What a beautifully sunny last week of spring term we have had in Reception. This week the Early Years team have been assessing where the children are siting with their learning and what we will be moving on to next term.

The children have been busy making their Easter cards and have been practicing their addition and counting on in Math. We also had our wonderful Easter bonnet parade where we were so impressed with the children’s bonnets. You all worked so hard!

The children have been busy this week making chicks and bunnies with lots of different resources.

This week we also visited church for our lovely Easter service and in the afternoon on Friday we had an Easter egg hunt.

We hope you all have a wonderful Easter full of fun with your families. Thank you all so much for your support and for the wonderful community you create for our school.

Homework

We are not sending reading books or handwriting homework over the holidays. Although, we would be very happy to receive lots of lovely drawings and sentences about your Easter holiday when the children return to school.

Please do keep practising reading and writing the Red Words.

Please also check your ParentMail emails for information about our class assembly.

Have a wonderful Easter!

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

Thank you for all the incredibly generous donations of fruit brought in this week and the plastic containers. The children enjoyed using tissue paper to decorate the outside of their fruit salad container. Then they helped to prepare the fruit and carefully chose what they wanted in their fruit salads. Before eating it!

This week the children have been busy making Mother’s Day cards which we have sent home today in your child’s homework folder.

In Maths, the children have been identifying matching pairs and subitising to 5. They also revisited addition and have been learning to count on from the greatest amount.

The children enjoyed litter picking in the big playground today as part of the Great British School Clean campaign. In our RHE lesson the children thought about all the different ways they can care for our planet including trying to use less water. The children learnt about the recycling rules in our borough and which bin to use for different types of rubbish.

In RE the children made a resurrection garden and explored the final part of the Easter story. They learnt that Christians believe Jesus came back to life after his body was placed in the tomb. They enjoyed listening to ‘The Easter story’ written by Brian Wildsmith which tells the Easter story from the perspective of the donkey.

Handwriting

This week the children are revising the long ladder family – help your child to correctly form the letters j, y & u.

This week’s rainbow red words are: what, want

This week we are sending home small blue ‘Homework Books’. We would like your child to practise their handwriting and rainbow red words straight into their homework book. Please see photo below.

If your child is finding it difficult to write on the line then please use the space above. Write each letter once before your child begins.

If your child is left handed it may help to write the letter on the right side for them.

If your child is struggling with their formation you could use a yellow highlighter to write each letter/word and then your child can trace over the top of it.

Please check ParentMail for details of next week’s Easter Bonnet Parade and Church Service. Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day!

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

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 chose their favourite part of the story and had a go at writing a sentence to retell that part. The children enjoyed planting their own broad beans this week. Then they sequenced the steps for planting a bean and had a go at writing an instruction for one step in the process.

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 other objects and then using unifix cubes to measure how tall each one was.

In in our relationship and health education lesson 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 been learning about the cross. They considered where they may have seen a cross, such as on churches and also less obvious places such as on hot cross buns. The children are continuing to learn the Easter story and enjoyed decorating crosses with buttons and tissue paper, have a look in your child’s book bag for theirs.

Handwriting

Next week we will be Reading Oliver’s Fruit Salad by Vivian French. Please could each child bring in 1 or 2 pieces of fruit in to share?

Next week, is also Science week and we are learning about substantiality so please could you bring in a used container (like an empty margarine pot or an empty fruit tub) for your child to decorate and reuse for their fruit salad. Please make sure the containers are not too large and that they are clean.

Please bring containers in on Monday and fruit on Wednesday. 

This week the children are revising the long ladder family – help your child to correctly form the letters l, i & t. Please help your child to complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

This week’s rainbow red words are: are, of

It’s Science Week at St Stephens from 24th-28th March. This year, our focus is Sustainability to tie in with the Great British School Clean campaign and our new school Climate Action Plan.

https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-big-school-clean

Each year group has chosen a different focus for the week to tie in with our overall theme including plastic pollution and water scarcity.

H & F Council have kindly lent us litter picks to help us keep the school and local area clean and log how much rubbish we collect during the week.

