The Reception children have thoroughly enjoyed having the caterpillars in class and were so excited to look at the changes once they transformed from their chrysalis into a butterfly.

Maple Class have caterpillars! The children are really enjoying watching the caterpillars grow and it has really sparked some interesting conversations. We have read the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' to understand the life cycle of a caterpillar and the process of how they turn into a butterfly. We have also enjoyed trying some foods that the hungry caterpillar ate in the story.

Maple Class visit Woodlands Farm! 

Maple Class had a great last week of term. They enjoyed engaging in various Easter activities and learnt about what autism is and how they can support their peers who have autism.

We hope you have a lovely Easter break and we look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday 17th April! 

Maple Class have had another busy, fun filled week at school! They have been busy making Mother's Day cards, practising their gymnastic skills on the blue crash mat and celebrating Red Nose Day! We had a special visitor in Maple Class this week, Miss Young's cousin came in for a day for work experience. The children absolutely loved showing Miss Faulks what they love to play with, and how well they are doing in their phonics and maths lessons! The children are really working hard to put on their new waterproof sets independently, which have come in handy this week with the weather! As you can see from the photos below the children have really enjoyed making bubbles of all sizes again, this is an activity that they have been really engaged in for the past few weeks. Maple Class wish all the mothers, grandmothers, aunties and carers a very Happy Mother's Day for Sunday. :) 

Maple class have loved making bubbles outside! They experimented with different resources and made bubbles of all different sizes! Our new waterproof sets have arrived, and the children have been trying hard to put them on and take them off themselves with some adult guidance and support. :)

Welcome to Maple class!

I am Miss Young, the class teacher, and Mr Saunders, Mrs Ellen and Miss May are the class teaching assistants.

In Reception we follow Anna Ephgrave's 'Planning in the moment' approach. This approach encourages child-led learning in which children are given autonomy and independence in their choice of activity. The adults take the lead from the child’s interests and facilitate engaging learning opportunities. 

At Lawn we follow the Jolly Phonics scheme for reading and writing which is highly interactive and engaging for the children. Please find below a link to the phonics songs, which you can practise at home with your child. The second link shows the correct pronunciation of the letter sounds. Sound books are sent home with your child to practise the sounds. When your child has become confident with the sounds, they will be sent home with some words to practise reading. They will then eventually progress onto reading the Jolly Phonics story books. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenp5oWQlQc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ksblMiliA8

Please find below a link explaining how we teach 'tricky words' to the children in phonics lessons. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtFfYJXUdwY

Guidance for sound books and word packs 

A sound book has now been sent home with your child with all the letter sounds that we have learnt so far in phonics lessons. Please go through the sound book daily with your child so that they can consolidate their sound knowledge and move onto reading words. Each day your child learns a new letter sound, so please return the sound book daily so we can stick in the new sound that your child has learnt. Each week myself, Mrs Ellen or Mr Saunders will go through the sound book with your child to establish which letter sounds your child is confident with and which ones they need some more practise with. A star sticker will be placed on the sounds that your child is confident with and the ones without a sticker are the letter sounds that your child needs to practise. Please keep practising all the sounds but focus on the ones they need more practise with. When you are going over the sounds with your child encourage them to perform the action that is associated with that sound. For example, the action for letter sound ‘s’ is moving their hands in a snake action. The sounds that contain two letters (E.G ai/or/ee) are called digraphs, and the children know these as ‘special friends’. Please remind your child that when they see these letters together, they make one sound.  

When your child has become confident with the letter sounds, some words will be sent home in a plastic wallet for your child to practise reading. Once your child has become confident reading these words another set of words will be sent home. Encourage your child to say each sound in the word then blend them together to say the word. For example, c-a-t… cat. If your child is struggling to hear the word you can model blending the sounds together at a faster speed so they can hear the word. Once your child has worked their way through the word packs they will be sent home a Jolly Phonics reading book. Each week one of the members of staff will read with your child to see how they are progressing with their reading. We will then send home a different book when your child has become confident with reading the book they currently have. As well as listening to your child read, please also engage in conversation with them about the book. This will help to develop their range of vocabulary as well as their comprehension skills. There are some prompt questions at the back of each book to help you with this. 

Below is a link to the Jolly Phonics songs that go with each sound. I’m sure your child will absolutely love teaching these to you! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z4RTga9eMk 

Any questions please do not hesitate to ask me. If you wish to email me any questions my email is as follows, n.young@lawnprimary.co.uk. 

Many thanks, 

Miss Young. 

Reception essentials: