Blossoming Buttercups

Welcome to the

Blossoming

Buttercups!

A Summer message

Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

Heads. shoulders, knees and toes

Twinkle Twinkle little star

We are GOLDEN and we SPARKLE!

Mrs Fletcher SEND Support Assistant

We are Readers and Writers

Reading

We will read lots of stories in class as they play a vital role in the growth and development of children. We hope that children will enjoy hearing stories being read to them and discussed at home too.

Children will be given reading books to take home to share and enjoy. We read reading books every morning and aim to change your child's book as frequently as possible. We want reading to be enjoyable for all.

Please ensure you read with your child as often as you can and return their book to school daily - it really does make a difference!

Writing

Writing is embedded across all areas of learning and opportunities for writing are encouraged in all areas of provision. This may be: writing a shopping list in the role play area, writing about models they have created in the construction area or creating a party invitation for their friends in the small world area!

Children's attention is continually drawn to print in the environment and they are encouraged to recognise print in the wider world. The children practise writing their names everyday, As children become more proficient in their phonic knowledge, they apply this to their individual writing.

The children's fine and gross motor skills are continually developed through focused activities such as dough disco, fun fit gym and many more which enables the children to develop all the core skills necessary for writing.

Dough Disco!

Phonics in Buttercups

At Glade Hill we teach phonics using the ‘Little Wandle’ (previously ‘Letters and Sounds’) systematic synthetic phonics scheme. This systematic approach teaches our children to use synthetic phonics as a strategy to support them in becoming fluent readers and confident writers. This rigorous approach is adopted throughout school to ensure consistency and progression, including in our Nurture groups.

Children in Buttercups are taught daily discrete phonics lessons and are encouraged to apply their knowledge. For some children this is part of a small group and for others is 1:1. The children also receive precision teaching of tricky words. For some children, their reading books are supplemented with the use of Makaton signs and symbols. This is a specialist approach advised by outside agencies including Speech and Language Therapists and the Nottingham City Learning Support Team.

Here is a link to the main school 'Phonics' page:

Phonics

We are Mathematicians

It is important that children acquire the skills to understand the composition of numbers up to 10. This is achieved by learning how to subitize, manipulate objects and representing numbers in a variety of ways. To do this, we focus heavily on ensuring children are able to count accurately using their 1:1 correspondence actions, objects and even sounds as well as matching number to quantity.

We teach our maths through NCETM using the Numberblocks Series this is a great visual resource each week we work on a different number.

Once children have developed their understanding of numbers and the more/less relationship between numbers, this is when we move on to exploring number bonds to 5 initially before advancing up to 10.

We are Scientists

Science in Buttercups classroom is covered by Understanding of the world. It is introduced indirectly through activities that encourage every child to explore, problem solve, observe, predict, think, make decisions and talk about the world around them.

The children will explore creatures, people, plants and objects in their natural environments. They will observe and manipulate objects and materials to identify differences and similarities. They will also learn to use their senses, feeling dough or listening to sounds in the environment, such as sirens or farm animals. They will make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and talk about changes.

Children will be encouraged to ask questions about why things happen and how things work. They might do activities such as increasing the incline of a slope to observe how fast a vehicle travels, or opening a mechanical toy to see how it works. Children will also be asked questions about what they think will happen to help them communicate, plan, investigate, record and evaluate findings.

Buttercups Class Trips