Acorn - Reception

Date: 6th March 2026

Highlights

World Book Day: We started the day with a whole school assembly and enjoyed parading our costumes to the other classes. We talked excitedly with our friends about which character we had come as and played a guessing game with the class. We had Simone Glennan who runs the book bus come in and read some of her favourite stories to us including 'The Book with No Pictures' which the children loved. Almost every child had their face on 'happy' on our colour monster feeling display for the whole day!

What we have been learning this week ....

I have included below how each of these activities links to the Early Learning Goals which the children will be assessed against at the end of their year in Acorn class. In order for your child to meet the Early Learning Goal in that area they need to be doing it consistently and independently.

Phonics: We have continued to revisit the phase 3 sounds we have already covered in Spring 1 and used these to read and write words. The Early Learning Goals for the end of the year related to this state that the children need to be able to...

"Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs."
"Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending."

Maths: We have been focussing on ordinality: considering where numbers to 8 are in relation to each other. We have been using the language of ‘more than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ to describe the relationships between numbers. This week, ‘less than’ is used instead of ‘fewer than’ when the focus is on each number’s position in the counting sequence.

" Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity"

Drawing Club: This week we have watched the animation of the 'Clockwork Tower'. Ask your child to tell you what it was about. We drew the character in the short film, then we thought about they were doing and then where they were doing it. The children wrote some lovely sentences to support their drawings with finger spaces, capital letter and full stops. Our Powerful Words this week were 'chime', 'curious' and 'twirling'.

Home Learning

Reading books: Continue to read with your child daily at home. This includes reading to them and them reading their book to you. Use the suggestions in their reading folder to work on decoding, prosidy and comprehension skills.

Phonics: Practise your child's individual sounds as sent home at the end of last half term.

Writing: Use your child's next steps on Tapestry to support them with their writing targets at home. Check they are holding their pencil and forming their letters correctly.

Maths: Challenge your child to tell you what is 1 more and 1 less than any number to 10.

Notices and Reminders

Sponsored bike ride: You should have received an email about our Acorn Sponsored Bike Ride on Wednesday 25th March. Please share our JustGiving page to anyone you think might like to support your child in this challenge. All money raised will go towards directly supporting your child's education and experiences in Acorn Class.

Community Assembly: Don't forget community assembly is every Friday at 9am and all parents are invited to come along to see what the children in the school have been up to and hear the orchestra play. Please do come along if you are able to and join in with the school community.

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

9th March – Bags2School

13th March – Mother’s Day Giftshop

w/b 16th March – Year 5 / 6 Girls Football

17th March – Vision Screening for Class Acorn

27th March – Easter Service in Church

15th April – Celtic Harmony – Year 3 school trip

20th to 22nd April – Year 4 Residential trip to Grafham Water

27th and 28th April – Bikeability – Balance for Reception

27th April – 2pm/3.30pm Resus training

29th April – Bikeability Years 3 and 4

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 27th February 2026

Highlights

Welcome back, I hope you all had a wonderful half term. I have enjoyed hearing about what the children got up to and the places they visited. They have returned to school on top form and we have had a wonderfully productive week.

What we have been learning this week ....

I have included below how each of these activities links to the Early Learning Goals which the children be assessed against at the end of their year in Acorn class. In order for your child to meet the Early Learning Goal in that area they need to be doing it consistently and independently.

Phonics: We have revisited some of the phase 3 sounds we have already covered and used these to read and write words. We have had a particular focus on correct pencil hold and formation of letters this week. The Early Learning Goals for the end of the year related to this state that the children need to be able to...

"Hold a pencil correctly in preparation for fluent writing - using the tripod grip in almost all cases."
"Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed"

Maths: We have continued to use counting to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. We have also practised counting beyond 20 and looked at the repeating pattern of the numbers. Our key focus this week has been on the ‘stable order principle’ – rehearsing the order of the first 10 numbers and understanding that the position that each number holds in our number sequence does not change. We have also used the Numberblock images to develop their understanding that each number has a value of ‘1 more’ than the previous number. The Early Learning Goals for the end of the year related to this state that the children need to be able to...

"Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system"

Personal, Social and Emotional Development: We talked about the things we can do and say to be a good friend to someone. The children were really reflective and thought carefully about this. Some of their suggestions triggered further discussion eg, inviting someone to your house to play. Is this necessary to be a good friend? If someone didn't do this would it make them a bad friend? We played 'Huggy bear' which is a take on musical statues but when the music stops we find someone to hug! The Early Learning Goals for the end of the year related to this state that the children need to be able to...

"Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers."

" Show sensitivity to their own and to others needs."

Drawing Club

This week we have been reading The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. We have learnt the words - discombobulated, shimmering, sobbing and enraged. See if your child can remember what they mean and put them in a sentence.

Home Learning

Phonics: Practise your child's individual sounds as sent home at the end of last half term.

Writing: Use your child's next steps on Tapestry to support them with their writing targets at home. Check they are holding their pencil and forming their letters correctly.

Maths: Support your child in counting beyond 20 and discuss the repeated pattern within the number system.

Notices and Reminders

Spare clothes: We are running really low on spare clothes in case of accidents/wet. If anyone can return/donate the following we would be very grateful

Boys/girls trousers
Leggings
Tights
Socks (we have run out!)
Boys/girls underwear

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

w/c 2nd March – World Book Day Golden Ticket Event

2nd to 5th March – Bikeability Year 5

9th March – Bags2School

13th March – Mother’s Day Giftshop

w/b 16th March – Year 5 / 6 Girls Football

17th March – Vision Screening for Class Acorn

27th March – Easter Service in Church

15th April – Celtic Harmony – Year 3 school trip

20th to 22nd April – Year 4 Residential trip to Grafham Water

27th and 28th April – Bikeability – Balance for Reception

27th April – 2pm/3.30pm Resus training

29th April – Bikeability Years 3 and 4

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 13th February 2026

Highlights

I can’t believe we are already at the halfway point of your child’s time in Acorn Class. When I reflect on how far we have come together as a class, I feel incredibly proud of each and every one of them. They are maturing beautifully and developing the important skills that will lay strong foundations for their future schooling years. I really look forward to the next term and a half where we will encounter Balanceability, swimming lessons and a trip to Wandlebury Country Park!

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have completed our phonic assessments this week. I have sent home a copy of their assessment results along with a letter detailing the percentage your child has achieved in each area. If your child's overall percentage is less than 80% they will be getting additional help in school to 'catch up'. This will have minimal impact however if they are not also practising daily at home. Details on how to support them is also on the letter and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to speak to me.

Maths: We have finished our maths unit for this half term so this week has been a mix and match week revising concepts they have found more tricky. We have also enjoyed counting to 100 just for fun!

Porridge: We read a story about Bears porridge and then made some ourselves. We used our senses to explore the feel and smell of porridge and talked about what it looks like. We talked about the microwave and who has one at home. We sat down and enjoyed a bowl of steaming hot porridge together and some children added cinnamon which we renamed as 'Christmas Sprinkles'. Mrs Crome and I were impressed with the children showing our school value of courage trying a new flavour.

Home Learning

Have a lovely relaxing half term!

