Whiteley Reception

 Friday 19th June Fairytales This week at school we have been learning about fairytales. We have been reading "Goldilocks and the three bears". We have been practising retelling the story in groups and role playing the characters. We worked on using different kinds of expression in our voices to show the different characters. You might like to practise this skill at home when your child is reading to you. Phonics This week in phonics we have been revising the digraph and trigraphs ear, air, ure, and er. We have practised reading and spelling words with these sounds in. Please check your child's reading log to check which book you need to read on Bug Club. Thank you Maths This week in maths we have been counting to 20 and beyond.

  Friday 12th June This week we have continued to read stories written by the author Catherine Rayner. We have thought about how the different animals move (penguins, lions, giraffes, tigers and bears). We thought about words that would be good for describing how the animals move and how they look. We used these words to write sentences to describe the animals e.g. The penguin waddles and has soft feathers. Phonics This week in phonics we have been revising the phase 3 sounds ar, or, ur, ow and oi, with greater emphasis on writing words containing these sounds. Click below to listen to the phase 3 tricky word song. Maths This week we have been focusing on deepening the children’s understanding of how to compare quantities. The children have been practising and demonstrating  comparing, matching and understanding when   groups have an equal amount. Minibeast Concert Just to let you know that on Tuesday 7th July we will be having a minibeast concert at 2:30pm. You are wel...

  Friday 5th June This week we have been reading books by the author Catherine Rayner. They are beautifully illustrated books with stories about different animals. The author provides step by step picture instructions on her website demonstrating how to draw the different animals. The children have loved following theses instructions and have produced some amazing pictures. Phonics This week in phonics we have learnt the sounds oa, oo(book), oo(spoon) with greater emphasis on writing words and sentences containing these sounds. We have been practicing reading all of the phase 3  tricky words so that we can work towards quicker sight recognition. Click below to listen to the tricky word song. Maths This week in maths we have been exploring the rekenreks and practising how to use them. We have been making different numbers using them and making sure the rekenrek is  the correct orientation and practising how to push quantities of beads smoothly and with one finger.  ...

  Friday 22nd May This week week we have been thinking about celebrations and why they are special. We have then learnt about the Jewish celebration of 'Shabbat' and have thought about the similarities and differences with other celebrations.  You might like to talk to your child about celebrations you take part in with your family.  Maybe look back at some photos. Do all people share those celebrations? Do all children celebrate in the same way? How do different children celebrate their birthdays?  Phonics This week in phonics, we have been revising all the phase 2 and phase 3 sounds we have learnt so far. This week's sounds are ai, ee, igh and oa. We have also been revising all of the phase 2 and phase 3 tricky words. Click here to listen to the Phase 2 tricky word song Maths This week, we have revisited the concept of 'comparison'.  The children have thought carefully about where numbers to 10 are in relation to each other thinking carefully about which is mo...

  Friday 15th May This week in Reception has been so exciting! All are eggs have hatched into ducklings. The children have loved observing them, holding them and helping to look after them. We have been developing our Understanding of the World (science) learning, making careful observations and using our words to describe and write about what we can see. We hope that your child has enjoyed the experience and told you all about it. Phonics  This week in phonics, we have been revising all the phase 2 and 3 sounds we have learnt so far. This weeks sounds are :-ch, sh, th and ng. We have also been revising all of the phase 2 and phase 3 tricky words. Click below to listen to phase 2 tricky word song. Click below to listen to phase 3 tricky word song. Maths This week, the children have review the composition of the numbers 6 to 9 using the ‘5 and a bit’ structure, and have explored how 10 can be composed. They have also develop a sense of the ‘ten-ness of 10’ by making their own c...

  Friday 8th May This week in Year R, we had a very exciting trip to Longdown Activity Farm.   We loved seeing all the different farm animals and enjoyed stroking a chick, collecting eggs and feeding the goats. Thank you to all our kind volunteers who supported us on the day.   This week at school, we have had a very exciting time!  We received an incubator full of eggs for us to hatch! We found out about animals that hatch from eggs and made predictions about what we thought our eggs might contain. Phonics This week in phonics we have revisited the phase 3 sounds  y, z, zz, qu We have practised writing words and sentences using these sounds. Maths This week we have been using rhymes to help us learn the pairs of numbers that make 5.  We have learnt the sentence... "5 is made of _ and _; _ and _ make 5 altogether." ... for each pair of numbers.   This will consolidate the children's understanding of the composition of 5. Thankyou for your sup...

 Friday 1st May Trip to Longdown Activity Farm We are very excited about our trip to Longdown Activity Farm next Wednesday 6th May.    Please can you make sure your child has... - a water bottle - a waterproof coat - sensible shoes to walk around a farm (they are allowed to wear trainers to school on this day). - their lunch (if you haven’t pre- ordered a school lunch) - please apply 24 hour protection suncream.  Your child might like to wear leggings or trousers as we will be handling some small animals at the farm. Thank you for your support This week we have been learning about the farm. We have thought about the animals that we might find at the farm. We have learnt about the names of baby animals. We have found out which products different animals produce. We are really looking forward to our trip to Longdown Activity farm. Phonics We will be revisiting all the phase three sounds this term to practise applying these to our reading and writing. This week in phoni...

 Friday 24th April This week, we have continued to learn about 'People who help us'.  We have continued learning about the features of non-fiction books such as the contents page, headings, labels, bold print and glossary. We also thought how the police help us, when our favourite swing went missing from our outdoor classroom. We created posters to help find our missing swing and pinned them around the school. Phonics In phonics this week, we have learnt to read and write words with 'ear', 'air', 'ure' and 'er'. We have continued learning the phase 3 tricky words. Click here to listen to the phase 3 tricky word song   It would really support your child to remember all the digraphs and trigraphs that we are learning if you could play some of the games related to these sounds on your child's bug club account. Thank you! Maths This week, the children have continued to engage in activities that draw attention to the purpose of counting - to find ...

  Friday 17th April  People Who Help Us Phonics In phonics this week, we have learnt to read and write words with the digraphs and trigraphs  ur ,  ow and oi . The new tricky word is  you. It would really support your child to remember the new digraphs that we are learning if you could play some games related to these sounds on your child's bug club account. Thank you Maths This week, the children used practical objects to sort objects according to different criteria. They have been encouraged to notice different attributes in groups of objects – such as colour, size or function – and to describe what they have noticed.  They have played games of ‘How am I sorting?’, the children have gone on to develop their own criteria for sorting.  Parent top tips! Encouraging your child's independence It is really important to encourage your child to be independent so that it builds their confidence and self- esteem. In school we try to encourage the children to b...