Class Oak

Class Oak-Foundation Stage

Summer Term 1 2024

Wow Summer term already! I hope you all had a lovely Easter break filled with lots of fun adventures and chocolate!

This half term our theme is ‘We’re Going on a Journey, Up, Up and Away!’

We will know about Amelia Earhart’s adventures and why she is a significant person.
We will be thinking about different modes of transport
We will know how to care for plants as we sow and grow our own vegetables.

Communication and Language – This term I will sending home some communication and language activities for you to try at home with your child; check your child’s reading diary for these.

We will continue this term with our daily question/discussion topic of the day; it always amazes me to hear the children’s viewpoints! This term we will be focusing on ‘I wonder what would happen if’ … scenarios and ‘Would you rather’ … questions.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development we will be learning about Relationships. We will know the characteristics of a good friend and know how to solve problems within our friendships.

In PE sessions we will be focusing on co-ordination and will be developing our sending and receiving skills with a circus theme! The children will also be developing their ball skills.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Friday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit with trainers and a zip top. Please label all zip tops/sweatshirts so they can be returned if your child loses them.

We will continue with our ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions to help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing. Fine motor control is tricky; to support your child you could try some of these activities:

Using clothes pegs - can your child peg them onto the top of a cup
Picking up small objects with their forefinger and thumb – can your child pick up the small objects and place them into a bowl. e.g. cereal, sequins, buttons
Playing with dough – ask your child to roll their dough into a ball, squash it flat and then use fingers to pinch around the edges of the dough

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about journeys, Whatever Next by Jill Murphy, Astro Girl by Ken Wilson Max, Look Up! By Nathan Bryon, Emma Jane’s Aeroplane by Katie Haworth and Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker.

In phonics we will be applying our sound knowledge to build and read words with a CCVCC (drank) and CCCVC (scrub) word structure. We will then move on to learn some new sounds – (2 letters one sound) sh, ch, th, ck, wh, ng – if you have any questions about phonics or early reading please don’t hesitate to ask.

We have been writing sentences about the stories that we share, we will now be working on capital letters, finger spaces and full stops and building our confidence to write longer sentences.

In our Mathematics sessions, we will be focusing on identifying the parts within a whole. We will be using part whole models to support us with this. We will also be looking at teen numbers. We will be using ten frames to look at teen numbers as ten and some more. We will also be finding out one more and one less than a number.

We will develop our Understanding of the World as we learn about Amy Johnson and Amelia Earhart and their journeys. We will also learn about Katherine Johnson and how her work helped to put people on the moon!

We will be planting seeds and taking care of the seedlings as they grow and observing the changes that take place. We are very excited to grow our own vegetables.

We will be sharing the story When I was Little Like You by Jill Paton Walsh and Stephen Lambert to support our developing understanding of chronology.

We will also be conducting an experiment to explore floating and sinking.

In RE we will be learning about Jesus and his miracles and will share the stories:

Blind man healed
Wine into water
Fishing nets full
Paralysed man walks
Lazarus is alive
Walking on water
Calming the sea
Feeding of the 5000

In Expressive Arts and Design, we will study the artists George Seurat and Yayoi Kusama and create our own dotty art work inspired by these artists.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Spring Term 2

We hope you have all had a lovely half term break and had lots of fun.

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy half term. Our theme this term is

‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’

We are really excited to grow some fruits, vegetables and flowers …watch this space!!!

We will follow our lines of enquiry and develop our understanding of the world by using stories, songs, rhymes, non-fiction texts, our own observations, photographs and the use of the internet to:

Explore the seasonal changes and weather; keeping an eye out for the signs of Spring!
Create observational drawings and photographs of Spring flowers and blossom trees.
Plant bulbs and seeds and learn how to take care of plants, the different parts of plants and observe how they grow
Celebrate Mother’s Day and Easter
Find out about eggs

In Communication and Language we will learn new vocabulary, we will know

The names of the parts of a plant – seed/bulb, root, stem, leaves, flowers

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development we will know

How to keep ourselves healthy – eating well, drinking water, exercising, and getting plenty of sleep.

In Physical Development we will be developing our balls skills and counter balance skills with a circus theme! We will know:

How to control a ball – rolling it keeping one hand on the ball.
How to maintain a balance and coordinate movements with a partner.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Friday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers.

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about Spring and growing, Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivien French, Jaspers Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth, Errol’s Graden by Gillian Hibbs, Jack and the Jelly Beanstalk by Rachel Mortimer, Jack and the Beanstalk by Mara Alperin and Mark Chambers and Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne. We will be retelling stories and drawing story maps. We will also write for different purposes including instructions, labels and cards for Mother’s day and Easter.

World Book Day is Thursday 7^th March – Please bring your favourite book to school so we can share our favourite stories in class. Please talk to your child about their favourite book, why do they like it and what is their favourite part to aid our discussion in class.

Phonics - This term we will be applying our sound knowledge to CCVC and CCVCC word structures, for example CCVC stop and CCVCC stamp.

We will know how to read and write words with a CCVC structure such as stop, slug, flat and CCVCC word structure such as stamp, trunk and brisk.

Encouraging your child to write for different purposes is a great way to see them apply their growing phonic knowledge. – can they write a note to pop on the fridge, a shopping list, a Birthday card, a sign, labelling pictures etc. Do not worry if words are spelt incorrectly at this stage, it is important that your child writes the sounds that they can hear in words (please ask if you want any more information on how to support your child with their phonics, reading or writing)

In our Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on spatial thinking we will know how to:

Use positional language – under, above, below, in between, next to,
Use directional language to talk about different routes - up, down, forwards, backwards, through, under, over, turn around, turn towards
Match objects correctly to numerals 0 – 10
Find one more and one less than a number to 10
Use part whole models to talk about the composition of numbers

We will develop our Understanding of the World as we enjoy observing and learning about the seasonal changes during springtime. We will know

How to plant a seed and look after it so that it grows
How Spring differs from Winter
That pancake day, ash Wednesday, lent, Mother’s Day and Easter are important times in the Christian calendar.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will know

How to mix primary colours to make secondary colours
How to use our observational skills to look carefully when drawing
How to sew simple stitches using a needle and thread
About the artist Claude Monet
About the artist Megan Coyle and how to make a spring flower collage inspired by her work
How to use different colours and textures of paper to make collages

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Spring Term 1 – 2024

Happy New Year, I hope you had a fabulous Christmas break filled with lots of fun and adventures.

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy half term. Our theme this term is ‘Winter Wonderland.’ At the end of this term we will know the signs of Winter and how Winter differs to Autumn. We will follow our lines of enquiry and develop our understanding of the world by using stories, songs, rhymes, non fiction texts, observations, podcasts, video clips, photographs and the use of the internet to:

Explore the seasonal changes and record the weather making comparisons to how it differs to autumn.
Create winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigate snow, ice and frost and the effect they have on our environment.
Compare and contrast climates in different locations around the world we will know what its like to live in the Arctic like the Inuit’s.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The New Year is often a time for reflection as we think about new ways to challenge ourselves. In our Jigsaw lessons this term we will be talking about our Dreams and Goals. We will identify a goal we want to achieve, think about how we will work towards this and try and achieve the goals we set ourselves.

In Physical Development - We will continue with ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ to help develop our letter formation these sessions are always lots of fun!

P.E sessions continue to be on a Friday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers.

In REAL PE we will be focusing on our balance skills and our listening skills to follow instructions.

In Literacy and Understanding the World we will enjoy texts related to our theme of Winter including Snowball by Sue Hendra, Snow by Sam Usher, A Book for Bramble by Lynne Garner, Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara, The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies and The Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using the initial code sounds that we have learnt so far:

Unit 1 - m a s i t

Unit 2 - n o p

Unit 3 – b c g h

Unit 4 – d f v e

Unit 5 – k l r u

Unit 6 – j w z

In addition, we will be learning new sounds from:

Unit 7 – x y ff ll ss zz

Unit 8 – VCC and CVCC words

Your child should have a selection of CVC word cards in their book bag for them to practice their segmenting and blending skills at home. Please continue to support your child with recognition of sounds, practicing their phonic skills and reading with them at home.

Reading

Remember to try and read as many times as possible during the week and make sure you record your reads in your school dairy. We will also record when your child has read to us in school.

Writing

You can support your child's development by encouraging them to write for different purposes at home - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc. You can also encourage your child to write their own weekend adventure news.

In our Mathematics sessions we will focus on counting forwards and backwards up to 20 making sure we are counting accurately. We will also be classifying and sorting objects.

In R.E we will be learning about Special stories in the Bible including the Creation story, Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Big Fish and Joseph and his Dreamcoat.

In Expressive Arts we will be creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials inspired by the illustrations in the story Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara. We will also be looking closely at snowflakes using micro-photographs by Kenneth Libbrecht.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Autumn Term 2 – 2023

I hope you have had a fabulous half term break filled with lots of fun. Welcome back, this term is always filled with excitement as we approach the festive season.

Our theme this term will be ‘Let’s celebrate!’ We will be starting the term talking about our Bonfire night celebrations and thinking about Remembrance day. We will be learning about Diwali, birthdays and Christmas this term.

The week commencing 13^th November is Anti Bullying week –we will be wearing odd socks to kick start the week and to celebrate being unique. On Friday 17^th November it is Children in Need and the children are invited to come to school dressed up.

The week commencing 20^th November we will be celebrating Nursery rhyme week.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Jigsaw topic for this term is Celebrating Differences. As part of our work, we will be sharing the stories Only One You by Linda Kranz, Barry the Fish with Fingers by Sue Hendra, It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr and The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers. The theme for Anti-Bullying week this year is ‘Make a noise about bullying’. We will also be celebrating World Kindness Day we will be thinking about and demonstrating different ways of being kind to others. We have a wreath of kindness in the classroom and we will be adding ribbons to represent all our acts of kindness.

The week commencing 20^th November we will be celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week; we will be focusing on the rhymes and songs, Row, Row, Row your boat, Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Hickory Dickory Dock, Jack and Jill and the Wheels on the Bus. Nursery Rhymes are a great way to help promote vocabulary and support language development.

Physical Development: This term we are excited to continue to our Dough Disco and Squiggle Whilst your Wiggle sessions. Everyday the children have a Funky Finger morning activity to complete before the register. These sessions strengthen our fingers to support our development in writing. Developing strength in our hands and fingers supports our pencil grip and control when mark making.

To help develop our coordination skills we will engage in Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities alongside yoga sessions.

We will continue to use the balance bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control.

PE is on Fridays please send your child to school in their full PE Kit and trainers including a named zip top/jumper.

For more information about our phonics teaching please refer to the Phonics PowerPoints found under the phonics tabs at the top of the Class Oak class page or come and speak to me at the end of the school day.

All children will read in school each week and this will be recorded in your child’s reading diary. Please continue to record when your child reads at home in their diary to work towards a Gold, Silver or Bronze reading certificate.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and begin to segment the sounds in words to write them.

We will be challenging the children to write for different purposes – Can you make and write a card for a celebration?

Mathematics - Over the half term, we will continue securing our number recognition of numerals 1-5, counting, ordering and representing.

We will be comparing objects by weight, length and thickness. Using different language to describe the comparisons we make.

We will also look at patterns and make our own repeating patterns using our Autumn collection.

We will look at collections of objects and think carefully about different ways we can categorise and sort objects, we will also compare groups using the language, more, less and equal to.

Understanding the World – We will be observing the seasonal changes around the school site, collecting leaves and conkers and talking about the changes in the weather. We will explore puddles, the changing colour of leaves and the different weather each day. We will link these observations to the different stories we continue to share about Autumn. We will be learning about the different celebrations that we will experience this term including Diwali, Bonfire Night and Christmas.

In Computing we will be learning how to take photos and record short video clips using the iPad.

Expressive Arts and Design – We have a busy half term preparing for our nativity performance – Prickly Hay!

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson.

Autumn term 2023

Welcome to Class Oak

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new Reception children. Welcome to Walesby we are so excited you are joining us in Class Oak.

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use the indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class routines and school expectations to ensure we have a happy and fun learning environment.

Throughout the term we will be focusing on the theme ‘A Place Called Home’ we will be following these lines of enquiry:

Who lives with me in my home?

How do our homes compare with other homes and families around the world?

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Our Jigsaw topic this term is ‘Being Me in My World’ we will establish a learning charter for our class, discover the learning line and the ‘Walesby Way.’ We will engage in mindfulness activities focusing on our breathing to enable us to manage our emotions. We will also be using the story ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas to explore different emotions and the different vocabulary that we can use to describe our emotions.

Physical Development

We will focus on developing our gross motor skills and co-ordination, we have balance bikes, scooters, beams and wobble boards to help with this. We will be enjoying dough disco and squiggle sessions to help us develop our muscles for writing.

PE sessions will be on a Friday – please send your child to school dressed in their full PE kit including suitable footwear for outdoor PE (navy joggers, white t-shirt, navy zip top or jumper and trainers) Please label all uniform and shoes so that if your child misplaces their clothes we can get them back to you.

Phonics.

In phonics, we will learn that letters are symbols which represent sounds. We start our phonics journey with the initial code. In unit 1 we will be learning the letters m, a, t, s, i – we will learn to recognise these sounds and will practise segmenting, blending and manipulation of these letters to read and spell simple words. When we have mastered this we will move on to the unit 2 sounds, n,o and p. There is a meeting about Phonics and Reading on Tuesday 12^th September at 3.30pm in the Classroom.

Reading.

Initially your child will bring home a reading diary and a library book for you to share together at home. Please record in the reading diary when you share a book at home so that we can work towards our half termly Superhero Reading Awards. In time your child will bring home a reading scheme book to share with you. Please talk to your child about the story to develop their comprehension and observational skills.

Maths.

We will be learning to recognise numbers and to count carefully, accurately matching objects to numbers. Be a mathematical detective when you are out and about and see if you can find some numbers, shapes or patterns.

Understanding the World.

