It was lovely to have the opportunity to speak with you all this week and to update you on how your children are doing in school.

This week we have been continuing to write our own versions of ‘Jasper’s beanstalk’. The children were all very creative in their ideas for a main character. Each child also planted a beanstalk which we will be sending home with the children next week.

This week in Maths, the children have been learning how to continue repeating patterns and create their own repeating patterns. We have also been revisiting addition and encouraging the children to count on from the greatest amount.

This week in our relationship and health education the children began the first part of two lessons about money. This week’s focus was recognising, using and spending money. The children enjoyed discussing everything they know already about money. Then they learnt about what money can be used for, where money can be stored to keep it safe and how adults get money.

In RE, the children have continued to learn about the Easter story. This week we focused on the significance of the cross.

We had a special violin workshop with Agnes, founder of Pelican Music today. Please see the flyers in your child’s bag to find out more about learning to play the violin at St Stephen’s.

Pelican Music

Homework

This week the children have another Rainbow Red Words homework sheet to complete and a sentence to write. Please include the date each week in your child’s exercise book, give your child a writing pencil to use and remove any old rainbow red words or resources which have been sent home from your child’s folder.

This week’s red words: be, no, so, go

Have a great weekend, don’t forget to make a bonnet for next week’s parade.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

This week we have been reading ‘Jaspers Beanstalk’ by Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen. In this story Jasper tries to grow a bean. The children have been reordering the story and will have a go at rewriting this story, using a character of their choice next week. We will also be planting a runner bean and hopefully we will have some beanstalks soon! The children have begun learning about germination and they will be monitoring the changes to their bean whilst it grows into a small plant.

The children have also been busy making beautiful cards for Mother’s Day and other special people in their life. Please check your child’s book bag for yours!

This week in Maths, the children have been learning to compare and order objects by their length or height. The children had a go at ordering beanstalks and then using unifix cubes to measure how tall each one was.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we continued with our topic: Rights and Responsibilities. The children listened to the story, ‘Somebody swallowed Stanley’ and then thought about how they can do their bit to look after our world. We discussed using less water, feeding local wildlife and of course recycling!

In RE, the children have been learning about the cross. They considered where they may have seen a cross, such as on churches or on books, and also less obvious places such as on hot cross buns. The children are continuing to learn the Easter story and learnt that Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross. Next week the children will help make resurrection gardens ready to explore the next part of the Easter story.

Homework

This week the children have another Rainbow Red Words homework sheet to complete. Then help your child to choose one or more of this week’s red words and use them to write a sentence.

This week’s red words: he me she we

Following on from the ParentMail sent earlier in the week, here is the link to the British Science Week Poster competition on the theme of Connections. Bring your entries into school by next Friday for us to shortlist: Poster competition – British Science Week

Have a great weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

This week the children have been detectives and used their super reading skills to read and solve clues to free the fruit and vegetable characters from the Supertato stories. The children have also been busy making fruit and vegetable collages which we have displayed in our classroom. Next week we will be reading and rewriting ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ by Nick Butterworth and Mike Inkpen. The children will be planting beans and we will hopefully have some beanstalks soon after!

This week in Maths, the children have been learning about time. They have been busy discussing the seasons, learning the days of the week and thinking about activities they do at different times of the day. They enjoyed joining in with some fun timed activities to gain a better understanding of time. Have a go with your child and see how many times you can both write your name in 30 seconds!

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we continued with our topic: Rights and Responsibilities. The children thought about how they can all work as a team to do their bit to look after our classroom. The children wrote captions for photos of different areas in our class and we made a class book about how to care for our classroom.

In RE, the children have been learning about the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christians believe Jesus went to pray after the final supper. The children discussed why Jesus chose to pray in a beautiful garden and considered the many places where people can pray.

Homework – Rainbow Red Words and sentence writing

want, what, they and to

This week the children have another Rainbow Red Words homework sheet to complete. Then help your child to choose one or more of this week’s red words and use them to write a sentence.

Encourage your child to say their sentence, count the words in the sentence, use Fred Talk to segment the sounds in each word, then write each word. Begin the sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Don’t forget finger spaces between each word. Encourage your child to use the sounds and corresponding letter patterns they have learnt so far. They do not need to spell each word accurately, we are looking for them to be able to spell phonetically. Helping them to learn to spell a tricky word is ok. Remember lots of encouragement and praise is crucial at this stage of their learning.

Have a great weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

It was fantastic to see the children dressed up on Thursday for World Book Day! WBD coincided with buddy reading so many of the children were able to share the book they brought to school with their buddy.

This week in Literacy the children have been reading some speech bubbles from various characters of Supertato. Some children have also had a go at writing descriptions of the different characters.

This week in Maths, the children have continued learning to add but they have been using a different model called the part, part, whole model (it can have more than 2 parts!). The children will continue to use this model in Year 1. They learn that the 2 parts combine to make the whole. The children have continued to use the different strategies they have learnt to add: counting all the objects or counting on from the greatest number. You can support your child at home with their learning by encouraging them to combine 2 groups of objects and record their answers by writing number sentences using the addition and equals symbols.

In our relationship and health education lesson we continued with our topic: Rights and Responsibilities. The children thought about ways they can help their friends. They enjoyed acting out different situations where a friend might need help and thinking of a sensible way to help them.

In RE we have been discussing times when we have shared a special meal with family and friends. We read the story of the last supper and discussed how Christians believe that Jesus held his last meal with his closest friends, his disciples, and shared a meal of bread and wine with them.

Homework – Rainbow Red Words and sentence writing

said, was, are, of

This week the children have another Rainbow Red Words homework sheet to complete.

