weekly news Wednesday 25th September

This week in Reception we have enjoyed bringing in our favourite books from home and have shared lots with our classes already. The children have been brave, coming to the front of the class to talk about their favourite part of the story and why the like it. The teachers have then read the story to the class. We will continue to share these books next week so your child will still have time to bring one in if they haven’t yet.

On Monday we played a pirate bingo game in Maths. The children showed us which numbers they could recognise up to 16 and enjoyed picking out pirate treasure from a chest to place over their numbers.

We have been getting stuck into our Power of Reading story called Grendel: A cautionary Tale about Chocolate. This will be our focus story for the rest of the half term and we will be dipping in and out of it as we read a few pages at a time. So far we have found out that Grendel lives in a cave with his mum and he loves three things: his mum, his dog and chocolate! The children then shared the things they love and lots of children chose to draw pictures of these things on a heart which they then cut out themselves. We discussed what sort of character we think Grendel is when he snatches the chocolate off his mum and runs away to eat it. We recorded ideas on post it notes and are making a working wall of our learning. We have also had chocolate play dough out in our enhanced provision where the children have been creating their own chocolate worlds.

On Wednesday the children enjoyed their second PE and Music sessions in the morning and in the afternoon, they had great fun using the bikes and scooters outside.

This week we have also been learning to use our outside areas and lots of children have really enjoyed spending time in the different areas such as the Jurassic world, sand pit, builder’s area and exploring the cars with ramps.

Please can all children have a rain coat in school every day and could we ask you to name your child’s lunch box on the outside so that the lunch time staff can help the children find their lunch boxes.

You should have received your child’s login details for Education City and Active Learn. The school code for Active learn is 99kq.

We will be leaving out green speech bubbles with a question on from time to time. Please can you spare a minute and write a comment on it with your child’s name and place it in the pot provided.

Lots of the lovely learning we have been doing has been added to tapestry this week. Please take a look to see photos and observations of your child and add a ‘like’ or comment.

weekly news 12th June

We have been continuing to enjoy our mini topic about space. In our classes we thought about all the things that we already know about space, and then we made a list of the things that we want to find out. We have been listening to songs and looking on the internet and in factual books to find the answers to our questions. We are all beginning to be space experts ! We are having fun dressing up as astronauts in our role play area and using the small world toys to create stories about space.

In letters and sounds this week we have been trying to use more interesting words or ‘wow’ words to describe what some aliens might look like. We played a game in which we had to  use our phonic knowledge to read the names of some characters and then we had to decide whether the names were alien names or earthling names. We had to sort them out, putting the earthling characters on a picture of planet earth, and the alien characters on a picture of a moon buggy.

In maths we have been making pictures using 2 dimensional shapes by listening to instructions. We had to help Baby Bear, from the story of ‘Whatever Next ?’, to rebuild his rocket after he had been stranded on the moon. For example, we had to place the shape with ‘3 straight sides’ next to the ‘shape with 4 corners’. We are getting really confident at identifying the correct shapes that we needed. This game also showed what brilliant listeners we are too. In maths also this week we did some problem-solving to find out which toy car could travel the furthest and we worked out what was the best way to measure the distance that the cars travelled. Perhaps your child could continue this learning at home with the paper aeroplane that they will make during Rocket Morning on Friday ?

All the rain we have been having has certainly helped our plants to grow, and many of the children have been helping to transplant the seedlings into bigger pots. The children are very helpful with pruning, weeding and watering the plants when needed too.

Thank you to those parents who have been uploading photos showing how their child’s sunflower is progressing. Don’t forget there will be a prize for the photo of the tallest sunflower !

weekly news 6th June

Weekly news 6^th June

This week is Mulbarton Words Week which was started off on Monday morning with an assembly led by an author called Paeony Lewis. She explained all about how she became an author and what her job involves. Peony showed us some of the books she has written including ‘I’ll always love you’ which you may have heard of, and she read us a lovely story called ‘Hurry up birthday’ which is about a young bunny who just can’t wait for his birthday to come !

