This week, we listened to the story of the magic porridge pot which is based on one of the Grimm’s brothers’ fairy-tales, originally published in the 19th Century. You can re-listen to the story here. We loved learning the magic rhyme and luckily, when Miss Cronin discovered a magic porridge pot in the nursery kitchen, we were able to say it to get our own porridge bubbling away on the stove-top! Once it had cooled a little, we had a porridge party and (nearly all of us) decided that the porridge was delicious!

Please note, if your child tells you they have yet to make some porridge – they may be correct! We will be finishing off our porridge parties next week and making sure everyone has a turn.

Making porridge gave us an ideal opportunity to talk about how to keep ourselves safe in the kitchen and I was so impressed by the children’s knowledge! They knew not to touch kettles or stove-tops and not to touch or use knives without an adult helping them. Here are some more ideas for how to keep safe in the kitchen which you might like to talk about at home.

Another of our spotlight stories this week was the wonderful ‘A Chair for Baby Bear’ by Kaye Umansky which tells the tale of Baby Bear’s search for a new chair after Goldilock’s visit. You can revisit this story here. Our drawing club focus this week was on creating our own chairs for Baby Bear and we designed some wonderfully imaginative drawings including a shark chair that pulls you through the water, a fire and water chair, a rainbow chair and a chair filled with gadgets and remote controls!

In maths, we have been practising our subitising skills (‘don’t count, see the amount!’) and learning that 4 dots are still 4 dots no matter how the dots are arranged.

In our phonics lessons, we learnt two more special friends sounds: th ( as in thin, thick, Thursday) and ng (as in king, sing, ring, thing). Here are the sayings that go with these sounds:

We also learnt that there are some words which we are not decodable so we can’t use our Fred-talk to read them. These words are known as red words and we say ‘you can’t Fred a red!’

This week, we learnt the red words I (as in I am Miss Cronin) and the (as in the apple).

Here is a red words song we have been enjoying – although please note, we have not learnt all of these yet:

Our final spotlight story (which you can revisit here) kept us in the deep, dark wood where we met a big bad wolf and a little girl wearing red clothes…I wonder if you can think of another story where we meet those characters…

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Welcome back to a new term at school and we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas break.  The children have returned full of enthusiasm and news of their holidays and we have very much enjoyed catching up with them all.  They all look a little bit taller too!

This term, our spotlight stories will be inspired by the topic ‘Once Upon A Time’. We will be immersing ourselves in the wonderfully imaginative world of traditional tales and what better place to start than deep in the forest in the home of the three bears. Here is the classic story (from Parragon Books) which you might like to revisit with your child – you could turn the sound off and read it yourself – don’t forget to do different voices for the different bears or ask your child to join in and help you if you prefer!

Next, we read a different version of the story called ‘Goldilocks, Eat Your Greens’ by Steve Smallman which we loved! We talked about what the phrase ‘different version’ might mean and we used words like different and similar. You can revisit the story here – as before, why not turn the sound off and read it yourself.

This story helped us to think about healthy foods and we talked about the sort of foods we eat for breakfast everyday. We all agreed that while coco pops and pain au chocolat are yummy, we must try not to eat sugary foods everyday and save them instead for a treat now and again.

In our R.E. lessons this term, we will be learning about our wonderful world and what Christians believe happened in the beginning. To help us understand more about the word ‘beginning’, we then talked about what happens at the start of our day, for example, eating healthy foods for breakfast, getting dressed, brushing our teeth, walking to school and giving our grown-ups a big hug before waving goodbye for the day.

We also listened to a version of Goldilocks on BBC radio. Because this version was on the radio, without pictures, we had to use our extra special listening ears! You can listen to the story again at home if you like by following this link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listen-and-play-the-house-of-the-bears/zfj8gwx

We have now learnt all of the single sounds and this week, we learnt the sound sh (as in ship, sheep, fish, etc.) which is the first of several digraphs we will be learning. A digraph is a single sound (or phoneme) that is represented by two letters (or graphemes). In the Read, Write, Inc Phonics program that we use here at St. Matthew’s, we call digraphs ‘special friends’. When learning ‘special friends’, the picture prompt includes a saying to help the children remember the letters that make up the digraph:

Here is a reminder of all of the handwriting sayings we have learnt to date:

Have a lovely weekend everyone and stay warm!

The children have made a wonderful start with their phonics lessons. We have been busy learning lots of new sounds and having a go at using our ‘Fred-talk’ to blend sounds together when reading words. This is Fred (he can’t say words like we can, instead he says the individual sounds in words (c-a-t) and we call this ‘Fred-talk’).

