Rufford Park Primary School

Reception Class Blog 2021-2022

21.07.22

What a week to end the term- the hottest on record!

Despite the heat we have still had a wonderful last week with the children who all coped brilliantly with the soaring temperatures. To keep cool we have paddled our feet in cold water trays, learnt to make concertina fans and of course drunk plenty of water. Monday was our disco where the children showed off their fab dance moves and joined in with lots of games led by the DJ.

We listened to a story about a caterpillar who was not quite ready for change but who once they had made their transition were excited by the changes. We wrote about ourselves for our new class teachers. We have consolidated our work on polysyllabic words in phonics. In Maths we have been working on direction and spatial awareness. The children have made brilliant maps of their bedrooms, and familiar stories such as Little Red Riding Hood. They were so settled and calm when drawing these on the hottest afternoons, you would be so proud of them all.

Our Big Sing Assembly was unfortunately unable to be held, so this morning Pear Tree class came to watch us perform our songs Hakuna Matata and The Gruffalo. We did a super job and are all growing in confidence when performing for an audience.

And now for the sad bit……we have had a truly lovely year with all of this year’s Apple Class and are very sorry to see them go. However, they are more than ready for their next step, and we will still hear everything about them and see them around school. We know they will continue to succeed!

 We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our families for your support throughout the year, it has made it a thoroughly enjoyable year!

Have a wonderful summer holiday

Our very best wishes

Apple Class Team

15.7.22

Hello! We’ve had a busy week continuing our minibeast topic and exploring 'Superworm' by Julia Donaldson. We found some worms to add to our wormery and have enjoyed watching them make tunnels in our soil. We have written our own sentences from the story, played with wormy spaghetti and even made a minibeast roller coaster out of construction materials. In maths, we have been measuring minibeasts and creating different repeating patterns using minibeast toys.

This week was also very special as we met our new class teachers! Some of our children will be joining Miss Atkinson in Pear Tree Class (Year 1) and some will be joining Miss Cotterill in Lime Tree Class (Y1 and 2). They played some getting to know you games and did some drawing and writing as part of their transition. We are now very confident and excited about starting Year 1!

Housekeeping - we will not be giving out new homework for maths or for the Super Sentence Books for the rest of the term. Super Sentence books will be marked and sent home for keeping.
Please make sure that reading books, reading records and bookbags are brought into school on Monday 18th July. We will be passing up new reading books and current reading records to next year classes. Please continue to bring  back any library books that may be at home.

We are currently learning to sing part of the song Hakuna Matata from the film the Lion King. We are going to perform the chorus in a special ‘Big Sing’ assembly at the end of term. If you would like to sing along with your child and help them learn the words, please click here: Hakuna Matata.

Have a super weekend!

Apple Class Team

7.7.22

Hello everyone,

Another busy and exciting week in school and so this is a long post!

Snails have continued to interest the children, and many of the activities set up around the classroom have reflected this theme. Our story this week has been The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson. The children have talked a lot about their favourite stories by this author and so we have added them to the book area. After listening to the story, we wrote our own postcards from the various places the characters visit. We have looked at how snails change during their life cycle and compared them to frogs and newts. We learnt about the artist Wassily Kandinsky and used his ideas for colour and shape when painting spirals and circles; we used them to create super snail pictures.

We have been thinking about growing and changing and have begun talking about transition with the children. We visited the Year 1 classrooms and had a look about and then completed an activity at the tables - the children all looked very ready for the next step in their school journey!

In Maths we have been solving problems and have used a variety of stories as the basis for our work on this. After listening to the story Who sank the boat? we enjoyed a challenge to see who could make the boat that would hold the most objects before it sank. We had lots of fun watching as our boats floated and sank!  We also calculated how many legs were in the stories How many legs? by Kes Gray and in the story Mr Gumpy's outing . These are delightful stories to re-visit with your child.

On Wednesday we had our sports morning. Luckily the weather held and we were able to take part in all the races. The children did a brilliant job running, hopping, balancing and jumping in a variety of races. They were all fantastic sports cheering everyone on. Thank you to all the parents who were able to support this event - we hope you enjoyed it too!

We are currently learning to sing part of the song Hakuna Matata from the film the Lion King. We are going to perform the chorus in a special ‘Big Sing’ assembly at the end of term. If you would like to sing along with your child and help them learn the words, please click here: Hakuna Matata.

Today was a non-uniform day, organised by FORP. In Reception we brought in small items in the colour red - thank you for your contributions.

Have a super weekend!

Apple Class Team

1.07.22

This week we have started our new topic about snails. We have been learning snail facts, observing snails in a tank in the curiosity area and writing about them. We have made our own snail spirals and made bugs in the loose parts area. We've looked at similarities and differences between snails, slugs and other minibeasts. Outside, we have been making our own obstacle courses and a house for mouse (from The Gruffalo).

In Maths, we have been solving problems using spatial reasoning and positional language. We have had a lot of fun playing barrier games. We gave a partner instructions to copy arrangements and models and see how close they were to our own! We also have practised using vocabulary such as under, below, above, inside, beside, next to and between.

Next week, we are looking forward to our (rearranged) Sports Day. Please note: the children will only need their PE kits for Wednesday 6th July for our (rearranged) Sports Day. Our Sports Day starts is 9:30-10:30 on the bottom field. Hope to see you there!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Apple Class Team

24.06.22

The highlight this week has of course been our trip to Nell Bank in Ilkley. We had a wonderful day! Activities included bug hunting, pond dipping, looking for camouflaged animals, water play and making Gruffalo crumble and houses for little brown mouse in Middleton Woods. The visit enabled us to bring to life so much of the vocabulary we have been working on in class. We were so excited to catch young newts which we learnt are called newtlets.

We also visited the new music area and trim trail. It is fair to say everyone had a ball! The children were an asset to our school as always, and we were proud to take them out of school, well done Apple Tree Class!

May we also say a huge thank you to the parents who came on the visit to help out. We really could not go on days out without your support, we hope you had fun and were not too shattered!

Back at school we have written recounts of our favourite part of the trip, which seemed to be all of it! We continued working on adjacent consonants in phonics and have been learning doubling facts in Maths. We have also been creating artwork for the Aireborough Art Exhibition see the poster below for details. We have artwork from throughout school on display there next week if you are able to visit. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Best Wishes

Apple Class Team.

17.06.22

Hello!

We've had another busy week in Reception. In preparation for our trip to Nell Bank next week, we have started our topic on The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. Most of us are familiar with the story and have been experimenting with rhymes and sequencing the story in Literacy. There are no new tricky words and sounds so we have sent home an activity in the Super Sentence Book!

We have also continued with out Lost Words work. This week, we have learned all about the Kingfisher and the Heron. We have danced and acted out their movements to music and painted our own Kingfisher pictures using water colours.

In Maths, we have been learning all about odd and even numbers. The children have been sorting numbers and numicon into sets of odd and even. They have also been recapping their doubling facts and using them to work out whether an amount is odd or even.