We are continuing our theme about stories and over the next couple of weeks will be looking at space themed books, and this week we heard the story of ‘Whatever Next ?’ by Jill Murphy. The main character is Baby Bear and he wants to go into space but his mother’s objections are that it’s his bedtime and he hasn’t got a rocket ! We have been thinking about what we would take if we went into space and the children have written a list of what they would take. These lists are hanging up in our ‘Space’ role play area if you would like to see them.

We are really looking forward to Rocket Morning next Friday 14^th June 9-11:30am please don’t forget to send your reply slip and pay £2 via Wisepay towards the cost of this exciting morning.

The children have been using their writing skills to write a message on a card which they will bring home next Friday 14^th. Your child has decided which family member they have made their card for, whether it is for Daddy, Grandad or someone else who they love.

In Maths this week we have been developing our reasoning skills by trying to guess what number has been hidden in a little bag. We have been encouraging the children to ask the sort of questions that help them to identify the hidden number, eg. ‘Is it bigger than 10 ?’   ‘Is it an odd number or an even number ?’

Perhaps you could play this game at home too.

We have started practising our dance for the Summer Fayre for next Friday 14^th. We will be dancing at 5:10pm so please look out for up to date information about where we will meet the children before we go out to dance. The children are really enjoying learning the dance and have been making their own ‘Troll’ headdress to wear.

We have been having some visitors from the pre schools in the village and the children have been very helpful and friendly to the children and showing them around the base ! They have enjoyed seeing some of their old key-workers too.

Gressenhall trip Tuesday 26^th June: Thank you very much to the parents who have offered to help us on our trip. You will be receiving a note later on this week with more details.

Weekly News 22nd May 2019

The children had a great day on Monday for Sports Day! We have enjoyed talking about the day and our favorite activities. All of the children did brilliantly well with the ‘ready, teddy, go’ race and it was great to see them cheering each other on throughout the day!

This week we have also been learning about ‘The Gingerbread Man’. We have been reading the story as a class and we even made our own gingerbread men in a maths lesson! The children bought their ingredients from a ‘shop’ and then worked as a group to make the dough and bake the gingerbread.

On Tuesday we had a very exciting RE lesson learning all about the Jewish celebration Shabbat- the children even got to try some Challah bread! Perhaps you could ask your child if there is anything they can remember about Shabbat, or why it is important to Jewish people.

Your child has taken home their sunflower seed this week – don’t forget about the competition.

We hope you all have a wonderful half term!

Weekly News 16th May 2019

This week we have been learning about the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. We have been using our sound knowledge to read the story and we have been ordering events in the story in groups.

In maths, we have been learning all about capacity. We have been exploring which containers hold the most water and we discovered that taller containers do not always hold more than shorter containers. We have also been measuring capacity with oats using scoops and bowls we have been estimating how much a container will hold and then finding out as a class.

The children have had the opportunity to explore capacity during free flow sessions this week by making ‘sleeping potions’ for the giant. Some of the children may have brought their magical potion home.

We have been enjoying watching our sunflowers grow and looking after them – don’t forget about the competition!

Some of the preschool leaders have been visiting school with the new children starting in September, the children have enjoyed showing them round the base.

With the sunny weather, please make sure your child always has a sunhat and a raincoat in school.

Looking forward to seeing you all at sports day on Monday, please remember that your child needs to come dressed in their PE kit, please refer to your letter about sports day for more information.

weekly news 8th May

This week we have been learning all about the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’ We have been enjoying acting out the story in our role play area and we have been reading the story in groups. We have been sorting some pictures and sentences from the story and putting them in the correct order and identifying the beginning, middle and end.

This week we have started writing our own stories and it is fantastic to see the children’s enthusiasm to come and write- at times we even have a queue of children !

We have been making porridge and tasting different toppings and choosing which one is our favourite. We could choose from jam, honey or sugar or we could try porridge with no topping at all. We are collecting this information to make a pictogram to analyse the data so that we could find out which is the most popular topping. In our maths sessions we have continued looking at ways to collect data and how to display it eg. eye colour, the month of our birthday, and our favourite toys and favourite colour.

Nest week we will be checking which children can read and understand simple sentences as this is Early Learning Goal that we assess against by the middle of June.

Milk Scheme:  just a reminder that once your child has turned 5 they no longer automatically receive free milk at school. Please contact the office to pay for milk if you would like your child to still receive milk at school.

