We have had another busy week in Acorn Class, with lots of exciting learning taking place! The children have continued to develop their phonics, maths and writing skills, as well as exploring our topic of All About Me. We also took part in our school procession on Tuesday, which was a special experience for everyone.

Phonics

This week, we have started learning our sounds from Level 2 phonics! We began by learning the sound ‘s’. The children practised sounding out words containing the sounds we have learnt so far and blending them together to read words. We also practised writing the letter ‘s’ and coloured pictures of objects that begin with this sound. To help us remember our new sound, we made our very own ‘s’ sound watches that the children could wear and take pride in!

We also learnt our next sound, ‘a’. The children continued to practise blending sounds together to read words, as well as segmenting words by listening carefully to the individual sounds they could hear. We are very excited to continue building our phonics knowledge as we learn more sounds!

Maths

In maths, we have been focusing on counting. We explored how counting sequences up to five can be useful and helps us to find out how many objects there are altogether. The children practised counting different objects, actions and sounds, developing their ability to count carefully and accurately.

We also challenged ourselves to count larger objects that we couldn't move. To help us, we used a pointing stick to keep track of what we had already counted and make sure we didn't miss anything or count something twice. We talked about how the last number we say when counting tells us the total number of objects altogether.

Alongside our counting activities, we have also been practising sorting objects into groups according to their type, helping us to recognise similarities and differences between objects.

Literacy

In literacy, we have been practising writing our names using our name cards to help us. We are continuing to develop our confidence in recognising and writing our own names, taking care to form our letters as accurately as we can.

We also talked about the importance of writing our names on our work. When we draw a picture or create something we are proud of, we need to remember to write our name on it so everyone knows who has made it!

Understanding the World – All About Me

As part of our All About Me topic, we have been thinking about how we have changed as we have grown. The children looked at photographs of themselves as babies and talked about the differences between how they looked then and how they look now.

We discussed how we have grown, how our appearances have changed and some of the things we can do now that we couldn't do when we were babies. The children then had lots of fun looking carefully at the baby photographs and trying to guess which picture belonged to which child! It was lovely to hear their thoughts and see them noticing the similarities and differences between their baby pictures and how they look today.

RE – Harvest Festival

This week, we began our new RE learning by exploring the significance of the Harvest Festival in church. We talked about what it means to say thank you and thought about all the different people we can thank in our everyday lives.

The children shared ideas about when we might say thank you, such as when the lunchtime staff bring us our lunch or when somebody helps us with something. We discussed how it is important to show appreciation for the things other people do for us. We also learnt that Christians may say thank you to God for the food they have, the world around them and the things they are grateful for.

This gave us lots of opportunities to think about gratitude and how we can show kindness and appreciation towards others.

Our School Procession

On Tuesday, we took part in our school procession, which was a very special day for Acorn Class! We walked to the church, where we had a visit from a Bishop. Afterwards, we all walked back to school to look at the stone in our outdoor area, which is an amazing 130 years old!

The children did a wonderful job throughout the procession, walking sensibly and sitting beautifully alongside their school buddies. It was a lovely opportunity for them to be part of our wider school community and learn more about our school and its history.

PE – BEAM

In PE, we have continued with our BEAM learning, focusing on using our gross motor skills to develop coordination. The children have continued to practise moving their bodies in different ways, developing control and coordination as they take part in our activities.

We will continue to build on these skills through our BEAM sessions, encouraging the children to become more confident in their movements and physical abilities.

Well done, Acorn Class, for another fantastic week of learning! We are so proud of how you are settling into our new phonics sounds, developing your counting skills and showing kindness and confidence in all that you do. We look forward to another exciting week together!

Star of the week: Congratulations to Preston, who is our star of the week, for ALWAYS putting his hand up on the carpet. Preston will be taking home his certificate and Wilfred the Elephant to write in the book all about his time spent with Wilfred over the next week and will bring him back next Thursday. If you are unable to print photographs, you can email them to acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk, and we will print them for you to add to Wilfred's book.

Please remember to read with your child, even for just 5 minutes! Please also remember to record it in the reading record. We will only change your child's book if you have read with them 2 or more times in that week! Reading books are changed on Monday's and Thursday's. Please also remember to have the library book in your children's book bag on Thursday to be changed. 

Any issues or concerns we need to know about, please speak to the Acorn team before and after school or email at: acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk