Week Beginning 14.1.19

This week the story of the week is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. We are sticking to traditional tales to encourage the children to use the language in these stories and also to get the idea of the structure of traditional tales.

We are also continuing to write sentences both independently and supported. The children will also be writing another dictated sentence. This will all help to develop the children's writing skills including phonics, letter formation, using finger spaces and full stops.

If you need any more info on phonics to support your child at home there are videos by Mr Thorne on you tube covering the sounds we teach in school. Some of the children have started learning diagraphs which is where two letters make one sound e.g. ch, sh and oa. 

He also has a whole website for help and support:

http://www.mrthornenetwork.com/phonics

In Maths we are learning how to add 2 numbers together. We will do this practically with objects and also by putting the biggest number in our head and counting on either using our fingers or a numberline. There are some games on Education city that will support this e.g. Beach holiday. We will also be comparing lengths and heights.

The number of the week is number 12

The recipe for cooking in class this week is Anzac biscuits:

Don't forget the online safety meeting for parents at Garrick Green on Tuesday 15th Januaryat 7pm. 

There are plenty of website links on our website that will give you more infomation about ways to keep safe online. 

http://www.garrickgreen.co.uk/online-safety/

Week Beginning 7.1.19

Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely holiday.

This week we are promoting online safety so the story this week is 'Monkeycow' which is about keeping passwords secret. The children are going to design a poster to remind people to keep safe online and these will be entered into a competition. Throughout the year we also continue this theme in class and through whole school assemblies. Please make sure you can come to one of the online safety sessions we are running for parents - there was a letter last week giving you more details about this.

In maths the number of the week is 11 - we are impressed with how many of the single digit numbers the children have remembered. We are going to be working on knowing one less than any given number. To learn about this we will play a bus game where one person gets off the bus each time and we will also be using cubes to practically find one less and looking at the numberline to create a visual cue for this process.

We will be continuing with our independent writing and also our story scribing as well as a bit of dictation writing where we say a sentence and the children have a go at writing it.

We have split into groups for phonics based on last terms assessments so that the children are getting exactly the sounds they need at a pace that suits them. Please keep practising reading/sound games/blend games as often as you can.

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 3rd and 10th December

Wow - didn't the children do well last week in their nativity performances! They really rose to the challenge of performing to an audience and the audiences seemed to enjoy the show. Thank you to those of you who came to watch - the children are continuing to sing the nativity songs in class which is really lovely!

This week we have been doing lots of Christmas activities - the children had a vote to decide what Christmas things they wanted to make. They have made reindeer shortbread, salt dough decorations, Christmas tree decorations, Santa face paper plates and lots of Christmas painting and colouring. They will be bringing things home over the next few days. They have really enjoyed getting creative for Christmas!

We have been working with each child to assess their maths skills. We have also been revising counting skills and we have introduced adding two groups together.

We have been writing sentences independently and trying to get the children to hear the beginning sound of the words they are writing.

Today we are sending home some work for the holidays - there is a Christmas big talk sheet, also a letter formation practice booklet and of course there is a sound game/blend game or a reading book to work on - if the children could do a little bit every day that would be brilliant. It is really helpful that they continue practising these skills as otherwise it will be really difficult when they come back in January.

Have a good week!

Week beginning 26.11.18

This week it is full on nativity rehearsals ready for the big performances next week. All details about the performances were in the letter you got last week. Please make sure you've ordered your DVDs - we will get those out to you as soon as they're ready but it may not be until the last week.

We are continuing with fine motor activities so that we build our writing muscles up and we are introducing two new tricky words 'go' and 'the'.  We will continue to revise the sounds from phonics and will be assessing the children on these next week.

In maths the number of the week is 8 and we are going to investigate how many different ways we can make 8.

On Friday we are having an early lunch because of our trip - there are no hot dinners. If you haven't ordered a school packed lunch for Friday please don't forget to send a home packed lunch in for your child. We are very excited about out theatre trip and then the Christmas fair straight after school!

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 12.11.18 and 19.11.18

The children had The Nativity Story so that they know the story that they are doing for their show. This has helped with knowing about the characters and the sequence of the story.

The children have been practising hard for their show 'Noisy Nativity' they are doing really well with their lines and acting roles. Thank you for helping at home with learning lines! The children are trying hard to learn the words of the songs and we have another week before the bog shows!

