Transport – On the land

This week we have been:

Learning about transport that we use on the land. We read a story called the ‘Train ride’ and drew our own pictures of things we can see from the windows in school and at home. We explored using cars, played with and built train tracks, made our own cars/bikes/lorries/buses and trains using the junk modelling and made cars using the play dough. We also linked this learning to how God made the world and added the next part of the story to our story board, God made the land.

In phonics this week we have been learning the following sounds:

• p – down his hair and around his face.
• g- around her face, down her hair and give her a curl.
• o- all around the orange.

We have been thinking about 2D shapes and talking about everyday items and their shape. We have also been drawing our own shapes, writing the names of the them and turning the them into pictures.

In Science this week we had fun exploring long and short. We watched ‘Kit and Pup’ and then explored items that we had in our box. We found the longest item and the shortest item and compared them with the items in the middle. We then measured children laying down and compared our feet and hand sizes.

Next week we will be learning:

• About transport you would use in the water.
• Counting activities using the story from the week.
• How God made the oceans and seas.
• Exploring waves, heavy and light.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing, please use the names we are sending home to help you with the formation and shape of the letters.
• Counting activities with numbers up to 20.
• Explore measuring at home focusing on long and short.

Thank you for your ongoing support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

Chinese New Year

This week we have been:

Celebrating Chinese New Year! We read a story called ‘Dragon dance’ which explained how people celebrate Chinese New Year in their homes. We also read the ‘Chinese zodiac story’ and used masks, pictures and puppets to re-tell the story. We have been making fortune cookies using the play dough, making Chinese food in our Chinese role-play, exploring noodles in the water tray, dancing with a large Chinese dragon and making our own dragons using a range of techniques and writing in Chinese! We found out that we were born in the year of the goat (2015) or monkey (2016)!!

In phonics this week we have been learning the sounds:

• t – down the tower, across the tower
• i – down his body, dot for his head
• n – down Nobby, up Nobby, over his net

In science this week we explored pushing and pulling. We used Kit and Pup to show us what push and pull is, we sorted pictures in push and pull, we acted and sang ‘Row, row, row your boat’ pushing our feet and pulling our friends hands and we explored the classroom for things that you push and pull.

Next week we will be:

• Learning about transport on the land.
• Re-visiting 2D shape and exploring numbers to 10.
• Continuing the creation story with how God made the land.
• Exploring Long and short.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing.
• Writing numbers to 10.
• Reading with your child and talking about the story.
• Mark making in their home learning books.

Thank you for your ongoing support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Bruno and Mrs Lowe

 

Transport – In the sky

This week we have been:

Exploring modes of transport that we would find in the sky. We read a story called ‘Whatever next’. Baby bear travelled to the moon in his rocket and took his teddy bear with him. They bumped into an owl and an aeroplane and had a picnic on the moon.  We have also been making air transport models and pictures, exploring air transport in the messy tray, making play dough air transport , moving around as different modes of transport and avoiding obstacles and sorting transport objects on the maths table.

In phonics this week we have been learning the sounds ‘s’ and ‘d’.  These are the rhymes for each sound.

• s – slither down the snake
• d – around his bottom, up his tall neck, down to his feet.

In RE this week we have started learning about how God made the world. This week we focused on day 1, the sky. We discussed what God made and what the humans made when they were made. We will continue the story after next week.

In science this week we have been thinking about ways different things travel. We now how transport travels so we started looking at how sound and wind travel. We made our own telephones using cups and string and wind makers with bottles of water and glitter. We have been listening to the sounds as it travels and watching how the glitter travels in water creating wind motions.

Next week we will be:

• Learning and celebrating Chinese new year.
• Learning about ‘The Three Hierarchs’
• Exploring pushing and pulling.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing.
• Counting games and activities with numbers to 10.
• Activities using the sounds we have learnt so far –  m, a, s, d.
• Talk about the creation story and how God made the world.

Thank you your ongoing support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

Transport

This week we have been:

Learning about different modes of transport and where you can use and find them. We read a story called ‘We all go travelling by’. We noticed many modes of transport and spoke about if they move on the ground, in the sky or in the water. Over the next few weeks we will be splitting the different modes of transport into groups and using the creation story alongside it. Use this link to share the story at home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSw50Jw0H34

In Phonics this week we have started learning the sounds of alphabet. When learning the letters we focus on the sounds only and not the letter names. So far we have learnt

• m – down Maisy, up Maisy, mountain, mountain.
• a – around the apple, down the leaf

In maths this week we have been counting groups of passengers boarding a train. We have been counting to 10 and some of us added two numbers together.

In Re this week we have been learning about theophany and linked this to the baptism of Jesus and what baptism looks like in church.

Unfortunately we sad goodbye to Dinky this week. She was poorly during the Christmas break and sadly she went to heaven. We celebrated how happy she was and explained it was ok to feel many different ways about it. We then went outside and after saying a special prayer released a balloon for Dinky to play with. We also drew pictures and wrote messages that we sent to heaven for Dinky to read.

