Welcome to Oak - Reception!

Academic Year 2020 - 2021

Home Learning Journal:Week 4

The Reception children, along with their grown ups, have been very busy again this week and are fully engaged with our Dinosaur topic. This week, they have...

• Watched Andy's Prehistorical adventures and learnt lots of facts about Dinosaurs.
• We listened to the story 'Harry and The Bucketful Of Dinosaurs' read by Mrs Loveday and created our own dinosaur adventures.
• Sorted dinosaurs according to their features and diets.
• Explored ice and worked out the best way to rescue the dinosaurs.
• Practised writing digits correctly, ordered numbers and identified the biggest.
• Explored the term 'capacity'. 

Home Learning Journal:Week 3

Another exciting week of home learning. This week, the children have begun learning about Dinosaurs and have made interest tables in our homes. They have also...

• Practised their phonics and learnt some new consonant blends.
• Listened to 'Somethingosaur' read by Mrs Loveday and made our own dinosaurs.
• Listened to 'Dinosaur Roar' read by Mrs Loveday and explored opposites.
• Explored the technology in our home, and the forces push and pull.
• Learnt about looking after our teeth and what makes our teeth happy.
• Practised subtraction number sentences using 'teeth'.
• Researched St George's Day and made shields.

School Closure-Home Learning: Summer Term 1

Welcome back,

I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter and spent precious time with the people you live with. This half term we will be exploring Dinosaurs in the topic called 'Did Dinosaurs Exist?' I will add some new challenges below that you can work on at your own pace; lots of the learning in the Summer term is consolidation and allowing children to apply their knowledge to different situations and problems. I will also continue to give challenges on Tapestry that will link to a story or phonics.

Thank you for all the observations you continue to load onto Tapestry; it is great to see what the children are up to and all that fantastic learning.

If you haven't looked already, please go to the 'Worship at Home' section on our curriculum page, this week's worship is all about Hope.

Have fun and stay safe

Mrs Loveday

Home Learning Journal:Week 2

The children have been working so hard with their grown ups at home this week. Some of the activities they have done are:

• Listened to ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ read by Mrs Loveday and then made their own bridges for the goats to cross the river. 
• Drew a picture of their own trolls and thought of adjectives to describe them.
• Explored ‘The Gingerbread Man’ story.
• Read the ‘Easter Story’ and completed Easter crafts.
• Compared the length of objects around their homes and sticks and placed them in order from longest to shortest. 

Home Learning Journal:Week 1

Here are some photos of the learning that the children have been doing at home with their grown ups. The children (and adults) have been set lots of challenges to complete this week such as:

• We listened to the story ‘Worrysaurus’ read by Rev.Alan. We then created our own Worrysaurus and discussed things that made us feel safe and happy
• Exploring plants and flowers; naming their parts and understanding their purpose.
• Writing and ordering numbers. 
• Exploring British coins and creating menus/price lists.
• Practising our phonics and handwriting - including writing words and sentences.

I am so proud of all this children this week; keep up the fantastic work! 

School Closure-Home Learning: Spring Term 2

Thank you for all the excellent home learning that has been going on this week; I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the activities that the children have been up to, on Tapestry. Below, I have attached some ideas for activities to keep your little ones occupied and their brains crackling. I have also attached the documents that I sent home on Friday in case you need them again.

Have fun and stay safe

Mrs Loveday

Academic Year 2019 - 2020

Once Upon A Time...

For the last three weeks, our learning has been based on traditional tales. We read The Three Little Pigs and Jack and The Beanstalk. We also read lots of alternatives such as, The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig, Mr Wolf's Pancakes and Jim and The Beanstalk. We had fun 'huffing and puffing' as well as planting our own beans. We made houses for a little pig and compared the length of  the Giants footprint to objects around the class. We had lots of fun and hope to carry on learning about traditional tales when the school reopens.

Science Workshop

This week, 5 children got the chance to take place in a Science workshop at St Andrew's Primary school. The children took part in 10 different science experiments where they made realistic predictions and learnt lots about 'why' things happen. The children were very well behaved and extremely excited to share the experiments with the rest of the class.

