Our Learning > Our Classes

Hello from Lilac and Willow, we have had a fun filled week full of fantastic learning.

This week

The children have got off to a great start this week learning about different occupations this week.  We have really enjoyed having some visitors in who shared lots of fantastic information about their occupations including a doctor, a physiotherapist and a project manager in construction.  Thank you to all of our visitors this week. The children were able to ask questions and showed good listening by being able to tell us what they had learnt from our visitors – well done Reception!

We also learnt about what a chef does and also about being a scientist.  Throughout the week, the children had lots of opportunities to show what they have learnt in their continuous provision.  Some of the activities included:

• creating a doctor’s bag with various medical equipment,
• creating large scale drawings around their bodies and trying to name and label parts of the body,
• design and make junk model plates of their favourite food,
• draw detailed line drawings of landmarks from around the world and
• carrying out investigations involving floating and sinking and trying to prevent ice from melting.

In Phonics, we were continuing our learning in Phase 3 by learning new digraphs ch, sh, th(v), th and ng.  A digraph is where 2 letters combine to make 1 sound.  We have also continued to learn common exception words (or tricky words) which are words that cannot be easily sounded out and the graphemes (letters) don’t make the sounds you would expect.  An example of this is the word he.  Initially the children would learn each sound as follows: h for hot and e for elephant.  However; with the tricky word he, the children learn that the e makes a long ee sound.  The children use the different colour coded monsters to help them identify which sound is needed to read the tricky word.  We are so pleased with how hard they are working and are practising throughout the day to help them apply their phonic knowledge when reading and writing.

In Maths, we were learning about making comparisons using words like more, less and equal.  We had various amounts represented in different ways and the children had to count each group of objects and decide which had more or less or whether both groups of objects were equal.  The children also spent some time consolidating their learning about the composition of numbers up to 5.

In Jigsaw (RHSE), we continued our learning about ‘Dreams and Goals’ by sharing the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.  The hare brags about being the fastest animal in the wood.  Tortoise doesn’t like how boastful Hare is, so he challenges Hare to a race.  Hare is very confident of winning the race so stops during the race; and in doing so, falls asleep. The tortoise continues to move very slowly but without stopping and finally he wins the race.  We shared this story with the children to help them understand the concept of perseverance.  The moral of the story is that you can be more successful by taking your time and keeping going even if something is difficult to do.

Next week

• We will continue to centre our main teaching around the theme of People and Places. We will find out about various occupations.
• We will enjoy reading the book ‘What People Do All Day’ by Richard Scarry.
• We will begin to read the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt as part of our Talk for Writing.
• In Phonics, we will learn new Phase 3 digraph sounds long oo and ar.
• In Maths, we will be learning to make comparisons about the mass and capacity of different objects.
• In Jigsaw (RSHE), we will continue our learning about Dreams and Goals and talk about a setting a goal and beginning to think about what steps we can take to achieve our goal.

Supporting your child at home

• Read the monster phonics ebook that has been allocated to your child, at least 3 times in the week, and note down in your child’s reading record when you have done so.
• Promote and model active listening skills e.g. “Have I got eyes looking, ears listening, lips closed and hands still so I can concentrate on what you’re saying.  This will help your child understand how to listen carefully.  This will in turn help children why listening is important to help you learn e.g. “I could tell you were going to say the right answer you were listening so carefully.
• Ask questions to find out more and to check they understand what has been said to them e.g. Show genuine interest in knowing more: “This looks amazing, I need to know more about this.” And think out loud, ask questions to check your understanding; make sure children can answer who, where and when questions before you move on to why and ‘how do you know’ questions: “I wonder why this jellyfish is so dangerous? Ahh, it has poison in its tentacles.”

Any other information

• PICTURE BOOKS – Please could any outstanding picture books please be returned to school as soon as possible.
• COLD WEATHER – We continue to be outdoors as often as possible even during the colder weather. With this in mind, please could you ensure your child has a suitable coat and any additional clothing you may want to provide such as gloves and a hat.
• JUNK MODELLING – Thank you so much for all of the junk you have provided to us, it is always very much appreciated. Please keep it coming!
• SCHOOL BAGS – Please could we remind you that children should have a Samuel Lucas school book bag, as their school bag.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Mrs Fisher and Mr. French
Willow and Lilac Class Teachers