Sycamore (reception)

Good afternoon

Please find below Sycamore class overview for the next 2 weeks.  Our book is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". We are continuing to observe our plants growing and hoping the very hungry caterpillar doesn't notice!

I have also attached an overview for the whole term, so you have an idea of what we will be learning over the coming weeks and months.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Kind regards

Mrs Johnston

Good Afternoon Everyone

It has been so lovely to see the children back in school and enjoying the indoor and outdoor spaces. With the beautiful weather we are having at the moment, our bike and scooter sessions after lunch are very popular, as are water play and the mud kitchen. Thank you to all who have sent in spare clothes - they have been very useful!

Our topic this half term is "Growth". We have planted seeds and have been patiently watering and watching for something to happen. We have been rewarded with lots of shoots over the last few weeks. We will also think about growth in animals and think about how we can look after baby animals. This will lead onto finding out about farming and where we get our food.

We continue to learn reading through the Letters and Sounds programme and are currently working through the Phase 3 sounds. We have been watching Alphablocks on BBC Iplayer as well, which helps to reinforce our learning (and is also great fun). Please continue to read daily with your child. Reading books will be sent home each Monday. Please return them on a Thursday so that we can quarantine them and re-use them the following Monday.

We are developing the idea of our "Give it a Go" club. This is to encourage the children to try things before they decide whether they like it or not i.e. foods and activities. Well done to all the children who joined the club last week and received a certificate!

Please find below the weekly overview for this week.

Please feel free to email if you have any queries or need any support.

Best wishes

Mrs Johnston

Hello Everyone

I hope you are all well and looking forward to what I hope will be our last week of online school. It will be so nice to see you all in person and to have some face to face fun with the children!

I have attached this week's timetable and will also send this via Google Classroom. I have attached several online books and activities to prepare you and your child for the return to school next week. Please feel free to use these as and when you have time. I will also be using these resources when we are back at school, but it will be helpful for your child to be prepared in terms of hand washing, social distancing, adults wearing masks etc.

Please feel free to email me if you need any support or have any questions about the return to school.

Best wishes for now

Lisa Johnston

Hello Everyone

I hope you have had a lovely break and had lots of fun over the holiday. I'm looking forward to finding out what you have all been up to! 

We will start our Google Meet sessions again tomorrow at 10.15am. Please note this is a different time to before the holiday.

Our topic for this half term is "People who help us" and I have attached the timetable for this week.

I'm hoping you are all able to come back to school soon and will be listening to the briefing on TV with interest 

Take care and I will see you tomorrow!

Kind regards

Mrs Johnston

Hello Sycamore

We've had a great week and am sure are all ready for a good rest!

Well done to everyone in Sycamore for the fantastic learning you continue to do  

A big THANK YOU to all the grown ups who have made this all possible. Your patience and resilience is amazing!

Our next online session will be at 10.15am on Google Meet on Monday 22nd February 

In the meantime, have a look at our amazing photos!

Take care, see you soon.

Mrs Johnston

Monday 8th February 

Huge apologies - I didn't put this week's timetable on.

I've added it below.

Kind regards

Mrs Johnston

Hello Everyone

It's the end of another great week for Sycamore class! You have produced some amazing work and I hope you are all really proud of yourselves.

I have put some of your lovely pictures below - keep sending them in - they're fantastic!

I have also added the timetable and resources for next week.

Enjoy the weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Bye for now

Mrs Johnston

Dear Parents

I’ve put together some ideas for helping your child at home with letters/sounds/phonics/blending:

Here are some clear explanations of what Letters and Sounds, phonics and blending actually mean, as well as videos of how to help your child with reading letter sounds and blending them together to make words:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/what-is-letters-and-sounds/

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/learn-to-read-phonics/

Alphablocks on BBC Iplayer is a great resource for a fun way to learn phonics. This link has lots of ideas and will take you to the episodes that cover the letter sounds/blends that you want to practise. I would always go through BBC or Iplayer – going through YouTube shows lots of other watching options which may distract your child (and you!) from what you want to watch.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/the-alphablocks-guide-to-phonics

Even though your child is starting to learn to read, it’s still really important for you to read to them every day – this gives them an opportunity to hear/see new words, enjoy the story and also to give you some “bonding” time over your favourite books. You can introduce them to new vocabulary and books that they can’t read yet, knowing that they will be able to very soon. You’ll find some ideas here:

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-for-pleasure/

Please don’t worry about buying the “right” flashcards, posters etc – just make your own (or help your child to) with pen/paper. Definitely keep them for the next time! Your child might want an extra set to “play” with. This is great learning!

These ideas are very much for learning to read, but it’s good for your child to practise their writing too:

• sounds they know
• their name (with a capital letter at the start)
• words they can sound out
• simple sentences eg The mat is red.  I had fish for my lunch.   The sun is shining.

It’s absolutely fine to help children sound out the words they need for their sentences, or even write the whole word/sentence for them if necessary. We are aiming for enjoyment and confidence at the moment.

The children completed Phase 2 sounds with Mrs Wombwell in the Autumn term and we are now working through the Phase 3 sounds. However, if you think your child would benefit from going over Phase 2 sounds again, please do so. I've included Phase 1 activities, if you think they would be helpful. They are very good fun - making animal noises etc! I've also included some Phase 3 activities if you want to see where we are going. Please feel free to use them if your child is confident and keen!

