Reception Focus W/C 21.01.19

This week in Reception we will continue to focus on our story 'Blue Penguin' by Petr Horacek.


 In Literacy, the children will be re-read the story and receive a letter from the Blue Penguin this week. The Blue Penguin would like to make some new friends and will ask the children what adventures they could go on together. The children will then write a simple sentence about this, applying their phonics knowledge to their writing.


We focused on 'one more' in Maths last week and will be introducing 'one less' to the children this week.


 In Phonics, we will introducing the term 'digraph' (two letters which make one sound) and we will be learning the 'qu 'and 'ch' this week. We will encourage the children to use the correct letter formation and write simple CVC words independently.


In Topic, we are following on from learning about Penguins and where they live last week. The children will have the chance to see what happens to ice, chocolate, wax and butter when it is heated up using either a hair dryer, hot water, a microwave and a flame. Hopefully this will mean lots of discussion in the classroom.

Reception Focus 03.12.18

This week in Reception we will be continuing to practise our Christmas play ready for our dress rehearsal on Friday.

In Literacy, the children will be reading 'The Jolly Christmas Postman' and will be writing their own letters to Father Christmas.

In Maths, we will be introducing our 'money' topic to the children. They will have the chance to look at the different coins in detail, discussing the differences as well as completing some money challenges throughout the week. 

In Phonics, we will be learning the sounds 'j 'and 'v' this week. We will encourage the children to use the correct letter formation and write simple CVC words independently. 

Reception Weekly Focus 26.11.18

For the next two weeks, the children in Reception we will be spending time perfecting our Christmas play in the hall. The children are becoming more confident in singing aloud to the music and signing using British Sign Language.

In our Topic session we will be reading the Christmas story to the children so they have some understanding as to why many people celebrate Christmas. 

Our phonics focus this week is recalling all phonemes learnt so far and building CVC words - reading and writing them correctly. We will also be learning the new phonemes 'f'  and l'.

In Maths we are focusing on teen numbers. We will be counting forwards, backwards, work on teen number recognition and how to correctly write teen numbers this week. 

Reception Focus 12.11.18

This week in Reception we will be continuing to focus on the story 'Room on a Broom' by Julia Donaldson. 

In Literacy, the children will revisit the story and will have lots of fun making their own magic potions. They will then attempt to write their own recipe and list of ingredients for the potions. 

Our Phonics focus this week is recalling all of the phonemes learnt so far ensuring that they are all formed correctly. In addition, we will be learning the new phonemes 'u' and r'.

In Maths, we will be exploring size and length. 

In our Topic session, we will be discussing what Children in Need is and read a story about Pudsey bear. 

Reception Focus 29.10.18

This week in Reception we will be focusing on the story 'Room on a Broom' by Julia Donaldson. 

In Literacy, the children will get the chance to investigate a 'crash site' where the witch will hand crashed before hearing the story and joining in with repeated refrains. 

In Phonics we will be introduced to the new tricky words "to" and "into" and will be learning the new sound "o".

In Maths, we will learn how to correctly write the number 6 as well as complete a variety of different activities such as ordering fireworks, counting 1:1 and filling in the missing number.  

In Topic, the children will be learning about the celebration of Bonfire Night. We will be discussing ways to keep safe during firework displays and creating some exciting artwork.

We will also be celebrating with hot chocolate and marshmallows around the fire pit at the end of the week. 

Reception Weekly Focus 15.10.18

It is a busy week ahead as the whole school is celebrating "What makes Britain great?"


The children in Reception will be introduced to the topic on Monday and then throughout the week, the children will rotate between all three classes taking part in different activities. The children will have the opportunity to make scones, make their own flag or streamer, use the junk modelling to make a famous British building, paint a picture of someone who helps us or a member of the Royal Family, listen to British music and play some British games outside such as hopscotch.  


On Friday we will have a celebratory Afternoon Tea with the children, eating the scones they have made throughout the week.


We will continue with phonics where the children will learn the phonemes 'd' and 'g' and recap all the other phonemes learnt so far. We will also recap the tricky words we learnt last week 'I' 'no' and 'go'.

In Maths, we will practise counting in sets and counting 1 to 1, as well as learn how to write 3 and 4 this.

Reception Weekly Focus 8.10.18

This week in Reception we will continue focusing on the story 'Owl Babies' written by Martin Waddell. 

In Literacy, the children will once again hear the story, and then sequence pictures from the story and discuss the beginning, middle and end. 

In Phonics the children will learn the phonemes 'n' and 'm' and recap all the other phonemes learnt so far - s a t p i. We will continue to encourage them to write using the correct letter formation and hold their pencils correctly.

