We have had another amazing week of learning and fun in Reception! This week has seen our caterpillars make a chrysalis around their bodies. They will soon emerge as butterflies and we are very excited for us! This week we also visited the Year 2 classrooms where they have froglets – this was amazing to see as we learned about the frog lifecycle last week.

Phonics

We have been continuing our Read, Write, Inc lessons in small groups. We continue to focus on speedy recall of sounds to support with segmenting and blending. Strategies we use in RWI include Fred talk to segment and blending, Fred in your head (this is the same as Fred talking, but in their head, so we can’t hear them.) This supports children’s fluency when reading. We then focus on speedy reading. This is when children are able to read words without needing to Fred talk or Fred in their head. Please continue to support your child’s reading at home.

The children will also be developing their writing this term. The children write in each RWI lesson and also do a writing task linked to our thematic lessons each week.

Maths

This week we have been learning about shapes. We have been learning to name and describe common 2D shapes (circle, oblong, square, triangle, pentagon, hexagon). We have also learned about what happens to 2D shapes if we fold them or cut them (e.g. if we fold a square in half we can get 2 oblongs or 2 triangles). The children have also learned how to put 2 shapes together to create a new shape (e.g. putting 2 triangles together to make a square).

Over this term, our facts of the week will look at doubles. This week we have learned 4+4=8 (we are now using the words add and equals as the children have been taught this). Next week our fact of the week will be 5+5=10.

Thematic Curriculum

This week we continued our learning about life cycles by reading The Hungry Caterpillar. We learned how caterpillars make a chrysalis and then grow into a butterfly. It has been great watching these changes happen in the classroom too! We looked at the foods that the Hungry Caterpillar eats and learned about healthy and unhealthy foods. As part of this learning, we had the opportunity to taste some of the foods from the story and we used our senses to describe them. On Friday we also looked at other ways to lead a healthy life (e.g. brushing teeth properly and keeping active).

  

Next week we will be reading Seed is Sleepy. This is a non-fiction text where we will learn facts about seeds and how they grow. We will be exploring the outside environment, using our senses to describe and doing some observational drawings. We will look at the artist Andy Goldsworthy, looking at and discussing his artwork and then creating our own art using natural materials. In class, we will be observing the changes that happen to seeds which have been placed in different places (e.g. in a cupboard so has no light, in light and with/without water).

Be Here, Be You, Belong

One afternoon a week this term, we will be focusing on our PSHE learning. This week we have names emotions and recognised that everyone has them. We spoke about strategies we can use to regulate ourselves and how we can use the class Zen Den for this.

PE

This week we had so much fun learning a new game – Boccia. Boccia is a game played at the Paralympics and we had great fun trying to get our ball closest to the white jack.

 

Reminders

• PE kits need to be worn in to school each Friday please.

• Please ensure that children have a named water bottle which is already filled with water at the start of each day.

• All clothing to be named please!

• Please complete the WOW moment sheets regularly so that we can add these to the children’s learning journey books.

 

Term 5 dates:

23^rd May - Reception Viking Games at Ramsgate Arts Primary School

24^th May - Dress to Express day and Be here, be you, belong parade at 2.15 on school field

24^th May - Last day of term

 

e-mail addresses

nicki.cotton@chiltonprimary.co.uk

emma.dudley-smith@chiltonprimary.co.uk

kirby.walker@chiltonprimary.co.uk

 

Many thanks for all your continued support,

EYFS team