Tricky words are words that we can't sound out - just to make it trickier! - the children will learn these by sight. They are often words we use a lot eg "the" so it's important to practise them. We will cover them in our online lessons. There are some suggested ideas below.

My apologies, I can't seem to turn the links into hyperlinks. Please copy and paste into your web browser address bar.

I've included useful resources below for you to print and use at home, or just look at for ideas. As always, please feel free to email me if you need any further support.

Kind regards

Lisa Johnston

Hello Everyone!

What a fantastic week of learning - well done to you all for practising your sounds, drawing wonderful pictures, painting colourful works of art and making some amazing animal masks. I love seeing the photos of all the fun you're having!

Our Google Meets until half term will give you all an opportunity to do Show and Tell. I know how much you all love it! I have put a list below so you know which day is your turn. 

I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

Bye for now

Mrs Johnston

Hello Everyone

I hope you are all well and have had a great week of learning. Thank you for all the photos - it's fantastic to see how you're all getting on  I've added some of your pictures below. Keep sending them in!

Thanks to everyone who joined our Google Meet on Wednesday. I think the Show and Tell idea I initially suggested may not work as well as I thought, so we will change this to a Phonics Phase 2 revision focus. Please have a whiteboard/pen or pencil/paper with you. The Google Meets will start on Monday at 9.30am and everyday after that.

Please note the questions I have put on the timetable under "Communication and Language" are suggestions for you to discuss with your child after they have watched the programme/video in "Understanding the World".

I have responded to your amazing Purple Mash activities - it was very exciting to see your brilliant work! I think some of you may have pressed "Exit" instead of "Save and Exit" so I could see you had done some work but couldn't see what it was.

Whipsnade and London Zoos have recently begun  animal storytelling sessions on Saturday and Sunday evening - perfect just before bed!        https://www.zsl.org/news/tails-from-the-zoo 

Please find the timetable and resources for next week below.

Have a lovely weekend - I think it's going to be dry - Fantastic! 

As always, please email me if you have any questions or need support.

Best wishes

Mrs Johnston

Home schooling for week beginning 18.1.21

Please note that next week's home schooling plan and resources was sent last week, so will be further down this page. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Best wishes

Mrs Johnston

Purple Mash and Mini Mash

I hope you have all managed to log in to Purple Mash and find your way to Mini Mash. There are excellent activities in both areas for Sycamore class. Mini Mash is aimed at EYFS and Purple Mash at years 1 to 6 (although I think there are many reception children who would like to have a go at Purple Mash!). 

I have added some "pins" in Mini Mash - these are activities related to our theme of winter. When you go to the Mini Mash main page, you will see a white pin in a purple square in the top right hand corner. Click here for activities.

I have also added some "2Dos" on the Purple Mash homepage. They are on the top bar on the left hand side of the screen. Click here for more activities.

You are given the option to save work when you exit a programme. If you save, I will see what you have done and can send a message back to you. Have a go!

I'm aware that you have been given lots of different activities and suggestions. Please don't feel under pressure to do everything - it's not possible! I'm just giving different options to try to cover everyone's home situations. It's far more important that your child enjoys what they are doing in reception and are enthusiastic and keen to take part. 

Please do email if you have any questions or need support.

Best wishes

Mrs Johnston

Hello Everyone

I hope you have had a good weekend and are ready for some fun learning 

Your Purple Mash login details were emailed to you last week -  have a browse around and explore the website - there's a huge amount of great activities in the Mini Mash section. Please feel free to email me if you have any problems logging in.

I have also sent you a list of other websites with a range of activities to have fun with.

Please remember that, although I have sent a lot of activities that are "screen-based", playing indoors and outdoors continues to be a very important part of the EYFS Early Learning Goals. I have sent a copy of the Early Learning Goals for your use.

I would love to see what you have been doing at home  Please email me pictures if you can.

Take care and have a lovely week!

Mrs Johnston 

sycamore@woolmergreen.herts.sch.uk

Hello Everyone - just to let you know I am preparing activities for the children for next week and have put some on the website already. However, this is a work in progress and it won't be finished until later so it may not make much sense at the moment. Please feel free to have a browse but please look back over the weekend for the final version :)  Many thanks.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Johnston 

If you need any support please contact Mrs Johnston on the following email:

Sycamore@woolmergreen.herts.sch.uk

Hello to everyone in Sycamore Class

I was sorry not to see you in school today but I hope you had a lovely Christmas holiday and are looking forward to learning all about our new theme this week – WINTER.

I have added some sheets that you can print off and complete. If you don't have a printer, you can look at the sheets on screen and do the activity on plain paper.  Most activities will need some adult input to get started.

You could draw pictures of the things you see in winter for example hats and gloves, robins in the garden, snow and ice. I'm sure you can think of lots more! 

I will get back to you with further learning activities each week.

In the meantime, take care and have fun!

Love from

Mrs Johnston

Next week we are thinking about where we are from and our local area of Woolmer Green. If possible, it would be great if you could go for a walk around the local area and look at any significant parts in Woolmer Green e.g the church, the road the school is on, Mardley Woods, the community centre, play area and anywhere else in Woolmer Green you may go to. If you can, please take some pictures and send them to sycamore@woolmergreen.herts.sch.uk and we’ll look at these and talk about them on Thursday next week.

Thank you for your continued support with your child’s learning.

Mrs Wombwell