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Reception - Buttercup
Dear Buttercup Class,
Thank you for visiting our class page. On this page you will find:
1. Parent messages
2. E-safety information and our class rules
3. Website links to help with home learning
4. Information on topics covered in class along with weblinks to support these
5. A week by week class diary
I will try my best to put new and exciting things on it as often as I can so please come back and visit it when you can. If you think of anything that you would like to have on our page then please let me know.
Love from Miss Jennings
PS Please remember your e-safety rules before clicking on any of the internet links on this page. More information about our Buttercup e-safety rules are below. For other information on how to stay safe, visit the main school e-safety page.
Additional useful documents:
Our Class Diary 2024-2025:
2nd September 2024
We had our first week in Buttercup class. We had fun getting to know all of our new class friends and learning lots of new things.
9th September 2024
This week in literacy, we focused on two books: The squirrels who squabbled by Rachel Bright and Frederick by Leo Lionni. We explored how we could use actions and story maps to help us remember the stories. In maths, we worked on our counting to 10 skills. We also explored subitising to 3. In phonics, we started to learn the letters s, a, t and p. We explored how to write them correctly and how to build words with them. In the afternoons, we started to learn all about autumn. We made a class autumn tree, did some collages and also painted buttercup pictures to decorate our new classroom.
16th September 2024
In literacy, we focused on the same books as last week. We explored how we could change small details to make new stories. For example, it could be the cats who squabbled or the dogs that dug. In maths, we learned all about matching and sorting. We explored using numicon, counters and even a pumpkin! In the afternoons, we did some observational sketches of squirrels, learned how to take photos on an ipad, went on a tour of the school and exploring mashing and chopping food.
23rd September 2024
In literacy, we read a book called ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen. We plotted the story onto a story map to help us to retell the story. In handwriting and phonics, we learned all about i, d, n and m. In maths, we learned all about sorting and grouping. For example, we grouped ourselves into jumpers and no jumpers, 4 year olds and 5 year olds etc. In the afternoons, we learned all about maps. We explored what they were for and how to use them. We had a go at drawing our own bear hunt map. We also explored mark making on large paper and making transient art with carrots.
30th September 2024
In literacy, we carried on working on the book ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ by Michael Rosen. We acted out the story and then thought about which details we could change to make it into a new story. For example, does it have to be a bear? What about a dinosaur or a cat? In phonics, we reviewed the letters s, a, t, p, n, m, i, d and then started to learn about g, o, c and k. We also worked on phase 2 tricky words: I, no, go, the, to, is. In maths we learned about the value of different numbers. We explored comparing number values to see which was more and which was less. We then moved onto learning about measure. We learned how to compare objects to see which was heaviest, lightest, longest, shortest etc. We explored size, mass and capacity. In the afternoons, we learned more about autumn. We went on an autumn walk to collect leaves. We noticed the colours changing on some of them. We used the leaves to make leaf people pictures and explore leaf threading. We also explored making houses using different materials.
7th October 2024
In literacy, we read a new book called ‘The gigantic turnip’. We worked together to make a class story map and then used it to retell the story. In phonics, we worked on the letters e, r, u and the digraph ck. We also worked on the keywords he, she, we, me and be. In maths, we explored making and continuing repeating patterns. In the afternoons, we learned more about autumn. We collected conkers and used them to roll in paint and make animals. We learned all about harvest. We listened to music inspired by autumn including Vivaldi’s four seasons. We also explored threading, wrapping and weaving. On Thursday, we learned about mental health since it was mental health day.
14th October 2024
In literacy, we focused on ‘The gigantic turnip’ again. We worked together to change details to make a new story. We thought about what else could grow really big under the ground and who would come to help. We also listened to the ‘Enormous Turnip’. We compared both stories to see what was the same and different. In maths, we focused on 1, 2 and 3. We explored how to represent these values in different ways. In phonics, we learned about the letters h, b, f and also the digraphs ff, ll and ss. In the afternoons, we learned more about autumn. We explored which autumn objects floated and sunk. We worked on our cutting skills to make autumn wreaths. We did some autumn observational sketches. We also explored rolling conkers.