We will be introducing a timeline to our class room and will plot special events that happen throughout the year onto it. We will be creating a treasure box to accompany our timeline so we can revisit it throughout the year helping us to develop an understanding of time.

We will also be exploring maps, we will make a map of our classroom and of our school building. We will look at aerial views of our school and think about where we all live. We will be looking at different types of houses and homes.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be learning how to mix colours to paint self-portraits. Look out for our art work popping up on the webpage.

On Friday 15^th September it is International dot day and we will be celebrating by making our own dotty art work.

We will be creating poppies towards the end of term in preparation for our Remembrance display.

We will be learning and performing our favourite nursery rhymes and action songs and putting movement to music during our Tumble Tots sessions. We will be learning about different genres of music throughout the year – this term we are learning about Jazz and Blues.

We are looking forward to a fun filled half term. Getting to know each other and our learning environment. Look out for our class curriculum newsletter for more information about our learning this term.

Mrs Johnson

Summer Term 2 - 2023

We are looking forward to another busy half term, the last term of the school year!

This term our topic will be ‘Reduce, Re-use, Repair and Recycle.’ We are going to learn about how recycling and reducing our carbon footprint can have an impact on the environment.

Communication, Language and Literacy

Our focus texts this term are ‘George Saves the World’ by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts, ‘Questions and Answers about Plastic’ by Katie Daynes ‘Somebody Swallowed Stanley’ by Sarah Roberts, ‘One Plastic Bag’ by Miranda Paul, ‘What a Waste’ by Jess French, ‘The Odd Fish’ by Naomi and James Jones and ‘Charlie and Lola: Look After Your Planet’ by Lauren Child. These texts will help us learn more about ways in which we can help look after our planet and help us to think about ways in which we can recycle, re-use items and take steps towards being more eco-friendly.

In phonics, we will be consolidating what we have learnt this year and applying our knowledge to become more independent readers and writers!

Reading

Physical Development

In our PE sessions we will be focusing on Games and Races which will also help develop our team building skills and prepare us for Sports Day. In Real PE we will be working on our agility skills.

PE sessions take place on a Monday morning, please ensure your child comes to school in their school PE kit and trainers. Please remember to send a sun hat and a named bottle of sun cream for your child to apply throughout the day.

Mathematics

In Maths we will be focusing on odd and even numbers, number bonds to 10 and counting to 20 and beyond.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Our Jigsaw topic is Changing Me, we will be celebrating that we are all unique. We will talk about our bodies and using the book ‘Look inside my body’ by Louie Stowell to learn about some of our body parts and how important they are e.g. Our lungs help us to breathe. We will be discussing the importance of healthy diets and how this contributes to our overall health. We will talk about transition to Year 1 and discuss any worries and share the things we are looking forward to. We will also reflect on our year in Reception and think about our favourite memories.

Understanding the World

Our garden area has had a bit of a tidy and we are the proud owners of a polytunnel! We were so surprised to see some strawberries starting to appear before the holidays. As part of our work this term we will be planting our own vegetables, and will be planting cornflowers, poppies and sunflowers to encourage pollinators into our garden.

We will be looking back over our timeline in the classroom and talking about how we have changed, how we have grown and about all the things we can now do that we couldn’t do at the start of the year!

In R.E our area of learning is about our wonderful world! We will be thinking about how we can care for all living things.

Expressive Arts and Design

We love to sing and will continue to learn different songs, rhymes and poems throughout the term. We will be creating our own art work using natural materials - leaves, flowers, stones, shells etc inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy. We will also be recycling materials and using them to make creations inspired by Darrell Wakelam.

We are looking forward to a busy, fun and exciting half term!

Mrs Johnson

Summer Term 1 – 2023

Wow Summer term already! I hope you all had a lovely Easter break filled with lots of fun adventures and some chocolate.

This half term our theme is ‘We’re Going on a Journey, Up, Up and Away!’

This term we will be learning about some significant people, Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson, Katherine Johnson and of course our new King, King Charles lll. I wonder if you can find anything out about these famous people at home and wow us with some facts.

We will be getting to know these significant people and learning all about their adventures.
We will be celebrating the coronation of King Charles.
We will be thinking about different modes of transport and the journeys we could embark on.

Communication and Language – This term I will sending home some communication and language activities for you to try at home with your child. Sharing stories is another great way of learning new vocabulary.

We will continue this term with our daily question/discussion topic of the day; it always amazes me to hear the children’s view points! This term we will be thinking about ‘I wonder what would happen if’ … scenarios and ‘Would you rather’ … questions.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term in our Jigsaw lessons we will be learning about Relationships. We will be thinking about the characteristics of a good friend and how to solve problems within our friendships. We will continue to share stories and develop our empathy skills. We will continue to use the colour monster to help us identify and describe our feelings. We will also be looking at alternative vocabulary for our feelings. E.g. Happy – pleased, glad, joyful, thrilled, delighted

In Physical Development we will continue to develop our gross motor skills by climbing on the play equipment, developing our control on the bikes and scooters, throwing, catching, kicking and hitting different balls, obstacle courses and moving in different ways e.g. running, rolling, skipping, hopping, jumping and crawling.

In Real PE sessions we will be focusing on co-ordination and will be developing our sending and receiving skills with a circus theme! The children will also be developing their ball skills.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Monday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit with trainers and a zip top. Please label all zip tops/sweatshirts so they can be returned if your child loses them.

We will continue with our ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions to help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing. Fine motor control is tricky, to support your child you could try some of these activities:

Using clothes pegs - can your child peg them onto the top of a cup
Picking up small objects with the forefinger and thumb ask your child to pick up the small objects and place them into a bowl. e.g. cereal, sequins, buttons
Playing with dough – ask your child to roll their dough into a ball, squash it flat and then use fingers to pinch around the edges of the dough

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about journeys, Whatever Next by Jill Murphy, Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne, Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett, Astro Girl by Ken Wilson Max, Look Up! By Nathan Bryon, Last stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena and Emma Jane’s Aeroplane by Katie Haworth. We will also be learning about and celebrating the Kings Coronation and will be sharing the story The King’s Pants by Nicolas Allan and Little People, Big Dreams – King Charles written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara. We will be writing story maps to help us retell these stories, writing facts, lists of things to take on our journeys and post cards.

Phonics - To support your child with their phonics you could complete this free online course - https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/ this term we will be applying our sound knowledge to build and read words with a CCVCC (drank) and CCCVC (scrub) applying our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt so far. We will then move on to learn some new sounds – (2 letters one sound) sh, ch, th, ck, wh, ng – if you have any questions about phonics or early reading please come and ask.

Encouraging your child to write for different purposes is a great way to see them apply their growing phonic knowledge – can they write a note to pop on the fridge, a shopping list, a Birthday card, a sign, labelling pictures etc. doing this within their play will have the best results. For example writing a message in the mud using a stick whilst on a walk, writing a shopping list of things you need to bake something, making and writing a card for a friend or relative.

Do not worry if words are spelt incorrectly at this stage, it is important that your child writes the sounds that they can hear in words (please ask if you want any more information on how to support your child with their phonics, reading or writing)

In our Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on teen numbers. We will be using ten frames to look at teen numbers as ten and some more. We will also be finding out one more and one less than a number. We will be exploring when we double numbers and what happens when we split a group of objects in half.

We will also be learning about the Kings Coronation as a celebration and important event in our history. We will think about King Charles’ family and the similarities and differences between his family and our own. We will remember Queen Elizabeth and the special celebrations we had for the Jubilee last year. We will think about how these celebrations are similar to our own celebrations for special events in our lives.

In RE we will be learning about Jesus and his miracles and will share the stories of: A Blind Man Healed, Wine into Water, Fishing Nets Full, Walking on Water and Calming of the sea.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be using the story The Dot by Peter Reynolds, we will study the artists George Seurat and Yayoi Kusama and create our own dot work inspired by these artists and this story.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Class Oak Newsletter Summer 1 2023.pdf

Spring 2

We hope you have all had a lovely half term break and had lots of fun.

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy half term. Our theme this term is ‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’ We will follow our lines of enquiry and develop our understanding of the world by using stories, songs, rhymes, non-fiction texts, our own observations, photographs and the use of the internet to:

Explore the seasonal changes and weather; keeping an eye out for the signs of Spring!
Create observational drawings and photographs of Spring flowers and blossom trees.
Plant bulbs and seeds and learn how to take care of plants, the different parts of plants and observe how they grow
Celebrate Mother’s Day and Easter
Find out about eggs

During this half term we will also be learning about Easter, we will find out why we celebrate and explore the different ways we all celebrate.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term we will be learning about healthy lifestyles. We will learn how eating well, drinking lots of water and getting exercise contributes to a healthy lifestyle. We will also learn about oral health and how we can keep our teeth healthy.

In Physical Development we will be developing our balls skills, we are learning to throw and catch accurately. We are developing our control and coordination skills. Our ‘Funky Fingers’ and ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Monday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers as we often do PE outside. Please bring your wellies to school EVERYDAY (or leave them in school) as we like to play outside whatever the weather.

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about Spring and growing, Oliver’s Vegetables and Oliver’s Fruit Salad by Vivien French, Jaspers Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth, Jack and the Beanstalk by Mara Alperin and The Little Red Hen by Brenda Parkes and Judith Smith. We will also be celebrating World Book Day on the 2.3.23 the children are invited to come to school dressed as their favourite book character or in the PJ’s. Please bring your favourite book to school so we can share our favourite stories in class. Please talk to your child about their favourite book, why do they like it and what is their favourite part to aid our discussion in class.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and apply them to reading and writing activities. You can support your child's development by reading to them each night before bed. This is a fantastic way to build your child’s vocabulary; it will also support the development of their comprehension skills. Encouraging your child to write for different purposes is a great way to see them apply their growing phonic knowledge. – can they write a note to pop on the fridge, a shopping list, a Birthday card, a sign, labelling pictures etc. Do not worry if words are spelt incorrectly at this stage, it is important that your child writes the sounds that they can hear in words (please ask if you want any more information on how to support your child with their phonics, reading or writing)

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on matching objects correctly to numerals, learning all about zero and counting accurately. We will be learning about the relationship that numbers have in the sequence and identifying one more and one less than a number to 10. We will be using part whole models to explore the whole and the different parts; we will be applying our knowledge to different number problems. We will be learning number bonds to 10. For some fun games to support your child’s learning in maths head to https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/addition-and-subtraction

We will develop our Understanding of the World as we enjoy observing and learning about the seasonal changes during springtime. We are looking forward to learning about plants as we plant seeds and watch them grow. We will be planting our own beanstalks – we will be keeping an eye out for giants! We will be celebrating Mother’s day and Easter.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be mixing primary colours and exploring the colours we can make – we will apply our knowledge of colour mixing to create paintings of spring flowers. We will be using our observational skills to draw fruits and vegetables. We will be learning songs and rhymes about spring, growing and Easter. We will also make cards to celebrate Mother’s day and Easter.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Spring Term 1 – 2023

Happy New Year, I hope you had a fabulous Christmas break filled with fun!

We are looking forward to another exciting and busy half term. Our theme this term is ‘Winter Wonderland.’ We will start by making observations of our school environment and thinking about the things we already know about Winter. We will then discuss what else we want to find out. We will follow our lines of enquiry and develop our understanding of the world by using stories, songs, rhymes, non fiction texts, observations, podcasts, video clips, photographs and the use of the internet to:

Explore the seasonal changes and record the weather making comparisons to how it differs to autumn.
Create winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigate snow, ice and frost and the effect they have on our environment
Compare and contrast climates in different locations around the world – Including the enquiry – what would it be like to live with the Inuit in the Arctic?

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term we will be talking about our Dreams and Goals, we will be discussing the best way to try and achieve the goals we set ourselves. The New Year is often a time for reflection as we think about new ways to challenge ourselves.

For a list of stories to support your child’s growth mind set and resilience - https://www.booksfortopics.com/growth-mindset

In Physical Development We will continue with ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ to help develop our letter formation these sessions are always lots of fun!

P.E sessions continue to be on a Monday with coach Josh please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers as we often do PE outside.

In REAL PE we will be focusing on our balance skills and our listening skills to follow instructions.

Please bring your wellies to school EVERYDAY (or leave them in school) as we like to play outside whatever the weather.

In Literacy we will enjoy texts related to our theme of Winter including Snowball by Sue Hendra, A Book for Bramble by Lynne Garner, Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara, Winter Song by Suzanne Barton and the Storm Whale in Winter.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using the initial code sounds that we have learnt so far:

Unit 1 - m a s i t

Unit 2 - n o p

Unit 3 – b c g h

Unit 4 – d f v e

Unit 5 – k l r u

In addition, we will be learning new sounds from:

Unit 6 – j w z

Unit 7 – x y ff ll ss zz

Unit 8 – VCC and CVCC words

Please continue to support your child with sound recognition and blending when reading.

To support your child with their phonics you could complete this free online course - https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/

Reading

Remember to try and read as many times as possible during the week and make sure you record your reads in your school dairy! The more reads you have the better - hopefully we can all be reading superheroes this term.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and begin to segment the sounds in words to write words, captions and simple sentences. You can support your child's development by encouraging your child to write for different purposes at home - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc. You can also encourage your child to write their own weekend adventure news.

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will focus on counting forwards and backwards up to 20, counting in 2's and doubling numbers. We will also be working on one more and one less than a number.

We will continue to develop our number knowledge and consolidate working with numbers up to 10, we will be making comparisons between different amounts and using the vocabulary more, less and equal.

We will also be using language to describe position and direction. Our computing work using programmable toys will support our development in this area.

In R.E we will be learning about Special stories in the Bible including the Creation story, Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Big Fish and Joseph and his Dreamcoat.

In Expressive Arts we will be creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials. We will also be studying the artist Georgia O’Keeffe – check back later in the term to see our art work.