Campfire

To celebrate our topic 'What Happens When You Are Sleeping?' we had a campfire with Mrs Richards in the Wildlife area. We sang campfire songs and had hot chocolate and a cookie. We even spotted some new buds on the trees; Spring is coming!

Balanceability

Today we had our first of three sessions where we began to learn the skills needed to ride a pedal bike.  Thank you to Janet and Louise, from Hertford and Ware Schools Sports Partnership, for coming to teach us. We learnt to take large dinosaur footsteps to help us move on the balance bikes. We also had to remember to keep our bottoms on the saddle. It was great fun riding up and down the lanes and around the cones on the bikes. We can’t wait for next week!! 

Chinese New Year! 
This week we have been celebrating Chinese New Year and learning about some of China’s traditions. Our role play changed into a Chinese restaurant, where we had fun taking on different roles such as a chef and a waitress. We then tried real egg noodles. We explored how they changed from dry crunchy noodles to soft floppy ones; they tasted very good. We learnt about the story ‘The Great Race and worked out that we are either Horses or Goats. We also enjoyed lots of fun crafts. 

All Things Shiny

Our topic this half term is called ‘What happens when we are sleeping?’  To launch our topic we came into school in our pyjamas and bought in some bedtime stories to share. We have learnt all about shiny and reflective objects as well as identifying the things that gives us light. We explored lots of different materials to see which ones let the light pass through; we learnt the big science words opaque, transparent and translucent. 

Story time with a difference 

This term we have been listening to stories read to us by Year 5. It has been great fun choosing our favourite stories and making lots of new friends. We cannot wait to carry on next time and soon we will be able to read to Year 5.

Everyone Loves A Baby

This year we performed a play called ‘Everyone Loves A Baby’ with the Nursery class. We spent lots of time learning our words and practising the songs; it was great fun! Then, we performed our play to the whole school in a dress rehearsal and then to all of our grown ups. We loved dressing up as different characters and learning about the importance of Christmas. 

Lest We Forget!

To celebrate Remembrance Day, as a whole school we visited the memorial outside school. We listened to some poems and prayers read by the older children then had a two minute silence to remember all those injured in the war. Back in the classroom we made poppy biscuits, poppies with plasticine and loose parts; and explored drawing poppies with the iPad. In Art, we used water colours to draw Flanders field. We also reflected on the things we were thankful for. 

A Firefighter Visit

Today we were so lucky to have a team from Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service come to visit our class. They bought in all their special equipment and their fire engine. We learnt about the importance of their protective clothings and why we must check our smoke alarms; we also explored the different jobs they have to go to...they don’t just put out fires! We then explored the fire engine and even had the chance to spray the hose.  Our climbing frame got very wet.  We had lots of fun today, thank you!

Diwali

Today we had Mrs Pettengell visit us to teach us about the Hindu festival called Diwali. We listened to the story about Rama and Sita, a traditional story that teaches us how good outweighs the bad. We also got to look at traditional clothing, Rangoli patterns and real diya lamps. We got the chance to make our own lamps out of clay and decorated them with pretty jewels. 

Amazing Autumn

This week we have been exploring the season Autumn and read the book 'Leaf Man. Whilst looking for different leaves we found the Leaf man, the wind had blown him onto our field. We found a stick and threaded leaves onto it to make a 'leaf stick', we challenged ourselves to find lots of different and exciting leaves. We then made our own leaf people using the natural resources from our school grounds. 

iPad Fun!

Today we had our first lesson using the iPads. We sensibly took it in turns, exploring how to navigate around the iPad and the app ‘Tux Paint’. We were challenged to draw a picture, on the ipads, of Supertato and the Evil Pea. It was great fun!

Tennis

Today a coach from Legends Tennis came in to teach us some tennis skills. We had lots of fun using tennis rackets to control the ball. One game was called ‘Walk the Doggie’. Our last activity was trying to pass the ball to our partner using the racket.

Harvest Workshop

We went to St Mary’s church for a Harvest workshop. We spent the morning working around five stations to learn all about different harvests; harvests of the land and sea. We learnt about different fruit and vegetables as well as how wheat is made into the foods we eat. We found out that clay comes from the ground and had a go at rolling clay into a ball. We explored the wool from a sheep and had a go at weaving, it was tricky. We listened to some exciting stories from the Bible. We had so much fun and learnt lots about Harvest.