Phonics: Please use the videos on this page to support your child in securing our Phase 3 digraphs. Flashcards and lessons (11-35)

If you prefer a screen free version please consider purchasing the Little Wandle flashcards to ensure you are practising the correct sounds. The children need to practise recognition of the graphemes by themselves and if they need a prompt then they can turn it over to see the pictures and then say the rhyme.

Notices and Reminders

Juice and Squash: The children should be bringing in a water bottle filled with water only unless pre agreed with me please.

Volunteers: If anyone has any time that they could give to Acorn class to come and help us repair some of our Little Wandle reading books we would really appreciate it please. It will involve cellotaping pages back in. Also if anyone is green fingered and could spare a little bit of time to help us get Acorn garden back into shape in time for Spring we would also value your support.

Spare clothes: We are running really low on spare clothes in case of accidents/wet. If anyone can return/donate the following we would be very grateful

Boys/girls trousers
Leggings
Tights
Socks (we have run out!)
Boys/girls underwear

Chinese New Year: A huge thank you to Bel (Pandoras mummy) who came into class to speak to the children about Chinese New year. We learnt how to say Happy New Year and also tried some traditional biscuits. Finally Bel had prepared some little red envelopes with a chocolate coin in them to give the children luck and happiness. This experience really brought our learning about other cultures and traditions alive and we are very grateful.

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

25th February – Year 5 / 6 Humanities Quiz

w/c 2nd March – World Book Day Golden Ticket Event

2nd to 5th March – Bikeability Year 5

9th March – Bags2School

13th March – Mother’s Day Giftshop

w/b 16th March – Year 5 / 6 Girls Football

17th March – Vision Screening for Class Acorn

27th March – Easter Service in Church

15th April – Celtic Harmony – Year 3 school trip

20th to 22nd April – Year 4 Residential trip to Grafham Water

27th and 28th April – Bikeability – Balance for Reception

27th April – 2pm/3.30pm Resus training

29th April – Bikeability Years 3 and 4

Have a wonderful half term!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 6th February 2026

Highlights

One of my favourite parts of each day in Acorn class is during our morning meeting when the class pay our special helpers a compliment. We always have a full show of hands from the children wanting to say something kind to their friends and the children receiving the compliment always have big smiles on their faces. We talk about how receiving a compliment makes you feel good and how paying one also makes you feel good.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have been learning to read and write longer words this week. Your child may have come home telling you that they wrote a 7 letter word? This is true! We have learnt to chunk works into their syllables and then tackle each syllable at a time using our segmenting fingers to spell it out eg car/park (segment car = c-ar, then segment park = p-ar-k). I have been proud of how well the children have coped with this challenge.

Maths: Our focus has been on the numerosity of sets, and the fact that colour, shape or size don't affect this. We have noticed when quantities are equal or unequal, and have begun to consider how we can manipulate the number of objects in 2 sets to make them equal. We have reinforced the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’ and ‘an equal number’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. ‘Fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’, as the focus is on countable things.

Kinetic Letters: We have practised the abracadabra family c, o, d and a and focussed on correct pencil grip.

Home Learning

Writing: Please continue to work on your child's next steps (see Tapestry observation from this week) and check your child's bag to see if they have bought home any work from the WOW wall. Encourage them to think what they could write about it eg 'It is a _____' or 'He/She has a ______'.

Support your child with their writing by encouraging them to write a caption to go with these pictures. eg I can see bees, the vet at the zoo, three hens, rain on the goat, a man singing.

Kinetic Letters: Please find the home practise sheets for the Slider Family in your child's book bag and support them to complete them using the script provided. Please do sit with your child while they complete these to check correct formation.

Notices and Reminders

Phonic Assessments: Next week I will be assessing all children in phonics. At the end of the week I will send home information about your child's results so please do look out for it in their folder.

Toys being taken home: Please could parents check their child's book bag for resources being taken home from school eg small world animals as we have quite a few missing now.

Spare clothes: We are running really low on spare clothes in case of accidents/wet. If anyone can return/donate the following we would be very grateful

Boys/girls trousers
Leggings
Tights
Socks (we have run out!)
Boys/girls underwear

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

6th February – BSA Quiz Night (CANCELLED)

11th February – Collective Worship in Church (AT SCHOOL DUE TO WORKS BEING CARRIED OUT AT CHURCH)

11th February – BSA Disco

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 30th January 2026

Highlights

This week we have seen some more super independent writing! So many of our children love to write and we are seeing a real boost in the confidence of those who are practising at home as well as choosing to write at school. Please check your child's pillow finger is positioned underneath their pencil as I have noticed some of our children have slipped into old habits. Please see photo below for reference.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have learnt the new graphemes air and er and then focussed on double letters for the rest of the week. Your child should now be able to recognise all 50 of the graphemes (pink and blue Little Wandle cards) we have covered so far in phonics. If they are not able to do this yet please support them as much as possible at home with this to help them catch up.

Maths: We have continued to work on developing an understanding of composition (the numbers within numbers). We have looked at ways of representing numbers using the Hungarian number pattern (die pattern) and have focussed on the pairs of numbers that make 5. We then used double dice frames to begin to explore 6 and 7 as numbers that are composed of ‘5 and a bit’. When the children can compose and flexibly decompose numbers mentally, they will become more fluent in their knowledge of number bonds and will be able to use these to become efficient when calculating in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Kinetic Letters: We have practised the Jumper family h, m, n and r in our new handwriting books. We have focussed on the down - bump - back up movement in each of these letters and worked on fluency by writing across the page.

Home Learning

Writing: Please check your child's bag to see if they have bought home any work from the WOW wall and encourage them to write about it eg 'It is a _____' or 'He/She has a ______'. You can use your child's 'Next Steps' on their Tapestry observations to support them with their writing targets. I have really enjoyed seeing the writing that children have completed at home on Tapestry this week. Please do continue to send these in.

Phonics homework:

Please use this video to support your child to remember the new sounds we have learnt this week

Please use this video to support your child to blend words with our most recent sounds in.

Support your child with their writing by encouraging them to write a caption to go with these pictures. eg I can see bees, the vet at the zoo, three hens, rain on the goat, a man singing.

Notices and Reminders

Early Morning Activities: Thank you to the families of the children who have been arriving to school at 8.30am. The extra 15-20 minutes every day makes a big difference!

Healthy snacks: Please ensure your child brings a healthy snack to school if they prefer a snack from home. Chocolate bars and crisps are not allowed and will be sent home again which may be upsetting for your child.

BSA Quiz: Please buy a ticket and come along to the BSA Quiz. It is a fun event and a great way to get to know your fellow Acorn parents. See the class Whatsapp for more details.

No toys: Please do not let your child bring in toys from home as they are likely to get lost or broken.

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

4th February – The Friendship Games

5th February – Year 3 / 4 Maths Quiz

6th February – BSA Quiz Night

11th February – Collective Worship in Church

11th February – BSA Disco

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 26th January 2026

Highlights

This week we have been working really hard on our writing. We have progressed from writing CVC words to writing short sentences using fingers spaces. Some of us have started to use capital letters too! Here are some examples of the fabulous writing we have seen this week!