Nell Bank

Next week, we will be going on our Nell Bank Trip on Wednesday 22nd June. Please return the permission slip to the office as soon as possible if you have not done so already. We are unable to take your child out of school without it.

Your child will need:

- a packed lunch in a bag they can carry themselves
- a water bottle
- to wear jogging bottoms or leggings, trainers and school jumper or cardigan

As the weather is ever changing at the moment they will need to:

- wear sun cream on the day if it is sunny
- bring a sun hat on the day if it is sunny
- bring wellies if it has been wet weather
- wear wellies and a raincoat if rain is forecast
- bring a raincoat just in case

A few days before we will have more idea of the weather forecast so we will send another memo reminding you of what your child needs. Please get in touch with a member of staff if you have any questions or queries. Nell Bank is such a fun trip and we are so excited to be going!

We hope that you enjoy this lovely weekend and make the most of the amazing weather we are due to have.

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

10.6.22

Well, we have reached our final half term in Reception! It is hard to believe but the children have come such a long way and we are so proud of the progress they have all made.

We have begun a new topic this week all about plants, gardens and growing. As part of this theme, we have been planting seeds, talking about seasonal changes and designing gardens. We have named the parts of a plant and learnt a new ‘lost word’ - heather.

In Literacy we have learnt the rhyme Mary, Mary quite contrary focussing on the rhyming words. We have had fun thinking of some alternative rhymes and discussed the meaning of the word contrary. Thank you to Isabelle for bringing in the story Contrary Mary which illustrates the meaning of this word beautifully.

We have been sharing and grouping in our Maths sessions, the children have enjoyed sharing food at a teddy bear or dinosaur’s picnic. In phonics we have begun  reading and writing longer words, specifically those with adjacent consonants at the end of words such as hand, milk, bump, test. This week’s tricky words  are were and there and these are in the sentence books for reference.

Have a lovely weekend in the sunshine!

Apple Class Team

27.05.22

Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

To celebrate Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee, we have spent lots of time decorating bunting, making paper chains and icing our own buns. We have performed  'The National Anthem' and 'London Bridge is Falling Down' and have practiced going under London Bridge!  We have also learned lots about the Queen, her job and her family. We even watched a mini tour of Buckingham Palace. We were very impressed. We have also enjoyed a Scavenger Hunt where we had to work with a partner to find different pictures linked to the Jubilee and Royal family.

Have a look at our Gallery below. I think you will agree that we all look brilliant in our red, white and blue clothes and royal-themed costumes.

We feel very lucky to have been part of such a special event and wish to say a big thank you to our kitchen staff for the picnic-style lunch we enjoyed to mark the occasion.

We wish all of our Apples and their grown-ups a fabulous half term!

See you on the 6th June!

Apple Class Team

27.05.22

Hello!

We have continued our Queen's Jubilee topic in preparation for Friday's celebrations.

We have continued our Queen stories by reading The Queen's Hat by Steve Anthony. We wrote speech bubbles for the character and worked on writing our own super sentences based on the books. Also, we have been completing our challenges such as designing hats and writing tricky words on hats. We have also been building our own versions of London landmarks such as Tower Bridge and sequencing pictures from the life of Queen Elizabeth II. We have been practising singing The National Anthem and London Bridge is Falling Down ready to perform on Friday.

Our Tricky Words this week are out and what.

In Maths, we have been learning about Square numbers 1, 4, 9 and 16 and what makes them 'square'. We have also been building rectangle numbers using vocabulary such as 'tall' and 'wide'. Next, we have solved problems involving paper, card and plastic shapes such as making new shapes by putting two together or using plastic shapes to fill or make pictures. We have also been working on our shape vocabulary by spotting "odd" shapes out and using their features and properties to explain what makes them unique. 

Still to come: We will update our blog with another photo gallery from our Jubilee celebration. We will be decorating buns, hanging bunting and showing off our red, white and blue non-uniform.

Next week is May Half Term. We will be back in school on Monday 6th June ready to hear your holiday news!

We hope that you have a lovely holiday and keep safe!

Best Wishes

Apple Class Team

20.05.22

Hello!

This week we have begun our mini topic about London and the Queen’s Jubilee.

We have had lots of fun reading the story The Queen’s Knickers by Nicholas Allan. Activities have included designing new pants for the Queen to wear and writing sentences about them. We have been sewing patterns on pants as well as washing them and pegging them out to dry. Perhaps the children will be able to give you a hand with the laundry at home!

We have been learning about London landmarks specifically Tower bridge and the Tower of London. We learnt about the royal ravens and how they protect the Tower of London. We also found out about the role of a Raven Master, one of the Queen’s Beefeaters. The children have been busy making jointed guards and painting ravens in the craft area. Raven is the latest addition to our Lost Words vocabulary books. Here is a story on this theme to listen to The Tower Bridge Cat.

In Maths we have been working on subtraction, taking away amounts and counting back through role play and games. Maths homework builds on this work. In phonics we completed our work revisiting phase 3 sounds, this week’s tricky words to learn off by heart are one and when.

This week we said a very fond farewell to Logan in Green Apples. Our very best wishes to him as he starts at his new school, which is much closer to his home, we know you will continue to succeed!

Today we have had a ‘make the rules’ day, a fund-raising day organised by FORP. The children have thoroughly enjoyed their day bending the rules!

Next week we continue with our work about the Platinum Jubilee.

Have a happy weekend!

13.05.22

Hello

We have had another busy week and have based our learning around The Hundred Decker Bus by Mike Smith. We have enjoyed making buses our of various materials, including the mobilo and outside in our construction area! We have also written about where we would travel on a double decker bus and which deck we would like to sit in. We have also been comparing China to England in our topic sessions and telling each other stories from the "You Choose" book. We have really enjoyed this transport topic.

We have also been using buses to work on our addition skills in Maths. We have been rolling a dice to generate numbers and have found the total by counting on from the larger number. We have sent some addition homework home and have been working on writing correct addition number sentences.

This week has also been Mental Health week. We have had a PSE session on taking care of our minds through exercise, rest and spending time with friends and family. We have talked about things that make us happy and how we can bounce back when things go wrong.

Next week, we start work on our London and the Queen theme in the run-up to the Platinum Jubilee!

Best Wishes

Apple Tree Class

6.5.22

Hello Apple Class families,

Another Bank Holiday weekend has meant a short week however the children have still managed to pack in lots of learning!

We have been really interested in learning about the festival Eid. We have read stories and books to develop our knowledge of this topic. Here is a story to listen to;  In my Mosque - read aloud story. In the classroom the children have been making Eid cards and looking at patterns on prayer mats and in mosques. It was lovely hearing about our children’s own celebrations. Thank you to our parents for sharing photographs and the sweet treats!

In other areas we continue to work hard on our reading and writing skills, the children are becoming increasingly independent with these skills.

We have recapped our walk to Yeadon Tarn last week and drawn maps of the route we took. In Maths we have been looking at 2D shape; exploring how shapes change when they are rotated, how they tessellate and fit together to make patterns, as well as reminding ourselves of their names and their properties. Maths homework this week has a shape focus. Harold the giraffe helped us to understand the importance of healthy eating to keep our bodies strong and well.