Mrs.Newson will be starting her maternity leave at half term, so her last day in school will be Friday 24^th May. We will let you know who will be teaching Hedgehog class as soon as a teacher has been appointed.

We are really looking forward to our annual Rocket Morning on Friday 14^th June:  your child will be bringing home an invitation soon. This morning is organised in collaboration with Hethersett Academy STEM department and is always a very exciting morning. This will be taking place on the Friday before Father’s Day, therefore the idea of this event is to encourage Dads to come into school and get involved with their child’s learning as they often don’t get chance to, however, any relative would be most welcome to attend.

weekly news 1st May

Weekly news 1^st May

This week we have been learning all about the story of the Little Red Hen. On Monday Ben’s parents very kindly brought 2 of their hens to stay with us for a couple of weeks. The children have been enjoying observing the hens and helping to look after them. So far they have laid an egg each day which the Squirrel and Hedgehog of the day have had fun collecting. The peacocks seem to be very interested in the hens too ! On Monday afternoon we followed the Little Red Hen’s example and made bread. All the children wanted to help us to eat the bread which we enjoyed, served warm and spread with butter ! We have been planting sunflower seeds this week and we will look after them at school for a couple of weeks, and then the children will bring their plant home. We are planning to enter a competition that Savills-the estate agents have launched to schools called the ‘2019 Norfolk school sunflower competition’. If you would like your child to enter please email the school office ( to the year 1 teachers) a photograph and the sunflower’s measurement with your child’s name and age by Monday 9^th September. The competition’s closing date is Friday 13^th September and the school with the tallest sunflower will receive a £100 garden centre voucher.

Within school we will have our own sunflower competition and a little prize will be awarded to the child who grows the tallest sunflower ! Please upload via tapestry your child’s sunflower photograph and measurement by Monday 15^th July and of course we would love to see photos of your child looking after their plant along the way. After planting their sunflower seeds, the children have been writing instructions about what they did. Please have a look at your child’s display board because we will be displaying their writing when they have done it.

The children have enjoying meeting Mr.Dring, a trainee teacher who has been on a placement with us this week. He has commented on the fantastic behaviour and attitudes to learning of the children.

Our focus challenge activity this week has been for the children to work with a partner to design and construct something to help the Little Red Hen to carry some wheat. They have been using reclaimed materials and have been encouraged to adapt their work when necessary.

weekly news 24th April

 Welcome back to school after the Easter holidays.

This week the children all had the chance to talk to their class about what they had been doing over the holidays. The children listened really well to hear their friend’s news and could remember lots of details showing some super listening skills.

The Easter Bunny, with some help from Mrs.Theobald, organised an Easter egg hunt in our Reflective area on Tuesday afternoon. The children all found a colourful egg shape and then it was exchanged for a treat which they enjoyed eating outside.

 We have started our topic of ‘Once upon a time’ and this week we have been focussing on the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. We have been reading the story as a class and sequencing the events in the story.

This term we will be joining the rest of the Lower School for Celebration Assembly on Fridays. In this Assembly 2 children from each class are presented with a certificate linked to our 7 Wonders of Learning. These are the 7 attributes which all life-long learners need in order to be successful and fulfil their potential.  Learners need to be:

Problem-Solvers

Collaborative

Reflective

Aspirational

Resilient

Focussed

Inquisitive

In addition to this, one child from each class is invited to join Mrs.Theobald for ‘Hot Chocolate Friday’.  This is an opportunity for us to reward those children who are always remembering our rules and always doing their best.

We are looking forward to our new show and tell sessions starting this Friday. Please let us know if you have any queries about this.

Please make sure your child always has a sunhat and raincoat with hood in school every day as our British weather is unpredictable and the children do go out to play regardless of the weather. Thank you

Multi-skills

We had a very exciting and action-packed afternoon at Easton College developing many different sports skills.
We worked in small teams with various pieces of small apparatus and played lots of games. We had to listen carefully to the instructions that we were given by the sports coaches. We were complimented for the cheerful way that we took part and encouraged each other.

