RECEPTION WEEKLY NEWS SPRING 2023

Week commencing 27 March 2023

News

As many of you know, Miss Burns is getting married over the holiday so when she comes back, she will be known as Mrs Herring. It will take us all a while to get used to not calling her Miss Burns!

Guide dogs

Unfortunately, the guide dogs were unable to visit this week. Thank you for completing the consent form. We are hoping to reschedule the visit after Easter so we will refer back to the consent for the next visit.

Phonics

Please can you read for a few minutes each day with your child and record when they have read to you in their yellow reading logs.

Please can we have reading logs and reading books in the children’s bags every day?

Question of the week

The question of the week is, How are special times celebrated? We have been finding out about Easter and Eid.

Rhyme of the week

This week, our rhyme of the week is, Hot Cross Buns | Nursery Rhymes | Super Simple Songs

Literacy

This week we have been looking at the book, Hope and New Life, An Easter story and finding out how people celebrate Easter as well as finding out about why it is important to Christians.

Practising reading comprehension at home

The children are getting much better at predicting what a book might be about from the front cover, but they find it more challenging to stop at a point in the story and predict what they think will happen next based on what has happened and what they know already. To do this 1 to 1 at home with a book they haven’t read before would be great practice.

Maths

The children have revisited number 6. Looking at the dice patterns and subitising numbers to 6 in different patterns. They may enjoy revisiting Number Blocks Series 2, Episode 1: Six

They have been linking what they know about even numbers to doubles. E.g. 4 is an even number, and it is made of double 2 and conversely, they are learning that odd numbers are not made of doubles.

The children have been continuing to learn how to count, order and represent numbers to 20. We have revisited 2D shapes by matching shapes, matching and filling shapes to make shape pictures and replicating models.

Practicing maths at home

Although the children can count to 20 it would be great if they could practice making the teen numbers by using the 1 ten and some more approach. E.g. 10 sweets and 6 more sweets make 16. 10 orange segments and 7 more make 17. Can you use different things to make teen numbers? Can they prove it by saying I know it is 17 because there is a ten and seven more?

This week, we had our final dance lesson where the children were making up their own dance using animal moves. Next term we will be getting outside and starting athletics.

Cooking

The new recipe is sandwich making. We have chosen this, so the children can develop their spreading skills. This is a different skill to chopping but using a knife. Hopefully it will be the start of the children spreading their own butter either on sandwiches or toast. You can certainly encourage them to keep trying and practising the skill at home.

The children have worked hard this term, and we’ve seen them make lots of progress. They are all ready for a break, so we hope you all have a lovely time.

Mrs Freer and Miss Burns

Week Commencing 27 March

Plastic bags for wet clothing

Thank you for providing a clean change of clothing in your child’s school bag for if they need them. We did have a supply of plastic bags to send clothing home in. Unfortunately, we have now run out, and we do try not to encourage the use of plastic bags, but please can all children have a plastic bag in their school bags in case any clothes need to be sent home. We would be happy to take a few donations for general use if you have one to spare.

Bikes and scooters

We are pleased that the children are coming to school on bikes and scooters. However, if you are leaving them at school there is a bike rack which should be used. They shouldn’t be left in the playground next to the EYFS outdoor play area as older children may be playing around there, and they might not be kept safe.

Guide dog visit

On Tuesday 28th March we are expecting a visit from the guide dogs. The children will be going in small groups so that they have the opportunity to interact with the dogs. Please can you fill in the consent form that has been sent to you by admin, otherwise your child won’t be allowed to participate in the activity.

Mystery visitor

This week we had two mystery visitors linked to our question of the week.

We were pleased to hear about Mrs Webster’s job as a barrister. She talked about rules and consequences and explained how she makes sure that when adults break the rules, they have to go to court so that both sides of the story can be heard. She makes sure it’s fair and that people don’t get into trouble for something they haven’t done. The children got to see what she wears in court, in particular they were interested in the wig which was made of horsehair.

We also had a visitor from Leeds food bank who talked to the children about what happens at the food bank. This links so well with the book we have been reading in literacy about a no money day. Many families are struggling at the moment and many more families are using the food bank. If you are struggling to buy food at the moment, please let school know as we may be able to help.

Our home challenge: Could you buy 1 item for the food bank and put it in one of the collection points to help a family in need? (Most supermarkets have a collection point.)

Wilberforce assembly

We attended the assembly which was taken by the Wilberforce house captains. They talked about how William Wilberforce, a British politician wanted to make things fairer for people.