Next week we continue with our transport theme.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Apple Class Team.

29.04.22

Hello!

We have had a very different week in Reception class but it has been exciting and busy all the same.

This week, we had a PSHCE workshop where we finally got to meet Harold the Giraffe. Harold is a character that has been used in our PSCHE scheme and stories to help us learn about important topics such as physical and mental health, sharing and being kind and respectful to others. We learned all about healthy eating and the importance of exercise and a healthy diet.

We have continued work on Emma-Jane’s Aeroplane and took a trip to the Tarn today as part of our Transport topic. We watched some planes take off and land and looked out for signs of Spring. We talked about flight schedules, radio communication and why it is used and where the planes were heading (Poland and Spain). We also had to use our super listening skills to hear plane engines and how they change when landing and taking off. On our walk, we spotted buds and blossoms, daffodils and some cute ducklings and discussed how they are signs that Spring is here. The children behaved brilliantly and had a short play in the park afterwards. Many thanks to the parent volunteers who came with us and helped us to stay safe on our walk.

We have also been learning this transportation song called “We all go travelling by” – it’s a catchy one that your child may wish to continue singing at home!

Reception have also been very excited about the Scholastic Book Fair that has taken place in school this week. The Book Fair was running as a Year 6 project and many of our children entered the ‘Book in a Box’ competition. Parents and pupils have spent this week voting for a winner in each phase. Year 6 have been tallying votes and the winner was Florence H in Red Apples for her superb 'Supertato' Book in a Box (see gallery below). Well done, Florence! She was able to choose a book fron the Book Fair as her prize. On behalf of Reception, we would like to say a big thank you to Year 6 for helping our pupils choose books, vote in competitions and completing payments with parents. It was a very well attended and organised event and we have really enjoyed taking part.

Next week, we will be continuing learning all about teen numbers in maths and different modes of transportation. We will also be earning about Ramadan and Eid and what they mean to those of Islamic faith. We know a few of our children will be celebrating Eid on Monday and Tuesday with their families and we wish you ‘Eid Mubarak!’

If parents/families have any objects they’d like to bring in or share for Eid we would love to see them!

Reminder: Next week is a four day week due to the May Bank Holiday on Monday 2^nd. Children are due in school on Tuesday 3^rd May.

Have a lovely weekend and stay safe!

Apple Class Team

22.4.22

Welcome back after the Easter break!

All the children have settled back into school beautifully and the short week has flown over. It is hard to believe that we are now in our final term with the children!

This week we have begun a new topic relating to our local area, travel and transport. We have read a lovely story Emma Jane’s Aeroplane by Katie Haworth. It is a rhyming book all about a little girl’s journey to various places around the world. We have found out about the places she visits and located them on maps. We have read and listened to many other stories about travels and journeys. Here is a lovely picture story to watch and discuss. The Journey by Aaron Becker.

We have heard about the children’s holidays and written news in our writing books. In Phonics we are now revisiting the previously learnt sounds and words by reading and writing them in longer sentences. In Maths we have been working on 11 and 12 and our number bonds to ten.

Next week the Book Fair is visiting school and as part of this we have been running a ‘Book in a Box ‘competition, see the gallery above for some of the lovely entries, well done to all we think you have been very creative!

House keeping

Change of P.E days

A reminder that we have swapped P.E days. Red Apples will now have P.E on Mondays and Green Apples have their lesson on Thursday. Sorry if this has caused any confusion, we do like to keep you on your toes! ;-)

Super Sentence Homework

The sound books are now complete and should be kept at home to revisit as required; they are a useful resource for any sounds your child is finding tricky.

This week the children will bring home a Super Sentence Book. Now that the children are confident with writing sentences and their phase 3 sounds the homework will take the form of weekly sentence writing. This need only be a short activity; we do not expect essays! We have provided some notes and guidance for how to help your child. Thank you as always for your continued support with your child’s learning.

Next week we are once again walking to Yeadon Tarn, this time we hope to time our visit so that we can do some plane spotting. We are so lucky to have such a great resource on our doorstep. Thank you to all the adults who have volunteered to walk with us, we really do appreciate it.

Have a super weekend!

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

01.04.22

Hello!

This week, we have enjoyed taking part in all sorts of Easter-themed activities. We have listened to the Christian story of Easter and talked about Easter traditions. We have written tricky words on eggs, made Easter collages and even made Crispy Easter Nests with Miss Scott! On Thursday, we took part in the FORP Easter Egg Scramble. The children were really well behaved and enjoyed finding out which egg they had won! A big thank you to our PTA and FORP for organising such a lovely event. Reception class have also really enjoyed the bout of snow we had on Thursday! See our gallery below.

We have worked on using 'I have...' in sentences and are getting so much better at writing full sentences independently. We have been working on using full stops, finger spaces and making sure that our sentences start with a capital letter.

In Phonics, we have been consolidating out knowledge of phase 3 digraphs and tricky words - we have sent home some practice sheets in Sound Book 2.

In Maths, we have been working on creating patterns and finding number bonds to 10. We did "The Ten Dance" and matched up our numicon pieces with a partner. What fun!

Miss Scott has recorded another fantastic story! It's called 'Hattie Peck' by Emma Levey. Click this sentence to download it!

Reminder: For the Summer term (after the Easter break) P.E. days will be:
Red Apples - Monday
Green Apples - Thursday
Please can your child come to school wearing his/her P.E. kit on this day.

Yeadon Library Easter Event

This Easter holiday we are running a free workshop for children at Yeadon Library. There will be opportunity to make a living literary scene and design and build a functioning Lego plant holder.

The event will run on Thursday 7^th April from 2:00- 3:00pm. It is a free event, but booking is required. https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/leedslibraryevents

  More information can be found on this poster.

Easter Holidays Screen Time Challenge

A letter has gone home in bookbags detailing our Screen Time Challenge. We have set a whole-school challenge for our pupils to complete as many activities as possible that do not involve screentime. For each activity that your child completes, please tick and write the date of completion next to it. Please return the completed challenge sheet to your child's class teacher by Thursday 21st April. The class with the most returned sheets will receive an award announced on Friday 22nd April.

We hope you have a wonderful Easter break and look forward to seeing you again (and hearing your holiday news!) on Tuesday 19th April!

Book in a Box Competition!

Our Year 6 Bookfair Takeover Team are launching a competition over the Easter Holidays. The competition is "Book in a Box" To enter, you need an old parcel, cereal or shoe box and decorate it with all the characters and scenery from your favourite book or story. Please include the name of the book/story chosen and make sure the name and class are written clearly on the back of your entry. Entries must be in school by Friday 22nd April at the latest. All entries will be displayed in the hall for you to vote for your winners during the book fair from Monday 25th April to Thursday 28th April. Each Key stage or phase will have a winner. Winners will receive vouchers to spend at the book fair. We look forward to seeing your entries! 

A letter with more detail and examples is coming home in bookbags on Friday 1st April.

