Welcome to Reception.
Our Teachers are Mrs Dumont and Miss Reynolds and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Wonnacott and Mrs Panta.
Jan 102025
Welcome back!
We have had an amazing first week back in Reception. Well done to all of the children for coming back to school so well! They have come back really settled and have remembered all our school expectations and routines.
We have had some very excited children this week as we have started to learn all about dinosaurs! Our first focused book was ‘Harry and his bucketful of dinosaurs’. We spent time finding out all the different dinosaurs that the children already knew and some interesting facts. Together we then created ‘lost/wanted posters’ to help Harry find his missing dinosaurs. We then used our imaginations to think about where the dinosaurs could have ended up and then each made our own simple maps to show the dinosaurs route.
In Phonics we have spent time reviewing and recapping all of the phase 2 and 3 sounds that we learnt before the Christmas break. We then introduced the new short ‘oo’ sound and we then read and wrote words including this sound.
This week in Maths the children used their perceptual subitising skills (seeing the quantity without counting) in different arrangements, moving from dots in a line and arrangements of 2, to a focus on standard dice arrangements. For larger quantities, the children began to use skills of conceptual subitising, beginning to quickly see the sub-groups within these larger numbers.
This week we have reassessed the children on their phase 2 and phase 3 phonics sounds. Inside your yellow reading records you will find a copy of the assessment, which shows you the sounds your child is confident with and those they are unsure of. If you would like to know what sounds we have covered then please look at the big whiteboards in the classroom.
Have a lovely weekend!
The Reception Team 🙂
Dec 132024
It’s showtime!
In topic time this week we have continued our focus on Antarctica and penguins. We read the story ‘Blue Penguin’ and focused on how everyone is different and why this makes us special. We were very lucky to have letters delivered to the school from the Blue Penguin. We practised our phonics skills to write our own letters and questions back to the penguin!
In Maths we have recapped measuring using non-standard units (cubes). We have spent time measuring how many cubes long or short different objects are in the classroom. We then put some of these objects in order by their size. In pairs we then investigated how larger objects were, we were amazed how many cubes we had to use for certain objects.
In Phonics we have continued to recap all our phase 2 and 3 sounds. We have mainly focused on developing the children’s segmenting and blending skills for writing. We have been encouraging the children to read back their writing to check if they have all the sounds they can hear and if all letters are formed correctly.
We are so proud of all the children within Reception for their amazing Nativity performance today. They have worked so hard to remember their lines but also all the songs and their actions. Didn’t they all look amazing in their costumes? Well done Reception 🙂
Key Points
- If your child is choosing to write at home, please could you encourage them to form all their letters correctly. The rhymes in your yellow diary show you how each letter should be formed. It is important to remind children that all letters apart from ‘e’ and ‘d’ start from the top. Also please discourage the use of capital letters unless it is the start of a sentence or a name.
- After the holidays we will be starting our new topic all about Dinosaurs. If you have anything at home that could be used within school to help support the teaching of this topic it would be much appreciated e.g. dinosaur books, dinosaur eggs and fossils, dinosaur jigsaws or games
Dec 062024
PENGUIN HUDDLE!
Reception have really enjoyed the storybook ‘Penguin Huddle’ this week in topic lessons. We spent time making story predictions and discussed the thoughts and feelings of the characters. We then thought about what we already knew about penguins and what else we would like to find out. We researched these questions using non-fiction books and the internet. The children know some amazing facts about penguins!
We also looked at where penguins live and how it is different to St Albans. We had a great time in our discovery time exploring ice and also using different strategies to try and save some polar animals that had been frozen!
In Maths this week we have been practising our counting to 20 and recognising numbers to 20. We looked at how the numbers change beyond 10 and how all teen numbers all start with ‘1’. We enjoyed covering up different numbers on a number line and trying to figure out which numbers were missing.
