Year R
Welcome to Year R 2024-2025
Click on the here to find a booklet all about your new school.
What will my child be learning this half term?
Friday 3rd October - Week 5
This week the children have been learning all about Traditional Tales. We kicked off our learning journey with The 3 Little Pigs. The children loved making the different houses using straw, sticks and Lego brick for printing. We are impressed with their growing phonic knowledge and were proud of them for starting to write words by themselves.Â
Friday 26th September - Week 4
The children have had a lovely week and are becoming more confident in forming the letters they have been learning. Each day, they continue to develop their fine motor skills through a variety of activities, such as ‘Tap a Shape’ and picking up small beads and objects.
Friday 19th September-Week 3
This week, the children took their first exciting steps into the world of phonics! They were introduced to the Phonemes (sounds) ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, and ‘p’, and they had so much fun exploring each one. From spotting everyday objects that start with these sounds to having a go at writing the letters on whiteboards. We are so proud of how engaged and eager they have been during our lessons and we look forward to watching their phonic knowledge grow week on week.Â
Friday 12th September 2025- Week 2
What a fantastic start to the year! Our Year R children have settled in beautifully, embracing school life with enthusiasm and curiosity. They’ve been learning all about our daily routines and exploring our Code of Conduct with impressive maturity. Despite a jam-packed week, we even squeezed in a lively PE lesson and we were so proud of how quickly they got changed for PE. We couldn’t be prouder of their efforts, well done, Year R—you’re already on your way to becoming super Balksbury Citizens!
Friday 4th July- Week 4 Dinosaurs
This week the children have continued to enjoy learning about dinosaurs. They eagerly researched the different types of dinosaurs by looking in books. Throughout the week they have sorted dinosaurs into groups based on whether they were herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores. The children loved discovering the unusual and often tricky names of the creatures. One of the highlights has been exploring the theories behind how dinosaurs became extinct, this led to some exciting class discussions about their predictions of the past.
Friday 27th June - Week 4: Fossils and Palaeontology
This week, the children have had a wonderful time learning all about fossils and paleontology. Their excitement grew even more when they made an exciting discovery… a dinosaur egg! The children were full of ideas and quickly got to work building a special wooden den in the woodland to keep the egg safe. This magical find really captured their imaginations and inspired some fantastic writing, with lots of creative predictions about what might hatch from the egg. We are looking forward to continuing our dinosaur learning journey next week and cant wait to see what happens to our egg!Â
Friday 20th June 2025- Week 2- Pirates
ARRRRRRRRR me hearties!
The children have had a truly fantastic week here at Pirate School! We launched our new topic last Friday with an exciting visit from the Open Box Theatre Company. The day began with a mysterious secret message from the pesky pirate Captain Stink! In their classes, the children took part in a thrilling workshop, where they used drama and their superb maths detective skills to solve clues and uncover the five magic numbers needed to open the pirate treasure chest. Much to everyone’s delight, hidden inside were three bags of golden coins, rewards for all their hard work! Throughout the week, the children have been fully immersed in pirate life. They’ve been busy creating treasure maps, crafting pirate hats, hooks, and eye patches, and even building their own pirate ships using large construction materials. We’re thrilled to announce that all of the children have officially passed Pirate School, congratulations crew!
Friday 13th June 2025- Week 2- Sports Day Preparations
Over the past couple of weeks the children have been working hard to practice the skills needed for our upcoming sports day. They have been perfecting their control and co-ordination when dribbling, throwing and catching a ball, they have learnt how to use the long jump, how to work as a team and they have also practised running on the track. We are so proud of their hard work and determination when learning new PE skills. The children have been super supportive of their peers and we have loved watching their skills develop. Roll on SPORTS DAY!!