21st October 2024
In literacy, we read a book called ‘Leaf Man’. We enjoyed looking at how the leaves had been made into different characters. This inspired us to make our own characters. We then made up little stories about them and acted them out. In maths, we consolidated out counting skills and also worked on counting backwards. We then moved onto learning all about writing numerals. In RE, we learned all about Diwali. We then explored rangoli patterns in class. In topic, we learned about Halloween and how to stay safe if you go trick or treating. We also explored pumpkins, made autumn play dough, created stick clay hedgehogs and made seed shakers.
4th November 2024
We started a topic called ‘Marvellous Machines.’ We spoke about machines that they had seen before. We then used a school machine, a microwave, to make some popcorn. In literacy, we read a book called ‘The most magnificent thing’ by Ashley Spires. We discussed the emotions in the book and also tried to make a class story map. In maths, we started to learn to find one more and one less than numbers to 10. In topic, we learned all about bonfire night and how to stay safe. We then made some fireworks inspired art. We also learned about Remembrance Day and why people wear poppies. In addition, we explored ramps and rolling toy vehicles outside.
11th November 2024
This week, we read a book called ‘Car, car, truck, jeep’ by Katrina Charman. We had fun exploring all of the different machines in the story. We also had fun singing to story to different tunes such as baa, baa, black sheep. In maths, we learned about circles and triangles. We used words such as 2D, curve, sides and corners. In phonics, we learned about the sounds j, v, w and z. In the afternoons, we did some activities including painting on tin foil, exploring wind up water toys, learning about telephones in the past and exploring zigzags. We also had some special events. On Monday, we did a 2 minute silence for Remembrance Day. We also started to learn about anti-bullying week. On Friday, we celebrated maths day with the rest of the school.
18th November 2024
This week, we read a book called ‘NoBot, the robot with no bottom’. We worked on describing the main character. In maths, we learned all about positional language such as on, under, between, on top etc. We pretended to turn into robots and then gave each other directions. In the afternoons, we learned all about lots of different things! We explored metal objects to see which were magnetic and which were not. We mixed primary colours to make secondary colours. We used our direction skills to program the beebot floor robots. We made transient art using real machine pieces such as bolts and screws. We also made a special person class paper chain.
25th November 2024
This week, we read the next robot book in the series called ‘NoBot, the robots new bottom.’ We worked on characters, settings and retelling the story. In phonics, we learned about the digraph ‘ch’. We noticed that it could be found at the beginning of words and also the end of words e.g. chip, munch etc. In maths, we learned all about 4 sided shapes such as squares and rectangles. In the afternoons, we did lots of different activities such as making a class advent calendar, printing in paint with machine parts, exploring with wires and pipe cleaners, exploring remote controlled cars, learning to dance like a robot and also turning tennis balls into pompom eating machines!
2nd December 2024
This week, we read a book called ‘Rosie Revere Engineer.’ We learned lots of new vocabulary words and even had to look some of them up in a dictionary to find out what they meant. We then explored how to describe the main character. In phonics, we looked at the digraph ‘sh’. In maths, we focused on the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4. We looked at what numbers added together to make them, how they were written and also how they could be represented in different ways such as on a five frame, using a bead string, using numicon etc. In the afternoons, we took inspiration from our literacy book and designed our own robots. We then had a go at making them by following our designs. We explored diggers and sand. We explored sorting nuts and bolts by type. We also learned all about celebrations that happen this time of year such as Christmas, Kwanza and Hanukkah.
9th December 2024
This week, we read a book called ‘Winnie the witch and her new computer’. We had fun saying the word ‘abracadabra’ and counting how many letters it had in it. We then thought about what we would do if we had magical powers. In phonics, we had a special focus on the digraph ‘th’. In maths, we focused on numbers 5 and 6. We explored subitising with 5 and 6 and representing them in different ways. We then explored finding one more and one less. In the afternoons, explored using string and tubes to transport toys across the classroom, we made paper Christmas decorations for our classroom and we explored drawing patterns into pretend snow (salt). We also had our Nativity dress rehearsals and our parent performances this week. We all tried our best to put on a good show.