Teddy Bears Picnic

We had a teddy bears picnic. We started off the day by making our own sandwiches. We used a knife to spread butter on the bread and then either honey or jam. We carefully cut our sandwiches so they were ready to eat. Later, we took our food and bears out on the field for a picnic. We enjoyed eating yummy food and listened to a story. We finished our picnic by playing some games and running around with our bears.

Academic Year 2018 - 2019

Insects

This week we have been learning about insects. Insects have 3 body parts and 6 legs. We have been sorting minibeasts according to whether they are insects or not. We also learnt a song to remind us of the scientific names. 

Bacteria! 

Today Dr Caray Walker came into school to teach us about Bacteria. We learnt how to wash our hands correctly, and used a UV torch and gel to spot all the germs. We also learnt about lots of different bacterias and their scientific names. We used playdough and other resources to build our own ‘ bacteria bugs’. 

Look at our writing!

This week we have been learning about the features of a diary and read ‘A Diary Of A Spider’ by Doreen Cronin. We then wrote our own diary entries from the perspective of a spider. 

Bug Hotel

Today we went into the wildlife area to make homes for all the minibeasts. We used the natural resources in the wildlife area to fill our plant pots; we had lots of minibeasts visit whilst we were making them. We also spotted a bees nest on the log circle, it was fascinating. 

Busy Bees!

To launch our topic on Minibeasts, Mr Newton bought in his colony of bees in their hive to share with us. We got the chance to look in the beehive at all the bees, busy at work. Unfortunately, we didn’t see the queen bee as she was eating her lunch in the bottom of the hive. Bees are very clever, they make honey and wax. We got to feel and touch the wax that Mr Newton’s Bees made. We will get to taste a variety of honey next week, yum! 

Fact Files

Look at our amazing writing. We have been learning how to write factual sentences about dinosaurs. We have worked hard on our cursive handwriting and are becoming more confident with using diagraphs in our independent work. 

Palaeontologists

This week we took on the role of a palaeontologist. We learnt that Palaeontologists needed to be very careful as bones are very fragile and they needed lots of patience. We excavated chocolate chips from a biscuit. It took us a very long time and we got quite dusty.

T-Rex Footprint 

This week we have been learning about measuring. Today a giant T-Rex footprint appeared in our classroom. We made predictions on how many of our footprints would fill the T-Rex’s footprint. Some of our predictions were 45, 63 and 90. We filled half of the footprint with 60 shoes.

Dino Dung! 

Today we noticed that a dinosaur had pooped in the classroom. We explored the poo to see whether the dinosaur was a herbivore or a carnivore. We then made predictions as to which dinosaur it belonged to. After, we used this information to make our own ‘Dino Dung’. Palaeontologist and scientific find out lots of information through their poo.

Minute Madness 

In Maths, we have been learning about time. We explored what one minute felt like. When we sat in silence it felt like a very long time but when we had to take our shoes and socks off it was a very short time; we only ever managed to get one sock back on.

Chinese New Year

This week we have been learning about Chinese New year. We were excited to welcome Mrs Wall into our classroom who taught us all about the festival and the zodiac story, 'The Great Race'. We explored different Chinese artefacts and foods; the fortune cookies were very yummy. We also took parts in lots of crafts such as making Chinese lanterns and Chinese window decorations. We studied Chinese numbers and practised writing them. We had a super fun week!

Snow Snow Snow
Today we were very excited to see it had snowed over night. We put on our wellies, coats, hats and gloves and went out to play. We noticed the snow wasn’t as thick under the trees. We then had running races, tried to walk in the snowy footprints and made little snowmen; it was very cold but had lots of fun!

Little Budding Artists
This week we have been learning about the dark and nocturnal animals. In our art lessons, we learnt how to draw owls. We followed step by step instructions to draw them. We then painted the outlines before filling them in and finally adding the detail. It took us a few days to paint them but we are very pleased with the results; so are our teachers. 
 

Terrific Tennis

Today Andy from Legends Tennis club visited our class. At the beginning of the session we practiced rolling the ball along the ground. Then we learnt how to bounce the ball and catch it in our hands, this was quite difficult. We then used the rackets to control the ball in lots of different ways; we had great fun!

