Our Reception year may have been cut short, but we sure have had a lot of fun this year! Usually we would be in school reminiscing about our favourite parts of the year together, however things are a little different this summer.
So we have searched through the iPads for as many photos as we could find to share with you all. We hope you enjoy it and remember the best bits from this year!
Thanks for being a fantastic year group, there has been a lot of fun and learning and we are sad to see you all go. But it is time for your next challenge, year one! We know you are all ready for this next step and you have a fabulous team in year one to make sure it is another year to remember. Have a super summer and keep smiling Reception!
It’s the final week before we break up for the summer holidays. It is strange to be saying goodbye after this year was cut short but you will all soon be going into year 1! We have loved teaching you in Reception but know that you will have a fantastic time in Year 1. We will all miss you so much, but it is time for the next step!
You should have received your child's report by email last week, if you haven't please drop us an email at eyfs@broadford.havering.sch.uk and we will resend it. Please take a few moments to fill out the feedback form, as all feedback in very appreciated.
New classes were also released on Friday for Year one, as you can imagine this is a tricky task, balancing the children to find the best combination, as well as taking into account friendships, abilities and personalities. We mix Reception up to move into year one every year, and it always works out well. You can meet the year one teachers in this blog.
Parents make sure you read the transition information and show your child any pictures or videos available, they might be a little nervous but we want to show them how exciting it will be! We can't wait to hear how well they all do next year. If your child has any questions about Year One please fill out the below form, and the Year One teachers will be filming a video to answer these later this week.
You should be receiving two phone calls this week, one for your current teacher to say goodbye, and also allows an opportunity to discuss your child's report if you have any questions. You should also receive a phone call from child's new teacher, introducing themselves. Remember these phone calls may be from a withheld number. We look forward to speaking to you all this week!
Thank you for all of your support this year, we really do appreciate it. The children have been fantastic and taken this in their stride as has all of your support from home. Thank you from the whole team!
Things we have planned for this week....
Writing
As our time in Reception comes to an end and our move to year 1 is fast approaching we are giving you a choice of what you want to write this week.
You may want to write a letter to your new year 1 teacher this week! Think about all the fun things you are excited for going into year 1. Your new teachers are so excited to meet you and would love to receive a letter from you about everything you are looking forward to!
The Reception team has loved teaching you this year, even if it has been a little strange ending it this way! You may want to write a letter to your Reception teacher about everything you have enjoyed about this year. Think about all the fun things we did and experiences you got to have.
Take a photo of your letters and have your adult email them to the Reception team!
This week's maths focus is one more and one less. The great thing about one more one less activities is there are many opportunities to naturally weave them into your daily routines! Some practical hands-on activities include:
You may want to draw a number line outside and have children throw a bean bag or ball on a number. They can then hop or jump to the number that is ‘one more’ or ‘one less’.
An extension using a number line again - Give children a clue, can you show me one more than seven and have them show you the answer on the number line.
Children roll a dice and use lego or blocks to build a tower. Then flip a coin, heads you take one off and tails you add another block on.
Some fun one less songs you can sing with your child are:
5 cheeky monkeys
5/10 green bottles
5 little ducks
5 little men
White Rose Maths
This week’s Maths is based around the book ‘How Many Legs’. You can listen to the story here.
Research your favourite jungle creature. Can you draw a picture and write some facts?
Discuss with your family your favourites parts of your first year at school. Draw a picture of your favourite day!
Crazy cornflour slime - This activity is a bit messy but really fun and hands-on; children love exploring the strange properties of this cross between a liquid and a solid. For best results use a large shallow container that you can put on the floor, like a sand/water tray. Mix together cornflour and water until you have a slime consistency. Try punching the slime – it instantly turns solid. Roll some slime into a ball in your hand and then stop – it turns back into a liquid.
Spellings
This week our spellings are a mixture of green and red words, remember to think about whether there is a ‘special friend’ or tricky part in the word. Keep practising the other words you might have found tricky so you can use these in your writing.
