Welcome to Ash Class

We are Foundation Stage children and the youngest pupils at Trull School.

Our Class Teacher is Miss Kennard whilst Mrs Bottomley is away on maternity leave. Our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Fish

and Mrs Trower. 

W/B 09.07.2018 'Fantastic Forest School Week'

This week, the children took part in Trull Forest School! They completed a range of activities including, creating animals using natural materials, creating habitats, roasting marshmallows, playing group games, hunting for leaves and bugs, collecting fire wood and finally creating their own Andy Goldsworthy sculpture. The children spent time with their friends and working in different mixed age groups. They learnt about fire safety and the importance of looking after the environment. 

What a terrific week! 

W/B 2.07.2018 - 'A fresh new beginning' 

The children have had a very busy and interesting week! We have done our normal reading days on Monday and Friday but on Tuesday and Wednesday in the afternoon, Ash class met the new reception children for 'stay and 'play'. Ash class were super friendly and kind to all the children, showing them how to play and share.

On Wednesday morning, the children moved up to their new classrooms for September! They all behaved beautifully and it was lovely to hear the other teachers say how excited they are to have them in September! They got to know their teacher and did different games as well as talking about what will happen in September.

On Thursday the children had a fantastic day of science! It started off with an explosive science assembly and then lots of different activities throughout the day. We did things such as making slime, looking at rocks and density and also making bubbles! 

It's been a very busy week but the children have dealt with all the changes exceptionally well! 

If you have any questions about next academic year, please come and see an adult in the morning or afternoon.

W/B 25.09.2018 - 'What noise does a police car make?'

This week we had a very interesting visit from Mrs Dartoo who arrived in her police uniform and police car. The children listened to an exciting talk about the police and following rules. They then all got a chance to go in the police car. It was very noisy when Mrs Dartoo turned on the sirens. 

In Maths, we have been looking at money and positions. We have talked about what money is and all the different types of money. The children also spoke about when they've used money in a shop. We used the computers to play money games from Top Marks. Please use the link if you would like to have a go at home. 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money 

In Literacy, Mrs Crudge delivered a very exciting letter from the girl in the book ‘Journey’. The letter asked the children to tell her all about a journey they have been on OR a journey she should go on. The children replied, sending her to Lapland, Switzerland, Spain, Lanzarote and even Sardinia! The children focused on using finger spaces so the journey girl could read their writing. 

In PE we played football, practising our dribbling and kicking skills. It was lovely to see the children work in different groups and teams helping each other control the ball. 

We also had a look at our sunflower seeds, talking about what plants need to grow and making sure they're all planted properly and watered well. 

Please remember to bring in sun hats - it is very hot in school and the children need to be protected when playing outside. 

W/B 18.06.2018 'What sensible, kind and FAST children we have in Ash class' 

A FANTASTIC well done to all the children in Ash class for their hard work and amazing efforts during sports day. The day was very warm but the children still behaved superbly! Each child had their chance at running a sprinting and a novelty race. Capes were flying and masks were in the way but that did not stop the children from getting a point for their houses! The children cheered on each other and had a lovely time chatting with their friends watching the races. A big well done to all the children and thank you to all those who came to watch our event. We hope you were impressed with our running and superhero skills! 

In literacy this week, the children have been focusing on writing sentences about things that interest them. Some children wrote about unicorns, whilst others wrote about cars! The children practised being more independent with their writing, trying to remember finger spaces and using their phonics knowledge. It is important to keep practising any writing at home, remembering those pesky finger spaces! If you would like any resources to help support writing at home, please feel free to ask.

In maths we have been looking at capacity and the language 'fewer' and 'more'. We used the language fewer and more in our maths lessons and then used these words in our play. The children have also completed a variety of capacity challenges. We had water outside and the children loved using a variety of containers to play in the water.  

