Our Learning 2020-2021

Welcome to the Beech Class

The teachers in Beech class are Mrs Clay and Mrs Green.

We are supported each day by Mrs Llewellyn, Mrs Elliott and Miss Griffiths

A few reminders...

• Beech class go out for Forest Schools on a Wednesday Morning and we will do PE on a Wednesday afternoon.  We will be going out whatever the weather (including rain and snow) so children need to be dressed in appropriate clothing; a warm coat and accessories in cold weather and a sun hat and suncream in hot weather.   Children need to come to school wearing their PE kit with warm, waterproof coats over the top.  Please can children arrive in their trainers and bring wellies in a separate bag to change into for Forest Schools.  
• Children need their book bags in school every day.  We read with your children throughout the week and it is very important that this is recorded in their reading diaries.  Please remember to support your child with reading their reading book at home.  We ask that children read with an adult at least 3 times per week.  Reading books are changed once a week however you can read anything additional with your child - magazines, recipes, picture books etc!
• Please send your child with a labelled water bottle to use in class.
• Please make sure all school uniform, pe kit, lunch box, bags, book bags and water bottles are clearly labelled with your child's name.

Take a look at our learning environment

Websites to help our learning

Maths    https://www.topmarks.co.uk/interactive.aspx?cat=1

Phonics  https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm

Welcome to Summer Term!

This half term we will be learning about who we would like to be and we will focus each week on a different type of job both in literacy and our wider topic work.

In forest schools we will be learning all about summer and how the season has changed from spring.

We will be looking at important events like Earth Day and St Georges Day.

Below is our topic web - Who will I be? please take a look to see all the fantastic things we will be learning about this half term!

Summer 2

This half term we will be looking at a new topic called -Hidden  treasures . We will be looking at pirates, mermaids, sea creatures and much more.

Today we had a special pirate day and we were joined by a special pirate visitor, we learnt how to be pirates, looking as ships, maps, treasures and much more. 

Here are our photos of our amazing day...

Spring 2- " Let's Explore"

We had a great time on our school trip looking for minibeasts, creating natural pictures from materials found in the environment and a picnic outdoors ! The children were amazing and all had a fantastic day out. 

Spring 2 2022 - Let's Explore!

Spring is just around the corner and this half term we will be finding out all about minibeasts, lifecycles and exploring the environment to find out the changes that occur in springtime.  We can't wait for our trip to Brackenhurst Education Centre in March!

Autumn 1 2021

We are very excited to welcome so many new families to Healdswood this term.  To begin with we will be spending time settling into our new classroom, learning the routines and making new friends!  We will be thinking about ourselves and  answering the question 'what makes me unique?'  This will be through exploring what we look like, our senses, our likes & dislikes and our families and special people.  We will also be thinking about where we live and the local environment.  Towards the end of the term we will be searching for signs of autumn!

Have a look below to see our amazing learning from last year's Ash Class (2020-2021).

Parents notice - 9.9.21

The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) is a statutory assessment from September 2021 onwards. It provides a snapshot of where pupils are when they arrive at school. It will provide a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils between reception and the end of primary school.  Over the next few weeks the children in our class will be completing a baseline assessment with an adult.  You can read more about this via the links below.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

This week it is Olympic week in Beech class and today we had a visitor called Paul who taught us discipline of Karate! We learnt how to listen carefully to instructions and how to do high and low kicks. We learnt how to punch carefully and kick a target . 

Summer 2

For our final half term in Reception, our topic will be 'Unexpected Oceans'.  We are really looking forward to this topic as hopefully some sunny weather will really support our learning about the seasides! we will be learning about what the seaside is like today  and what it used to be like in the past as part of our history topic. We will also be thinking about the ocean as a habitat in Science  and thinking about who lives there and how we can support animals to continue to live through protecting the oceans from pollution.  Please see the overview below for more information on our Unexpected Oceans topic...

Today we have had a special visitor in from Partake Theatre Company. We learnt about seasides form the past (100 years ago). We dressed up in old bathing costumes, boater hats and parasols. We learnt about old fashioned buckets and spades, hockey pokeys ( ice creams) and dances. The children had an amazing time and loved learning about how things were 100 years ago!

Summer 1

The sun is finally starting to shine and this will be mirrored in our topic 'Imagine...'  This half term we will be using our imaginations to think about dreams, colour and feelings.  We will be experimenting with creating different textures and colour mixing.  Have a look at our topic overview below for more information!

Nurturing Nature- Spring 2 2021

Our new topic after half term will be all about nature. We will be learning about farms, farm animals, lifecycles of chicks and mother and baby animals. We will be looking at what food we get from the farm and how it is produced. 

We will be having our own hatching chicks in class and watching how they grow! Watch this space...

WC 1st March - Farm Animals

This week in school and at home we have enjoyed beginning to think about farm animals and exploring what we already know about farms.  In school children have been collaging farm animals and thinking about which colours they need to represent each animal.

Spring term 2021

This half term we will be learning all about different fairy tales, castles , dragons and knights in our new topic called 'Once upon a time ...'. The children will learn all about castles, the royal family, seasons and carry out art work and design and technology. Please browse through our topic map to support your child at home.

14.1.21 - A Snowy Day!

The snow has made us really excited today.  We loved going out to do our Daily Mile in the snow today and seeing how we made footprints in the snow!  It wasn't long before more snow came down and we watched how this covered over our footprints.

The children who are working at home had a great time in the snow today as well!

WC 4th January 2021

Well what a strange start to the term we've had!  Well done to all our children for coping so well with all the changes that have been happening whether it is still coming to school or working through their remote learning ay home.  If you are working from home all of your learning will be uploaded to your portfolio.

This week we have been learning about the Princess and the Frog.  We have looked at rhyming words, competed maths work around the song 5 Little Speckled Frogs, and learnt all about the lifecycle of a frog.

In class on Friday afternoon we still enjoyed 'Feel Good Friday' and it was lovely to see that the children at home joined in with this doing their favourite 'feel good' activity at home too.  Have a look at our Feel Good Friday photos below!

Christingle celebrations 2020

Today we made ur own Christingles and talked about what they represented to Christians. In the afternoon we had a special assembly with Reverend Peter from Skegby church, we sang songs and all lit our candles. We had a special time and we all got to take our Christingles home.

Autumn 2

Wow what a busy half term we have planned! This half term our new topic is called' I wonder...' and we will be learning all about different celebrations across the world. This week we started our new topic off by learning about Bonfire Night and why we celebrate this.  We enjoyed roasting marshmallows over our campfire in forest schools and singing bonfire songs. 

We will be learning about Remembrance Day next week, followed by Diwali, birthday celebrations, winter and of course ending our term with Christmas!