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

25.03.22

Hello!

What a lovely week of sunshine we have enjoyed.

One of our themes this week has been finding out about Mother’s Day; talking about how and why we celebrate it. The children have been busy making things related to this - have a look in their book bags this weekend for a surprise. Our shoe shop has expanded this week and now includes a variety of headwear, this led to a us learning about sacred and special headwear through the story ‘The Proudest Blue.’

We have continued our work on the story of Little Red Riding Hood, reading a variety of different versions and taking part in a ‘hot seating’ activity. The children enjoyed listening to and giving clues about the characters to try and guess who was on the hot seat. They wrote speech bubbles as different characters.

In phonics we celebrated as we reached the end of our introduction to the phase 3 sounds. This week we learnt /air/ and /ure/ as our final trigraphs. The children enjoyed a variety of activities to practise these sounds including making a ‘cure’ in the water tray. We will now consolidate our learning before moving onto the next phase in phonics. These sounds will appear in the reading books the children bring home.

In Maths we have been counting back and finding one less than an amount. Singing and playing with Ten Green Bottles has provided practise with this. We have ordered Numicon and used tens frames to find one less.

Enjoy the sunny weekend and don’t forget that the clocks spring forward on Sunday!

Best wishes as always,

Apple Class Team.

18.03.22

A warm welcome from Apple Tree Class. We hope that you had a lovely long weekend!

This week, we have continued our traditional stories topic with Little Red Riding Hood . Click here for Miss Scott's Story Time - LRRH 

We have practised retelling the story and have enjoyed taking part in Little Red Riding Hood themed activities such as making playdough cakes and get well cards for Grandmother, acting out the story and retelling it in our small world area. We have also enjoyed consolidating our skills from last week in the maths area by counting in 2s and sorting numbers to 10. Red Apples have had a hopscotch themed PE lesson where they have been practising their jumping, stepping and hopping skills in different ways - see some photos in our gallery below!

In Literacy, we have read different versions of Little Red Riding Hood and made a class story map. We have been retelling the story in the small world or acting it out in our book and role play areas. We have been working on using story language such as "Once upon a Time" and connectives such as "then" and "so" when retelling the story orally.

In phonics, we have been learning er and ear and continuing to practise our tricky words. 'Ear' is a new trigraph which we will keep revisiting. The sounds will be in this week's sound books for homework for you to practise at home.

During maths sessions, we have been learning all about the number 10 and have had a focus on 3D shapes. The shapes we have been learning about are cube, cuboid, sphere, cylinder and cone. We have been learning to identify, name and sort them and are moving onto talking about some of their features e.g. whether they have square, rectangle or circle faces and whether they have curved or straight edges. Can you spot these shapes when you're out and about? Can you find one of each at home?

Housekeeping

Reminder: Homework in Sound Book 2 is collected in on a Wednesday. Please make sure it is completed and in your child's bookbag ready for feedback and checking. Also, please make sure you sign or comment in your child's reading record when they have ready their reading book with someone at home.

Thank you for your continued support. We hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Best wishes

Apple Tree Class

11.03.22

Another exciting week in school which has flashed by!

We saw the first welcome signs of Spring and haven’t felt the need to wrap up quite so much for outdoor learning and play. We made the most of the sunshine by making some shadow drawings of dinosaurs, which led to discussions about how shadows are formed.

We have continued our work on traditional tales, completing sentences about the Elves and the shoemaker story and exploring vocabulary such as buckles, leather and cobbler. 

Our Literacy was further enhanced by a lovely session on Tuesday with a local storyteller Catherine O’Neill. She led workshops throughout Nursery and KS1. Apple Class enjoyed a multi-sensory treat based on the story of Cinderella. Everyone had a fantastic time; have a look in the gallery below to see how engaged the children were with the songs, dance and drama. Events like these really do bring the curriculum to life!

In Maths we have further explored the number 9 and looked at the part-whole model to find the ways to make 9. We used bean bags and hoops to consolidate our understanding of this. We have been pairing shoes in our shoe shop role play area, and beginning to count in 2’s. We have learnt the rhyme One two buckle my shoe. We are working towards learning some rhymes, songs and poems off by heart, if you’d like to practise this one with your child click here.

We also read a lovely story called Centipede’s 100 Shoes by Tony Ross; a story all about the problems a centipede has trying to put on and tie laces for his many feet! Miss Scott has recorded this story  for the children to enjoy for the weekend. You can download it here:  Miss Scott's storytime

We have also been continuing to work on the rhyme There was an old woman who lived in a shoe- a somewhat kinder version than the original though! We received a letter from her asking the children to make a new house as the shoe really was not fit for purpose!  The children have been very industrious using junk modelling materials to make new houses alongside the other construction resources. We have enjoyed the recent additions to our construction area generously donated by one of our families. 

A reminder that Monday is a staff training day and so school is closed to children.

Enjoy the extended weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday 15^th March.

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

3.3.22

Hello!

We have had a lovely first week back. Everyone came back refreshed and ready to learn and play after the holidays.

This week our story has been The Elves and the Shoemaker. We have been retelling the story and sequencing the events in the story. We have been learning the rhymes One, two buckle my shoe and a modern-day version of There was an old woman who lives in a shoe. We have compared illustrations from old versions of these rhymes. We have been looking at how clothing and  footwear has changed.

The children have really enjoyed playing in the shoe shop role play area and have been busy fitting shoes, taking money, making price tags and talking to customers politely.

In Maths we have been exploring number 9. We learnt that it similar to 4 as it makes a square. We have been recapping our knowledge of 2D shapes and their properties.

In Phonics we continue to work through our phase 3 sounds, this week we have learnt ar and ur. We are consolidating our knowledge of the tricky words taught to date. Thank you for your continued support with these challenging vowel digraphs in the sound books and in reading books.

 On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day with a dress up parade and a book swap. The children completed scavenger hunts and made character headbands in class amongst other activities. It was a fun and busy day!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Apple Class Team.

18.02.22

In our final week of Spring 1 half term, we have been finishing our work on Winter. This week, we have been comparing the North and South Poles and the animals there. We have been reading 'Poles Apart' by Jeanne Willis. It's a story about a polar bear who helps a family of penguins return to their home in the South Pole.  We've enjoyed doing all sorts of activities relating to polar bears and penguins. Monday was Valentines Day and we have been making Valentines cards and pretend Valentine cookies out of playdough. We have also been looking at storytelling this week. Our story stick where we can invent our own stories has been particularly popular- see our gallery below!

In phonics this week we have been learning oa and oo (both long 'oo' as in moon and short 'oo' as in book). These are tricky digraphs so please support your child with learning them for homework. We encourage them for 'oo' to try both ways when reading a new word while they familiarise themselves with the sounds. We have also been learning tricky words my and her.

Housekeeping

On Friday 18th February, we break up for half term. We return to school on Monday 28th February.