Next week we will be:

• Learning about different modes of air transport.
• Using transport to sort and count.
• Learning about the creation story.
• Celebrating St Basil and learning about the Vasilopita.
• Exploring ways noise travels.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing.
• Counting activities, up to 20.
• Bake a vasilopita!

Messages home:

Just a reminder that the deadline for applying for a reception place is January 15th 2020. Please ensure you apply by then.

On Monday 13th January we will be celebrating St Basil. Father George is coming to school to bless our vasilopitas and you are welcome to bake one at home and bring it into school Monday morning. This is the recipe:

Vasilopita reciepe

Thank you your ongoing support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

Christmas!!

This week we have been:

Starting our Christmas celebrations. We were practising very hard for our Early Years Nativity, we hope you could make it and enjoyed it. We have been busy making different Christmas creations, learning about the Nativity story, wrapping presents, weighing presents, delivering presents in a sleigh (in the sand), making Christmas shapes using the playdough and next week we are going to write letters to Santa!

In maths we have learnt the number 11 and next week will learn the number 12. We have been investigating maths using Christmas activities and will continue this next week.

Next week we will be:

• Continuing our Christmas celebrations.
• Reading Christmas stories.
• Learning about winter and the changes they may see over the Christmas break.

How you can help at home over Christmas:

• Continue name writing.
• Writing numbers to 12 and lots of Christmas counting activities.

Messages home:

• There will be ‘A Christmas carol’ performance on Tuesday 17th December.
• Our Class party will be on Wednesday 18th December, please check the letter for donation ideas.

Thank you for all your support over this term and we hope you enjoy your Christmas Break

Mrs Herne, Mrs Bruno and Mrs Lowe.

People who help us – Bakers

This week we have been:

Learning about bakers using the gingerbread man story. We read the story of the gingerbread man using the sand tray to help us. We also made our own gingerbread men! We made the dough, rolled it out, cut out gingerbread men shapes and put them in the oven. We then decorated them!!

We drew a gingerbread man, we drew around Annabeth and then we added 1 nose, 1 mouth, 2 eyes, 3 buttons, 4 friends and 5 fingers on each hand. We also learnt about the number 10 this week.

In RE this week reviewed all our learning about the church and how we show our love to God. We go the church, we light a candle, we take communion and we pray. We pretended to take communion by drinking wine (Ribena) and eating bread. We ahve also been very busy preparing for our Christmas nativity and enjoying creative christmas activities.

Next week we will be:

• Learning about the Christmas story.
• Learning about the number 11 and sorting colours.
• Starting to learn about winter.
• Taking part in the Early years nativity.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing, the children are doing really well at writing their names now!!
• Practice writing and recognising numbers to 10.
• Read the Christmas story with the children.
• Talk to the children about winter and what happens during this season.

Messages home:

• Christmas lunch will be on Wednesday 11th December, please return the slip if you wish your child to stay for Christmas lunch and you will need to pay online. We will take the children to the hall and you will collect them at 12:30pm. If your child is not staying for lunch then you will collect your child as normal at 11:50am. If your child stays all day they will have lunch as normal. 
• Our Early years nativity will be on Thursday 12th December at around 9:30am, we hope you can make it. Picking up the children will be normal time 11:50am.

Thank you for all our support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

People who help us – Police services

This week we have been:

Learning about the police services. We have been exploring the equipment they use, the transport they use and what they do. We have enjoyed playing police officers and talking about right and wrong. 

In maths this week we read a story called ‘One is a snail, ten is a crab’. It was a story about counting feet! They added two objects together in find a total. for example a person (2 feet) + 1 snail (1 foot) = 3 feet. We did lots of counting forwards and backwards and also learnt how to write the number 9.

In RE this week we looked at who Jesus’s friends were. We looked at lots of different icons including Mary, St Cyprian, Arch Angel Michael, Arch Angel Gabriel, St Nectarios, and the 12 disciples. We learnt that they are also our friends too!

We have also been learning how to copy body patterns. We need to watch first and then copy what we saw. We spoke the actions first then counted and then we had to remember. It was tricky and we will continue to work on this.

In science this week we have been exploring solid and liquid. We used Kit and Pup to help us and then we did our own experiment. We used honey, water, milk, a wooden block, a bowl and a can. Can you guess which ones were liquid and solid?

We also celebrated Mrs Bruno’s birthday this week, we wish her a fantastic birthday!

As you are aware we have been practising for the nativity this week and this will continue until the show on the 12th December at around 9:30am.

Next week we will be:

• Learning about bakers, using the gingerbread man story.
• Baking gingerbread men and thinking about measuring.
• Learning how we show our love in God’s church.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing
• Continue writing numbers up to 9.

