In Reception we have enjoyed immersing ourselves in our whole school text ‘The Lost Words’ by Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane. The book features words from the natural world that have been taken out of the children’s dictionary e.g. wren, conker and heather. Each ‘lost word’ has been made into an acrostic poem, accompanied by beautiful illustrations. We focused on the birds in the book. The children learnt about a different type of bird each day and a group wrote about each one. The children have made some wonderful birds using paper plates to go alongside their writing. We walked around the school grounds on a nature walk, identifying different types of tree and listening for bird sounds. We spotted some bird and collected twigs and leaves to make nests for the birds to enjoy!

To complement our learning this week, the children will be bringing home the outline of a bird. We are asking that inside the bird, you find out the name of a British garden bird and write it inside with a definition. The children can then decorate the bird and they will be displayed sat on the branches of our vocabulary tree in the entrance hall.

In phonics this week, we have been learning the new digraphs ow, ur, or. We have continued to recap spelling the tricky words from phase 2 and 3. We are continuing to support the children to spot digraphs in words and use them to blend.

In maths this week, we have been learning about addition. The children have played lots of fun games to support them to count on when adding two single digit numbers. For example 3+2. 3…4…5. We have been representing our addition on tens frames and number tracks. The children have been playing ‘Guess the unknown’ where the teacher has put a known quantity of objects out and then hidden them under a blanket. The children then watch the teacher putting more objects under, encouraging them to count on from the starting number.

In most classes, we are still looking for a couple of parents to help on a regular basis. If you are interested, please speak to your child’s class teacher. 

On Thursday morning, we also had a special treat watching Paddleboat theatre company perform Hansel and Gretel. It was brilliant and the children loved it!