Reception Weekly Blog (14.2.25)
Date: 14th Feb 2025 @ 12:33pm
Happy Half Term!
What a busy and exciting week we’ve had here in Reception!
A big thank you to our experts this week, we loved learning with Oliver and Kye. In Pinewoods classroom we had Kye teaching the children all about his love of swimming and technology. Over in Sand Dunes classroom the focus moved to Oliver; the children have learnt so much about Roller Skating and many others want to take up the hobby now. The children love exploring different interests each week and we cannot wait to learn about more fascinating things after half term.
On Tuesday, we marked Safer Internet Day 2025. This year’s theme gave us the opportunity to explore how we can stay safe online. For our children, this means only accessing websites and social media platforms that are age-appropriate. To extend our learning, we explored various devices such as keyboards and mice, as well as Bee Bots—a simple coding tool. The children had a blast giving the Bee Bots simple instructions and watching them move across maps and through designs created with magnet tiles!
In our Religious Education session on Tuesday, we learned about the story of The Lost Sheep. In this parable, Jesus teaches us that everyone has access to God's path, no matter how lost we may feel. The story tells of a shepherd with 100 sheep, one of which goes missing. The shepherd leaves the 99 and goes in search of the one. When he finds it, he rejoices, and Jesus explains that there is greater joy in finding the lost sheep than in the 99 that stayed safe.
On Wednesday, we were lucky to have the lovely Miss Morrison visit, bringing her adorable little baby boy along. The children were absolutely delighted to see her! We also enjoyed a fun-filled Friday learning about St. Valentine. The children got creative with crafts and colouring activities to celebrate the day.
We’re also excited to see the Reading Scrapbook go home with our first children this weekend. We are passionate about encouraging children to read for pleasure, and the scrapbook is a great way for them to share their thoughts on their favourite books. Please help your child choose a book, write a review, and feel free to include a picture, the book’s cover, or a photo of you reading together. Let your creativity shine! Don’t forget to share what makes the book special to your child—whether it’s a family favourite, their very first book, or simply a funny story they love. Please complete just one page in the scrapbook and return it in the canvas bag, so we can pass it on to the next child.
A huge thank you to all the parents/ carers who attended the Lifelong Learners workshop. If you missed it, you can find the presentation below for more details about the puppets coming home and, importantly, why they are going home with the children.
We were delighted to meet our next Secret Storytellers on Friday, a fantastic choice of books too. We can’t wait to meet our next ‘Secret Storytellers’ on Friday. If this is something you/ your family members would be interested in please email us at [email protected]
In our math sessions this week, we have been comparing ‘more’ and ‘fewer’, the children are now experts in spotting which person has more items, they know that it is the number that determines who has more and fewer, regardless of the type, colour or size of the toy. Why don’t you have a go over half term collecting sets of small toys and comparing amounts.
In our reading and writing sessions, we continue to focus on reading speed sounds at speed, in the spring term we start to see children ‘Fred in their head’, where the child whispers the sounds before blending them together to say a word.
We are continuing to use ‘Fred talk, read the word’ when reading new green words: https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/HRRNfZiU/6N5UJuR0 have a go at this new virtual classroom video, Zain is reading words using ‘Fred Talk’.
Please keep practising your Red Words, take a look at the following video where Rosie helps the children spot the tricky part of the word, using the phrase tricky letter!
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Yo4mlout/cMboFFkV
Looking ahead, after the half-term break, we’ll be exploring oral health and learning about how dentists help us care for our teeth. If anyone has a trip to the dentist planned over the break, we’d love to see a photo to share with the class!
We hope you all have a wonderful and restful half term! We look forward to welcoming you back, refreshed and ready for the joys of Spring! Please continue to send us your good news (no matter how big, or small) we love to share it as a class and it is so pleasing to see your children stand at the front and talk about their news [email protected]
Happy reading (and enjoy those nonsense words)! If you’d like to access more reading materials over the break, you can find a few games here https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
Warm wishes,
The Reception Team