In Phonics this week we have continued to review all of the phase 2 and 3 sounds. We have been trying to identify these within words and sentences before reading. We have also spent some time writing simple words using our segmenting and blending skills. If the children are unsure what a sound looks like/is formed then we encourage them to use their sound mats.
Key Points
- Just a reminder our Reception Christmas Nativity is on Friday 13th December! This will start at 9:15 in the school theatre.
- If your child is a narrator and you have not yet brought in your child’s outfit, please bring this in as soon as possible as we will have dress rehearsals before the show on Friday.
Nov 292024
NOT I!
This week in topic have been focusing on the story ‘The Little Red Hen’. At the start of the week we read the story and thought about new vocabulary that we had not heard of before e.g. ‘mill’, ‘wheat’ and ‘grain’. We then followed a simple recipe to create our own bread rolls. We then thought about where food comes from and how it gets to our supermarkets.
Phonics lessons this week have focused on reviewing all the phase 2 and 3 sounds that we have learnt so far. We have continued to practise segmenting and blending for reading and writing. We have spent time looking closely at words to see if we could spot one of our digraph or trigraph sounds before reading the word. We have also looked at the structure of sentences, including the use of full stops and capital letters.
In Maths we have spent time learning counting songs to 10. We have then recapped skills such as counting objects, ordering numbers to 5 and identifying that numbers can be made of parts and whole.
Our Nativity play is coming along nicely, please continue to practise your child’s line with them and encourage them to use a clear, loud voice. Below are some songs for the children to listen and to and practise at home!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJQqOzkcHjg (from 9seconds-1min20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-OF7KGyDis (from the start-26seconds)
Key Points
- Please can we remind parents again to supply your child with a change of underwear, socks/tights and trousers in their school bags. We have no spare school clothes left to change your children into if they have an accident. Also if you have borrowed any clothes, please can you return them.
- Next week we are making penguin crafts using toilet roll/kitchen roll holders and egg boxes. If you have any of these at home please could you bring them in for us to use at school.
Nov 222024
Fee-fi-fo-fum!
Our story focus this week in topic has been ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. We have really enjoyed reading some different versions of these stories and comparing the story events and characters. We looked at the life cycle of a bean and then planted some of our own. We have put these on the classroom windows so that we can observe any changes. The children came up with some amazing ideas to create their very own beanstalks in discovery time.
In Phonics we have learnt the new sounds ai, ee, igh and oa. We discussed how ‘igh’ is a trigraph because it has three letters to make one sound. We practised using these sounds when segmenting and blending words for reading and writing. We also continue to recap all of the sounds and ‘harder to read and write words’ that we have learnt so far.
In Maths we have been focusing on composition. Through practical experience, we looked a whole can be made up of smaller parts. We looked at the different parts of toys, the human body and animals. We then moved on to looking at the parts and whole of numbers using the Numberblocks and cubes e.g. 3 is the whole, 2 is a part and 1 is a part.
Key Points
- If your child needs clothes for the Nativity play they will now have a note in their yellow reading record books. If there isn’t a note it means the school are providing your child’s costume.
- Over the next few weeks please practise your child’s Nativity line as much as possible so they are confident to say this independently.
Nov 152024
I’ll huff and i’ll puff and i’ll blow your house down!
In our traditional tales topic this week we have focused on the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’. We started the week thinking about all the traditional tales we already knew that have a wolf character in them. We then read different versions of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ stories to compare the similarities and differences. We also chose one of our favourite characters to draw and add simple labels to and created some wanted posters to find the wolf!
In Phonics we have introduced the new digraphs ch, th, ng, nk. We have been segmenting and blending for reading and writing. We are starting to focus on developing the children’s writing and using the skills taught to hear the sounds in order. We have also discussed the importance of reading back our writing to check for any mistakes. We then looked at sentence structure and discussed full stops and capital letters.