Weekly News 3rd April

This week the children have been very busy doing lots of Easter activities. The children have been melting chocolate to make Easter nests in groups, making Easter baskets and finishing their Easter cards. We have also been learning about why we celebrate Easter and talking about how different families celebrate it.

Please could you keep bringing in any junk modelling materials, we never have enough! We would soon like to do an experiment where we test different materials and we need lots of junk modelling for this! We need a continual weekly supply of junk modelling in the first half term.

On Friday it is our non-school uniform ‘Easter themed’ day! We originally asked that the children contribute a pound towards the ‘Living Eggs’ experience. However, as we had a very disappointing turn out, the company have said that they will refund us the money that it cost us. Therefore, your child may no longer need to donate £1 on Friday. Thank you very much for the coin collection in the egg boxes, as the school is very short on funds, the money collected in the egg boxes will go towards some exciting learning opportunities in the summer term such as planting seeds and various cooking and food tasting. However, if you would like your money back, please let us know how much you donated in the egg boxes and we can refund you.

Although we now have only 2 chicks, the children have gained a lot from the experience and have been talking about them every day. This has naturally brought up conversations about living things and why things die.

We had a wonderful time at our ‘sounds party’ last week! The children will be receiving their certificates this week that will tell you how many sounds they have learnt.

weekly news 29th March

This week has been very exciting as we received our incubator with 10 eggs in !

We have been learning all about eggs and the hen life cycle. We have been learning to look after, and take care of living things.

We have been getting ready for ‘Maths with Mummy morning.’ We hope you enjoy the card your child has made. The children have worked very hard writing their message in their card.

The children have been very creative this week learning a new technique of wax resist.

In Maths we have been learning to recognise the different coins and starting to understand the value of each coin. We have been pretending to buy things using pennies.

We have started to assess the children’s tricky word and sound knowledge and their ability to blend sounds to read unfamiliar words. This is a lengthy process and therefore we will continue reading with your children into next week, so please don’t worry if your child hasn’t been read with this week.

Don’t forget that next Thursday 4^th April we are taking the children to the Multi Skills festival at Easton College. Please send your child dressed in their P.E. kit and they can stay in those clothes for the rest of the day.

On Friday 5^th April your child can wear something yellow, or come dressed as a chick or something Easter-themed for a suggested contribution of £1 towards the cost of the Living Eggs experience. Thank you very much.

weekly news 21st March

This week we have learnt our last 2 sounds ow/ou and er. We have been writing a message in our Mother’s day cards which we are looking forward to presenting at our Maths with Mummy morning next Friday 29^th March.

In Maths we have been beginning to learn to use the language of time. We have been ordering the events in a day and thinking about what things we do in the daytime and evening and starting to recognise the time to o’clock.

With the lovely Spring weather more of the children have been venturing up on our woodland area and enjoying gardening, making dens and obstacle courses.

 Please make sure your child always has a coat with a hood in school, regardless of the weather at drop off time in the morning, because the children go out to play in all weathers and we do not have spare coats in school.

This week the children have been busy developing their cutting skills using scissors. This is a tricky life-long skill that also helps to develop fine motor control. This week’s Tapestry observation upload request is for your child to practice cutting out at home. If your child is already confident with cutting out paper, perhaps they could be challenged to cut out card or fabric.

Living Eggs experience

We are awaiting the arrival of the incubator and eggs on Monday 25^th March. Thank you very much to the parents who have already sent back their child’s egg box and contribution this will be a big help towards the funding of this experience.

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Weekly News 15th March

This week the children have been continuing to answer their questions about dinosaurs using non fiction books and the internet. The dinosaur topic has been very exciting so far and the children can’t wait to share the new facts they have learnt.

In phonics we have been learning the sounds ar, oo and oi. On the week commencing 25^th we will be doing a sounds assessment with the children and we plan to have a ‘sounds party’ on Friday 29^th in the afternoon after Maths with Mummy to celebrate how hard the children have all worked to learn all of their sounds. We will be awarding the children with certificates that they can take home that will show you how many sounds your child knows.

In maths we have been learning all about 3d shapes. The children will have been learning to recognise 3D shapes, talk about their properties and find them in the environment. Perhaps you could ask your child what 3d shapes they know and which ones they can find when they are at home or out and about. We would love to see anything like this on Tapestry.