The library reading focus for Science Week will tie in with our theme with lots of green reading materials. Our School Councillors are monitoring food wastage and water usage throughout the week. We will also going meat-free all week at lunchtimes and switching off both the heating and photocopiers to save energy and resources. 

Homework this weekend ties in with this theme with children logging water usage at home – Miss Bill has sent an email on this activity.

And if that wasn’t enough it’s also Earth Hour this Saturday evening at 8.30pm (although surely children will be in bed by then!). Join in by switching off non-essential lights and dedicating 60 minutes to Give an hour for Earth.

https://www.earthhour.org/

Have a great weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

To celebrate St Stephen’s Arts Day, we read the story, ‘No, Nancy, No!’ by Alice Tait. The children enjoyed spotting the landmarks they recognised on Nancy’s tour of London. The children then had a go at drawing a London Landmark of their choice and creating a London bus with passengers. The children’s art work will be on display at the Arts Day Café, see ParentMail for more details.

This week in Literacy the children used their super reading skills to read clues and guess the Supertato character. The children then had a go at writing their own fruit and veggie clues for the class to solve at snack and story times during the week.

This week in Maths the children have been sequencing the days of the week and thinking carefully about what activities they typically do at different times of the day.

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.

Handwriting

Another week of the caterpillar family – help your child to correctly form the letters s, f and o. Complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

Writing Red words

This week’s Rainbow Red Words to write are: said and was. Complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our drop in morning next week.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

The children all looked fantastic dressed up for World Book Day, we hope you enjoyed the parade. The children had a go at a storytelling activity in class. We threw a ball of string around our circle creating a story web. Each child who received the ball of string had to add the next part to our story. It was lots of fun and we were impressed by their imaginative storytelling ideas.

This week in Literacy we have been reading, ‘Supertato, Veggies Assemble,’ by Sue Hendra. The children learnt how to be good readers. They read some speech bubbles for different characters from the story by: spotting the red words they have learnt to read, hunting for special friends (words with 2 letters that make one sound) and using ‘Fred Talk’ to segment and blend the sounds in words. They then had a go at writing speech bubbles for a character from the story.

This week the children have been exploring different strategies to add. The children learnt to count on from the greatest number first when adding two groups together. They worked with their Math partners using counters and ten frames to solve addition problems by counting on.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we continued with our topic: Rights and responsibilities. The children thought about how they can take care of their friends. We had lots of fun acting out different role play scenarios.

In RE the children continued to learn about the Easter story. They learnt about the Last Supper when Jesus ate with his disciples. The children thought about special meals they have shared with their family and friends for different celebrations.

Handwriting

Another week of the caterpillar family – help your child to correctly form the letters g, q and e.  Complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

Writing Red words

This week’s Rainbow Red Words to write are: you and your.

Complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

This week in Literacy we have been reading, ‘Supertato’ by Sue Hendra. 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. Next week, we will read, ‘Supertato, Veggies Assemble.’ The children will be reading and writing captions for a variety of characters from the other stories in the Supertato series. Pleased do bring in any books from the series for us to read in class.

The children have been enjoying drawing still life pictures of fruit and vegetables using different mark making tools.

This week in Maths, the children have been solving addition problems. We introduced the part, part, whole model to show the children how two groups combine to make a new total amount. The children practiced their counting skills by lining up the two groups of objects and touching and counting each one. They then learnt to combine two groups by counting on from the greatest number to speed up their adding. We will continue with counting on from the greatest amount strategy next week.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson we began our new topic: Rights and respect. 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 we read the story of Palm Sunday. We have been thinking about the role of the donkey who carried Jesus into Jerusalem.

Homework

Handwriting

We are continuing with another round of handwriting practice as it is so important that the children learn the correct letter formation in Reception. Help your child to correctly form the letters c, a & d from the ‘Caterpillar family’. Complete the worksheet and return on Thursday.

Writing Red words

The children need to write the red words on their sheet using different coloured pencils like a rainbow. This week’s Rainbow Red Words are: I & the.

