Reception - Ash and Oak

Welcome to Ash  and Oak Class!

September 2018

Week Ending Friday 7th December 2018

This week in Early Years has been yet another busy one!!!!!!!!!! The children have written their letters to Father Christmas, began to decorate the unit for Christmas and have been trying hard to put phonemes they know  together to write small words like is, it, am, on, in, up, and an.

We have also been on the stage for a run through of our Nativity and today we tried our costumes on.  The children are really looking forward to performing for you - make sure you've got your tickets (and tissues) !  We will be holding a raffle at the performance so bring your shiny pennies - all proceeds will go towards buying something lovely for the children's busy learning.

Have a lovely weekend

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 30th November 2018

This week there has been a theft in Early Years!!  We were all looking forward to sharing Mrs Howitt's birthday cake on Monday as we ran out of time last week -but SHOCK! HORROR! it had disappeared!  And so began the hunt for the cake thief.

The children had lots of ideas of who the culprit could be - ranging from Mr Down, a ghost, Pipsqueak the gerbil  to Amelia's daddy (because he likes cake!)  We then set about making traps, posters and plans for how we could catch the thief.  We found some clues; a few crumbs and a hole in the ceiling.  Who could it be and how did they get in?

Our writing focus has been writing about our own birthday experiences.  We have discussed our last birthday; did we have a party?  What sort of cake did we get?  What presents did we get?  How old we were and how old we will be on our next birthday.  We drew a picture and used our phonics to help us write a sentence to match.  The children are getting really good at stretching out their words and knowing which letters to write down to represent the sounds they can hear.

In maths this week we have been learning about the number 6.  The children have been counting to 6, making patterns with 6 things, writing the number 6 and exploring 'what's in 6?'  They are getting really good at partitioning and are beginning to use mathematical language involved in addition; eg five and one more make six.

We've also started getting Christmassy this week by making some bauble decorations to help decorate the school corridors, and today we have decorated trees in the classroom.

The children have also been busy practising our songs for our Nativity.  We've had our first full run through and tried on our costumes to check they fit.  If you received a note requesting a costume be sent in from home, please ensure we have this by Monday 3rd December.  Don't forget to send your ticket requests in to the office.

We hope to see you at the Christmas Fair tomorrow, 11am - 2pm in the school hall.  Thank you for your donations - it was lovely to see all the Christmas jumpers.

Have a good weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 23rd November 2018

The children have been learning all about how to keep themselves safe when out and about by the roads this week, as Bushmead has taken part in national Road Safety Week.

We started the week by learning about safe places to cross the road.  We then spent the week taking a walk out to the zebra crossing on Nelson Road to put this into practise.  The children were great at remembering what to do, and we did make it clear that they should not be crossing roads by themselves but always be with an adult.  The children have role played being a school crossing patrol and drawn our own roads and maps.  We also made super bright versions of ourselves to help us to Be Bright to Be Seen!

Our maths focus this week has been a consolidation of number 1-5.  We have been explaining our understanding of  missing numbers and matching quantities to numerals.

At the end of the week we started to get ready for Mrs Howitt's birthday.  We read Kipper's Birthday and then set about getting ready for our own party, which we had in the afternoon.  A great time was had by all, although we were a bit disappointed that we ran out of time to share the cake!  Mrs Howitt said not too worry and we can have it on Monday.

Today we have been very busy making traffic light biscuits.  Donations received will be going to Brake, the Road Safety Charity.

Over the weekend, please could you ensure that you check all of your children's jumpers and cardigans.  We have a number of children who have missing items but they are not in school anywhere.

Also, if you could ensure that your children come to school prepared for the cold weather, including hats, scarves and gloves.  If you could practise over the weekend getting your children to do up their own zips (if they can't already do it) we would be most grateful.

Have a good weekend

The EYFS Team

Week Ending Friday 16th November 2018

Another busy week down in Early Years!  We had a new Pete the Cat stoy this week - Pete the Cat and the New Guy.  Pete was very supportive to his new neighbour and we discussed how we can be a good friend by saying encouraging things, being kind and having fun.  The children made a 'jointed' Pete the Cat, using split pins to give him moveable legs.  A tricky method of joining materials together but the children persevered with it.

Number 5 was this weeks number, and again we looked at 'the fiveness of five', and partitioning (part,part,whole).  Don't forget to ask your child 'What's in three?  What's in five?' etc and use any objects you have at home to explore partitioning groups. 

We have started learning our Christmas Songs for our spectacular Nativity Performance in December.  The children are picking the songs up really quickly, we held auditions for solo roles and watched previous years shows to get an idea of what 'being on the stage' is like.

Your children were amazing during our open morning for our September 2019 parents and children.  We had lots of great feedback so well done Early Years!

The children have been using the real drills and hammers this week too, moving on from hammering into the pumpkins to drilling and hammering into wood.

Next week we are taking part in Road Safety Week.  The focus is on how to keep ourselves safe when out and about by the roads and on our bikes.  Look out for emails from the office with more information.  Our activities will include going for a walk to the zebra crossing and making sure we can all cross the road safely.  We are also going to start thinking about Birthday's, as a continuation of our 'Celebrations' topic.

Have a good weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 9th November 2018

Whizz! Pop!  Bang!!  We hope you enjoyed Bonfire Night.  The children have taken part in a number of firework activities this week.

Mrs Preston has been teaching the children how to be very independent at our painting station.  We have been learning how to pour just a very small amount of paint from the squeezy bottles into our palettes, have explored what happens when we mix some colours and experimented with different ways to use our paintbrush to produce firework pictures.  After we had created our masterpieces, we washed our equipment up all by ourselves and put it away ready for the next person to use.  We've also used loose parts to make bright firework pictures,  made rockets and sparklers and created music with the instruments.