W/B 11.06.2018 - ' Run run as fast as you can' 

This week in literacy and art the children looked at the story 'Journey'. The story has no words so we had a discussion about what we thought the story was about and what happened in the story. The children gave lovely descriptions and were able to think about how the characters might of been feeling. We all painted our own picture from the story using water paints. We learnt how to use water to spread the paint across the paper. To finish, we wrote sentences describing the picture thinking of finger spaces and full stops. 

In maths the children have been learning about the concept of time. They have looked at how to measure time as well as learning new words related to time. The children thought of activities that you might do in the morning, afternoon and evening. They also timed themselves building a tower in 20 seconds!

This week in PE we have been busy practising for sports day, making sure everybody feels happy and confident when taking part. We've also continued to look at the importance of taking part and cheering on our friends. The children also took part in a PE morning at Castle school. They all practised a range of skills with reception children from other schools.  

W/B 04.06.2018 - '1 more and 1 less' 

This busy week has zoomed by! The children have learnt about 1 more and 1 less, reviewing terminology such as adding and subtracting. We have solved problems related to 1 more and 1 less using practical resources to help find the answer.

We have been able to use the Beebots this week. The children have been programming the Beebots to move into specific areas or alternatively, bash into the walls! Luckily, they are very robust Beebots! 

On Friday we looked at the event, 'World Ocean Day'. We watched a video on the importance of keeping our oceans clean and free from plastic and any other rubbish. The children got creative with paint, cardboard and lots of sticky tape. They made things that you might find in the ocean as well as submarines or boats!

Along with our busy learning, the children have been practising for Sports Day which will be in week 3. We have been thinking about competitions and the importance of taking part and working as a team. We also had our exciting journey's trip around the world to Japan, Eygpt, Nigeria and Sweden. 

W/B 21.05.2018 - 'THE DONKEY SANCTUARY!'

This week we were very lucky to visit the donkey sanctuary! We were given a guided tour by Dawn Vincent who is the granddaughter of Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, the founder of the donkey sanctuary. The children were able to groom the donkeys and muck out their homes! The children loved every second and were exceptionally behaved. It was lovely to hear members of the public mention how well the children were behaving. Well done Trull School children! 

During their writing, the children thought about what they wanted to do when they grow up. We now have budding princesses, train drivers, charity shop owners and lots more! It is great to see the children becoming more confident to write sentences. Keep practising writing sentences at home, make sure you bring them in to show us!

In maths, the children looked at doubling. We have used playdough and pictures to help understand the meaning of doubling. It is a difficult concept to understand that doubling means adding the exact same amount. We will revisit this concept later next term. We may need a whole day of earning double house points or even double superstar stickers!

The children are delighted to be moving onto zig zag letters next term as they have now completed long ladder letters. We will send a sheet home to practise in the first week of term 6 after their well needed week off!

Important letters were sent home regarding specific areas for practising. If there are any questions or if any resources are needed please ask a member of the reception team.

W/B 14.05.2018 - 'We are so wonderful and different' 

This week we have been talking about ourselves and looking at how we are similar and different to other people (which is really important). The children have been writing sentences to describe themselves and their families. We've been focusing on forming our letters correctly and using finger spaces so our sentences are easy to read. 

In maths, the children have been learning about halving. We talked about how this is similar to sharing but you only have two parts. They also must be equal. We've halved pretend cookies and also found half of a number. 

During PE, Ash class used balancing skills to walk around the playground we also practised catching and throwing with different sized objects. 

Thank you very much to our guest speakers, Rufus' mummy and Miles' daddy. We had some interesting questions to ask both speakers. It's great to learn about different jobs and also listen to different people talk! 

We've been exploring outside in the school grounds on our welly walk. Please remember wellies as we've only got a small amount of wellies that fit our little feet.

To support the year 2's and year 6's finishing their SATs, TSF treated us to a very tasty ice-cream! Thank you very much! To end the week we had a royal wedding party which confused some children as they didn't understand why Harry and Meghan didn't come to Trull School! I don't know why either!