We are looking forward to a busy and exciting half term! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Spring 1 2023.pdf

Autumn Term 2 - 2022

We hope you have had a fabulous half term break filled with lots of fun and welcome back to Autumn term 2. This term is always a busy one in the run up to Christmas, but it is always lots of fun. Our theme this term will be ‘Let’s celebrate!’ We will be starting the term and our celebrations by learning about Diwali and Bonfire night. During the week of November 14^th – 18^th, we will be celebrating Nursery rhyme week, World Kindness Day and Anti-bullying week. We will then move on to our Christmas celebrations.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Jigsaw topic for this term is Celebrating Differences. As part of our work, we will be sharing the stories Only One You by Linda Kranz, Barry the Fish with Fingers by Sue Hendra, It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr and The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers. The theme for Anti-Bullying week this year is ‘Reach Out’. We will also be celebrating World Kindness Day we will be thinking about and demonstrating different ways of being kind to others. We have a wreath of kindness in the classroom and we will be adding ribbons to represent all our acts of kindness.

Communication and Language: This term will see the introduction of the ‘All About Me’ bag, children will be taking it in turns to bring this home, please help your child to think about the things they would like to share with the class, this may include family photographs, certificates for sporting achievements, art work etc. The week commencing 14^th November is World Nursery Rhyme Week; we will be focusing on the rhymes and songs, The Big Ship Sails, 1,2,3,4,5 (Once I Caught a Fish Alive), Five Little Speckled Frogs, BINGO and Twinkle, Twinkle. Nursery Rhymes are a great way to help promote vocabulary and support language development.

To help develop our coordination skills we will engage in Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities alongside yoga sessions.

We will continue to use the balance bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control.

PE is on Mondays please send your child to school in their full PE Kit and trainers including a named zip top/jumper.

Literacy – In phonics, Reception children will continue to learn letter sounds from the initial code. We will continue to practise blending and segmenting using these sounds alongside all our previously learnt sounds. Year 1 pupils will continue learning the Extended Code and will be learning to identify that many spellings represent more than one sound and many sounds can be represented by more than one spelling.

We will share the stories Peppa’s Diwali, Little Glow by Katie Sahota and Harry Woodgate, Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper, The Leaf thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater, Ferdie and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson and The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson. We will be challenging the children to write for different purposes – Can you write a card? Can you write a note? Etc.

Mathematics - Over the half term, we will continue securing our number recognition of numerals 1-5, counting, ordering and recognition. We will be comparing objects by weight, length and thickness. Using different language to describe the comparisons we make. We will also look at patterns and make our own repeating patterns using our Autumn collection. We will look at collections of objects and think carefully about different ways we can categorise and sort objects, we will also compare groups using the language, more, less and equal to.

Understanding the World – We will be observing the seasonal changes around the school site, collecting leaves and conkers and talking about the changes in the weather. We will explore puddles, the changing colour of leaves and the different weather each day. We will link these observations to the different stories we share about Autumn. We will be learning about the different celebrations that we will experience this term including Diwali, Bonfire Night and Christmas.

In Computing we will be learning how to take photos of our own Leaf Men and record short video clips using the iPad. We will learn how to use Chatterpix to animate our photographs.

Expressive Arts and Design – This term our Art work will be based on Autumn, whilst walking around the school grounds looking for signs of Autumn we will collect natural materials we can use to create an Autumn wreath. We will continue to practise colour mixing when painting. We will work collectively to create a firework display using ready mix paint and different tools.

Later in the term, we will turn our attention to our Christmas celebrations and will be making Christmas decorations and cards. We have a busy half term preparing for our nativity performance – The Nativity by Nikki Davies.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Take care, Mrs Johnson and the Foundation Stage Team.

class-oak-newsletter-autumn-2-2022.pdf

WELCOME CLASS OAK

Autumn term 2022

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new Reception children. Welcome to Walesby we are so excited you are joining us in Class Oak.

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use the indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class routines and school expectations to ensure we have a happy and fun learning environment.

Throughout the term we will be focusing on the theme ‘A Place Called Home’ we will be following the lines of enquiry:

Who lives with me in my home?
How do our homes compare with other homes and families around the world?

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Physical Development

PE sessions will be on Mondays – please send your child to school dressed in their full PE kit including suitable footwear for outdoor PE (navy joggers, white t-shirt, Navy zip top jumper and trainers) Please label all uniform and shoes so that if yourchild misplaces their clothes we can get them back to you.

Phonics.

In phonics, we will learn that letters are symbols which represent sounds, we will learn the initial code unit 1 letters a, i, m, s, t and will practise segmenting, blending and manipulation of these letters to read and spell simple words. When we have mastered this we will move on to the unit 2 sounds, n,o,p. There is a meeting about Phonics and Reading on Tuesday 6^th September at 3.30pm in the Classroom.

Reading.

Initially your child will bring home a reading diary and a library book for you to share together at home. Please record in the reading diary when you share a book at home so that we can work towards our half termly Reading Awards. In time your child will bring home a reading scheme book to share with you. Please talk to your child about the story to develop their comprehension and observational skills.

Maths.

We will be learning to recognise numbers and to count carefully and match objects to numbers. The Numberblocks will help us develop our counting skills. When you are out and about have a number hunt and see which numbers you can find.

Understanding the World.

We will be exploring maps, we will make a map of our classroom and of our school building. We will look on aerial views of our school and think about where we all live. We will be looking at different types of houses and homes.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be learning how to mix colours to paint self-portraits. Look out for our art work popping up on the webpage.

We will be creating poppies towards the end of term in preparation for our Remembrance display.

Mrs Johnson

class-oak-newsletter-autumn-1-2022.pdf

Summer Term 2

I hope you had a wonderful half term and enjoyed the Jubilee celebrations.

This term we are learning about ladybirds! Why do ladybirds have spots?

Our learning this term will have several lines of enquiry. I’m sure the children will think of many more!

Why do ladybirds have spots?

Where do ladybirds live?

How many different types of ladybirds are there?

What do ladybirds eat?

How many spots do ladybirds have?

We will be using non fiction texts to find out lots of ladybird facts alongside observing ladybirds outside in our garden.

Communication and Language – The children always have such a lot to tell us after the holidays and after a weekend. Please continue to send photographs and leaflets from days out to support your children in sharing their news with the class.

Our Personal, Social and Emotional Development topic this term is Changing Me, we will be reflecting on how we have changed over the year and all the things we are able to do that we couldn’t do when we started Class Oak. We will also be looking ahead to transition and moving into Year 1. We will explore the different feelings and emotions around change and try to relieve any anxieties by finding answers to any questions and spending some time in the Year 1 classroom. Mr Mackenzie pops into our classroom everyday so the children have opportunities to talk to him about his class and about what to expect in Year 1. The children also pop through to show him their fantastic work!

On the 9th June we will be celebrating Empathy Day - we will be reading the texts Barbara Throws a Wobbler by Nadia Shireen and Luna Loves Art by Joseph Coelho and exploring the feelings of the different characters in these texts.

Physical Development –We have lots of new equipment and are looking forward to using our agility equipment to make different obstacle courses! We are looking forward to Sports Day and will be practicing our races ready for the big day!

We are moving on to some of the more tricky ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions. This term we will be using the rest and relax mindful cards to promote positive mental wellbeing.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Monday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers.

Our Understanding the World and Literacy work this term will be focused on ladybird facts. We will also be sharing the ‘What the Ladybird heard’ series of stories by Julia Donaldson and ‘The Very Lazy Ladybird’ by Isobel Finn.

Phonics – This term we will be moving on to the final part of the initial code. We will be learning the sounds sh, ch, th, ck, wh, ng and qu. Please continue to support your child with learning their tricky words. Your child will be bringing home a reading book that allows them to practice previous code that they have learnt.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and apply them to reading and writing activities. Encouraging your child to write for different purposes - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc. is a great way for them to apply their phonic knowledge. To support your child you could ask them to build words by writing a different letter sound on post it notes and jumbling them up – ask them to place the sounds in the correct order. How many different words can they build?

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on correct number formation, doubling and halving numbers and looking at odd and even numbers. We will also look at counting beyond twenty.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be looking at the work of Vincent Van Gogh and creating our own Sunflower paintings using watercolours. We will also be look at drawing spirals using chalk.

It’s always a busy half term as we approach the end of the academic year. We are looking forward to lots of sunny days to take our learning outside. If you have any questions please catch me for brief enquiries at the start of the day or at home time.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Summer 2 2022.pdf

Summer Term 1

I hope you had a fantastic Easter holiday filled with fun and chocolate!

This term we are learning about the Queen and will end the term with a celebratory Afternoon tea party for the Platinum Jubilee!

Our learning this term will have several lines of enquiry.

Why do people wear hats?

What is a crown and who wears one?

What happens at a Coronation?

Where does the Queen live?

What historical landmarks can we find in London?

What are the crown jewels and where are they kept?

We will use the following texts to help us in our enquiries.

The Queens Hat by Steve Antony

The Queens Handbag by Steve Antony

The Queens Wardrobe – The Story of Queen Elizabeth II and her Clothes by Julia Golding and Kate Hindley

Paddington at the Tower by Michael Bond

Paddington at the Palace by Michael Bond

Rex and the Crown Jewels Robbery illustrated by Kate Sheppard

The Usborne Big Picture Book of London

The Royal Family – The Queen

The Queens Knickers by Nicholas Allan

The Sparkly Crown – The Story of Queen Elizabeth II

Pop Up Crown Jewels – Stories of Kings, Queens and Coronations.

Communication and Language - Each day we have a question/discussion topic of the day, this always proves to be very interesting as the children share their ideas and thoughts relating to the topic. There will be a talk homework in your child’s reading diary for you to discuss at home. This term we will be sending home the ‘All About Me’ bag, your child may put inside a few of their favourite items from home, a special toy, a photograph of their family or friends, certificates / medals from sporting achievements to share with the class. We will continue to learn new vocabulary linked to our topic.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term we will be learning about Relationships. We will be thinking about the characteristics of a good friend and how to solve problems within our friendships. We will continue to share stories and develop our empathy skills. We will use the Colour Monster to facilitate discussions about our feelings.

Physical Development – In Real PE we will be focusing on co-ordination and will be developing our sending and receiving skills with a circus theme! We will also develop our control and coordination when using the bikes and scooters. We have lots of new equipment and are looking forward to using our agility equipment.

We will continue with our ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions to help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing and will be doing Dough Disco this term. We enjoy mindfulness sessions to promote positive mental wellbeing – this term we will be using the find your calm and focus activities.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Monday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers.

Please also ensure your child has an appropriate pair of outdoor shoes as we often use bikes, scooters and PE equipment when playing outside and a pair of indoor shoes to change into.

Our Understanding the World and Literacy work this term will be focused on the Queen. We will think about things we would like to know about the Queen and use our key texts to find the answers. We will be making cards and invitations so we can have an Afternoon Tea Party to celebrate the Jubilee.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and apply them to reading and writing activities. Encourage your child to use their phonic skills to read their school reading book but to also read some words in the stories you read at home at bedtime perhaps. Your child will also have a word tin with some high frequency words in to read. Encouraging your child to write for different purposes - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc. is a great way for them to apply their phonic knowledge.

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on doubling and halving numbers, finding the whole and identifying missing parts. In CLIC Maths we will continue to count in multiples and identify one more and one less than a number. We will use number lines, ten frames, bar models and part whole models to support us when doing our calculations.

This term as part of our Understanding of the World we will be growing vegetables and developing our vegetable plots. So far we have planted beans but we hope to grow potatoes, tomatoes and peas.

In Expressive Arts and Design, we will be creating portraits of the Queen. We will also be pressing flowers. Check back here for photos of our art work.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Summer 1 2022.pdf

Spring Term 2 - 2022

I hope you have all had a lovely half term break and had lots of fun despite the weather being wet and windy.

This term we are learning about Spring. We will start once again by making observations of our school environment and comparing what we see to our findings last term when we looking for signs of Winter. We will use different non fictions texts alongside stories about Spring, songs and rhymes to learn about the season. We will:

Explore the seasonal changes and record the weather
Create observational drawings and photographs of Spring flowers and
We will be planting bulbs and seeds. We will learn how to take care of plants, learn about different parts of plants and observe how they grow
We will learn about the lifecycles of animals

During this half term we will also be learning about Easter.

Communication and Language - Each day we have a question/discussion topic of the day, this always proves to be very interesting as the children share their ideas and thoughts relating to the topic. Look out for talk homework this term in your child’s reading diary. We will be developing our listening and attention skills by playing games such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1vdKfXlB_g the dance freeze song. We will continue to learn new vocabulary linked to our topic.

In Physical Development we will be developing our balls skills, we are learning to throw and catch accurately. We are developing our control and coordination skills using balance bikes and our wooden beams setting up different obstacle courses. Our ‘Funky Fingers’ and ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ sessions help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing. We enjoy mindfulness sessions to promote positive mental wellbeing. We enjoy Cosmic Kids yoga and the zen den to help us to find our calm and to help us focus and reconnect. https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about Spring, Eddies Garden, Ferdies Springtime Blossom and Planting a Rainbow. We will also be sharing the story – I Love My Mummy as we think about Mothering Sunday. We will also be celebrating World Book Day. We will also share stories linked to Easter, including Six little Chicks, Dora’s eggs, The Bunny who found Easter and We’re going on an Egg Hunt.

Phonics - To support your child with their phonics you could complete this free online course - https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and apply them to reading and writing activities. You can support your child's development by encouraging your child to look for sounds they recognise and segment these sounds to read words and write for different purposes - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc.

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will be focusing on reading, writing and ordering numbers up to 10 and we will be learning to count accurately by saying one number name for each object that we count. We will be learning how to represent numbers in 10 frames and looking at the composition of the numbers using part-part whole models.

