Year R Blog

Our story of the week is ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’.  After listening to the story, the children then designed their own caterpillar in drawing club and wrote passwords to describe what their caterpillar looks like and what they like to eat. The children were very excited to see the arrival of our caterpillars towards the end of last week.  They have been thoroughly enjoying watching them grow and are very excited to see them spin their cocoons.   In phonics this week we have learnt the special friend ‘oy’ and ‘ay’ and recapped on previously learnt sounds. In maths we … Read more →

We hope you all had a lovely Easter break and it was great to see you all again this week. This half term we are learning about mini beasts and there will be lots of exciting activities in the coming weeks.  On Tuesday we had a very special visit from Zoo Lab, which was very exciting.  Please look on tapestry at the photographs of the visit. Our story of the week is ‘The Bug Collector’ which led to lots of lovely discussions about looking after mini beasts in their natural habitats.  After listening to the story, the children then designed … Read more →

This week the children have enjoyed many different Easter crafts and activities and have created beautiful Easter cards. Our story of the week is ‘Little Green Donkey’.  The children have loved listening to it and found it very funny that the donkey changed into the colour of the foods that he ate.   After listening to the story, the children designed their own donkey in drawing club before describing their donkey and giving it a password.    In maths we have recapped on 3D shapes and learnt some new complex patterns. In phonics we are continuing to learn the second set … Read more →

Our story of the week is ‘Chicken Licken’.  The children have enjoyed listening to the story and creating their own versions of the characters and setting in this week’s drawing club.  They continue to create some amazing passwords every week and are becoming such confident little writers.  Well done Year R. Some of our art activities this week have included colour mixing to make the colour orange.  Maybe you could ask your child if they can remember what two colours make orange.  They have painted fox tails and created pictures of foxes using different media and materials. In phonics we … Read more →

It has been another very exciting week in Year R!  This week is British Science Week and we are focusing on time. The children have explored what time is and what we use to tell the time.  Following on from our exciting egg/chick visit the children created their own ‘Lifecycle of a Chicken’ poster to begin the week. In the outdoor area there have been races on scooters and bikes, recording how many laps that can be done in 30 seconds or in a minute.  The children have taken part in experiments including exploring what is inside an apple and … Read more →

It is a very exciting week in Year R!  The eggs have arrived and are in an incubator.  We have been observing the eggs and we are very excited to see them hatch! The children have been watching closely and have been doing observational drawings of what they can see.  Our story of the week is ‘The Odd Egg’ and children have designed their own egg and their own duck.  There have been some amazing designs and fabulous writing.  Well done everyone! In maths this week we are focusing on longer and shorter. The children have taken part in more … Read more →

We hope you had a lovely restful half term. It was lovely to see the children back this week, refreshed and ready for lots more fun and learning. Our topic for this half term is ‘Animals’ Our story of the week is ‘Farmer Duck’ and the children have enjoyed listening to the story throughout the week. We have talked about what animals live on a farm and what is the role of a farmer. In literacy the children have been writing about the story of Farmer Duck and have been using lots of their phonics sounds, including some special friends! … Read more →

This week the children have been learning all about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. They have taken part in many different activities including acting out the story of the great race, designing and painting their own dragons, singing and dancing to ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ and have explored different objects used such as chopsticks and lucky money envelopes. The children have continued to use their phonics sounds both in their phonics lessons, in drawing club and when accessing the provision in both the indoor and outdoor area. In Maths we have been focusing on the number 8 … Read more →

This week the children have enjoyed the story of ‘Handa’s Surprise’.  They have learnt about animals that live in Africa and had a go at drawing and painting them. The children are all trying really hard to use their phonics sounds both in their phonics lessons, in drawing club and when accessing the provision in both the indoor and outdoor area. In Maths we have been focusing on the number 7 and different ways to make 7.  The children have watched an episode of Numberblocks all about 7 and used cubes and ten frames to find different ways to make … Read more →

We are continuing to enjoy different traditional tales this half term and this week the children have enjoyed listening to the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.  In ‘drawing club’ the children have created their own giant and setting for the story and thought of passwords to activate their giant.   They are becoming such fantastic writers and all thought of amazing passwords which they then had a go at writing.  They have also painted their own beanstalks, made giant castles in the outside area and acted out their own versions of the story. In phonics this week, the children have … Read more →

This week the children have enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’.  They have created their own troll and even thought of a new animal to cross the bridge.  They are working so hard on their writing and all had a go at using red words in their writing this week.  In phonics this week, the children have been revisited the special friends ‘nk’ and ‘ng’ In maths the children have working hard on experimenting with the balance scales to weigh items and even had a go at estimating how many cubes an item weighs and … Read more →

This week the children have enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and have taken part in many different activities.  These have included acting out the story, building houses using different materials, making and drawing their own versions of the pigs and the big bad wolf and writing about the big bad wolf in our new literacy ‘drawing club’.  In phonics this week, the children have been introduced to the special friend – ‘ng’ and have had a go at writing words containing ‘ng’ and ‘x’. In maths the children have working on the skill of Subitising. … Read more →

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and are refreshed and ready for our new term!  This week has been a shorter week but the children have still thrown themselves into all of the new learning.   The children have enjoyed the story of ‘The Gingerbread Man’ and have taken part in many different activities including writing speech bubbles for the different story characters, making their own versions of the gingerbread man and re-enacting the story both inside the classroom and in our outdoor area. In phonics this week, the children have been introduced to two new special … Read more →