Thank you very much to the parents that have replied saying they can come to our Maths with Mummy event. It would be really helpful if we could have the replies as soon as possible for catering purposes. If mum is unable to come, please feel free to send one other family member instead.

Hopefully you have all received an egg box with an accompanying letter. We are very excited about the ‘living eggs’ experience that will be starting on Monday 25^th. Please remember that if you would like to reserve a chick to let your child’s teacher know, this will be on a first come first served basis and the suggested donation is £10 each, which will help towards the cost of the experience.

Weekly News 6th March

We have been very busy story scribing with your children this week. You will soon see a new story up on your child’s board for you to take a look at, the children have been making amazing progress with their writing!

 On Monday we went to a workshop with King’s Camp, hopefully you have received the certificate from your child giving information about their summer camps in this area.

We had a great time on Tuesday making pancakes! All of the children had a turn at making and trying a pancake with their friends.

We have also been learning the sounds igh/ie and oa.

In maths, we have been learning about length. The children have been comparing the length of things, taking about why we measure length and measuring items using cubes. Our Tapestry observation suggestion for this week would be to do some measuring with your child. 

The children have also been working with an adult in the base to answer their question about dinosaurs. They have been learning how to use books and the internet to find out information.

Don’t forget that Thursday is World Book Day. The children may come to school dressed as their favourite book character!

Hopefully you have received the email that was giving information about the Gressenhall trip. It says that your child may come dressed as a fairytale character but this is optional, the children may come to school dressed in non school uniform if they wish.

If you have any spare junk modelling materials at home, please bring them to school as we are running low again!

Weeky News 27th February

We have had a lovely start to the first week back after half term! We all spoke about our new dinosaur topic and the children discussed as a class what they would like to learn about.

In maths we have been learning about weight. We have been ordering dinosaurs in weight and comparing the weight of dinosaurs using balance scales. On Friday, the children will be weighing dinosaurs using balance scales and cubes and predicting how many cubes each dinosaur will weigh.

In phonics we have been learning the digraphs ‘ee’ and ‘or’. Please help your child to blend words with these digraphs in.

We have also been reading with the children this week. Some parents have been asking about when the word bags get changed, these are for you to change as often as you like. As they progress through the word bags it will help them to read the digraphs as one sound, for example, r ai n.

Next Thursday is world book day, please could your child come to school dressed as their favourite book character.

We are in need of egg boxes for an upcoming easter activity. If you have any, please give to a member of staff, thank you.

Weekly News 13th February

This week we have been learning the sounds ng and ai. Your child has also been working with an adult to complete a sounds, tricky word and blending assessment. We have found that some of the children are struggling to retain some of the digraphs – these can be very tricky to learn! They are best learnt through repetition. Although your child may be able to recognise the sounds in the sound book it is a different skill to recognise the digraphs in words, this is something we practise with the children in phonics sessions.

In maths we have been problem solving and sharing coins between Chinese money purses and corn between pigs – as it is year of the pig! The children have been working out how to share numbers equally and fairly.

We have a tennis roadshow on Wednesday afternoon where the children will be learning what tennis is and practising some sports and co-ordination skills.

Thank you very much to the parents that returned the Tapestry questionnaire. We found that there were several parents who were unsure about the sorts of things that would be useful to upload to Tapestry. We have decided that from now on, each week, we will be adding a suggestion about an observation that you could upload to Tapestry that will help us to gather evidence about your child. For example, this week, can your child find things in their home, in the environment, draw things, or make a list of words with the ng or ai sound in. This will help us to identify if your child is at the emerging, expected or exceeding level of development.

Weekly News 6th February

We have had a fantastic week so far learning all about Chinese New Year! Each child has a challenge booklet in their trays and they collect stickers when they complete challenges. If all of the challenges are completed by the end of the week they will receive a special prize!

The challenges include chinese food tasting and building the great wall of China. But we have also been making a lot of different things too: a Chinese New Year card, a dragon puppet, a fan, a Chinese drum, a Chinese money purse, a lucky fish, a lantern and a pig puppet – as it is the year of the pig!

On Monday we had a Music and Movement workshop! The children learnt all about Chinese New Year and how it is prepared for and celebrated through dance and got to dance with a dragon head at the end!

