Welcome to Willow and Magnolia Classes 2023-2024

Welcome to Willow Class and Magnolia Class.  The children are free to explore both classrooms and the outside area during ‘Discover and Do’ time.  The teachers in Willow are Mrs Challoner, Mrs Nickelson and Mrs Quaglia, and in Magnolia, Mrs Matthews, Mrs Quaglia and Mrs Nickelson . Mrs Chapman will be taking both classes for Music and Mrs Payne will be leading Forest School.  The Teaching Assistants are Mrs McVittie, Miss Tombs, Mrs Hopkins and Mrs Robinson. 

We usually start the day with register and worship, followed by Phonics, in which the children learn their letter sounds. Throughout the week there are teacher led inputs for English, Maths, RE, PSED, Music, Forest School and handwriting. During the child initiated ‘Discover and Do’ time the children can explore activities relating to all the different areas of learning. 

Although there is no formal home learning in reception, we would appreciate you reading daily with your child and practicing the high frequency words as this will have an impact with their confidence in lessons. 

As always, if you need to contact us, this can still be done after school once all the children have been dismissed, via the school office on 01233 614660 or by email office@john-wesley.org.uk or in the children's reading record book, where you can write a note to communicate with us.

Home Learning

Although there is no formal home learning in Willows, we would appreciate you reading daily with your child and practicing the 'Tricky Words' as this will have an impact with their confidence in lessons. A list of these words can be found above.

Useful Weblinks

Listed below are some useful websites that you may wish to look at with your child. Please do not feel the need to complete activities on them, they are purely listed as suggested ideas you may wish explore with your child. 

Oxford Owl for Home https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/

You need to register for an account, but it is free to join. This site has lots of free e-books, activity sheets and maths games.

Literacy Trust     https://literacytrust.org.uk/family-zone/

This site is free to access and contains videos, links to stories online and activity sheets.

Khan Academy   www.khanacademy.org

You need to register for a free account and then create an account for your child. This site is American, but if you choose courses/ early math at the top there are some interactive Maths activities that are appropriate.

ICT Games  https://www.ictgames.com/

This site has free Maths and English Games. There is no need to register and you can adapt the games to suit your child’s knowledge.

Classroom Secrets  https://classroomsecrets.co.uk/

You can create a free account for this site and it contains Maths activities. (Just select EYFS tab at the top).

Hammond Education   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5f9v0bDywz0UKkJW3Ik1EQ

This YouTube site has ideas of Phonics games you could play with your child.

Mr Thorne's Phonics: Geraldine the Giraffe     https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sW4j8p7k9D_qRRMUsGqyw

There are lots of videos on here about different sounds the children have learnt in Phonics. The children love Geraldine!

Mystery Science   www.mysteryscience.com

You need to register for a free account. This is another American site, but the Mystery Science units for Grade K have some nice videos and activities. The ‘Plant and Animal Secrets’ unit may be of particular interest, as the children have been learning about plants and growth.

DK Find out https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/

There is no need to register for this site. Some of the activities (particularly the Maths and English ones) are a bit too high level for reception children. However, if your child is interested in animals or dinosaurs there are some lovely images and facts you can share with them.

Red Ted Art  https://www.redtedart.com/

This site has some lovely art and craft ideas using everyday materials.

The Imagination Tree  https://theimaginationtree.com/

This site has practical ideas for English, Maths and Science as well as lots of creative projects for your child to get stuck into!

Scratch   https://scratch.mit.edu/

You need to create a free account. This site introduces children to coding on the computer. There are helpful tutorials you can watch to get started.