Reception

Summer Term - Literacy

This term we have been continuing with our Little Wandle phonics programme and we are reading and writing more independently.  Some of us have started to write in sentences as we record our experiences.  We have enjoyed sharing our holiday news and our memories of the King's Coronation and Liberation Day. 

We have shared lots of fantastic stories and are beginning to write and illustrate our own books. 

Summer Term - Numeracy

This term we have continued to consolidate our understanding of numbers to ten.  We have also worked hard to count up to 20 objects accurately, and to recognise and order numbers to 20.  We have started to solve problems using doubling, halving and sharing.  We enjoyed making symmetrical butterfly prints. 

Summer Term - Science

We have been busy in the garden with planting, weeding and watering.  The peas and lemon balm are growing well! 

Watching the caterpillars grow and change has helped us to understand more about life cycles. We were fascinated by the caterpillars as they grew fatter and built cocoons.  

We have played with different materials in the water tray to find out which ones are waterproof and we have experimented to find which objects will float or sink. This has helped us to design and make boats in D&T.

Summer Term - other subject areas

We have been learning about different forms of transport and how transport has changed over time. In D&T we have made our own vehicles from junk materials.  We have also made boats and tested them in the water tray. Everyone made a special effort to leave the car at home during 'Walk to School' week.

We have really been enjoying swimming and everyone is gaining confidence in the water.  It was very exciting to take part in our first Sponsored Swim.  We are practising team games for Sports Day. 

We have had lots of fun (and got very messy!) experimenting with different types of paint - poster, powder and water colours.   We have made paper sculptures and models from clay.

Spring Term - Literacy

This term we have been reading traditional tales and retelling the stories in our own words.  We enjoyed making porridge when we read 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.  We thought of some interesting words to describe the giant and the other characters in 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. 

We made our own little books based on 'Dear Zoo' and a class book based on 'Oi Frog!'.

In phonics we have been learning lots of digraphs and trigraphs and have started to read compound words. 

We had a super Reading Workshop in January with the Schools' Library Service - lots of parents and carers came to share stories with us in the hall and we took home our Book Start packs. 

Spring Term - Maths

We have been learning more about numbers 6, 7 and 8 this term.  We have been comparing length by comparing the size of our feet.  We have been exploring weight using the balance scales in the playdough. We have started learning about time.  It was a challenge to see how many times we could write our name in one minute.  We have enjoyed singing our 'Days of the Week' song.  Some of us have achieved all our stamps in our Maths Travel Bag.

Spring Term - Science

We have been watching our runner bean seeds germinate, ready to plant out in the garden.  In Outdoor Learning with La Societe Guernesiaise we planted spinach seeds, made bug houses and bird seed feeders.  We also learnt about the different types of seaweed we find on our shores.

After sharing the story 'And Tango Makes Three', we found out more about penguins and had fun playing with the ice mountain. We observed how the ice melted in our hands.  On a cold and frosty morning we wrote our names in the ice in our outside area. 

Spring Term - Other

In music we have been exploring percussion instruments and how we can use our bodies to make music.  We have enjoyed singing songs based on bible stories.

In art we have been making marvellous marks using felt pens, wax crayons and chalk.  We have used pencils to create observational drawings and self-portraits.

In PE we have been using the small apparatus to help develop our gymnastic skills. 

Autumn Term

The children have enjoyed exploring their new school environment and meeting new friends and teachers. We had our first 'Stay and Play' to introduce our families to our learning. 

Literacy

We love sharing books and chatting about favourite stories with our friends.  This term we have loved sharing 'Each Peach Pear Plum', 'Peace at Last' and 'Julian is a Mermaid'.  We have started learning our letter sounds and have been practising blending to help us read independently.  We have been practising our letter formation in lots of different ways. 

Numeracy

We have enjoyed singing number rhymes and songs. We have been counting and comparing groups of objects and making repeating patterns.  We have been learning about shapes as we make pictures and patterns with 2d shapes. 

Science

We have had some lovely autumn weather, so we have been busy outside and in the Mud Kitchen. We found out more about the seasons when we went for our autumn walk and collected leaves for printing.   We also collected sunflower seeds from the garden, ready to plant in the spring.  We made bread during Harvest week and observed how the ingredients changed as we mixed and baked the dough.

Other

We have explored colour mixing as we have been painting and drawing.  We have been trying really hard to use our 'good looking' and 'good listening' skills.  Learning about percussion instruments has helped our good listening - we even made our own instruments!  After reading 'The Little Red Hen' we made our own bread rolls and went to our first Harvest Assembly.

In PE we have been learning about fundamental movement skills.  We have been really lucky to have staff from the Sports Commission to teach us some new games when we play outside - 'The Hungry Hippo' has become a new favourite.