We will develop our Understanding of the World as we enjoy observing and learning about the seasonal changes during springtime. We are looking forward to learning about plants as we plant seeds in the Class Oak garden area. We are hoping to be successful in growing tomatoes, sunflowers, carrots, radishes and sweet peas. We will be following updates from the farm during lambing season and will look at the lifecycles of chicks. We will be planting beans to create a bean wigwam to play in. We will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday, Mother’s day and Easter.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will develop our sketching skills as we look closely at spring flowers. We will also use water colours and explore colour mixing when we use marbling inks. We will use clay to create Easter decorations and will explore how to join materials to make models. We will be learning songs and rhymes about Spring and Easter.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Spring 2 2022.pdf

Spring Term 1 - 2022

Happy New Year, welcome back. We are looking forward to another busy term filled with exciting learning opportunities.

We will begin the term with our topic about Winter. We will start by making observations of our school environment and thinking about the things we already know about Winter, through our explorations we will use stories, songs, rhymes, non fiction texts, observations, podcasts and video clips, photographs and the use of the internet to:

Explore the seasonal changes and record the weather
Create winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigate snow, ice and frost and the effect they have on our environment

During this half term we will also enjoy our topic ‘Will you read me a story?’ which will focus on stories linked to Bears starting with We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.

Communication and Language - Each day we have a question/discussion topic of the day, this always proves to be very interesting as the children share their ideas and thoughts relating to the topic.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term we will be talking about our Dreams and Goals, we will be discussing the best way to try and achieve the challenges we set ourselves. The New Year is often a time for reflection as we think about ways to challenge ourselves.

For a list of stories to support your child’s growth mindset and resilience - https://www.booksfortopics.com/growth-mindset

In Physical Development We will continue with ‘Squiggle Whilst you Wiggle’ to help develop our letter formation these sessions are always lots of fun!

In Literacy we will enjoy texts related to our theme of Winter including A Book for Bramble by Lynne Garner, Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara and Robin’s Winter Song by Suzanne Barton. We will then enjoy different Bear stories including Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Paddington Bear stories and Bumblebear.

When sharing stories we talk about the different characters, the story setting and the feelings of the characters. We talk about the story structure, identifying what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story. You can help your child develop their vocabulary and language when sharing stories at home by asking questions about the text.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using the initial code sounds that we have learnt so far, m a s i t n o p g h c b f v e d. We will also be learning tricky words. Please continue to support your child with sound recognition and blending when reading.

To support your child with their phonics you could complete this free online course - https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and begin to segment the sounds in words to write them. You can support your child's development by encouraging your child to write for different purposes - notes, cards, letters, lists, labelling pictures etc.

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will focus on counting forwards and backwards up to 20, counting in 2's, 5's and 10's and doubling numbers.

We will continue to develop our number knowledge and consolidate working with numbers up to 10, matching numerals to the correct number of objects and finding 1 more and 1 less than a number. We will be recognising patterns and creating our own repeating patterns using natural materials.

In Understanding the World we will be exploring the seasonal changes that happen during winter. We will be planting bulbs ready for them to come up in the Spring. We will observe a bulb growing in the classroom and identify the different parts a plant.

In R.E we will be learning about Special stories in the Bible including the Creation story, Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Big Fish and Joseph and his Dreamcoat.

In Expressive Arts we will be creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials. Our music topic this term is My Stories, we will listen and appraise music, learn action songs and rhymes and perform these in class.

We are looking forward to a busy and exciting half term! If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Spring 1 2022.pdf

Autumn Term 2 - 2021

Welcome back, we hope you have had a fantastic fun filled half term break and are ready for the new term. This term our overall theme will be ‘Come on, Let’s Celebrate!’ we will start by celebrating Bonfire night, we will be creating firework pictures and talking about how to stay safe. We will also be observing the seasonal changes throughout Autumn, we will then move on to our Christmas Celebrations. This term we will also be remembering and reflecting on Armistice day and celebrating Children in Need on 12^th November, World Kindness Day 13^th November and Anti-bullying week 15^th – 19^th November.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Jigsaw topic for this term is Celebrating Differences. As part of our work we will be sharing the stories Only One You by Linda Kranz, Barry the Fish with Fingers by Sue Hendra, It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr and The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers. The theme for Anti-Bullying week this year is ‘One Kind Word’ we will be thinking and demonstrating different ways of being kind to others. We have a wreath of kindness in the classroom and we will be adding ribbons to represent all our acts of kindness.

Communication and Language: This term will see the introduction of the ‘All About Me’ bag, children will be taking it in turns to bring this home, please help your child to think about the things they would like to share with the class, this may include family photographs, certificates for sporting achievements, art work etc. The week commencing 15^th November is World Nursery Rhyme Week, we will be focusing on the rhymes and songs, Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Wind the Bobbin up, Sleeping Bunnies, Down in the Jungle and Incy Wincy Spider. Nursery Rhymes are a great way to help promote vocabulary and support language development.

Physical Development: This term we will be introducing Dough Disco and Pen discos alongside our Squiggle Whilst your Wiggle sessions and Funky Finger activities to strengthen our fingers to support our development of writing. Developing strength in our hands and fingers supports our pencil grip and control when mark making.

To help develop our coordination skills we will engage in Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities alongside yoga sessions.

We will continue to use the balance bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control.

PE is on Mondays please send your child to school in their full PE Kit and trainers including a named zip top/jumper.

Literacy – In phonics we will continue to learn letter sounds from the initial code. We will continue to practise blending and segmenting using these sounds alongside all our previously learnt sounds.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and begin to segment the sounds in words to write them. We will mark make using different media and continue with our funky finger activities to strengthen our muscles to support mark making. We will share the stories Sweep by Louise Greig and Julia Sarda, Storm by Sam Usher, Ferdie and the Falling leaves by Julia Rawlinson, The Owl who is Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson and The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater.

Mathematics - Over the half term we will continue securing our number recognition of numerals 1-10, counting, ordering and recognition. We will be comparing objects by weight, length and thickness. Using different language to describe the comparisons we make. We will also look at patterns and make our own repeating patterns using our Autumn collection. We will look at collections of objects and think carefully about different ways we can categorise and sort objects, we will also compare groups using the language, more, less and equal to.

Across the term we will be exploring maps. During Autumn 1 we familiarised ourselves with the school grounds and where different things happened and where different things were located. We will explore the different human and physical geographical features around the school grounds, we will create our own maps and compare them to ordnance survey maps and satellite maps of the school and the surrounding areas.

In Computing we will be learning how to take photos of our own Leaf Men and record short video clips using the iPad. We will learn how to use the Shadow Puppets Edu app to retell stories.

We will be looking at how Christians celebrate Christmas and look at our own Christmas traditions.

Expressive Arts and Design – This term our Art work will be based on Autumn, whilst walking around the school grounds on our Autumn walk we will create mini pictures of Natural things we find that showcase the many colours of Autumn. We will continue to practise colour mixing when painting. We will create fire works suing paint and will use different materials to create printed pictures.

Later in the term we will turn our attention to our Christmas celebrations and will be making Christmas decorations and cards. We have a busy half term preparing for our nativity performance – The Sleepy Shepherd.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Take care, Mrs Johnson and the Foundation Stage Team.

Class Oak Newsletter Autumn 2 2021.pdf

Autumn Term 2021

A Warm Welcome To All Our New Children

Hello and Welcome to Class Oak, I hope that you have all had a lovely summer break and are excited to begin your school journey with us at Walesby Church of England Primary School. We are very excited to meet you all and can’t wait to start the new school year.

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use the indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class routines and school expectations to ensure we have a happy learning environment.

We will be starting the term with the theme Growing Together, we will be sharing the story Errol’s Garden by Gillian Hibbs. We will use this story to inspire us to get growing in our own garden. We have some beans and tomatoes that need harvesting from last term, we will then clear the old plants ready to plant some new flowers and vegetables. We are looking forward to expanding and developing our garden area further so we can grow lots of different vegetables … watch this space!

Throughout the term we will then focus on the theme Marvellous Me! What better way to start the year than to get to know each other. What we like, dislike and all about our families and friends. We will share the Usborne ‘All about Families’ book and ‘What Makes Me a Me’ by Ben Faulks. We will also share the stories ‘All are Welcome’ by Alexandra Penfold and ‘Our Class is a Family’ by Shannon Olsen.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Physical Development

We will focus on developing our gross motor skills and co-ordination, we have balance bikes, beams and wobble boards to help with this. We will introduce funky finger activities to help with manipulation of materials and tools. Developing these skills is a pre requisite for writing.

Phonics.

In phonics, we will learn that letters are symbols which represent sounds, we will learn the initial code letters a, i, m, s, t and will practise segmenting, blending and manipulation of these letters to read and spell simple words.

Reading.

Maths.

We will be learning to recognise numbers and to count and match objects to numbers. The Numberblocks will help us develop our counting skills.

Understanding the World.

We will be exploring maps, we will identify where our school is and where we all live. We will think about our journey to school and plot this on the map!

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be learning how to mix colours to paint self-portraits. Look out for our art work popping up on the webpage.

We will look carefully at fruits and vegetables as part of our Harvest work and create observational drawings of our favourites.

Our music topic is ‘Me!’ we will listen and respond to the music thinking about how the songs we listen to make us feel, what the songs make us think of and try to identify if the songs tell us a story. We will share and perform our favourite nursery rhymes and action songs.

I hope you all have a great half term! Our half termly class curriculum newsletter has more information about our learning this term.

Mrs Johnson

Class Oak Newsletter Autumn 1 2021.pdf

Early Adopters of Revised EYFS Framework

Early Adopters 2020/2021

Summer Term 2

We are looking forward to another busy half term, filled with exciting learning opportunities.

We have exciting news... We are going to work towards achieving a Blue Peter Green Badge award! We will be taking on pledges to help reduce our carbon footprint. Therefore, this term our topic will be ‘Reduce, Re-use, Repair and Recycle.’ For more information regarding the Blue Peter awards follow: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/joinin/about-blue-peter-badges

Communication, Language and Literacy

We will continue to start our day with a question which gets us thinking and talking about different ideas/topics/themes. The children have started thinking of some of their own questions and this really fuels the discussion which is fantastic for our language and vocabulary development.

Our focus texts this term are ‘George Saves the World’ by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts, ‘Questions and Answers about Plastic’ by Katie Daynes ‘Somebody Swallowed Stanley’ by Sarah Roberts, ‘One Plastic Bag’ by Miranda Paul, ‘What a Waste’ by Jess French and ‘Charlie and Lola: Look After Your Planet’ by Lauren Child. These texts will help us learn more about ways in which we can help look after our planet and help us to think about ways in which we can recycle, re-use items and take steps towards being more eco-friendly.

In phonics, we will continue to blend to read captions and simple sentences using our letter sound knowledge and segment sounds to write simple sentences. We will also be reading and writing CVCC (desk), CCVC (clap) and CCVCC (plank) words. We will continue to write for different purposes including lists, instructions, recipes for baking, notes, labels, letters, cards and stories. Please continue to support your child with their recognition of sounds and high frequency words by practicing the words sent home in their word tin.

Reading

Please support your child with their reading, each term we work towards reading awards so please record your child's reading in their school reading diary. Hopefully we can all go for gold in our half term reading challenge. (4 reads a week - Bronze award, 5 times a week - Silver award and 6 times a week - Gold award.) You can help your child develop their vocabulary, language and comprehension when sharing stories at home by asking questions about the text. Where is the story set? Who are the main characters? What happened at the beginning of the story? What was your favourite part of the story?

Physical Development

In our PE sessions we will be focusing on Games and Races which will also help develop our team building skills. PE sessions take place on a Wednesday afternoon, please ensure your child comes to school in their school PE kit and trainers. Please remember to send a sun hat and a named bottle of sun cream for your child to apply throughout the day.

We continue to develop our fine motor skills through playing with dough and using tools to manipulate it. Engaging in ‘Squiggle whilst you Wiggle’ sessions helps develop our handwriting skills and develop control and manipulation of writing tools.

Mathematics

In Maths we will be focusing on using language to describe position and direction, we will do this through practical activities and will use obstacle courses to develop our vocabulary alongside our gross motor skills. We will be consolidating our learning of ordering numbers. We will be learning to say one more and one less than a number. This will ensure pupils have a deep understanding of the numbers to 10 and their relationship to each other. We will look at the whole and identify the contributing parts. This will also build on our subitising skills. During our CLIC sessions we will continue to count to 20 and beyond, order numbers and find missing numbers in a sequence. We will double numbers and count in multiples.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Our Jigsaw topic is Changing Me, we will be celebrating that we are all unique. We will talk about our bodies and using the book ‘Look inside my body’ by Louie Stowell to learn about some of our body parts and how important they are e.g. Our lungs help us to breathe. We will be discussing the importance of healthy diets and how this contributes to our overall health. We will look at how we grow and change from a baby, to a toddler, a small child, a teenager and finally into an adult. We will talk about transition to Year 1 and discuss any worries and share the things we are looking forward to. We will also reflect on our year in Reception and think about our favourite memories.

Understanding the World

Our garden area is looking great and we have managed to grow radishes, beans and peas so far. The herbs have grown in the sensory part of the garden and we were so surprised to see some strawberries starting to appear. One of the pledges for our Green Badge award is plant based therefore we will be planting cornflowers, poppies and sunflowers to encourage pollinators into our garden.

Paddington Bear has settled well in Class Oak and helps us learn about different places around the world. This term we will be learning about Venezuela, Indonesia and Nepal. We will think about what we want to find out and then use maps alongside the internet to find the answers to our questions. As restrictions lift and you carefully begin travelling to places again for days out please consider picking up a postcard/leaflet and sending it to us so we can have a look at the different places Class Oak visit.

In R.E our area of learning is about stories from the Bible. We will be sharing the Creation story, Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the Whale.

Expressive Arts and Design

We are looking forward to a busy, fun and exciting half term!

Mrs Johnson

Summer 1 – 2021

Welcome back, this year seems to be flying by! I hope you have a lovely Easter break, we have had some lovely weather. I hope the Easter bunny brought lots of yummy treats. This half term our topic is, ‘Once Upon a Time'.