On Thursday 3rd of March we will be taking part in World Book Day. We are asking children to dress up as a book character for the day and we will be taking part in some activities such as a book swap and a costume parade. Here is a link for some dressing up ideas from the World Book Day website: Dressing up Ideas

We hope that you and your families have a great half term and cannot wait to hear about what you got up to when you come back.

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

11.02.22

It was lovely to welcome you all into school for face to face appointments on Parents evening this week. It was good to share the children's progress and chat about how settled and happy the children are. It felt as though life is getting back to normal!

In class this week we have continued our birds topic and learnt more about penguins. The children have been interested in how they differ from the birds we see in our garden, and we have explored where they live in the world and some of their characteristics. We were very surprised to find that some penguins live at the beach! We have read lots of penguin stories and enjoyed learning some fun songs and rhymes waddling like penguins! Click here for one of the songs Penguin song. We have experimented with different ways to join items using staplers, split pins and other tools when making a jointed penguin. 

After reading some non-fiction books we wrote some simple facts about penguins in sentences. We have also been busy writing around our classroom; taking telephone messages, writing shopping lists in the home corner and labelling the models we make in the construction area.

In maths we have been working on doubling and halving facts  and explored these during games of dominoes and adding spots to ladybirds.

In phonics we continue to work hard on the phase 3 digraphs. We are now busy learning the vowel digraphs and we were excited to learn our first trigraph this week! Sounds and tricky words are in the homework books as usual. The children are very conscientious with their homework in the sound books, it is a pleasure to see them each Wednesday, well done to all!

Sadly, our scheduled story telling session was cancelled this week but we have re-booked for March 8^th which will be a nice treat to look forward to next half term.

Next week- more about penguins and polar regions before we break up for our half term holiday.

Have a super weekend.

Apple Class Team.

04^..02.22

This week we have been learning all about Penguins. In Literacy, we have been reading ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. It is a story about a boy who finds a lost penguin and his journey to return him to the South Pole. We have been learning lots of penguin facts, making fingerpaint penguins and singing songs about penguins! We have also been making birds from loose parts. You can see some of our artwork in the gallery below.

Our new phonics sounds this week are ai and ee and we are learning tricky words you and they. Look out for these in sound books and practise them with your child!

In Maths, we have been working on the composition of 8 using numicon and writing number 8. Writing number 8 remains a challenge so please practice this at home with your child. Here is a poster to help if you need it.

We have also been practicing timing ourselves using sandtimers and racing against them in our challenge activities. We asked the children ‘How many towers of 5 can you build in 1 minute?’ and they have risen to the challenge well. We have also discussed the days of the week and there has been an improvement in understanding what happens on certain days and why!

As part of National Storytelling Week, we have been taking part in a ‘Drop and Read’ challenge. The bell has gone twice a day and when we hear it, we have literally stopped what we’ve been doing for a story. The children have loved the extra storytime and on Thursday, Mr Drewell (Max’s Daddy) joined us to read a story. He read ‘Superworm’ by Julia Donaldson and did a ‘super’ job! Our pupils really enjoyed having a different adult read to them and were engaged and well-behaved throughout. Well done!

Thursday 3^rd February marks national Feed the Birds Day. We have continued our efforts to feed the birds in our local area with bird feeders. Perhaps you can feed birds in your own garden or at the local park?

Next week, we will be continuing our work on penguins. We are also looking forward to welcoming grown-ups into school for Parents Evening (Tuesday 8^th and Wednesday 9th). Please contact the office if you are having trouble booking an appointment and would like to see your child’s class teacher.

In the meantime, we wish you a happy and safe weekend!

Apple tree Class

28^..01.22

This week we have continued to find out more about birds with our focus for literacy being on non-fiction books which we used to find out simple facts about birds. We used our knowledge to write our own facts in sentences and drew careful pictures looking closely at the colours and markings on the birds.

On Wednesday we had a walk to Yeadon Tarn (or the dam as it’s known locally ) to feed the wildfowl and do some bird spotting. We saw swans, geese, moorhens, gulls and mallards. We were very excited to spot a pair of mandarin ducks with their very pretty markings. We had fun feeding the birds a mix of seeds, salad leaves, nuts, oats and peas (thank you for all your donations) from behind the safety of the railings. We had a play in the park before returning to school having worked up an appetite for our lunch! We were very proud of the children’s behaviour who all walked sensibly and were polite to the members of the public that we met.

In other areas we have continued with our work on phase 3 sounds in phonics. The new digraphs are more of a challenge, but the children are recognising them well and are working hard at careful pronunciation. Parents and carers guide to pronouncing sounds. Your support with the work in sound books is really helpful, thankyou for returning them to school on Wednesdays ready for marking.

In Maths we have worked on the composition of 7 and addition skills. We have also been making longer, thinner and shorter, thicker playdough worms to feed the birds.

Next week it is National story telling week so we will be promoting this during the week.

Have a great weekend!

Apple Class Team

14.1.22

This week we have started a new topic all about garden birds. We have been focussing this week on starlings. In Literacy, we have been reading ‘Calvin Can’t Fly’ by Jennifer Byrne and creating watercolour collages of starlings. You can see some of our artwork in the gallery below.

Our new phonics sounds this week are y, qu, z, zz and we are learning tricky words he and she. Look out for these in sound books and practise them with your child!

In Maths, we have been finding different ways of making 6 by grouping animals and objects (such as 3+3, 2+2+2 etc). We’ve particularly enjoyed using the penguins and ice blocks to do this and have been practising writing matching number sentences and using mathematical vocabulary such as ‘plus’ and ‘equals’ when making six.

We have enjoyed the milder weather this week and used the opportunity to hang out bird feeders outside. We haven’t seen any birds use it yet, but we have spotted a magpie nest in a nearby tree and have enjoyed watching the magpies come and go! We have our new bird spotting posters to help us identify the birds we do see when they come!

We have also started our new Dance unit in PE and have been looking at creating short dance sequences based around colours and feelings. We have created a short sequences for sad (blue), happy (yellow) and angry (red) and talked about how different movements can match moods and show feelings – perhaps you can spot some of our moves in the gallery below and match them to our colours. In our classroom, we have also been enjoying making cube sandcastles with tricky word flags and learning how to brush our teeth correctly...by practising on the dinosaurs and animals! We got out our toothbrushes and toothpaste and gave the dinosaur and animal teeth a good brush!

We wish you a happy and safe weekend!

Apple tree Class

7.1.22

Happy New Year!

The children have come back very happily and now seem to be old hands at school life. :-)

It has been lovely to hear the children’s news about their holidays; they wrote some super sentences in their writing books.

We have had a wintry theme this week matching the weather outside. We needed our warm coats, hats, and gloves!

Through stories we have learnt lots about Winter. We heard about a character called Jack Frost, read a Percy the park keeper story One Snowy Night and found out how snowflakes are formed through the story The Little Snowflake. We enjoyed learning to mix cool colours with paint to create winter scenes.

In Maths our number of the week is 6. We have explored cubes and dice spots - the children are very good at recognising the patterns.

In Phonics we have begun learning the Phase 3 sounds. We are excited to learn another set of letters and how to use them in our reading and writing. This week our sounds are j,v,w,x.