Friday 6th June 2025- Week 1- Under the Sea
This week, the children have thoroughly enjoyed the start of our new topic ‘Under the Sea’. They have explored the different sea creatures and expressed their growing understanding of marine life through, creative artwork, fantastic writing and imaginative play in our tuff spots. The children have also been busy learning their big ‘teen’ numbers and were super engaged in our fun game of ‘find the missing number’ by hooking crafty crabs in the water.
Friday 23rd May- Week 5- The Lifecycle of a Butterfly
This week, the children have been on a truly magical learning journey as they continued to explore the life cycle of a butterfly. Over the past few weeks, the children have been carefully observing real caterpillars in our classrooms. They watched with wonder as the caterpillars grew bigger each day, eventually forming into chrysalids. The excitement grew as we waited patiently- and finally, the butterflies began to hatch!
The moment the butterflies emerged was full of awe and excitement, the children gathered around, amazed to see them stretch their wings for the first time. We talked about what the butterflies might be feeling and how they have changed. Once the butterflies were strong enough, we took them outside into the garden and set them free. The children waved goodbye and watched them flutter away into the sky. Afterwards, the children shared their thoughts about what might happen next, they discussed how the butterflies would lay eggs, starting the life cycle all over again.Â
Friday 16th May 2025- Week 4- Our trip to Hillier Gardens
Year R have had a fantastic week, experiencing their first ever school trip to Hillier Gradens. The school trip was focused around life cycles, minibeasts and habitats. Throughout the day the children took part in pond dipping, meadow sweeping, minibeast hunting and they even created their own herby caterpillar to take home. We were incredibly proud of the children’s behaviour and how confidently they shared their knowledge of insects with our activity leaders.
Friday 9th May 2025- Week 3- Exploring the Outdoors
This week the children have enjoyed exploring the outside environment during discovery time. They have continued their learning of lifecycles by re-enacting the life of a tadpole in the sensory pond and they even found a caterpillar whilst minibeast hunting in the woodland. We were impressed with the children’s predictions of what they thought would happen next to the caterpillar. One child even said, “The caterpillar will soon be making his chrysalis, because he is nice and fat, he has eaten so many leaves!”.
Friday 2nd May 2025- Week 2- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
This week the children the children explored the life cycle of a caterpillar. They thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’. Throughout the week the children have re-enacted the story, created their own visual representations of the stages of the life cycle and they even became the hungry caterpillar by tasting some of the foods he ate.
Friday 25th April 2025- Week 1: Measuring
This week the children have begun learning about measurements in Maths. They have enjoyed using their investigation skills to compare, measure and order items by the length and height. The children were highly motivated to measure the giants footsteps and other objects around the classroom. The children have been using the language, long, longer and longest, short, shorter and shortest to describe their findings.
Friday 4th March 2025: Week 6 - Outdoor PE!
This week the children went to the field for their first ever outdoor PE lesson! They worked in pairs to practise their ball skills of rolling, throwing, catching and kicking. We were super impressed with the children’s growing co-ordination and their ability to take turns and share with one another. Our next PE unit is called ‘Games’, where the children will learn how to be part of a team and will also learn how to point score in team games. We are all super excited for more PE lessons in the sun next half term!
Friday 28th March 2025: Week 5 - Fire Pit Explorers
This week we built upon our learning journey of Explorers around the World by providing the children with a real life explorer experience! They all learnt about the importance of fire safety and we discussed why an explorer might need to light a fire when they are out on their adventures. The children enjoyed watching the fire roar and they all got the chance to taste a toasted marshmallow.
Friday 21st March 2025: Week 4 - Explorers and tent makers!
This week the children have continued to grow their fascination about explorers. They have learnt about the different skills needed to be a great explorer and they put this into action by creating their own tents and shelters using sheets and other joining materials. During outdoor discovery time they have enjoyed creating recipes to cook in the mud kitchen and they were great hunter gatherers when collecting sticks for their pretend firepits. whilst gathering sticks to aid their storytelling the children soon realised that these spots were a great place to find minibeasts!