We have also included a homework book for your child to record a sentence or more in. Help your child to choose one or more of this week’s red words and use it to write a sentence.  If your child struggles to write in the book please do allow them to write on a plain piece of paper for now.

Encourage your child to say their sentence, count the words in the sentence, use Fred Talk to segment the sounds in each word, then write each word. Begin the sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Don’t forget finger spaces between each word. Encourage your child to use the sounds and corresponding letter patterns they have learnt so far. They do not need to spell each word accurately, we are looking for them to be able to spell phonetically. Helping them to learn to spell a tricky word is ok. Remember lots of encouragement and praise is crucial at this stage of their learning.

We have sent home log in details for ‘Busy Things’ with each child today. If you have any problems please let us know and remember not to share the unique usernames and passwords on any social media including WhatsApp.

Have a great weekend,

Miss Billington, Ms Newton and Miss Ahmed

This week in Literacy we have been reading ‘Supertato’ by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. This tells the story of the Evil Pea who escaped from the freezer and causes destruction within the supermarket. We have been looking closely at the Evil Pea and the children have been writing simple sentences describing him and the things he has been up to. Next week, we will be reading and writing captions for a variety of characters from the story.

This week in Maths, the children have been learning different strategies to add. They began by counting all the objects in two groups then they tried counting on from the greatest number first when adding two groups. The children used tens frames to put their counters on and practised counting on from 5 when the top row of the tens frame is full. They also noticed that when there is just one space left on the tens frame the answer is 1 less than 10. The children are getting really confident at adding now and they are also learning to work cooperatively with their Math partners.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we began our new topic: Rights and responsibilities. The children thought about how their families take care of them and what they can do to help at home.

In RE we have begun to learn about the Easter story and this week read the story of Palm Sunday. We have been thinking about the role of the donkey who carried Jesus into Jerusalem and how the people reacted to him when he did so.

Homework – Rainbow red words

This week the children have a ‘Rainbow Red Words’ homework sheet to complete. Encourage your child to learn to write the Red Words on the sheet using different coloured pencils or felt tip pens. We will send home homework books and begin writing sentences next week.

Next Thursday is World Book Day, the children are encouraged to come to school dressed as a character from a fairy-tale or myth. They can also bring the book for us to share during the day.

Ms Billington and Ms Newton

It was wonderful to welcome so many of you into the classroom for our Reception Drop-in this week. We hope you enjoyed the opportunity to explore the classroom and resources with you child.

This week the children have been learning about the Arctic. We found a very lost polar bear in our classroom on Wednesday and set to work making found posters to try and reunite him with his family.

This week in Maths, the children have been learning about capacity. They explored the capacity of each of the three bear’s water bottles using water and a measuring cup. They then went onto explore and order the capacity of the three bear’s bowls using porridge oats.

This week in our Relationship and Health Education lesson the children learnt about consent. We revisited the ‘Pantosaurus’ video which you can find and watch with your child here:

Pantosaurus

We discussed different types of touch, who our trusted adults are and what is appropriate and not appropriate. We also discussed how important it is to always tell a trusted adult when something doesn’t feel right. We have also been discussing with the children what to do if someone is unkind and that it is very important to tell an adult right away. We also ask that parents please reinforce this at home and also let us know if there are any issues right away also.

The focus of this week’s RE lesson was ‘neighbours’. The children learnt that Christians believe God wants everyone to help take care of their ‘neighbour’. They listened again to the story, ‘The Good Samaritan’ and thought about what they could do to look after their neighbours and what to do if someone needs help.

In preparation for Valentine’s Day the children all made LOVE hearts, please check your child’s bag for these. We also made love heart bunting with kind words to decorate our classroom.

We had another class parent, who works for the NHS, come in and talk to the pupils about their cracking career. A big thank you for your time!

Homework – red words

The final Red Words of the term are:

We hope everyone has a lovely half term holiday, keep practising those red words.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

This week the children have begun learning about the explorer, Ernest Shackleton who attempted a number of times to reach Antarctica. They also learnt about Preet Chandi, the first women of colour to reach the South Pole solo and unsupported in 2021. The children learnt about the different equipment both explorers needed and discussed similarities and differences in the two explorer’s experiences. We continued to learn about Antarctica this week and the children enjoyed watching the first ten minutes of the first episode of Frozen Planet II on the BBC. They really enjoyed it and we encourage you to continue to watch this fantastic series with your children at home as it lends itself so nicely to our current learning.

This week in Maths, the children have been learning about mass. They began by using their hands to compare the weight of objects and then moved on to using balance scales which they learnt are particularly useful when two objects feel similar in weight. The children used the language of: lightest, heaviest, light and heavy to describe objects in the classroom to their math partners. We have also been learning to name 3d shapes and identify 3d shapes in pictures and models as they play.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson the children learnt how to stay safe indoors and outdoors and helped Harold our class giraffe to make some sensible choices to keep him safe.

In RE this week the children learnt that Christians believe that GOD created all the different animals in our world and that they are special to Him. They thought carefully about pets they have at home or their extended family have and how to take special care of them. The children learnt about the Christian story when God asked Adam the first human in the bible to name all the animals He had created. We looked at some photos of different animals including some unusual ones and tried to name them. The children made up names for ones they were unsure of and explained why they had chosen those names.

On Friday it was Coding Day and NHS Day at St Stephen’s. The children had lots of activities on offer such as ‘program your robot, make a shape robot, copy my peg code and make a repeating pattern. We have lots of potential coders in our class I would say!

We also had a class parent who works for the NHS come in and talk to the pupils about their cracking career. Thank you!

Homework – red words

We have carried out a red word assessment this week and for now we are going to pause on sending home any more Red Words whilst the children learn off by heart the ones sent home so far. It is really important that you help your child to memorise these words as this is part of the process of learning to read alongside our phonics lessons. Try these ideas:

Make some Red Word flash cards and review each day with your child – store them in a special box!

