Going on a bug hunt.

By J Evans23rd June 2017

Reception had a fantastic day at West Boldon Lodge on Monday, 19th June. We explored the fairy garden to find out about life cycles, went meadow sweeping to see which creatures lived there before going on a hunt for creatures that live in dark damp places down in the big wood. After a yummy lunch, thanks mum, it was off to the marsh for a bit of pond dipping. Thank you John, our fantastic bug expert and to all the staff at West Boldon Lodge for the cool drinks to keep us going.

Also thanks to our parent volunteers, visits like this would not be possible without you. A special mention to my class, you made me really proud and are a credit to Bede Burn Primary School.

Forest School and Fairy Gardens

By J Evans23rd June 2017

Before we went to Forest School on Friday we received an urgent text from the Fairy Godmother. One of her fairies had gone missing with her friend the naughty elf and they were last seen in the Forest Garden. We set off in search of them and found lots of clues including fairy dust and fairy art but no fairies! There were signs they had tried to make a home down a hole, by the tree and in amongst the plants but none of them looked very comfortable so we decided to make our own fairy gardens for them.

ZooLab

By J Evans30th May 2017

Reception were one of the classes lucky enough to meet Rob and some of his amazing ‘pets’ as a reward for all their amazing work and research linked to our topic on mini beasts. Shelley, the giant African land snail was certainly bigger than the little visitors we had in our classroom a few weeks ago and his giant cockroach didn’t seem to faze the children at all. Talula, the tarantula was a particular favourite and we had great fun trying to count the giant millipede’s legs. We also met a rather beautiful milk snake.

Can I saw how super proud I was of the children, not only for their enthusiasm and for how much they had remembered from our work in class and at Forest School but also for their impeccable manners and behaviour throughout the session which also impressed our visitor.

 

Happy New Year!

6th January 2017J Evans

Happy New Year! I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas.

This term we begin our Astronomy training, with lots of creative and imaginative play opportunities while we explore Space, the facts and the fiction. As part of our mission we are hoping to travel to the planetarium at the Centre for Life and find out how to send a rocket into Space.

This topic will also give us plenty of reading and writing opportunities, using both fiction and non-fiction texts.

We will be continuing our ‘I Like To Read’ book in school, using stories from the school reading scheme to develop story ideas and also encourage sentence building and independent writing. These books will not be sent home on a regular basis as all children will have their own individual reading book to share at home and Home/ School Reading Record to share positive comments and targets.

In phonics we will review the letter sounds with the emphasis on word building and blending to support reading progress and independent writing.

In Numeracy, we will continue to explore numbers through practical activities as well as some recording of number work to reinforce patterns in number and calculations. In topic based maths we are exploring measures with lots of practical activities which the children can apply in their play.

We have a coach from SAFC Foundation of Light coming in to help us develop our football skills this term so children will need their PE kit and PE shoes on Mondays and Thursdays.

Wizzy Work will continue to be sent home on Wednesday to be returned by the following Monday.

Opportunities for investigative play and child initiated learning will continue to be a central part of daily classroom activities.

Thank you for your support.

J.Evans

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

By J Evans10th October 2016

To mark the end of our Bear topic we invited our ‘bears’ to join us for a Teddy Bear’s picnic. After a busy morning, eating porridge, preparing special treats and putting the finishing touches to our disguise we set off to the ‘woods’.

First Steps in Reception

By J Evans28th September 2016

Following a successful first few weeks at school we are ready and raring to go, well, until about half past 2 when our eye lids start to feel heavy and our thoughts drift towards home time, tea and snuggles! Undeterred, our first topic is ‘Bears’, developed through familiar stories and rhymes. We will be doing lots of art work to brighten up the classroom and finding out all about bears around the world.

 

Soon, the children will be starting their first reader, which they will bring home to share. We will be holding parent workshops this term to enable the children to show you how we do it in class. We have been working through the first phase of the phonics program, developing listening skills and exploring rhyme. There are lots of fun activities you can do at home to support your child like sound games and making up silly rhymes.

 

In Numeracy, the focus is on developing vocabulary through practical activities, including counting rhymes, sorting and matching activities and number recognition games with a little help from our number characters which I hope the children will tell you all about over the next few weeks.

 

Alongside these activities, the children have lots of opportunity for investigative play and active learning, as well as demonstrating their I.T skills. Most importantly they have time to get to know each other and to gain their confidence with us.

 

Thank you for your support.

Crazy Sock Day

By J Evans23rd September 2016

‘Crazy Sock Day’ was a great success, not least in that we were able to reunite each child with the correct shoes at the end of our first PE session. Thank you for your support this week, have a super weekend and we will see you all on Monday, doors open at 8.45am.

Weekend challenge~ find your socks!

Fun at the Park

By J Evans20th July 2016

 

Thank you so much for joining us for our Family Picnic at the park. It was lovely to see you all. Thank you also for all of your support throughout the year, we hope you have a lovely summer holiday.

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Forest School Nature Detectives

By J Evans13th July 2016

The garden is full of fascinating things, some with wings that move so fast they buzz, some with eyes on sticks, some that can move with no legs at all and some with armour to protect themselves. The garden at school is full of even more amazing creatures, created by the children themselves and they have their own homes to keep them safe because ‘Bugs need homes too!’ Well done Nature Detectives.