Reception learning 12.06.26

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

This term our topic is Journeys. Our focus book this week was The Way to School.

Here is what we have been up to:

This week we learnt all about different methods of getting to school and how natural disasters can prevent some children from getting to school safely.

In Literacy we recapped our red words the,a,I,of,he,go,to,my,was,you,we,they,she,have,all,said. We wrote about the journey to school and what can be seen. Please continue to read 5 times a week with your children and work on set 1 or 2 sounds as well as word time words (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc).

In Maths this week the children have been creating and continuing complex patterns. We have also learned about doubling. We worked hard to show our understanding through practical activities. 

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Nursery learning-12.06.26

 

Important dates 

22nd June, 4:15- Reception New Parents Meeting

Playing Families in the Home Corner

The home corner has been a very busy place this week, with lots of children choosing to play mums, dads, brothers, sisters, and babies! It has been lovely to watch them act out the things they know from home life, whether that's cooking dinner, looking after a baby, going shopping, or playing with their siblings.

We have loved listening to the children's conversations as they decide who will be who, share out jobs, and create their own family stories. There has been some fantastic language being used, as well as lots of teamwork, problem-solving, and negotiating as they play together. It's wonderful to see how much they learn while having so much fun!

Chatting and Learning at Snack Time

Our snack area is another wonderful place for conversation and learning. While the area is closely supervised, the children are encouraged to develop their independence by choosing what they would like to eat, pouring their own water or milk, and helping to clear away afterwards by putting any leftovers into our compost bin.

The children absolutely love taking responsibility for these little jobs and take great pride in doing things for themselves. Snack time also provides a lovely opportunity for them to chat with their friends, share their ideas, and start conversations about topics that interest them. Some of our best discussions happen around the snack table!

Building, Creating and Working Together

We have seen some fantastic building work in our construction area this week! The children have worked brilliantly as a team, sharing ideas and building on each other's thoughts to create some amazing structures.

It has been wonderful to watch them plan, problem-solve, and work together as they decide what to build and how to make their creations even bigger and better. There has been lots of discussion, cooperation, and creativity, with the children showing great perseverance when things didn't quite go to plan. We are so proud of how they have supported one another and celebrated their shared achievements.

Magnificent Mud Play!

We've had some marvellous muddy play this week! With a mix of sunshine and rain, the ground has been perfect for digging, scooping, mixing, and exploring. The children have been keen to investigate the softer earth and have used the mud in all sorts of imaginative ways.

From making muddy meals and magical potions to creating building materials for their constructions, the children's creativity has been endless. Mud play has also encouraged lots of teamwork, conversation, and problem-solving as they shared tools, exchanged ideas, and worked together. It may be messy, but it's certainly one of our favourite ways to learn and explore!

On the Move!

As always, our collection of vehicles has been a big hit with the children. The balance bikes, in particular, have been very popular, and it has been lovely to see how much confidence the children are gaining as they use them.

The children are becoming increasingly skilled at controlling the bikes, steering around obstacles, judging their speed, and moving safely through busy spaces. Alongside developing their physical skills, they are learning to take turns, be aware of others, and show consideration for their friends. There have been lots of smiles, determination, and proud moments as the children challenge themselves and try something new.

Exploring Water and Wood

We added a wooden plank to the water area today, and it sparked lots of curiosity and exploration. The children were fascinated as they watched how the water travelled along the wood and began to investigate what would happen when different amounts of water were poured onto it.

There were some great discussions as the children noticed changes in the plank's texture when it became wet. They shared their observations, tested out their ideas, and explored the materials in their own ways. It was a simple addition that led to plenty of hands-on discovery and scientific thinking.

What Can You See?

In our focus groups this week, the children enjoyed some imaginative role play using toy phones to call their mums and dads and tell them what they could see. We set up a range of small scenes for the children to explore and talk about, encouraging them to look closely at the details.

With support, the children practised using descriptive language to explain what they could see, thinking carefully about colours, sizes, actions, and objects. There were some lovely conversations as the children shared their ideas and experimented with new vocabulary. Activities like this help to build confidence in speaking, listening, and expressing thoughts clearly to others.

Our Growing Nursery Garden

Look at our nursery garden! The children, alongside our amazing Mrs Luca, have been taking such good care of the plants, and it is really starting to show.

We now have a lovely mix of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers growing, and the children have enjoyed checking on them each day. They have been watering, weeding, and noticing all the changes as things begin to grow and flourish. There has been lots of excitement as they spot new shoots, flowers blooming, and produce starting to appear. It’s been a great way for the children to learn about caring for living things and watching how things change over time.

Mixing Colours and Exploring Change

This week we have been exploring colour mixing, starting with red and yellow. The children enjoyed experimenting to see what would happen when the two colours were combined.

There was lots of curiosity as they mixed paints together, made predictions, and then observed the changes that took place. Some children were keen to try different amounts of each colour to see if it made a difference, while others focused on describing what they could see happening. It led to some lovely discussions and plenty of opportunities for creative expression and discovery.

Nursery Certificates- 12.06.26

 

Congratulations to Rayaan, who has been awarded the E for Excellence certificate for always showing enthusiasm in his learning. We love seeing how eager Rayaan is to learn new skills and are very proud of the way he listens. Keep it up, Rayaan!

Congratulations to Finn who has been awarded the E for Excellence certificate for his fantastic listening skills and growing ability to follow through an instruction. Well done Finn!

Congratulations to Clara who has been awarded the E for Excellence certificate for her ever growing confidence! We love seeing how happy Clara is and how much she is now talking to her friends and teachers.

Reception certificates 12.06.26

 Reception E for Excellence

We have had a fantastic week of learning and there has been so much to celebrate and be proud of in Reception! 