Mrs Howitt has been writing with the children this week about their experiences of fireworks.  We have taught the children the tricky word 'I' to use in their reading and writing.  The children have been stretching out the words they want to write and writing down the sounds they can hear, with a lovely picture to finish it off.

In Maths this week we have be exploring 'the fourness of four' and have learned that there are lots of different ways to make four.  We've also been four detectives, searching for objects and shapes with four; four legs, four sides etc.  Make some collections of 'four' things at home this weekend and practise writing the number 4 (we write it with the open top; down, across and down again).

Outside this week the children have been collecting sticks to make a bonfire with Mrs Palmer, followed by making a lovely hot chocolate to warm ourselves up!

Towards the end of the week we thought about Remembrance Day.  We talked sensitively about how poppies help us to remember the brave men, women and animals who fought in wars.  We created lots of lovely poppies using a wide range of different media and materials.  At the end of our Celebration assembly today, the children were amazing and took part in a minutes silence along with the rest of the school.  Well done Early Years.

Finally, this afternoon, having spent the week using various tools to get into the pumpkins and removing all of the seeds, we took the remains out into the environment to leave out over the weekend for any wildlife to feast on!

Next week our learning will be linked to Anti Bullying Week where we will focus on being a good friend and conflict resolution.

Now a few reminders:

Book folders, with reading books and diaries need to be in school every day please.  Please read with your child AT LEAST three times a week and write a comment each time you share a book.  Books will be changed twice weekly, as long as a comment is in the book.

Please ensure your child has a warm waterproof coat in school every day.

At the end of the day, please ensure you come all the way into the EYFS playground through the gate so that we can ensure your child reaches you safely.  Oak parents d=should stand on the left (blue side) and Ash on the right.

Could you please check that all of your child's clothing is named and that you have the correct clothing at home.  We have had a number of parents expressing that they are missing jumpers or cardigans but they are not in the EYFS unit anywhere.

Parent consultation sheets, following Parent's Evening will be sent home next week.

Have a great weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 2nd November 2018

What a busy first week back after the half term holiday!  We hope you all had a good rest.

We started the week with our whole school Everybody Writes Day.  The theme was 'Spooky Spells' and we based our busy learning on the popular Julia Donaldson book 'Room on the Broom'.  The children are really fantastic at joining in with reading the text - if you've got it at home or find it on YouTube and get them to join in.  We then thought about our own spells and what ingredients we would put in them, and this was our writing focus for the week.  The children are beginning to stretch out their words and identify the phonemes they can hear, and are having a go at writing down the sounds they can hear.  All children demonstrated a 'Have a Go' attitude, even collecting Hector to put on the table with them for support!  Ethan and Junior were chosen to have their writing displayed in the front entrance - Well Done Boys!!

All week the children have been filling and emptying different sized containers to make their own potions - we've been turned in to a whole range of things; from slugs to frogs to ham sandwiches!  The children have been using language such as full and empty.

The children have been practising lots of different shaping and joining methods this week to make spiders, witches hats and spiders webs.  We've also made observational drawings of pumpkins.

In phonics this week we have learned the phonemes m,d,g and o.  We have been matching the letters shapes, sounds and real objects and having a go at writing them.

Number 3 has been our Mathematics focus this week.  We've counted objects and actions, learned the language first, second and third and today we learned to 'partition'(split) three into two groups.  We have introduced the 'part, part, whole' method to the children.  They have three objects, and explore how those three objects can be split into two groups, such and two and one, one and two, three and zero, zero and three or one and one and one, noticing that there are still three objects in total.  Have a go with any objects you have at home this weekend, asking 'What is in three?'  We've also looked at triangles.

Finally, we all had a go at making our own bread this week.  Everyone helped to weigh ingredients, mix and knead the dough.  We hope you enjoyed eating them at home!

Today your child has brought home their first school reading book, along with a reading diary, inside a plastic folder.  Please share this book at home with your child, using the guidance on the inside of the reading diary.  If it is a wordless book, the purpose of this is to encourage your child to use storybook language and 'tell' and story by 'reading' the pictures.  Please keep the books clean and dry.  Folders must be brought to school every day so that your child can be heard read throughout the week and books can be changed.  Books will only be changed if there is a comment in the diary.  The children have also brought home a book from Book Trust.  Please share this story so that the children can talk about it with us on Monday.

We've talked about Firework Safety this afternoon, so have a great weekend if you're going to a show or celebrating in your own gardens.  Next week our learning will be all about Fireworks.

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 19th October 2018

Congratulations!!! Your amazing children have made it to the end of their first half term at school!

This week we've kept the busy learning going - despite some very tired children.

We have continued with our phonics learning this week.  We have now learned the phonemes : s, a, t, p, i and n.   We have started to blend these phonemes together to read simple two and three letter words, such as ; at, as, an, in, it, is, tip, pin, sit, sat, tap, pat, pan, nap.  At home, you can make your own letter cards and try putting them together in different ways to make words.  Say each sound individually, then get quicker and quicker until the whole word is blended together.  This is called 'blending'.  The reverse of this is 'segmenting', where you say the word you want your child to make and have the letter cards laid out in front of them, and they have to 'chop' the word up into the individual sounds they can hear.  So you say 'tap' and your child chops it up into t-a-p and puts the letter cards in the correct order.  Try this at home this week.  We've also enjoyed making tigers and parrots and inky mice, all the while practising writing the letters.

In our maths learning we have been exploring 'the oneness of one' and 'the twoness of two'.

