Category: Reception – St Adrian

14.02.2025

Dear children, parents and carers
I can’t believe we are halfway  through the Reception year! The time has flown by….
The children have made massive progress not only in their reading, writing and maths, but also in their social skills, interacting with peers and adults and understanding rules and expectations.
This week began by thinking about how to stay safe on internet and what to do if something doesn’t look right while using internet. Smartie the Penguin was very supportive and he helped us understand the importance of never clicking on websites we are not sure of. We watched his story and learnt his internet safety song.

After listening to Smartie’s story we discussed all the ways to stay safe and created speech bubbles with lots of advice! We even modelled Smartie!

In Maths the children explored the composition of numbers to 8. They learnt how their skills of perceptual subitising and counting can be used to see and represent the composition of larger numbers in different ways.

The children were encouraged to name their representations of numbers up to 8 and prompted to match numerals to these quantities. To draw their attention we went on a minibeast hunt and counted how many legs each one had (no minibeasts were harmed in this activity :)) We counted 6 legs on the ant and 8 on the spider!

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Dates to remember:
Wednesday 26.02.25 – Parents consultations – 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Thursday 27.02.25 – Parents consultations – 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 04.03.25 – Theatre trip to Alban Arena

Have a wonderful half term break!
Mrs Solakova

07.02.25

Hello children, parents and carers
It’s been a lovely week of thinking about feelings, emotions, mental health and wellbeing. We played games and enjoyed our time together, we learnt how to help each other by sharing our emotions and express ourselves. We read a wonderful book called ‘Ruby’s worry’. We all learnt from Ruby. She’s a perfectly happy little girl, until she discovers a worry. The worry – depicted as a scribbly yellow shape – is hardly noticeable at first, but starts to grow and soon it’s with her all the time, stopping her from doing the things she loved.

We also did wonderful writing thinking about our likes and dislikes. Here are some of the examples for you to enjoy 🙂

On the making table the children created lovely human faces with lots of emotions. They did great job describing how they feel and why they feel that way 🙂

In Little Wandle we started reading very, very long words like picnic and magnet, and even longer ones like bedroom and carpark. We’ve been revisiting phase 2 and phase 3 digraphs and some of the tricky words. In your blue books this week you will find your first longer words. Please practice them at home for building confidence and fluency. In class, when we read the longer words, we use the term ‘chunk’. For example the word bedroom can be chunked into two smaller words ‘bed’ and ‘room’. That really helps the children hear all the sounds in those very challenging phase 4 words.

In Maths the children developed the skill of perceptual subitising. This form of subitising refers to instantly recognising the number of objects in a group without needing to count them. The concept of subitising zero and up to five items was introduced in small steps. We did dot plates and used them in our PE lesson to do jumps, hops, star jumps and much more:

What a crazy ‘Crazy hair day’ it has been! The children had amazing hairstyles, fun and very creative!

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Have a lovely weekend.
Looking forward seeing you all on Monday.
Mrs Solakova

31.01.25

Welcome to our blog! We hope you’ve had a fun week like us. We’ve enjoyed lots of activities, but the best part was the Pets as Therapy Day on Friday. All children came to school dressed in all sort of animals, from little creatures to scary tigers… and they all looked amazing!

Lexa and Polka even visited our classroom and the children made them feel very welcomed. They gave them lots of cuddles and read their favourite stories to them.
Have a look yourself!

Well done for taking part in our Pets as Therapy art competition and congratulations to the winners! Your posters look amazing!

In Little Wandle we’ve learnt the last digraph and trigraph from phase 3 sounds and from now until Summer term we will concentrate on reading longer words like puppet, bigger, hammer using all phase 2 and phase 3 sounds.

We were also busy learning 3 new tricky words: are, sure and pure. The last two proved to be extra tricky, so please make sure you practice them at home too!

In Maths we talked about 4 side shapes and practiced describing the properties of the squares and rectangle. The children learnt that the square has 4 equal sides and the rectangle 2 short and 2 long sides! We went on a hunt around the school and looked for 4 side shapes in the environment. We were lucky to spot lots of square windows, rectangle benches and much more:

In RE we talked about how Jesus wants all children to be his friends and when his disciples tried to push the little children away Jesus said: “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them,” Jesus said. “The kingdom of heaven belongs to these little ones.” 

