Mrs Watkins, Mrs Ashton-Lovett,

Mrs Wardle and Mrs Pugh

would like to welcome you to

YELLOW CLASS

Term 6

The Olympics

'Where in the World?'

Term 5

'Land, Air and Sea'

'What could live in a place like this?

Forest School Workshop

Yellow class really enjoyed their Forest School workshop in the Outdoor Classroom.  The children found out about the Stone Age, listened to a story, learnt how to build a bonfire and then got to toast their own marshmallows!  Yummy!

Once back in the classroom, a few of the children were inspired to create their own pretend campfire in the Reception garden (with 'marshmallows' on sticks).

Beach Walk

Yellow Class really enjoyed their first walk to the beach this week in the beautiful sunshine. We talked about the features of the beach such as the horizon, the groynes, the wind turbines and more. We then used the natural resources to represent the number sixteen.  The children walked fantastically, remembering to stay with their partner and turn off their voices when we crossed the roads. A fantastic first trip out of school!

This term we are reading 'Puffin Peter' by Petr Horacek. We have been finding out more about puffins - what they look like, where they live, what they eat and what their babies are called (pufflings!). We have made puffin headbands to wear and painted pictures of puffins and the calm ocean. We are looking forward to reading more of the story each week, and to finding out what happens to Puffin Peter.

England Does the Daily Mile

Yellow Class enjoyed their run in the sun on Friday afternoon, joining in with England Does The Daily Mile. Before we went out, we talked about why we run and exercise and how it makes us feel - these are some of the ideas we came up with:

'Because it keeps you in shape.'

'Because it keeps my muscles strong and steady.'

'Because it is good for your body.'

'Because it makes your brain happy.'

Maths

In maths we are learning more about numbers 11 to 20. We are counting forwards and backwards from 0 to 20 and singing number songs to help us remember the order of the numbers. We are using lots of practical equipment to make numbers 11-20 - Numicon, bricks, buttons and toys in our classroom. The children have come up with lots of creative ways to show different numbers.

Term 4

'Splish Splash!'

'Why do we need water?'

This term we have enjoyed reading Jasper's Beanstalk and Errol's Garden, as well as lots of other fiction and non-fiction books about plants and growing. We have transformed the Reception Garden into a Garden Centre, planting lots of seeds and plants and using them to cook in our Mud Kitchen! We have thought about what plants need to grow, made observational drawings of different flowers and thought about the different parts of a plant. We have all developed very green fingers this term!

The children were really engaged in this topic and created a window seal of flowers for their home corner which they turned into Errol's flat. 

Team Building

We enjoyed a Team Building activity this term, working together to cross the river using stepping stones. We didn't have enough stepping stones to get all the way across the river, so each group had to work together to pass them along the line to reach the other side. The children showed great communication skills, listening to their friends and making good suggestions about how to solve the problem.

Science Week 

This week the children have enjoyed a range of exciting science activities and these have included the biscuit dunking challenge, raisins in lemonade and optical illusions.

We were all very shocked to find out that the most robust biscuits was the 'Rich Tea'

which could be dunked 127 times before breaking!

Term 3

Buildings

'How are they made and what are they used for?'

Chinese New Year

We finished the term by learning all about Chinese New Year. We found out that Chinese New Year; also known as Luna New Year, is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese Calendar. We found out that the Chinese Zodiac is a 12 year cycle of animal signs and is based on a story called 'The Great Race'. We used the story of 'The Great Race' to sequence the numbers 1-12.

We found out our zodiac animal sign and compared it to those in our family. We found out that Yellow Class were born in either the year of the Goat (2015) or the Monkey (2016).  

What is your zodiac animal?

We found out that at Chinese New Year people celebrate with decorations, dances and special food. Here are some of our Chinese New Year creations!

We used the animals of the zodiac calendar to help us create our own version of 'How Many Legs?' written by Kes Gray.

How many legs would there be if an Ox and the Snake came for tea?

The Three Little Pigs

The children have enjoyed listening to the story of the 'Three Little Pigs' and creating their own story maps.

They have been busy building their own versions of the pigs' houses, using different materials.

It's Not a Box!

The children have been listening to a range of stories about playing imaginatively with cardboard boxes, which have included 'Not a Box' by Antoinette Portis, 'This is Our House' by Michael Rosen and 'On Sudden Hill' by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies.

Using their own boxes, they have been using their own ideas to make their own creations.  The children and adults have used a variety of shapes and sizes of cardboard boxes!

Term 2

Once Upon a Time

'Can you tell us a story?'

Message from the Year R teachers

It has been a quieter week in the last week of Term in Reception, but we have been busy doing lots of different Christmas crafts – making cards, decorations and paper chains. In Phonics we have played games to practise reading and writing words with the sounds we have learned so far and in Maths we have played counting games and sung number songs. We have also spent lots of time outside in the playground, playing games with each other and even enjoying a hot chocolate in the Outdoor Classroom. We hope those of you at home have enjoyed some of the Christmas activities we shared on Microsoft Teams and have been having fun with your own Christmas preparations.

We loved watching the videos of the Nativity performances this week! These are now available for you to watch on Microsoft Teams. We are sure you will agree that all the children gave confident performances and sang beautifully. Well done to everyone in Yellow and Orange Classes! A big thank you again to Luka’s Dad for filming and putting the videos together for us.

Next term our PE days will be as follows:

Yellow Class – Mondays

Orange Class – Wednesdays.

Please send your children in PE kits on these days.

Thank you to you all from everyone in Reception for the very generous and thoughtful gifts and cards. We hope that you all have a very happy and healthy Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in 2021!

Mrs Watkins             Mrs Brentnall            Mrs Thomas

Santa Faces

The children have been busy creating Santa faces using their own photos.  They added collage material to create their hats and beards. 

Can you work out who's who in Yellow class??

The Gingerbread Man

Yellow Class loved reading and retelling the story of 'The Gingerbread Man' using puppets, small world characters and acting out the story.  We made salt dough gingerbread men decorations for the school Christmas tree and even decorated little gingerbread men to eat in the classroom.  Yummy! 

Children In Need

To raise money for 'Children In Need' everyone at school was asked to wear something that made them feel happy.  Yellow class enjoyed wearing their happy clothes and participating in fun activities throughout the day, which also included a 'Joe Wicks -  Children In Need Special' workout.

Remembrance Day

Yellow Class have been creating their own poppies using a variety of materials including feathers, lolly sticks, buttons, tissue paper, sequins and stones.  The children painted coffee filters to make poppies that were displayed on the window.

Fabulous Fireworks

We have been thinking about fireworks this week for Bonfire Night.  The children have been exploring the different shapes, sounds and colours of the fireworks.  We even created our own firework dance to Johannes Brahms music 'Hungarian Dance No. 5'.  

The Giant Jam Sandwich!

One of Yellow class brought in 'The Giant Jam Sandwich' by John Vernon Lord as their favourite story.  The children enjoyed it so much that they decided they wanted to make their own jam sandwiches.  Sadly we couldn't find any giant bread in Whitstable, so we had to make do with normal sized jam sandwiches - they tasted delicious! 

Our Favourite Stories

This term we are learning all about stories and we have started this theme by reading lots of different books.  We have loved sharing the children's (and grown ups) favourite stories!  Have a look at the photos to see all the stories we have read.  Do you like any of these stories too?

Term 1

All About Me

As a Fantastic Finish to our first term at school, we have made video showing some of the exciting things the children have been doing since September. They have made a wonderful start to their school life and we are really proud of how well they have settled and how much they have already learned!

Handa's Surprise

This week, as part of our work on Handa's Surprise, the children printed with different fruit.  They also made observational drawings of some of the fruit in the book.  The children created their own story map using the fruit and animals in the story and acted out the different characters in the garden.

At the end of the week the children enjoyed tasting the different exotic fruits - the mango was definitely their favourite!

Fantastic Fred Performance 

The children (and adults) really enjoyed the performance of 'Fantastic Fred'.  They found out how inportant it is not only to look after their bodies, but also to keep their 'super computer' in their head healthy too!  They have to do this by eating healthy foods and drinking plenty of water, getting lots of rest, exercising to keep their body fit and not spending too much time on their devices.  

Stomp! Chomp! Big Roars!

Here Come the Dinosaurs!

Yellow class enjoyed reading and performing a range of dinosaur poems this week.  Their favourite poem was called 'Roly Poly' and was about a dinosaur rolling down the hill!  The children performed this to the rest of the school during the World Poetry Day assembly.

The children created their own dinosaur worlds in the tuff tray, outside in the garden, drawing on large pieces of paper and creating their own dinosaurs by printing their hands.

Owl Babies

This week we have been reading the story 'Owl Babies' by Martin Waddell. 

In the story we found out about the owl family - Sarah, Percy, Bill and their mummy. The children then talked and wrote about who was in their own families.  

The children were inspired to create their own versions of the owl babies on the creation station.  They also practised their cutting and gluing skills to create their own 2D shape owls too!

Over the week, the children have noticed a change in the weather and with the trees in the playground.  They gathered some of the leaves that had fallen down and decided to use them to create a collage of the mummy owl.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This week we have been reading the story 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle. 

The children enjoyed listening to the story and using the paint program on the computer, created their own versions of the caterpillar.  They learnt how to control the computer mouse to changing the colours and draw different thicknesses of the lines and dots.  

Yellow class practised their painting skills by painting a self portrait of themselves, looking carefully at what they looked like in the mirror.  They had to remember to control the paintbrush so that the paint did not dribble everywhere!   

At lunchtime, the children met Mrs Saunders, the Yellow Class lunchtime lady.  Everyone enjoyed their first school lunch and there were lots of clean plates!

The Rainbow Fish

This week we have been reading the story 'The Rainbow Fish' by Marcus Pfister. 

This week the children have been learning to use the different areas of the classroom independently.  They are becoming more familiar with where everything is kept.

The children have learnt to control different tools such as scissors and glue sticks safely and carefully at the creation station.  They remembered how to carry scissors safely around the classroom.  When gluing, they had to remember to scrap the PVA glue on the side of the pot to avoid any dribbles when they decorated the different sea creatures. 

The children learnt to trace a picture of a fish and then added handwriting patterns to decorate them using special handwriting pens.  They had to control the pens and pencil carefully to draw different patterns and shapes.   They found out where everything is kept on the office table area and learn how to tidy it away carefully ready for the next person.  It's really important that everyone remembers to write their name on their work!

The children discovered where all the construction and small world equipment are kept in the classroom.  They learnt to work as a team to carry the heavy boxes with a friend.  They used their imaginations to create different models and imaginary worlds.

We have been making the most of the sunny weather and spending time outside!  The children have been learning about how to use the different areas of the Reception garden, playing with different equipment on the playground and taking turns on the bikes with their friends.

What a busy first week we have had!

Our First Day at School

We have enjoyed welcoming the new Yellow Class children to Westmeads School.