Sound Book Homework

Today the children are bringing home a new Sound Book. We are following the same format as in Sound Book 1.
Each week we will add the sounds and new tricky words to the books. This term we ask that you return the books to school on Wednesdays for marking instead of adding pictures to Tapestry. Thank you for your support with this work.

Next week we are continuing our Winter theme and beginning to learn about garden birds. If anyone has any spare bird feeders to donate, they would be greatly appreciated - we are hoping to attract birds to our garden area!

Just a reminder that we have swapped P.E. days

Green Apples – Monday

Red Apples – Thursday

Have a lovely weekend - keep warm!

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

17.12.21

Hello!

We have had another busy week in the run up to Christmas! On Monday, we enjoyed watching KS2 perform The Snow Queen. It was a fantastic production and the older pupils should be very proud of it. We also made Christmas biscuits upstairs, using our fine motor skills to roll, cut and decorate dough. In phonics, we have revised our knowledge of Phase 2 phonics through our reading books and writing Christmas themed CVC words. Some children have even tried to write a Christmas list for Santa. We have also completed phonics assessments and written our own Christmas Cards to go home.

The highlight of our week has been our Christmas Party on Wednesday. We played pin the nose on the snowman, corners and pass the parcel. Our party gave us a special chance to practise being good sports, turn taking and generally enjoying ourselves. We even got a visit from Santa who gave us all a book to pop under the tree at home!

Friday was our Christmas Jumper day and we tucked into a lovely Christmas dinner. As you can see from our gallery, we were all feeling very festive and ready for Christmas!

We’d like to say a big thank you for all of our kind Christmas cards, treats and gifts – all of the adults have really appreciated them. Thank you!

House Keeping

School will re-open on Tuesday 4^th January 2022.

Next term there will be a change in P.E. days.

From January P.E. days are:

Monday for green apples
Thursday for red apples

Please can children come to school in their P.E. and wear a pair of shorts underneath their jogging bottoms so these can be removed. We will be doing a dance unit next term. (If it is too tricky to wear shorts underneath then your child could bring a pair to school that day).

Please allow children to be as independent as possible with getting changed and organising their own clothes. It is part of our Early Learning Goal that children can dress themselves

Nell Bank Letter - we have sent out a letter about our trip to Nell Bank in the Summer Term. Deposits and permission slips need to be in by 7th January so please return them after Christmas.

Microsoft Teams – today your child will have a letter in their bookbags about setting up their individual Microsoft Teams account. While we hope that we do not have to close, we wanted our families to be prepared and know how to access it. In the event of school/class closure, we will continue to use Tapestry for home learning, general messaging, task setting and feedback. We would use Microsoft Teams for small group work and checking in. Please keep the Teams details somewhere safe in the meantime.

Spare clothing- please can we ask that any spare clothing borrowed by the children is washed and returned. We are very short of pants, socks, tights, and trousers so any spares that you can donate would be appreciated.

Finally, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We look forward to seeing you next half term where we will be starting our Winter Topic!

Apple Class Team

10.12.21

Lots of festive fun this week as our countdown to Christmas continues!

We have been busy inside this week as we sheltered from Storm Barra at times. We linked this to a story Weasel is Worried,  this reminded us how the seasons are changing and about the cosiness of Winter months too.

We have continued to embed our knowledge of Phase 2 phonics through our reading books and writing cvc words using the letter sounds we know. Thank you for your continued support with the children’s reading and phonics homework - especially during the busy run up to Christmas.

 In Maths we have been adding and subtracting and beginning to make the link between these operations. We have decorated triangular trees adding one more decoration to each row. We have also been singing The Twelve Days of Christmas to help practise counting up and down.

Of course, the highlight of our week has been putting on our show Wriggly Nativity. The children’s hard work learning songs, lines, actions, and dances paid off in their fantastic performance.  We were so proud of all the children who sang beautifully, spoke clearly, and moved around the hall and stage like budding actors, well done Apple Class and our Nursery friends! We hope you enjoyed the show as much as the children enjoyed performing it. See our slideshow below.

Next week we have lots of festivities to look forward too; on Monday we are watching the KS2 performance of The Snow Queen. We have our Christmas party on Wednesday. The children may wear their party clothes for the day but please be mindful that we will still use our outside space, so party clothes need to be practical. Thank you for all the contributions that have come in towards the cost of the party. On Friday we have Christmas dinner, and it is our Christmas jumper day, after that we think we will all be ready for a rest!

Spare clothing- please can we ask that any spare clothing borrowed by the children is washed and returned before the end of term. We are very short of pants, socks, tights, and trousers so any spares that you can donate would be appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend,

Apple Class Team.

03.12.21

We've had a very exciting start to December with some snow! The children have enjoyed playing outside in the snowy weather. We have also used the weather as an opportunity to talk more about hibernation and identify hibernating animals and their homes. We have been looking at a story called 'Don't Hog the Hedge!' about a hedgehog who has to share her home with her other hibernating friends and their journey to find a perfect spot. We have been making puppets of the characters and writing their names in our writing books as well as painting hedgehogs and learning all about weasels. Weasel has been our new lost word for this week. We have discussed what they eat, what they look like and where they live. We also discovered that they are nocturnal but they do not hibernate and they can feed themselves over winter!

In Phonics, we have recapped e u r h and began to write the letters. We are starting to write small words with these letters in. Please continue to practise the sounds and tricky words as in the new year, we will be moving onto phase 3!

In Maths, we have explored one more and one less and linking this to +1 and -1. The children have been practising this vocabulary by playing games and creating their own bus stops. When a passenger gets on or off, they have had to use the correct vocabulary and number sentences to say how many children are left on the bus! This has been really fun and has extended learning and play as the children have had to work together to solve number problems, continue a role play altogether and re-enact real-life situations!

We have continued to work hard on our Nativity performance and are excited to perform on Wednesday 8th December at 9:30. At the moment, we can only allocate one ticket per family and cannot record the performance for privacy and photo permission reasons. We will contact or allocate additional tickets should more become available in due course. We hope to see you there!

Have a fantastic weekend

Apple Tree Class

26.11.21

Hello!

We have enjoyed the crisp, frosty mornings and afternoon sunshine this week. The children have been busy outdoors working together to build trains and fire engines and practising their sounds using the sound mats and chalking. It’s lovely to see the children using their developing reading and writing skills in their play.

We have been noticing the changes in temperature and looking forward to winter and thinking about how animals prepare for the cold. Our story this week It was a cold dark night tells of how a hedgehog looks for a place to hibernate and the nocturnal animals he meets on the way. These words have been added to our vocabulary lists!  We have also read a lovely friendship story about a prickly little hedgehog who finds it hard to have a hug. We thought about friendly behaviour and how we can look after each other. The Hug

Inside we have been busy developing our knowledge of 5. We have made star wands with five points, played games involving 5 speckled frogs, used fives frames to practise the bonds to five and stamped different shapes with five blocks. Five is a very important number!