Use the flash cards to lay a game of splat on the floor with a fish slice or wooden spoon. You say a word and your child splats it.

Hide the red words around the house and send your child on a treasure hunt.

Stick them on your child’s wall or on the fridge. Or write them on post it notes and stick to the toilet door!

Red words flash cards spring 1

Finally, we have come across the White Rose Maths app in a recent training session and encourage you to download it on to a device at home and use with your child. Choose activities which stay within 10 to begin with.

https://whiterosemaths.com/1-minute-maths

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend,

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

This week in literacy we having been learning lots about penguins. We have learnt that there are eight different species of penguin in Antarctica. All with a unique look and name. The children all had a turn at making sentences about penguins with simple words and red words and some of the children write out their sentences. Next week, we will be learning about explorers as well as learning about the Arctic and some of the animals that live there.

This week in Maths, the children have been exploring the composition of the numbers 9 and 10. They have continued writing number sentences using the addition and equals symbols. They have also been comparing numbers within 10 saying which group has more or fewer and finding the numbers on a number track.  We also made some wonderful number pictures!

This week in our relationship and health education lesson the children listened to a story about a little penguin called Smartie who got a new tablet for his birthday. They learnt a little bit about staying safe on the internet and a catchy song to remember to always ask an adult for help.

In RE this week, the children read the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’ and discussed whose responsibility it is to take care of our school. The children learnt that everyone can help to care for our world and make it a better place to live!

The children were treated to an extra special Friday Assembly about The Lunar New Year. A BIG thank you to Beatrice’s mum for taking the time to prepare and deliver the assembly. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and were wowed by the amazing performance.

Homework – red words and handwriting

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. Red words are common words with an uncommon spelling. Encourage your child to ‘Fred’ the words to begin with to identify the uncommon spelling then move on to learning them of by heart: we, she, be

This week the children have been learning to form letters in the robot family. In class the children have learnt how to correctly form v and w. Please complete the handwriting homework with your child. Your child should practise their name on the top row and then complete one row of each letter.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend,

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

For your information

Please find a link below for Story and Narrative at Home workshops

Parent_storytelling

This week we have been learning about Antarctica. The children have found Antarctica on a globe and learnt that it is a cold, icy continent at the southernmost part of the earth where the South Pole is. We have begun finding out about some of the animals that live there, beginning with emperor penguins, by reading some information books. In Literacy, the children have listened to the story ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. The children then learnt about ’labels’ and had a go at labelling the boy and the penguin from the story.

In Maths, the children have continued exploring number bonds focusing on the composition of the numbers 8, 9 and 10. We have continued with the penguins and icebergs game mentioned in last week’s blog and also explored using Numicon as well. They have been learning to say the number sentences for the number bonds using the language of add and equals.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson the children thought about and discussed the different things they put into their bodies. They looked at a variety of medicines and bottles of liquid and discussed how and why they are not safe to take without a parent’s/carer’s permission.

In RE this week, as part of our topic, ‘Who cares for this special world and why?’ the children thought about how they can look after our planet. They revisited what they learnt recently about reducing, reusing and recycling and thought about ways they can take rubbish and turn it into something new and useful such as a cardboard box car for their teddies to ride in! Next week we will be using rubbish to make some class junk modelling projects that the children will be able to play with in class.

Homework – red words and handwriting

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. We will be doing a Red word check with each child next week to see how they are getting on.

This week the children have continued to learn to form letters in the robot family. The children have learnt how to correctly form k and p. Please complete the handwriting homework with your child. Your child should practise their name on the top row and then complete one row of each letter.

Polite reminders

Please can the children wear correct school uniform every day. This includes black school shoes, a school tie and a school cardigan or school jumper. The school hoodies are only allowed to be worn on PE days.

Children must bring their book bags into school daily. Especially on a Friday as we need to put the children’s homework into their bags. It is also really important that your child has a bottle of fresh water with them each day. Thank you for your support with this.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

Apologies for so few photos. My iPad stopped working and I cannot get this weeks photos off it. More to come next week!

A big thank you to all the parents who supported us on our class trip this week. You were amazing! The children had a fantastic time at the Ecology Centre and we were blessed with beautiful sunny weather. We learnt about the different seasons and searched the park with tick lists for signs of winter. The children learnt about 3 animals that hibernate (hedgehogs, dormice and bats) and made a clay hedgehog, with found objects in the park, before settling them into a safe place to hibernate! We particularly enjoyed learning to identify different types of fungus. One of our favourites was jelly ear fungus!

This week in Reception the children have been learning about the 3 Rs: recycle, reduce and reuse. Our story this week was ‘Somebody swallowed Stanley’ by Sarah Roberts. This story is about about a plastic bag that ends up in the ocean but is made into a kite by a little boy who finds it trapped in a turtle’s mouth. The children had great fun sorting all the rubbish you sent in. They identified what material each piece of rubbish was made from and then grouped the materials that were the same together. The children also reused some of the rubbish to make huge under the sea creatures! In our Literacy lessons we focused on posters and the children had a go at making their own recycling posters to display in our classroom.

In RE this week we continued to think about how to take care of our world. The children learnt that Christians believe God wants them to look after the wonderful world that we live in. The children thought about what they are responsible for looking after such as our Early Years garden and the library book they take home each week.

In Maths this week the children have been learning the different ways of making 5, 6 and 7. We call these number bonds. For example for the number 5 the number bonds are: 0+5, 1+4, 2+3. The children had to keep their penguins safe by placing them on 2 icebergs and saying their number sentence e.g. There are 2 penguins on the first iceberg and 3 penguins on the second iceberg, altogether there are 5 penguins. Try playing this at home this weekend for the numbers 5, 6 and 7.