Please bring your book bag with your reading diary and book to school everyday, please also send a named water bottle so your child can keep hydrated. On sunny days please send a sun hat and apply sun cream before your child comes to school. Any sun cream needs to be labelled please.

Communication and Language / Literacy

This half term we will continue with our daily questions which get us thinking and talking about different ideas/topics/themes. For example – If you could speak to the Queen, what would you ask her? Or Is today Monday? Yes / No

Our focus stories this term are Traditional Tales we will be reading, retelling and exploring the texts - The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We will use Talk for Writing to develop our story language, we will be using story maps, puppets, story stones and small world play to retell our Traditional Tales.

We will share each of these stories, and talk about the setting and main characters and whether they are good / bad characters. We will look at the structure of the stories and identify what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the story. We will compare our stories looking for similarities and differences. We will draw story maps and use actions to enable us to retell the stories we have learnt about.

We will also look at non-fiction texts about growing plants from seed. We will be planting Bean plants to grow a wigwam in our garden area.

In phonics, we will continue to blend to read captions and simple sentences using our letter sound knowledge and segment sounds to write simple sentences. We will also be reading and writing VCC, (elf) CVCC (desk) and CCVC (clap) words. We will continue to write for different purposes including lists, instructions, recipes for baking, notes, labels, letters, cards and stories.

READING

Remember to try and read as many times as possible during the week and make sure you record your reads in your school dairy! Hopefully we can all go for gold in our half-term reading challenge. (4 reads a week Bronze award, 5 times a week Silver award and 6 times a week Gold award) Now the sun is shining you might like to share a book in the garden – wherever you choose to read, have fun and enjoy!

Physical

In Physical development we will continue to exercise our funky fingers through playing with dough, practicing handwriting patterns using squiggle whilst you wiggle, threading, using pegs and paper clips and practicing our cutting skills. We will be learning how to form our letters correctly using the cursive script.

We enjoy playing outside and practise our target throwing skills, balancing skills using our balance bikes and by creating obstacle courses.

In our PE sessions we will be focusing on Outdoor Games. PE sessions take place on a Wednesday afternoon, please ensure your child comes to school in their school PE kit and trainers. Don’t forget a named zip top in case it is chilly.

Mathematics

In Maths we will be focusing on counting sets of items accurately and comparing amounts in different sets. Counting forwards and backwards, adding and subtracting numbers and finding one more and ones less than a number to 20. We will continue to work on recognising and ordering numerals, we will also work on number formation.

We will be learning to use language to describe position and direction. We will identify different patterns and look at how we can extend these and create our own patterns. We will be revisiting the names and properties of 2D shapes and exploring 3D shapes and the language we can use to describe them.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development we will be practicing mindfulness through yoga, Take 5 breathing and by continuing to use our mindful kids cards. We will also be thinking about the things we are grateful for this term. Our Jigsaw topic is Relationships, we will be talking about friendships and how we can be a good friend, we will be discussing how we can resolve conflicts and treat each other with respect.

Understanding the World

In Understanding the World we will be looking after our seeds and nurturing them as they grow. Our radish and marigold seeds have germinated and we will plant peas, beans, peppers and carrots over the coming weeks.

We will be making lots of yummy treats in our baking sessions, including cakes, cookies and Gingerbread men. We will be reading recipes, weighing measuring and combining ingredients, we will discuss how these ingredients change when we combine and bake them.

We will also explore what happens to The Gingerbread Man when we put him in different puddles. Making predictions and observing what happens.

Paddington Bear will be paying class Oak a visit, he is going to teach us about different places around the world, starting with London. We will explore where Paddington goes on his travels and locate him on the World map. As restrictions lift and you carefully begin travelling to places again please consider picking up a postcard and sending it to us so we can have a look at the different places Class Oak visit.

Expressive Arts and Design

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be focusing on role play to retell each of our Traditional Tales, we will make puppets, use masks and small world toys to support us in this. We will use recycled materials and construction kits to make houses for the Three Little Pigs. We will combine materials and textures to make collages and we will experiment with colour mixing when painting. We will be learning songs and rhymes linked to our Traditional Tales and making our own musical instruments.

We can’t wait to get started! Check back for photographs over the term!

Spring Term 2 2021

I hope you have had a lovely half term break. This half term we are learning about Springtime on the farm. We will be following lambing updates from the farm and observing the seasonal changes as we finally embrace Spring! We will be celebrating Mothering Sunday and Easter.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development our new Puzzle piece is ‘Healthy Me’. We will be learning about healthy choices and how exercise, sleep and a balanced diet all contribute to a healthy lifestyle. We will also be learning how we can stay safe through sharing the stories ‘Never talk to strangers’ and ‘Not everyone is nice’. We will also be re-establishing classroom routines following the return from lockdown.

In Communication and Language we will continue to learn new vocabulary linked to our stories and our feelings. We like to use the dictionary to find out what these words mean. Look out for the word lists coming home in your child’s reading diaries. We will be revisiting the story The Colour Monster to explore our feelings about returning to school following lockdown and being reunited with our friends. We have been enjoying playing listening and attention games such as this –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1vdKfXlB_g&safe=true

We will continue to play games like this and memory games alongside going for listening walks around school. We love role-play as this helps to develop our language - we currently have a pop-up book shop in the classroom, we are having fun pretending to sell books and sharing stories using puppets and story stones. We also enjoy dressing up as different characters.

In Physical Development we will continue to develop our balls skills, we are learning to throw and catch accurately. We are developing our control and coordination skills using balance bikes and our wooden beams. Our ‘Funky Fingers’ and dance activities help strengthen our fingers and hands for writing. We enjoy mindfulness sessions to promote positive mental wellbeing. Check out our teams channel for different mindful kids cards to practice at home too. We also like Cosmic Kids yoga and the zen den to help us to find our calm and to help us focus and reconnect. https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

We will be focusing on letter formation and will be moving towards developing a cursive handwriting script which we call our fancy handwriting.

PE sessions will take place on Wednesdays, please send your child to school in their PE kit and trainers.

In Literacy we will be using stories to help us learn about Spring, Eddies Garden, Ferdies Springtime Blossom, Spring and Planting a Rainbow. We will also be sharing the story – I Love My Mummy as we think about Mothering Sunday. We will be celebrating World Book Day and will be focusing on the Mr Men and Little Miss Books. Don’t forget to dress up as your favourite Mr Man or Little Miss on Friday 12^th March to join in the celebrations.

We will also share stories linked to Easter, including Six little Chicks, Dora’s eggs, The Bunny who found Easter and We’re going on an Egg Hunt.

In phonics we will continue to apply our phase 2 knowledge to read captions and simple sentences alongside learning and applying our phase 3 letter sound knowledge (Phase 3 digraphs include ai,ee,oa,oo,ar,or,ur,ow,oi,er and trigraphs igh,ear,air,ure)

We will be writing for different purposes and have set up a message centre in the classroom to encourage the children to write notes to each other. We will be writing notes, lists, cards for Mother’s Day and Easter and writing about our mums.

In Mathematics we will be focusing on reading, writing and ordering numbers up to 10 and we will be learning to count accurately by saying one number name for each object that we count. We will be learning how to represent numbers in 10 frames and looking at the composition of the numbers using part part whole models. In our CLIC sessions we will continue to order numbers to 20 and identify missing numbers in a sequence. We will continue to solve simple addition and subtraction problems on a number line. In shape, we will focus on patterns and identifying shapes in the models we create.

In Understanding the World we will enjoy observing and learning about the seasonal changes during springtime. Furthermore, we will be outdoors planting seeds in the Class Oak garden area we are hoping to be successful in growing tomatoes, sunflowers, carrots, radishes and sweet peas. We will be following updates from the farm during lambing season and will look at the lifecycles of chicks. We will be planting beans to create a bean wigwam to play in. We will be celebrating Mothers day and Easter.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be focusing on painting using water colours and printing, we will use clay to create Easter decorations and will explore how to join materials to make models. We will be learning songs and rhymes about Spring and Easter. We are looking forward to a fun filled half term with lots to celebrate. We are so pleased to be back in school and are enjoying each others company. It is so lovely to see everyone smiling.

Well back Class Oak, Mrs Johnson.

Spring Term 1: 2021

Welcome back and a Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a lovely Christmas break and that Santa brought you some lovely gifts. We are looking forward to another busy half term, filled with exciting learning opportunities.

We will begin with our topic about Winter. This will stimulate children's curiosity, knowledge and imagination about the winter season, hopefully we will get to see some more snow, the children were amazed when we had some snow fall last term.

We will start by making observations of our school environment and thinking about the things we already know about Winter, we will think about any questions we have and will seek to find the answers to these questions through stories, songs, rhymes, non fiction texts, observations, podcasts and video clips, photographs and the use of the internet. We will:

Explore the seasonal changes and record the weather
Create winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigate snow, ice and frost and the effect they have on our environment.

During this half term we will also enjoy our topic ‘Will you read me a story?’ which will focus on stories linked to superheroes starting with Supertato by Sue Hendra.

In Communication and Language we will develop our vocabulary through stories and rhymes. Everyday we have a word of the day, ask your child about the new words we are learning. Please continue to send your child’s Adventure book to school so we can share what you have been doing at home and celebrate any achievements with your child. It is lovely to see drawings and photographs of the things you have been doing at home. If you are unable to print photographs please email them to office@walesby.notts.sch.uk FAO: Class Oak Adventure Book and we will share them on the Interactive board with the children. Each day we have a question/discussion topic of the day, this always proves to be very interesting as the children share their ideas and thoughts relating to the topic – one of our favourite discussions was about flying cars! We will share one of our questions/discussion topics from the week in your child’s reading diary so that you can talk about it at home.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this term we will be talking about our Dreams and Goals, we will be discussing the best way to try and achieve the challenges we set ourselves.

In Physical Development we will continue to develop our gross motor skills through throwing and catching, balancing on equipment, we will use the bikes and scooters to develop our coordination, balance and spatial awareness skills. Our fine motor skills will be developed through Dough Disco and funky fingers activities. We will be looking at letter formation and how to form letters in the cursive script as we develop our handwriting skills.

We love Tumble Tots, Go Noodle and Cosmic Kids yoga sessions too. You can find these online. Follow the links below if you want to have some fun at home:

https://www.gonoodle.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TumbleTotsUK

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5uIZ2KOZZeQDQo_Gsi_qbQ

P.E sessions continue to be on a Wednesday please come to school dressed in your full PE kit and trainers as we often do PE outside. Please bring your wellies to school EVERYDAY as we use the field at lunchtimes and it can be muddy and wet.

In Literacy we will enjoy texts related to our theme of Winter including A Book for Bramble by Lynne Garner, Here Comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara and Robin’s Winter Song by Suzanne Barton we will also learn about Hibernation by exploring the text by Jaclyn Jaycox.

When sharing stories we talk about the different characters, the story setting, the feelings of the characters. We talk about the story structure, identifying what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story. You can help your child develop their vocabulary and language when sharing stories at home by asking questions about the text.

Please continue to write in your child’s diary when they read at home to help them achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold reading certificate at the end of half term.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using phase 2 sounds and continue to read and write simple words and sentences. Please continue to support your child with their recognition of sounds and high frequency words by practising the words sent home in the gold tin.

In our daily Mathematics sessions we will focus on counting fowards and backwards up to 20 and beyond, counting in 2's, 5's and 10's and doubling numbers.

We will continue to develop our number knowledge and consolidate working with numbers up to 10, matching numerals to the correct number of objects and finding 1 more and 1 less than a number. We will continue to develop our calculation skills by adding and subtracting through practical activities.

In Understanding the World we will be exploring the changes that happen during winter and investigating the properties of snow, ice and frost and observing what happens when things thaw/ice melts. Before the Christmas break we planted some bulbs, we will observe the changes that have occurred since we planted our bulbs and will continue to care for our plants. We will start to plant some vegetables for our vegetable patch and learn about what plants need to grow.

In R.E our area of learning is 'Special Jewish and Christian Stories'. This unit enables the children to explore ideas about God, and investigate the Jewish and Christian stories of Creation, Moses, Daniel and David & Goliath.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.

Our music topic this term is Big Bear Funk, we will listen and appraise music, learn action songs and rhymes and perform these in class.

We are looking forward to a busy, fun and exciting half term!

Mrs Johnson

Autumn Term 2 - 2020

Welcome back, we hope you have had a fantastic fun filled half term break and are ready for the new term. This term we will start by celebrating Bonfire night, we will be creating firework pictures and talking about how to stay safe. We will also be observing the seasonal changes and learning about Autumn. We will then move onto our Christmas celebrations.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Jigsaw topic for this term is Celebrating Differences. Anti-Bullying week begins Monday 16^th November the theme this year is – United Against Bullying. We will be sharing the stories Only One You by Linda Kranz, Barry the Fish with Fingers by Sue Hendra, It’s Ok to be Different by Todd Parr and The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers.

Communication and Language: This term will see the introduction of the ‘All About Me’ bag, children will be taking it in turns to bring this home, please help your child think about the things they would like to share with the class, this may include family photographs, certificates for sporting achievements, art work etc. Our daily survey provides opportunities for different discussion topics.

Physical Development: This term we will be introducing Dough Disco to strengthen our fingers to support our development of writing.

To help develop our coordination skills we will engage in Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities alongside our yoga sessions.

We will continue to use the balance bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control.

PE is on Wednesdays please send your child to school in their full PE Kit and trainers.

Literacy – In phonics we will continue to learn letter sounds and blend and segment using these sounds.

We will use our knowledge of the sounds we have learnt in our phonic sessions and begin to segment the sounds in words to write them. We will mark make using different media and continue with our funky finger activities to strengthen our muscles to support mark making. We will start the term by sharing the stories Storm by Sam Usher and Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.

Mathematics - Over the half term we will be working on securing our number recognition of numerals 1-5 and extending up to 10. We will continue to order these numbers and say 1 more and 1 less than a number. During the term we will progress to simple addition and subtraction thorough practical activities, we will also learn double number facts. We will name and describe simple 2D shapes and learn the names of familiar 3D shapes.