We have been recognising how one can be represented in different ways; the numeral, one dot on a dice, on a clock, a 1p coin, a circle has one curved edge.  We've done the same for number two.  For number two we've explored how it can be made up of one, and another one, or one and one more.  We have shown the children how this can be represented with objects, thought about what we have two of (eyes, legs etc) and items that come in twos (pairs) such as shoes, socks and gloves.  Try collecting pairs of objects, and as your child brings them to you say 'one sock, and another one makes two socks altogether'.   We've also shown the children how this can be recorded as a number sentence 1+1=2, and 2=1+1.

This week we have also been talking lots about how to keep ourselves healthy.  We've discussed a healthy diet, brushing our teeth, getting a good nights sleep and exercising.  To finish off this discussion we walked our first 'Bushmead Mile'; four laps around the school field.  This is something we aim to try and do at least three times a week after the half term holiday. 

After half term, our busy learning will be based on the theme of 'Celebrations'. 

Don't forget to sign up for Parents Evening if you haven't already done so, on Thursday 1st November, between 2pm and 6pm in the small hall. 

Please remember, once your child turns 5 years old they will no longer receive free milk, so if you would like them to continue to have milk you need to sign up via the Cool Milk scheme, details from the office.  Free milk stops the Monday the week your child turns 5.  Please send back PE kits the first day back, and ensure your child has welly boots and a warm waterproof coat in school every day.

Have a great week

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 12th October 2018

It's been a week full of busy learning down in Early Years!  We started the week by learning the story of 'The Little Red Hen'.  This is a repetitive story which we put actions to, which has enabled the children to be able to retell the story in their own words.  Ask your child to have a go like Hector and tell you the story!  Some children were so good at it and became movie stars as we filmed them retelling the story on the iPad.  The children have also drawn pictures of their favourite part of the story and again demonstrated a have a go attitude by showing us their mark making and writing about their picture.  Now, in the story the Little Red Hen's friends were not particularly helpful or friendly, so we talked about what makes a good friend and the qualities we look for.  The children have also made friendship bracelets and have been handing them out to their friends in class.

As we have used Hector to help us so much this week we decided to create pictures of him using a range of media.  We have some wonderful creations which will soon be up on display for the children to admire each others work.

We started our formal phonics teaching this week and have introduced the letters s,a,t and p.  Please see the information below if you missed our workshop on Thursday.  The children have made snakes and decorated apples as well as having a go at writing the letter shapes.

Outside the children have enjoyed the sunny weather at the beginning of the week but have had to spend the last few days sweeping up the enormous amount of leaves covering the playground - this is a great activity for developing good shoulder pivot which is a precursor to great letter formation!

On Thursday the children made us all extremely proud with their performance in Church for our Harvest Festival.  They loved the trip down on the minibus, sat beautifully and sang brilliantly.  They have enjoyed the Harvest Samba song so much they keep asking to sing it throughout the day.

A few reminders before the weekend:

Please could you check that all of your child's jumpers and cardigans are named, and that you have the correct items at home.  We have a number of parents whose children have gone home without jumpers/cardigans but they have not been found in the unit.  We had a pile of lost property, unnamed, which has now gone to the main entrance.

Please pay your snack and cooking money, via Parent Pay if you have not already done so.  We are hoping to make bread next week.

Have a great weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Phonics & Reading Parent Meeting, Thursday 11th October 2018

Thank you to those that attended our meeting/workshop this afternoon.  We hope you found it useful and informative in guiding you along your child's journey to becoming a reader and a writer.

Please find attached below the meeting presentation and hand outs.

As always, if you have any questions, please do come and see a member of the EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 5th October 2018

The wonderful Early Years children have had another busy and productive week!

They have experienced a range of activities based around Autumn, Harvest and our learning power 'Hector The Have A Go Hedgehog'.

One of the most popular activities on offer this week was our clay investigation. The children enjoyed exploring and moulding the clay using their hands and tools. We are sorry for all the dirty t-shirts and jumpers this produced!!!!!!!!!!!

Another popular activity was our autumn leaves investigation.The children used magnifying glasses to look at the leaves in detail.They then used greaseproof paper and wax crayons to produced an autumn leaf rubbing.

The children have been encouraged this week to express their writing skills. We have provided opportunities for them to write under and on top of tables. It was fabulous to see so many children writing and giving meaning to the marks and letters they produced!

Towards the end of the week Mrs Preston took small groups of children for a walk around our school grounds. The children were investigators identifying signs of Autumn in a familiar environment.

A few reminders for next week: our whole school Harvest Festival will take place on Thursday at St Marys Church and in the afternoon. Mrs Howitt and Mrs Preston will be delivering a presentation on the teaching of phonics and how to support your child to become a reader.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend!

The EYFS Team

Week ending Friday 28th September 2018

Another busy week here in Early Years!  Our Summer children have enjoyed staying for lunch this week and our Autumn and Spring children have stayed all day.

On Tuesday Mr Down visited us for a special assembly - he introduced us to our Learning Power friend Hector the Have a Go Hedgehog.  Hector helps us when we are learning to do something new, or are finding something tricky.  He tells us to "Have a Go", and that it's ok if we "can't do it yet".  You can find out more about our Learning Powers on our Thrive Values page (home / about us / our thrive values) .  Following on from this it has been lovely to hear the children referring to Hector during their busy learning activities.  They have made homes for Hector at the modelling table using a range of boxes and have used a  variety of materials to decorate them and make them comfy inside.  Outside a number of children have demonstrated a 'have a go' attitude by accomplishing the fireman's pole.

We have been exploring the outside area and went on to the big field to look for signs of change and Autumn.  We collected sticks and talked about their differences.

We have made pictures and models of 'Pete the Cat', a character from a story we have been sharing about Pete and his new school shoes. 

The children have also been developing their fine motor skills through a range of threading activities and using the hole punch.

In preparation for next week we have been learning our Harvest Festival Song ready to perform in Church next Friday.

Next week we will be focussing on Autumn and Harvest and look forward to all children staying all day, 9am - 3pm, drop off and pick up from our back gate.

Have a great weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week ending Friday 21st September 2018

This week we have welcomed our Summer children in the afternoons.  We have enjoyed spending the week getting to know them, sharing their 'All About Me' books and playing some 'getting to know you' songs and games.  The children have all settled extremely well, and have quickly learned where to put their coats and book bags.  We've had great fun on a Bushmead adventure, introducing ourselves to all of the important adults in school and saying hello to our bigger brothers and sisters.  Outside the children have been busy collecting conkers!

Our morning children this week have also been collecting conkers and we have used them to print with.  All of the children have drawn us a picture of themselves and their family.  Our block play area has been very popular this week; the children have been building towns, trains and houses.  Children have shared the story of 'A squash and a squeeze' with Miss Crawford, joining in with the rhyming words and retelling parts themselves.

The main event this week for our morning children was obviously staying for lunch!  The children have been great at choosing their lunch, sitting well at the tables demonstrating good manners and eating really well.  Our lunchtime organisers have enjoyed getting to know the children this week.  Next week, when our morning children stay all day they will be supervised by these lovely ladies in our outside area.

You should have received your details for ParentPay, our online system for payments.  Could we please ask that you pay this terms snack money so that we can place our first Tesco order for snacks and cooking.

Next week, all children are starting school at 9am, and should enter from our back gate.  All children are staying for lunch, with the Summer children going home from the front office at 12.30.  Could we kindly ask, if your child is bringing in a packed lunch from home that none of the items contain nuts or traces of nuts as we have children with nut allergies in the unit.  The remaining children will be finishing at 3pm from the back gate.

Please find below a copy of the 'Things to remember' document, and our topic web for the Autumn first half term; Marvelous Me!

Have a great weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 14th September 2018

Welcome to our Early Years page.  We have had an AMAZING first week with our Autumn and Spring children this week.  The adults have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the children in their smaller groups, and we have played a number of getting to know you games.  We've been on a Bushmead Adventure around the school building, saying hello to all of the important people; Mr Down, Mr Leonard, Mrs Coffey and Mrs 'Cherry Jam'.  Below are just a few pictures of some of the exciting activities we have taken part in, helping us to explore our new environment and make new friends.

Next week we look forward to bringing the two groups together and staying for lunch, and are eager to meet our Summer Children in the afternoons.

Have a great weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 13th July 2018

With only 8 more days until the end of term we write our penultimate update of what we've been up to in Early Years this week.

We started the week by thinking about how we would describe ourselves to our new teachers.  We wrote sentences about who we are, how old we are, what we like , who our friends are and what we are good at - lots of sentences to help our new teachers get to know us a little bit!

In our maths work this week we have been sharing numbers into equal groups.  We did this practically, and had to think carefully about how to give each duck the same number of biscuits. 

We geared ourselves up for the very important football match by using our creative skills to make hats and flags, and even had our very own football match outside.

Also outside this week the children have been discovering ways to move across the monkey bars.  Lots of risk taking and demonstrating our Have a Go Hector Learning Power.

On Wednesday we enjoyed spending some time with our new teachers who visited us down in Early Years and we wowed them by showing them what great busy learners we are.  They stayed for our final Learning Journal share with mums and dads.

Don't forget next Wednesday is our Summer Fun Day - you received an email last week with the details of this event.  Please see a member of staff if you did not receive this email, and please remember to pay your donation via ParentPay.

Have a good weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 29th July 2018

It's been a hot, hot week this week down in Early Years and we've been doing our best to keep the children nice and cool whilst still engaging in lots of purposeful play and busy learning activities.  Lots of water breaks, staying in the shade, quiet reflection times and the odd ice lolly!

This week our focus has been the text 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric  Carle.  We started the week by learning to retell the story, joining in with the repeated parts of the text and sequencing pictures in the correct order.  The children have even been using the iPads to record each other retelling the story in their own words.  Our writing focus has been a mixture of writing about our favourite parts of the story, retelling the story by writing simple sentences and some of our writers have been using their imaginations and changing the story to their own 'Very Hungry' stories; we've had Very Hungry Spiders, Slugs, Ladybirds and Worms to name a few.

In our maths work this week we have been working on simple addition, using pictures and objects, and then we challenged the children to make up their own addition sentences. 

Our own furry caterpillars turned into chrysalides over the weekend and this week we have transferred them from their eating pot to the hatching habitat.  As it happened over the weekend,  we have watched clips on the IWB to see how it happens.  This created lots of questions from the children which we tried very hard to answer accurately, and used good old Google to help us with the tricky ones!  We are now practising the skill of patience as week eagerly await their transformation into butterflies. 

We turned ourselves into hungry caterpillars this week and have been enjoying tasting a selection of the foods which the Very Hungry Caterpillar ate in the story.  Of course, everybody wanted to eat the chocolate cake, but the deal was we had to be like our friend Hector the Have a Go Hedgehog and try everything else first - even if we thought we wouldn't like it.  Everybody was great at this and showed a real Growth Mind set.  Some children really surprised themselves with what they discovered they liked, and even said that they were going to ask their mums to buy some the next time they went shopping.  We had pickles, salami, swiss cheese, pears, watermelon and of course the chocolate cake!