This week we had a visit from Sarah who works for Coram Life Education & Scarf, the scheme of work we use to teach Relationship and Health Education. Sarah taught the children about the different parts of the body and using Gerald the giraffe she explored with the children strategies to help them when they feel worried.

Homework

This week we have continued with the robot family and the children have learnt how to correctly form n, h and m. Please help your child to complete this week’s handwriting homework and return on Thursday.

Red words

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. Red words are common words with an uncommon spelling. Encourage your child to ‘Fred’ the words to begin with to identify the uncommon spelling then move on to learning them off by heart:

they, to

Please bring in empty toilet roll and kitchen roll holders for our art project next week.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend,

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

Add link to RWI pronunciation video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkXcabDUg7Q

Artist Workshops

​As part of enriching our Art learning, we are looking for any parents, carers or even grandparents who are Artists or work in an artistic career, such as architecture, who would be willing to run an Art workshop with the classes. It can be linked to the curriculum or a stand alone lesson in the year group of your choice. If you would be interested in volunteering your time with us, please get in touch with Mrs Allen (e.allen@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk).

Welcome back and Happy New Year. We hope everyone had a lovely, restful Christmas Break. This week the children have been telling us all about the wonderful things they have been up to whilst away from school. They then all had a go at writing out some of their memories.

This week whilst the children have settled back into their routine we have recapped lots of learning from last term. During Maths we have focused on one more and one less within 10. We have also introduced our poem ‘The Day the Blue Whale Saved the Penguins’. Have a read of it with your child at home.

Next week we will be starting our new ‘Polar Lands’ topic and will be learning lots about recycling and conservation.

PLEASE SAVE AND BRING IN ANY CLEAN RUBBISH FROM HOME FOR US FOR NEXT WEEK.

Next week we also have our school trip. The children will need to bring a healthy packed lunch to school to take with them on the trip including a bottle of water. No nuts or seeds please. The children will need to be able to carry their packed lunch, a small backpack is ideal. The children will need to wear their winter uniform with a warm coat, winter accessories and a pair of sensible shoes for exploring the park.

Please find the goals for our new topic below:

Spring 1 Polar regions

Homework

This week we have introduced the robot family and the children have learnt how to correctly form r and b. Please help your child to complete this week’s handwriting homework and return on Thursday.

Red words

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. Red words are common words with an uncommon spelling. Encourage your child to ‘Fred’ the words to begin with to identify the uncommon spelling then move on to learning them off by heart:

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend,

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

What a wonderful and busy autumn we have had. We can’t believe it is over already!  A big thank you for all your support this term, as well as a big thank you for your incredibly generous gifts and words this Christmas. We hope you all have a happy and restful Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

This week the children have enjoyed listening to the story, ‘Mog’s Christmas’ by Judith Kerr. They tried retelling the story by sequencing pictures and also had a go at writing a sentence to retell the story. We introduced the children to using a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence, finger spaces between words and a full stop at the end.

In Maths we played lots of games to revisit 2d shape, positional language and representing and comparing numbers to 10.

The children have been very busy this week making festive cards, so please check their book bag for it.

No handwriting this week, we will continue with handwriting in the New Year.

Please keep practising the red words sent home so far. Try playing a game of splat: write the red words on to small pieces of card and put them on the floor. Say a word and encourage your child to spot it and splat it as fast as they can with a fish slice or wooden spoon!

Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to help us on the school trip. We still need a couple more helpers so please contact us in the New Year if you are able to help.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday, see you in the New Year!

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Ahmed

A BIG thank you to all the volunteers who were able to help with our trip to the Lyric Theatre.

This week we have been very busy rehearsing for our Nativity performance. The children have all worked so hard to learn their lines and also the words to all of the songs. Thank you for your support at home with this. We can’t wait to show you at the performance next week.

Please ensure your child wears a vest under their school uniform (no PE kit) on the day of the Nativity. It would also help if your child wears socks rather than tights. Please make sure all of your child’s uniform is labelled as this makes it so much easier for staff and the pupils when changing for the Nativity.

This week in Maths, we have been learning one more and one less within 10. The children have thoroughly enjoyed playing our more and less bus game. Try playing this game at home. You will need to draw a tens frame/bus with 10 spaces for each player. Cover the sides of a dice with the words more or less. Each player starts with 5 small objects and then takes turns throwing the dice to see if they gain 1 more object/ passenger or have to take one object/passenger away. The first to 10 WINS.  We have to warn you the kids are quite good at it!

Homework

This week we have begun a new handwriting family, ‘The long ladder family.’ The children have learnt how to correctly form l, i and t.

Red words

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. Red words are common words with an uncommon spelling. Encourage your child to ‘Fred’ the words to begin with to identify the uncommon spelling then move on to learning them off by heart:

Next week, we will be making our Christmas crafts to sell at the school fair as well as reviewing the learning from this term.

Have a great weekend, keep practising those lines!

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

Another busy week in Reception!

The children have made a great start at learning their lines for the Nativity. Please keep helping your child to learn their Nativity line so that they know it off by heart and can say it in a loud, clear, confident voice.

This week the children have been learning about lists. They have been thinking about all the different types of lists people might write and they have had a go at writing a list of the animals that live at Old MacDonald’s farm.

In Maths this week we introduced the numbers nine and ten. The children found ways of representing the numbers using resources and objects from our classroom. We have also introduced tens frames and the children have learnt how to line up counters on a tens frame starting from the top row on the left. They took turns with their partners to count out different amounts of counters up to 10 and organise them on their tens frame.

In our relationship and health education lesson the children listened to the story, ‘Come over to my house,’ by Dr Seuss. The children enjoyed talking about their homes and the different types of homes in our community and further afield. They also had a think about what their dream home might include! Some children had a go at making junk model houses. We don’t have much left in our junk model boxes so if you have any clean, dry smallish cardboard boxes then please send them in and we can continue this activity next week.

In Phonics this week the children have been grouped into three smaller groups. The children have been revisiting Set 1 sounds they are not yet secure with and some children have begun learning the Set 1 digraphs (2 letters, one sound).

Today some children will bring home a Sound Blending Book or a Ditty Sheet. Please read carefully the letter which explains the reading process to you (the letter can also be found on the blog).

Homework

This week’s red words are:

Please also complete this week’s handwriting sheet:

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

This week we have been reading The Nativity Story to the children. They have discussed and sequenced the story and had a go at acting out the story in preparation for their Nativity play. Today we have sent home in your child’s book bag their line to learn for the Reception Nativity. We have included the line that comes before your child’s line which will help them when we begin rehearsing. Please practise with your child so that they are really confident saying their line.

In Maths this week we introduced the numbers six, seven and eight. The children found ways of representing the numbers using resources and objects from our classroom. At home please support your child by doing lots of counting out loud and counting objects. Within 10 to begin with and then challenge them further by counting out loud to 20 and beyond. Are they able to tell you what one more than and one less than is to 5 and then 10? Also encourage your child to spot and identify numerals in their environment when you are out and about over the weekend such as: door numbers or number plates on vehicles.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we read the beautiful book, ‘The great big book of families,’ by Mary Hoffman. The children enjoyed talking about who lives in their home with them and with a little bit of help were able to follow a key using different colours to represent the people who live or visit their homes often.

In Phonics this week we have been completing phonics assessments ready to put the children into smaller phonics groups. It’s wonderful to see how much they have already learnt during their phonics lessons. Please continue to support your children at home by encouraging them to identify the first sound they hear in words and then being able to blend simple CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words e.g. b-u-g is bug. Use the phonics sound chart on the blog to review the sound that each letter makes.

Homework

We will now be sending home Red Words as well as the weekly handwriting. Red Words are words that your child will need to learn off by heart, as at this stage they have not yet been introduced to the alternative sounds letters and groups of letters make in many of the words we will send home. Learning to read these common words will help your child when they begin reading and writing sentences. It is a good idea to display these words in your home such as on the fridge or in your child’s bedroom and review them as many times as possible during the week with your child.

This week’s red words are: I, the

Please also complete this week’s handwriting sheet g, q and e.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

This week we have continued to explore out topic: Celebrations. The children have been learning about how people celebrate Eid and sharing their experiences of birthday celebrations too. The children drew celebration pictures and labelled their pictures using initial sounds.

During maths this week we explored positional language. The children listened to the story, ‘Where’s Tumpty’, by Polly Dunbar, and played some positional games. They also began learning the names of the most common 2d shapes and enjoyed the story, ‘Mouse Shapes,’ by Ellen Stoll Walsh. The children had fun trying to copy some of the pictures the mice made with the different 2d shapes.

This week in our Relationship and Health Education lesson the children listened to the story, ‘Harold shares his scarf.’ The children talked about all the kind things Harold said and did. They then thought about kind things they can say and do if a friend is feeling sad.

On Friday the children joined in with the two minutes of silence and had the opportunity to make some poppy crafts.

In Phonics this week we have learnt the sounds z and x. We have begun our first phonics assessment to see how many of the sounds, we have taught so far, the children can remember.

z – Zig, Zag, Zig

x – Down the arm and leg and repeat the other side

Handwriting homework – return on Thursday in your child’s homework folder

This week we have been exploring the handwriting families. The children have practised c, a and d.

This is an important stage in the children’s learning. They begin to learn how to present their work neatly and clearly so that it can be read by others. Please take the time to read this information carefully so that you are able to help your child to get off to a good start with their writing.

In class the children have been practising writing on the line and are beginning to learn how to size their letters so that they fit between the lines. We are not aiming for the children to have tiny writing but please encourage your child to use the lines on the worksheet (sent home today). If you find this is an issue, please ask your child to try to write the letters on a blank piece of paper for the time being. In class we have talked about how some letters start by almost touching the ceiling (the line above) and that some letters start in the middle of the two lines. We will also introduce how some letters have parts that hang down below the line. All letters must stand on the floor (the bottom line) and not float away.

Each week we will focus on a family of letters that are formed in similar ways. This week is the caterpillar family. It is so important that children are writing letters with the correct formation as this is extremely difficult to fix once they have settled into a way of writing.

Children should also be encouraged to use a ‘perfect pincer grip’ (as shown below). If children are not using the correct grip on the pencil (even if their letters look good) then they will experience fatigue much quicker than their peers, and may not be able to write for long periods of time when they are older.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

This week we have been learning lots about Diwali and we have begun learning about Bonfire Night. The children have been busy creating Rangoli patterns, making Diva lamps and learning the Diwali story of Rama and Sita. Next week will be learning about other celebrations including birthdays and Eid and thinking about the similarities and differences between various celebrations and traditions.

In Maths this week the children enjoyed listening to the story ‘Mouse Count’ by Ellen Stoll Walsh and learnt how to find ‘one more’ within numbers to 5. The children also began learning to find one fewer and enjoyed the stories ‘Ten in the bed’ by Penny Dale and ‘Ten red apples’ by Pat Hutchins. Next week, the children will be learning about positional language and 2D shapes. We will be doing a 2D shape hunt in our EYFS garden so it would be great if you could have a go at finding 2D shapes in your home environment and when you are out and about this weekend.