Please find a Red Word assessment in your child’s homework folder. We are very pleased with how much progress the children have made.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

Donation flyer EYFS 2025

Red words 2025

This week we have been learning about the Arctic. The children have learnt about lots of the animals that live in the Arctic and on Wednesday we found a lost polar bear cub. The children have been busy making ‘Found’ poster, describing what he looks like. Hopefully he will be reunited him with his family soon! They also enjoyed learning to draw polar bears. We used a video by the author and illustrator Rob Biddulph. The link is below. Rob’s videos are easy to follow, you might like to try drawing some different animals together over the holiday.

Draw with Rob

The children also made a Valentine’s Day picture for a loved one. Please check your child’s book bag for it.

This week in Maths, the children have been exploring the composition of the numbers 8, 9 and 10. The children have been using Numicon to explore the number bonds for each of these numbers.

In RE this week, the children discussed St Stephen’s church and thought about what is taught there and the work that the church does for the community. The children talked about charity work, food and clothes donations and we looked at how lots of other faiths also do this within the community.

We have uploaded our learning goals for the second half of the spring term. Our new topic is, ‘Planting and growing.’

Spring 2 Planting and growing

We have regrouped the children in phonics. You might notice that after half term your child has made a leap with the level of reading book they take home.

Remember that for the first read the children focus on segmenting and blending each word. On the second read they might become a big faster at segmenting and blending the words and perhaps sight read some of them. By the third read they will have a better understanding of the story and you can focus on simple comprehension questions. Reading for short periods of time and often is the key at this developmental stage. Be positive and give your child lots of praise. If you have any questions or concerns about the level of reading book your child has brought home then please speak to us or send an email.

For homework please revise your Red Words as we will check how the children are getting on with them after the holiday.

Red words 2025

Enjoy the half term!

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

Donation flyer EYFS 2025

It was lovely to welcome so many of you to our spring drop in – thank you for coming, we hope you enjoyed exploring the classroom and playing with your child.

On Monday we had a fantastic mini trip to the Bush Theatre to take part in a drama workshop about Antarctica and recycling. The children were beautifully behaved and really enjoyed the interactive workshop.

The children have begun learning about the explorer, Ernest Shackleton and his team’s attempt to reach Antarctica on the ship, Endurance. They also learnt about Preet Chandi, the first women of colour to reach the South Pole solo in 2021. The children looked at and compared the different equipment and supplies the two explorers took with them. They then enjoyed watching the video of the Endurance being discovered and how well preserved it is. The children then enjoyed creating polar bears faces.

This week in Maths, the children have been exploring the composition of the numbers 6, 7 and 8. They have been learning how to write number sentences using the addition and equals symbols.

This week in our Relationship and Health Education lesson the children learnt how to keep themselves safe. They learnt that their body might feel different when something feels a bit unsafe. They explored how different scenarios made them feel such as: climbing high in a tree, putting their shoes on by themselves or getting lost in a supermarket. The children learnt to listen to their bodies and always tell an adult if they feel unsafe or worried and move away from the danger.

In RE this week the children learnt that Christians believe that God wants everyone to help take care of their neighbour. The children shared with the class the names of their neighbours and we read the Bible story, The Good Samaritan.’ The children learnt that it is important to help people and that if someone is hurt an adult can call the emergency services. But we also discussed only talking to people who their parents/carers say are safe to talk to.

Homework

Handwriting

This week the children have learnt to correctly form the letters v and w. Please help your child to complete this week’s handwriting homework and return on Thursday.

Red words

Please help your child to learn to read all the red word sent home so far. The last two red words we are sending home before the children begin writing them for homework are:

We hope you have a restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

This week in Reception the children have been learning about the 3 Rs: recycle, reduce and reuse. They listened to the story, ‘Somebody swallowed Stanley’ by Sarah Roberts. A plastic bag 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 enjoyed using recycling and scrap paper and materials to make large scale penguins and vibrant ‘Save our planet’ posters.

This week in Maths, the children continued to represent numbers to 10 and compare amounts with their partner. They thought about how many more they needed to make ten and some even had a go at solving how many more or less they had than their Math partner. The children have also been learning about mass and capacity. 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. They also had lots of fun with a tray full of rice comparing the capacity of different containers and putting them in order.

This week in our Relationship and Health Education lesson we focused on staying safe online. The children helped a penguin called Smartie make sensible choices when using a device online.

In RE this week the children learnt that Christians believe that God wants everyone to help take care of our world. They thought about who helps to take care of our school and what they can do to look after their classroom.

This Friday we also learnt about Luna New Year and a mum from our class very kindly came in to teach the children about Luna New and how it is celebrated in Hong Kong. The children did lots of activities such as lantern making, dragon making and dragon dancing. A big thank you to the mummy for coming in to visit us and also to the mummy who made all of the children a treat to take home with them. What a fab day.

Homework

Handwriting

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

Writing Red words

For homework we are recapping our ‘Red Word’ learning. The children need to write the red words on their sheet using different coloured pencils like a rainbow. This week’s Rainbow Red Words are: so, no and go.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

This week the children have been learning about Antarctica. They learnt that it is one of the seven continents and that it is the coldest continent on earth. They learnt to find it on a globe and found out that it is the largest, coldest desert on earth as there is very little rainfall there.

In Literacy the children helped read and reorder some mixed up sentences about penguins. In choosing time they enjoyed using green and red words to make some simple sentences.

They have also enjoyed printing with different sized circular containers inspired by the picture book, ‘The Dot,’ by Peter Reynolds and making some circular collages.

This week in Maths, the children have been exploring the composition of the numbers 9 and 10. They have been using the language of ‘add’ and ‘equals’ to say the number sentences for the numbers 9 and 10. They have spotted lots of patterns when searching for number bonds. They have also been representing and comparing numbers within 10 with their Math partner.

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.

Homework

Handwriting

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

Writing Red words

This week’s Red Words are:

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend and we are looking forward to welcoming you into the class during our spring drop in next week.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

This week the children have been learning lots about penguins. They have learnt about the various parts of a penguin’s body, the environment they live in, what they eat and how they raise their young. In Literacy, the children listened to the story, ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. They learnt about labels and had a go at labelling items around the classroom and also worked with an adult to label the penguin or the boy from our story.

The children have enjoyed making penguins out of shapes and then using ripped up pices of black and white paper to make a collage penguin. They are super and we can wait to show you our displays soon. The children also enjoyed playing with penguin themed play dough and water tray.

In Maths, the children turned into real penguins for their learning and have continued exploring number bonds focusing on the composition of the numbers 6, 7 and 8. 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 safe things they put into their bodies. They thought about the things at home and school which might be unsafe to put into their bodies and learnt that it is important to always ask their parent or carer for permission.

In RE this week, the children 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 or the kites which we will be making next week.

Homework

Handwriting

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

Writing Red words

This weeks Red Words are:

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a lovely, restful break. We have uploaded the Spring 1 goals to the class page and our termly poem.

This term’s topic is: Polar Regions. The children have enjoyed playing with polar region themed toys and resources as well as listening to some polar themed stories.

Next week we will be reading the book, ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. The children will begin learning about Antarctica and penguins.

We have also set up our very own ‘Shepherd’s Bush’ tube station, in our home corner, with Oyster cards and Tube Maps.

In Literacy the children have been sharing their holiday news with us and all of the children have attempted to write their own sentence about what they got or did over Christmas.

During Maths this week we have focused on ordering numerals to 10, matching quantity to numeral and the ways of making 5. We will be learning the ways of making other numbers to 10 next week.

Our new Relationship and Health topic is: Keeping myself self. This week the children thought about all the things they put on their body to keep safe.

In RE we began our new topic: Who cares for this special world? The children looked at some photos of beautiful, natural places around the world; beaches, mountains, forests. Then they also looked at some natural places that have been spoilt by rubbish dropped by humans. The children thought about ways they could look after their community and make it a beautiful place to live. They learnt that Christians believe God created our wonderful world and God wants people to look after it. The children enjoyed making earth collages to display in class.

Homework

Handwriting

This week we have continued with, ‘The long ladder family.’ The children have learnt how to correctly form j, y and u.

Writing Red words

For homework, please keep learning the Red Words from last term. This week we have introduced two new Red words:

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

What a wonderful autumn term we have had. We can’t believe it is over already! A HUGE thank you for all your support and kind words this term, and the incredibly generous gifts. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching your children this term and we can’t wait to get started again in January.

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

We have completed the first Red Word assessment and sent them home for you to review. Please don’t worry if your child has been absent, we will see how they are getting on during the first week back. Over the holiday keep practising the 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!

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

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

The end of term is just around the corner and we have been busy making festive cards this week in Reception. The children learnt how to write a simple message in a card ready to send to a loved one.

The children have also finished off embellishing their jam jars. These will look beautiful on your tables and mantel pieces over the holiday with a tea light inside.

In Maths this week the children have been working with their Math partner to find one more than and one fewer than amounts to 10.

In Religious Education this week the children thought about what they learnt during their Nativity show about why Christmas is a special time for Christians.

This week in our relationship and health education lesson the children learnt about the different types of homes people live in. They talked to their partner about the type of home they live in and then we described our dream homes.

Homework: red words and handwriting

This week’s red words are:

Please also complete this week’s handwriting sheet:

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

What a fantastic week we have had in Reception! We hope that you enjoyed our Nativity and it got you in the mood for the festive season. We thought the children were fantastic. We were so proud of how well they all said their lines and remembered all the songs and dance moves.

This week in between rehearsals the children have been busy embellishing their salt dough ornaments and making a starts on decorating their jam jars.

Next week, the children will be making festive cards and learning to write a simple message inside. They will also be revisiting one more and more less within 10. We will also be completing the final Religious Education and Relationship and Health Education lessons of the term.

Homework: red words and handwriting

Please complete this week’s handwriting sheet s, f, o.

Red words

For homework please practise all of the Red Words we have learnt so far including this week’s new ones. This week’s red words are:

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend,

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

It was wonderful to welcome so many of you into the classroom this week for our drop in morning. We hope you enjoyed exploring the classroom and having a look at some of the toys and resources we have.

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. Then they had a go at drawing pictures to represent the numbers they have learnt about in Reception so far.

In Literacy this week the children have been learning about lists. They used the skills they have been learning in phonics to read Old MacDonald’s list of animals he has on his farm. They learnt that each item on a list has its own line and they had a go at writing a list of animals they would like on their farm.

Next week the children will be making salt dough ornaments which we will decorate and send home in time for the holiday to decorate your house with.

We would also like to make some jam jar luminaires so please send in a clean jam jar with no label next week. The jars with the wider tops work best so that a tea light can be easily lit and put inside.

In Religious Education we have been learning about how Christians prepare for Christmas and have been learning about ‘advent’ and how the church use candles to count down to the birth of baby Jesus. Next week the children will be making their own wreaths to decorate our classroom with.

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 the children have been grouped into four 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. Please carefully read the letter which explains the reading process to you (the letter can also be found here).

Reading with your child at home – Reception 2024

Homework: red words and handwriting

This week’s red words are:

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

Enjoy the Christmas fair and keep learning those lines!

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

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. Begin by working within 10 to begin with and then challenge your child 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 such as: door numbers or number plates on vehicles.

This week we have continued to explore out topic: Celebrations. The children have been thinking about how they celebrate special events in their lives such as birthdays and Christmas and Eid. During choosing time the children then all drew pictures of a celebration and labelled the items in their pictures with the sounds they have been learning in Phonics.

In Religious Education we continued to learn about Christmas and the Nativity story. The children have all been allocated a part in our Nativity show and have been busy practising their songs. Please check your child’s bag for their line, which has been sent home today.

The children have enjoyed embellishing their angels for our RE display which we will send home in time for Christmas.

In our Health and Relationship lesson the children listened to a story about Harold the giraffe and how he shared his very long scarf with all his friends on a cold and windy day to cheer them up. Their friends had told them they were too tall, too short and too brightly coloured but Harold told his friends how special they all were. The children thought about how to be a good friend and shared some great ideas.

We have now completed our phonics assessments to see how the children are getting on with learning their sounds. On Monday we will begin our new phonics groups.