Practice writing these spelling everyday, ready for the test on Fridays. One of your teachers will read out these spellings in a video for you to have a go at home. You can find the test on the Facebook page or through the blog on the school website. Good luck!
just
into
some
help
are
Reading
We know it is tricky to read everyday, and you may be growing a little tired of your books at home. However it is important to try and keep reading regularly. Oxford Owls has lots of online books of varying levels to read. You should also continue to share stories together, if you’re running out of books Youtube is full of storybooks and CBeebies also has a lot of stories and an app you can download for free. You might also like to get involved with the summer reading challenge mentioned above!
RWI Phonics
From June 1st all lessons will be available at 9.30am and set one, two and three lessons will restart. Set two and three speed sound lessons will include new words for reading and spelling. There will also be daily videos to practice reading red words.
Joining in daily with the speed sound lessons, is one of our top recommendations to add into your daily timetable during lockdown. Remember you can find them on Youtube or Facebook.
Please keep us updated on how you are getting on at home by emailing eyfs@broadford.havering.sch.uk.
Do not forget about all of the online resources including Phonics Play, Oxford Owls, Topmarks and Literacy Planet. Any questions please contact us and if you discover any great resources please share them with us.
As strange as it seems after this year was cut short you will soon be going to Reception and it is the end of our Nursery year! We have loved teaching you this year in Nursery but know you will all have a brilliant time in Reception.
Reception is lots of fun and you find lots of the things you enjoying playing with in your Reception classes (In Broadford and other schools). Parents make sure you read the transition information and show your child any pictures or videos available, they might be a little nervous but we want to show them how exciting it will be! We can't wait to hear how well they all do next year! Thank you for all of your support this year, we really do appreciate it.
If you haven't already you will have a call from your Nursery teachers to say goodbye and a call from your new class teacher to introduce themselves this week. It will likely be from an unknown number so keep an eye out!
Dinosaur Roar
This is a great dinosaur story and a great chance to learn some Makaton signs! What signs can you remember?
Can you squiggle a dinosaur? Remember there's no right or wrong in art, if yours doesn't look exactly like this that's fine! You might prefer to free draw or paint your own dinosaur, you can use these images to help if you do!
ICT
Purple Mash (a software we use in school) is offering free access to
parents during the school closures. Try signing up;
https://2simple.com/landing-pages/free-access/ Once you have signed up, you can access Mini Mash, click on the purple door.
Click on the map for Simple City.
Purple Mash also has some good Maths games.
Design and Make
Can you use any junk modelling you have at home to make something?
E.g. a model rocket or boat? Or a robot? How will you join the different parts
of your model together?
Sounds
Before children start to read they need to hear the initial sounds in words. Pick a target sound (start with m, a, s, d, t) for example 's' and make up a story with lots of words containing that sound e.g. 'One day Sam went to the sandy beach. He jumped in the sea and saw a sea snake! The snake slithered towards Sam.'
We will post some example sound stories on Evidence Me. You can encorporate this into every day life e.g. put on your shhhhh- oe, pick up your c-c-coat. Make sure you use the sound the letter makes not the letter name.
To support listening skills children need to tell the difference between different sounds. Click here for a fun game to support this. Encourage children to have a quiet moment during the day and listen out for sounds you can here; pets, traffic, voices, people walking past, aeroplanes. Grown ups can enjoy a peaceful moment too!
Maths
Help your child to draw a hopscotch course with chalk on cement. You can make the course as long as you like, but it usually has about 8 or 10 squares. Draw a set of single and double squares - like a ladder, but with extra bits. Write a number on each square of the course.
Gently toss a stone or beanbag onto the first square and hop over it. Keep hopping to the end of the course. When there’s a pair of squares you can jump instead of hop. Try to land with a foot in each square.
At the end of the course turn around and hop and jump back again. Don’t forget to stop and pick up the stone along the way.
Have a look at Purple Mash mentioned above for some nice Maths activities you can continue with over the Summer.