We have finished all the single sounds in phonics so we are now revising the sounds. We introduced the tricky words 'to' and 'I' - these are called tricky words because they cannot be sounded out so the children need to learn to recognise these by sight.

In maths we have been learning about shapes and their properties. They have guessed the shapes in a feely bag, they have made pictures with shapes and looked for shapes in the outdoor environment. We are up to number 7 in the number of the week and the children are doing really well recognising the numbers and they are even writing the numbers too.

We have been continuing with squiggle and dough disco to develop writing skills. The children have been practising their independent writing which we are really impressed with. They all write their own sentence which they make up themselves.

Have a good weekend!

Week beginning 05.11.18

What a brilliant array of firework outfits we had at school yesterday - Well Done! It was a great effort by all! Thank you for supporting us and for bringing in raffle prizes.

This week we have introduced story scribing where we sit with the children 1:1 and they tell us their story. The adult writes the story emphasising all the writing skills. As the children become more familiar with phonics they start taking the pencil from the adult and writing the sounds that they can hear in the words. At the end of the session they get to act their story out with their friends in front of the whole class which they thoroughly enjoy.

This week the story of the week is The 3 Billy Goats Gruff as we are continuing with traditional tales. We hope that the children may begin to use some of the features from these stories in their own stories.

In maths the number of the week is 5.We will be looking at height and comparing the heights of different things by just looking at them and putting them in order by height. We will also be learning how to estimate by looking at a group of objects and making a sensible guess about how many objects there are.

In phonics the sounds this week are u, y, x, e and k and the stories will be in book bags on Friday. If you need clarification about how to say and sounds or how to do any of the actions please don't hesitate to come and see us.

We are introducing woodwork this week so the children learn basic woodwork skills and can make whatever they like using these skills.

Cooking is continuing this week and the children are all able to have a go at making cupcakes.

We hope you all got on ok with the name writing homework last week. This week we will send home a big talk homework with instructions!

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 29.10.18

Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely half term. It was lovely to see lots of smiling children this morning ready to come back to school!

This week the story of the week is 'Cinderella' as we are continuing with traditional tales. The children will act this story out too.

In maths the number of the week is 4. We are concentrating on counting objects in a line accurately by touching or moving each object and saying a number name for each object and also counting out a set amount of objects.

We are starting squiggle this week which helps with gross motor skills and will in turn strengthen muscles to aid writing. We basically make big movements with handkerchiefs and then make smaller movements on paper with crayons using both hands. This week the movement is up and down. This will help with the formation of letters l, t, i, and j.

We are also starting to write independently where the children will have a go at writing in their own little book.

Phonics will be continuing and this week the sounds are h, n, r, m and j. The stories and actions will be in children's bookbags at the end of the week.

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 15.10.18

This week the story of the week is Jack and the Beanstalk as we're continuing with traditional tales. Their acting out skills are really being demonstrated through their play which is really lovely to see!

We have been doing IT self portraits to go on display with their painted self portraits to show the children how different media can be used and to develop IT skills. We discussed which media the children preferred using and why. They have been using a simple paint program on the computer and creating some great artwork in their free play too.

We have been doing phonics and the sounds this week are a, d and qu and there will be a sheet in your child's book bag at the end of the week for you to help your child to practise at home.

In Maths we have been refining our counting skills by lining up objects and touching each one or moving each one as we say the number to ensure accurate counting. We found lots of children were over counting because they were counting too quickly and not saying a number for each object.

Wow - the children have all been at school for a whole half term and they seem to be really enjoying it! We're really pleased with how they've settled in and adjusted well to school! Well done!

Have a great half term!

Week Beginning 8.10.18

Last week the story was Little Red Riding Hood and the children are becoming very good at acting out the story. We started doing focused observations last week with 3 focus children. The focus children change every week and we observe in each of the EYFS areas.

This week the story of the week is The Elves and the Shoemaker. At the beginning of Reception we concentrate on traditional stories so that the children see how these stories are structured and the language that is used. This will then hopefully come out in the children's play and independent story scribing.

In maths we do a number of the week. This week the number is 3. We have a story, rhyme and action to go with each number which will help the children to remember how to recognise that number. Mental maths this week will be activities that focus on the number 3.

We are starting phonics this week too - this week the phonics are l, t, i, o and c. You will get the stories and the action for these sounds on Friday in your child's book bag so you can practise at home. The sound mat will also help the children to remember these sounds as there is a picture with the sound that relates to the story.

