Phonics Guide for Parents

Due to COVID-19 restrictions I am unable to offer a parental workshop for phonics this year, however I have produced a 'Jargon Buster' that should help guide you through the minefield also know as phonics! 

Summer - In the Garden!

This term we will be focusing on things in the garden.  This will start with mini-beasts and lead onto growing things.  We will be covering a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

Mini-Beast hunting!

At Forest school this week we went on a mini-beast hunt.  We even made a tally chart to show which was the most commonly found insect in the forest school area.  We also had fun trying out the hammock!

Fruit Salad!

We read Oliver's Fruit Salad together; most of the boys and girls didn't know what fruit salad was when we first started reading the book, but they did by the end!  The children then planned their own fruit salad and then made it the following day.  They learnt how to carefully chop fruit using a knife and a correct hold.

Almost fully fledged!

Today (26.05.21) we have been like proud parents watching our baby blue tits fledge.  It has been a little stressful as one of them can't fly yet.  Mum and dad have been brilliant though, swooping down all day with bits of food. 

Den Building!

We've been busy learning how to build dens at forest school this week.  We also got very wet and muddy, but it doesn't matter because it's OK to get muddy hands at forest school! 

Fly away butterfly!

Over the last 4-5 weeks we have slowly watched our caterpillars grow, then go into their chrysalis before finally emerging as a butterfly.  Today we said goodbye to our butterflies as we let them go free.  

Forest School!

For the rest of this term we will be visiting the forest school at Tarleton Academy.  The sessions are run by West Lancs Sports Partnership and the children will be having lots of fun learning new skills out in the open air!  Here are a few photos from our first visit.

Break The Rules Day!

Today, Friday 7th May, we had a break the rules day to raise money for the school.  Children had to pay 50p for each rule they wanted to break.  There was a choice of rules they were allowed to break for the day, such as; wearing a hat indoors, painting their nails, wearing their own clothes or pyjamas, temporary tattoos and having crazy hair.  This is what Violin class looked like...

Learning to share...with a difference!

We have been learning about halving, or sharing into two equal groups.  We had great fun using little bags of Haribos to practice sharing in real life.  We discovered that it was much easier to share bags with an even number of sweets in it.

Mini Wheelers!

We have been learning how to use balance bikes in our PE lessons this half term.  We have to use our legs to push and glide and we know that in order to balance we have to get our speed up!  We also know how to get on and off our bikes safely and how to lie them down on the ground without damaging them.

Getting busy with Tizzy!

We have been learning how to use a mouse in our ICT lessons this half term.  We are helping Tizzy the clown to clean windows, pick fruit and pain the bathroom!  We are getting much better at controlling the mouse and using the correct side to click.

Easter Egg Hunt!

Due to having to isolate before the Easter holidays, the Easter Bunny gave us a special visit so that we could still have an egg hunt. We had so much fun and collected loads of eggs!

Spring 2 - Traditional Tales and Nursery Rhymes

This half term we will be enjoying reciting nursery rhymes, learning about words that rhyme and listening to, acting out and retelling lots of traditional tales.

World Book Day!

For world Book Day this year we chose the theme of 'Once upon a time'.  The children all came in dressed in fancy dress and brought in their favourite book to share with the other children.  We even had a zoom call with the boys and girls at home to share a story.

Spring 1 - Transport

Chinese New Year

We learnt all about Chinese New Year and the Year of the Ox.  We listened to a story about how the Chinese Zodiac was decided and even acted it out.  We made Chinese lanterns and lucky red money wallets.  We even sang a Chinese New Year song and tried some Chinese foods. 

Autumn 2 - Colour and Celebrations

This half term we will be learning all about colour mixing, the colours of the rainbow and reading lots or Elmer stories.  We will also be focusing on the festival of Diwali, Bonfire night and of course Christmas.

Santa's Grotto

The reception children were all very excited today as they visited Santa in a special grotto in our classroom!  They all told him what they would like for Christmas and promised to leave out a mince pie, carrot and glass of milk for him and Rudolph!

Christmas Party Time!

We had a fantastic Christmas party, not even COVID could stop us from having fun!  We went to see Santa, played corners, musical bumps, musical statues and pass the parcel!  We even found time to enjoy some party foods and a drink!

Wizard of Oz

On Tuesday 15th December we were extremely excited to watch a performance of The Wizard of Oz.  It was so clever, there was only one actor narrating the story, and the other actors were on a screen, but the narrator could jump in and out of the screen.  We clapped, booed and waved our arms about to the music.  It was magic and we all thoroughly enjoyed it!

Christmas Dinner

We had a wonderful time this year enjoying our Christmas dinner together.  It was National Christmas Jumper Day as well, so we all looked very festive!  We even managed a bit of a boogie.

Enterprise Week

Each year, every class takes part in Enterprise Week.  During this week we have to plan, make and evaluate a Christmas craft item to sell to parents.  Usually this is done at our annual Christmas fair, however due to COVID we had to get creative and sell our items over the internet!  This year we made decorations from little terracotta pots.  They were very fiddly to decorate, but we think they look really cute! Have a look at what we made, our parents loved them!

Danceathon For Mental Elf!

On Wednesday 2nd December we danced our socks off raising money for Lancashire Mind by taking part in a danceathon.  We danced for half an hour non-stop!  We even made elf hats to help us get in the mood!

Elmer

We have been reading lots of Elmer stories as part of our 'Colour' theme this half term.  The children especially enjoyed making their own Elmers from recycled milk bottles!

Children In Need

Friday 13th November was Children in Need day.  In return for a small donation, all the children were able to come to school either in their own clothes or in fancy dress.  We did some PE with Joe wicks, some Yoga with Pudsey and even coloured some Pudsey pictures.

Remembrance Day 2020

The children in reception have been learning about why we wear a poppy for Remembrance day.  We have drawn and painted poppies; decorated medals to say thank you to the brave soldiers; and made yummy poppy biscuits! 

Diwali

We have been learning about Diwali, the Festival of Light, celebrated by Hindu people.  We learnt about the story of Rama and Sita and how Diwali celebrates the victory of light over dark.  We the made our own Diya lamps using clay.

Colour Mixing

We have been learning all about colour mixing.  We found out about our three pimary colours, red, yellow and blue, and how they can be mixed together to make secondary colours.  We had great messy fun finding out!  Lottie also brought in a wonderful book to share with us all about colour mixing.

Autumn 1 - Ourselves

This half term we will be focusing on stories and activities based on the theme of 'Ourselves'.  We will be learning about parts of the body, exploring the senses and looking at how we've grown and changed.

Senses - Hearing

We have been learning about our senses.  Today we made our own listening ears and then played listening bingo!

Harvest Festival

Due to COVID-19, we were unable to hold a whole school harvest festival assembly, however here in reception we held our own .  The boys and girls learnt all about why Christians celebrate the harvest and all brought in food to be donated.  The food was gratefully received by Reverend David Dickinson at All Saints Church in Hesketh Bank, and will be handed out in our community.

#HelloYellow

Friday 9th October was Mental Health Awareness day in school.  To raise some money and awareness, we all wore something yellow in return for a £1 donation.  During the day we read some lovely Colour Monster books, all about feelings.  We also had a funny photo booth, told jokes and did something kind for someone.  We had a great day!

European School Sports Day

Friday 25th September was European School Sports Day and to celebrate, the whole school did 120 minutes of physical activity.  In EYFS we made an obstacle course, danced, played hopscotch and enjoyed parachute games.