In discovery time the children loved making new houses for the three little pigs in lots of different ways, for example junk modelling, construction bricks, natural resources and duplo. We had lots of fun trying to blow these over like a wolf with our breath, paper fans and a hair dryer! In the creation station we enjoyed making our own versions of the third little pigs stew for the wolf to fall into.
In PE we focused on our throwing and catching skills using a medium sized soft ball. We thought about how to place our hands when trying to catch the ball. We had a go at this independently and then practised with a partner.
In Maths this week we have been learning about ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’. We started the week by comparing amounts of objects. We then introduced the children to ‘numicon’ and how this can be used to compare amounts. The children are becoming confident in using our stem sentences to help them reason and explain. An example of our stem sentence ‘5 is more than 3’ and ‘2 is fewer than 3’.
Nov 082024
Run run as fast as you can!
Welcome back Apple and Lime Class!
At the beginning of this half term we will be learning about traditional tales. This week we focused on the story of ‘The Gingerbread Man’ and looked at different versions to make comparisons. We also retold the story using story maps and thought about what the characters might say in speech bubbles.
The Reception children also followed instructions to make their own Gingerbread Men. We weighed out the ingredients and mixed them together to make the dough. We were very lucky the Gingerbread Men did not run away after they were cooked in the oven! The children of course loved giving their Gingerbread Men the taste test after baking.
This week in Maths we have been learning some number songs linked to the number 5. We then deepened our understanding of 5 as a quantity by linking the number itself to the 5 fingers on one hand. We also began to explore ways to represent numbers to 5 using both their fingers and the Hungarian number pattern.
In Phonics we have learnt the new phase 3 sounds y, z, zz, qu, and ch. We practised using the rhymes to help us to form these letters. The children enjoyed thinking about all the words they could think of that included these sounds. We also practised the skills of segmenting and blending for reading and writing. As we are now learning more phonics sounds, please make sure you continue to practise and recap the ones we have already learnt at home. The harder to read and spell words this week were ‘we’, ‘be’ and ‘me’.
Key Points
- If your child has a line to say in the christmas Nativity show this will be inside your yellow reading records. Please practise this with your child at home.
- Next week we will be focusing on the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’. We would be grateful for any sticks or straw to help us to make houses.
- Please continue to read with your children daily at home. This only needs to be a couple of pages and then please record that you have read in the yellow reading records.
Have a great weekend:)
Oct 252024
Happy half term!
Well done to Reception for completing their first half term at Alban City School!
In Phonics this week we have had a big focus on reviewing all the phase 2 sounds that we have learnt so far. We have practised the skills for segmenting and blending when reading and writing. We have also been focusing on ‘harder to read and spell words’. These words are now stuck into your child’s yellow reading record so you can practise reading and spell these words at home. There is also a new phase 3 sound mat with all of the sounds, pictures and rhymes we will be covering after half term.
In Maths this week we have recapped the skills we need to count accurately by either moving objects, putting them into a line and pointing as you count. We then thought about how numbers can be made of smaller numbers. We did this by starting with a set amount of objects and then splitting them into two groups in different ways.
In topic this week we have enjoyed learning lots of different nursery rhymes and what some of the vocabulary within these nursery rhymes mean. We have sung the rhymes and used actions to help us to remember the rhymes. We have looked at sequencing the rhymes in order and then during discovery time we have used puppets to recreate the rhymes.
In PE we became minibeasts and found different ways of changing our bodies to look and move like these animals. We then played a game of spiders and flies (stuck in the mud), and sun and rain (duck duck goose).
Key Points
- Please continue to hear your child read regularly over the half term so they are ready to learn our new phonics sounds when they return.
- Please bring back PE kits with names on when you return to school.
- If anyone has any spare knickers/pants, socks and trousers that they no longer need Reception would greatly appreciate them. Also if you have borrowed any clothes from school please could you return them as we are very short.