During Literacy the children labelled simple pictures using sounds they have learnt so far. They used ‘Fred Talk’ to segment and blend the sounds, then identified the corresponding letters. Next week the children will be thinking about ways they celebrate special events and festivals in their families, then drawing and labelling their pictures.

In Religious Education we are learning why Christmas is special to Christians. This week we began by thinking about how families prepare for new babies and the children shared their experiences of waiting and preparing for new baby brothers and sisters. The children learnt that a long time ago some people were getting ready for a new baby to be born, baby Jesus. They learnt that Christians believe this baby was God’s son and God had sent messages to tell people that the baby would be born.

In our Health and Relationships lesson we read a number of books to explore ‘Valuing difference’ our new topic. We explored what the children have in common with other children in the class as well as exploring their unique differences. The class created a graph of their favourite after school and weekend activities. Playing with friends and family was the most popular activity!

In Phonics this week we have learnt the sounds j, v, y and w.

J – Down his body curl and dot

v- Down a wing, up a wing

y – Down a horn, up a horn and under its head

w – Down, up, down, up

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and manages to enjoy some fireworks together.

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

The first half term has flown by! The children have settled so well and are exploring and learning confidently and independently.

This week was ‘Black Voices Week’ here at St Stephen’s. In Reception we read a variety of poems and rhymes from across the world, including Tingalayo, a fun Caribbean tune about a little donkey. We also read Nature Trail, a joyful rhyming book written by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah and ‘Riley Can Be Anything’ by Davina Hamilton. After listening to the story ‘Riley can be anything’ the children discussed various occupations and thought about which occupations they would like to do when they are older. We talked about the qualities you need when wanting to achieve something and how, when you try hard and practise, you can succeed. Also this week, we have been learning about Mae Jemison who was the first Black African American woman to travel into space. The children learnt how Mae wasn’t always encouraged to become an astronaut but through lots of hard work and by not forgetting her dreams she eventually achieved what she wanted.

On Show Racism the Red Card Day the children all wore red and enjoyed a circle time where the children celebrated each other’s uniqueness and shared some thoughts on the things they have in common, such as what they enjoy doing or places they like visiting.

This week the children have also been exploring colour mixing. They listened to the story, ‘Mouse Paint’ by Ellen Stoll and then had a go at mixing the three primary colours to make three new colours just like the mice in the story.

In Maths this week the children have been learning to copy, continue and create repeating patterns. They have explored action patterns, word patterns and patterns with objects. We also looked at sorting objects and how to sort objects in a variety of different ways, such as by colour or size.

In Phonics this week we have learnt the sounds e, l, h and r.

E – Lift off the top and scoop out the egg

l – Down the long leg

h – Down the head to the hooves and over his back

r – Down his back and then curl over his arm

After half term we will be focusing on our reading of simple CVC words and we will be learning to find one more and one less than numbers to 5. We will be learning about Diwali and Bonfire Night and the children will be thinking about and sharing some of their family’s special celebrations and family traditions.

We hope everyone has a lovely half term!

Miss Billington and Miss Newton

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our first Reception Drop-in. We hope you enjoyed looking around the class and exploring some of the activities, toys and resources the children play with when at school.

In Maths this week we explored the number 5. The children began using five frames for the first time and had a go at representing the numbers 1-5 using objects on their five frame. They also had a go at pictorial representations of 5.

In Literacy this week we have been reading ‘Oi Frog!’ and other rhyming books by the author Kes Gray. The children enjoyed identifying rhyming words in the books and during activities throughout the week. Please continue to draw your children’s attention to rhyming words when reading with your children at home.

Thank you for sending in all the autumnal leaves and other objects your children have found. This week the children made autumnal crowns and pictures of autumn trees using different coloured paper and pens.

In our Relationships and health lesson this week the children explored in more detail the adults at school that can help them. Next week we will be discussing feelings and strategies to use when you feel a particular emotion.

In RE this week the children listened to a story about a very worried sparrow. They then learnt that Christians believe that God doesn’t want anyone to worry about anything. They learnt that Christians believe that because God loves everyone, He will take care of people and provide for them . . . just like he did for the worried sparrow.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds u, b, and f. The formation rhymes for each sound are below.

u – Down and under, up to the top and draw the puddle.

b – Down the laces to the heel, round the toe.

f – Down the stem and draw the leaves.

Next Friday is Show Racism the Red Card Day. The children will not change for gymnastics so please send your child in comfortable clothing and something red (or PE kit if easier for you and something red).

Miss Billington, Miss Newton

Another week has flown by at St Stephen’s and we are racing towards half term. In Maths this week we introduced the numbers 4 and 5. The children learnt lots of different ways to represent these numbers such as unifix cubes, pictures or numicon. They ended the week by learning to form the numerals correctly. Next week, we will be focusing on looking at 5 in more depth and will be representing 5 in a variety of forms such as on a five frame and making number pictures.

In Literacy this week we have been reading ‘The enormous turnip’. We have continued to discuss how lots of stories are made up of a beginning (where the story setting is introduced), a middle (where there is a problem) and the end of a story (where there is often a resolution to the problem). The children then role played the story. During this activity we encouraged the children to talk about the story and recall the key events. Next week we will be reading the book, Oi Frog! and other rhyming books by the author Kes Gray. We will be encouraging the children to identify the rhyming words and continue a rhyming string.

This week we have begun some autumnal art and craft activities. The children have made repeating patterns with autumnal paints and leaf stamps. They have also had a go at making some leaf decorations which many of them took home using cardboard leaf shapes and autumnal coloured wool. It was not as easy as it looked to keep the wool tight! They also looked closely at natural objects that can be found on the ground in autumn and then painted and drew them.

We would like to continue with our autumnal craft activities and discussions next week so please do bring in any interesting sticks, autumnal seeds or leaves the children find this weekend to share.