We are painting self portraits this week to go on display in the classroom. We will be looking closely at the features on our face and recreating this with paint. I'll let you know when the display is up so you can come and have a look.

We will do a big talk every day where we have a different talk topic and the children say a sentence about this topic. This is to get the children more confident at talking in front of a group and also to encourage talking in a sentence and extending vocabulary. Topics this week are: Pets, At the park and what did you see on the way to school.

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 24.09.18

This week we had the story 'A Squash and a Squeeze'. When we read our weekly story the children act the story out and they had great fun this week with this story!

We have been continuing with baseline assessments and observations both inside and outside the classroom, recording what the children can do.

They have all settled in well at school now and are getting on with each other nicely.

We have continued to do dough disco to help strengthen our muscles and develop more control with our fingers.

This week we have been focussing on the number 1 and the rhyme 1, 1, wiggle your thumb. We will build this up every week.

The children all painted a poppy to go up in the castle mall display.

Have a good weekend!

Week beginning 09.07.18

This week the story is 'Alice in Wonderland'  we thought the children would enjoy the nonsense element of the story! It will also help them to see how they can let their imaginations go wild when they are creating their own stories or doing role play.

We said good bye to the ducklings last week - the children really enjoyed looking after the ducklings and teaching them to swim.

In maths this week we are looking at numbers over 20 and revising one more and one less.

We will be having a daily rehearsal of our surprise dance for sports day.

We will be continuing with phonics, sentence writing and readers as well as having normal inside and outside play.

The children will visit their new class again on Thursday where they will see their new teacher and teaching assistants.

For this children who are in Rock Steady there is the band concert this Friday which you should have had details about if your child is performing.

If you are in the city on Saturday the Garrick Green Singers will be performing a John Lewis at 10.30.

Have a good week!

Week beginning 2.7.18

This week we are very excited about the ducklings - we have 3 that have hatched already and the children watched a video of an egg hatching. The ducklings have to have a swim every day and the children are fascinated when they are watching them! The children have also been able to hold the ducklings and they were all very careful and knew to be gentle.

In maths this week we are revising addition and using the mini whiteboards to record our number sentences. We are drawing circles to represent the units and then counting how many we have altogether. The children will also have access to a numberline so that they can use that method if they prefer.

We will be continuing to do phonics every day and we are really impressed with how all the children are doing. They will all write a sentences this week as well as doing their story scribing. We are continuing to hear readers and revise tricky words.

On Friday we are going to watch the Y1 and 2 summer concert and in the afternoon the children will visit their new class and meet their Y1 teacher and teaching assistants.

On Friday from 5pm it is the school summer fair so please come into the classrooms and see your child's learning journey and also visit your child's new class and teacher and, of course, enjoy all the fun of the fair! It's going to be a scorcher!

Week beginning 25.06.18

This week the children have listened to the story 'Why elephant has a trunk' which is a traditional African tale and the children really enjoy listening to these fables and understanding the message they are trying to give. Unfortunately there were no Elephants at Africa Alive but other animals that they saw on Friday featured in the story.

In Maths we are recapping doubling and halving, and also solving addition and subtraction word problems. We are also practising counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.

We will be revising the tricky words so that the children become confident with these as well as continuing to do story scribing, reading and inside and outside play.

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 18.06.18

This week we had the story of the of Snow White and the Seven dwarfs as we were revisiting fairy tales. The children wrote some interesting retells of the story following this.

In Maths we were revising teen numbers by looking at how to recognise them, order them, write them and finding the missing number in a sequence.

We learnt the tricky words said and like as the children are coming across these words a lot in their reading and they are also wanting to write these words in their independent writing.

On Friday we had a brilliant day out at Africa Alive, the children really enjoyed meeting all the animals and actually getting to handle a snake, an African land snail and a lion skull in the education session.

week beginning 11.06.18

The story of the week is 'The Reluctant Dragon'. This is another classic story which the children seem to prefer to the stories with a moral. This tale covers the themes of bravery and friendship which the children will discuss.

In maths we are having a shape space and measure week where we will revisit 2D and 3D shape names and properties and also learn about capacity and the language that goes alongside e.g. full, empty, half full. We will also compare containers and estimate if the containers hold the same as each other.

We are having a dance teacher in this week to teach the children a surprise dance for sports day which we will carry on practising until the big day.

We are continuing with our weekly writing, readers, phonics and play inside and out. We will be going over all the tricky words we have learnt so far.