We will be learning new sounds every week, so please do make sure you practise these at home with your child. If you are unsure about how to say any of these sounds, please check this video below. One of the main things to remember is not to drop your jaw when say a sound like m – say mmmmmm, instead of muh. I hope that makes sense!

Whenever we learn a new sound, we learn 3 things: the sound itself, a picture prompt which helps us to put the sound into context and a handwriting saying (linked to the picture prompt) which helps us to remember how to form the letter correctly when writing.

The Read Write Inc flashcards that we use have the letter on one side and the picture prompt on the other. When the children see the letter side, they say the sound. When they see the picture side, they say the picture prompt, e.g. Maisie, mountain, mountain.

This video explains this further and also shows how we use the picture prompt to form the letter correctly. Please note, the picture prompt and handwriting prompt for the letter m is the same.

For the sound a, the picture prompt is ‘a – a – apple’ and the handwriting prompt is ’round the apple, down the leaf’. The sound a is a bouncy sound, while m is a stretchy sound.

For the letter s, the picture prompt is ‘ssssss-snake’ and the handwriting prompt is ‘slither down the snake’. The sound s is a stretchy sound.

For the letter d, the picture prompt is ‘d-d-dinosaur’ and the handwriting prompt is ’round the dinosaur’s bottom, up and down its neck’. The d sound is bouncy.

To help your child practise the sounds, you could play a simple game of memory: use 16 pieces of paper and write the letters on each so you have 4 cards with m on them, 4 with a on them, 4 with s and 4 with d on them.  Place them face down on a table and muddle them up.  Take turns to turn over two cards at a time.  What are the sounds?  Are they the same? Keep them if they are the same, turn them back over if not.  Carry on until all the cards have been picked up.  The winner is the one with the most cards.

Or you could play a sound hunt game – how many things can you find in the house that start with m…or a…or s.  If you are in the car, remember ‘I spy’ is always a brilliant way to practice hearing and distinguishing initial sounds in words.

If you have bath crayons, try writing these on the tiles at bath-time and give your child a spray bottle to spray the sounds as they say them.  This is also fun in a driveway or on the pavement with chalks.

If your child is already recognising these sounds confidently, why not have a go at writing them correctly. 

The picture prompt for t is t-t-tower and t is a bouncy sound. The handwriting prompt is ‘down the tower, across the tower’.

The picture prompt for i is i-i-insect and i is also a bouncy sound. The handwriting prompt is ‘down the insect’s body, dot for its head’.

The picture prompt for p is p-p-pirate and p is a bouncy sound. The handwriting prompt is ‘down the plait, up and round his head’.

The picture prompt for n is nnnnnnet and n is a stretchy sound. The handwriting prompt is ‘down Nobby, up and over the net’.

The picture prompt for g is g-g-girl and g is a bouncy sound. The handwriting prompt is ’round her face, down her hair, give her a curl’.

The picture prompt for o is o-o-orange and o is a bouncy sound too. The handwriting saying is ‘all around the orange’.

The picture prompt for c is c-c-caterpillar and c is also a bouncy sound. The handwriting saying is ‘curl around the caterpillar’.

The picture prompt for k is k-k-kangaroo and k is a bouncy sound. Please note the letters c and k make exactly the same sound. The handwriting saying for k is ‘down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg’.

Once your child is recognising these single sounds confidently and quickly, you might like to have a go at practising some ‘Fred-talk’ (blending sounds together to make words). Have a look at these sound machines (which the children love!) to get more of an idea.

https://www.starfall.com/h/word-machines/?mg=m

We have been reading lots of Tom Percival stories to help us take a peek inside our hearts and think about the different feelings we all experience from time-to-time. Big feelings are not always easy manage but it can help if we know how to talk about our feelings and begin to understand the things that might help us manage our feelings in different situations.

In Ravi’s Roar, we learnt about having temper tantrums and how to manage the very big feeling of anger:

In Milo’s Monster, we met the Green-Eyed-Monster and learnt more about how it feels to be jealous…https://youtu.be/tOKUV9uGiJY?si=NdsDoevOT_lfQAUS

And in The River, we learnt that feelings are always changing and we don’t always feel the same feelings every day.

In the first video below, Tom Percival reads the story himself. In this video (https://youtu.be/zrNUq4dvgSs) you can see the pictures much more clearly.

Have you read any more of Tom Percival’s Big Bright Feelings books? Which is your favourite one and why?

You can find out more about the books here: https://toppsta.com/books/series/42202/big-bright-feelings.

And you can find out more about the author here:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/author/tom-percival/

This week, we read the fourth book in the ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ series; ‘What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside’.

You can revisit the antics of Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len here:

At St. Matthew’s we use topics to guide our choice of Spotlight Stories and, this term, our topic is ‘Take a Peek’. Throughout the year, we will be helping the children to talk about the different emotions that we all feel and how they may be able to manage their emotions in different situations. The beautiful book ‘In My Heart’ by Jo Witek helped us to take a peek inside our hearts and have a look at all the different emotions we keep there.