This week also gave us the opportunity to sneak up to Key Stage One as they were on their visit to Hunstanton.  We put our best detective disguises on and our quietest voices and we spent a little bit of time exploring the classrooms and then sat to have a story.  But shhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone what we did!

As the hot weather continues, please ensure that you apply an all day sun cream before school, provide a sun hat  and that the children are in loose fitting lightweight uniform.

Enjoy the weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 22nd June 2018

This week in EYFS has been one of the busiest ever! It is that time of year again when we welcome our new September pupils into the setting for Stay and Play sessions. Your children have been amazing and an absolute credit to you! They have welcomed the new children with kind words and actions, included them in their play and shown what independent learners they have become. 😊

On Monday morning the children received a special delivery linked to our learning about Minibeasts. Can you guess what they are? Ok I will tell you, it was caterpillars.

We talked to the children about how the caterpillars will grow and change over time this then formed the basis for our busy learning challenges.

The children have made Minibeast zig zag books, read Minibeast facts and created their own fact sheets, observed the caterpillars and have drawn and wrote what they could see, created high frequency word caterpillars using words that they could read, ordered their numbers to 20 and challenged themselves further to order numbers to 20 and beyond by counting in two's, they have taken part in balance bike activities, phonic sessions and walked the mile. 

Next week our learning will be based around the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

We would like to wish you all a very happy and sunny weekend 😌

The EYFS Team

Week Ending Friday 8th June 2018

Our week started off with a brilliant Everybody Seaside Writes Day.  The children wrote postcards, built boats, paddled in the sea by the lighthouse, created seaside pictures using different media and textures to name just a few things.  In the afternoon we were treated to a Punch and Judy Show.

On Tuesday the fun continued with our trip to the Pightle in Eaton Socon.  This was a fabulous introduction to our Mini Beast topic.  The children then used their Pightle experiences whilst busy learning throughout the rest of the week.

Look at what we have been up to........

Week Ending Friday 25th May

This week in Early Years we have been continuing our celebration of the Royal Wedding.  The children have been designing wedding dresses and drawing pictures of the happy couple, and using our phonics to write sentences about the exciting day.

The children have started writing a 'Bean Plant Diary', writing in the style of a 'recount' using words like first, then and next to start our sentences about how we planted a bean.  The children have been observing the plants this week and some have already started to grow roots!

In maths this week we have been developing our understanding of subtraction.  Some children have been doing this practically using dice and getting on and off a bus and recording number sentences.  Some children have been using a number line to count back from the larger number to find how many are left.

We were extremely proud of all of our children in their performance of our class assembly on Wednesday.  We hope you enjoyed it too and the opportunity to share their Learning Journals after.

We practised our Sport's Day races earlier in the week so are a bit disappointed that the weather was not kind to us today, but we look forward to being able to do it after half term.

Enjoy the break!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 11th May 2018

This week in EYFS we have used the story of 'Jack and The Beanstalk' as a stimulus for learning.

We began the week by sharing and talking about the story. The children then took their understanding of the story and used it in their learning!

So what have the children been up to in their busy learning? Well they have been  designing their own giant pictures, writing the story of Jaspers Beanstalk, creating magic bean repeating patterns, beanstalk leaf threading and learning how to complete addition number sentences using a numberline.

When we reached Thursday the children were greeted with a mystery to solve!!!!!!!! There were footprints in the cloakroom, up turned chairs and a letter left for them to open!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what it was from the giant and he was looking for Jack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So the children busied themselves with creating posters to warn the children of Bushmead that a giant had been in their school, they made traps to try and capture him and generated words to help describe what the giant looked like to others.

At this moment in time the giant has not been found!

Week Ending 4th May 2018

This week the children have been continuing their learning from the story of Jasper's Beanstalk and have made their own story maps to help them with the retelling.  They all did amazingly well, remembering the sequence of the story, which included remembering the order of the days of the week.

In our maths work this week we have focussed on height, building and comparing different towers and walls with our block play, and creating taller and shorter beanstalks.  We have focussed on the language tall, taller, tallest and short, shorter, shortest.

The children have been successfully using our self service paint station to create pictures from the story, and using their joining skills to make cat masks.

Building on Mr Down's assembly about our new THRIVE values, we have been encouraging the children to work together as a community.  In class this has been shown through children taking on the roles of 'team leader' in our different learning areas within the classroom, and their role has been to ensure that the members of their team (the children using the area for busy learning) are taking care of the resources, sharing, taking turns, modelling ways to do things and working together to tidy away.  We hope to build on this idea over the next few weeks.

Today the children have enjoyed taking part in our PE festival along with Key Stage 1.

Enjoy the long weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending 27th April 2018

This week in Early Years we have been focussing on the story of Jasper's Beanstalk by Nick Butterworth.  The children have been learning to retell the story themselves, with actions and have been shown how to draw a story map, with pictures to help them retell it.  Next week the children will be having a go at making their own story maps.  The children have also been looking at non fiction books about plants and growing and some children have chosen to make their own books, writing about the things they know or have found out from reading.

In Maths we have been comparing objects by length, using the language long, longer, longest and short, shorter, shortest. 

Mrs Bannister has been introducing our new self service painting area to the children, allowing them to pour, mix and clear away their own painting equipment.  Next week we hope to see the children using this area independently.

To help with our fine motor skills we have been mashing Jasper's beans and threading leaves onto sticks to make a beanstalk.

Outside we have been giving our learning area a good spring clean - and the children have been busy planting the seeds and flowers we bought at B & Q last week.  Each child has planted their own sunflower seed and over the next few weeks the children will be taking care of them and watching them grow.

