Pluto (Reception)

Reception Class- Pluto 2019

At St Mary’s we offer a secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interest of each individual child. We work in collaboration with parents and carers to ensure that every child is at the centre of the working partnership.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter Break. We are really looking forward to all the fun activities and learning we will be doing in this final term. As always we base our learning on the children’s interests and next steps and our themes may change each week. Our theme for when we will return is;

Why do Ladybirds have spots?

Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the waterspout! Why do ladybirds have spots? Why do spiders spin webs? It’s time to find out more about minibeasts and their habitats.
This half term, we’ll visit a local park to carry out a minibeast safari! Magnifying glasses clutched firmly in hands, we’ll look under logs, leaves and stones for creatures that wriggle, crawl or fly. We’ll find out about minibeast habitats, features and colours, and compare them. Observing snails in a tank, we’ll think about how they move. Can we move like that too? We’ll also move like ants, working together to collect and carry objects to move and rebuild a structure, piece by piece. To get to know these creepy crawlies better, we’ll make and monitor a mini wormery, minibeast hotel and a butterfly garden. Can we predict what will be these minibeasts’ favourite foods? In our literacy sessions, we’ll use sequential vocabulary to retell stories, and write a story from the perspective of a spider. In our mathematics sessions, we’ll predict and count ladybird spots and compare the lengths of caterpillars made from cubes, counters and beads. Getting creative, we’ll make leaf confetti, minibeast finger puppets, and learn to waggle dance like a bee and much more.

Literacy Focus

This term we will continue to focus on sentence structure and look at how we form sentences and use interesting words. We will be writing our own minibeast fact-file and be reading; ‘What the Ladybird heard next.’ We will begin to understand story structure and write our own bug stories.

PHONICS: This term we will continue to learn Phase 4 initial and final clusters and revise all Phase 3 phonemes.

Maths Focus

As well as Maths linked to our topic, we will be learning about doubling and halving, solving problems involving addition and subtraction. We will continue to practise counting and recognising numbers to 20, ordering them and finding missing numbers. The children will begin to learn to count in 2s, 5s and 10s.

Help your child prepare for their project
Minibeasts are marvellous! Why not visit your local pet shop together and take a look at some exotic minibeasts. Can you find out what countries they came from? You could also try worm charming in your garden. Put a large hoop on an area of earth, water the area with a watering can, and tap your fingers lightly on the ground. Can you entice any worms to the surface? Alternatively, read minibeast-themed stories together, such as Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Bad-Tempered Ladybird, to find out more about these incredible creatures.

Other Information

Please ensure all items of clothes are named
Please bring a spare uniform/clothes in a separate bag
A named sun hat and named sun cream
Wellies to be in school every day
A warm coat with hats and gloves ( all named please)
We love all your Tapestry posts and share these during snack times
Please remember to bring a healthy snack for the morning. The children will receive a piece of fruit or vegetable for their afternoon snack.
PE will be on a Wednesday afternoon and Friday morning, please ensure PE kits are in every Wednesday and Friday
Books will be changed on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We encourage the children to place their own book in the changing basket every morning as we also like to hear the children read. Please ensure reading records are in every day.

If you have any questions or queries we are happy to help and you can catch us in the morning or at the end of the school day if it is a quick query. If it is a longer question please make an appointment at the office and we would be happy to arrange a convenient time to meet.

Useful Websites for Phonics

http://www.ictgames.com/phonemePopLS_v2.html

http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/phase-2-games.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/welcome/home/reading-owl/fun-ideas

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/phonics/play/popup.shtml

Useful Websites for Reading

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/find-a-book/storyteller-videos/

Useful Websites for Maths

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years/counting

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

http://www.ictgames.com/resources.html