked at places we would like to visit and drew the ones we liked the look of. We also discussed the kinds of things we would see in our local area and discussed what they might be used for. Of course, the biggest part of our topic this week was our trip around the local area. 

In English we continued to think about our story ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ We talked about what we liked and disliked about it and also discussed reasons for and against going into the cave. 

Makaton 

Our new Makaton sign this week was ‘thank you’. See if you can use it at home this weekend.

We hope your child has enjoyed this week as much as we have.

Have a lovely long weekend and enjoy the lovely weather.

Week commencing 25th September

Reception had another lovely week of school which was kick started by our ‘World Celebration Day’ on Monday where we were able to learn a little bit about countries special to us. We also had lots of lovely new outdoor and indoor equipment delivered which has been put to good use by all the children already. Children have had their reading books changed this week too and have been able to choose and bring home an additional library book. Please remember to use Boom Reader to log your child’s progress as well as check any messages left by me to help give you a better idea of how reading at school is going. 

Phonics 

In phonics we have been learning the sounds c, k, u, b and f. Please continue to practice the sounds at home with your child using the sheet provided. Here are this week’s phonics videos for you to watch at home together. 

Please note these videos will expire after 3 weeks.

Maths 

In maths, we have been using the terms more, fewer, most and fewest to compare the value of sets of objects. We began by comparing quantities in objects, shapes and pictures and worked towards ordering quantities from most to fewest. 

Wider curriculum

As part of our topic ‘Let’s Explore’, we looked at places in the world that were special to us and reminded ourselves of what we learnt during our ‘World Celebration Day’ we talked about places we had been and identified them on a world map and even thought about some of the places we would like to visit ourselves. We also had a think about where we live and how much it has changed over the years. We looked at photographs from the past and compared them to now- identifying what is the same and what is different. 

In English we started a brand new topic on ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. We read the story and talked about the pictures. We discussed what we might see or hear in the cave and how it might feel for the characters. We described the bear using key words. We even acted out the story using puppets as part of our exploring time.

In music we explored feelings and emotions in music. We described pieces of music and discussed the feelings that they expressed and explored musical instruments and chose them to express different feelings. 

Makaton 

Our new Makaton sign this week was ‘please’. See if you can use it at home this weekend.

We hope your child has enjoyed this week as much as we have. Have a lovely weekend!

Week commencing 18th September

Reception have been very busy this week. Children have begun to bring home reading books; these books are wordless or have very few words but are very important to your child’s reading development. Please share the story and discuss what is happening in the pictures. Please use Boom Reader to log your child’s progress. Next week your child will also bring home a library book of their choice, both books will be changed weekly.

Phonics 

In phonics we have been learning the sounds i n p g and o. Please continue to practise the sounds at home with your child using the sheet provided. Here are this week’s phonics videos for you to watch at home together. 

Please note these videos will expire after 3 weeks.

Maths 

In maths, children have been learning how to represent numbers in different ways including collecting a given number of objects, drawing a given number of pictures or performing an action a given number of times. 

Wider curriculum

As part of our topic ‘Let’s Explore’, we imagined our journey to school and drew a map to show what we saw along the way. We learned how to programme beebots and planned journeys for them to travel to different parts of Didcot. 

In English our learning has been focused on the story ‘The Hike’. We created flags that represented our likes and brought them on our journeys around the school. 

In music we learnt the song ‘I’ve got a grumpy face’ and thought of verses to add to it to make it our own.

Week beginning Monday 11th September 2023

What an amazing first week we have had! We have enjoyed exploring our new school and getting to know our new friends and everyone has settled into life at Sires Hill Primary Academy very well. 

This week we began our phonics learning. The new sounds we covered are:

m

a

s

d

t

You will notice in your book bags a practise sheet for you to continue your learning at home. This can stay at home for you to look at as much as you like. 

We also started our brand new topic 'Let's Explore'. We explored our classroom and the school and learned about what the different adults in our school do. 

We started learning English we have been looking at a new story called 'The Hike' by Alison Farrell. We went on explorations around the classroom sketching what we could find and made maps of our school journeys just like the characters in the story. 

Finally in maths we have been learning to represent the numbers 1-5 in different ways such as with objects, with actions or by writing it as numeral.