We have had a fantastic week of learning in reception. We would like to say a huge thank you for all your World Book Day efforts, the children looked amazing and had such fun!

RWI

Many of our children have made fantastic progress, especially with Set 1 and Set 2 sounds.

Most children are now able to write simple sentences with support from their adults. Their understanding of what constitutes a sentence, including capital letters, finger spaces, fred fingers and full stops, is greatly improving. It has been lovely to see how much enjoyment children derive from both reading and writing activities.

To support their writing skills, we are placing a special emphasis on letter formation through the use of letter families. This approach helps the children make connections between letters that have similar shapes, making it easier for them to recall how to write each letter correctly.

Maths

This week in maths we have been focusing on the composition of numbers 6, 7, and 8. We have been engaging in some interactive activities that not only reinforce these numbers but also enhance our children's understanding of how numbers can be composed and decomposed in various ways.

During our lessons, we continued to practice the concept of conceptual subitising, which allows the children to quickly recognise a number of objects without needing to count them individually. We explored how the numbers 6, 7, and 8 can be represented in different ways using visual aids. This skill is crucial as it helps lay a solid foundation for number recognition and encourages flexible thinking about numbers.

After grasping the basics, the children practised breaking whole numbers into parts. Using tens frames allowed them to visualise how a whole number can be separated into smaller components. For example, when given the number 6, they would explore how it can be made up of 3 and 3, or 4 and 2, reinforcing their understanding of addition and subtraction. We also introduced the challenge of breaking whole numbers into more than two parts, which fosters critical thinking and creativity in their mathematical reasoning.

Next week we will be exploring the composition of numbers 9 and 10.

Thematic

This week children have enjoyed learning facts about the planets in our solar system. We thought of our own species of aliens who went on a journey through space, hearing about the planets they pass including the planet furthest from the sun, an icy giant….. Neptune!

Using these facts, children wrote simple words/ phrases and sentences.

In music we listened to Gustav Holst the Planets. Mr Redwood taught us how the planets are named after Greek gods and this influenced each piece of music. For example, Mars the God of war was a loud, fast paced piece of music which made us want to march. We used the drums to help us express ourselves whilst listening. Following our music lesson, we expressed ourselves in different ways whilst listening to the Planets. We used pens and pencils, ribbons and our bodies to move to the music and show how the music made us feel.

 We discussed the sizes of the planets in comparison to each other, and created a piece of art to represent the solar system, the planet sizes and their appearance.

Next week we will be learning about the moon landing.

Important dates

10th – 14th March – Book fair

Book Fayre 

The Chilton Book Fayre will arrive on Monday 10th March and run until Friday 14th March outside the Year 5 classrooms. Children will come home with a World Book Day book voucher.  These can be spent at the Book Fayre. Cash and online payments are also available, and a percentage of the monies raised will go towards funding more books for Chilton children.  

14th March 9 – 11am – Managing children’s behaviour workshop in the studio

14th March at 2pm– The Speaker 2025 Chilton final (parents of children speaking will be invited along to watch)

21st March – Red nose day/Rock your socks day for Downs Syndrome awareness. This year Red Nose Day is celebrating its 40th anniversary, originating in 1985. We would like to invite children to come into school in 1980s dress up. Children are invited to wear odd socks as part of their outfit to show support for Rock your socks Downs Syndrome awareness day.

21st March – Parents invited into school from 3.15 to look at their child’s learning prior to parent teacher consultations

24th March – Parent teacher consultation week

25th March – Year 3 trip to the Roman Museum

27th March – Year 1 local area walk

28th March – The Viking Speaker Final; 4 winners from Chilton to attend

2nd April at 9.05am – Easter Bonnet Parade for Reception, year 1 and year 2 in school hall

3rd April – Easter Egg Hunts in school

3rd April – Last day of term. School finishes at usual time.

Important information

• Please make sure you have signed up to a parent teacher consultation if you have not already done so.

• From Monday 3rd March, we invite parents/ carers in every Monday at 3pm to read with your child. You are welcome to come into classrooms or make use of the outside area to share a story with your child. We look forward to seeing you there. 

• PE kits need to be worn in to school each Thursday please.

• Please ensure that children have a named water bottle which is already filled with water at the start of each day.

• All clothing to be named please

• Please complete the WOW moment sheets regularly so that we can add these to the children’s learning journey books

• Reading books are changed every Tuesday and Friday, please place your child’s reading folder into the basket outside their classroom

• From the beginning of term 4, we will begin to track reading at home. This is to encourage children's reading for pleasure and certificates will be given for certain milestones. Please remember to sign your child's reading record every time they read at home ( we will count every read not every book read!) 

 

e-mail addresses

emma.dudley-smith@chiltonprimary.co.uk

kirby.walker@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Many thanks from the EYFS team