In our Relationships and health lesson this week the children have been exploring who in our communities they can go to for help. They were able to confidently talk about people at home that they can go to but found it more tricky to think of the many different people at school and the wider the community that help them. We will continue with our discussion next week looking more closely at the different members of staff at school and key community figures.

During R.E this week the children learnt a little more about Harvest Festival. The children discussed why it is an important festival and how it is important to share gifts with each other. Next week we will be learning about what and who Christians believe is special to God and will be reading, ‘The worried sparrow’ by Meryl Doney.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds o, c and K. The formation rhymes for each sound are below.

o – All around the orange

c – Curl around the caterpillar

k – Down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg

Today the children enjoyed the Hispanic Day Assembly and back in class they had a go at working in the style of Columbian artist Fernando Botero to create pictures of people using circles.

School uniform, coats and jackets.

Please ensure you clearly label your child’s school uniform, book bag, PE bag and water bottle. Please also ensure your child has the appropriate jumper, coat or rain jacket with them each day.

We hope everyone has a lovely restful weekend and look forward to seeing many of you at our first Reception drop in next week. The children are looking forward to showing you their classroom and some of the different toys they play with and types of activities they complete.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Safia

September seems to have flown by and the autumnal leaves have begun falling in our Early Years playground!

The children enjoyed their St Stephen’s Church Service on Thursday and it was lovely to see so many parents and carers able to come along and celebrate Harvest with our school community. Next week in RE as part of our learning in class about Harvest the children will be considering what they are thankful for. This could be a discussion topic for the dinner table this weekend to prepare the children for sharing in class.

In Maths this week we introduced the numbers 1, 2 and 3. The children learnt lots of different ways to represent these numbers such as unifix cubes, pictures or numicon. They ended the week by learning to form the numerals correctly. Next week, we will introduce the numbers 4 and 5 and explore different ways of representing them.

In Literacy this week we have been reading ‘The Little Red Hen’. We discussed how stories are made up of a beginning (where the story setting and characters are introduced), a middle (where there is a problem) and the end of a story (where there is often a resolution to the problem). The children then sequenced the story by cutting out pictures and sticking them in the correct order. During this activity we encouraged the children to talk about the story and recall the key events. Next week we will continue exploring traditional stories and sequencing key events using the story, ‘The enormous turnip.’

In our Relationships and health lesson this week we have been talking about our special people using the family photos you have sent in. We discussed and celebrated all the different types of families we have in our community. Next week the children will be drawing family portraits using different mark making tools.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds n, p and g. The formation rhymes for each sound are below. There is also a link to a website which has the RWI formation sheets that you may find useful at home.

n – Down Nicky and over their net

p – Down the pirates plait and around its face

g – Round her face, down her hair, give her a curl

RWI formation worksheets

An important message

In the mornings our priority is to settle the children quickly and this in turn makes it easier for the children as the period of separation is not prolonged. To assist us with this please do only pass on key information or ask urgent questions so that a queue does not form outside the class door. If it can wait until pick up time this is often easier as the class pick up is slightly more staggered. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

Lost property

Lost property often finds its way back to us in Reception via the lovely Ms Annora, if it is named! Lost property that does not make its way back to the classroom might be in the lost property box by the school office.

Hispanic day

On Friday please send your child in the colours of the Colombian flag or Hispanic dress. The children do not need to bring in their gymnastics kit or wear it to school. They will just take of their shoes and socks for their gymnastics lesson.

We hope everyone has a lovely restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Safia

It’s been a lovely week here in St Stephen’s Early Years. The children are settling well, beginning to work as a team and are becoming familiar with their daily routines.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds d, t and i. We have put the sounds chart in the homework box on this page. The formation rhymes for this week’s sounds are below:

d – Round his bottom (dinosaur’s), up his tall neck, down to his feet.

t – Down the tower, across the tower

i – Down the body and dot for the head

In our Relationships and Health lesson this week we have been discussing all the things which make us special. We have been looking at the many ways we are similar and also celebrating the ways we are unique. The children really enjoyed their circle time and were keen to share their thoughts.

During R.E this week we have been learning about how Christian’s believe the world began and  the children have been thinking about different beginnings, such as a new day or the beginning of a story. Next week, we will thinking about how wonderful the natural world is. We will be encouraging the children to identify aspects of nature as in the creation story from the bible. The children will have the opportunity in class to draw and paint pictures of natural things that ‘wow’ them such as a beautiful beach or tall mountains.

In Maths, we have been learning how to count efficiently. The children have learnt that it is always best to put objects in a line first, to touch and count each object only once, to stop when they have counted the last object, to count slowly and to always ‘check it’ by counting the group of objects twice. Ask your child to teach you how ‘to do good counting’ at home. We have also introduced the concept of ‘Zero’ this week and the children have been learning that ‘zero’ means ‘nothing’ and not to use it when counting objects. We have also introduced ‘Zero Zero Superhero’ a number song you can find on YouTube. Next week, we will be introducing the numbers 1, 2 and 3 and discovering different ways to represent them. The children will also learn rhymes to aid them in the formation of these numerals.

Next week, we will begin Literacy carpet sessions and a related activity. We will be reading the traditional story ‘The Little Red Hen’ and the children will be recalling the characters, setting and what happens at the beginning, middle and end of the story. The children will have a go at sequencing pictures from the story in the correct order.

Please send in your photos

Each Year group at St Stephen’s has a bible verse and word to reflect our vision statement. In Reception our word is, JOY. We would like to explore this with the children and to do this we would like you to discuss with your child what brings them joy in their life and then send in a photo to reflect this. We will then discuss and display these photos in class. Examples of photos to bring in could be: spending time with a special person such as a grandparent, spending time at a familiar place of worship, a special family celebration or an activity that you do as a family such as puzzles on a Sunday. Please bring these photos in as soon as possible.