Supporting your child at home: Please continue to encourage your child to practise writing at home. A great way to do this is to use what they bring home on a Thursday after sharing time. These are often projects they have chosen to work on independently during play project time and then put on the 'Wow Wall'. In order for work to qualify for the 'Wow Wall' however, it needs to have been in their challenge zone. At this point in the year that means it needs to have some writing on it or show a new skill. It then goes in their Learning Journal that we keep at school until the end of the year. If it isn't in their challenge zone they take it home. When your child brings home a piece of work please encourage them to think about what they could write to go with it. Perhaps an explanation of what they have done eg 'It is a _____' or 'He has a ______'. Children are motivated to write when it is about something that interests and inspires them, so this is a great way to get some practise in. Please also refer to your child's Next Steps on their Tapestry observations each week as this will give you an idea of what they need to work on. If your child does complete a WOW piece of writing at home please upload it to Tapestry so we can celebrate it in school too.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have learnt the new phonemes ow, oi, ear and ur. Please use flashcards at home to reinforce these sounds and help them become fluent in recognising these. See below as well for further ideas.

Maths: We have worked on consolidating the children's understanding of the composition of 5 e.g. seeing that 5 can be made of 3 and 2. We have worked on deepening their understanding of a ‘whole’ being made up of smaller parts through the nursery rhyme 5 Little Speckled Frogs - moving frogs from the log to a pool and saying how many on the log and how many in the pool each time.

Kinetic Letters: We have practised the slider family v, w, x, z. Lots of children found the slide part of these letters tricky so I will be sending home Kinetic Letter home sheets next week for practise at home.

Home Learning

Reading books: We have been celebrating children's reading at home this week. The children have enjoyed telling me how many times they have read and sharing this with the class. It is lovely to see the pride in the children's faces as they share their achievements.

Phonics homework:

Please use this video to support your child to remember the new sounds we have learnt this week

Please use this video to support your child to blend words with our most recent sounds in.

Please use this video to support your child to spell CVC words Spell CVC Words with Wellington | Word family a. Your child could have a go at writing the word down to make their writing even better!

Notices and Reminders

Early Morning Activities: If your child arrives to school at 8.30am they will have 20 minutes to embed important skills like name writing, number work and phonic activities. If they arrive at 8.45am they miss this each day. Over the week that is 75 minutes of missed time to practise and embed what we are learning in school.

Lunar and Chinese New Year: If we have any Acorn families celebrating Lunar or Chinese New year we would love to hear from you. We are looking for families to share their experiences of what and how they celebrate. Please do get in touch of you or anyone you know would be wiling to share their experiences with the children.

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

4th February – The Friendship Games

5th February – Year 3 / 4 Maths Quiz

6th February – BSA Quiz Night

11th February – Collective Worship in Church

11th February – BSA Disco

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 16th January 2026

Highlights

This week we noticed some hungry birds in Acorn garden - 2 bluetits and a resident robin. We decided to make some bird feeders for them and enjoyed hanging them in the trees. We have watched ice melt into water and the next day be ice again. We read Lost and Found and talked about where penguins live in the world and what other polar animals we might find there.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have learnt the new phonemes oo (short vowel sound), oo (long vowel sound), ar and or. Because of the similarities between these sounds it takes lots of practise to remember them. Please do continue to practise these at home too.

Maths: We have rehearsed the order of the first 5 numbers and understanding that the position each number holds in our number sequence does not change. We spent time discovering that each number has a value of 1 more than the previous number. Using blocks and squares to order quantities from 1 to 5 to help embed this key understanding.

Kinetic Letters: We have practised using finger spaces. We have looked at the correct spacing to leave between words and letters to help us when we begin to write sentences.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Play projects: The children have been coming up with some really great ideas for play projects this week. We have had children leaving out containers to measure rainfall over night, another group of children made up a hula hoops game and recorded their scores. Other children have really enjoyed playing mums and dads in Acorn house and practising new skills in the workshop area using split pins and pipe cleaners.

Home Learning

Reading books: Please listen to your child read their reading book and read to them at home daily. It is proven that early reading experiences have a profound impact on academic achievement, influencing not only language skills but also other academic skills. If you are having any problems with reading with your child at home please do speak to me.

Phonics homework:

Please use this video to support your child to remember the new sounds we have learnt this week

Please use this video to support your child to blend words with our most recent sounds in.

Please use this video to support your child to spell CVC words Spell CVC Words with Wellington | Word family a

Notices and Reminders

Photos: If you have any photographs of your Acorn child out and about in wintery weather please upload it on to tapestry or email it to me for our Winter season display.

Dates

Relevant ones for Acorn class are in bold......

19th January – Public Speaking Grand Finale

20th January – Bikeability Learn to Ride

4th February – The Friendship Games

5th February – Year 3 / 4 Maths Quiz

6th February – BSA Quiz Night

11th February – Collective Worship in Church

11th February – BSA Disco

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 19th December 2025

Highlights

We've reached the end of our first term together in Acorn class and the children have been amazing. They have worked so hard and become more independent, resilient and adopted a growth mindset. Acorn class love learning and this is evident in the progress they have made. They deserve a very well earned rest over the Christmas holidays.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have reviewed all sounds and tricky words. I have done an assessment of where each child is at. If you would like me to share this with you so that you can support them with any gaps at home, please let me know.

Kinetic Letters: We are still working on getting our 3 friend finger hold to be automatic. If your child does any writing over the holidays please remind them of the correct pencil grip.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Lots of fun and celebrations with our families including pyjama days, fresh air and lots of playing!

Home Learning

Please enjoy reading lots of books with your child over the holidays! In the new year I will send home some sounds and words to individual children.

Notices and Reminders

Thank you: A huge thank you for the very generous collective and individual presents which I am saving to open on Christmas day. I am hugely appreciative and feel very spoilt!

Act of kindness: A really big thank you to Eloise's daddy Ben who paid for all the ingredients for the gingerbread people on our trip to the shop this week. Donations such as this make a huge difference to the school and we are all very appreciative.

Have a wonderful holiday!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 12th December 2025

Highlights

Well what a week it's been. The children put on such a lovely Nativity performance— they worked so hard, performed confidently, and made us all really proud! There were a few nerves leading up to it and lots of excitement and I was impressed with how well the children coped with the whole experience. Other highlights this week have included the online pantomime of Cinderella (paid for by the BSA). There was lots of laughter and shouting 'he's behind you!' We have also been busy creating Christmas crafts, including cards for our buddies to give out next week and letters to Santa ready to post at the post office next week (I have sent a copy of these home in their folders so you are aware of what they have asked for!) We discussed Christmas presents in the past and compared them to the presents we receive now a days. The children identified that lots of toys from the past were made of wood whereas now more of them are made of plastic.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have learnt the digraphs sh, ch, th, ng and nk. This week we have practised adding the grapheme 's' to the end of words and identifying when it represents a 's' sound (cats) and when it represents a 'z' sound (pins).

Kinetic Letters: We have introduced snuggling! This is where the children learn the correct spacing between letters in the same word. We have focussed on the abracadabra family and covered co, ca, cd and cg so far.

