PRE-RECEPTION
We have had yet another busy week in Pre-Reception!
PHONICS
The children have been working extremely hard in Phonics. This week, we introduced the letter sound ‘a’. We used the pronunciation phrase, ‘Open your mouth wide and make the ‘a’ sound at the back of your mouth: a, a, a’, to help the children understand how to form the sound correctly. They have also been practising recognising words that begin with the initial sound ‘a’.
Next week in Phonics, we will introduce the sound ‘t’, learning how to pronounce it correctly and identify objects that begin with this phoneme (sound).
LITERACY
Our story this week was Chicken Licken. The children thoroughly enjoyed making masks representing the different characters before acting out the story together. Our poem of the week was Autumn.
MATHS
In Maths, we have started learning about the number 2. We have been doing lots of work on subitising (recognising how many objects there are without counting), focusing on both 1 and 2 using dice patterns and irregular arrangements. The children have also been sorting groups of 1 and 2 into their own sorting circles.
The Bear Cubs have also been practising writing the numeral 2 using our formation rhyme: ‘Start at the top, half a heart says “I love you”, add a line, it’s number 2!’
In Music, the children have been working very hard learning the tunes and lyrics for our EYFS Nativity.
On Wednesday, the children took part in the whole-school Remembrance Service. We were very impressed with their behaviour as they listened attentively to the service and showed great respect throughout.
RECEPTION
This week, we introduced our new topic, Community Heroes, where we will be learning about the people who help us within our community.
Literacy
We started the week by sharing the homework completed over half term. The children stood in front of the class and talked about the people in the community they had researched and how they help us.
This week, we focused on learning about the role of a Police Officer. We were fortunate enough to welcome two police officers to our school. They talked about their jobs, brought in uniforms for the children to try on and explore, and showed them some of the equipment they use. The children asked lots of thoughtful questions to find out more about their work.
Maths
In Maths, we explored shape, focusing on circles and triangles. We talked about their properties using vocabulary such as straight sides, curved sides and corners. Linked to this topic, we explored the artist Kandinsky, who used circles and triangles in his abstract artwork. The children thoroughly enjoyed creating their own Kandinsky-inspired pieces.
We also explored positional language, learning how to use the vocabulary in, on, beside, next to, behind and between when describing where objects are in relation to one another.
Phonics
This week, we learned the phonemes: ff, ll, ss and j. We practised:
- Saying the sounds aloud
- Blending sounds to read words (e.g. m-e-ss)
- Writing the letters using cursive formation
We also introduced the tricky words: put, pull, full and as. Tricky words are those that cannot be easily decoded (sounded out) and need to be recognised by sight.
A copy of the phonemes and tricky words learned this week can be found in your child’s plastic wallet. Please remove these and keep them at home for practice.
Phonic Assessments
This week, we completed our phonics assessments. The assessments covered all the phonemes learned so far, an oral blending task, and a sounding and blending task. We have provided you with a copy of your child’s assessment. Please practise any phonemes that your child may have found tricky at home.
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