Welcome to Oldswinford C.E. Primary School

           Believe, achieve and shine brighter together

Summer term 2021- Minibeasts 

This final half term we are going to be learning all about mini beasts. We shall be reading a new book each week and basing our learning around the books, so the children have a focus for their learning.

We thought we would learn lots of facts, then have a mini beast day where we can all have a bit of fun and dress up as mini-beasts. The children are always keen to find mini beats outside in the garden area, and many know lots about them already, so it will be good to share our knowledge. We will bring some in the classroom from time to time to have a closer look before releasing them into the wild.

Our first stories are ‘The very lazy ladybird, and ‘What the ladybird heard’. We shall be looking at maps of the farm from the stories and we have created our own ladybird farm kitchen complete with allotment and picket fence!

The children will be encouraged to re-tell the story using the puppets of the characters in the story. We have been talking lots about characters and settings in stories during Talk for writing.   

Secondly, we are reading Spinderella, and finding out facts about spiders, and their amazing skills. We will have fun creating some spidery art work.

We wish to develop our ability to use non-fiction, so we will reading lots of books about earthworms, or ants, etc. to consider facts about the species. This will develop their adjective awareness as the children describe what they have discovered. We also have some interesting woolly worms and other creative work planned! We will base some continuous provision on the topic in the classrooms and outside.  

Another story which is a favourite is the range of ‘Norman the slug’ books. We are able to consider materials to make shells when Norman has a silly shell.

We shall enjoy some rhyming work with ‘Twist and hop, mini beast bop.’ We aim to use this book as a stimulus for making our own 3D mini beasts and describing what they look like, and how they were made. They will look wonderful in the classroom.

Alongside, we shall be thinking of how we treat each other, and respect one another. The bad tempered ladybird helps us to think about this topic. We shall be thinking about Who am I? in R.E. and which sort of clubs and groups we belong to. We shall be thinking about us all being unique and having different interests and talents we can all respect.

We continue to write using a variety of genre, in sentences with capital letters and full stops, sounding out our words based on our daily phonics.

In maths we shall be consolidating skills like adding and subtracting in many ways, doubles, halving, and working with measuring, capacity and time.

 Foundation Stage 2020

At Oldswinford C.E. Primary school we believe that the children’s time in Foundation Stage, the Reception class, is one of the most important times in their school life. This lays the foundation for their learning and development for the rest of their education. We work hard to nurture and care for the children and seek to make school an enjoyable and exciting place to be.

Curriculum

There are seven main areas of learning which are split into prime areas of :

• Communication and language development
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development

Then we have ;

• Literacy
• Maths
• Understanding the world
• Expressive Arts and design

Each area of learning is implemented through planned purposeful play. This takes place through a mixture of adult led and child initiated activities. Play is so essential to help children relate to others, build their confidence, explore their surroundings, and think critically.

The progress the children make is assessed by 17 Early learning Goals.

What to expect in Reception

We have daily maths and phonics sessions, and talk for writing and kinetic letters most days. There will be a workshop in the Autumn term to show some of what we do.

The children have two P.E. sessions each week, so please make sure the children have had their earrings removed on those days. We will tell you the days when we get the new timetable. We shall not be beginning P.E. straight away so you have plenty time to sort a P.E. kit!

All children learn at different rates so we differentiate our experiences so all can learn effectively. Parents/Carers will be sent a dojo link so they can see weekly updates and photos of what the children are currently learning and experiencing. Always helpful when a child replies ‘we just played’, to a question about their day!

When children start school, they are given a book with no words, until they learn to blend letters together to make words. They are also given words in their reading record to learn.  We have an online reading scheme we will discuss with you at the term progresses.

We will give you a water bottle which will be left in school for us to refill, then sent home on Fridays to wash thoroughly. Please remember to pop it back on Monday mornings.

The Environment 

These are some pictures of the areas in Reception which are in our two rooms which the children access straight away in the morning.

This is the Understanding the World area where children can explore, feel and touch a variety of objects.

This is the Worship area where we add to our class worship book each week and make time to stop and think about the values we have been taught in R.E. or in general class discussion times.

The Role play area is always a favourite, and changes with the change of topics. We have story baskets based on the topics around the classroom and a dressing up stand to fit the topic.  

Here we have the indoor and the outdoor Maths area where children can come to find out about numbers, shape and counting.

We have a cosy reading area where children can meet to share a book with a friend or an adult. They can read inside and outside. 

Our art area is where budding artists can come and express themselves with work being placed on the walls in frames and hung on the washing lines for all to see.

There is a Snack area which children can access all day. There is water to drink and a variety of fruit and vegetables to try. It is also a great social space to have a chat. This may look different in line with social distancing, but this will all be clear when the children come in.

We have an ICT area where children can explore cameras and remote controlled equipment.

Our outdoor classroom is an extension and enhancement of the learning that takes place inside. 

The construction area is a great favourite where children can let their imaginations run wild.

We have a music area to explore songs and sound. Listening to the children sing is quite a treat and we soon learn what parents are listening to at home! The children often use the instruments on the stage and invite us to a show.

The sandpit is a wonderful place to play and enjoy. We also have a water tray, guttering and funnels which is excellent for problem solving. An understanding the world area helps the children explore natural materials and discover for themselves.

The maths and writing areas have a variety of equipment to draw and write, with lots of numbers and letters to find and use.

We have a creative area with malleable materials available like playdough, and lots to cut and stick.

Our prayer cross is where children can place a thought underneath and sit and think.

We have a grass area too for planting, digging and imaginative play. 

If you need to ask anything just have a word at the beginning of the day as you come into the classroom, or when all the children have been dismissed at the end of the day.

We are looking forward to another exciting term.

The Reception team- Mrs Roberts, Miss Thomas, Miss Carton and Mrs Hardy.

We hope these websites help you access sites we use at school to support learning in Reception.

Resources to support your children’s learning.

Phonics

www.phonicshero.com (7 day free trial but you can create a paid account if you wish). Includes all sounds, games and printable resources. This is a resource we use in school therefore the children are familiar with it. You can download printable resources for future use.

www.phonicsplay.co.uk has a free resources section for both parents and children. We use these games in our phonics session to enhance the children’s learning.

Teach your monster to read (app available on app store and play store)- Allows the children to create a character where they can go on a trail to help their monster reach the ship on the way they have to play different phonics games.

Cbeebies alpha blocks can help reinforce children’s phonetic knowledge.

The tricky word song- the children love this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMyssfAUx0

Maths

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ (any games with the appropriate age are a good start. The children have been playing: Caterpillar ordering; coin sorting; shape patterns; ladybird spots; paint the squares to recognise counting in 10’s/1 more and less.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/topics/numeracy -some of the games such as number blocks adding a subtracting are useful.

The days of the week song to the Addams family tune (again the children love this!)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GKmCQOy88Y

Months of the year song- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5enDRrWyXaw&list=PLqv4y60m_3_BsDssdzvrCueiho5Tc-1j8

Reading lots of stories and singing lots of rhymes are essential part of our day. We sometimes use youtube to help us! E.g. five little ducks, ten green bottles, 10 fat sausages, wind the bobbin up, five little speckled frogs.