What an exciting week it has been in Reception!

Phonics
This week, we learnt two new digraphs: ‘qu’ and ‘ch’. The children worked hard on recognising these sounds, blending them into words, and even writing full sentences using them. We also introduced capital letters, discussing when and why we use them in our writing. It’s been great to see the children applying their phonics skills with increasing confidence!

Maths
In maths, we explored the idea that when we replace one object in a group, the total stays the same—for example, swapping a block but still having six altogether. We also deepened our understanding of more and fewer, encouraging children to recognise that the number stays the same regardless of colour or size. Additionally, we introduced comparing mass, using scales to discuss the words ‘weight’ and ‘mass’, and exploring how objects can feel heavier or lighter.

Drawing Club
Our story this week was The Dirty Great Dinosaur! The children loved exploring key vocabulary such as ‘ferocious’, ‘bellowed’, ‘stomp’, and ‘massive’. We also introduced the concept of a story plot by identifying the beginning, middle, and end of the story. The children had a go at drawing a picture and writing a sentence to describe each part—fantastic storytelling skills in action!

PE
In PE, we focused on developing safe running and stopping, using a fun theme based on cars to help us practise control and coordination. The children enjoyed weaving in and out of ‘traffic’ and stopping safely at ‘red lights’!

Dinosaur Day!
The highlight of the week was, without a doubt, Dinosaur Day! The children arrived dressed as palaeontologists, ready for a day of exciting discoveries. They explored the outside area to investigate a mysterious break-in, recording clues and even interviewing Mrs Duncombe to figure out which dinosaur had visited. Their detective skills were amazing, and they successfully solved the mystery!

The children also:

• Discovered frozen dinosaur eggs, carefully breaking them open and identifying the dinosaurs inside. They then had a go at writing the name of the dinosaur they discovered using a dinosaur word mat and drew a picture of it.
• Excavated dinosaur bones from sand, learning about skeletons using brushes and rakes.
• Created their own salt dough dinosaur fossils, by pressing dinosaurs into the dough which they loved making!
• Received a special palaeontologist certificate to celebrate their incredible discoveries.

The children were fully immersed in their learning, and it was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and teamwork throughout the day!

Phonics Workshop
A big thank you to all the parents who attended our Phonics Workshop! We hope you found it helpful and that it gave you a better understanding of how we teach phonics in class. Your support at home makes such a difference in your child’s learning journey.

It has been another fantastic week of learning, and we are so proud of all the children’s hard work. Well done, Reception!

Welcome Wednesday is every week from 8:30–9:00am—come into the classroom to read with your child or see what they have been learning!

Star of the week: Congratulations to Melodie, who is our star of the week, for always being kind and helpful in the classroom. Melodie will be taking home her certificate and Wilfred the Elephant to write in the book all about her time spent with Wilfred over the next week and will bring him back next Thursday.

Please remember to read with your child, even for just 5 minutes! Please do also remember to record it in the reading record. We will only change your child's book if you have read with them 2 or more times in that week! Please remember to have the library book in your children's book bag on Thursday to be changed. 

Any issues or concerns we need to know about, please speak to the Acorn team before and after school or email at: acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

Thank you for your ongoing support!