Dear Parents/Carers,

We have had an amazing first half-term in Reception. The children have shown remarkable adaptability and resilience during our first few weeks together. They have established routines and relationships which have contributed to a smooth transition into school life. As part of our Topic ‘It’s good to be me’ we have learned that we are all different and unique and how to embrace our individuality. We used fantastic books like ‘Elmer’ and ‘Marvellous me’ to support this.

The children are also gradually developing a sense of independence by taking on tasks like dressing themselves, putting away their belongings, and participating in classroom activities. Encouraging teamwork, sharing, and positive social interactions is helping the children develop a sense of belonging within the class. It's truly heart-warming to see our Reception children embracing their school experience with enthusiasm and a growing understanding of the class rules.  

Monday mornings at school are a time of excitement and exploration for our young learners. The day begins with a trip to the library, where we read a story together, fostering a love for literature and enhancing comprehension skills. In the afternoon, our children embark on a physical journey through P.E. activities. They participate in various games and exercises, developing their motor skills, coordination, and teamwork. We are working on getting changed into our PE kits and not losing any of our clothes in someone else’s bag!

The development of phonological awareness is a key milestone in early literacy. Reception children have been engaged in daily phonics lessons and activities that help them identify and manipulate individual sounds in words. They have also been eagerly practicing letter formation, they are already beginning showing great control in shaping letters correctly during our writing activities.

In Maths, we have looked at counting from 1 to 20, subitising up to 5 using real world objects like stones and buttons, size comparison linked to the London landmarks and composition of numbers from 1 to 10. Each day we explore numbers, shapes and mathematical language through indoor and outdoor learning. Math’s is threaded through our rich EYFS environment.

In Science, children joined in activities that engage their sense of smell, discussing and discerning the unique aromas. The journey of taste exploration has been equally delightful, as they bravely sampled various foods like lemon, dark chocolate and the comforting crunch of salted and sweet popcorn. Their willingness to experience diverse textures, from the softness of pompons to the smoothness of pebbles and the ruggedness of acorns, has been an enriching tactile adventure.  

In light of Black History Month, we have used this occasion to recognise and applaud the invaluable contributions of black women to British society. In Reception, we talked about Rosa Parks and Marie Van Britain Brown, and discussed what they did and why they become so important to our society. Together we have a created a giant bus to go in display around our school.

We are excited to continue supporting their growth and development throughout their time in Reception and beyond. Enjoy your half term!  

Dear Parents/Carers,

This half term has been an exciting one for the children where we have been on two local trips! Our first ever trip in reception was to the memorial park, we had made poppies and placed them in the soil around the memorial stone. We then had a minute silence to pay our respect, to those who passed away in WW2. Our second trip was to the local forest, where we collected sticks to make our very own stickman and read the story “Stickman”.  

In Maths we revisited number formation, we explored routines and what we may do at different times in the day. Children were able to differentiate between 2D and 3D shapes. Children used cubes to measure how long different object were, they used key words, short/shorter than, shortest and long/ longer than/ longest to compare lengths of different objects. We explored positional language and repeated patterns. 

In Literacy we have been labelling and describing characters in stories, making our own firework safety poster, writing letters and writing cards. We are already able to apply our phonics learning by writing initial sounds, simple words and short sentences and tricky words.

In Science the children have engaged in different experiments, predicting what will happen, testing and then evaluating whether their prediction was correct or not. Children have also engaged in sorting activities. For example, children sorted animals into nocturnal and non-nocturnal animals. We explored dark and light by using torches and investigated what items may float and what items may sink, we also had discussions to explore why certain materials float/sink.  

In ART, children have had the opportunity to explore different mediums to be creative with, such as water colours, paint and chalk. They learnt that chalk can be smudged to create a different affect. They have loved been really creative using autumn leaves the children brought into school in various ways.  

In PE we have developed our gross motor skills, fine motor skills, listening skills and our teamwork skills through engaging games. Children have worked so hard whilst changing for PE, by having a go if they can’t do something the first time they try. For example, doing and undoing buttons, putting shoes on the right foot. Although, children are working on keeping their belongings together, having their name on all things, supports them to become more independent.  

The children were amazing during the EYFS Nativity show! We are so proud of every single child who took part. Children have loved singing the songs and often request to hear songs from the Nativity well after our performances. Every child grew in confidence and shone like the star they are!

Children have been so creative for this festive season. They have made their own Christmas hat that they wore to their Christmas lunch, a Christmas card, a salt dough ornament, a Christmas tree decoration, a calendar for next year, just to name a few.  

We hope you all have a lovely restful break and we cannot wait to see you again in the New Year! : )

Dear Parents/Carers,

This term has flown by with so many exciting activities keeping us engaged every week. We have had a blast exploring the theme of ‘traditional tales’ with a fresh twist. We delved into the classic versions of stories like Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Cinderella, but our main focus was on their modern adaptations.