Next week we will be practising our skills on the balance bikes.  We have our own set of balance bikes but if you have a spare helmet which you would like to donate to our unit we would be most grateful!  Alternatively, if your child could bring a named helmet to school each day this would be most helpful.  In Maths we will be learning about height.

Could we please also remind you that the children need to bring a waterproof coat to school every day.  Don't forget to keep reading with your child AT LEAST 3 times a week and to practise the high frequency words.

Have a great weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending Friday 24th March 2018

This week has been another busy and productive week! The children have enjoyed their visits to Pets At Home and Aldi! During their visit to Pets At Home the children read signs and labels to support navigation of the shop, looked at and discussed what things different pets needed and met some pets which need re homing. In Aldi the children worked together to choose one healthy and one treat snack to bring back to school. The groups chose things such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, fairy cakes, chocolate brownies, mini rolls, apple juice and chocolate milkshake.

The children carried their own baskets, paid for the shopping and packed the shopping bags. As they walked around the store the children spotted many of the yellow price labels and could say what some items cost! Whilst walking around both shops we had many lovely comments from other shoppers about how engaged and well behaved the children were! We were all very proud of them!!!!!!!!!

In school this week the children have had great fun writing clues to guess their favourite pet, learnt how to use er and ear to read and write words, looked at a range of coins and discussed how to identify them leading on to adding a selection of coins to find a total amount, created Easter cards and have drawn and painted pictures of spring flowers.

Next week we will be focusing on the Christian celebration of Easter.

Have a lovely weekend.

The EYFS Team

Week Ending Friday 16th March 2018

This week has been Science Week at Bushmead.  Our focus for the week has been Humpty Dumpty and the children were given the challenge of finding a suitable material to make a soft landing for Humpty so that he wouldn't crack when he fell of the wall.  Lots of great discussions about different materials and their properties, lots of predicting and testing; and lots of cracked eggs!  The children have also enjoyed our new building blocks; building walls and testing how strong they are by rolling a ball at them.  We had a great workshop with James Boffin (Secret Science Agent) finding out about electricity, and on Wednesday we had a visit from a science technician at Longsands who demonstrated a number of experiments for us.

This week we were able to finish our visits to Croxton Farm.  There were lots of new lambs born, and on the Monday visit Mrs Howitt and the children got to see a lamb which had been born that very morning.  The children have been busy back in class writing about their visit.  The children are becoming so much more confident with their writing.  In Maths the children have been measuring the walls they have been building; working with a friend to take turns to build taller and shorter walls.

We've been blessed with some drier warmer weather so have been making the most of getting back outside, looking for signs of spring and making observational drawings.

Next week we will be visiting Pets at Home and Aldi as we will be focussing on money.  Please ensure you have returned your permission slip by Monday.

Week Ending Friday 2nd March 2018

This week Early Years have been immersed in a number of Book Week related activities.

The week started with the Bushmead Teaching Staff telling the story of 'The Day The Crayons Quit' by Oliver Jeffers during whole school assembly.  Following that the children created pictures with crayons, talked about their favourite colours and brought crayons to life with a range of materials.  The children have been busy all week making their own books, either making up stories of their own or retelling favourite stories.

The children also had the opportunity to visit different classes and listen to a story read by a different member of staff.

On Monday we also had a visit from staff at Medivet St Neots, who talked to the children about how to look after pets and all of the important and fun jobs they do.  The children have been exploring weight, comparing different packets of pet food in the balance scales, and using language such as heavy/heavier/ heaviest and light/lighter/lightest.

Of course we have enjoyed the snow too!  We have had short bursts of time outside exploring, catching snowflakes, making snowballs and throwing them!  Inside the children have been making snowy pictures with a range of materials.

On Wednesday we were joined by our lovely parents who together with children to produce some lovely books and share stories.

Today the children have enjoyed telling us about the book character they have dressed up as, making more books and drawing pictures and writing sentences.

Next week we will be taking groups of children each day to Croxton Farm on the minibus, so please make sure you have sent your permission slip back to school and that your children are dressed for the cold weather each day.

Have a great weekend - stay safe and warm and enjoy the snow!

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending 23rd February 2018

What a busy and exciting week we have had in Early Years this week!

We started off on Monday with our whole school Everybody Writes Day.  The theme was 'Make 'Em Laugh' and we focussed on the story of Mr Happy.  We discussed the things which make us happy, smile and laugh and the children shared some really lovely ideas.  They certainly made us smile - as they do most days!  The children then wrote down their ideas, demonstrating how far they have come on with their writing,  using their phonics, remembering to leave finger spaces and finishing with a full stop at the end.  Congratulations to Jack from Oak and Emily from Ash who were chosen as the winners.  Their work is on display in the entrance hall. 

Take a look through the photos to see the other activities children took part in for Everybody Writes Day.

This week we also started our new learning about 'Pets'. 

We started off by discussing which animals made good pets or not, and why! The children had some great ideas - ranging from "My mum is allergic to guinea-pigs, although I'd really like one but it wouldn't be a good pet for me," from Alex to "These animals are so cute!" from Leia.  We sorted soft toys and then moved on to recording this by cutting out pictures of animals and sorting into groups.

The children have been using their creative skills to make pet puppets - some with moving parts, using the skills they have been developing over last half term.

We have moved on to writing about pets which we have in our own homes, or a pet we would like to have.

On Thursday we had a visit from Helen who works at Wood Green Animal Shelter.  She talked to the children in Oak and Ash class about how to make the perfect home for Martha the Mouse.  During the whole school assembly she talked about the 5 rights every pet animals is entitled to by Law in England.