Maths: The children have continued to learn about the purpose of counting – to find out ‘how many’ objects there are. We revisited the concept of 1:1 correspondence by making sure that they match each object with a different number name in order. We worked on their understanding of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us ‘how many’ things there are altogether – and began to apply this concept to count more abstract things, such as claps and jumps. We practise verbal counting to larger numbers as part of our book vote every day. Counting together to numbers larger than 20 exposes children to the pattern of number names beyond the tricky ‘teen’ numbers.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Walk to the Post Office: We are looking forward to walking to the Post Office to deliver our letters to Santa. Thank you to the parents who have offered to walk with us.

Gingerbread men: We will be learning how to make gingerbread men. We will follow the recipe, measure the ingredients, mix it up and then cut them out. We hope they don't run away when we get them out of the oven!

Christingle service: We will be joining KS1 for a Christingle service led by Rev Matt Phillips. We will learn about the different parts of the Christingle and the meaning behind them, sing some carols and then make and light our Christingles ending with prayers.

Year 6 Oak Buddy party: We will be celebrating the end of our first term together with our buddies with a Christmas party!! You do not need to provide anything for the party, this will be provided by Oak class.

Home Learning

Phonics: Please continue to practise our tricky words at home as much as possible. See here for Little Wandle's list of tricky words and some support guidance. Here I have attached some flashcards to use at home as well.

phase 2 tricky words pairs - Matching pairs

Tricky words | Phase 2 Phonics | Phonics song - BBC Bitesize

Notices and Reminders

Buddy letters: Your child will have brought home a letter from their Oak buddy in their plastic wallets today. This is an introduction from them to you and is designed to help you become more familiar with them and be able to put a face to a name when your Acorn child speaks about them at home. We hope you enjoy reading about them and their interests.

Missed meetings: If you missed your Focus Child week meeting and would like to hear about our observations of your child during their allocated week please get in touch with me to rearrange a time and date.

Spare clothes: We are short of knickers, socks and pants in our spare clothes stash. If you have any that have been borrowed please can you return them ASAP. Similarly if you have any that you could donate to use please do send them in.

Dates

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 28th November 2025

Highlights

Our highlights this week have included learning about flower bulbs and planting tulip bulbs in our Acorn garden, hearing our focus children talk confidently about their inspiration items and learning how to listen with our hearts. The children were appalled when I asked Mrs Crome how her weekend was and then proceeded to look out of the window and be distracted by my shoe! They identified what I did wrong and told me what I should have done (look at Mrs Crome and wait until she had finished speaking before I talked). The children then practised this with a partner. Some of then said that it filled their bucket when others listened to them with their hearts.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We were very excited to start learning digraphs this week. We have covered 'ch' and 'qu' so far. The children have enjoyed learning the rhymes that go with these. If you haven't already please do visit the Little Wandle website and invest in the flashcards to use at home to support their letter recognition.

Kinetic Letters: We have introduced the Fisher Family - g and j and y so far this week. These letters all go down, on down (below the ground) and pull around.

Maths: The children have learnt about the composition of numbers 3 and 4. We played 'shake and break' (shake some gems in your hand and drop them onto a plate and say what you see). I was really impressed with how well they understood this and can now confidently say for example "1 is a part and 2 is a part the whole is 3" as they circle the parts and whole with their finger. You could try this at home with any loose parts.

Drawing Club: We read 'Where the Wild Things Are' which the children really enjoyed. We drew the Wild Things and labelled how many horns, claws or arms they had. Our code word was 'and' and once again the children didn't fail to impress with their imaginative ideas of what would happen to the wild things when they added their code.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Dress Rehearsals: The class are very excited to be practising their Nativity in their costumes next week! We can't wait to see them all dressed up!

Understanding of the World: We talked to Teddy about the foods people eat in Mexico and compared this to our breakfasts. They were very different! We helped Teddy pack for his holidays and he then caught a Taxi to the airport. We can't wait to hear about his adventures next week.

Maths: We will be continuing to compose and de-compose numbers to 5. This will involve the children investigating part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 5 can be composed of 4 and 1. They will consolidate their understanding of a whole being made up of smaller parts.

Home Learning

Phonics: Tricky words are called tricky for a reason! They are quite tricky to remember. Please practise our tricky words at home as much as possible. See here for Little Wandle's list of tricky words and some support guidance. Here I have attached some flashcards to use at home as well.

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 17. Meet Alphablock Q - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Series 3: 11. Champ - BBC iPlayer

Notices and Reminders

Dress Rehearsals : REMINDER ALL COSTUMES IN BY MONDAY PLEASE!

Photos: As part of our learning about life in other countries. If you have any family members that live in another country who would be happy to email you a photo and some description about what its like eg weather, foods, transport and celebrations, we'd love to hear about it. Please upload any photos you are sent on to Tapestry and we will share them next week.

School website: I am looking for some parents to say what they like about Bourn School for our school website. If you would like to give me any comments please email them to hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk.

Dates

2nd December – School Tour 11am Sept 26 Intake

8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am

9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am

10th December – KS1 Performance 2pm

11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am

11th December – KS2 Christmas Panto in Cambridge

11th December – KS1 Performance 6pm

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 21st November 2025

Highlights

Our highlights this week have included watching a Hakka dance performed in New Zealand as part of a child's inspiration talk, hearing children telling each other that they have 'filled' or indeed 'emptied' their bucket (using words to explain this to each other is really valuable) and we have also had 2 of our Acorns turning 5 and 2 have moved house!

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We introduced the letters v, w, x and y. We are nearly at the end of our single letters now. Next week we will start learning 2 letters which make 1 sound which we call our digraphs.

Kinetic Letters: This week we have finished our Jumper Family letters: b and p. You will find the practice sheets in your child's folder. Please support your child with these at home - if they learn to form their letters correctly now, it will make writing so much easier for them as they go through the school. Remember NO letters start on the ground/at the bottom. They ALL start at either scared monkey or brave monkey - please watch your child so that you can see that they are using the correct formation. Practise makes 'permanent; (not 'perfect' if practised incorrectly which is very hard to undo!)

Maths: We have begun to explore composition of number by focusing on the concept of ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’. We have sung 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' and discussed how our bodies are made up of smaller parts and that a whole is all of us. We also played 'shake and break' where we shake 2 and then 3 pebbles and drop them on a plate and look at the parts we can see that make up the whole (eg for 3, we could see a 1, a 1 and a 1 and also a 2 and a 1.)

Drawing Club: We re-read The 100 Decker Bus and reminded ourselves of our new vocabulary navigate, extension, inflate and uncertainty. Our adventures this week had us inventing new decks for the bus and also a new route that takes us to an imaginary world. My bus went to ice cream world and the children had lots of equally fantastic places that they wanted to visit... one child's bus took them to a place called nowhere!

What we are looking forward to next week....

Tulips: We will be planting tulips next week and learning about what plants need to grow.

Understanding of the World: We will be helping teddy pack for his holidays. This week he wanted to visit a city so we looked at the difference between a city and a village. Next week Teddy wants to go to Mexico. We will be looking at how different Mexico is to where we live and also thinking about the foods people eat.