Our class poets

Each half term each class at St Stephen’s has a poem to learn. This half term Reception Ahlberg will be focusing on the book ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and have been introduced to some of the fun poetry within this book.

Storytime for kids read aloud – Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

We hope everyone has a lovely restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Safia

The children have had another great week in Reception. They have had their first PE lesson with Mr Josh, their first music lesson with Ms Rachel and their first Gymnastics session with Fiona and Sharon. They also had a library session with Mrs Pereira. We are so impressed with how well they are adjusting to life at St Stephen’s.

This week we have been busy painting self-portraits to display in class. The children have enjoyed looking in a mirror and describing themselves. The children have also been learning how to use the EYFS garden correctly and how to use their whole body to listen during carpet sessions. The children have enjoyed played some games and singing some songs to learn and remember each other’s names. We have been discussing our feelings and what the children can do if they are feeling sad or angry including, telling an adult, taking deep breaths, having a drink of water, looking at a book in the reading corner or having a snuggle with a class soft toy.

Over the next few weeks we will be focusing on developing our relationship with each child and helping them to form good relationships with other children in the class. We have been learning how to ask others to play with us and how to say a firm ‘Stop, I don’t like it’.

This week we have started our Phonics sessions and introduced the sounds m, a and s. Please do use the link on the Phonics Presentation to check the correct pronunciation. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the Phonics Presentation. We have included the presentation on the blog for those of you who were unable to join us.

Reception Phonics Information Evening 2022-2023

The rhymes for each sound are:

m – Maisie, mountain, mountain

a – Round the apple, up and down the leaf

s – Slither down the snake

We suggested purchasing a chunky writing pencil for using at home such as these which have an option for left or right handed writers:

Handwriting pencil

In our Religious Education lesson (RE) this week we began our first unit, ‘Who made the wonderful world?’ We listened to the story ‘Dogger’ by Shirley Hughes and the children shared with the class things that are precious to them and why.

In our Relationship and Health Education lesson this week we began our first unit, ‘All about me.’ The children thought about some of their favourite things and shared them with the class. We considered how there are things that are the same about us and things that are different. The children were introduced to Harold our giraffe that helps us learn during these lessons.

Please continue to send in at least a change of pants and socks in your child’s book bag for them to use if they have a toileting accident.

We sometimes notice that during the 2^nd and 3^rd week of school some of the children will get a little more tired, possibly teary and definitely more aware that Reception is a full time thing now. Please try not to worry. We will let you know if any of the children are upset when in school and find that this stage is short lived. Please do let us know if you have any big concerns though as we are more than happy to chat.

Gymnastics

Please remove your child’s earrings for gymnastics on Fridays and hair that touches your child’s shoulder needs to be tied up.

Homework & Homework folders

We have sent home a task for you to complete with your child and return by Thursday 22^nd September. It is about your family’s heritage. You will find it in your child’s new ‘Homework folder’. Thank you to everyone who has already completed it. My apologies for the confusion of leaving it up on my blog from last year. I’m so impressed how keen everyone is!

Joy

Each class has a spiritual identity and word. In Reception ours is JOY! And we would like you to think about this with your child and send in or bring in a photo of a family activity that brings your family joy. We will discuss these and display them in our class. For example it could be spending time with grandparents, Sunday lunches altogether, a particular game you all enjoy playing or going to the beach!

Please find below our goals for this half term:

Autumn 1 All about me

We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Malisa

Welcome to St Stephen’s! We have had a lovely week getting to know your children and seeing them beginning to settle into school life. The children are all working on remembering each other’s names and are gradually becoming more confident within their new environment and getting used to walking in all by themselves each morning. We promise it will get less daunting as the weeks go on and the children become more used to their routines. It is very normal for children to feel unsettled and a bit anxious when starting full time Reception and we will let you know if we think your child is finding it hard to adjust.

Next week, the children will attend school all day from 9am until 3.25pm. The school gates open at 8.45am. Please remain with your child until we open the doors at 9am.

We will continue with our settling in period and we will be playing lots of games to get to know each other. We will also be introducing our ‘All about me’ topic, as well as Phonics and some other fun learning sessions.

PE

The children will have Kick London on Tuesdays and gymnastics on Fridays. On these days they need to come to school wearing their PE kit. They do not need to bring their school uniform with them even if they have a club afterschool.

For Kick London the children need to wear the school PE shorts, PE T-shirt and black plimsolls/or trainers. As the weather gets cooler the children can also wear the school PE tracksuit or school hoodie.

For gymnastics the children MUST wear shorts and T-shirts, so if you choose to send them in the school tracksuit please ensure they have the school PE shorts and T-shirt on underneath. Long hair must be tied up and earrings removed. If your child’s earrings are recently pierced we can cover the earrings with tape.  They can wear black plimsolls or trainers. They take them off to do gymnastics.

Water bottles

Please send your child to school each morning with a water bottle filled with fresh water. Please label their water bottle.

Change of clothes

It’s important your child has a change of clothes in their book bag each day. We recommend at least a change of pants/knickers and a pair of socks. A change of shorts/trousers or a skirt is also useful.

Medical and allergy needs

If your child had a medical condition or allergy that requires medication then please drop this off to the school office as soon as possible. You will be required to fill in and submit a medical form.

Scooters and bikes

Scooters and bikes can be left in school down the Early Years alley. This is locked during the day.

FOSS class WhatsApp group

Each class has a WhatsApp group run by FOSS. Please speak to your class representative if you would like to be added. It is a really useful way for you to have up to date information from the school.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and will see you on Monday.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Malisa