Please get in touch with any questions or queries.

penguins@ourlady-st-gerards.lancs.sch.uk

KEY WORKERS

Every child in Reception is allocated a key worker. Mrs Buckel will be your child's key worker. 

• The key person works alongside parents and carers to ensure that there is continuity of care for the child thus supporting the child’s emotional well-being.
• The key person, and other staff, observes the child to identify how they learn through their play, their next aspect of development, what their interests are, whether there is any cause for concern or need for extra support.

• They keep a record of your child's learning journey and update it regularly on Tapestry.

EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM

In the Early Years we have developed a wonderful curriculum which caters for the children's interests.  The overview below contains an outline of the topics we cover, but the content of the topics are adapted according to the needs and interests of our children. To find out more information about our EYFS curriculum please see the curriculum map below. 

For more information about our Early Years Curriculum please click the link below.

Summer Term 2021

The summer term is always a very enjoyable term within reception. As we have much better weather, we will be spending more time outside and it is encouraged you do the same. On sunny days, please ensure your child is wearing sunscreen, as we cannot apply this in school. We also encourage children to bring a named sun hat.. The weather can be very unpredictable so we do ask that children have a coat in school everyday. 

We will begin this half term thinking about dinosaurs and will then be thinking about minibeasts before moving on to look at the season of summer and holidays. 

In Maths we will first think about ordering numbers, and then be moving on to doubling and halving numbers and 3D shapes. We will also be spending lots of time practising our number skills by counting and solving problems. 

For phonics, we will continue to recap over the Phase 3 sounds and practice reading and writing these sounds in words. We will continue to read with your child in school each week and the children also have a guided reading session with the teacher each week . Please continue to read with your child a little each day and comment on their record each week. 

PE will continue to be on a Friday. Please make sure your child has their full kit in school each day. They may bring joggers and Velcro trainers. Please name everything. 

Homework will be added to Tapestry each week on a Friday. Please add photos to Tapestry of completed homework and any other Wow moments at home.

Any question please email on penguins@ourlady-st-gerards.lancs.sch.uk

Thank you for all continued support, it is very much appreciated. 

Mrs Buckel

March 2021

We will start the term with many of you working from home. We are really looking forward to having our classes back together again from Monday 8th March. Drop off and collection times and places will remain the same. 

We will begin this half term thinking about Spring and Growing and will then be thinking about Knights and Castles before we focus on Easter during Holy Week. We have seen lots of wonderful writing at home so we will continue to focus on writing words independently and attempting simple sentences. 

In Maths we will first think about 3D shapes and will then think about units of time. We will then spend lots of time practising our number skills by counting, ordering numbers and solving problems. 

For phonics this half term we will continue to focus on Phase 3 and writing the digraphs and trigraphs in words. We will send out home reading books on a Monday and collect them in on a Friday. This will give us time to quarantine the books before issuing new ones. 

Our final RE topic this half term is called 'Growing' and will ask the children to think about how they have changed and how we can grow to become more like Jesus. We will also think about Lent and the events of Holy Week. 

PE will continue to be on a Friday. Please make sure your child has their full kit in school each day. They may bring joggers and velcro trainers. Please name everything. 

Homework will be added to Tapestry each week on a Friday. Please add photos to Tapestry. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Mrs Buckel

January 2021

It was amazing seeing all of the children on the first day back. Although lots of you are now working from home, it is great seeing your photographs and videos of the hard work you have been doing at home. We are so proud of you and your families and we miss you greatly.  

This half term we will start by thinking about winter and learning some winter poems. We will then explore some traditional tales before we then celebrate Chinese New Year. Lots of the children are making fabulous progress with their writing and can now segment the sounds in words so we will be practising writing simple captions and sentences. There are lots of books on Oxford Owl that you can explore. 

In phonics, we will continue to learn the Phase 3 digraphs and tricky words. We will continue to send work each week so that you know which sounds we have been focussing on. Phonics Play is free again and has lots of activities that will help your child to practise blending to read and segmenting to write. 

In Maths we will continue exploring a number each week but we will also be learning number bonds for 5 and then thinking about height, length, weight, capacity and money. Busy things has lots of great activities. Try Pre-school age 4 or age 5 for activities at Reception level. 

In RE we will be thinking about family. We will think about the different types of celebrations and how we celebrate them. We will also be thinking about the families that we belong to and how they all support us. 

We really value your support.

Home Learning 

We are really proud of you all and are loving seeing the wonderful work that you are doing at home or in school. 

Daily work will continue to be added to Tapestry the previous evening and then our Zoom sessions at 9am will talk about the activities for the day. Please do email us with any questions or queries. penguins@ourlady-st-gerards.lancs.sch.uk

November 2020

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

This term will be looking at Bonfire Night, Diwali and then moving onto learning all about Christmas. This term we will be carrying on with our phonics looking at Phase 3 of Letter and Sounds. The weekly homework showing all the sounds we have been learning will be in book bags and on Tapestry. Thank you for all the support from home, we have loved seeing all the pictures of homework and all the wonderful activities the children have been doing.

We have access to Oxford Owl and Busy Things. These are brilliant for learning at home, login details are on Tapestry.  We also have access to Purple Mash, log in details have been sent home in bookbags earlier this term.

Busy things - https://www.busythings.co.uk/

Oxford owl - https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/[kb1] 

Purple mash - https://www.purplemash.com

If you have any questions or queries please don’t hesitate to contact me on penguins@ourlady-st-gerards.lancs.sch.uk

Thank you,

Mrs Buckel

Remembrance Day

We watched a short CBeebies clip that illustrated why we remember and then observed the 2 minute silence at 11am. We then talked about the importance of the day and made poppies to help us to remember. 

Bonfire Night 5.11.20

We all enjoyed talking about why we have Bonfire Night and then we celebrated by pretending to toast marshmallows, making sparklers (using breadsticks, chocolate spread and sprinkles) and enjoying some hot chocolate whilst watching fireworks on the IWB. 

Maths 

We enjoy lots of practical activities both inside and out!

Welcome to Penguin’s class 2020-2021

Firstly, we would like to welcome all the children to Penguins. We all are so excited to see the children start their journey into school. The past 6 months have certainly been unique but hopefully in this time lots of lovely memories with family have been made for the children. As well as myself and the Parrots class teacher Miss Best, we are very pleased to have Mrs Crook and Mrs French to further support and help with the children’s learning and development.

The children have all settled into the school routines fantastically well and have enjoyed being with friends old and new. The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the areas of our classroom, both inside and out.

The first theme we will be learning over this term in reception is ‘Magic me’. This will include the children learning all about their senses, their homes, feelings and families.

We will also be following Letters and Sounds for our phonics. We will be sending weekly reading books home with the children to further support the teaching of reading in class. We really value and appreciate all the support at home with the children’s learning and a strong relationship between home and school will lead to a very successful year for the children.

In Reception, we have high expectations for the children in both their learning and behaviour. We have a positive and engaging environment for the children where positive behaviour is encouraged and praised. In our class we ask that all children have a go and try their best in every task. We cannot wait to show you all photos of the hard work we have been doing in reception but also all the fun we have been having on Tapestry.

If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate contact me on: penguins@ourlady-st-gerards.lancs.sch.uk

Thank you,

Mrs Buckel

Space - Rockets October 2020

We had lots of fun making our own rockets. We then had a competition to see which one went the furthest.