- After half term we are looking at the traditional tales ‘The Gingerbread Man’, ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs’, if you have any resources to help us learn about these topics please let us know e.g. straw, sticks, yoghurt pots, beans for the children to plant, the inside of toilet rolls and crafts.
Have a great week, we look forward to seeing the children back on Tuesday 5th November.
Oct 182024
People who help us in school…
This week we spent time thinking about the people in school and how the adults help us in different ways such as keeping us safe, teaching us, cooking our lunches, fixing the school etc. We then spent time thinking about questions and why these are important. The children came up with some great questions to ask Mrs Stray and Lani when they visited Reception.
We were also very lucky this week to have more mystery visitors. A huge thank you to Rupert’s Mummy for coming in to Reception to talk about being a nurse and how nurses can help all people. The children then enjoyed role playing nurses with the poorly animals in the role play corner.
In Math this week we have introduced the language of ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to describe how many objects there are. ‘Fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ because the focus is on countable things. Throughout the week we used one stem sentence e.g. [Teddy/Monkey] has more _____ than [Teddy/ Monkey].
In Phonics we started to learn the first set of Phase 3 sounds, j, v, w and x. The children enjoyed thinking of all the words they could think of that included these sounds. We then also read simple words that included these new sounds. The children practised using their robot arms to segment and blend words. The harder to , read words this week were ‘he’, ‘his’, ‘she’ and ‘buses. The children came up with some great sentences using these words. When supporting children with phonics at home, please model the use of the letter sounds, rather than the letter names to support with their reading. If you are unsure of pronunciation there are some videos you can watch on the phonics page of our website…
https://albancityschool.org.uk/curriculum/our-curriculum/phonics/
In PE we went on an adventure to find a castle. We practised moving around the room safely and carefully. When the giant was coming we all froze and created different shapes with our body. We then played a game of ‘follow the leader’ and tried different ways of moving around the hall, for example backwards, sideways and hopping.
This week Reception also made their own playdough for the first time by following a simple recipe. See below if you would like to make it at home 🙂
Key Points
- We would love to do some planting with the children, if anyone is able to provide either tulip or daffodil bulbs for us to plant.
- We would also like some different types of herbs to plant so that the children can use these within the mud kitchen or our potion station.
Oct 112024
999 Emergency!
In Maths this week the children have continued to develop their subitising skills to identify how many of something there is without counting. The children then practised showing how many using their fingers. We have also practised use of ‘perceptual’ subitising – instant recognition – by saying the number of sounds that they can hear, such as claps or drum beats, without needing to count.
In Phonics we have continued to learn the final Phase 2 phonics sounds, h, b, f, ff, l, ll. We have practised writing these using the letter rhymes to help us. We have also thought about words that start with these initial sounds. The new ‘harder to read and spell words’ for this week were ‘as’ and ‘his’. The children are really becoming confident in using their robot arms to segment and blend words for reading and writing.
In topic this week we have continued to learn about ‘people who help us’. We have enjoyed learning more about police officers and firefighters and how they can help to keep us safe. We also discussed which number we needed to call if we ever needed the emergency services to help us. A huge thank you to Talitha’s mummy for coming into Reception to talk about her role as a dentist. The children learnt all about how to keep their teeth healthy and even had the chance to dress up as dentists and teeth.
In PE this week we became mythical creatures and thought about the different ways dragons, fairies and unicorns would look and move. We then practised our throwing and catching skills by pretending a beanbag was a fairy flying.
Key Points
- Please make sure your reading books and yellow diaries are in the trays outside the classroom each day. This will help the adults when checking books and to see if they need to be changed.
- Please bring back school library books on a Monday so that they can be changed for a new one.
- Junk modelling is an area of interest to the children and they can access this during all discovery times. We are getting a bit low with recycling so if you can please bring some more to school with you!
- As it is getting colder please make sure your child has a coat in school every day and they are ready for all types of weather.
- Please make sure your child’s school uniform, coats, shoes and PE have their names in.