Year 3 and 4 Roman Assembly

On Tuesday the reception children enjoyed watching the Year3/4 Roman assembly. It was an opportunity to find out a bit about the Romans and for some of them to watch their siblings perform.

Phonics

Please can you read for a few minutes each day with your child and record when they have read to you in their yellow reading logs.

Please can we have reading logs and reading books in the children’s bags every day?

Question of the week

The question of the week is, What does fairness mean?

The knowledge that we would like the children to gain this week is:

being fair means to share with others
not all people have the same things as me
some people need help feeding their family
we can help families by donating food to the food bank
families can go to a food bank for food

Rhyme of the week

This week, our rhyme of the week is, Six a song of six pence link HERE

Literacy

This week we have been looking at the book, It’s a no money day.

It's A No-Money Day by Kate Milner ┃An Interactive Read Aloud Story

We looked at the front cover and predicted what the story is about. We talked about the characters and used freeze frames to encourage the children to think about the characters' feelings in different parts of the story.

We have continued to read another chapter of the Little Kids First Big Book of Space, our non-fiction text, to find out more about astronauts. We discussed what we had learnt that we didn’t know before.

Practising reading comprehension at home

The children are getting much better at predicting what a book might be about from the front cover, but they find it more challenging to stop at a point in the story and predict what they think will happen next, based on what has happened and what they know already. To do this 1 to 1 at home would be great practice, obviously it would need to be when you read one that they have not read before.

Maths

This week in Maths, the children have been learning to order numbers to 20 and find the missing numbers. We went on to use our knowledge of numbers to 20 to find the capacity of different containers.

Practising maths at home

Watch the numberblocks episode, link HERE

Can you use different things to make teen numbers? Can they prove it by saying I know it is 17 because there is a ten and seven more?

This week, we have continued our dance lessons. We have moved on from the theme of space and encouraged the children to think of their own movements with animals as a stimulus. The children’s ideas have been incorporated into their own dance.

Cooking

The final group had the opportunity to try out the Box grater fruit salad recipe, and practised their grating skills. This week’s group made and tasted the fruit salad and talked about healthy eating.

Next week we will start on a new recipe.

Focus children

All children have now been a focus child twice. It has been lovely to see their confidence grow as they have talked to the rest of the class about things that interest them. The children have also learnt to ask each other questions to gain more information, which is a great skill.

Thank you for supporting your child by sending in photos for them to talk about. We are however stopping this for the summer term and instead concentrating on preparing the children for Year 1.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Freer and Miss Burns

Week commencing 13 March

Science week

This week it has been science week. The topic was connections, so the reception children connected with the Year 5/6 children on Wednesday afternoon to do some activities together.

They were involved in several activities;

making boats to see if they float or sink,

making marble runs out of tubes and pipes that they connected
making periscopes
reading science books.

The children really enjoyed working with the older children.

If your child would like to take part in the Science competition, the details are below.

Mystery Visitor

On Tuesday we had 4 Year 6 children come and talk about science in the older year groups at Bramhope, and they showed us how to make a circuit to make a buzzer work.

Phonics

Please can you read for a few minutes each day with your child and record when they have read to you in their yellow reading logs.

Please can we have reading logs and reading books in the children’s bags every day?

Question of the week

The question of the week is, How is Bombo similar or different to Bramhope?

Bombo is a town in Uganda. There is a school in Bombo that our school is linked with, and the children have learnt about the school through a mystery visitor and by photos and videos.

Rhyme of the week

This week, our rhyme of the week is, Mr Moon you’re up too soon.

Tune HERE

Literacy

This week we have been looking at the book Sing to the moon by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl. Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl is a Ugandan author, and we have been looking at some of the vocabulary in the book to learn more about Uganda, for example, the crested crane, dowls and guava trees. Here is a link to the story Sing to The Moon

We have continued to read another chapter in the Little Kids First Big Book of Space to find out more information about Space.

Maths

This week in Maths, the children have been learning about numbers to 20. They have been finding out how the teen numbers are made up. We have been emphasising that the teen numbers are made up of 1 ten and some more e.g.,15 is made of 1 ten and 5 more.

It would be great if you could practice recognising the numbers between 10 and 20 and talking about how they are made. You might spot them on doors or in shops. Perhaps you could make a 10 Lego tower in one colour and add some more Lego bricks in a different colour to make the teen numbers. You could count 13 objects or jump 15 times. All these things would help with the children’s understanding of these numbers.

This week, we have continued our dance lessons. We put together our space dance to some space music. The children were working on copying actions and travel, and they tried to move in time with the music.