Maths: The children will build on their understanding of the composition of numbers by investigating the composition of 3, 4 and 5. Composing and de-composing numbers involves the children investigating part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. Through practical experience, they will consolidate their understanding of a whole being made up of smaller parts. They will begin to recognise that numbers can be made by combining parts in different ways. A key focus will be the spatial arrangements that can be made with different combinations of the same number of objects.

Home Learning

Phonics: Use the Little Wandle flashcards to practise our new sounds. You could play hide and seek with them or use them as passcodes to get from one room to another!

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 22. Meet Alphablock V - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 23. Meet Alphablock W - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 24. Meet Alphablock X - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 25. Meet Alphablock Y - BBC iPlayer

Maths: Practise de-composing whole groups into parts, e.g. at meal times I need to eat 4 more mouthfuls. I’m going to choose 3 pieces of pasta and 1 pea. Then model the numbers on your fingers: So 3 and 1; that makes 4 in the whole group.

Notices and Reminders

Dress Rehearsals : We would like to do some dress rehearsals with the children WC 1st Dec. Therefore please can all costumes be in by the end of next week. Thank you.

Dates

19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair

2nd December – School Tour 11am Sept 26 Intake

8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am

9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am

10th December – KS1 Performance 2pm

11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am

11th December – KS2 Christmas Panto in Cambridge

11th December – KS1 Performance 6pm

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 14th November 2025

Highlights

We have had a busy week in Acorn class this week. The children have been really enjoying making models in our workshop, playing outside in the rain, hunting for worms and making animal enclosures.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We started learning our next set of letters which are ff, ll, ss, j. The children have learnt to blend and read words with double letters at the end of them eg puff, hill and hiss. They continue to impress me with their CVC word writing. This week they have written cat, top, bed, ten and sock.

Kinetic Letters: This week we have introduced the first set of Jumper Family letters: h, r, n, and m. We will send the practice sheet home next week once we have completed the entire family of letters. Regular, repetitive practice at home will help your child develop automatic recall of the correct letter formations. This is an important skill, as it reduces cognitive load and allows children to focus on other aspects of writing, such as spelling and, later on, sentence structure.

Maths: The children have been encouraged to compare the number of objects in 2 sets by matching them 1:1. Seeing that objects in some sets can be matched without any being left over draws the children’s attention to instances when the quantities of objects are equal. We have introduced and reinforced the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’ and ‘an equal number’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. As the focus this week is on countable things, ‘fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ and ‘more than’ is used rather than ‘greater than’.

Drawing Club: We read The 100 Decker Bus which the class really enjoyed. We learnt some new vocabulary - navigate, extension, inflate and uncertainty. We made up actions to go with the words and discussed their meaning. We talked about the bus driver and I modelled drawing him to the class. We talked about the little details such as his bald head and how many fingers he has. I added my magic code which make the bus driver drive backwards.. it was the word 'bus'. When it was the children's turn they added some amazing detail into their drawings and all had a go at writing the word 'bus'. Their imaginations were free to wander as they thought about what their magic code words would do to the bus driver! They never fail to surprise Mrs Crome and I with their creative ideas!

What we are looking forward to next week....

Nativity: Our Nativity is starting to come together as the children are getting used to speaking and singing in the hall. We will have a few more practise sessions next week. Please do continue to practise your child's lines with them and encourage them to speak in a loud, clear voice.

Maths: Composition of number is a key area of mathematics. Next week, the children will begin to explore composition by focusing on the concept of ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’. By investigating their own bodies and familiar toys they will begin to understand that whole things are often made up of smaller parts and that a whole is, therefore, bigger than its parts.

Home Learning

Phonics: Alphablocks - Magic Words: 10. Meet Alphablock J - BBC iPlayer and Monster Treasure Hunt 'j' song: see it and say it - Teach Your Monster to Read

Maths: Encourage the children to look closely at fruit or vegetables that have been cut up for dinner time. Talk about how many parts each fruit/veg could be cut into, and about what parts there are in different fruits/veg (e.g. skin, peel, pips, seeds, juice, flesh, stalk, etc.).

Here are some additional links to maths games which will support your child in reaching the Early Learning Goals in Number

- Subitising practise: Numberblocks - See the Amount

- Number bonds to 5: Number Bonds to 5 - Quiz

Reading: Reading is at the heart of our curriculum. Listening to stories, poems and rhymes feeds children’s imagination, enhances their vocabulary and develops their comprehension. In addition to their school reading book, please continue to share a range of books with your child, including poetry and rhyming books and also non fiction.

Notices and Reminders

REMINDER ABOUT COLLECTION

For safeguarding reasons, and to ensure each child goes to the correct parent or carer, I kindly ask that you stand close enough for me to clearly see your child walk to you. Please also make sure you are ready to receive your child by making eye contact with me before I send them over.

Your child remains my responsibility until they reach you and you are off school grounds. If I cannot see that you have acknowledged me, I will need to ask your child to wait with me. This can be upsetting for children if they have to wait while others are dismissed, so your support is greatly appreciated.

Costumes: Please continue to send costumes in for the nativity as and when you have sourced the,. Many thanks.

Donations: If anyone has some picture frames they no longer need Acorn class would love them to frame the beautiful photos of the children with their families that have been sent in via Tapestry.

Weaving Frame: If anyone is handy with wood and a saw and would like to take on a project Acorn class would love a weaving frame as pictured to help with fine motor skills. Please let me know if you can help at all.

Dates

19th November - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair

2nd December – School Tour 11am Sept 26 Intake

8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am

9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am

10th December – KS1 Performance 2pm

11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am

11th December – KS2 Christmas Panto in Cambridge

11th December – KS1 Performance 6pm

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 7th November 2025

Highlights

We have had a truly wonderful week in Acorn class this week. The children have returned to school happy, refreshed and ready to learn! We have started to practise some of the scenes and words in our nativity which has caused some laughter as the children have made up their own lines. We can already feel that this is going to be a great half term for them with lots to look forward to.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We have reviewed some of the sounds that the class were less confident with before half term. We are now ready to start on the next set of letters which are ff, ll, ss, j. We have been working really hard on our writing and are writing 3 letter words in our phonics lessons now! Look at our lovely writing.

Kinetic Letters: We have introduced the Window Cleaner Family letters this week which are t, l, i and u. You will find the 'At home' sheets for this in their reading folders. Please continue to ensure your child is using the correct 3 friend finger hold with their pillow finger behind the pencil, with the pencil resting on the side of it.

Maths: This week, the children have continued to find out ‘how many’ objects there are altogether. This has reinforced their understanding of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us ‘how many’ things there are altogether in a set of objects – and they have further practised their 1:1 correspondence skill, by counting numbers at the same time as moving or tagging objects. We have worked on deepening their understanding of 5 as a quantity by linking the number itself to the 5 fingers on one hand.