In phonics we revisited /g/o/c/k and learnt to form the letters clearly and correctly. We practised writing them in some words and also wrote the names of the characters in the story. We continued to develop this week’s dance (the 'hump' which helps with the formation of n,m,h,r) in Squiggle while you wiggle. Moulding chocolate scented playdough into hedgehogs has been popular too!

Amidst this we have been working on our songs for our Nativity performance and have begun learning our lines. Your child may have a line to learn in their book bags, please can you take a few minutes to help them learn these. Our performance is on Wednesday 8^th Dec at 9.30am. It will last about 40 minutes. Further details will follow from the school office about seats. Letters for tickets are going home in bookbags on Friday - initially, we can only guarantee one ticket per family and additional tickets may be released if numbers permit. Please complete the ticket request form by Wednesday 1st December. Any requests after this date may not be guaranteed.

Saturday 27th November is the school Christmas Fayre, we hope you will be able to attend and enjoy the start to the festive season.

  Have a lovely weekend!

   Apple Class Team.

18.11.21

This week, we have been focusing on our new Phonics sounds b,f,ff,l,ll,ss and revising our tricky words. We have practised writing CVC words and short sentences using some of the sounds we have learned.

In Maths, we have been ordering numbers to 5, 10 or 20 and worked on recognising numerals to 10.

It was lovely to see some of our parents in school on Wednesday morning.  for our phonics meeting. The slides we used are attached in PDF form below for reference. If you missed the meeting then your child will bring home some handouts in their book bag. There is a booklet about reading that tells you how we teach reading at Rufford Park. This morning we talked about how important it is for children to listen to you reading aloud. There is also a list of suggested books for Reception age range and some links to useful websites and apps. There is also a sheet of Early Learning Goals. These are a statutory assessment for Reception children at the end of the school year, in June. We also said how important it is to keep re-reading their reading book at home over the week. With any new skill lots of practise is required. Thank you for your support with this. We also talked about how phonics is taught. This website shows the progression of phonics teaching: https://letters-and-sounds.com/index.php/what-is-letters-and-sounds/ 

On Thursday, we dressed down for Children in Need. Thank you for all of your donations!

Reminder: Friday 19^th November is a teacher training day and so school will be closed to children. School will re-open as normal on Monday 22nd November. Mrs Deen and Mrs Millen are out in the morning of Monday 22nd for training. Red Apple Class will be looked after by Mrs Waddilove-Carr (who is excited about coming back to Reception for a visit!) and Mrs Richardson will be teaching Green Apples. 

Have a super weekend!

Apple Class

12.11.21

This week we have continued on from the Autumn walks that you made with the children during the holidays. On Monday afternoon we went for a walk around our grounds on a ‘signs of autumn’ hunt. It was a mild November afternoon and we enjoyed crunching in the leaves and having a go at identifying different leaves, trees, and autumnal objects. We had read the patterned story ‘Were going on a leaf hunt’ and found many of the leaves mentioned in the story and enjoyed looking at the varying shapes of the birch, oak, beech and sycamore leaves. We discussed how these leaves are changing colour and compared them to evergreen leaves such as the holly and ivy that we spotted. Listen to the story here. We're going on a leaf hunt 

You will also have seen a mini ‘Lost Words’ book in the children's book bags. These contain all the new vocabulary that we are learning in Reception. We are encouraging the children to use these words in their everyday talk and play.

Our new sounds in Phonics have been e, u, r, h and we are working on recognising our tricky words confidently. The children have also completed a writing activity based on our walk. It is great to see the children beginning to develop their reading and writing skills. Thank you for your continued support with reading books, the comments in the record books are appreciated.

In Maths our number of the week has been number 5, a very important number in our number system. The children have been working on finding ways to make five and beginning to learn these as bonds to 5.

On Thursday we also talked about Remembrance Day and had our best smiles out for our school photos!

House keeping

On Wednesday 17^th November we are holding a short meeting about how we teach phonics and early reading. Coffee will be available after you drop off your child in the hall. We hope to see as many of you as possible!

Also a reminder that next week is a 4-day week as Friday 19^th November is a teacher training day and so school will be closed to children.

Have a super weekend!

Apple Class Team

05.11.21

Hello!

We hope you've all had a restful half term.

It's been a busy start to Autumn 2 - we have taken part in Halloween and Bonfire Night themed activities such as creating crazy pumpkins and painting firework pictures. We ended our week with a chat about Bonfire Night and safety. We hope that you all have a super Bonfire Night and look forward to hearing about what you got up to next week.

We've also introduced some new sounds in Phonics. This week we have learned g, o, c, k and ck and have I and the as tricky words. We have sent these home as homework along with some CVC and CVCC words for reading.

In Maths, we have been exploring the number 4 and the concept of one more. We have been finding one more of a given number using conkers, leaves and firework pictures.

Green Apple Class have also had their first PE lesson lead by Fisical Sports Coaching. Have a look at our gallery below for photos.

Best Wishes

Apple Class Team

22.10.21

It is hard to believe that this is the last post for this half term, the time has seemed to have gone by very quickly!  We are very proud of how well the children have settled into school. Well done Apples!

This week has been another busy one and in Phonics we have continued our work on the first set of sounds (s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d) ensuring the children are confident recognising and hearing them in words. We have learnt two more new words go and no. Taking time to practise these sounds and words will really help your child be ready for the first set of reading books, your support with homework is greatly appreciated.

In Maths we have learnt all about the number 3 and have been investigating triangles. We have been learning to use vocabulary to describe triangles and explain how they are different to circles. We hope the children enjoyed the super shapes activity. As always please upload photos of the children’s homework to tapestry.

To finish off our first half term today we made some teddy bear toast. We had great fun spreading chocolate spread and adding banana, chocolate buttons and raisins and of course eating them for our snack!

Today the children are bringing home an Autumn treasure hunt for some fun over the holidays. You may go for a walk and find some treasures to bring back to school to share and name using that all important vocabulary. There is a checklist for some ideas to tick off should the children wish to do so. Have fun and happy hunting!

We would like to wish you a lovely restful half term holiday and we look forward to seeing everyone in Autumn 2.

Best wishes

Apple Class Team

15.10.21

This week we have been busy practising writing our names and learning all about the number 2. We've been finding pairs and sets of two and adding them to our number displays. The children have also had a good go at writing the numeral 2 in as many different areas of the classroom as possible - including our smartboard!

In Maths, we've also been using the story of Dear Zoo to sort animals by size and put them into boxes. In our craft area, we have been using our cutting skills to make snake spirals.

In Phonics, we have been practising writing s,a,t and p - our homework sheets this week will continue with forming these letters and our new tricky words and, to and into.

Next week is the final week of the half term. We will be making sock puppets and finishing our work on buttons and our families!

Best wishes and stay safe

Apple Tree Class

08.10.21

This week we have been continuing our topic on families. The children have had the opportunity to  make their own people in our craft area. We have also focused on building skills for early writing with our Squiggle while you wiggle sessions. The children have been transferring the dance they have been learning onto paper. Next week, we learn a whole new dance! We have also been making patterns using loose parts and practising writing our names. Please help your child to recognise and practise writing their names at home using a capital letter at the beginning and lower case letters for the rest.