W/B 07.05.2018 - 'Mary had a little lamb'

This week, the children have been finishing off their stories of Eddie's Garden. Some children created their own ending, whilst others used the story map to follow the original plan. We've been using capital letters and full stops. We've also been encouraging the children to write on the line. Try practising this at home.

We all definitely understand what it takes to keep a plant alive! Unfortunately, our cress seeds over the weekend got too much heat and not enough water! Amos and Harry were on the case watering the cress and clearly stating the cress needs water Miss Kennard! 

In maths, the children learnt about sharing! They were all very familiar with this word and we enjoyed solving different sharing problems. 

During PE, we took advantage of using our new painted playground in the sun. We enjoyed playing 'runner beans' and making shapes using our bodies! We even tried to make a 5 sided pentagon! 

To finish off the week, our welly walk had a special visitor! Niamh's family kindly shared their lamb Daisy with the children. It was great to hear questions being curiously asked to Niamh's mum. As well as children taking lots of care with Daisy. Many thanks for sharing! We also talked about healthy eating and how different foods can be really healthy whilst others may be seen as more of a treat. We found that some foods we may have every day but we might only have a small amount for example, butter! Overall, a great discussion from Ash class!

W/B 30.04.2018 -  'What makes plants grow?'

This week, the children have been discussing and learning about what makes plants grow. We planted our own cress seeds and talked about the things we would need. The children were very impressive and recognised all the different things a seed may need to grow, even the seed itself! We've watched different videos about a range of plants and flowers. Impressively, we knew the names of lots! 

In maths, the children have been solving practical problems linked to subtraction. We talked about how subtraction can have lots of different names like, take away, subtract, less, leave. Very confusing! We found it tricky to remember that adding is getting more and subtracting is taking away, but we're getting there with practise. Try solving your own problems at home using things around the house.

During English, the children wrote the middle part of their story. Some children wrote captions to describe pictures whilst others used a story map to help write short sentences. As a class, we created our own story based on Eddie's garden. The children helped Miss Kennard with ALL the mistakes she had made! They even used a purple pen to improve the story, giving Miss Kennard some lovely describing words. This made the story a lot more interesting.

It was lovely to get outside this Friday morning and see the children work together whilst they hunted for insects. They have created bug hotels and found lots of wriggly creatures! To finish the week, Ash class have looked at a new type of handwriting family, long ladder letters. What a fun and busy week we've had! 

Enjoy the extra day off Ash class! 

W/B 23.04.2018         Eddie's Garden has SLUGS! 

We've been learning lots of new things this week, we've LOVED learning about adding. We can show you the add sign using our hands as well as the equals sign. We've remembered that add and equals can be called lots of different things. The most important thing for us to remember is that adding means more. When we write a number sentence like 1 + 2 = 3 we know that the equals sign means on both sides there HAS to be the same amount. 1 and 2 is the same as 3! How tricky is that? Our Ash class have been fantastic. Keep practising adding at home. We used playdough to help us add.

This week in Literacy, the children have been learning a new story called 'Eddie's Garden', this ties in beautifully with our topic 'plants and the wider world'. The children have learnt the beginning part of the story using a story map and learning actions. Whilst writing, the children used their phonics knowledge as well as searching on the phoneme mat for tricky/ sight words to spell.

During Art, we painted lots of different things that we might find in the world such as, houses, animals, churches, Trull School, and plants or gardens. The children enjoyed mixing colours and creating wonderful masterpieces. We're getting ready to make a beautiful display. 

W/B 14.05.2018 we would love to invite parents / families into school to share what you do in the world. Maybe you can speak in a different language? Or were born in a different country? You might have family somewhere different to Trull. We would also like to learn about different jobs or different experiences. We ask that you will spend 10 or so minutes discussing your "topic" to the children. Feel free to use photos or props as well. 

We will put a sign up on the notice board, please sign your name under the time spaces given and Miss Kennard will be in touch.

Many thanks in advance! 

W/B 16.04.2018 – The sun is shining and we’re all smiling!

