Blog Week ending 16th of September
Hello everybody and welcome to Pear Class Blog!
*Please can I firstly remind all parents to download the new EYFS parent app as the old one has been updated and is no longer in use at school. If you are a new parent your log in details will be with you shortly.
We have reached the end of our first full week in Reception and we have now been back at school for two weeks can you believe it? We are so proud at how the children have all settled! Please do not be alarmed at how tired and sometimes upset your child may seem - Reception is a very busy place to be with high expectations for all of our children and it has been a shock to the system for all of us after 7 weeks off!
Our first week back focused around settling our children and getting to know each other. We enjoyed reading the story The Colour Monster, a story all about feelings being represented as colours. Being able to choose a colour to explain how they feel is often a really effective visual way for children to let us know how they are feeling when they are finding it difficult to articulate this to us. In Pear class we have our daily morning check in jars where the children choose a coloured button and it ensures that Mrs Vicky and I can keep an eye on those children feeling sad or anxious.
This first week was a hive of activity, with the children spending time getting to know each other and the classroom environment. We strongly encourage independence in all aspects of school life here in Reception and our classroom is set up so that our children are able to choose how they learn through a play and skills based provision. It sometimes takes children a while to gain the confidence to choose and explore without adult direction but we will work on these skills over the course of the next school term.
Our art focus over these first two weeks has been in response to the story: From My Window, a story about a little boy who lives in the Favelas of Brazil and what he can see as he looks out of his window. There was some fantastic discussion about the differences we could see from our own windows and the colours in our environment here in Alnwick - many children felt that their own houses should be painted pink or orange! This story was a brilliant way to introduce the idea of difference to our children and how people, homes and countries can look very different, but are equally as important/special. We hope that you like our colourful artwork that is proudly displayed in the school hall.
This week we have moved on to thinking about My world, myself. We have been thinking about what we look like, our likes and dislikes and how we are similar or different to others in our class. The children enjoyed creating loose part self-portraits and family house pictures - discussion about families is very important as it creates a strong link between home and school and it is the most important part of all of our children's lives.
We have kicked off Read Write Inc this week , the children have started their very exciting reading and writing journey, accompanied by Sally and Sandy Sounds! This week the children have learnt the sounds m, a and s over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Sally and Sandy brought lots of different items beginning with these sounds (mouse, monkey, apple, ant, snake, sausage) and we had lots of fun learning to say the sound and then write the sound. Please practice writing these sounds using the correct formation displayed on the formation worksheets that were sent home.
In our maths work we have spent lots of time this week recapping essential skills (counting forwards and backwards, number recognition, comparing groups, using number language subitising and so much more) and working out what the children need support with next.
We had lots of fun in PE on Thursday and enjoyed taking part in listening and attention games, racing and chasing games. They particularly loved traffic lights. Don't forget our new PE uniform is purple shorts or plain black leggings, a white t shirt and plain black trainers.
A huge well done to all children for settling into Pear Class with huge smiles on their faces - I know it is going to be a fantastic year.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs H-S
Our Classroom Environment!
Exploring Time!
All about me!
Magic Maths!