Butterfly Class is made up of Reception pupils.
Our Class Teacher is Mrs Parkin and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Crisp and Miss French.
The approach we use with children in Butterfly Class is a mixture of directed teaching activities and child initiated learning. ‘In the Moment Planning’, are opportunities we use to enhance the children’s learning based upon what they are doing at the time or something in which they have expressed an interest. The framework which we use with the children are ‘The Early Year Goals.’
Phonics for reading and writing
We use the ‘Letters and Sounds’ approach to teach the children to read and write. We are beginning with Phase 2 set 1 and 2. Phonics is the teaching of sounds and blending these together to read, then segmenting words into sounds when writing.
Set 1: s, a, t, p
Set 2: i, n, m, d
Set 3: g, o, c, k
Set 4: ck, e, u, r
Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss
Mathematics
We learn about numbers and mathematical concepts through hands on experiences through play and adult led activities – cooking, rhymes, stories, sorting, counting and practical problem solving activities. The children enjoy using the iPad and class computer to access online maths games.
Topics (Understanding the World)
Our topics are influenced by the time of year and the children’s interests. We use traditional stories and picture books to inspire learning opportunities as well as taking advantage of the time of 
year to introduce celebrations and traditions. We are fortunate to have a school garden maintained by Chris and Mr. Foster. Chris was working with the children this term to plant some bulbs ready for spring.
PE
PE kit consists of a red t-shirt, black shorts and plimsolls – please make sure your child has the correct kit in school at all times.
Physical movement both gross and fine underpin the children’s ability to engage in moving and write with control. We concentrate on developing the children’s fundamental skills of running, skipping, jumping and catching with control and precision. You can help your child to develop essential fine motor control by encouraging them to draw, colour in, paint and cut with scissors.
Using an effective pencil grip can take time for some children to develop. We encourage the children to use the nip, flip and grip approach.
Clothing
The children are encouraged to be independent as possible. Ensuring all clothing is labelled is very useful and much appreciated especially with 27 children. When purchasing shoes, please, please if possible choose Velcro over laced shoes as even with my best effort I haven’t found the secret knot that remains tied. As the weather begins to gets wetter and colder it would be helpful if your child has gloves, wellies and a waterproof coat for school.
Daily Routine
To ensure a smooth start to the morning our doors are open from 8:45. We encourage the children to share and listen when we take the register and when we share snack time. Children are given free milk until their fifth birthday. If you would like your child to continue receiving milk beyond this you can arrange this online ‘Coolmilk’.
In the morning we have a mixture of directed and child initiated teaching. We have lunch at 12:00 until 12:45. The afternoon session usually follows our topic or activities which have been inspired by the children interests.
The children join the school on a Friday for playtime. Butterfly Class will let you know when we are joining the rest of the school for Award Assembly on a Friday morning.
We are a school with a listening approach so please contact us with any worries, concerns or positive comments.
Spring Term 2020
Spring Second Half Term 2019
Celebrating Festivals From Other Cultures
We are a multi-cultural class and have a boy whose family originates from China. Therefore, we enjoyed learning about the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the pig. We shared traditional Chinese foods and even attempted to use chopsticks. We also tried to write in Mandarin. The children really enjoyed this celebration.
Our Outside Area
The children have free flow between the inside and outside learning environment. Some tasks are adult led and other learning is developed from child initiated play. The children enjoy performing and acting on our stage area. They are an active class who love to explore ways of moving their bodies in a controlled way through climbing, balancing and jumping.
Little Gardeners
We are lucky to have Chris who regularly comes into class to work with the children planting and growing. We are looking forward to harvesting our strawberries later in the summer. A couple of weeks ago we received some seedling potatoes which the children have been ‘chitting’. We look forward to planting these with Chris soon.
Pancake Day
Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Crisp worked with the children to design a pancake. They explored different flavours for their toppings. Then on the following day Mrs. Hall made pancakes with the children and they created their pancake master pieces which were really delicious.
Time for P.E.
The children are active everyday as they have access to the inside and outside learning environments. We have also had a coach who worked with the children on fundamental movement skills and balancing. We have some climbing equipment from Durham Sports Partnership for a term. The children use this to explore movements and balancing.
Our Visit to Seven Stories
We have been promoting reading this term using well known stories to inspire our writing, problem solving and maths. The children have explored creating repeated patterns and use Elmer inspired activities to access other mathematical concepts. As part of our topic we went to Seven Stories. During our visit we exchanged our World Book Day book tokens in their shop. The staff were very helpful and friendly.