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Have a lovely weekend.
Looking forward seeing you all on Monday.
Mrs Solakova

24.01.25

Hello and welcome to another week.
There is lots to share, as we are always busy learning, creating and playing. This week began by exploring a new equipment. It was so much fun doing the obstacle course and playing ‘hot lava’ game. The children did great balancing and maneuvering, making sure they hold on tight. Well done Reception!

Last week in Little Wandle we’ve learnt 4 new digraphs.

The children were reading words with the new digraph and even learning how to spell and write some of them.
We also learnt 3 new tricky words. They are already in your child’s blue book, ready for you to practice at home. The new tricky words are ‘was’, ‘they’ and ‘you’.

This week we learnt 3 new digraph and a trigraph. We played lots of games with the new sounds, so the children can get more and more familiar with them.

The new tricky words for this week are by, my and all.

In Maths we introduced the idea that all numbers are made up of small numbers and that these are referred to as parts. Learning to see a whole number and its parts at the same time is a key development in children’s number sense. We were partitioning a whole number 5 into 2 parts and by using practical activities the children understood that 5 can be 4 and 1, but also 2 and 3.

Understanding of the World

We started to think about how the seasons are slowly beginning to change when we spotted that some of the spring bulbs planted in September are starting to come out. We were very excited and very much looking forward seeing their beautiful blooms!

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Have a lovely weekend.
Looking forward seeing you all on Tuesday.
Mrs Solakova

10.01.25

Happy New Year and welcome back everyone.
Hope you’ve had a restful holiday and are ready for another busy term!
We loved sharing christmas stories and experiences during circle time. Some children even heard Santa coming down the chimney :). Lucky!

This week we dedicated to Epiphany and talked a lot about the three kings and how they gifted baby Jesus with very special gifts. We created beautiful crowns using different shaped gems:

On the writing table the children were practicing their digraphs and trigraphs by writing messages to friends and family.

We also dressed up as kings and prepared special gifts for Jesus. It was a long journey 🙂

In Little Wandle this week we learnt the first four of phase 3 sounds, including our very first trigraph. You will find more information about phase 3 sounds and tricky words in your child’s pink folder.

Please take your time to look at our new home learning grid (you will find a paper copy in your child’s book bag too).

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Have a lovely weekend.
Looking forward seeing you all on Monday.
Mrs Solakova

20.12.24

Welcome to our last blog of 2024!
It is hard to believe that we have completed a full term of school. It has been such a pleasure to get to know everyone.
This week we enjoyed a lovely Grandparents tea morning and we even went again on the stage to perform our favourite songs from ‘Mary’s Knitting’.

We also baked delicious cookies and made an exceptional hot chocolate with cream on top! We had lots of fun guessing our KKs and receiving our presents.

Thank you very much for your generosity this Christmas and thank you for your massive support this term. The amazing progress the children have made is really showing your dedication and effort.

And Finally….
Finally, it is goodbye to 2024. A very important year for all of you who have had a child start ‘big school’.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I hope you have a wonderful time over the break.

See you in 2025!
Mrs Solakova

13.12.24

Congratulations to all children for a brilliant performance! What a treat it was to watch them perform so amazingly, singing songs and acting. All the hard work has paid off and I am sure you will all agree that they were absolutely smashing! Well done EYFS!!!

Big round of applause for our excellent shepherds and wise man!

A big round of applause for fantastic Mary and Joseph and narrators!

A big round of applause for smashing stable animal, innkeepers, angel and Bethlehem star!

A big round of applause for superb sheep!

Friday was another fun day. Christmas jumper day was definitely a hit and the children really enjoyed the special meal. The dining hall looked amazing and you could hear a lovely festive music :).

And finally … We’ve had a special visitor. Someone who came all the way from North pole. Can you guess?
Well done…it is Santa. The children were very kind to him. They gave him some milk and cookies and sang christmas songs!

Dates to remember:
Grandparents Christmas Carols and Tea – Monday 16.12.24 at 09:30 am
Term finishes 13:30 on Friday 20 December
Spring term starts on Tuesday 7th January 2025

Mrs Solakova

06.12.24

Hello children, parents and carers,
What a busy, busy week. We talked about Advent, practised on stage for the performance, role played the Nativity story and wrote letters to Santa!
Our playdough table turned into bumpy road with Mary and Joseph, wise men and shepherds. The children were singing the Nativity songs while playing and had a great time exploring what’s on the table:

Our small world area turned into a Nativity scene and the children are now able to retell the christmas story, make books and role play the Christmas story with their friends.