Homework: red words and handwriting

This week’s red words are:

We will now be sending home handwriting as well as red words each Friday. This is an important stage in your 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 too tricky for your child at this stage then please use 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. 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 tripod grip. 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.

Each week we will focus on a family of letters that are formed in similar ways. This week is the caterpillar family. The children have practised c, a and d. Please find the handwriting sheet in your child’s homework folder. There is also space for your child to practice writing their name.

We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

It was wonderful to be able to meet with you during the parent consultations this week and discuss how your child is getting on so far in Reception. Thank you for your support with these meetings and for being so positive about your child’s experience of Reception so far.

This week the children have decorated their diva lamps. They have also had a go at making autumnal wrapped wool leaves and we were very busy finishing of our class Christmas card which will be on sale soon.

During maths this week the children have been looking at ‘one more’ and one fewer’ within 10.  We used the traditional story, ‘The Gingerbread Man,’ to explore one more than to 10. Then ‘Ten little pirates’ by Mike Brownlow to explore finding one fewer than to 10. We have also been looking at the composition of numbers 4 and 5.

In Religious Education we are learning why Christmas is special to Christians. This week we read the Nativity story to the children in preparation for beginning our Nativity rehearsals next week. The children had a go at sequencing the key events in the story and using the story vocabulary to retell the story.

This week was Anti-bullying week. The theme was: ‘Choose respect’. We discussed what bullying is. The children learnt that unkind words and teasing make people feel very sad and it is important to tell an adult if someone is physically hurting them or using unkind words towards them. The children learnt that being respectful means being kind to everyone and they thought of ways they can be kind to each other.

In Phonics this week we have learnt the sounds z and x. We will now assess the children and organise them into smaller groups.

z – Zig, Zag, Zig

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

Homework

We will now be sending home Red Words each Friday. This week’s red words are:

Red Words are words that your child will need to learn off by heart. 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.

Try playing a game of splat the red word with a wooden spoon or hunting for the red words as you read a picture book to your child.

Your child will need to be able to read and write them by the end of their Reception Year.

Next week we will send home handwriting.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton, Mrs Hardy, Miss Kerri

It’s been a busy and creative start to the second half of our Autumn term. We have been reading, ‘Pumpkin Soup’ by Helen Cooper and the children have enjoyed making ‘Silly Soup’ with objects that rhyme. Some children have had a go at writing a list of ingredients for their silly soup using the sounds they have learnt in their phonics lessons. We have also been learning about Bonfire Night and  the Hindu festival of light, Diwali. We read, ‘Rama and Sita the story of Diwali,’ by Malachy Doyle and the children enjoyed making Diva lamps using clay which they will bring home once we have decorated them.

During maths, the children have been learning to sort different representations of 4 and 5. They have been doing lots of subitising to 5 and learnt how to use a five frame with double sided counters to begin exploring composition to 4 and 5. Below is the link to a free White Rose Math app which has excellent subitising activities to 5 which you can use to consolidate your child’s learning at home.  We have also been learning about positional language.

White Rose Maths app

In Religious Education we are learning why Christmas is special to Christians and thought about how families prepare for new babies. 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 Relationship lesson we began our new topic, ‘Valuing difference’. The children shared their likes and dislikes and we found that there are lots of differences as well as similarities in our class. During choosing time children had the opportunity to draw a picture of their favourite hobby and we made a class pictograph then discussed the findings.

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

y – Down and horn, up a horn and curl under the head

w – Down, up, down, up

Next week are our parent meetings. Please make sure you have booked an appointment with us.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

This week we have had lots of fun making and eating delicious bread. First of all the children learnt to always wash their hands before preparing food and to try to always try to keep their hands out of their mouths and noses! They took turns to add and stir the dry and wet ingredients and have a go at kneading the dough. Everyone was surprised to see how much the bread had risen when they returned from lunch, ready to be kneaded a second time and shaped into rolls.

We also took advantage of the beautiful autumnal leaves falling around Shepherd’s Bush to make autumnal crowns with the children. We will continue to frame some of the autumnal leaves after half term using the cereal boxes you have sent in. Thank you.