What a wonderful week we’ve had! The children thoroughly enjoyed looking at the story, Handa’s surprise and what a surprise she did have! For those who aren’t familiar with the story, please use the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Vmf4Cwvls

The children tasted different fruit from the story. The children described the fruit by what it looked like and what it tasted like. It was great to see some children trying fruits, even if they weren’t sure whether they would like them or not!

In maths the children have been continuing to develop their understanding of teen numbers. We have been representing teen numbers in different ways, using bricks, numbers, Numicon, hands and even dienes. Please continue to practise numbers 0-20 with your children at home. How about making numbers out of playdough!

To finish off the week, the children were keen to get outside and explore the outside grounds again. The children had a challenge to use tyres and planks to get across the scary green river! The children worked in groups to see if they could get across to the other side. Great team work this week! 

W/B 09.04.2018 - Kindness week! 

WOW! What a busy week we've had! Writing, numbers, reading, listening, exploring and to top it all off a fantastic welly walk around the school grounds! 

During this week, the children created their kindness hands. These are decorated paper hands with lots of words and sentences about how to be kind! They are now decorating our cloak area, making our classroom look great. We are working towards being able to write sentences and recognise that each word has its own meaning. Any practise at home to talk about words and their meaning would be helpful. 

In maths, the children have been focusing on teen numbers. We have been looking at what teen numbers represent. For example, 15 isn't just a 1 and a 5. It's a 10 and a 5! We've been using a bit of a magic trick, for example with 15, we've said, the 1 from 15 is actually a magic 10 but the 0 is hidden! What a tricky concept but the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning and taking part in number activities throughout the week. 

Throughout this week, the children have been listening to stories based on kindness. We've discussed how sometimes being kind can be quite hard. We've been talking about different emotions and encouraging children to be kind to everyone. 

To finish off the week, we went on our first welly walk. Even though the sun wasn't shining we enjoyed exploring the mud kitchen, flowers and hidden numbers! The children explored in teams and worked together to solve problems. One problem we had was to move some heavy tyres across the grass. It was great to see different ideas of how to move the tyres and how working together made it easier! 

In book bags you will find handwriting sheets. Please practise forming these letters at home. We are finding that children are able to form them correctly during handwriting practise but then when writing in books they are forming them incorrectly. Any extra help would really motivate and remind the children. This will be useful for Year 1 when the children start to join their letters together.

W/B 19.03.2018 - 'Easter service, Zoo lab and to finish it off Easter parade!' 

What a fantastic last week at school. Among all of our fun activities, the children also looked at the meaning of different time related words. We talked about what we may do before we go to school. Can you believe it, some people brush their teeth before breakfast and then after! Not all of us though, myself and others clearly cannot wait for breakfast! 

The children enjoyed thinking about how things need to be done in order to work. We realised that you can't go on holiday first and then pack your bag. Words such as before, after, next, later, today, yesterday, tomorrow were used! Great language. 

During writing, the children decided to write to the Highway rat, acting as one of the many characters. The children thought of what they may want to say to him, some being more forgiving to the rat than others! 

Ash class enjoyed watching Year 5 perform in their Easter service, we also sang along to the different songs we have been learning. If you want to listen to one of the amazing songs that the children LOVED to sing here is a web link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFBZJGSgyVQ 

Be warned, it is very catchy and you will have it in your head for weeks! Luckily it's a great song. 

The children had a very lovely treat this week, kindly dontated by TSF which was Zoolab. We were able to see and hold a bearded dragon, a rat (very well timed with 'That Pesky Rat' and 'The Highway Rat' stories we've been reading), a hissing cockroach, a snake and a giant snail. The children enjoyed holding or stroking these animals and learning facts about where they live or what they eat. It was very impressive to hear topic words such as carnivore, herbivore and omnivore being used by the Receptions! Finally, last but not least, we saw a very lovely tarantula, safely kept in its box for the children and adults to look at!

Please find attached some photos and also a handwriting sheet. With the 5 week term zooming by, this term we are continuing to practise and recap over 'one armed robot' letters. We will send home sheets first week back if you would like to do any practise at home. 