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

We have been busy in Reception this Christmas. We have made our own stockings to hang on the tree. We used a real needle and thread to sew two pieces of felt together. We then got to stuff it and put a clove in the middle to make it smell nice. Out of salt dough, we made a Christmas tree which also could be hung on the tree. We pressed our fingers into the dough to make bauble shapes. Once it had been cooked, we got to decorate it. We also got to make rice crispy Christmas puddings. We learnt how chocolate can turn from a solid to a liquid by melting it. We then got to take them home and eat them...they were very yummy!

Christmas Christingles

This Christmas we learnt about the true meaning of Christmas and why Christians celebrate it. We all got to make a Christingle, which symbolises Christmas and the importance of Christ. We had to be very careful when we were threading raisins onto cocktail sticks. We then got to take them home and light them with our families.

Angel Express

Read all about it...This Christmas the Reception and Nursery children performed a nativity called ‘Angel Express’. All the children were amazing and put on a super production. Reception children had to learn lots of lines as well as 7 new songs. We are so proud of how hard they worked and well they performed.

Interesting Italian 

Today Mrs Hartley came in to teach us some Italian. We looked on a map to find Italy, it is shaped liked a boot and sits below England. Mrs Hartley told us that pizza and pasta come from Italy. She was born in Naples where you can buy the best pizza in the world. Mrs Hartley then read us a story in Italian. We couldn’t understand what she was saying but it was very exciting to hear the language. We used the pictures in the book to give us clues about the story. We learnt how to say hello and goodbye in Italian. We practised saying “ciao” and “ciao ciao” with our friends. To finish off we learnt how to say “my name is” so Mrs Hartley can learn our names. We are excited to see her again next week and learn more Italian. 

Lest We Forget

On Friday, as a whole school we had a special worship time around the memorial to remember those who had fallen. During the rest of the day we took part in art activities to create a variety of different poppies. We used material squares to create a mosaic. We decorated a biscuit with red icing and a milk button; they were very yummy. We also learnt about lines and shapes. We used these to decorate petals for another poppy. Finally, we worked in groups to create a large poppy. We had to communicate effectively with our team members and take turns, at the beginning it was quite difficult; however, by the end we were all working really well as a team. 

Fantastic Forest School

For the last week of this half term we started to learn about Autumn. We reflected back on what harvest meant and explored some pumpkins. The seeds were "hard" and "small" and inside the pumpkin was "slimy" and "yukky". We then took our learning outside, we played 'Hide and Seek' in the wildlife area. It was easy to find our friends because the leaves are  beginning to fall off the trees. We went on an Autumn hunt, where we found treasures such as golden leaves, acorns and pine cones. We also continued to use our senses by observing and feeling tree trunks. We used crayons to do bark rubbing; it was very tricky.

Tantalising Taste Buds

This week we have been learning about our senses. We began by listening and matching environmental sounds. We then challenged ourselves by walking around the field with our eyes closed, in a caterpillar. We were guided by a leader who had their eyes open. It was very “tricky” and “scary”. We then tested our taste buds with foods that were sweet, salty, sour and bitter. Most of us thought the bitter dark chocolate was “yuk”.

An Exciting Story Time

We were very excited to have our first shared reading session with Year 5 this week. We chose our favourite book for a Year 5 to read it to us, they read very well.
Some of us were lucky to visit the Year 5 classroom; the chairs were a lot bigger than ours. It was great fun and we cannot until next time!

Supertato

Our story this week has been ‘Supertato’ by Sue Hendra. This afternoon, we found our vegetables had been tied up around the classroom, we think the Evil Pea did it. We then thought about what the vegetables may say if they could speak before rescuing them to safety. We thought of ways to trap and squash the Evil Pea, one idea was to squash him in a book...splat. Later, we used vegetables to make our own Mr Potato Head.

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Academic Year 2017-2018

Sports Relief Mile

Today we had to run 4 laps of the field to run half a mile for Sports Relief. However, half a mile was way too easy for us. All of us ran a mile or more, some even managed three miles. We were very proud of our selves. 