Friday 14th March 2025-Week 3 Explorers
This week the children have enjoyed learning about explorers. They have made binoculars and maps, created their own modes of transport, and even explored our federation using a compass. During discovery time they were fascinated by a bug they had found and predicted where they thought it might go next. The children explored the tuff trays creating their own adventures as well making up their own maths games with the large maths resources. We had children independently writing their own number sentences as they threw the dice to see what number they could add together. We are super proud of their efforts.
Friday 7th March 2025 - Week 2: Outdoor Learning
The children have been working hard this week to embed their number knowledge using concrete resources. They have really enjoyed taking their maths outside onto our school grounds to explore different concepts such as subtraction, addition and part whole models.
Friday 28th February 2025 - Week 2: Gymnastics
This week the children perfected the gymnastic positions that we have been working on over the last half term – pike, straddle, straight, tuck and star. They worked collaboratively with their friends to use their bodies in different ways to create shapes and positions. We were very proud of their balance and control and their ability to mirror their friends body.
Friday 14th February 2025 - Clay Aliens
This week the children finished off their learning journey about space by designing and creating their own alien using clay. The children used the books, ‘Aliens love Underpants’ and ‘Welcome to Alien School’ as inspiration and we hope that you will all agree that they created some amazing aliens!
Friday 7th February 2025-Anti-bullying week
This week the children have been exploring ways in which the Federation supports anti-bullying. They have listened to stories to learn about how we can show kindness to one another. They explored different words which can be said to show someone we care and they also drew their own self portrait to demonstrate how we are all unique. Today we finished the week off by creating kind pictures on clouds.
Friday 31st January 2025-Week 4 Chinese New Year Celebrations
The children had a fantastic time exploring Chinese New Year. They learned about all the different animals and how Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year with special food, using the colour red and lighting lanterns. During the afternoon the children had a great time pretending to be a giant snake, using scarfs and musical instruments they danced their way around the school.Â
Friday 24th January 2025- Week 3 Astronauts in training
The children have had an amazing week training to become astronauts. They tackled the assault course, built model rockets, and even went on a space rocket hunt. The children are beginning to learn lots of new facts about space travel and they are looking forward to learning about the planets in our solar system next week!
Friday 17th January 2025 - Week 2 The Naughty Bus Visits Balksbury
This week, the children were highly motivated by the story of ‘The Naughty Bus’. Using VR headsets, the children travelled to London aboard a red bus. During Discovery time, the children recreated scenes from the story with a tiny red bus. They used pictures from the book as inspiration to stage their own mischievous moments. The children then captured their creative scenes with an iPad, bringing their stories to life. Afterwards, the children wrote their own sentences to accompany the photos. This fantastic writing has been compiled into a new class storybook called The Naughty Bus Part 2. Well done Year R for amazing work this week!Â
Friday 10th January 2025: Week 1 - Ice Exploration
This week the children have thoroughly enjoyed the cold weather, as it has brought flurries of snow, frost and ice. The children’s fascination with the cold weather sparked a investigation to learn more about ice. They searched the Federated grounds for puddles and water areas which may have frozen over. The children experimented and tested their predictions to see how quickly the ice melted, both in paper towels and in cold and hot water.
Friday 20th December 2024: Week 7- Balksbury Come Dancing!
This term, the children have been working diligently in PE to learn the art of the Waltz. They have explored the key movements that define this graceful dance style. Initially, they practiced on their own, refining their skills and once they had perfected the steps, they partnered up with a friend. We are incredibly proud of their perseverance and the way they took turns as the lead, demonstrating both teamwork and confidence.
Friday 13th December -Week 6- The Year R Nativity
The children delivered an exceptional performance during the nativity play, demonstrating remarkable talent at such a young age. We could not be prouder of their achievements. Well done year R!
Friday 6th December 2024- Week 5 The Gingerbread Man
This week, the children were delighted to discover that the Gingerbread Men had made a surprise visit to our classroom, leaving behind quite a mess! Their cheeky behaviour sparked lots of excitement and imagination, as the children got busy creating ‘wanted’ posters and designing clever traps to try and catch our mischievous visitors. It’s been a wonderful way to encourage creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving!
Friday 29th November- Week 4 The Gingerbread Man
This week, we continued our exploration of traditional tales, with The Gingerbread Man as our focus story. The children are increasingly able to identify key features of traditional tales and are excitedly reciting the story’s repeating phrases. They also enjoyed decorating felt Gingerbread Men, using a variety of fine motor materials to add colourful details and creativity to their creations.
Friday 22nd November 2024 -Week 4
The children have been learning about negotiating space, safety and working as a team. They enjoyed developing their ball skills, by throwing and catching a ball. They also worked on moving safely around the room whilst rolling a ball. They showed fantastic control and co-ordination.
Friday 15th November 2024-Week 2
This week the children have had a great time learning about our topic The Three Little Pigs. They have enjoyed sequencing the story and writing about each part of the story. They also had a great time making puppets and using their imaginations to re-create and re-tell the story with their friends.
Friday 8th November- Week 1
This week the children have been exploring seasons. We have spent a lot of time outside, observing the changes in the leaves and spotting the signs of Autumn. Using the story ‘Leaf Man’ as our inspiration, the children decided to collect their own leaves to make leaf animal portraits. We had chickens, fish, turtles and lots of leaf men!
Thursday 24th October 2024 - Week 8
This week Year R were excited to be invited by the Year 6 children to come and test their steady hand games which the children made in their DT lessons. The year 6 children were very supportive and welcoming, they explained clearly how to use their games and encouraged the Year R children to try their best.
Friday 18th October-Week 7 Supertato
The children have had a fantastic time exploring the world of fictional superheroes! They were engaged in discussions about the similarities and differences between our real-life heroes and beloved characters from stories like Supertato and Spider-Man. Working collaboratively, they freed the evil peas trapped in frozen ice using real tools, and even built their very own Supertato city!
Friday 11th October 2024-Week 6: People who help us
We have continued to enjoy learning all about people who help us and the children have had many special visitors this week including a vet, a fire fighter and a doctor. The children loved meeting the visitors and were fascinated to learn all about the different equipment they use to support them in their jobs. The children saw x-rays, blood pressure machines, microchip detectors, special uniforms and they even met Stan the skeleton and Sonya the dog!
Friday 4th October 2024-Week 5: People who help us
The children have had a busy week learning about all the different people who help us. They have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the police and we were lucky enough to have a visit from them. During the visit, the children learnt about how heavy the protective vests are, they tried on real hats and police jackets and got to sit in the back of a police van!
Friday 27th September - Week 4: Yoga
This week the children have enjoyed learning all about pets. They are now able to confidently say what makes an animal a pet and how to look after them. We also did not let the bad weather bring us down and took the opportunity to explore yoga in the classroom. The children demonstrated fantastic control and great listening ears.
Friday 20th September 2024 - Week 3: Repeating Patterns
This week the children have been applying their new knowledge of repeating patterns in lots of different ways. They have used pegs, multilink, natural resources, paint and even an interactive whiteboard game to demonstrate their skills.
Friday 13th September 2024-Week 2
The children started their phonic journey this week. They have thoroughly enjoyed their phonics lessons, where they have learnt the new phonemes ‘S, A, T and P’. The children also had fun learning about old nursery rhymes, such as ‘Polly put the kettle on’, ‘Wee Willie Winkie’ and ‘Jack and Jill went up the hill.’
Friday 6th September 2024 - Week 1: Our Families
We are so proud of the children for completing their first week at Balksbury Federation. They have worked hard to learn the daily routine and our Code of Conduct. This week the children have enjoyed drawing and talking about their families and they even included their family pets! We have loved getting to know the children and look forward to learning more in the coming weeks!
