We have had a busy, exciting, and festive final week of term in Reception!

Phonics

In phonics this week, the children have learnt three new sounds: b, f, and l. We practised:

• Saying the sounds using actions

• Writing the sounds correctly

• Reading and building words containing these sounds

• Blending and segmenting words

We also learnt two new tricky words: no and go. Tricky words are words that cannot be sounded out and need to be recognised by sight.

Maths

In maths, we have been representing quantities up to 5 and 10 using our fingers. We focused on:

• Recognising and using numerals

• Understanding and using the word equal

• Sorting and identifying 3D shapes

The children did a great job explaining how they knew groups were equal and identifying shapes by their properties.

Drawing Club

This week in Drawing Club, we read “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”
We discussed the story together, thinking carefully about:

• Why Goldilocks went inside the cottage

• How the bowls were different (small, medium, big)

• Which bowl we would choose and why

The children then drew the three bowls, making sure they were different sizes, and wrote the initial sounds for small, medium, and big.

In our second session, we revisited the story and talked about how Baby Bear felt when his chair broke and which chair looked the most comfortable. The children then designed a new chair for Baby Bear, using their imaginations to add exciting features such as:

• A chair that can’t break

• A magic chair

• A chair with wings

• A chair that turns invisible

We also explored our key vocabulary and discussed the meanings of:
curious, cottage, enormous, tiny

Understanding the World – Past and Present

Linked to Goldilocks, we explored the idea of the past and present. We talked about how the story was written a long time ago and looked at objects from the past compared to today, such as:

• Wooden bowls and spoons

• Plastic bowls and metal spoons

The children sorted pictures into past and present and shared their ideas confidently.

PE

In PE this week, we focused on working cooperatively with a partner.
We began by following instructions together, responding to fun commands such as “oven is on,” where the children jumped.

We then worked in pairs playing Rolling Peas, taking turns to:

• Roll the pea around their feet

• Roll it to their partner

• Bounce and pass it carefully

The children showed great teamwork and turn-taking skills.

Christmas Fun 

On Thursday, we enjoyed Christmas Jumper Day, a delicious Christmas lunch, and a fun Christmas party in the afternoon where we played lots of games together.

A Fond Farewell

Sadly, this week we also said goodbye to Mrs Tompsett. We made sure to thank her and say goodbye, showing our appreciation for everything she has done for the school and children, we will miss her greatly.

Star of the week: Congratulations to Jamshed, who is our star of the week, for his incredible drawings in Drawing Club. Jamshed 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.

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 Tuesday's and Friday's. Please 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