We have had a fantastic time learning about another culture and the children have been very excited to complete all of the challenges. Thank you to all of the parents that have helped us so far, we couldn’t have prepared so many activities for your children without your help!

Next week we will be reading with your children and completing a reading assessment where we will see which sounds and tricky words your children know and then assess their ability to blend.

Weekly News 30th January

This week we have been learning the digraphs sh and th. We have found that the children can find it difficult to differentiate between ‘th’ and ‘f’ words. Perhaps you could help your children to practise thinking of ‘th’ words at home and hear the difference in the way the ‘th’ and ‘f’ sounds are spoken.

In maths we have been learning about subtracting. The children have been subtracting using concrete objects, their fingers and number lines and then learning how to write the number sentence.

The children have also been working 1:1 with an adult writing number lines to 20. We have been practising to write the numbers in the correct order and form them correctly.

The show and tell sessions have been fantastic so far! We have found that the children’s speaking and listening skills have really improved since the last show and tell and they have all done very well at remembering all of the facts! We can’t wait to hear the rest of them!

Please bring in any junk modelling materials that you have at home- we are always running short of things for the children to use! It is a very popular area of the base!

Don’t forget, Monday is the start of our Chinese New Year Week! Please could your child come to school wearing something red on this day as it is a very important colour in China. Thank you to all of the parents that said you can help during this week as we have lots of challenges for the children to complete!

Weekly News 23rd January

This week we have started learning digraphs (2 letters that make 1 sound). We have been learning qu and ch.

In maths we have been adding. The children have been learning to count on from the biggest number using their fingers.

Continuing from our ‘Animals Around the World’ topic, on Tuesday, we looked at the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ which is set in Africa. In the story, Handa describes the fruit she is taking to her friend. We all learnt what an adjective was- or wow word- and looked for these in the story. For example, the ‘soft, yellow banana’. After we read the story, we all had a piece of tangerine and described it using our senses.

The children have also been busy carefully looking at and drawing pineapples. The children have been working with an adult to describe the pineapple and then describe what it tastes like at the end.

Every 2 weeks we have been introducing a new word to the children which reflects our school's '7 Wonders of Learning'. The children have previously learnt about the word 'collaborative' and what it means and this week we are looking at how to be a 'problem solver'. Maybe you could ask your child what they mean. 

Weeky News 16th January

This week we have been very busy story scribing with the children. Please take some time to have a look at your child’s progress on their display board!

We have been learning the sounds x, y and z. Next week we will be starting to learn digraphs (two letters that come together to make one sound). Digraphs can be a tricky for your children to learn and remember. Please keep continuing to help your child practice the sounds in their sound book so they do not fall behind. Some parents have asked us about ways to extend their child’s learning at home and we have suggested helping your child to practising writing and spelling their tricky words as this is an important skill that helps with both their reading and writing.

In maths, we have been starting to learn the number bonds to 10. Maybe you could ask your child what they know about number bonds?

If you have any junk at home suitable for junk modelling, please bring it in as it is a popular area of the base and we always run out!

Weekly News 9th January

We started the week by going to a drama session in the hall ran by Carl Bradley. We pretended to put spells on each other and turn into different animals and we pretended to act out different emotions – it was lots of fun. This session was to promote his after school drama club, hopefully you will have received a letter about it.

On Tuesday we went on our Winter Welly Walk, we looked for signs of winter and when we got back to school we had a delicious warm waffle. Thank you to all of the parents that helped and joined us for the walk we had a great time!

We have also been learning the sounds j, w and v this week. Maybe you could ask your child to tell you words with those sounds in?

We will also be learning about the numbers 18 and 19.

On Friday, we will be having a very exciting afternoon as we are going to watch Aladdin in the hall!

Please bring in items suitable for junk modelling. It is a very popular area of the base and we are running out of junk for the children to use!

We are looking forward to watching your child’s show and tell about animals. Friday 11^th will be Birch group, about animals that live in the polar regions. Friday 18^th will be Maple group about animals that live is the desert. Friday 25^th will be Oak group about animals that live in the savannah and sycamore group will be animals that live in the rainforest on the 1^st February.