Week beginning 4.6.18

Welcome back - we hope you had a great break!

This week the story was 'Hungry Hyena'. This was an African Animal story about being greedy. The children had lots of discussions about greed and what it means and they also discussed how the hyena should have behaved and what he might have learnt.

The children have also enjoyed looking at the photos of themselves that were taken when they first came into Reception. They looked at how they have changed since then and really enjoyed comparing.

In Maths we are revisiting subtraction. We are learning how to write subtraction number sentences and how to solve them either by using blocks and taking some away, drawing circles and scribbling them out and also counting back on a numberline. We will also look at solving subtration word problems using the strategies we have learnt.

On Friday the children will be taking part in a mini world cup competition with the whole school which will be lots of fun. Please can the children come into school wearing sports clothes and appropriate shoes on Friday.

We are not doing phonics this week as we are assessing what the children have learned in phonics so far. We will also be playing inside and out, story scribing and readers as normal.

Have a good week!

Week Beginning 21.05.18

This week we are having the story 'The Enormous Turnip' which the children will absolutely love acting out! The story is about teamwork and pulling together. This story has allowed the children to think about different words to use instead of big to enable the children's vocabulary to grow. The stories that we are reading from now on will all have a message in to spark off discussions about different topics to encourage deeper thinking skills.

In maths we are concentrating on teen numbers. We want the children to feel really confident with these numbers. We have been writing the teen numbers to practice the correct formation. We are also revisiting doubling, halving, adding and subtraction.

New tricky words this week are what and when - please practise reading these words at home as the children need to be able to recognise these straight away as they cant be sounded out. When they can read them, the children need to learn to spell these from memory.
We have covered all of Phase 2 and 3 tricky words and we are working on Phase 4 at the moment.

Don't forget there is a story cafe on Friday morning at 9am for about an hour for you to come in and partake in a reading activity with your child. We look forward to seeing a many of you who can make it. 

Week beginning 14.5.18

This week our story is 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. We thought we would have a focus on rhyming words as the children have been showing an interest in this. They enjoy playing with words and making up funny rhyming words.

In maths we are revising adding again just so the children feel very confident in this area. We will be focusing on solving word problems and listening out for the key information we need to solve the problem. The children will choose how to find out the answer either using cubes or a numberline.

Both classes had a great time at pizza express and the library and the staff at the forum really praised the behaviour of the children. We hope you enjoyed the pizzas!

Have a good week!

Week beginning 7.5.18

This week Mrs Sturman’s class are going on their trip to Pizza Express and the children’s library at the Forum. The children will all get to make their own pizza to bring home and the children’s library has some activities planned for the children and they will be allowed to borrow a book from the if they bring their library card. Don’t forget LS class will need to be in the classroom at 8.45 so that we leave on time. If you have not ordered a school packed lunch you will need to provide one. The children need to be in normal school uniform.

The story this week is The Gingerbread Man which the children voted to have next. We are trying to encourage list writing at the moment so if you have any lists that need making at home get your child to have a go and help you!

In maths this week we are revisiting adding and focussing on solving word problems involving adding. We are also going to start counting in 2 and 5 so if you'd like to practise this at home too that would be great.

We have taught all of the phase 2 and 3 tricky words and we will be revising these every week.  We will continue to do story scribing, readers and will play indoors and out as normal.

We are really encouraging the children to write independently when they are playing so that the skills they have learnt become embedded. We are also encouraging the children to use their maths skills in their play too.

Have a good week!

Week beginning 30.4.18

This week Miss Banner’s class are going on their trip to Pizza Express and the children’s library at the Forum. The children will all get to make their own pizza to bring home and the children’s library has some activities planned for the children and they will be allowed to borrow a book from the if they bring their library card. Don’t forget LB class will need to be in the classroom at 8.45 so that we leave on time. If you have not ordered a school packed lunch you will need to provide one. The children need to be in normal school uniform.

The story this week is Pete's a Pizza which is about a little boy who pretends to get made into a pizza. The children love this story as it is funny. We will watch an animated version of this story so the children see a story through different media. The children will also act it out as normal and I’m sure they will really enjoy pretending to be a pizza!

In maths this week we are introducing sharing and dividing. We will look at sharing fruit at first to get the basic idea across and then we will solve some real life word problems about sharing/dividing.

We will introduce two new tricky words ‘are’ and ‘her’.  We will continue to do story scribing, readers and will play indoors and out as normal.

Have a good week!