In Maths, we will introduce the 100 square, order numbers correct and count how many owls they can see. We learnt how to write 0 and 1 last week so will focus on learning how to write 2 and 3 this week. 

Reception Focus W/C 1.10.18

This week in Reception we will be focusing on the story 'Owl Babies' written by Martin Waddell. 

In Literacy, the children will hear the focus story, discuss the different feelings of the baby owls and try to retell the story in their own words.

The children will have the chance to paint their own owls using a technique called 'stippling'.

In Phonics the children will learn the phoneme 't' and 'p' and recap 's' and 'a' from last week. We will continue to encourage them to write using the correct letter formation and ensure they are holding their pencils correctly.

In Maths, we will continue to play a variety of games focusing on counting confidently to 10 and consolidating number recognition to 10, as well start to write numbers 1 and 2 using the correct formation. 

Reception Focus W/C 24.09.18

We begin our second full week with all the children in our Reception setting. We are happy to say that they have done so well at settling in so far and will continue to reiterate the rules and routines to them. 

We will be starting Phonics with the children and plan to introduce the phonemes 's' & 'a'. The children will sing these Jolly Phonics songs and practise writing these sounds. We will be encouraging them to use the correct formation and hold their pencils correctly.

In Maths, we will be continuing to play a variety of games focusing on counting confidently to 10 and consolidating number recognition to 10. 

The children will also have the chance to get creative as each class will be making either an elephant, lion or giraffe themed paper plate according to their class.

Reception Weekly Focus 02.07.18

In Reception this week it is a busy week!! We will be starting our Pirate topic which nicely continues on from Billy's Bucket. 

The children will get creative and have the opportunity to make their own under the sea creatures using a variety of materials and tools. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping all tricky words and all sounds learnt this year. 

In Maths, we will be focusing on recapping addition and completing simple addition number sentences to 20.

We have our EYFS Sports Day on Tuesday 3rd July this week. We hope to see many of you there and hope parents/guardians are ready for the parent/guardian race at the end!

We are also holding Transition mornings for our classes starting this September 2018. On Wednesday morning the Elephant class will spend from 10.30-11.30am in Nursery. The Lions will do this on Thursday morning and the Giraffes will do this Friday morning. 

We would like to thank all those parents who have volunteered to help on the school trip. Class teachers have spoken to everyone who is needed to help. Many thanks for your continued to support!

Reception Weekly Focus 25.06.18

In Reception this week it is a busy week!! We will be continuing our topic focused on the story 'Billy's Bucket' by Kes Gray and Garry Parsons.

The children will get creative and have the opportunity to make their own under the sea wax relief pictures. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping all previous sounds learnt but focusing on the digraph 'er' and the trigraph 'ear'. 

In Maths, we will be focusing on counting in 2's where the children will use the Splat square and 100 square to count in 2's. There will be a 2's number hunt. 

In Topic, the children will listen to Noah's Ark, linking to our Maths focus. The children will also have the chance to see some real live farm animals in school on Tuesday as some animals from Wellgate Farm will be visiting EYFS. 

The children will continue their Guided Reading sessions. The children will spend Friday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities.   


We would like to welcome as many parents to attend our Open Day this Thursday where you are invited to come in and look through your child's work from the year. The session times are 9.15 - 11.00am and then 1.30 - 3.00pm. 

Reception Weekly Focus 11.06.18

In Reception this week we will be continuing our topic focused on the story 'Billy's Bucket' by Kes Gray and Garry Parsons. 

In Literacy, the children will re-listen to our focus story and look at non-fiction books hopefully learning a little bit about different sea creatures.

In Phonics, we will be recapping all previous sounds learnt but focusing on the digraphs 'or' and 'ur'.  

In Maths, we will be focusing on counting in 10's this week where the children will use the Splat square and 100 square to count in 10's. There will be a 10's number hunt and the children will be introduced to the idea of multiplication by showing them the sign and using counters to help model how to write a multiplication number sentence. 

The children will be continuing their Guided Reading sessions this week. The children will spend Friday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities.   

Reception Weekly Focus 05.06.18

Welcome to the last term of the academic year - time is flying by!

In Reception this week we will be starting our new topic focused on the story 'Billy's Bucket' by Kes Gray and Garry Parsons. 

In Literacy, the children will have the opportunity to hear the story and discuss it as a whole class.

In Phonics, we will be recapping all previous sounds learnt but focusing on the digraphs 'oo' (long sound) and 'ar'.  

In Maths, we will continue to count in 5's and 10's as well as introduce the concept of capacity. We will discuss what this means with the children and do some practical measuring outside as well as some written recording.