In Maths this week the children have been exploring the mass and capacity of objects. They enjoyed comparing the mass of different objects using the balance scales. They also had lots of fun comparing the capacity of the three bear’s porridge bowls and their cups.

This week was Black Voices Week at St Stephen’s. The children learnt about Lilian Bader, one of the first Black women to join the British Armed Forces. Early in her career she was made to leave the armed forces as her father was not born in the UK. Later in her life Lilian returned to the British Armed Forces and worked for the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. To remember her we decided to make toilet roll aeroplanes and fly them around our Early Years garden.

In our Relationship and Health Education lesson we continued to explore different feelings and how they might help someone at school who looks sad.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds r, j, v. The formation rhymes for each sound are below.

r – Down the robots back and curl over their arm

j– Down Jack’s body, curl and dot

v – Down a wing, up a wing

We hope everyone has a lovely half term.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

In Literacy the children listened to the story, ‘Oi Frog!’ by Kes Gray and identified the rhyming words. Then during choosing time they had the chance to find matching pairs of rhyming objects. The children made rhyming books with the rhyming pairs they found and had a go at identifying the initial sound for each object. We will continue with rhyme next term, please read lots of books with rhyme to your child at home.

In Maths this week the children have been looking at ways to compare, match and sort objects. We also began comparing objects by the length, height and mass.

Today was Show Racism the Red Card day at St Stephen’s. In Reception we began the day by exploring similarities and differences and the children learnt that they should be kind and caring to everyone. We finished off the day by watching, ‘The Smeds and the Smoos,’ by Julia Donaldson.

In our Relationship and Health Education lesson we explored feelings. The children enjoyed listening to the story, ‘Marvin gets MAD,’ by Joseph Theobold. They learnt that it is normal to feel cross sometimes and we thought of different ways to calm down when feeling cross.

In RE the children continued to think about feelings. They listened to the story ‘The drama llama,’ by Rachel Morrisroe. The children learnt that it is important to talk about their worries with an adult and this will help them to feel less worried. The children also learnt that Christians believe God loves everyone and that their faith helps them with their worries.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds e, l and h. The formation rhymes for each sound are below.

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

Please bring in empty cereal boxes for Monday as next week we will be making autumn picture frames with the children.

We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

In Maths this week we introduced the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5. The children learnt lots of different ways to represent these numbers such as unifix cubes, pictures and numicon. They have enjoyed listening to number songs by Jack Hartman. They then had a go at drawing pictures to represent the numbers from 1-5. Next week the children will be learning to sort objects in different ways, recognise and continue repeating patterns and they will also begin exploring size and mass.

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.

In our Relationships and health lesson this week the children have been exploring the different members of staff at St Stephen’s they can go to for help throughout the school day. For World Mental Health Day on Thursday the children listened to the story, Augustin and his smile. They thought about all the things that made Augustin feel happy again and then thought about some of the things that make them feel happy. We then enjoyed a good dance to some of the children’s favourite songs!

During our RE lesson, the children shared the photos you have sent in and talked about what makes their family unique. It was lovely to find out more about the children in our class. The photos that have been sent in are now on display in class with beautiful self-portraits the children have painted.

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

We hope everyone has a lovely restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Miss Newton and Miss Kerri

The children enjoyed their first St Stephen’s Church school service on Wednesday and it was lovely to see so many parents and carers able to come along and celebrate Harvest with our school community. In RE this week the children learnt that Harvest Festival is a time for Christians to give thanks to God. They thought about what they are thankful for and shared their ideas with the class.

In Maths, we have been learning how to count efficiently. The children 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 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. They enjoyed listening to ‘Zero Zero Superhero’ a number song you can find on YouTube as well as lots of other number songs and rhymes to practise their rote counting. We then moved on to introducing number 1. The children learnt lots of different ways to represent the number such as using unifix cubes, pictures or numicon.

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. The children enjoyed making bread dough in the water tray and playing with the dough during choosing time. 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 the children have been exploring who in our communities they can go to for help. We will continue with our discussion next week looking more closely at the different members of staff at school.