This week the children have embraced all things Christmassy.  We started the week with our Elf Run and a special visit from Father Christmas. The children were mesmerised to see him in our playground on his sleigh! We also had our Christmas lunch, a trip to the Pantomime and lots of fun activities every day. It is so hard to believe that the children have already completed their first full term at School.  They have all settled in so well, learnt their new routines and made lots of new friends.  There have been so many wow moments that it would … Read more →

We think you will all agree that the children were absolutely amazing at their Christmas nativity performances.  They worked so hard to learn their lines, the songs and actions and put a smile on everyone’s face.  We are all so proud of them.  Thank you for sending in beautiful costumes and helping them to practice their lines at home. This week has been all about Christmas, with the children having a go at writing Christmas lists.  They have enjoyed making Christmas decorations and crafts, had fun in our new Christmas home corners and the Santa’s Workshop in the outdoor area … Read more →

What a fabulous week we have had! On Monday the children attended a SCARF workshop where they met ‘Harold’ and found out about different body parts and ways to stay healthy and safe.  They had so much fun and even got to talk to Harold on the phone! The children went to a whole school assembly called ‘Open the Book’ where they got to experience a re-enactment of the nativity story.  They all sat beautifully and listened to the story.  Well done Year R. This week the children have listened to the story of ‘One Snowy Night’ and have been … Read more →

We have had another fun packed, busy but exciting week! The children enjoyed performing ‘The Hokey Cokey’ in P.E this week and are doing really well at getting themselves changed and ready.     Our story this week was ‘The Hundred Decker Bus’.  The children had great fun listening to the story and coming up with ideas for where the bus driver might be going.  They all designed a deck for the bus and were excited to create it using junk modelling on Friday. In Literacy this week, the children have had a go at describing their deck. In Maths this … Read more →

This week has been another busy but exciting week! The children had their first session in the ICT suite, where they used their counting skills to give a teddy the correct number of cakes.  The children were fantastic at sharing the computers, taking it in turns and using the mouse to navigate around the screen.  Our story this week was ‘You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus’.  The children have thoroughly enjoyed listening to this funny story and even had a go at writing about it. In Maths this week we have been focusing on the number 4.  The … Read more →

This week was our first P.E lesson.  The children did so well at having a go at getting changed all by themselves and were fantastic at following the instructions and joining in with the lesson.  Well done Badgers and Rabbits, all of the grown-ups are really proud of you! It has been another busy but fun packed week.  In Literacy the children took the naughty bus on an adventure around the school and then had a go at writing all about the adventures of the bus.  In Maths we were looking at circles and triangles and sorting them into groups. … Read more →

It has been lovely to see all the children come back after half term fully rested and throwing themselves back into their learning with such enthusiasm! We are very proud of the way in which the children have been continuing to come into the classroom independently and we appreciate your continued support with this.  The amount the children are learning this term has really increased so the sooner the children settle, the quicker we can start our fun packed day.    Our new topic for this half term is ‘A Ticket to Ride’ and last week our story of the … Read more →

On Monday morning, we read the story Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. The story follows three baby owls who wake one night to find that their mother is gone. Scared and alone, they wait patiently for her to return. As we read the story, we talked about how the baby owls were feeling and made predictions about what would happen next. Moreover, we talked about times we have been brave like the little owls in the story. In literacy, we drew a picture of a time that we were brave and used our initial sounds to add labels. The children … Read more →

On Monday morning, we read the fantastic story ‘Once There Were Giants’ by Martin Waddell. The story follows a baby who lives amongst giants – Mum and Dad. The baby grows a little, and soon she can walk and talk. Then the baby grows a lot, until she is all grown up and has a baby of her own. The children enjoyed listening to the story and discussing questions linked to the text, such as ‘Who are the giants?’ ,‘What is a giant’? Later in the week, the children shared photos of when they were babies and in a circle … Read more →

This week, we have been learning about different emotions. On Monday morning, we read the story The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. We talked each of the feelings mentioned in the story and shared times we have felt happy, sad, scared, calm or angry. After reading the story, we had a go at making our own colour monster puppets to help us talk about the different emotions. We also sorted coloured tiles or pom poms into feeling jars. The children engaged so well with these activities and are beginning to use language from the story to describe how they are … Read more →

On Monday morning, we read the story ‘Only One You’ by Linda Kranz and explored the concept of being unique. The author hand painted each rockfish in the story with their own unique markings. The story follows a little rockfish who is getting ready to venture into the big, wide world and so his parents share some important wisdoms that they have gained over the years. After reading the story, we talked about the special messages that were shared and what advice our parents gave us about starting school. During the week, we had a go at painting our own … Read more →

Our new little people are continuing to settle in well. They are becoming more familiar with the routines of the school day and where things are that they need or want. Furthermore, they are securing new friendships and discovering new interests. We are so proud of them! This week, we have focused our learning around personal, social and emotional development. On Monday, we read the story ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister to discuss the importance of sharing. If you are not familiar with the story, it is all about a unique fish with shimmering scales who is asked by … Read more →

Our new Year R children have taken their first full week of school in their stride and we are so proud of how well they have settled. It has been a busy week and they have experienced many ‘firsts’, such as their first school lunch and first play on the big playground. Throughout the week, they have been introduced to the routines of the school day and have also made class charters to help them achieve happily at Tavistock Infant School. Each class will be sharing a copy of their class charters on Tapestry next week. The children have also … Read more →