Physical Skills
Over the Summer and next week practice getting dressed and undressed. Try and learn to do buttons and zips by yourself all ready for next year! Another good skill to master is making sure you can use your knife and fork by yourself properly!
Make sure you do lots of drawing, you can practice making shapes (straight lines, curved lines, zig-zags
Another week has flown by, we love seeing what you are all up to so please keep your photos coming. We are beginning to think about transition to year one, and although a little different this year, there will still be lots going on!
Have a conversation with your child about year one, how are they feeling? Do they understand what will happen after the holidays? Is there any questions they have about year one? The year one teachers will be making some videos to answer the children's questions about year one. If your child has a question, please fill it out on the form below. The videos of answers will be shared before the end of term.
Reports will be sent home on Wednesday 8th July by email. Please bare with us on Wednesday as the email boxes will be very busy all day ensuring reports are sent out to all pupils. On Friday 10th July next years classes and teachers will be released, along with an opportunity to share information with your new teacher. Looking forward we will also be sharing videos of the year one teachers reading stories and they will be phoning you all to introduce themselves before the end of term!
More detailed information about upcoming transition and end of year activities can be found in this blog.
Here’s what else we’ve got planned this week…..
Virtual Sports Week
It’s Virtual Sports Week this week! Sports day is usually one of the highlights of the summer term, and although it can not happen in the same way, we still want to make it an event. So dust off your trainers and get involved at home or outside!
You will only need a few household items and you’ll be able to join in on the sports week fun wherever you are. There will be activities posted each day that don’t require lots of space or equipment
There will be 2 activities published each day on the school blog and facebook page with video guides. To make sure you are ready, here is a list of equipment you will need (if you don't have the exact same thing then use your imagination!):
Day 1: markers (can be literally anything), tape measure or a ruler
Day 2: marker, a target (bucket, large saucepan, washing up basin, etc), throwables (small beanbags, balled up socks, or anything throwable that doesn't bounce much), your sprint track from the first event, a spoon (big enough to hold an egg), a hard-boiled egg (or small ball).
Day 3: random objects to make an assault course, sprint track from first event, sacks (pillowcase, bin bag).
Day 4: space to dance, a music player, 4 markers, timer
Day 5: sprint track from first event, a stick (short broom, cricket bat etc).
Make sure you send us photographs of you joining in and having fun, along with your score card at the end of the week!
Writing
This weeks writing task is to imagine that you had a pet dinosaur. Can you draw and then write some sentences describing your dinosaur.
What would you name it? What would you like to do with your pet dinosaur? Would you take it for walks?
Your task is to draw and write about your pet dinosaur!
Don’t forget your finger spaces between words and remember to use the sound mat to help with letter formation.
This week's maths focus is addition and subtraction using a number line. A number line is just that – a straight, horizontal line with numbers placed at even increments along the length. It’s not a ruler, so the space between each number doesn’t matter, but the numbers included on the line determine how it’s meant to be used.
Children may be given a number line marked 0 - 10 or 0 - 20. A child might be given the following question:
7 + 2 =
They will be shown how to put their finger on the 7 and then count on 2 until they get to 9. This makes the idea of a number increasing very visual for them.
You may want to get creative to make your own number line and give your child questions to work out. Some fun ways to make a number line would be to do it outside with chalk, on a wall with post-it notes, or printing a number line and making a dice to create number sentences.
White Rose Maths
This week’s Maths is based around the book The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet. You can listen to the story here.
Hit the Button is an online Maths game, you can use it to practise doubling and halving. You can also select the number bond option to work on your addition skills. A few of the children have enjoyed using it in school this week.
Get crafty and make the solar system using things you have at home! Research the solar system and see if you can make any of the planets. You could use aluminium foil, paper plates, paint, pieces of fruit or even do some paper mache.
Research your favourite dinosaur and write some facts about it!
This week our spellings are a mixture of green and red words, remember to think about whether there is a ‘special friend’ or tricky part in the word. Keep practising the other words you might have found tricky so you can use these in your writing.