I hope you have all had a lovely restful 2 weeks off and are ready to get back into the Summer term! I'm looking forward to seeing you all shortly. 

W/B 12.03.2018 - 'Shapes, glorious shapes!' 

This week, the children have enjoyed showing off all they have learnt during phonics! Each child has gone through their tricky words, phonics sounds and skills of segmenting and blending. What a busy week they've had.

During Maths, the children have been looking at flat 2D shapes and solid 3D shapes. They have recapped their knowledge on naming 2D shapes and begun to learn some interesting names for 3D shapes like cuboid, sphere and cube! We listened to a 3D shape rap, which Miss Kennard knew all the words! 

The children wrote about their favourite character from the story 'The Highway Rat'. We used describing words to label each character and thought of sentences to write about the character. 

The children also learnt about Palm Sunday and created palm leaves to celebrate the king! 

To finish the week, we said goodbye to our helper Miss Penny; the children really enjoyed having her help us in school. 

W/B 5.03.2018 - 'What a wonderful worship week!'

This week has been rather unusual, with lots of different exciting things happening. 
On Monday, we had a normal school day, learning different mathematical words. The children were able to explain the meaning of heavy and light as well as using different objects to help their explanations! The children then used scales and more measuring throughout the week to explore their understanding of weight.

Tuesday and Wednesday, was a wonderful day, learning about lots of different religions. The children created many amazing items which linked to a specific religion.

On Wednesday afternoon, we attended a special assembly talking about what we had learnt and singing a brand new, very catchy, song together. 

Thursday was our (catch up) World Book day, the children came in almost unrecognisable! We shared our day with Year 6 listening to their stories based on 'That Pesky Rat'. The children ate their snacks and tucked into an imaginative story. We also participated in 'Drop and Read', whenever the bell rang the children listened to a story. 

To finish the week, the children have been making their Mother's day cards. The children learnt about how people celebrate Mother's day around the world! 

W/B 26.02.2018 - 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, SNOWDAY!' 

This week, (if you can call it a week) the children learnt the new story of 'That Pesky Rat'. They listened attentively and thought of reasons why people should have a rat as a pet. They then began to create their own persuasive poster! The children thought of lovely ideas to try and persuade somebody to buy a rat. We thought of different facts about rats and even described them. 

During maths, the children were looking at capacity and weight. We talked about how different containers can hold different amounts of water. We looked at problems involving water and how to solve them. We will continue to look at weight and capacity next week. 

During PE, the children had lots of fun climbing over the soft play. We talked about how to be safe and how to keep safe during different activities. We came up with lots of ideas of how to keep safe. 

I hope you had lots of fun during your days off, playing in the snow and keeping warm! Please feel free to send in any photos of your fun! 

W/B 19.02.2018 'Musical and Measuring Madness!'

This week, the children have been learning about measuring. The children used measuring tapes to measure different things around the room, even Miss Kennard! We ordered items from biggest to smallest. During music, the children listened to a song called 'Lovely Day' by Bill Withers. The children talked about what they liked and what they didn't like about the song. It was great to see the children use their listening skills throughout this song. 
After listening to the song, the children got out some musical instruments and used them in different ways, creating lots of noisy sounds! Some children tapped out a beat which other children copied! In Literacy, the children described different mini-beasts as this term our topic is Animals. We encouraged children to write poems about the mini-beasts too!

The children enjoyed playing in their new home corner, 'The Vets' where lots of very important surgical procedures are taking place. What a wonderful first week back! :)

W/B 5.02.2018

This week the children enjoyed lots of different unexpected treats. During maths, the children measured different animal footprints. They used cubes or beads to count and measure the length of each footprint. Lots of children noticed that some footprints are smaller or bigger than others, great use of maths language! To finish the story of 'The Three Little Pigs', the children sequenced the story and wrote captions or simple sentences to explain the main themes. Lot's of fantastic writing, using their letter formation that they have learnt this term.