Dinosaurs and Fossils

Today Graham Woollard, a real palaeontologist came into school to tell us all about dinosaurs and fossils. We were allowed to explore the models of the dinosaurs; we found one with claws, one with spikes on its back and one with really sharp teeth. 

We listened to sounds of dinosaurs, however, nobody actually knows what the dinosaurs sounded like. Scientists even believe that the T-Rex didn't roar, it made sounds in the back of its throat. We found out that a real Triceratops would be the same length as Cowper hall, that is huge!!! A Triceratops also used his frill to show off and find a girlfriend, just like a peacock. We had lots of fun and learnt sooooo much! 

A visit from Nancy and Harold

Today we met Nancy and Harold in the Life Bus. We helped Harold pack his bag for a sleepover at grandma's house. We learnt the importance of taking the correct medicine and thought about where medicines should be kept. We looked at different parts of the body and learnt about foods that give us energy. We also did some dancing to get the oxygen pumping around our bodies; our hearts were beating very fast. 

Legends Tennis

Today we had Andy from Legends Tennis come in to teach us a tennis lesson. We practised throwing and catching a ball whilst standing still; we had to keep our eye on the ball at all times. We then learnt forehand and backhand strokes. Once we mastered this, we got to hit a ball over a net. It was great fun! 

What happens when I am asleep?

To launch our Spring topic called ‘What happens when I am asleep?’ we wore our pyjamas to school. We read a story called ‘Emily Brown and the thing’ by Cressida Cowell. We made our own ‘Thing’ using socks and buttons. We also enjoyed jammy dodgers and hot chocolate, yum yum!!!

A King is born

On Tuesday we performed a nativity called 'A King is Born' to our families. The story was about a family reading The First Christmas story on Christmas Eve. They found out that a special baby was born to save the world. He was called Jesus. He was the son of God. We learnt lots of words to retell the story. We also sang seven songs which all had actions. We rehearsed lots and our teachers told us our final performance was amazing!!! 

We are all different!

This week is Anti-bullying week. To celebrate being different and unique, we wore odd socks to school. We compared the colours and patterns on our socks and sorted them into groups. We found out that some of our socks are similar and some are completely different; just like all of us!

Remembrance Day 2017!

On Sunday it is Remembrance Sunday; a day where we remember the soldiers that fought in the wars to save our country. We read a story called ‘Where The Poppies Now Grow’ by Hilary Robinson & Martin Impey. In our groups, we worked together to create a collage of a poppy. We also used cake cakes and lolly pop sticks to make small poppies. We took them over to the memorial to put into the ground where we said prayers of thanks.

How Many Smarties?

In Maths we have been looking at different graphs and charts. We learnt how to read block charts and pictograms. Graphs are used to show information. How many red smarties are in a tube? We found out this answer and sorted the coloured smarties into a block graph. 

We also learnt how to use tally marks. We took our Maths outside and collected natural objects (and rubbish). We then put this information into a tally graph. 

Farm Fun!

On Monday 9th October, Arc Farm came to visit us at school. We first looked at the animals features and discussed why they all have different feet and what covered their bodies. We then got to go inside the pen to touch the animals. "The sheep is really warm and fluffy. "He has lots of wool on his back".

Academic Year 2016-2017

A visit to the Life Bus!

On Monday we met Nancy and Harold on the Life Bus. It was very exciting! Harold went for a sleepover at his grandma’s house and we helped him prepare for it. We learnt what our bodies need to be healthy and how food and drink give us energy. We also found out that our hearts pump the blood and energy around our bodies; the intestines were really long. To end with, we looked at the twinkling stars and had a little snooze; we grow when we are sleeping.

Yummy Pancakes!

Today was Pancake Day and we got to make pancakes! We learnt about the festival of Lent and how Christians remember when Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert.  We had to measure the ingredients and mix them together. Sophia's mummy cooked them for us and then chose what topping to put on; sugar, chocolate sauce, maple syrup or lemon juice.  Most of us chose chocolate sauce and got very sticky!

Dance Festival

On Wednesday 22nd February we took part in the Hertford and Ware dance festival and performed at the Hertford Theatre. The theme was 'A Beautiful World' and we danced to A Circle of Life from Lion King. We all had great fun rehearsing and performing! 

Bat Fun!