Practice writing these spelling everyday, ready for the test on Fridays. One of your teachers will read out these spellings in a video for you to have a go at home. You can find the test on the Facebook page or through the blog on the school website. Good luck!
that
can
this
of
like
Reading
We know it is tricky to read everyday, and you may be growing a little tired of your books at home. However it is important to try and keep reading regularly. Oxford Owls has lots of online books of varying levels to read. You should also continue to share stories together, if you’re running out of books Youtube is full of storybooks and CBeebies also has a lot of stories and an app you can download for free. You might also like to get involved with the summer reading challenge mentioned above!
Joining in daily with the speed sound lessons, is one of our top recommendations to add into your daily timetable during lockdown. Remember you can find them on Youtube or Facebook. There are now also 'Hold a Sentence' writing activity and red word videos to go along side the daily speed sound and spelling videos.
Please keep us updated on how you are getting on at home by emailing eyfs@broadford.havering.sch.uk.
Do not forget about all of the online resources including Phonics Play, Oxford Owls, Topmarks and Literacy Planet. Any questions please contact us and if you discover any great resources please share them with us.
Normally the last few weeks would be a chance the celebrate all our success' and have lots of fun together. Unfortunately we can't gather right now but we have found some ways in which we can still complete some of these celebrations in our own homes!
Now is also the time to start thinking about transition. This week you will receive an email of a report on Wednesday 8th July that is based on the children's progress and attainment in March. On Friday 10th July next years classes for Reception will be released. We will be sharing lots of videos of the Reception teachers reading stories and know they have already contacted parent's with information about next year. Talk to your child about this and make sure to show them all of the photos//videos available to support them to move to their next year group. Teachers of your new class will also be calling parents in the last week of term to introduce themselves and answer any questions you still have.
Sports Week
With a few household items you’ll be all be able to take part, wherever you are. We’ve chosen activities that don’t require lots of space or fancy equipment, and don’t involve contact between children. But you are welcome to change the activities to suit your situation, the only thing that matters is that you get active and have fun.
Name
Activity 1: Sprints
Equipment
Two markers: can be literally anything.
Description
Create a track by laying markers at the start and end. You can make the track as small or large as you like. Each contestant has 60 seconds to run as many lengths (there and back) of the track as they can.
Scoring
1 point is awarded for each full length (there and back)
Demonstration video link
https://youtu.be/341wc3uooVw
Name
Activity 2: Standing Long Jump
Equipment
One marker A tape measure
Description
Place a marker on the floor with empty space in-front of it. The contestant stands level with the marker and jumps forward. They should take-off and land on two feet. If they fall over when they land, they take their turn again until they land on two feet.
Scoring
1 point is awarded for each 10cm jumped. Use the tape measure to measure from the marker to the back of the contestant’s foot (the nearest part of the foot to the marker).
We will continue to post the next 3 days on Evidence Me and Facebook.
We would also normally have a pirate dress up day! If you would like to you could join in with our pirate themed learning and make your own costume at home. You could make a pirate hat, an eye patch, Make a pirate hat usingmaterials around the home.
Tales Toolkit
Your story challenge this week also has a pirate theme!
Act the story
Collecting together some toys as a pirate crew, children could set sail on a pirate adventure, wearing their costume in a make believe boat out of a paddling pool, large storage box or baby bath. They can take their treasure map and other props perhaps a spyglass.
What you could use:
2 rice cakes
1 tablespoon spreadable cream cheese
2 slices cucumber
4 fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
2 slices red pepper
4 large slices red apples
Letter Hunt
What you could use:
Letters
Lentils, Rice, Sand, Sand, Pasta... Anything available!
Container
Try and pick out the letters of your name!
Make an underwater collage! Color in and cut out some sea creatures. The background below is made wish watercolour paints washed over and then a sprinkle of salt to create a cool effect. You could try this if you have water colours! If not choose your favourite sea creature and try and draw one. You can find out some facts here: https://littleowlsresources.com/sea-animal-fact-cards
Finally listen to a lovely bedtime story this week titled 'The Pirate who said please'