Messages home:

• Please bring in your child’s costume by Friday the 6th December.

Thank you for your support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Bruno and Mrs Lowe.

People who help us – Fire services

This week we have been learning:

About the fire services. We have been reading firemen/women stories and had lots of fun being firemen and firewomen. We have been using the fire engines and the hoses to help us put out the pretend fires. We also enjoyed designing our own fire engines and looking closer at all the things a fire engine has. We also read a story called ‘EMERGENCY’. It was lots of fun joining in with the story and exploring all the different people that help us in an emergency. We also learnt the number you need to call is 999.

In maths this week we have been learning about 2D shapes. We sang a shape song and watched a video showing us how useful shapes are. We started thinking about how many sides and corners/points each shape has.

In RE this week we have been learning the reason why we light a candle in church and when we do our prayers. We know that we light candle to let God and Jesus know that we would like to talk to them and we would like them to listen. We practised lighting a candle and then sang a song called ‘8 little candles’. Some of use decorated our own candles.

In science this week Kit and Pup demonstrated ‘wet and dry’. We then explored wet and dry ourselves using objects from the classroom. We found out that lots of things can be wet and dry and when some items are wet we can not use them anymore, like tissue and paper. 

Next week we will be:

• Learning about the police services.
• Learning about the number 9 and adding groups of numbers together.
• Learning about God’s friends.
• Exploring liquid and solid.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing.
• Forming numbers to 9.

Messages home:

As you are aware we have started practising for our Early Years nativity. Please help the children with their lines if they have them and we hope you have fun putting the costumes together!

Thank you for your support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

People who help us – At the post office

This week we have been learning:

About the post office. We watched a video of a letter being written, posted and sent in the post. We saw lots of different kinds of post workers and many different vehicles. We have been busy this week writing our own letters and putting them into the post box. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZOAqqrW0GU

In maths this week we have been using number blocks to learn about the number 7. We have also been playing with money and started learning about 1p coins and counting pennies. 

In RE this week we have been exploring inside a church. We played with a church play set and watched a video showing us the inside of a Greek orthodox church. We added characters to the church and had lots of fun exploring together. Gods house is the church and we know that the doors are always open and we can visit whenever we like. This made us think about our homes and who visits us in our homes. 

In science this week we explored heavy and light. We watched Kit and pup and then explored together. We noticed that if the item makes a loud noise when it hits the ground or we can not pick it up its heavy and that heavy things can be big and small.

This week we all made a special star. Mrs Herne has hung the stars above our carpet area and they look beautiful! They are all very different but are all special just like we are. 

Next week we will be:

• Learning about the fire services.
• Learning about the number 8 and exploring 2D shape.
• Learning about why we light a candle in church.
• Learning about wet and dry.

How you can help at home:

• Write a letter at home and take a walk to the post box, maybe a letter to santa!!
• Continue writing numbers to 7, encourage the children to use the rhymes we use in class.
• Continue name writing and sharing stories.

Messages home:

• December 12th will be our Early years nativity. We have started practicing already and some of the children have lines to practise at home. These will be handed out on Monday. Please also be aware that we will be needing your support with the children’s costumes. There will be a letter going home with all the details you need. Please come and see us if you have any questions.
• Please keep homework books coming in!!

Thank you again for all your ongoing support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno.

People who help us – When we going shopping

This week we have been:

Learning about people who help us in the supermarket. We looked at a non-fiction book and used the pictures to help us. There are lots of people that help in the supermarket to make sure we can go and shop safely. We have been busy making shopping lists and playing in the shops inside and outside. We also read a story called ‘Supermarket Zoo’. The mum in the story went shopping for animals!!!, it was a funny story. We then looked at the shops we might see near our school. We noticed there are manly different shops around us and there do not all sell food. 

In maths this week we have learning how to count and write to 6. We have also been buying and making current buns and using the song to help us.

In science this week we explored floating and sinking. We used Kit and Pup to show us what floating and sinking was and then we explored floating and sinking in the water tray, we found looks of things in our class that float and sink. Please use the link below and play along with the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmoFS2WYIzA

In RE this week we have been learning about remembrance day which we will take part in on Monday 11th November. We have made a special wreath and made our own poppies for us to wear. We also watched a video which showed us what it was like during the war. Please use the link and share the video at home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOT5CDnYHEs

Next week we will be:

• Learning about the post office
• Learning about the number 7 and starting to learn about money.
• Thinking about Gods house, the church.
• Taking part in remembrance day.
• Exploring heavy and light.
• Talking about being different and unique.

How you can help at home:

• Continue name writing.
• Writing numbers to 6.
• Explore floating and sinking at bathtime.

Messages home:

• Please encourage your child to read with you as much as possible, we can change your book as much as you like but we would like to see your child’s book changed at least once a week.

Thank you for your support, Mrs Herne.

Mrs Lowe and Mrs Bruno