Our topic this half term has been 'What happens when you are sleeping?'  We have learnt about the night sky, nocturnal animals and lots lots more. Warebats came to visit us. We were lucky to see real bats and hear them echolocate. This visit was topped off with hot chocolate and cookies. It has been a very exciting half term! 

Humility

Our Christian value for February is Humility. Today we read Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet from the Bible. We then took it in turns to wash our friend’s hands, just like Jesus did. We made sure we cleaned all the germs away, not forgetting in-between the fingers! This has taught us how to be humble.

Remembrance Day!

Today we learnt about the meaning of Remembrance Day. We visited the memorial outside our school, where we thought about all the brave soldiers that had died during the war. We made up our own prayers to say thank you, sorry and please to God. At 11 o'clock we had a two minute silence with the rest of the school. Afterwards, we made large poppies in a group where we practised our cutting and sticking skills.

Jewish New Year

We have been looking at the Jewish Religion and compared it to Christianity. Jewish people eat apples dipped in honey to celebrate a sweet new year. We were allowed to dip our apples in honey, they were yummy. We also made our own Star of David out of salt dough.

Super Science!

Look at all the science we have been exploring this half term. We have learnt about our bodies, inside and out. We have found out which objects float and discovered that not all metals are magnetic. 

Trust

Academic Year 2015-2016

RE Day

On Friday 27^th May, we had an RE day where Rose from Barnabas came in to teach us about the Bible and where it all started. We listened to the story of 'The Lost Sheep', then had to find all of the shepherd's 99 sheep in the hall. We also read ‘The Good Samaritan’ and understood the importance of caring for people. In groups, we took part in an injured man relay. We had lots of fun wrapping bandages around our friends and applying plasters. We are good Samaritans.

Our Butterflies

Over the last half term, we have been learning all about minibeasts. We observed caterpillars and watched as they grew bigger and bigger, very quickly. We were amazed how the caterpillars shook as they began to form into a pupa. Once the butterflies were ready, the pupa split open and out came beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. We fed them sugary water and a banana. When they were ready, we released them and watched them fly away.

Plants

On Tuesday 17^th May, Dr Karen came in to teach us all about seeds. We were able to touch and smell lots of different seeds from different plants and countries. We held the biggest seed in the world; Coco de Mar, which means double coconut. We also saw the smallest seeds in the world which came from an Aphid plant. The coco pod smelt a lot like chocolate, yum!

Reptile Visit

Steve and Tom from Paradise Wildlife Park came to visit us this week. They brought with them some interesting animals for us to look at and touch. We enjoyed learning facts about reptiles and touching their scaly skin. The tortoise was very smelly as he didn't like the car very much. The snake wasn’t slimy after all, she was smooth but cold. We had lots of fun with the reptiles from Paradise Wildlife Park.

Our Space Assembly

Teddy-bration

To end our topic on Friendship, we had a teddy bears picnic. We all brought in our special teddies for a picnic inside as it was very cold. We made our own sandwiches and found out how difficult it was to spread honey and jam without getting sticky.  We hunted for teddy numbers and enjoyed playing with our teddies outside in the quiet garden; we were not very quiet! To finish off we listened to a story called ‘The Bear Under the Stairs’ by Helen Cooper.

Fabulous Friends!

What great fun we have had this half term, we have all settled in well to full time school and thoroughly enjoyed our topic ‘Do you want to be friends?’. We have learnt how to be a good friend and the importance of sharing and saying kind words. We have read ‘Please Mr Panda’ by Steve Antony to remind ourselves of our manners; we practise using these every day. We also read ‘Elmer’ by David McKee, this teaches us that being different is special and God loves us for who we are.

A-Mazing Maths!

In Reception we have been doing lots of amazing Maths from counting to naming shapes and even describing the position of our toys. We used colours and 2D shapes to create repeating patterns, we first had to identify the pattern and then complete it. We made wonderful snakes! Can you carry on the pattern?

Fantastic Farm!

We have been learning to look after our friends, toys and even our animals. We know that animals have the same rights as us; they need food, water, space, shelter and love. We were lucky enough to have a farm come to visit us at school. They brought lots of animals for us to look at and touch. We learnt why animals have different feet and coats; thankfully we all have waterproof coats as we got very wet!