16th December 2024
This week, we had a Christmas week. We made cards, calendars, repeat pattern wreaths, decorations and learned all about the nativity story. We had a Christmas jumper day, Christmas dinner, enjoyed a virtual pantomime and had a visit from a very exciting person in a red suit!
6th January 2025
This week, we learned all about New Year and made some New Year resolutions. Next, we started our new topic called ‘Long ago’. We read a book called ‘The tiger who came to tea.’ We discussed things that were similar to what we did now and things that more commonly happen just in the past now. We also had a go at describing the main characters, making shopping lists and researching to find out what tigers actually eat. In maths, we focused on numbers 0-5. We explored how they could be represented in lots of different ways e.g. claps, jumps, number line, numicon, bead string, drawing dots etc. In phonics, we explored the digraph ‘ee’. In the specific areas, we learned about the days of the week and explored how we do certain things on certain days e.g. We do PE on Thursdays. We explored seasonal change and spoke about what happens in Winter. We looked at photographs from the past and spoke about why some of them were in black and white and why lots of the people had such serious faces.
13th January 2025
This week, we read a book called ‘Rosie’s Hat’ by Julia Donaldson. We used words such as first, next, then and after that to order the story. We looked at the main character and had a go at describing her. We also thought about what our dream hat would look like. In phonics, we reviewed ‘ee’ and then started to learn about ‘ai’. In maths, we explored one more and one less. We also learned about the composition of number. We explored different ways to represent numbers on a dot array grid. In the specific areas of learning, we talked about clothes from the past and what was similar and different with clothes we wear today. We looked at old and new photos of the same areas and discussed similarities and differences. We discussed how we have grown and changed from being babies. We went on a history walk around the school to see if we could see any signs of aging or the past. We explored bath toys. We listened to different nursery rhymes and lullabies. We also had a go at mixing different shades of grey and then used them to paint self-portraits in the style of an old fashioned photograph.
Art competition
20th January 2025
This week, we read a book called ‘Coming to England’ by Floella Benjamin. We spoke about family histories and how lots of people come from other countries and now live in England. That is what makes all families special and different. We then thought about the main characters in the story and thought about how to describe them. In maths, we learned all about mass and capacity. We explored heavy, light, full ad empty. We learned how to compare things. In phonics, we focused on the digraph ‘oo’. In the specific areas of learning, we discussed grandparents and thought about how things have changed. We made sculptures inspired by statues made long ago. We looked at old and new transport and had a go at sorting pictures. We also had a go at making a family tree.
27th January 2025
This week, we read a book called ‘Major Glad, Major Dizzy.’ It had a history focus and led to us talking about the history of toys. In maths, we focused on 6, 7 and 8. We looked at different ways to make these numbers e.g. 3+3=6 but 4+2 also equal 6. In phonics, we had a special focus on ‘oa’ like in boat, goat and foam. In PSHE, we thought about what job we would like when we get older. In the specific areas of learning, we explored kings and queens of the past, horses and carriages, old fashioned ways of washing clothes and old toys. We also had a go at making an old fashioned toy called a peg doll. On Wednesday, we had a special session learning all about Chinese/Lunar New Year.
3rd February 2025
This week, we read a book called ‘Once there were giants’ by Martin Waddell. We explored how we all grow and change from being babies to adults. We explored what stayed the same and what changed. In phonics, we had a special focus on the digraph ‘ar’ like in shark, farm and sparkle. In maths, we learned all about doubles. We noticed that we could work out up to double 5 on our fingers. We then moved onto learning about odds and evens. In the specific areas of learning, we painted pictures of our grandparents, learned about waterwheels, learned about ‘make do and mend’ and how you don’t always have to buy new things. We also celebrated children’s mental health week by doing lots of our favourite activities and reading books to help us learn about our emotions.