Library books

Remember to send library books in on Mondays to be changed.

Water bottles

We have noticed a number of children are bringing in juice rather than water. We would encourage you to fill the children’s bottles with water as this is the healthy option.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Freer and Miss Burns

Week commencing 6 March

Library books

Remember to send library books in on Mondays to be changed.

Mystery visitor

We had a nutritionist from Hutchison's catering to talk to us about healthy eating. They looked at the eat well plate and thought about the different food we should have in our diet.

Water bottles

We have noticed a number of children are bringing in juice rather than water. We would encourage you to fill the children’s bottles with water as this is the healthy option.

Phonics

Please can you read for a few minutes each day with your child and record when they have read to you in their yellow reading logs.

Please can we have reading logs and reading books in the children’s bags every day?

Question of the week

The question of the week is, How does light and dark affect our world?

The children will be learning that the Earth spins and rotates around the sun. When we are facing the sun it is daytime when we are facing away from the sun, it is night-time. The Earth tilts towards the sun in summer so is it lighter for longer and it tilts away from the sun in winter so it is darker for longer. Some animals are nocturnal e.g. hedgehogs, badgers, bats, owls, foxes.

Rhyme of the week

This week, our rhyme of the week is, 'There’s a wide eyed owl' link here -

https://musicbus.com/resources/song-words/song-words-w/wide-eyed-owl/

Literacy

This week we have been looking at the book Owl babies. We have been thinking about how the owl babies were feeling when their mother left and when she came back. We have been learning the new vocabulary: swooped, fuss, bounced and hunting. Click here for a link to the story: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell : Read-Aloud

In our literacy small groups, we have been discussing the story and sequencing the pictures, thinking about what happened at the beginning, middle and the end.

We have continued to read the Little Kids First Big Book of Space to find out more information about Space. We have been looking at the different planets in our solar system and learnt about the different sizes and characteristics. During continuous provision, we have been applying our new knowledge to make paper-mache planets and discussing how each one should look.

Maths

This week in Maths, the children have been learning about 3D shapes. They have had the opportunity to make their own 3D shapes out of straws and playdough. It has been good to see them show lots of concentration and perseverance during this activity.

We have been naming the shapes; sphere, cube, cuboid, cylinder, cone and pyramid. Some of these names are new to the children and quite difficult to say and remember. You might like to do a shape hunt in your house and find 3D shapes. E.g a tissue box is a cuboid, a kitchen roll is a cylinder etc.

We have been modelling the language to describe 3D shapes, for example a cube has 6 square faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices.

This week, we have continued our dance lessons. We did some mirroring, copying the PE teacher and working in pairs to mirror each other. We have been putting our space dance together to music, using the count of 8.

Cooking

In the cooking session we are continuing the Box grater fruit salad recipe, this has been chosen to develop the children’s grating skills. This week’s group made and tasted the fruit salad and talked about healthy eating.

Thank you for your support,

Mrs Freer and Miss Burns

Week Commencing 27 February

World Book Day

Thank you for helping your children with their dressing up outfits. We had some interesting vocabulary and they really enjoyed walking down the catwalk in front of the rest of the school. In the morning Year 5/6 came to read stories to the children, which went really well. The older children enjoy coming to visit reception!

Water bottles

Please can you send water bottles in every day with the children’s names on. There are some water bottles without names on at the moment, so it’s difficult to know who they belong to.

Library books

Remember to send library books in on Mondays to be changed. There are a few children still forgetting to bring them.

Phonics

Please can we have reading logs and reading books in the children’s bags every day so that they are available for changing or for reading in class to an adult? We are relying on the books coming back so that other groups can take them home.

Thank you for your help with this.

Question of the week

The question of the week is, How have people found out about Space? The children are very excited to learn about space. Last week the children were shocked to find out the sun was a star.

We have been talking about the moon, sun, Earth, planets and meteors. This week we have had a history focus, and we have been finding out about Neil Armstrong who was the first man on the moon and some other famous astronauts.

Rhyme of the week

This week, our rhyme of the week is, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Literacy

This week we have been looking at the book, Look Up by Nathan Byron. We are working on predicting what the story will be about based on the picture on the front cover and the title. We are learning that if we read the blurb on the back cover, we can find out even more about the story before we read it. We have joined in with some favourite phrases and freeze framed the character’s feelings.

As we read our key texts we are building up new vocabulary such as; floated, fiery, blasted and grumbles.

A link to the story is here: Rocket Says Look Up