Next, we read the story of ‘Ruby’s Worry’ by Tom Percival. This story helped us to understand that everyone has worries from time to time and the best thing to do, if you have a worry, is to talk about it!

We also thought about who we might talk to if we have a worry and the children came up with some super ideas: mummy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, a friend, a teacher and Mrs Morgan! At St. Matthew’s, all children are asked to think of two trusted adults at school who they might speak to if they have a worry. And, in Reception, we also have a worry phone and a worry phonebook with direct numbers for Elsa, Anna and the Green Ninja, amongst others! Photos to follow…

Welcome to the very first blog post of the new school year. The aim of the blog is to keep you up-to-date with all the exciting learning that takes place in our Reception class each week. Do check the blog regularly to find out which Spotlight Stories we have been reading, which letter sounds we have learnt and which maths concepts we have mastered!

We have been so impressed by how well the children have settled into their new classroom. In particular, they have been getting used to using their listening skills when sitting on the carpet. To help us think about our listening skills, our Spotlight Stories this week have been the wonderful ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ series by Julia Donaldson. There are four books in the series and, of these, we have read three so far!

Why not revisit these stories together at home:

And click here for What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday:

https://youtu.be/eC0-cd6quJo

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

This week we have been learning about number bonds to ten and I told the children that their Year 1 teacher will be very impressed if they already know these!

This rhyming song is a lovely, visual demonstration of the different number bonds:

And this free game is a brilliant way of practising quick recall of the number bonds:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Click on play and then select number bonds (you don’t need to buy the app if you play on a browser).

You might also like to try the doubles to 10 game.

Have fun!

What a wonderful week of Coronation Celebrations we have had at St. Matthews! We have been busy reading stories about King Charles, finding out about the Coronation ceremony itself, making our own bejewelled crowns and competing in the Great St. Matthew’s Bake Off! We were absolutely amazed by all the incredible entries and wanted to send a huge thank you to all of our families for helping us to celebrate with such a delicious assortment of homemade bakes. Thank you so much for your efforts and enthusiasm! The overall winner for Early Years was judged to be one of our nursery children but there were several runners-up in Reception who were recognised for their culinary talents by Mrs Warner in our Coronation Assembly on Friday.

Here are a couple of the stories we read this week that you might like to revisit:

We hope everyone is having a lovely Coronation weekend – see you on Tuesday!

What a wet and rather chilly start it has been to the Summer Term at St. Matthew’s – fingers crossed for some warmer days heading our way soon!

A very warm welcome back to everyone and, especially, to the new family that has recently joined us along with two new members of staff. I hope everyone is settling in well and starting to feel part of the St. Matthew’s family.

This term, our learning will be inspired by the topic ‘Message in a Bottle’ so it made perfect sense for our first spotlight story to be ‘Message in a Bottle’ by Matt Hunt. This delightful story is about a lion who wants to escape the hustle and bustle of city life but quickly realises that life without friends can be very lonely. You can revisit the story here (please note, the story itself finishes at about 11.00):

We talked about what the word lonely means and decided it means being sad because you are alone and don’t want to be on your own. Sometimes, people like to be on their own for a little bit and this is fine as long as they are happy. We also talked about the sort of things we can say when we think someone might be feeling lonely, such as “come and play” or “are you ok?”.

Next, we read a story about another character who feels lonely, in this case, because no one wants to play with him; in the story of the Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, we learnt that sharing things with others is a super way to make friends:

We also enjoyed the sequel – Rainbow Fish to the Rescue:

We decided to found out more about the wise animal that the Rainbow Fish goes to for advice in the first story – that’s right, the octopus. We found out some very interesting facts about these incredible creatures:

*they have 8 arms and each arm has over 200 suckers on it!

*if an octopus is in danger, they can detach one of their arms and grow a new one!

*they do not have any bones in their bodies and the only hard part of their body is their mouth, so they can squeeze through any gap (as long as it is as large as their mouth!)

Can you find out anymore interesting facts about an octopus?

Finally, we read the true-life story of Inky the Octopus who escaped from a tank in an aquarium in New Zealand in 2016. Incredibly, it is thought Inky managed to escape when the lid to his tank was accidentally left ajar. He made it down the side of his tank and across the floor of the aquarium, using the suckers on his arms to latch and release, before squeezing his body through a drain in the floor and into a pipe which led to the ocean!