The children have also enjoyed having a closer look at the gerbils this week as Mrs Palmer has been getting them out of the cage and giving them some exercise.  The children have enjoyed stroking them and watching them travel around in the exercise ball.  Today Tyler and Nicky brought in a  skin from their pet snakes!  If you have any interesting or unusual pets which you would like to bring in to talk to the children about, please see a member of staff.

Next week is Book Week and the focus of the week will be the story 'The day the crayons quit'.  Please refer to the information which was sent out via email from the office with regard to events happening throughout the week, but please note that we have had to change the date of the our Family Afternoon to Wednesday instead of Thursday due to staff training. 

Have a good weekend,

EYFS Team.

Week Ending 9th February 2018

Kung Hey Fat Choi - Happy New Year!

This week the children have been engaged in a number of activities to help us learn about Chinese New Year.  We have looked at where China is on the globe, listened to stories from China and watched clips of children getting ready for and taking part in the celebrations.  We have found out about the lucky colour red and learnt a song about dragons.  Outside we have made firework pictures.

In Literacy the children have continued to generate their own rhyming words, linked to the animals in the story of the Chinese Zodiac.  

The children have made lanterns to hang, made dog hats and masks, practiced their Chinese symbol writing and folded paper to make fans.  We have danced to Chinese music and played along with the instruments and done Dragon Dancing.

Our Dragon making afternoon was very well attended and the children enjoyed sharing their creations with the whole school during Celebration assembly.  We are looking forward to our Chinese Banquet this afternoon.

After half term our learning will focus on Pets.  We have a number of visits on the minibus planned to Croxton Farm.  Please see the Spring Term topic web.

Enjoy your half term,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending 2nd February 2018

A favourite story for lots of children has been our focus this week ....'The Gruffalo's Child' by Julia Donaldson. Our reading and writing activities have focussed on rhyming words.  The children have been matching objects which rhyme, making rhyming ladders by generating and writing lists of rhyming words and making rhyming word paper chains.

In our Maths work this week we have been identifying numerals within the environment and marking them off on a 100 square.  A great opportunity for identifying numerals larger than 20!  We started off in the classroom and Mr Beavis took the children on a number hunt around the classroom.  On Thursday we extended this activity by sticking number sentences around the classroom and the children had to work out the answer and mark that off on their grid.

In our Creative area this week the children have been painting pictures of the characters, using the loose parts to make a Gruffalo face, making puppets to retell the story and making their own Gruffalo books.

We were treated to a visit from Sycamore class who have been writing their own stories.  The children listened well and gave constructive feedback on which parts they liked and any improvements which might be made.  Thank you Sycamore - we can't wait for the finished stories.

The children are really enjoying their Friday morning Music sessions with Ms Myers.  They have been exploring a range of different instruments and learning to play them in time to songs.  They have demonstrated great listening and turn taking skills, and we have also observed the children using the instruments freely during their busy learning time.

Next week, the final hurdle before a well deserved half term break we will be finding out about Chines New Year.  An exciting week for all - and don't forget to collect and bring in clean (washed up) junk for the Dragon building session for Dad's on Thursday afternoon.  On Friday we hope to finish the week with a Chinese style banquet! YUM

Have a good weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending 26th January 2018

Another chilly week in Early Years this week as we focused on the story 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers, a delightful story about a penguin who turns up on a little boys doorstep, and their adventure back home to Antarctica.  We used a globe to discover where the cold places on Earth are and explored ice in the tuff tray, sharing our ideas about the changes that happen.

In our Writing this week we have been making 'Lost' posters and writing descriptions of the penguin.  The children really are becoming more confident in using their phonics to help them write.  In Phonics we have continued learning the vowel digraphs 'ai, ee & oa'.

In Maths this week we have consolidated our learning on 'one more' and 'one less' through a range of practial activities, and some children have begun to record in number sentences.  

Our creative tasks this week have had the children making penguins and boats.  They have used a range of joining skills which we have practised throughout last term.  

Outside the children have had the opportunity to make boats and test them on the water to see if they float or sink.

In our learning next week we will be focussing on rhyme through the story of The Gruffalo's Child.  Our Maths learning will be about shape.

May we take this opportunity to remind you that if your child has laready turned 5 they no longer receive milk.  If you would like your child to have milk you need to sign up to the 'Cool Milk' scheme, details from the office.  

Also, on Thursday 8th February we are inviting all Dads to join us for an afternoon of dragon making.  This will be linked to our learning about Chinese New Year.  We will provide some of the resources but if you would like to collect some bits and peices together yourselves there will be a prize for the best dragon.

Have a great weekend,

The EYFS Team.

Week Ending 19th January 2018

This week the children have all enjoyed a trip to Priory Park, where we looked for animals from 'One Snowy Night' and had a walk through the woods.  They have also all enjoyed a lovely hot chocolate to warm us up on the cold days we have had.  In Maths we have been learning 'one more and one less', and we have written lists of things to help keep Percy the Park Keeper warm on a snowy day.  On Tuesday we had a great session doing Yoga!

Have a good weekend!

The Early Years Team

Week ending 12th January 2018

This week in Early Years we have started our Winter Adventure learning.  On Tuesday when the children entered the unit they discovered that Winter had arrived and turned the cloakroom all icy and a mysterious pile of objects had been left on Oak carpet.  We spent some time exploring and identifying the objects and the children shared their current knowledge about Winter and cold places.  We looked at a globe to identify cold places on the Earth.