Understanding the World – We will be looking at how Christians celebrate Christmas and look at our own Christmas traditions.

In Computing we will continue to use Chatterpix to create animations. We will be learning how to record a short film using the iPad and the Shadow Puppets Education app which will support us when retelling stories.

Expressive Arts and Design – we will explore what happens when we mix colours in our art work, we will be painting firework pictures and using leaves and conkers in our Autumn art work. Later in the term we will be making Christmas decorations and cards.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Take care, Mrs Johnson and the Foundation Stage Team.

Marvellous Me!

Autumn Term 1

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use the indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class routines and school expectations to ensure we have a happy learning environment.

Our topic this term is Marvellous Me! What better way to start the term than to get to know each other. What we like, dislike and all about our families and friends. We will share the Usborne ‘All about Families’ book and ‘What Makes Me a Me’ by Ben Faulks. We will talk about how we celebrate birthdays through our stories ‘The Birthday Invitation’ by Lucy Rowland and Laura Hughes and ‘Kippers Birthday’ by Mick Inkpen.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

Our Jigsaw topic this term is ‘Being Me in My World’ we will establish a learning charter for our class, discover the learning line and the ‘Walesby Way.’ We will engage in mindfulness activities focusing on our breathing to enable us to manage our emotions. This reflection time will help us to be calm, peaceful and reflective.

Physical Development

We will focus on developing our gross motor skills and co-ordination, we have balance bikes, beams and boards to help with this. We will use dance ribbons and enjoy mark making with chunky chalks and large paintbrushes with water. We will introduce funky finger activities to help with manipulation of materials. Developing these skills is a pre requisite for writing skills.

PE sessions will be on Wednesdays – please send your child to school dressed in their full PE kit including suitable footwear for outdoor PE (navy joggers, white t-shirt, Navy zip top jumper and trainers).

Phonics.

Reading.

Maths.

We will be learning to recognise numbers and to count and match objects to numbers. The Numberblocks will help us develop our counting skills.

Understanding the World.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be learning how to mix colours to paint self-portraits. Look out for our art work popping up on the webpage.

We will look carefully at fruits and vegetables as part of our Harvest work and create observational drawings of our favourites.

Our music topic is ‘Me!’ we will listen and respond to the music; ‘Celebration’ by Kool and the Gang and ‘Yellow Submarine’ we will think about how the songs we listen to make us feel, what the songs make us think of and try to identify if the songs tell us a story. We will share and perform our favourite nursery rhymes and action songs.

Class Oak Information:

Adventure Books

Your child will bring home an adventure book, please use this book to allow your child to share with us the things they have enjoyed doing/achievements outside of school.

The children love to share these with us in class.

Please feel free to add photographs, leaflets of places that you have visited, your child may like to draw / write in their book about their adventures outside of school.

Shoes

Your child should have a pair of indoor shoes to wear in the classroom.

A pair of outdoor shoes such as trainers for wearing when it is playtime

It is helpful if your child also has wellies as we like to go out in the rain/snow to play.

Any questions please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your support,

Mrs Johnson

Parents Information Evening September 2020

Summer Term 2 2020

We hope you are all well and excited to engage in our new topic.

This half term our topic is called ‘Who lives in a Rock pool?'

Communication, Language and Literacy

This half term we will continue with our daily questions, which get us thinking and talking about many different topics.

Our focus will be texts will be linked to sea creaures and the seaside. These will include The Rainbow Fish, Tiddler, Sharing a Shell, Commotion in the Ocean, What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. We will continue to use Talk for Writing to develop our story language and being able to retell what is happening at the beginning, middle and end of the story. We will use story maps, puppets, story stones, and small world play to support our learning. Furthermore, we will listen to stories and poems about the seashore and write our own. We will use non-fiction books to find out lots of interesting facts about animals that live in a rock pool.

We will continue to write the sounds they we can hear in sequence and write simple sentences starting with a capital letter and ending with a full stop. We will also be looking at writing a narrative and including story language and writing for different purposes, including a postcard.

In phonics, we will be consolidating reading and writing phase 3 and 4 captions and sentences. Websites to support children’s development include www.phonicsplay.co.uk, and www.educationcity.com

Please continue to read with your child at home and record their reading in their reading diary. Each child has been allocated books on risingstars-uk.com.

Physical

In Physical development, we will continue to exercise our funky fingers through practicing our letter formation in the cursive script our cutting skills.

Our PE sessions will be focusing on Outdoor Games and practising activities at a Sports Day!

Mathematics

We will focus on securing our knowledge of numbers up to 20 and beyond, including reading, writing, ordering and solving addition and subtraction problems.

In practical activities and discussion, we will solve number problems and continue to use the vocabulary involved in doubling, halving and sharing. In Shape, space and measures we will be developing our understanding of positional language and use ‘behind’ or ‘next to’. Furthermore, we will use everyday language to talk compare quantities and objects.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development we will be practicing mindfulness through yoga, Take 5 breathing and Cosmic Kids Zen Den.

Understanding the World

In our topic about rock pools, we will explore these questions - Which creatures live on the seashore? Why do crabs have shells? Furthermore, we will learn about the seashore and the plants and animals that live there.

We will also be learning the seasonal changes that happen during summer.

In ICT, we will be using Education City and Numbots to support our learning.

Expressive Arts and Design

We will be very creative this half term as we make our own mini rock pools, create seashore and sea collages, design our own sea creatures and make puppets and masks to support our story telling and enjoy making music that reminds us of the seashore.

This half term, the way we learn will be different for most of us, as we are learning from home, we will deliver this topic as close as we possibly can through our home learning page.

Summer 1

Welcome back, we hope you had a fun filled Easter break and that the Easter bunny brought lots of yummy eggs! This half term our topic is, ‘Once Upon a Time'.

Communication, Language and Literacy

This half term we will continue with our daily questions which get us thinking and talking about different topics. For example – If you could speak to the Queen, what would you ask her?

We will use Talk for Writing to develop our story language, we will be using story maps, puppets, story stones and small world play to retell our Traditional Tales – The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

We will share each of these stories, identifying the main characters and looking at the structure of the stories. We will draw story maps, recognising what happens in the beginning, middle and end of the stories. We will look at the different settings of the stories and think about questions we could ask the characters.

In phonics, we will continue to blend to read captions and simple sentences using Phase 3 letter sounds and segment to write a sentence applying our Phase 3 knowledge. We will also be reading and writing Phase 4 CVCC and CCVC words and tricky words. We will continue to write for different purposes including lists, instructions for baking, notes, labels, letters, cards and stories.

READING

Remember to try and read as many times as possible during the week and make sure you record your reads in your school dairy! Hopefully we can all go for gold in our half-term reading challenge!

Physical

In Physical development we will continue to exercise our funky fingers through playing with dough, practicing handwriting patterns, threading, using pegs and paper clips and practicing our cutting skills. We will be learning how to form our letters correctly using the cursive script.

In our PE sessions we will be focusing on Outdoor Games. PE sessions take place on a Wednesday afternoon, please ensure your child has appropriate footwear for PE sessions and a named zip top in case it is chilly. Don't forget your water bottle everyday too.

Mathematics

In Mathematics we will be focusing on reading, writing and ordering numbers up to 20. We will continue to solve simple addition and subtraction problems and record our answers. We will look at number problems that involve doubling, halving and sharing. In shape, we will focus on using mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and mathematical terms to describe shapes. We will also look at positional language and patterns this term.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development we will be practicing mindfulness through yoga, Take 5 breathing and Cosmic Kids Zen Den. We will also be thinking about the things we are grateful for this term. Our Jigsaw topic is Relationships, we will be talking about friendships and how we can be a good friend, we will be discussing how we can resolve conflicts and treat each other with respect.

Understanding the World

In Understanding the World we will be looking after our sunflower, bean and pea seeds and observing the changes as they grow. we will also be planting tomatoes and potatoes, we have a greenhouse and our garden area has had a makeover.

We will be making lots of yummy treats in our baking sessions, including cakes, cookies and Gingerbread men. We will be reading recipes, weighing and measuring and combining ingredients, we will discuss how these ingredients change when we combine and bake them.

We will also explore what happens to The Gingerbread Man when we put him in different puddles. Making predictions and observing what happens.

In ICT we will be using Education City and Numbots to support our learning in Number and Phonics.

Expressive Arts and Design

* Information correct for Summer Term coverage pre Covid-19.

This half term, the way we learn will be different for most of us, as we are learning from home, we will deliver this topic as close as we possibly can through our home learning page.

Spring Term 2 2020

Welcome back to Spring Term 2. This half term we will continue with Talk for Writing through stories linked to bears and enjoy observing the seasonal changes as we approach the spring months. Furthermore, we will enjoy learning about what happens on the farm during spring time and celebrating Mothering Sunday and Easter. We will share our learning during Class Oaks Easter celebration on Thursday 2nd April at 2:30pm in the school hall.

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development our new Puzzle piece is ‘Healthy Me’. We will be learning about healthy choices and how exercise, sleep and a balanced diet all contribute to a healthy lifestyle. We will also be learning how we can stay safe through sharing the stories ‘Never talk to strangers’ and ‘Not everyone is nice’.

In Communication and Language we will continue to use Talk for Writing to develop our use of story language and support our story writing. Last half term, the children thoroughly enjoyed drawing story maps linked to Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

We will continue to develop our vocabulary by exploring a new word each day and using the dictionary to find out the definition.

In Physical Development we will continue to develop our fine motor skills through our ‘Funky Fingers’ and ‘Dough Disco’ activities and develop our control and coordination skills in our Go Noodle sessions. Will be focusing on developing the cursive handwriting script.

PE sessions will take place on Wednesdays and this half term our focus will be gymnastics, dance and multi-skills.

In Literacy we will enjoy reading 'We're going on a bear hunt' and using Talk for Writing to retell the story, create our own story maps and begin to write the story using story language.

We will also share stories linked to spring time and Easter, including Six little Chicks, Dora’s eggs and The Bunny who found Easter.

In phonics we will continue to blend to read captions and simple sentences using Phase 3 letter sounds and segment to write a sentence applying our Phase 3 knowledge. We will continue to focus on Phase 3 digraphs including ai,ee,oa,oo,ar,or,ur,ow,oi,er and trigraphs igh,ear,air,ure.

We are focusing on writing for different purposes. We will be writing lists, instructions for making pancakes, cards for Easter, recounts and stories.

In Mathematics we will be focusing on reading, writing and ordering numbers up to 20. We will continue to solve simple addition and subtraction problems and record our answers. We will be using number lines to help us count on and back. In shape, we will focus on using mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and mathematical terms to describe shapes.

We will be learning about celebrations in our own lives and together learn about and celebrate Mothering Sunday and Easter.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be focusing on painting, printing, combining materials and creating different textures. We will be learning songs and rhymes in preparation for the our Easter celebration.

Spring Term 1 2020

Welcome back and a Happy New Year to you all.

We are looking forward to another exciting half term and creating exciting learning opportunities.

We will begin with our topic about Winter. This will stimulate children's curiosity, knowledge and imagination about snow and the winter season. The children will drive our topic through their own fascinations and ideas as well as being introduced to many areas of interests linked to the areas of the EYFS curriculum.

During this half term we will also enjoy a topic called Will you read me a story? and focus on stories linked to bears.

In Communication and Language we will be focusing on Talk for Writing and how being able to retell a story through words and actions can enhance and develop our story writing. We will continue to develop our listening skills through circle time activities.

In Physical Development we will continue to develop our fine motor skills through Dough Disco activities. We will be looking at letter formation and how to form letters in the cursive script.

We will continue to engage in Go Noodle sessions to develop our coordination skills.

P.E sessions continue to be on a Wednesday and our focus is Indoor Games. Furthermore, we will enjoy dance sessions liked to celebrating Chinese New Year.

In Literacy we will enjoy a variety of texts linked to the bears theme, including Goldilocks and the Three Bears, This is the Bear and We're Going on a Bear Hunt. We will enjoy reading many texts linked to our Winter topic including The Emperors Egg, Snow Bear and Here comes Jack Frost.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using phase 2 sounds and continue to read simple sentences. Throughout the spring term we will be learning to read and write Phase 3 digraphs and trigraphs qu sh ch th ng ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur ow oi ear.

Please continue to write in your childs diary when they read at home to help them achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold reading certificate.

In our daily Mathematics carpet sessions we will focus on counting fowards and backwards up to 20 and beyond, counting in 2's, 5's and 10's and doubling numbers.

We will continue to develop our number knowledge and consolidate working with numbers up to 10, match numerals to the correct number of objects and find 1 more and 1 less than a number. We will continue to develop our calculation skills by adding and subtracting through practical activities. In Shape,Space and Measures, we will be focusing on ordering objects length, height, weight and capacity.

In Understanding the World we will be exploring the changes that happen during winter and investigate the properties of snow, ice and frost and further explore melting and how to free our frozen friends! Furthermore, we will find out how a range of animals have adapted to live in colder climates, such as polar bears, penguins, seals and birds and how their features help them to survive in the cold.

We will learn about how Chinese New Year is celebrated through the story 'Lanterns and Firecrackers'.

In R.E we will be learning about special stories from the bible.

In Expressive Arts and Design we will be creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.

We will retell familiar stories using puppets and props.

Our music sessions will be focused around Winter and the story of The Three Bears.

We are looking forward to a busy, fun and exciting half term!

Autumn Term 2 - 2019

We hope you have had a fantastic half term break and are feeling refreshed ready for the new term, Autumn term 2 is always a busy term in the run up to Christmas!

This half term we will be continuing our learning through our topic called ‘Why do squirrels hide their nuts’. We will be learning about seasonal changes before we move onto our Christmas celebrations.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Jigsaw topic for this term is Celebrating Differences this will also include work on Anti Bullying. Anti-Bullying week begins Monday 11^th November the theme this year is – Change Starts With Us!