Our Letters to Santa were such a hit. What a great way to practise blending, segmenting and handwriting… all through play. The children are more and more confident using what they know. I can’t be more proud.

In Little Wandle last week we were learning how to read words with ‘s’ at the end: cat -s, hat -s, bag -s, etc. The children are getting more and more confident blending 4 sounds together. We also learnt 3 new tricky words:

This week it’s assessment week and we will be busy checking for any gaps. Then we will be revisiting all phase 2 sounds and tricky words until Christmas.

Last Friday we took part in a very special Dressing of the Christmas tree assembly. Well done to Evie and Kanon for being so sensible and helping Mrs Porter to decorate the tree. You did a smashing job 🙂
In class we thought about Advent and how to be more like Jesus during Advent. We wrote our Advent promises and also picked a Special Christmas friend. The chosen name is in your child’s reading record.

This week is going to be a very important one!
We were preparing props and learning how to use the microphone. The children are very, very excited to show you everything they learned in the last couple of weeks.

We are very much looking forward seeing you all on Wednesday 11th December at 10am for a very special performance. We’ve worked very hard and I am sure you will love it!!!
Please be reminded that the deadline for the outfits was 4th December.

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Dates to remember:
EYFS Christmas Performance: Wednesday 11.12.24 at 10:00 am
Christmas Jumper Day and Reading morning – Friday 13.12.24
Grandparents Christmas Carols and Tea – Monday 16.12.24

Mrs Solakova

29.11.24

Hello children, parents and carers,
This week we’ve been busy spreading the Christmas joy and making sure that our room looks festive and all dressed for the coming celebrations . As you can imagine the children took an active part in the preparations. They decorated the Christmas tree independently, making sure everyone had a turn hanging a bauble. I think you will all agree that the tree looks amazing 🙂

Our home corner is also set for Christmas and the children were busy cooking festive meals for friends and family. Everyone had a great fun!

And of course the Christmas shop is officially open. It has everything you might need for great festive shopping! From bakery to toys and clothes, or if you prefer books and chocolates. We did our own price list and the children are using great counting and subitising skills to make sure they have the correct change 🙂

If you are thinking that all we did is playing you are wrong. In Little Wandle we’ve learnt 4 new digraphs and 4 new tricky words – she, he, of, push.

We also read super long sentences like: ‘It is a mess in this bag’. Thank you for your support and making sure that your children read at home too.

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Dates to remember:
Friday 06.12.24 – Reading morning 8:40am – 8:55am
Wednesday 11.12.24 – EYFS Nativity 10:00am
EYFS Nativity – Please send costumes in by Wednesday 4th December

Mrs Solakova

22.11.24

Welcome to our blog this week.
The week started off with a very nice surprise…. snow on the playground! Well there was no other way but going out for snowball fight and building a snowman. The children were absolutely buzzing!

On Wednesday we all enjoyed a very interesting Hindu workshop. We learnt lots about Hindu religion and culture and also we were able to dress up, dance and play with different artefacts. Have a look yourself.

In Little Wandle this week we’ve learned 1 new grapheme and 2 new digraphs. We are talking more and more about digraphs (2 letters, but 1 sound) and the children are doing so well remembering them.

We also began reading words ending with -s, like cats, hits, maps. Please make sure you check your children’s orange books for new tricky words. This week we’ve learned to, go, into and no.

In Maths the children were introduced to the idea that all numbers are made up of smaller numbers, and these are referred to as the parts of the number.

I can see that 3 is made up of 2 and 1.
I can see that 2 is made up of 1 and 1.
How can you show 3 in two different ways?

Prayer week
This week we dedicated on writing a special class prayer:

Dear God,
Thank you for my family and my friends,
Thank you for helping me learn.
Please help everyone who needs your help
and make all children in the world be happy.
Please Jesus, stay in my heart and guide me.

Amen

And finally but not least, congratulations for all your hard work and motivation! You truly deserve the awards, red sash and golden rosette!!!

Dates to remember:
Friday 29.11.24 – No reading morning
Friday 29.11.24 – Dressing of the Christmas tree – Parents welcome

Have a lovely weekend!
Looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova