Week 2: Percy the Park Keeper, Forest School, etc...

 And just like that, another week has flown by!

Settling in:
The Reception children continue to settle in well to school. They have been getting used to lunch times (the lunch hall can take some getting used to) and we have had lots of helpful older children showing them how it's done. It's been lovely coming down to the gate at lunch time, seeing their smiling faces and having them rush eagerly in! Starting school is hard work so I know some of the children are very tired. It will get easier and, while at school, the children are happy and friendly and keen to be here. 

Mantle of the Expert:
We have slowly been starting our first Mantle of the Expert story. If you don't know much about what Mantle of the Expert is, you can find more information and details of past stories here. 

So far, the children have created Percy the Park Keeper's park and then make symbols for a shared map:

Following this, the Year 1 children learnt how to make a map using symbols. Here are their efforts:

Forest School:

We had our first Forest School session on Thursday. The children had a wonderful time with the Year 1 children showing the Reception children around. We remembered the Forest School rules together and the children did a marvellous job of coming to base camp when called (a very important one!)

Year 1: phonics

This week we looked at the ai grapheme, which we've seen before, and the ay grapheme, which is new. Both make the same sound, but ay is usually found at the end of words. 

I am going to start doing a (fun) spelling challenge on a Friday based on what we learn the previous week; so, next Friday, our spelling challenge will be based on ai and ay. There is no pressure, it is going to be a team challenge to practice what we have been learning. 

With that in mind, here is a spelling list. If you would like to support your child with their phonics this week, please help them to learn some of these words for Friday. I would suggest just five words to begin with. 

You could also complete this word search of ay words. 

Year 1: maths

This week the children have been remembering how to represent, count and recognise numbers to 10, including one more and one less and ordering numbers. They have been learning how to represent their ideas using objects, to explain them to me and to each other. For example I would ask 'How do you know that 5 + 0 = 5?' and the answer 'I just do!' was not enough! 

We have also been learning to represent number bonds to 4 and to recall them quickly. 

At home you could:
Practise writing numbers to 10 with your child. 
Practise subitising to 10 (remember these?)
Make some number cards to 10. Choose 3 and put them in order from smallest to largest, but make a deliberate mistake. Ask your child to help you - they can't just tell you you're wrong, they have to explain why! They could use a number line, or some cubes, to explain which order the numbers go in. 

Play this caterpillar number sequencing game. Begin with numbers 0 to 10, and go from there!

Most of all, have a lovely weekend Hedgehogs and Hedgehog parents!

From Mrs Simpson :0)