These children worked extremely hard and have been rewarded for all of their determination and efforts.

Apple 

E for Excellence - Jirah

Star Writer - Shaheer

Amazing Attendance winner- Matei

 

Aspen 

E for Excellence - Elija

Star Writer - Jayden

Amazing Attendance winner- Hamza

 

Alder

E for Excellence - Evelyn

Star Writer - Austin

Amazing Attendance winner- Adian

Reception Trip - Call of the Wild Zoo

Reception Trip- Call Of The Wild Zoo

Dear Parents/ Carers,

On Friday 10th July, Reception children will be visiting Call Of The Wild Zoo. On the day of the trip, children need to arrive in the morning at normal school time (8.30am) and we will be leaving promptly at 9.00am and returning to school at approximately 3pm.

The cost of the travel and entrance fee must be paid for and we must ask that you make a voluntary contribution of £20 per child to cover these costs. This must be paid via ParentPay. In accordance with the New Education Reform Bill there is no obligation for parents to pay the voluntary contribution and no pupil will be omitted from the visit because his/her parents are unwilling or unable to pay. However, in practice, educational visits can only take place if sufficient contributions are received. If sufficient donations are not received, we may need to cancel the visit. Thank you for your anticipated support. Children should wear normal school uniform and comfortable shoes and will need to bring with them/ wear on the day the following:

A waterproof coat.
Packed lunch in a named, plastic (disposable) bag.
A hat and to be wearing sun cream (if we are fortunate enough to have hot weather).

Please click here to pay via ParentPay.

Please click here to complete the permission form and to order a school packed lunch. Please complete by Friday 19th June.

Many thanks for your continued support.

Mrs Stanley

Assistant Headteacher for Early Years and KS1

Reception learning 05.06.2026

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

This term our topic is Journeys. Our focus book this week was The Gruffalo.

Here is what we have been up to:

In Literacy we recapped our red words the,a,I,of,he,go,to,my,was,you,we,they,she,have,all and remembered that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop. This week the children enjoyed describing the Gruffalo and talking about his different features. We were impressed with their imaginative ideas and growing vocabulary!

Please continue to read 5 times a week with your children and work on set 1 and set 2 sounds as well as word time words (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc).

In Maths this week the children have been learning how to share objects equally between groups. They used a range of resources to explore fair sharing. The children showed enthusiasm and are becoming more confident in recognising when groups are equal and when they are not.

Thank you so much for all your generous donations for Rainbow Day. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Nursery Learning 1.6.26

This week we have been learning a lovely poem, all about Mud! We have been really impressed with how the children have learnt the words and remembered the actions. 

Here are the words, it would be great if parent's could listen to the children performing the poem. You could see if they can fill in the last word of the line and show you their actions.  

Scoop up some mud,
Stir it with a stick.
Splat it in a bowl,
give it all a mix.
Stick it in the oven,
put it on to bake.
Soon it will be ready - 
a lovely muddy cake. 

To support our learning of the Mud poem, the children got stuck into a wonderful sensory mud tray experience! There was lots of excitement as they squished, scooped, stirred, and explored the mud using a variety of tools. The children loved getting hands-on and discovering how the mud felt, moved, and changed as they played.

Armed with magnifying glasses, the children became little investigators, taking a closer look at the mud and spotting all the interesting details hidden within it. They enjoyed sharing their observations, describing what they could see and feel, and comparing their discoveries with their friends.

This messy, sensory-rich activity helped bring the poem to life, allowing the children to experience mud in a meaningful and memorable way. As they explored, they developed their curiosity, language skills, fine motor control, and confidence in investigating the world around them. Most importantly, they had lots of fun learning through play!The children enjoyed role-playing as chefs in the playdough area, creating a variety of imaginative meals. They used herbs from our garden, which they had helped to grow, carefully cutting them with scissors and adding them to their creations. This supported the development of their fine motor skills and hand strength while helping them make connections between gardening and cooking.

Using frying pans and a range of playdough tools, the children rolled, shaped, and moulded the dough while engaging in imaginative play and sharing ideas with their friends. The activity encouraged creativity, communication, and sensory exploration through the use of the fresh herbs they had nurtured themselves.

The children have been enjoying lots of mark-making opportunities using paints, chalks, and pencils. They explored making different lines, shapes, and patterns, expressing their ideas and creativity through a variety of media.

These activities help to develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and pencil control, providing important foundations for early writing. The children were proud to share their creations and enjoyed experimenting with different tools and techniques.

To continue our mud exploration theme, we transformed our water tray by colouring the water to resemble muddy puddles. The children were excited to investigate how the "muddy" water moved as they poured, scooped, and transferred it between containers.

Using lengths of guttering, the children explored how water travels, watching it flow down different pathways and experimenting with ways to change its direction. This hands-on activity encouraged curiosity, problem-solving, and early scientific thinking, while also supporting fine motor development through the pouring and scooping actions.

On Thursday, our nursery was transformed into a land of pure imagination when we welcomed the brilliant Freshwater Theatre Company for a morning of interactive storytelling. The children became official Story Hunters, embarking on a grand quest through the nursery to track down missing characters from their absolute favorite nursery rhymes. With imaginary magnifying glasses at the ready, our brave little explorers searched high and low for clues, and every single time a character was discovered, the room erupted into song as we all sang our hearts out to help our new friends.

To finish off the magical session, our wonderful storyteller wove all the characters the children had found into one giant, brand-new, spectacular story. The children’s faces were a picture of pure joy throughout, filled with giggling, dancing, gasping, and enthusiastic shouting. The Freshwater Theatre Company cast a wonderful spell over us all, and the children haven’t stopped talking about it since, so be sure to ask your little one tonight which character they helped find and if they can show you their best Story Hunter dance!