Communication and Language: This term will see the introduction of the ‘All About Me’ bag, children will be taking it in turns to bring this home. We will continue to use talk for writing to retell stories alongside small world play. Our daily survey will also provide opportunities for different discussion topics.

Physical Development: We have had great fun learning Dough Disco moves and we will continue to expand our repertoire and build on the moves to strengthen our fingers to support how we hold writing materials.

To help develop our coordination skills we enjoy Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities.

We will continue to use the balance bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control.

PE – if it is dry we like to get wrapped up and go outside for PE, please ensure your child has appropriate PE kit for both indoor and outdoor PE sessions.

Please, please, please label all items of clothing and shoes, it makes it much easier for us to get the correct uniform back to the right child. Thank you.

Literacy – In phonics we will continue to learn Phase 2 letter sounds and blend and segment using these sounds. We are beginning to read simple words, labels and captions.

Understanding the World – We will be looking at how Christians celebrate Christmas and look at our own Christmas traditions.

In ICT, we will be using the IPad to support our learning in Mathematics, we will also introduce programmable toys to the classroom.

Expressive Arts and Design – we will explore what happens when we mix colours in our art work, we will look at Autumnal colours and how the colours have changed throughout the season. We are looking forward to making decorations and cards for Christmas. We will be very busy learning songs for our Christmas Production

Performances are on Wednesday 4th December at 9.30am and an evening performance on Thursday 5th December at 6pm we look forward to seeing you in the audience.

Marvellous Me! Autumn Term 1 2019

We hope that you have all had a lovely summer break and are excited to begin your school journey with us at Walesby CofE Primary School.

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use the indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class routines and school expectations to ensure we have a happy learning environment.

Through our topic Marvellous Me! we will be talking about our families, friends, birthdays and celebrating what we are good at. We will enjoy learning about harvest through a lovely story called 'The Little Red Hen'. Furthermore, we will enjoy learning songs and rhymes to share at our harvest celebration.

In Phonics we will be consolidating our knowledge of Phase 1 activities and focus on orally blending and segmenting to prepare us for Phase 2 phonics. In Phase 2, we will be focusing on hearing and saying initial letter sounds and working confidently with s,a,t,p,i,n letter sounds.

We will be busy being active outdoors focusing on grossmotor skills. We will be riding the class bikes, making large arm movements with the ribbons and mark making with brushes and sticks.

This half term we will introduce 'Dough Disco'. This is such a fun activity to help develop fine motor skills.

In R.E our topic is called 'We're Special' and will be learning about caring, belonging and baptism.

Our P.E sessions are on a Wednesday. We will focus on developing our coordination skills through fun indoor games.

Diary Dates

Wednesday 11th September - Parents/Carers Phonics Meeting (further details to follow)

Thursday 10th October - Class Oak Harvest Celebration in the school hall (further details to follow)

Welcome to Reception

Welcome to YR R 2019.pdf

Summer Term 2

Hope you have had a lovely break and feeling refreshed ready for the final term of the year.

Scroll down the page to see the photos of us gardening and creating our mini beast hotel! We had such a lot of fun looking for creatures in our garden area.

We will be exploring questions such as ‘Why can I see myself in a puddle?’, ‘Are a butterfly’s wings the same?’ and ‘What is a reflection?’ through our new topic

What is a Reflection?

We will be learning about the lifecycles of caterpillars and looking at butterflies. We are looking forward to our caterpillar arriving in school this week.

Communication and Language – We have enjoyed the daily class surveys and we will continue with them this term. This allows us to think about a scenario and share our thoughts and ideas with each other.

Physical Development – This term we are focusing on our letter formation and handwriting. Why not practise writing letters at home, you could practise in trays of glitter/flour/salt/cornflour mixed with water. You could paint letters outside using water on the pavement or use chunky chalks to make colourful pictures and label them using fancy handwriting.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development – We will be growing vegetables this term and learning how we can look after plants. We are growing tomatoes and beans and hope to add carrots and potatoes to our garden area alongside flowers to encourage insects to our minibeast area.

Literacy – We are learning to write for different purposes. Writing notes, lists, letters, cards, stories, labels and invitations independently. We will be applying our phonic and key word knowledge when reading and writing.

Reading

Remember to try and read as many times as possible each week and please ensure you sign the home school reading diary each time. Each half term we count the number of reads for each child. Gold, silver and bronze reading certificates are awarded at the end of each half term as part of the reading challenge.

Maths – This term we will be focusing on doubling, halving and sharing. We will be learning our number bonds to 10.

Understanding the World – What is a reflection? Are butterflies wings symmetrical? How do caterpillars turn into butterflies – we look forward to answering these questions this term.

During our RE sessions we will learn about ‘Jesus’ stories’, we will share the stories of The Lost Sheep, The Prodigal son, The Sower, The Foolish and Wise Builders and The Good Samaritan.

Expressive Arts and Design – We will be exploring patterns and symmetry. We will also be creating our own self-portraits.

Diary Dates: Sports Day - Wednesday 19th June

and Class Oak Summer Celebration -Thursday 18th July

Gardening and Mini-beasts.

Welcome back to the SUMMER term 2019!

Time flies when you are having fun! We hope you have had lots of fun over the Easter break.

‘Why do ladybirds have spots?’

Throughout our topic, we will be exploring questions such as ‘why do ladybirds have spots?’ and ‘why do spiders spin webs?’

Initially, we will explore what we already know about minibeasts and will discuss what we would like to learn about, identifying any questions that we can explore further.

We will discover minibeasts in our local environment and will develop our minibeast area in our garden. We will grow some flowers and plants that are mini beast friendly. We will identify similarities and differences between different minibeasts; we will explore patterns and colours. We will look at the lifecycles of different minibeasts and how they grow and change. We will use non-fiction texts alongside the internet to help us in our learning.

Communication and Language – we will be introducing class surveys on different topics which will provide a basis for our discussions in class. We will ask questions about our topics and explore the answers. We will talk to each other about our experiences.

Physical Development – PE on Wednesdays will be focusing on games. We will continue to develop our skills on the balance bikes and use equipment such as balls, bats, balance boards and hoops to develop our physical skills. We will continue to use Go Noodle, Dough Disco and Funky Fingers activities alongside our letter formation practises to develop our fine motor skills and handwriting.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development – We will be covering the topic Changes this term in PSED. We will look at how we have changed since we started school, identifying things we can do now that we couldn’t do at the start of the year. We will explore our feelings surrounding changes, how we felt when we started school for example. Exploring the feelings of our friends and how different situations can make us feel. We will explore how we can develop an area of our outdoor space to make it better (Green fingers at the ready!)

Literacy – We will learn how to use non-fiction texts to answer our questions about minibeasts. We will be sharing stories about mini beasts including stories by Eric Carle; The Bad Tempered Ladybird, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider alongside What the ladybird heard by Julia Donaldson. In phonics, we will continue to apply our knowledge when reading and writing. We will be focusing on increasing our independence in our writing.

Reading

Maths – We will continue to develop our number knowledge, we love counting, ordering numbers and matching objects to numbers, practising these skills ensures we have a good understanding of numbers and the number system. We will continue to learn double number facts, finding half of a number and explore sharing amounts into equal groups. We will continue to count in 2s, 5s and 10s and explore what these number patterns look like on a 100 square. We will solve addition and subtraction problems using equipment to support our calculations.

Understanding the World – We will be exploring how we can look after plants and animals this term – Watch out for developments in our garden!

Expressive Arts and Design – We will be using different materials to create minibeasts and their habitats.

Useful Links:

What is a minibeast? And other minibeast facts - https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/blogs/nature-detectives-blog/2017/05/minibeast-facts-kids/

Mini Beast Adventures with Jess – Cbeebies episodes available on youtube

Go Noodle – Movement and Mindfulness for kids - https://app.gonoodle.com/

Lots of fun maths games can be found at Top Marks Education - https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups - Helping your child be epic at Maths and lots of other useful advice and activity ideas available.

Spring Term 2 2019

Welcome back to Spring Term 2. Our theme for this half term is ‘Will you read me a story?’

We will explore:

fairy tales,
goodies and baddies
homes and castles
writing and telling stories

Furthermore, we will celebrate Shrove Tuesday, Mothering Sunday, Easter and explore seasonal changes as we look out for the signs of spring.

In Phonics, we will be reading and writing sentences focusing on Phase 3 digraphs including ai,ee,oa,oo,ar,or,ur,ow,oi,er and trigraphs igh,ear,air,ure.

In Literacy, we will enjoy reading traditional stories, particularly focusing on Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella.

In Mathematics, we will be counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. We will continue to work with numbers up to 20 including reading, writing and ordering. We will continue to solve simple addition and subtraction problems and record our answers. In shape, we will focus on using mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and mathematical terms to describe shapes.

PE sessions are every Wednesday. This half term we are covering Gymnastics and Dance.

We would like to invite Parents and Grandparents to our Easter Celebration on Tuesday 2nd April at 2:30pm in the school hall.

Class Oak go into singing assembly every Thursday. This is also an opportunity for the children to share any recent achievements and certificates they have received outside of school.

Phonics Play Phonics games to practise blending and segmenting

Phonics Tool-The sounds of English A guide for parents and carers to help support thier child with reading

Letters and Sounds Phonic games

Spring 1 2019

We hope you have all had a lovely Christmas break and are ready for another exciting half term.

Our topic is called 'What happens when I fall asleep?'

Does everyone go to bed at the same time as me? Why are there stars in the sky at night?

We will explore these questions and more about night time. Such as:

Bedtime routines
The moon and stars
People who work at night
The importance of sleep and rest

Furthermore, our topic about winter will stimulate children's curiosity, knowledge and imagination about snow and the winter season. The children will drive our topic through their own fascinations and ideas as well as being introduced to the following interests and areas of learning. These will include:

Exploring seasonal changes
Creating winter landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigating the properties of snow, ice and frost and further exploring melting and

and to free our frozen friends.

Finding out how a range of animals have adapted to live in colder climates, such as polar bears, penguins, seals and birds and how their features help them to survive in the cold.

In Phonics, we will be consolidating our knowledge of blending and segmenting using phase 2 sounds and continue to read simple sentences. Throughout the spring term we will be learning to read and write the digraphs and trigraphs qu sh ch th ng ai ee igh oa oo ar or ur ow oi ear.

In Number, we will be focusing on securing our number knowledge (up to 10) and working out more/less and solving calculations. In Shape, Space and Measure we will be focusing on Size, Weight and Capacity.

P.E continues to be on a Wednesday and we will be developing our gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination as we enjoy Indoor Games.

Autumn Term 2

We hope you have had a great half term break and are feeling refreshed ready for the new term, Autumn term 2 is always a busy term in the run up to Christmas!

This term we will start by celebrating Bonfire night and Diwali. We will be getting creative and using different resources to create firework pictures, we will use clay to make Diva lamps.

We will then be observing the seasonal changes and learning about Autumn – don’t forget to return your paper bag filled with things you have found on your Autumn walks.

In phonics we will continue to learn Phase 2 letter sounds and how to blend and segment using these sounds. We are beginning to read labels and captions.

In Maths we will be working on counting on and counting back from 1 – 10. We will be securing our number recognition of numerals to 10. We will continue to order numbers and say 1 more and 1 less than a number. During the term we will progress to simple addition and subtraction thorough practical activities. We will name and describe simple 2D shapes and learn the names of familiar 3D shapes and look for these in the environment.

We will be busy this term preparing for our nativity Shine Star, Shine – our performances will be Wednesday 5^th December at 9.30am and again at an evening performance on Thursday 6^th December at 6pm.

We will be making Christmas decorations, writing letters to Father Christmas, creating and writing cards and talking about the different ways we celebrate Christmas. We will retell the Nativity story using small world figures.

Welcome to Class Oak 2018/19

We hope that you have all had a lovely summer and are ready to begin your school journey in Class Oak.

In the first few weeks we will learn how to use our indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class and school expectations, to ensure we have a happy learning environment.

Through our topic called 'Do you want to be friends?' we will explore friendship, being kind and working together. We will begin the topic by finding out who helps us at home and in school to help us settle into Walesby.

We will be finding out what we know in Literacy and Mathematics with activities related to our topic and some of the stories that we will enjoy reading include, We are family, What makes me a me? Starting School, Rocking in my school shoes, Kippers Birthday and the Large Family stories.

We will be learning about Harvest and enjoying lots of art and craft activities to share with you at our celebration. This will be on Thursday 25th October at 2:30pm in the school hall.

This half term we will introduce Dough Disco to help develop our fine motor skills and our P.E sessions are indoor games and dance.

On Tuesday 11th September at 5pm, we would like to invite all parents and carers to a Phonics and Handwriting meeting. We will discuss how reading and writing is taught in Class Oak, so that you can support and encourage your child at home.

The following websites are useful for supporting with your child's learning.

EYFS Information

welcome to yr r 2018.doc.pdf

Parents Meeting June 2018

Foundation Stage Meeting 2018.pdf

Summer 2

Welcome back to the final term in Class Oak!

This term we will start by sharing the story Bumble Bear by Nadia Shireen

Everyone will get a copy of the book to bring home - A gift from BookTrust

"At BookTrust we're passionate about getting children and families reading together for fun. That's why we're giving you your very own copy of The Bumblebear. Sharing a story together is a magical experience. We hope that you'll make time to read with your child and keep reading with them even when they've learned to read on their own."

For book ideas and activity sheets to make story time fun visit booktrust.org.uk/timetoread

PE - This term we will continue to play outdoor games. Please ensure your child has appropriate footwear for PE sessions which will continue to be on Wednesdays.

RE - This term we are continuing to learn about Jesus and his miracles. We will discuss friendships, the importance of caring for others and being helpful.

We are looking forward to exploring our topic 'Who Lives in a Rock Pool' later on in the term.

Summer Term 1

Welcome to the summer term. We hope you have all had a lovely Easter break.

This half term we have an exciting topic called 'Why don't snakes have legs?'