Finger breathing: We have learnt how to do finger breathing which we can use to help calm our bodies and mind when we feel an uncomfortable feeling (angry, sad or scared). The children put their names on our feelings display as they enter school each morning and we discuss what they are feeling, why and where in their bodies they feel it. Often just by sharing their feelings it makes their uncomfortable feeling smaller. It is important to us in Acorn class that the children are helped manage and process uncomfortable feeling so they are in the best mindset to learn.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Nativity: We are looking forward to doing some rehearsals in the hall next week. Please make sure you have checked your child's bag/reading folder for their costume request.

Maths: The children will be encouraged to compare the number of objects in 2 sets by matching them 1:1. Seeing that objects in some sets can be matched without any being left over will draw the children’s attention to instances when the quantities of objects are equal. We will be using the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’ and ‘an equal number’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. As the focus is on countable things, ‘fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ and ‘more than’ is used rather than ‘greater than’. Please help to reinforce this language at home.

Home Learning

Phonics: Here is a link to the Little Wandle flashcards which are a really great resource to have for supporting with phonics at home.

Little Wandle at Home First Phonics Flashcards for Reception by – Collins (also available at Amazon)

Reading: Please ensure you share your child's school reading book with them regularly at home, following the guidance sheets sent home working on Decoding, prosody and comprehension. The additional picture book is for you to read to them.

Notices and Reminders

Buddies: Just to make you aware that the Year 6 buddies will be on their residential next week so our Acorn's might mention missing them! We hope they have a great time and we look forward to having them back the following week.

PE: Our PE lesson next week will be on Thursday afternoon. Please send your child in their PE kit on Thursday and Friday next week.

Donations: If anyone has some picture frames they no longer need Acorn class would love them to frame the beautiful photos of the children with their families that have been sent in via Tapestry.

Dates

10th November – Bags2School

19th November - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair

8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am

9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am

11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend and half term!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 23rd October 2025

Highlights

This half term we have grown together as Acorns. Mrs Crome, Miss Hayden and I are so proud of how settled the children have become, how friendships have strengthened and how hard they have worked, particularly in phonics. We have observed the children developing skills in many of the EYFS areas during play project time and have enjoyed playing alongside them and supporting them with their next steps. We hope you have enjoyed the weekly observations on Tapestry.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: This week, we have carried out an assessment of each child’s phonic skills and focused on plugging any gaps in their learning. Your support with this—especially following our discussions at Parents’ Evening—is incredibly valuable. We would like the children to continue practising their phonics regularly at home as well as at school to help reinforce their progress and build confidence in their reading skills.

Kinetic Letters: We haven’t introduced any new letters this week as we’ve been consolidating what the children have already learned. After half term, we’ll begin work on the Window Cleaner Family letters. Please continue to practise the Abracadabra Family (using the sheets already sent home) to help develop your child’s fluency and confidence. This can be done in fun, engaging ways — using chalks or large paintbrushes and water outside, bath crayons, fingers in trays of foam or sand, or even rainbow writing. Anything that makes writing enjoyable for your child will help strengthen their skills!

Maths: We have focussed on looking carefully and using the language of comparison to describe sets of objects that they can see. Language is a key focus and we model the language of ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to describe how many objects there are in each set.

Buckets: We have introduced invisible buckets this week. We read the story 'Have you filled a bucket today' and used role play to teach the children how we can fill and dip into each others buckets. An important part of our year together is working as a team, supporting each other and feeling safe and supported by our 'Acorn Family'. One way that we promote 'bucket filling' is giving compliments to our special helpers each day.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Half Term: Please do take a moment to congratulate your child on completing their first half term of school! It is a huge step, and they have done brilliantly. Over the holiday, they will need plenty of time to relax, play, and recharge — perhaps with a few cosy pyjama days thrown in too.

Home Learning

Phonics: You can use this game for practise of the phase 2 sounds Flash Cards (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game and this game to practise reading CVC words Fishy Phonics (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game. If your child needs additional practise to blend you can use Fred Games videos to support and additional ideas here of how to incorporate blending into everyday life. . Please also use any resources given out at parents evening.

Notices and Reminders

Phonics: I will be sending home copies of your child's phonics assessment today so that you can help us support any gaps.

Nativity: We have chosen the Whoopsie Daisy Angel nativity and have allocated all parts. Costume requests will be sent home today. After the half term break, we will be sending out lines and providing lots of opportunities for practice so the children can learn their parts and feel confident for the performance. We can’t wait to see them on stage ✨

Dates

6th November – 11am School Tour for new Reception places

10th November – Bags2School

19th November - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair

8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am

9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am

11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am

17th December – Christmas Lunch

17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh

19th December - Carol Service in Church

Have a wonderful weekend and half term!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 17th October 2025

Highlights

Our Acorns have enjoyed a trip out to Bourn allotments this week. Chris and Orla introduced us to their chickens and showed us some of the home grown vegetables they are busy tending to. It was a great opportunity for the Acorns to see where food comes from and to develop an understanding of the natural world.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: h, b, f and l are our letter sounds for this week. We've been practising reading CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant eg bed, hat) words using sound buttons and our new tricky word is 'the'.

Kinetic Letters: The children have shown great resilience with learning our new letters this week. 'S' is a particularly tricky letter to grasp but uses the same 'push back' movement as others in the abracadabra family so the children gave it a really good go!

Maths: This week, the children have built on their subitising skills. They have continued to use ‘perceptual’ subitising – instant recognition – by saying the number of sounds that they can hear, such as claps or drum beats, without needing to count. They have been encouraged to look closely at small quantities and observe whether the quantity has changed or only the arrangement.

We have also investigated the shapes made by Numberblock Four and started to develop their skills of ‘conceptual’ subitising. Noticing the sub-groups that can be perceived within a larger set, and recognise the whole at the same time. For example, I have drawn their attention to the fact that Numberblock Four can be arranged with 2 blocks on top of another 2 blocks or as a line of 3 with 1 on top.

Inspiration: We really enjoyed listening to what our focus children brought in this week to inspire us. Beauden confidently spoke to the class about his trip to the zoo where he saw reptiles, lions and capyburas. Elowen talked to us about her ukulele and which inspired us to want to hear one being played and Boudicca brought in some amazing art work that she had created on canvas. It has been so lovely to hear about what inspires our Acorn class - from horseriding and ballet last week, to reptiles, art and musical instruments this week - we really do have a diverse range of interest in our class.

There will be no focus children next week as we will be carrying out phonics assessments.

What we are looking forward to next week....

School Run for Fun week: Every day next week we will taking part in Run for Fun week. We are going to challenging ourselves to see how many laps of the KS1 playground we can do in 15 minutes. The aim of this event is to foster social connections and promote enjoyment and wellbeing.

Home Learning

AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 6. Meet Alphablock F - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 2. Meet Alphablock B - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 8. Meet Alphablock H - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 12. Meet Alphablock L - BBC iPlayer

You could also play the following game with them to practise blending with these sounds Fishy Phonics (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game.

If you prefer to practise off screens you could cut up some pieces of card/paper and write the letters they have learnt on each piece. You could use these to play matching pairs games or to build CVC words with. The children have enjoyed doing this in their independent play this week.

Notices and Reminders

Drop off: Please ensure you and your child wait at the bottom of the steps until I open the gate at the start of the day.

