We have had a fantastic week in Reception, filled with excitement and learning!

RWI

It has been wonderful to see how engaged and enthusiastic the children are about their learning! The end goal for our Reception class is to help them become speedy readers, and we are making fantastic progress. A key aspect of this journey involves the strategy of ‘Fred Talking’. This technique allows children to sound out unfamiliar words, breaking them down into smaller, manageable parts.

As children become more confident and start recognising words, we encourage them to transition to 'Fred in your head', which is a silent way of using Fred Talking in their minds. This stage acts as a bridge to achieving fluent reading, enabling them to read more swiftly and with greater comprehension.

We kindly ask for your continued support at home by encouraging your child to read daily. Sharing stories or playing with words at home not only reinforces what they learn in school but also fosters a love of reading that will benefit them throughout their education.

Maths

This week, we have had a lovely time exploring 2D shapes and their properties, and the children have shown great curiosity and enthusiasm throughout the activities.

We began by looking closely at different 2D shapes and discussing their features, such as the number of sides and corners. The children then discovered that, just like numbers, shapes can be composed and decomposed from other shapes. They enjoyed experimenting with this by finding new shapes and cutting shapes into smaller shapes, which helped them build a stronger understanding of how shapes can be made and changed.

Towards the end of the week, we moved on to 3D shapes. The children enjoyed investigating these shapes and identifying their 2D faces. This gave them the opportunity to compare 2D and 3D shapes and talk about what they noticed, using mathematical language to describe their observations.

Next week we will be learning about composition of number.

Thematic

This week, we dove into the enchanting story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.

This delightful tale not only entertains but also serves as a fantastic gateway to discussing the lifecycle of a butterfly. During our sessions, the children enthusiastically learned new vocabulary such as eggs, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly. We explored each stage of this transformation, discussing the remarkable changes that occur as the caterpillar matures into a beautiful butterfly. This is being reinforced by our class caterpillars which are currently in their chrysalis phase.

In addition to the lifecycle, we also had a wonderful time exploring healthy and unhealthy foods featured in the story. The children were eager to share their thoughts about the different foods, and it was a delight to see their willingness to try some of these foods themselves. This hands-on experience helped reinforce our discussions about healthy eating, inspiring them to think about their own food choices.

PSHE

This week we have continued to explore our similarities and differences, as well as what makes each of us unique. This theme has encouraged our children to be more understanding and appreciative of one another, reinforcing the idea that if we were all the same, life would indeed be rather dull!

We have been embracing our differences with enthusiasm, and I’m thrilled to share with you our mantra: "Be here, be you, belong." This philosophy has been at the heart of our discussions and activities, allowing each child to feel valued and included in our classroom community.

Important messages

- Please ensure your child comes to school ready for the weather. As it begins to warm up, we will need sunhats and suncream (named and in bags).

-Please ensure your child comes to school with a water bottle.

-All clothing should have your child's name.

- Reading record books are changed every Tuesday and Friday, please sign the record and put them in the basket to be changed. 

Important dates

Thursday 21st May – Reception Viking Games at Ramsgate Arts Primary School (Reception children to wear sports kit)

Friday 22nd May – Be here, be you, belong parade on top field from 2pm. Children to wear clothes that they feel express who they are, this could be from an outfit from a hobby they have, to bright colourful clothing. All parents are invited to watch.

Many thanks for your continued support.

From the reception team