In your child's book bags, you should have some handwriting sheets to help your child practise their letter formation at home. Please notice we have also sent home the rhymes we say to go with the letter (this sheet can be found in your child's phoneme book). Don't forget you can use sand, rice, shaving foam and lots of other physical ways to form your letters. 

On the last day of term, the children enjoyed a very artistic theatre production and to finish the children made pancakes which were gobbled up in seconds! Photos to follow...

In your child's reading record book, we have stuck in the alphabet with capital letters and smaller case letters. Use this to support your child when practising to name the alphabet and also recognising that 'A' is the same as 'a'. Particularly when reading capital letters in their reading books.

Happy half term! :) 

05.02.2018 - Phonics Talk 

Thank you to those who attended the phonics talk today. Please see attached documents used for those who were unable to attend. Further resources will be sent home as well. 

Questions raised:

Handwriting

The children have been doing handwriting on Friday. This term we have looked at curly caterpillar letters. At the end of half term you will receive a handwriting pack so your child can practise at home. After half term, we will continue to practise curly caterpillar letters to ensure children are secure with these letter formations. 

Split Digraphs

Split digraphs like, a_e, i_e, o_e, e_e, u_e are covered in Year 1 phonics (phase 5). Words with these phonics may include, cake, hide, phone, even, prune. 

By summer term if children are confident enough to begin learning phase 5 phonics their teacher will begin to introduce them to phase 5 phonics. However, this will only occur if the children are confident and secure in reading and spelling phase 2-3 phonemes, digraphs and trigraphs.

If your child spells a word like 'made' using the 'ai' digraph instead; producing maid, then this is a great example of your child using their current phonics knowledge. If you wish, you can explain the correct way of spelling 'made' (or which ever word this happens with). The rule we encourage in Reception, is for children to spell words using their current phonic knowledge.

 W/B 29.01.2018 - "I've made a swimming pool for my pig!"

This week the children have been busily making houses for their pet pigs. Using a range of materials, they've been creating all sorts of extensions, slides and comfy environments. The pigs have thoroughly enjoyed playing alongside the children, despite losing their stick on eyes along the way!

During English, the children have created an imaginary house on paper. These houses have been made with chocolate, flowers and hearts! The children then independently labelled their houses. What a creative week we've had! 

Just as a reminder, there will be a 'Phonics Talk' in Ash class on the 5th February at 3:20pm. All information shared will be uploaded to this page for those who cannot attend. 

W/B 22.01.2018 - We're going on a PIG hunt!

This week the children squelched around the nearby park looking for pigs! Luckily (or very carefully organised...) we found 2 pigs hidden away, oinking for all to hear. The children enjoyed getting out of the class and noticed lots of different items on their way which linked to the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. Many thanks to those who were able to assist with the walk.

Later in the week, we had a lovely surprise of an ambulance visiting Trull playground. Thank you to pre-school for letting us join in on the fun. Surprisingly, when asked the question by Rachel the paramedic, 'Who's been in an ambulance before?' Almost 99% of Ash class decided to raise their hands... Maybe they thought she meant, who wanted to go and beep the horn? That or I have a very accident prone class on my hands. Finally to end the week, Ash class made their own cuddly pigs which we will care for next week.

W/B 15.01.2018 - Suddenly, there was a knock at the door... It was the BIG BAD WOLF! 

This week the children have continued to learn the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. We have retold the story using 'Talk for Writing' actions to help remember what part comes next. In our topic work, the children learnt new facts about pigs and wolves. This lead to the children creating very informative fact books! Also this week, the children got very messy with paint, producing wolf or pig pictures. These are now beautifully displayed in their 'Three Little Pigs' home corner. Pictures to follow... 

W/B 08.01.2018 - What a wonderful first week back!

Our first week included a visit from Mrs Wedlake, an investigation as to who's been playing in our playground, a big reveal with our home corner and to top it all off, teaching Miss Kennard all about Ash class!