10th February 2025
This week, we read lots of non-fiction books all about growing and changing. We worked as a class to write fact files and factual sentences such as ‘Babies can crawl and drink milk.’ In maths, we learned all about length and height. We explored comparing things to see what was taller/shorter/longer. In history, we learned all about stamps from the past and then had a go at re-creating our favourite ones. We also learned about Valentine’s day and we made cards for people that we care about. On Tuesday, we celebrated safer internet day with the whole school. We learned all about how to stay e-safe and make good choices. We learned that the most important thing we could do was to tell an adult if we get worried, scared or upset by something. We then learned about emojis and did some artwork around this.
Buddy the Dog Internet - Safety Song
24th February 2025
This week, we started a new topic called ‘Ready, Steady, Grow!’ We thought about the types of things that we would be learning about and made a list as a class. In literacy, we read a book called ‘The Pig in the Pond’. We thought about all of the animals that live on a farm and the role of a farmer. In maths, we had a special focus on 9 and 10. We explored different ways to represent both numbers and then learned all about number bonds to 10. In the specific areas, we explored seeds. We sorted them by size, type, shape and colour and also spoke about what they might grow into. We then planted our very own sunflower seeds. We learned about sheep herding and then used programmable toys to role play this. In our outside area, we explored mark making using mud. We also explored if adding water made it easier or harder to mark make. In RE, we learned all about Ramadan.
3rd March 2025
This week, we read the same book as the whole school. We read ‘The bear, the piano, the dog and the fiddle’ by David Litchfield who is an author that used to go to Balliol! We explored different sentences we could make all about bears and dogs. In phonics, we learned all about the ‘ow like in cow’ digraph. In maths, we learned about all the different number bonds that made 10. We explored different ways of finding them and different ways to write them down. In the specific areas of learning, we looked at our sunflowers to see how much they had grown. We did our first plant diary entry. We then explored where our food came from e.g. apples come from trees. We explored mixing ingredients to make dough. We then explored what happened when we added dried herbs and spices. We explored using some of our senses. On Thursday, we joined the whole school in celebrating world book day. We were allowed to come to school in a costume and we then had a bear and dog filled day of fun!
10th March 2025
This week, we read a book called ‘Jasper’s Beanstalk’ by Nick Butterworth. We explored splitting the story into the beginning, middle and end. We also thought about other stories which had beanstalks and plants that grow in them such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Titch. In phonics, we had a special focus on ‘oi’ like in point, join and coil. In maths, we learned all about 3D shapes. We explored shape names, properties and used vocabulary such as face, edge, vertices etc. In the specific areas of learning, we continued to watch our sunflowers and we made comments about how much they had grown. We did a science experiment all about floating and sinking. We had a look inside different fruits and then used them to print with paint. We also celebrated science week with the rest of the school and did some great activities all to do with adapting and evolving.
17th March 2025
This week, we read two books all about fruits and vegetables. We read ‘Oliver’s vegetables’ and also ‘Handa’s Surprise.’ We explored key vocabulary such as crunchy, sweet, sour, juicy etc. In phonics, we had a special focus on ‘ur’ like in burn, purple and turn. In maths, we explored repeating patterns. We tried to copy and continue some more complex ones. In the specific areas of learning, we watched our sunflowers for the final time. After this some of us chose to take them home and some chose to plant them at school. We explored the life cycle of a sunflower. We explored African patterns. We made some transient art using fruits and vegetables. We also compared Kempston to Africa to see what was similar and what was different.
24th March 2025
This week, we explored non-fiction books. We focused on books all about plants and also spring. We had fun finding out new and interesting information. In phonics, we looked at the trigraph ‘ure’ like in treasure, cure and mature. In maths, we focused on 9 and 10. We looked at different arrangements using different maths equipment. We also explored making 10 using 3 numbers. In the specific areas of learning, we made Mother’s day cards. We drew fruit and vegetable pictures on the computer and then animated them. We explored farms in the past and had a go at making butter. We wrote recipes for chips and then had a go at making them. We painted observational paintings of daffodils and we then had a go at using pegs to create our own outside paintbrushes using grass, leaves and flowers.
31st March 2025
This week, we had an Easter-themed week. We learned all about the Easter story. In maths, we consolidated our knowledge of number bonds to 5, more and less and also matching numerals to quantities. In the specific areas of learning, we made Easter cards, did some Easter crafts and learned all about animals and their babies.
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