We will be exploring this question and also asking 'Why do Chameleons change colour? as we learn about reptiles, their characteristics and habitats. Our activities will further include learning how to care for reptiles, reptile patterns and camouflage and naming their body parts.

If you have any fiction or non-fiction books relating to reptiles, then we would love to share them with the class.

In our R.E sessions we will be learning about Jesus and his miracles. We will talk about friendships, the importance of caring for others and being helpful.

In PE our focus is Outdoor Games, please ensure your child has suitable clothing and footwear for outside.

Spring Term 2

Welcome back to Spring Term 2, we hope you have had a lovely half term break. This term we will continue with our topic – ‘Will You Read Me a Story?’ we will continue to develop our talk for writing skills through the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

As the term progresses we will turn our attention back to seasonal changes and explore the topic of Spring. Can you see any signs that Spring is on its way on your journey to and from school?

During our PE sessions on Wednesdays, we will develop our gymnastics and dance skills.

In RE we will be learning about special stories in the Bible focusing on Jonah and the Whale and Joseph and his multi-coloured coat, we will also be learning about Easter.

On Tuesday 27^th March you are warmly invited to join us for Class Oaks Easter Celebration.

Brackenhurst - Chinese New Year February 2018

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to another exciting and busy half term.

This half term we will continue to build on the children's own areas of interest as well as introduce them to new areas of learning.

We will begin by exploring the topic of Winter. This topic will stimulate children's curiosity, knowledge and imagination as we explore seasonal changes, learn about Polar animals and carry out ice investigations.

During the half term, our topic is 'Will you read me a story?' We will share our own favourite traditional stories and develop a greater knowledge of our focus texts, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Gingerbread Man. We will continue to focus on 'Talk for Writing' and how being able to retell a story through words and actions can enhance and develop our story writing.

Towards the end of the 6 weeks we will be learning about Shrove Tuesday and Chinese New Year.

On the 1st February, we will be visiting Brackenhurst Environmental Education Centre to further develop our understanding of Chinese New Year and take part in a Dragon Dance and also to enhance our retelling of traditional stories.

Our P.E sessions continue to be on a Wednesday and this time our focus is Indoor Games.

Autumn 2 - Journeys

Welcome Back, we hope you had a fantastic fun filled ½ term break.

This half term we will be continuing our learning through our topic called ‘Journeys’. We will be exploring different modes of travel and journeys.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Our Circe Time activities will focus on ‘Getting on and falling out’ and ‘Say no to bullying’. Anti-Bullying week begins 13^th of November when we will be celebrating being unique - ‘All Different, All Equal’

Communication and Language: We enjoy retelling stories – this term we will initially be focusing on The Train Ride by June Crebbin and Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. We enjoy sharing our experiences with one another during our discussions.

To help develop our coordination skills we enjoy Go Noodle and Tumble Tots Activities.

All the children have a helmet in school and can now enjoy our range of bikes to develop spatial awareness, balance and control. We love the balance bikes – check out our photos!

PE sessions take place on Wednesdays and this half term our focus is Gymnastics and Dance.

We are focusing on writing our name and forming Phase 2 letter sounds correctly.

Literacy – In phonics we will continue to learn Phase 2 letter sounds and how to blend and segment using these sounds. We are beginning to read labels and captions.

All children have a weekly Guided Reading session and this is recorded in their reading diaries.

Please continue to record when your child reads in their reading diary to work towards a Gold, Silver or Bronze reading certificate.

We will continue to mark make using different media.

Mathematics - Over the half term we will be working on securing our number recognition of numerals 1-5 and extending up to 10. We will continue to order these numbers and say 1 more and 1 less than a number. During the term we will progress to simple addition and subtraction thorough practical activities. We will name and describe simple 2D shapes and learn the names of familiar 3D shapes. We will learn about money when we visit our Train Station Coffee shop in class.

Understanding the World – We will be looking at how Christians celebrate Christmas and look at our own Christmas traditions.

In ICT, we will be using the IPad to support our learning in Mathematics and using programmable toys in our topic work.

Expressive Arts and Design – We will enjoy role play activities linked to our focused stories starting with a Train Station! We will be making spells and potions in our outside mud kitchen linked to our story Room on the Broom.

We will be very busy learning songs for our Christmas Production ‘It’s a baby!’

Performances are on Wednesday 6th December (during the day) and an evening performance on Thursday 7th December we look forward to seeing you in the audience.

During our visit to Perlethorpe (Wednesday 13th December) we will be creating Christmas crafts using natural materials and retelling the Christmas Story.

Perlethorpe - Bethlehem Experience December 2017

Welcome to Class Oak 2017/18

We hope that you have all had a lovely summer and are ready to begin your learning journey in Class Oak.

In the first few weeks our topic is called Marvellous Me. We will be finding out about each other’s interests and talking about our families. Please remember to bring in your holiday memory bag to share with your friends and your ‘All about me' book.

We will be finding out what we know in Literacy and Mathematics with activities related to Marvellous Me. Some of the stories that we will enjoy reading include, Kippers Birthday, the Large Family stories and discovering the Oxford Reading Tree family in preparation for reading books.

We will learn how to use our indoor and outdoor learning areas and follow class and school expectations, to ensure we have a happy learning environment.

On Tuesday 12th September at 5pm, we would like to invite all parents and carers to a Phonics and Handwriting meeting. We will discuss how reading and writing is taught in Class Oak, so that you can support and encourage your child at home.

Parents Meeting June 2017

Parents Foundation Stage Meeting 2017.pdf

Reception Information Sheet

Year R 2017.pdf

Welcome back to Summer Term 2 2017

This half term our topic is 'What is a reflection?

What is a reflection?

Throughout our topic we will be exploring questions such as 'Why can I see myself in a puddle?' , 'Are a butterfly's wings the same?' and 'What is a reflection?'

In the first week we will be observing children's interests and finding out what they already know about reflections. The children will be introduced to the following interests: reflections, mirrors, photography, symmetry and portraits.

Idle Valley Nature Reserve - May 2017

Summer Term 1 2017

‘Why do ladybirds have spots?’

Throughout our topic we will be exploring questions such as ‘why do ladybirds have spots?’ and ‘why do spiders spin webs?’

In the first week, we will be observing children’s interests and finding out what they already know about minibeasts. The children will be introduced to the following interests: minibeasts in the local environment, similarities and differences, growth and change, patterns and colour and plants and flowers. We will be developing our class minibeast garden to support our learning.

We will be continuing to focus on ‘Talk for writing’ this half term and how being able to retell a story through words and actions can enhance and develop our story writing. The children’s learning will be developed through the stories of The Bad Tempered Ladybird, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and What the ladybird heard.

Year 1 children will also be learning about the water cycle in their science sessions.

P.E continues to be on a Wednesday morning and our focus is Outdoor games. We will be working cooperatively to play small team games as well as developing our moving and handling skills with rackets and balls, and developing our spatial awareness in running and chasing games.

Reading

Year One homework

Home work for Year one children will continue to be set weekly so please can children bring in their red homework folders on a Wednesday. Homework tasks this half term will be weekly spellings and maths. Maths will alternate between a sheet and Mathletics activities online.

High Frequency Word Lists - Year R are currently working on being able to read Phase 3 and 4 words and spell phase 2 and 3 words.

Spring Term 2 2017

Welcome back to the new spring Term.

We hope you have all had a good break and are ready for another exciting topic!

This half term our topic is 'Will you read me a story?'

What did Jack find at the top of the beanstalk? Will Cinderella get to go to the ball? Which is your favourite fairy tale? Which fairy tale character would you like to be?

We will explore these questions and more in this magical project about fairy tales, goodies and baddies!

The children will be introduced to the following interests and areas of learning. These will include

fairy tales
goodies and baddies
homes and castles
magic and fantasy
writing and telling stories

Year 1 Spellings

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope you have had a fantastic Christmas filled with lots of fun. Happy New Year and welcome back.

This term we will continue to explore the season of Winter which we looked at briefly before the festive break.

We will be helping Teasel write a very important book for Bramble and the other sleeping creatures to describe the wonderful winter wonderland.

We will explore the winter weather and look at the similarities and differences between the current season and that of Autumn. We will create winter landscapes using different media and materials. We will look at snow, ice and frost and look at freezing and melting. We will also explore how animals such as polar bears, penguins, seals and birds have adapted to live in colder climates and how they survive during the cold weather.

We will then move on to explore - What happens when we fall asleep? We will investigate:

Why are there stars in the sky at night?

Does everyone go to bed at the same time?

We will answer these questions and more as the children’s interests and curiosity guides us through our topic. As a starting point we will investigate:

Bedtime routines

The moon and stars

Nocturnal animals

People who work at night

The importance of sleep and rest.

Reading, Sight words and Spellings.

Please continue to read with your child at home as this makes a huge difference, please also continue to practise sight words with your child. Please send your child’s word packets into school with their reading diaries so your child can change their reading book daily and we can update their sight words regularly. If your child can read their sight words then they could learn how to spell them.

Year 1 will receive maths homework (on Mathletics or given as sheets in the homework folder) and spellings each week on a Wednesday. Spelling tests will also be completed in school on a Thursday using the previous week’s spellings your child’s score will be recorded in their reading diary on a Friday.

AUTUMN

During this next term we will be exploring the Season of Autumn.

Why do leaves change colour? Why do squirrels hide their nuts? Why do animals hibernate?

We will answer these questions and more as we investigate and find out about the colourful season of Autumn and the lives of woodland animals.

We will then move on to prepare for Christmas, writing letters to Father Christmas, making decorations and cards and learning about the Birth of Jesus.

WELCOME

Autumn 1 - Marvellous Me!

This half term we will be settling into full time school and new routines. We will be exploring our new learning environment and getting to know each other, we will be learning about our feelings, about our bodies and exploring our senses. The children will drive our topic through their own fascinations and ideas as well as being introduced to the following:

How many fingers and How many toes?

Exploring different letter sounds - My name begins with ....

Self Portraits

Action Songs

How I have changed - Look at me and what I can do

Transition into Class Oak September 2016 Booklet

TransitionBooklet 2016.pdf

Traditional Stories - Retelling Stories

Outdoor Learning Day - Scavenger Hunt, Blossom Transient Art, Tidying the class garden, Natural Material Mobiles

Exploring 2D and 3D Shape

Welcome back to Spring Term 2 2016

This half term our topic is called 'Will you read me a story?'

Was the Big Bad Wolf really so bad?

How many bowls of porridge did Goldilocks eat?

We will answer these questions and more, planning from the children's interests and fascinations in this magical project all about fairy tales. The children will be introduced to the following interests and areas of learning. These will include:

fairy tales and traditional tales
goodies and baddies
homes and castles
magic and fantasy
writing, reading, retelling and acting out stories.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Winter Activities - Making Bird Food,Binoculars, Measuring the Penguins and finding out who is as tall as an Emperor Penguin!

Elsa has frozen the Lego People - How can we free them?

Transient Art - Creating a Winter Picture using a variety of materials

Welcome back to Spring Term 2016!

This half term our topic is called Where Does Snow Go? This topic will stimulate children's curiosity, knowledge and imagination about snow and the winter season. The children will drive our topic through their own fascinations and ideas as well as being introduced to the following interests and areas of learning. These will include;

Exploring seasonal changes
Creating wintery landscapes using a variety of media and materials.
Investigating the properties of snow, ice and frost and further exploring melting and how to free our frozen friends.
Learning about hibernation and woodland creatures during winter time.
Learning how to care for the birds at winter time.
Finding out how a range of animals have adapted to live in colder climates, such as polar bears, penguins, seals and birds and how their features help them to survive in the cold.

In P.E we will be developing our Gymnastic skills using the floor area and large apparatus. We will become familiar with gymnastic positions and perform sequences with control and coordination.

Spring Term 2

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

Early Adopters of Revised EYFS Framework

Welcome to Reception

Gardening and Mini-beasts.

EYFS Information

Parents Meeting June 2018

Spring Term 2

Brackenhurst - Chinese New Year February 2018

Perlethorpe - Bethlehem Experience December 2017

Parents Meeting June 2017

Reception Information Sheet

Idle Valley Nature Reserve - May 2017

Summer Term 1 2017

High Frequency Word Lists - Year R are currently working on being able to read Phase 3 and 4 words and spell phase 2 and 3 words.

Spring Term 2 2017

Year 1 Spellings

Transition into Class Oak September 2016 Booklet

Traditional Stories - Retelling Stories

Outdoor Learning Day - Scavenger Hunt, Blossom Transient Art, Tidying the class garden, Natural Material Mobiles

Exploring 2D and 3D Shape

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Winter Activities - Making Bird Food,Binoculars, Measuring the Penguins and finding out who is as tall as an Emperor Penguin!

Elsa has frozen the Lego People - How can we free them?

Transient Art - Creating a Winter Picture using a variety of materials

Welcome back to Spring Term 2016!

Class Oak

Spring Term 2

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER

Early Adopters of Revised EYFS Framework

Welcome to Reception

Gardening and Mini-beasts.

EYFS Information

Parents Meeting June 2018

Spring Term 2

Brackenhurst - Chinese New Year February 2018

Perlethorpe - Bethlehem Experience December 2017

Parents Meeting June 2017

Reception Information Sheet

Idle Valley Nature Reserve - May 2017

Summer Term 1 2017

High Frequency Word Lists - Year R are currently working on being able to read Phase 3 and 4 words and spell phase 2 and 3 words.

Spring Term 2 2017

Year 1 Spellings

Transition into Class Oak September 2016 Booklet

Traditional Stories - Retelling Stories

Outdoor Learning Day - Scavenger Hunt, Blossom Transient Art, Tidying the class garden, Natural Material Mobiles

Exploring 2D and 3D Shape

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Winter Activities - Making Bird Food,Binoculars, Measuring the Penguins and finding out who is as tall as an Emperor Penguin!

Elsa has frozen the Lego People - How can we free them?

Transient Art - Creating a Winter Picture using a variety of materials

Welcome back to Spring Term 2016!

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