In Literacy, the children have been enthusiastically writing sentences, letters, and creating different types of story maps. They have enjoyed describing different parts of the stories that we have read and even changing the endings. We have also been working on writing neatly on the lines, using capital letters at the beginning of sentences, leaving finger spaces between words, and placing a full stop at the end of each sentence. Additionally, we have emphasised the importance of reading what we have written to ensure it makes sense. Over the weeks, the children have made significant progress in their writing skills, and we are dedicated to further enhancing their abilities in this area.

In Maths, the children have enjoyed learning about mass, capacity, weight, and height. They have also explored the composition of number 5, different ways to represent numbers, and the concepts of one more and one less. 

In Science, we have explored the concept of waterproofing and how different materials used in items like clothing can affect their suitability for different weather conditions. Through an activity, we made a cape using different materials and investigated which material was most effective for repelling rain. We also delved into the concept of aging, observing how we grow up. We compared pictures of ourselves as babies to how we look now, sparking discussions on the changes over time.

In Art, we got creative with a DIY scratch art activity using paper, crayons, black paint, and soap, which was a lot of fun. Additionally, we made sock puppets using spare socks from home.

In Music, we thoroughly enjoyed learning fun songs like ‘Wolfie blues’ and ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’ We learned different actions to go with the songs and even had the opportunity to act them out. 

Since returning from the Christmas holidays, dancing has been non-stop in Reception! We have introduced a speaker that adds even more fun to the mix. Every day, the children have been dancing to different songs, making their time in Reception even more enjoyable and lively.

During the last week of this incredible half term, we received a letter from Cinderella and the Prince inviting us to their ball – a moment of pure excitement! We practiced our dance moves and attended our first ball, enjoying the dance and tasting delicious, healthy snacks.

Just before the half term holidays, we participated in an amazing Art activity where we had our faces painted. Children selected their desired patterns, and teachers painted their faces, such a nice activity! 

To wrap up the term, we celebrated Chinese New Year with both Reception classes. We had a lively parade, marching through the corridors and ending up in the Year 1 playground. Children wore masks, ribbons, and carried a big dragon, dancing to celebrate the occasion.

We also want to say a big thank you to the parents who took the time to visit Reception and share their knowledge about Ghana with the children. The children greatly appreciated these conversations and asked many questions, deepening their understanding of Ghana. Thank you once again to everyone who contributed.

The Reception team wish you a wonderful half term holiday, and we look forward to seeing you again in one week's time.

Dear Parents/ Carers,

This term has been super fun with so many different activities which encouraged creativity whilst also promoting learning.

We started this term by going back in time to the fascinating dinosaur era. We learnt so many facts about dinosaurs and children even made their very own dinosaur fossil using clay. Children explored how dinosaurs became extinct including volcanos and asteroids. They were fully immersed in learning about natural disasters creating safety bunkers and making emergency kits. Watch out! There’s a tornado!! (Not really, but the children thought there was, especially when it was windy). Then we learnt about space, we focused on our solar system including aspects of space such as the moon, earth and the sun. Children travelled all around the world as they made their own transport using recycled materials, they thoroughly enjoyed junk modelling carefully thinking about what 2D and 3D shaped materials were required to make their model. Never fear, Reception are here! Reception children (and their adults at home) used their superpowers to create an upcycled superhero costume. They participated in a “superhero fashion show,” being so brave as parents/carers cheered on, *psst* parents/ carers were the best audience ever!

During the last week of term, we were so lucky to have parent volunteers come into school to speak about their jobs and how they might help people. Children listened on with great interest. On the theme of how different people help us, we made our way to the fire station in Chingford, where children engaged in a range of immersive activities.

In Maths, children have developed their knowledge of number to 10. Many activities promoted recall of number bonds to 10. Including but not limited to number bond relay racing, number bond scavenger hunts and number bond rainbows where corresponding numbers to number bonds were connected to form a rainbow.

In Literacy, children wrote facts about dinosaurs, natural disasters, space, transport and people who help us. They also engaged in writing their very own comic strips and using superhero sound effect words such as “POW!” “BANG!” “SWOOSH!”, some children even created their own sound effect, using a sound mat to help them to write the sounds.   

In Science, we explored how an earthquake is measured using a seismograph, shaking the box faster and slower to see the difference in the “recording” of the earthquake. Children experienced the rotation of earth and the moon, by roleplaying the earth, moon and sun. Many science experiments were conducted, some with balloons, with the focus on children making predictions. We then observed these experiments and children discussed whether their predictions came true or not. When predictions did not come true, some children discussed what they would change next time.

In ART, a range of materials and resources were used to enhance children’s experience. Focusing on materials which can be repurposed, children unleashed their creativity whilst actively contributing to recycling.

In Music, musical instruments and songs have been used to create a rhythm, playing the instruments softly and loudly.

We would like to thank all the Parents and Carers for their support and collaboration this term, their time and effort has really helped to enhance the children’s experiences.

We cannot wait to be back after the Easter holidays with even more exciting learning opportunities : ]