You can reread the story here:

And watch the Newsround clip from 2016 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/av/36039273

We were all fascinated by the story of Inky’s escape and asked for several re-readings! The story also prompted some heartfelt discussions about whether or not Inky should have been kept in a tank in the first place. We took a vote and, although many of us (and more of us) felt that Inky’s rightful place was at home in the ocean, several of us felt that Inky should have been in the tank (“because he is safe there” and “the sharks can’t get him there”). Animal conservation is a complex issue and I was so impressed by the thoughtful consideration the children gave to this story – well done Reception!

In our maths lessons, we have been learning about odd and even numbers. One morning, we discovered Stanley and Gruffy arguing over a bag of sweets! There were 7 sweets in the bag and we discovered that 7 is not a good sharing number because it cannot be shared out fairly (or equally) between Stanley and Gruffy. Numbers that are not good sharing numbers are called odd numbers. We decided to give them a bag of 8 sweets instead and discovered that 8 is a good sharing number because it can be shared out fairly/equally. Numbers that are good sharing numbers are called even numbers.

We decided to give Stanley and Gruffy lots of bags of sweets to keep them going and help them with their good sharing. Working with a partner, we raced outside and filled our bags with ‘sweets’ (sticks, leaves and stones). When we got back inside, we counted the contents and checked that our bags contained only good sharing numbers. Then we wrote that number on the outside of the bags and had a go at writing a number sentence to explain how Stanley and Gruffy could share the sweets fairly. Great work Reception – Stanley and Gruffy have been quietly sharing out their sweets ever since!

Next, we learnt how to recognise odd and even numbers by their shapes. Odd numbers “have a bumpy bit on the top” and look “like a staircase” while even numbers are “flat on top”.

We worked with our partners once again, to sort odd and even numbers into teams. Here are the odd and even teams with Stanley and Gruffy as their team captains!

Finally, there has been great excitement as we have been starting to learn the set 2 sounds in phonics. So far, we have learnt ‘ay’ as in ‘ay, may I play’ and ‘ee’ as in ‘ee, what can you see’. You might like to have a look at these videos from Lorne Primary School:

We hope everyone has a lovely bank holiday weekend – see you next week!

Last week, we continued on with our worldwide travels, visiting different landscapes around the world, inspired by the story of ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’. The next landscape on our list was a very snowy one! And many of us already knew (thanks to Santa!) where in the world we would have to go to find such a landscape – that’s right – the North Pole! We discovered that there are actually two poles – one on top of the world called The Arctic and one on the bottom of the world, called Antarctica. We also learnt that Antarctica is the only continent on earth without people living there (apart from the Scientists who travel there to learn more about our wonderful world). Although people don’t usually live there, Antarctica is famously home to eight species of penguins. You can find out more about the different penguins here: https://www.passportandpixels.com/types-of-penguins-in-antarctica-photos/

We decided to wave goodbye to the lush foliage of the Amazon rainforest and head south on our magic carpet. We remembered to put our hats, gloves, scarves and snowboots on before landing as we knew the landscape would be very different to the one we were leaving behind. There are no streets in Antarctica, but the visiting Scientists take lots of photos, so the little orange man was able to guide us safely into land using one of these. Isn’t it stunning!

Our visit to Antarctica inspired our next spotlight story – the delightful ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers which you can revisit here:

Next, we travelled north to the Arctic and learnt that, despite it being a similar landscape (at least at first glance), penguins do not live here. Instead, the Arctic is home to a much larger animal – the polar bear!

We learnt that, sadly, life is getting more and more difficult for polar bears because the ice in the Arctic is melting due to global warming. Our next spotlight story was called ‘The Journey Home’ by Frann Preston-Gannon. This is a beautiful, touching but thought-provoking story. It features a polar bear and three other animals that we have already met on our travels. Can you remember which animals they were? A black and white animal that lives in China, an orange animal that lives in the Amazon rainforest and a grey animal that lives in the savannah. We were also introduced to an animal that became extinct, because of humans, more than 300 years ago. You can revisit the story below to find out more:

As you can probably imagine, the story prompted lots of conversations about the importance of protecting all of the animals in the world and making sure we care for our wonderful world to keep it healthy and safe. We were visited by some members of the school’s Eco Warrior team who told us about the projects they work on in our school to promote eco-friendly behaviour and ideas. Mr Quinn would like to invite two children from our class to join the team – so please remember to send in your letters asap if you would like to be considered!

In our phonics lessons, we have been busy learning the final few special friends sounds within set 1: ll, ff, ss and ck. These sounds are often found at the end of words, for example, hill, puff, kiss and kick.

In our maths lessons, we have been learning how to use the terms ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ correctly; helping Stanley and Gruffy (our class pets) to sort out their squabbles!

Finally, this term, we have been enjoying some fantastic gymnastics lessons with Coach Riann. Here are some photos from the lessons:

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend – and Happy Mother’s Day!