Collection: For safeguarding reasons and to always ensure the right child goes to the right parent/carer can I kindly request that you are close enough for me to see them walk to you and also that you are ready to receive your child by giving me eye contact before I send them to you.

Parents consultations: Ahead of parent consultations I want to share with you the Early Learning Goals which are the level of development children are expected to have reached by the end of their Reception year. Our meetings will be focussed mainly on how well your child has settled in to school, personal, social and emotional development however I will also use this as a basis for discussion about strengths and areas of areas of development.

Dates

Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 10th October 2025

Highlights

What a wonderful week we’ve had in Acorn Class! The children are really starting to feel more settled and confident as they get to grips with our daily routines and hence have made progress in many areas. It’s been lovely to see so many happy faces each morning and to watch new friendships beginning to blossom.

We held our phonics and handwriting workshop. If you were unable to make it please find the slides about Little Wandle here and Kinetic letters here. Here are two of the key messages from the workshop....

"One of the greatest gifts adults can give is to read to children" "A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success."

Please also take some time to explore the Little Wandle website parents section. It has lots of videos on to help you support your children with their phonics, including how to pronounce the sounds and how we teach tricky words and blending.

If your child is not yet able to blend, please do take some time to explore the nursery rhymes section and work on some of the suggestions on there. You can also use this video for support. Everyday life lends itself very nicely to blending practise when parents turn themselves into robots who can only say sounds like "go and get your s-o-ck-s on".

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: ck, e, u, r are our letter sounds for this week. We've been building on our skills from last week and introduced visual blending. As I mentioned at our phonics workshop Little Wandle phonics scheme moves at quite a fast pace. The children so far are impressing me with their ability to retain and build upon their recognition of sounds each week. For any children who need extra practise with this, they will get this in school and also I have/will be in touch and send home a set of letter cards to reinforce them at home. Thank you for your support with this, it really does make a big difference.

Drawing Club: In Drawing Club, we’ve been exploring the story of Owl Babies for the second week. The children loved creating their own nests for Sarah, Percy and Bill, cracking eggs to reveal baby owls, and inventing secret codes to keep the owl family safe! Their imaginations have truly taken 'flight' this week.

Kinetic Letters: I have loved seeing the children's progress in forming letters this week. We have invested a lot of time in strengthening fine motor and gross motor skills over the past few weeks and it is now all coming to fruition, which is very exciting for them (and us!) This week we have learnt to form the letters c,o,a and d. You will receive a copy of the letters with the script we use for practise at home in their folders on Friday,

Maths: This week, the children have explored how numbers can be composed of 1s and, from this, begin to investigate the composition of 3 and 4. Composing and de-composing numbers involves children investigating part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. The children will learn from practical experience that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts.

What we have enjoyed this week...

Penguins: The children are showing a real interest in penguins this week. They have enjoyed making models of penguins and placing them on a world map, leading to lots of rich discussion about where they live and why. Mrs Crome and I love seeing the children take their interests and feed it into their play. We use this as an opportunity to work on the children's next steps eg writing initial sounds.

Inspiration: We really enjoyed listening to what our focus children brought in this week to inspire us. We heard all about George's up and coming ballet show, Pandoras "Where's Wally" books and horseriding skills on Lucy and a video of Georgie trotting around the arena on (either a horse with the same name or the same horse!) ......Lucy.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Inspiration: We are looking forward to hearing about what our next focus children are inspired by. You will have received a letter in their book bag if it your child's turn. Please complete the form and return it on Monday.

Walk to Bourn Allotments: We will be walking to Bourn Allotments on Tuesday afternoon to find out more about where food comes from (before growing some of our own later in the year). We will also be collecting eggs from the chickens to make cakes with!

Home Learning

My Family: To support us with our Understanding of the World, we will be identifying and discussing who is in our family next week. Please can you upload a photo of your child with their family on to Tapestry to support your child with this understanding.

AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.

Alphablocks - Series 2: 21. Kick - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 5. Meet Alphablock E - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 21. Meet Alphablock U - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 18. Meet Alphablock R - BBC iPlayer

Notices and Reminders

Drop off: Please ensure you and your child wait at the bottom of the steps until I open the gate at the start of the day.

Dates

Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 3rd October 2025

Highlights

We have enjoyed practising our Harvest Festival song and performing it to the rest of the school and in particular our buddies who we gave a little wave to. We look forward to going to church on Friday for the real thing. We started Drawing Club this week based on the story of Owl Babies and have had our imaginations run wild with possibilities of what our secret codes could do.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: g, o, c, k are our letter sounds for this week. We have got really good at using these to start blending 3 letter words. The children will all stay on wordless books until after half term when the children who are able to blend will start bringing home books with words in.

Kinetic Letters: These are the moves we have learnt so far. The children have enjoyed practising these moves with feathers, scarves, in the air, in the sand and on whiteboards. You will hear more about these and how to support your child with forming letters correctly in our talk next week on Wednesday at 2.30pm. Please do attend if you can as supporting your child with their handwriting is essential for their overall development.

Maths: We have been counting with our puppet Fred who is making lots of mistakes. We showed him how the last number name you say is the total number (cardinal value), we helped him give one number name to each object (1-1 correspondence) and how you can make counting easier by lining objects up or moving them as you count. Fred got much better by the end of the week thanks to our help.

What we have enjoyed this week...

Buddies: We had a visit from our buddies on Monday for Book sharing time. I have already seen so many examples of friendship between the children. The Oak children help our little Acorns find books they like, showing great patience at times. They read with them, entertain them and make them laugh. It is such a special part of our week.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Phonics: Next week we will be learning some new sounds ck, e, u, r.

Focus Children: This will also be our first week of Focus Children. We look forward to seeing what our first 3 children bring in as their inspirations on Monday (please remember no toys).

Home Learning

Signs of Autumn: Please can you send in, email or upload any photos you have of your child outside at autumn time - this could be with a handful of conkers or acorns, changing leaf colours, dew on grass, fields, blackberries, pumpkins etc. We will add these to our birthday display to help the children identify which season their birthday is in.

AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 7. Meet Alphablock G - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 15. Meet Alphablock O - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 3. Meet Alphablock C - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 11. Meet Alphablock K - BBC iPlayer

Reading Books: Your child will bring home a Little Wandle wordless book and chosen book on a Friday. Please use the guidance to share the book with your child and return on Thursday please. We do not need the folders in school in between those times.

Notices and Reminders

Thank you: Thanks for sending your child in with their 'Special bag' item to help us get to know what their interests are. Toys should no longer be coming into school please

Acorn Class Walk: On Tuesday 14th October in the afternoon Class Acorn will be going on a walk to Bourn allotments. We will be talking about where food comes from and while there we will be collecting eggs from the chickens. This walk will contribute to our Understanding of the World part of the EYFS curriculum.

Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop: Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm.

Forest School: Please can children have their legs covered on Fridays to protect them when they are in the Nature Reserve.

Volunteers: If anyone would like to become a regular volunteer at forest school on a Friday afternoon, please email me.