Leading on from this the children have learned to mix powder paint to paint snowy pictures.  They have decorated scarves with repeating patterns and practiced the tricky skill of cutting wool to add fringing.  The children have enjoyed dressing up in the winter clothes and going on their own winter adventures.  Our tuff spots have been filled with snow themed small world resources and the children have been making up their own stories.

Each child has walked a mile this week - as we all put on our wellies and walked around the school field four times.  This will become a regular mission for Early Years.

To help develop our reading skills the children have been matching simple sentences with pictures this week, and in our phonics we have learned the four digraphs sh, ch, th and ng.

In our number work this week we have been recognising numerals to 20 and building matching towers with bricks.

Today ended with the discovery that some of our number and phonic resources had been frozen in ice and the children enjoyed using a range of tools to try and set the resources free.

Next week we are looking forward to learning the story of One Snowy Night by Nick Butterworth.  Each Key Worker group will be visiting Priory Park (please remember to bring your signed permission slip in on Monday), and making a lovely hot chocolate drink.

Have a good weekend,

The Early Years Team

Week Ending 8th December 2017

This week we have been busily preparing for our Nativity performance, which is next Friday 15th December.  Make sure you have ordered your tickets from the main office!  The children have been doing a fantastic job with learning the songs and this week we have been on the stage.  If your child requires a costume to be sent in please do this by Monday 11th if you have not yet done so.

In between practices the children have been writing letters to Father Christmas, and we are now seeing that many children are applying the phonic skills they are developing during our taught phonic sessions.

Don't forget Monday is our annual trip to the Panto!  Each child will require a packed lunch on this day so please send one in a named carrier bag.

Have a good weekend!

The EYFS Team.

Week ending 10^th November 2017

Another extremely busy week in Early Years!

First of all we would like to thank parents for their supportive comments on Parent’s Evening last week about how your children have settled into life at Bushmead. We hope you found the meeting informative and enjoyed the opportunity to look through your child’s Learning Journal. Please remember if you have any queries about the report, or Next Steps, please do not hesitate to come in and ask a member of the team.

This week our learning has focused on a number of skills developed through various Firework and Poppy themed activities.

The children have been developing their language and communication skills through sharing their experiences of fireworks and bonfires. We thought about words we could use to describe fireworks and watched clips of fireworks, describing our feelings towards the colours, shapes and sounds.

The children have been extremely creative this week! Progressing on from last week printing activity of using classroom objects to print with, this week we introduced the children to the skill of impressed printing. Each child had a polystyrene tile which they used various implements to ‘score’ a picture or make marks into. They then used a roller to apply paint to the tile and then took a print by pressing the tile onto paper. The children explored layering up different colours and the effects produced from doing this. They look really effective!

Another progression from last week where the children were developing their gross and fine motor skills hammering golf tees into a pumpkin, we gave the children the opportunity to hammer and drill using the things that hammers and drills are intended for – and would have possibly seen at home – wood and nails. The children are very aware of the need for safety and are provided with safety goggles and the working section has been taped off – if you’re not wearing goggles you can’t’ come in! A number of different joints are worked during this type of activity; the elbow pivot for hammering, the shoulder rotation for drilling, the wrist rotation for screwing – all vital for good fine motor control and pencil control for writing. The children have demonstrated great determination, team work and a sense of achievement. A small number of children took this step even further and started to attach bottle tops to the wood by hammering the nail through the bottle top into the wood. Next step for progression – using the saw!

In the outside learning area Mr Beavis has been assessing the children’s ball skills and their ability to travel in a variety of ways. This enables us to plan appropriately for our outside provision based on the children’s current skills. The children love it when Mr Beavis comes down to visit us each week.

Moving on to Poppies. Towards the end of the week our learning shifted to finding out why people wear poppies at this time of year. Jack said ‘It’s to remember the soldiers’, and we briefly and sensitively discussed the origins of Remembrance Day. Again, the children have demonstrated their creative sides, using various collage materials to create stunning poppy pictures. The children took part in the minutes silence today, and again this was discussed sensitively.

We are enjoying introducing the reading scheme books to the children. We aim to read with each child once a week. Sometimes they may bring home a book which has not been read at school, so please remember that the most important step of reading a new book is to do the ‘book walkthrough’ first, and not to expect your child to attempt to read the words straight away. Your child may bring home a book without words. The purpose of these books is to encourage your child to develop skills in ‘telling’ stories, by ‘reading’ the pictures, explaining what is happening and making predictions about what might happen next. You can model ‘telling’ the story first, using storybook language for your child to copy and then have a go themselves. Please refer to the ‘Reading Workshop’ PowerPoint which is on this page. Please remember to read with your child at least three times a week, and write a comment in the reading diary. If there is not a comment in the diary we will assume the book has not been read and will not change. We will change books on a Monday and Thursday, but may read with your child any day of the week so please ensure books and diaries are in school every day.

As the days are becoming colder please ensure your child has a warm coat, hat and gloves in school, which are clearly named. If you have not done so yet, please make sure you child has a pair of wellies and a change of all clothes in school.

Wishing you all a Happy Weekend!

Kind Regards

The EYFS Team

Welcome to the class page of Early Years - Ash and Oak class.

On this page we will regularly post updates of life in Early Years, along with photographs of the children engaged in their busy learning, special events and any notices.

As we come to the end of a very busy half term, we would like to congratulate you and your children on a very successful first term at Bushmead School.  We have been overwhelmed with how settled, happy and engaged the children are on a daily basis.  During this settling in period the children have already demonstrated to us that they are eager to learn and that they are developing skills in independence.

We hope that you enjoy your half term holiday and we look forward to seeing you all back on 30th October.