Hello!

Today we have had our dress rehearsal! The children did so well. We are very excited about showing you our hard work next week and spreading some Christmas Joy! Thank you for sending in costumes for the children to wear.

In maths this week we have been reviewing our knowledge of 4 and 5. We have been thinking of the different ways to compose 4 and 5, using 5 frames and counters to show the different number combinations. At home you could use 2 colours of Christmas baubles, ask your child how many ways they can make 4 and 5, for example 3 red baubles and 1 gold baubles. You can use lots of things at home to represent numbers in a range of ways. We have also been learning how to share an amount equally between 2 groups. The children have been using vocabulary such as halving, groups, equal, unequal, fair and unfair to describe how an amount can be shared into 2 groups. At home you could get 2 toys (perhaps elves if they have hijacked your house!) and share some Christmas sweets equally between them. Count the amount first to check the total, then share the amount equally, count each group to check the amount is the same. You could also make a mistake to see if your child can identify the mistake and correct it.

This week in Talk for Writing, we have innovated the story of Dear Zoo, coming up with ideas of different animals which the children have had a go at writing about using their phonic knowledge. We have had bats, cats, dogs, rats, pigs, bugs and many more! We have thought of new describing words for each one in our new stories. We also looked at the Dear Santa story and discussed how this is an innovation too.

We have read books as part of our No Outsiders curriculum and have thought about how we are different and how we are the same and how we may like some of the same things as others, but we may like different things, and that both is ok! We have also had our termly ‘Pants Are Private’ lesson which you will have received an app message about. We sang the ‘Pantosaurus’ song which you will find on the following website. The website has lots of information which may be useful if your child talks about ‘Pants Are Private’ at home: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/ 

Next week in maths we will be continuing consolidating knowledge of number combinations up to 5. We will solve problems that involve, adding, subtracting and sharing. We will also review positional language: behind, in front, in between, on, under.

In Understanding the World, we will be learning about Christmas. The children will look at the world map to find out where Leeds and Bethlehem are. They will also find out how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world.

Next week we have the Christmas production on Monday at 2pm and on Tuesday at 9.30am. We are looking forward to welcoming you into school to enjoy our show. Thursday is party day where the children can come to school in non-uniform / party wear. The Christmas disco will also be taking place after school on Thursday until 4.25pm.

We hope you have a lovely weekend.
The Reception team