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

An important message

For gymnastics the children remove their jumper/PE sweater/cardigan/PE hoodie. Many of the children are struggling to take off their hoodies and PE sweaters themselves as they are a little tight. Please consider getting a bigger size or using the school v neck jumper or cardigan instead on Friday for gymnastics.

World Mental Health Day

Next Thursday 10^th October is World Mental Health Day. It is a non-school uniform day. We would like the children to choose something yellow (it does not have to be a complete yellow outfit!). A donation can be made to YoungMinds via the link on ParentMail.

We hope everyone has a lovely, restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Mrs Hardy and Miss Kerri

It’s been a very wet week here in Reception. The children are settling well, beginning to work as a team and are becoming familiar with their daily routines. We have continued with our circle time games to get to know each other better. We have been reading lots of number themed books during snack time and at the end of the day and singing lots of number themed songs. This week the children have also been showing us how well they can write their names for their learning folders where we store lots of the learning they do in school. The children enjoyed their first Spanish lesson with Ms Johnson.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds n, p and g. The formation rhymes for this week’s sounds are below:

n – Down Nicky and over the net

p – Down the plait and over the pirate’s face

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

In our Relationships and health lesson this week the children have been talking about the special people they spend time with outside of school. They have begun drawing family portraits to display in our classroom.

In RE the children thought about all the incredible natural wonders in our world and had the opportunity to paint pictures of natural things that ‘wow’ them such as a beautiful beach or tall mountains.

Homework: Your family

We would like you to share a photo with us that represents your family’s heritage. Please send it to us by email and write a sentence or two about it. The children will share their photos with the class this term and talk about their family. We will then create a display in class.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Mrs Hardy and Miss Kerri

We have had a wonderfully sunny week in Reception and the children have enjoyed lots of choosing in our Early Years garden. The children are settling well and becoming familiar with their daily routines.

This week we read the story, ‘Mouse Paint’ by Ellen Stoll Walsh and the children learnt how to mix primary colours to make secondary colours. There were opportunities’ during choosing time to have a go at some colour mixing.

We have also read ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas and have begun our journey into learning about our emotions and how we cope with them.

We have also introduced the zones of regulation with the children. We have read lots of stories about feelings. The children thought about ways to calm down so that they are ready to learn and play.

In Phonics this week we learnt the sounds d, t and i.

The formation rhymes for this week’s sounds are below:

d – round the dinosaur’s back, up his neck and down to his feet.

t – down the tower, across the tower

i – down the insect’s 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. 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.

Homework: Your family

We would like you to share a photo with us that represents your families celebrations, culture or traditions. Please send it to us by email and write a sentence or two about it. The children will share their photos with the class this term and talk about their family. We will then create a display in class.

Our class poem

Each half term each class at St Stephen’s has a poem to learn. Our first poem is by Allan Ahlberg our class author. It is called, ‘Everyone was a baby once’. The children have listened to and talked about the poem.

Important reminders

Please make sure that you do name all of your child’s uniform this weekend including their water bottle.

We hope everyone has a lovely restful weekend.

Miss Billington, Mrs Hardy and Miss Kerri

Well done to all of the children for completing their first full week in Reception. You may notice that they are more tired than usual and will require a little more rest this weekend.

This week the children have done a fabulous job getting to know us, finding their way around the Early Years and beginning to learn their new routines. They had their first P.E. lesson with Mr Blair, 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. The children will take home their first library book next Monday. 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. We also agreed some simple class rules to make our classrooms safe and enjoyable places to be. The children enjoyed playing some games and singing some songs to learn and remember each other’s names.

We have also begun our daily Phonics lessons and introduced the sounds m, a, and s. Thank you to everyone who attended our Phonics presentation this week. We have posted the Phonics presentation on our class page for you to refer to. There is also a link to a video to aid you with the pronunciation of each sound and a short guide on sound blending.

In our Religious Education lesson (R.E.) this week we began our first unit, ‘Who made the wonderful world?’ The children 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.

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.

Please can you ensure ALL items of clothing are labelled correctly. We had a lot of P.E items without names on and when the children change for Gymnastics this can get very confusing. Thank you!

We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Miss Billington, Mrs Hardy and Miss Kerri