In Phonics, we have been learning i, n, m and d and will be sending home homework sheets to go into sound books and upload onto Tapestry. Maybe your child can find objects around the house that begin with these sounds? We have also started to make CVC words such as 'dip' and 'sad' using magnetic letters - some of us have even written them and have been practising their blending at home. Thank you for supporting us in completing homework and reading books so far. It really does help us to identify gaps and move learning on and the children are off to a super start!

In Maths, we have been looking at the number 1 and continuing our super work on counting. Have a look in our photo gallery for us counting everything from buttons to playdough shapes! Any kind of counting, asking what one more is and number recognition is helpful to practise at home too.

Housekeeping - Please make sure that jumpers/cardigans are labelled clearly with your child's name. It helps us find their owners far more quickly!

We are asking for old pairs of socks and random odd socks. We would like some pairs of socks for matching and pairing tasks over the next few weeks and at the end of the half term we hope to use the odd socks to make sock puppets. Please bring any in if you have them at home.

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Apple Tree Class

1.10.21

Hello! 

Lots of ‘firsts’ this week in Apple Class.

This week we had our first P.E sessions in the hall. Everyone took part in all the activities and games with lots of enthusiasm and got the hang of the routines and expectations brilliantly. We were impressed with how well the children managed taking off their own shoes, socks and jumpers and even had a go at folding up their jumpers! Encouraging the children to dress and undress themselves helps them be independent at school. 

We have also started two other daily teaching sessions.

 We have now begun our work on Phase 2 phonics, the first steps in early reading. Each day the children learn the sound associated with a new letter through songs, actions, and games. Today the children will bring home their sound book with the sounds taught this week see below for some images of the pages. Scanning the QR codes will take you to the songs that we sing. We have also added some activities to help your child identify words which start with each sound. Click here for a guide for the correct pronunciation of sounds. 

Thank you for your support with this .

We have also begun our Squiggle while you wiggle sessions which is the beginning of our journey towards writing.  In these sessions we learn a dance with different actions which develop gross motor skills. The children then translate these movements into marks and patterns on paper on a large scale. It is great fun!

On a seasonal theme we have been thinking about what we find in our environment during autumn and were lucky enough to find some blackberries in Nursery Garden. It was lovely to hear the children’s experiences of blackberry picking at home. We had a few blackberries to sample (sorry if there were a few purple hands!) and have had blackberry jam on bread for our snack today. We learnt a new word bramble and have been trying to remember it. Ask the children if they know what it means….

Of course, we have also still had plenty of time to play with all our new friends!

Have a lovely weekend!

Apple Class Team

 24.09.21

Hello!

We have had another busy week in Apple Tree Class.

This week we have started our ‘Buttons’ topic. We have been using vocabulary to describe buttons and the material they are made from. Our new words for the week are leather and metal. Can your child find objects that are made from metal or leather at home and practice using these words? We are also thinking about sorting buttons and wondering what kind of clothes they have come from.

Homework – please see Mrs Deen’s Tapestry memo that demonstrates pencil grip and advice for developing fine motor skills. We have also been learning to hear sounds in words, such as c for cat and that c-a-t blended together make the word cat.
For homework we would also like you and your child to complete the following games:
— I Spy
Can you play I Spy at home to get your child used to hearing sounds in words.

- Robots
Sound talk a word like a robot and your child says the word
E.g. You say d-o-g and your child says dog
You say b-e-d and your child says bed

Housekeeping - Children will begin P.E. lessons from next week (week beginning 27.9.21). Children will need to come to school on their P.E. day:

Monday – Red Apples

Thursday – Green Apples

As the weather is changing, please make sure that your child is coming to school with a coat and sensible footwear. We would also like to remind parents that children should be coming to school with water only in their water bottles. Juice or squash is not permitted. School provides fruit/vegetable as a daily snack so children do not need to bring in a snack from home (unless agreed with staff) – please see a member of staff if you have any queries.

We have also started sending home more letters and will soon be giving out reading books. Please ensure that your child has a Rufford Park book bag to carry everything that they need. Book bags are available from PC Sports for £9 using this link: https://pcsports.co.uk/collections/rufford-park-primary-school

Thank you for your continued support.

Have a safe and super weekend

Apple Class Team

17.09.21

Hello!

This week the children have completed their transition to school and are now in for full days. On Monday and Tuesday, we all had lunch and stayed for playtime on the main playground. Everyone did a brilliant job of queuing up to choose lunch.

We have also been busy exploring the classroom and outdoor area and getting to know each other. We have been playing lots of listening and ‘getting to know you’ games. We are very impressed with how well the children are learning all the new routines; a quiet weekend might be in order after a busy first week! ;-)

Next week we are going to learning more about our families and our homes, please see the Memo on tapestry for more details. We have attached  our half termly overview so you can see what the children will be learning in the coming weeks.Autumn term overview

Children will begin P.E. lessons in week 4 (week beginning 27.9.21). Children will need to come to school on their P.E. day (Mondays red apples and Thursdays green apples for this half term)

Have a lovely weekend,

Apple Class Team

10.09.21

Hello!

A warm welcome to Reception Apple classes and to Rufford Park Primary if you are new to our school. On this weekly blog we will aim to update you with news, information and photos of the children.

Hopefully you have activated your child's Tapestry account so that you can see all the things that your child is doing whilst at school. Please keep checking regularly on here as well as on Tapestry for the latest updates and housekeeping notifications.

It’s been a pleasure to Welcome our Apple class of 2021-2022 to Reception this week. We took a few photos from our Stay and Play Sessions for you to view in the gallery below.

We have had a lovely first few days and the children have all had an explore of their new classroom and begun to meet new friends. The children have settled in well and we’ve been really pleased to see how quickly they’ve made themselves at home. We will be adding individual first day photos to Tapestry shortly.

A few housekeeping reminders:

The office have asked for admissions forms and medical forms provided in the starting school pack to be returned to school urgently. Even if your child attended Rufford Park Nursery, new admissions and medical forms need completing to enroll your child in Reception.
If you need copies of these forms please speak to the office

Photo Permission - If your child does not currently have photo permission to appear on our blog or website and you would like them to, please see a member of staff.

Timetable for Next Week – Both Red and Green Apple Pupils are expected in School:

Monday 13th Sept: 8.50-1.15pm and have lunch at school.
Tuesday 14th Sept: 8.50-1.15pm and have lunch at school.
From Wednesday 15^th Sept (full-time): 8.50-3.10pm.
Please drop off and collect your child at the relevant doors

Children will need to wear their uniforms for all of next week. We will update you again with more information about PE kits and times next week.

Please can you support us by ensuring that ALL your child's clothing and footwear are clearly labelled and that they bring their book bag and water bottle daily. Book bags are available from the school office.

If you have any questions or queries, a member of staff will be happy to help!

Best wishes

Apple Class Team