Dates

Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October 9am

Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop - Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm

Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 26th September 2025

Highlights

Our second full week at school has brought with it lots of successes! Lots of teachers commented on how well we sat and sung in our first assembly on Tuesday. We have been working hard to learn our next set of letters sounds i,n,m,d and we've been doing lots of activities that will help with our gross and fine motor strength and control ready for writing. We have loved subitising in maths and in the environment and moving on to counting with 1-1 correspondence.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: i,n,m,d are our letter sounds for this week. Please do continue to support your child with the sheet sent home to help them to learn them and become fluent. The faster they can recognise them the more fluent they are.

Kinetic Letters: We have learnt 4 of the moves that Brave monkey and Scared monkey do in the jungle (down and bump, up, flick and slide in and out). The children practise in the air, then in sand and then on a whiteboard.

Maths: We have been subitising (knowing the total without counting) 1,2, and 3 objects. In one of our maths lessons the children were challenged to circle 1,2 then 3 pebbles. Read here for more information on subitising, why it is so important and how you can support at home with it.

What we have enjoyed this week...

Early Morning activities (EMA's): These are the activities that we set out for the children for when they enter the classroom in the morning. This week we have been sorting pictures beginning with the sounds s,a,t,p , screwing bolts onto screws (fine motor development), matching numerals to amounts of conkers and following pre writing patterns with small pebbles (fine motor development). We run EMA's from 8.30-8.50am.

What we are looking forward to next week....

Harvest Festival: You are invited to come along to Bourn Church on Friday morning to see us perform in our Harvest Festival. The song (Big Red Combine Harvester) is quite catchy so I am hoping you will get lots of opportunity to practise with them at home if you don't know the song off by heart already!

Home Learning

AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos..

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 9. Meet Alphablock I - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 14. Meet Alphablock N - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 13. Meet Alphablock M - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 4. Meet Alphablock D - BBC iPlayer

Reading Books: Your child will bring home a Little Wandle wordless book on Friday 26th Sept. Please use the guidance to share the book with your child and return on Thursday please.

Notices and Reminders

Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop: We will be holding a presentation on how to support your child in Little Wandle phonics and Kinetic Letters on Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm (handwriting). Pease do come along if you can. Supporting your child at home with these skills is crucial for their reading and writing development.

Forest School: Please can children have their legs covered on Fridays to protect them when they are in the Nature Reserve.

Volunteers: If anyone would like to become a regular volunteer at forest school on a Friday afternoon, please email me.

Dates

Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October 9am

Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop - Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm

Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 19th September 2025

Highlights

This week has been a week full of firsts and the children have coped brilliantly, despite obvious tiredness! We have experienced our first time having lunch at school, our first time being in school all together as a whole class, our first time having music with Mrs V, our first proper Book Bus visit, our first phonics lesson and our first forest school session.

What we have been learning this week ....

Phonics: We started phonics this week, introducing the letters s,a,t,p. The children have learnt to say the phonemes (sound) and link them to the graphemes (written letter shape). We have also started oral blending where I speak in robot talk to them and they have to identify the word I am saying eg touch your l-i-p or l-e-g. You could practise this at home with them as it's a key skills in learning to read.

Kinetic Letters: We have learnt about Brave monkey who sits high in the tree and Scared monkey who sit on the low branches of the tree. The two monkeys will come to help us with where to start our letters. We have also been developing strength in our fingers and bodies using dough gym, playing games outside that work on arm and shoulder strength and singing finger exercise songs that will help us with how to hold a pencil correctly using a 3 friends finger hold. We have learnt 5 moves (Bear, Meerkat, Stone Lion, Lizard and Penguin) which help us build strength in our bodies ready for writing which we use throughout the day. I wonder if your child can show you which one is which.

What we have enjoyed this week...

Mindful Story: This is a time we come together after lunch to just be. We make the classroom dark, we play calming music and we lye down. The children have really enjoyed having me read our mindful script to them and have really embraced the opportunity to calm their bodies and minds ready for the afternoon. I think some would happily stay like this for a lot longer!

What we are looking forward to next week....

Assemblies: We will start going to Assembly on Tuesdays for singing and Fridays for Community as of next week. You are welcome to join us at Fridays Community Assembly 9-9.30am.

Show and Tell bags: Your child will be bringing home a 'Show and Tell' bag. I would like them to put something that is special to them inside it and bring it back into school to talk to the class about. More details to come home on the bag.

Home Learning

Rhyming Books: Please share lots of rhyming books with your child and help them to identify the words that are rhyming. These 3 are favourites of ours in Class Acorn.

AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos..

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 19. Meet Alphablock S - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 1. Meet Alphablock A - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 20. Meet Alphablock T - BBC iPlayer

Alphablocks - Magic Words: 16. Meet Alphablocks P - BBC iPlayer

Number: Encourage your child to subitise (recognise the amount without counting) quantities up to 3. Ask them 'What do you see?' (eg. I see 3) and 'How do you see it?' (I see 2 here and 1 over here or I see a 1 here, a 1 here and a 1 here). This will set them up to have a greater understanding of number than just learning to count.

Notices and Reminders

Independent skills: Please continue to teach and then encourage your child to put their own jumpers, cardigans and coats on. This week I did a teaching session on how to pull the arm out when it is the wrong way round - we go 'fishing!' and how to find the hood of their coat and put it over their head to make it easier to find the arms. Reinforcing this at home will help them develop these key self help skills.

Dates

Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October

Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October.

Break up - Friday 24th October

Have a wonderful weekend!

hgarrad@bourn.cambs.sch.uk

Acorn - Reception

Date: 12th September 2025

Our first week at school

Well what a week we have had! Our first week has been full of new beginnings—meeting new teachers, making friends, and exploring our classroom and school. Thank you for helping to prepare them so well for this new chapter in their lives. We have been so impressed with their ability to follow the rules of Acorn class, negotiate with others and line up so sensibly! They have been a real joy and we have really enjoyed getting to know them and what they are interested in. Here are the highlights of our week.....

Tour of the school

We went for a walk to the Year 1 classroom next door and met Willow class who gave us a cheery welcome. We then headed to Mr Fraser's office to say hello to him and asked him lots of questions about what was in his office and why! We continued into the hall to find out about Assembly, lunch and PE which all happen in there. We took a little detour to see the swimming pool which was exciting and then headed back to see the KS1 playground to see where will go for play times next week. On Friday the children are going to continue their tour and look at the book bus and the nature reserve. We will also head up to see the older children's classrooms.

P.E.

We had our first PE lesson. We went into the hall and played some listening games, found different ways of moving our bodies and enjoyed and explored the space in the hall.

Cookies from the kitchen

Jules and Linda from the kitchen came to visit us so that we know their faces when we start having lunches next week. They baked us some delicious cookies which we really enjoyed.

Key skills we have developed

We have learnt to make new friends by asking others if we can play.

We have learnt how to ask our friends for help when we need it and how to help others.

We have learnt how we can use the sand timer if we want to play with something that someone else has.

Please have a wonderful, restful weekend. Your child will be tired so please factor in plenty of rest for them ready for next week. If you get out and about in the fresh air please take some photos of signs of Autumn as we have been discussing this in class. You can add these to their Tapestry accounts.

We look forward to next week when your child will stay all day 8.30-3.15pm.