The children will be continuing their Guided Reading sessions this week. The children will spend Friday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities.   

Early Years focus 21.5.18

This week at Hacton will be our MFL (Modern Foreign Languages) week. Early Years children will be completing activities together as a Phase. 

Each day the children will be learning about a different European country, so learning practically about the food, some simple vocabulary, artwork, landmarks and flags. 

They will learn about Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece and France.

Each day the children will move from the Reception to Nursery and work with all of the adults in Early Years to take part in a wide range of activities. 

On Friday, the children will dress in the red, white and blue of the French flag and attend the French cafe run by the Year 6 children. 

Also, on Friday, the children will be creating a piece of artwork together by a French artist. 

The Reception children will learn about Claude Monet and the Nursery will look at the work of George Seurat. This is linked to the Art initiative called 'Take one picture.' 

This promises to be a week full of fun!

Ciao! 

Reception Focus W/C 14.05.18

In Reception this week we will be continuing focusing on the story 'The Bog Baby'. 

In Literacy, the children will re-listen to the story The Bog Baby and discuss key features of the story. They will have the opportunity to listen to other traditional tales focusing on the language used in them as well. The children will then write their own story about their bog baby. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping the digraphs 'oo' and 'oa'.  

In Maths, we are continuing to count in 5's and 10's as starters in our a maths sessions, then the children will be introduced to the idea of halving where they will use practical methods and resources to support where necessary.    

The children will be continuing their Guided Reading sessions this week. The children will spend Friday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities. 

Nursery focus 14.5.18

This week in Nursery we will be celebrating the birth of our chicks. They should hatch on Tuesday, so we will be watching and waiting with baited breath!

To add to our week, we will introduce the children to the Royal Wedding and enjoy some celebrations within nursery.

In Maths, we will be counting backwards from 10 to 0 and beginning taking away in simple practical activities. 

We are continuing with our phonic games, tuning into different sounds and talking about them within our key groups. 

Reception Focus W/C 08.05.18

We hope everyone had an enjoyable extended bank holiday weekend and enjoyed sometime in the sunshine!!  

It is back to it again now. In Literacy, the children will re-listen to the story The Bog Baby and discuss key features of a Bog Baby. The children will then write a description of their Bog Baby they created with salt dough last week. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping the digraph 'ee' and the trigraph 'igh'.  

In Maths, we are continuing to count in 10's and will be introducing the concept of doubling to the children this week.   

The children will be continuing their Guided Reading sessions this week. The children will spend Friday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities. 

Reception Weekly Focus 30.04.18

In Reception this week we will start our new topic focused on the story Bog Babies by Jeanne Willis.  

In Literacy, the children will have the opportunity to hear the new story Bog Babies. They will have the chance to discuss with their talk partners what they think a Bog Baby looks like before being introduced to the story. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping the digraphs we revisited last week qu, ch, sh, th, ng & ai.  

In Maths, we will be counting in 10's with the children as well as recapping 2d & 3d shapes and talking about their properties.   

In Topic, the children will learn about different habitats and actually get a chance to make their very own Bog Baby with salt dough!! 

The children will be starting their Guided Reading sessions this week as well. They will spend Wednesday morning completing a rotation of different activities in their class which range from guided reading, guided writing, independent reading & phonics activities. 

Nursery focus 30.418 - 11.5.18

Our focus in Nursery continues to be life cycles. The children have been fascinated by the growth of the caterpillars and, now that they are in chrysalis form, this will lead into discussion and artwork and stories on life cycles.

We have introduced the eggs to the class and they are patiently waiting for them to hatch with the help of our interactive calendar.

In Maths we will be drawing sets of objects and writing numerals 1, 2 and 3.

In phonics we are continuing to listen and distinguish between different sounds and focus our attention to hearing and talking about the different sounds of objects.

The zebra group will be introduced to the sound 't' and will identify objects beginning with this sound as well as have a go at writing it. 

Reception Weekly Focus 23.04.18

In Reception this week we will be continuing focusing on the story 'The Hungry Caterpillar' written by Eric Carle. 

In Literacy, the children will have the opportunity to hear the story once again and following sequencing the pictures last week, the children will write their own version of the story. 

In Phonics, we will be recapping all previous sounds starting by focusing on the digraphs qu, ch, sh, th, ng & ai.  

In Maths, we will continue to discuss different patterns and be introduced to symmetry. The children will learn what this means and create their own symmetrical butterfly pictures this week.   

In topic, the children will continue to learn about the life cycle of a butterfly and discuss the changes that the classroom caterpillars are currently going through!!