Beechwood Primary School

Foundation Stage Blog – 1 December 2017

This week the children were introduced to the story of The Little Red Hen! During this week’s inputs the children have learnt actions to use when retelling the story, talked about the characters, retold the story, talked about the main parts of a story and learnt how to draw a story map to show the main events of a story in the correct order. It has been wonderful to see the children so engaged when joining in with repeated phrases during story times. They have continued to explore the story of The Little Red Hen during their English exploration times this week and some of the activities have included: acting out the story using props, sequencing pictures from the story, orally retelling the story, making character finger puppets, following instructions to make objects for the story in the playdough area, free choice writing opportunities on Little Red Henpaper with word mats for support, making a Little Red Hen handprint picture and making CVC words using foam letters in the water tray and beads and pipe cleaners in the fine motor skills area. During this week’s adult-led English activity the children have been labelling characters from the story, which has supported their ability to segment sounds and then blend them together to spell simple words. The children were encouraged to say the word and then say it again slower, unpicking the individual sounds, then the children recorded the sounds they could hear. E.g. hen-h-e-n.

This week’s Maths has focused on comparing the length and height of objects and during our Maths inputs we have compared the height of our classmates, discussed who was the tallest and who was the shortest; put towers of cubes into height order from smallest to tallest; ordered different length snakes from longest to shortest; and measured the length of objects using a ruler. The children have enjoyed explored the concept of measuring during their Maths exploration times this week and activities have included: measuring junk modelling resources using a ruler and making comparisons about the length and height of objects; comparing lengths of sea creatures in the water tray; beanstalk size ordering cut and stick;  measuring the length of their shoe using cubes and then comparing whether their shoe is longer or shorter than their peers; making different length playdough snakes and then putting them in order from shortest to longest; using tape measures and rulers to measure the lengths of classroom objects; measuring the height of different penguins using cubes and measuring the length of different classroom objects using cubes. The measuring was taken outside where the children competed to see who could jump the furthest, building different height sandcastles and making different height towers using crates and other construction materials.

It was lovely to hear such positive feedback from the parents during the school’s parent consultation meetings over the last couple of weeks. The FS staff have been pleased to hear parents saying how happy their children are at school and that they can see the children making progress with their phonics and writing.

The FS staff welcome parents to be part of their child’s learning during the Foundation stage and you can help to consolidate what your child has been learning at school by supporting them to engage in Maths and English activities, linked to the ideas shared in the blog each week, at home. It would be fantastic to see the children bringing in photos, pictures or some of their writing to show what they have been doing at home. Please provide a short explanation to the context (e.g. Laura was playing with the lego and made three different height towers, she told me which was the shortest and which was the tallest), any quotations of what your child has said (e.g. “This one is taller than this one, that’s the shortest.”), whether your child completed the activity independently or with some support, the date and a title saying ‘Home learning’. This evidence will form part of your child’s learning journey and will enhance the FS staff’s understanding of what your child knows and can do.

Please ensure your child has a warm, waterproof coat in school every day  as we are now entering the colder winter weather and the children will continue to have access to the outdoors on a daily basis come rain or snow. Thank you for your continued support.