It’s been another very busy week in Reception.

The children have spent lots of time rehearsing for their Nativity performance next Thursday. Thank you to all the families who have already sent in undergarments; if you haven’t yet done this, please send them in by Tuesday at the very latest.  Thank you for your continued support.

Reception have been learning all about Advent in class this week. They discovered  that the first candle on the Advent wreath represents ‘hope’. This theme has been central to the learning this week. The children discussed what it means to have hope and shared their own hopes and wishes with one another. Following this, they wrote down their thoughts and put them in the class jar of hopes, now on the prayer table.

The class listened to the story, ‘The World Made a Rainbow’ by Michelle Robinson. This beautiful book is set during one of the Covid Lockdowns and is the perfect reminder to have hope, fun and to pull together, even on the darkest of days. The children then drew pictures and wrote letters to people that they miss; they also painted beautiful rainbows which decorated the classroom beautifully!

The children also heard the story ‘My Friend Bear’ by Jez Alborough. This story is about a bear and a boy who both hope to find a friend and end up finding one another. Following this, the children made their own bears, bear masks and enjoyed writing about bears.

Directional language is an area for development for many of our children in Reception. To support this, the children have been exploring and programming the Beebots- a small robot. The children absolutely loved using these this week and have had lots of fun setting up obstacles, drawing maps, and then programming the Beebots to negotiate their way around them.

To celebrate the start of Advent, Reception have begun playing ‘spot the Nativity figure’ hidden around the classroom. Today Aurora found the Angel Gabriel hiding on top of the projector!  Great spot Aurora!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

The Reception Team

This week, Reception have joined the rest of the school in Anti-Bullying Week, focussing in particular on the themes of friendship, being kind and what to do if someone is being mean or they hurt you.

Reception started the week listening to the story of The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. This classic story embodies the simple message that sharing and being kind makes us all happy. In the book, a beautiful but selfish fish quickly lost friends when he refused to share and was  rude to other fish in the ocean. Luckily, by the end of the story he had gained them all back again, as a result of acting on some good advice and sharing his sparkling scales. In response to this, the children made their own beautiful scales and gave them away to their friends.

The children also used props from around the classroom along with the under-the-sea small world animals, to set up an ocean scene and re-enact the story of The Rainbow Fish.

Other activities focussing on friendship this week included: Making friendship bracelets for one another, writing cards, painting hands of friendship and thinking about who our special friends are and why they are good friends.

In Maths this week, the children have been subitising objects to 5 and exploring the composition of 5 on a five frame. Not only did the children find multiple ways to make 5, many also recorded their learning independently and some children even had a go at writing number sentences!!! Amazing learning!

Next week, the children will be learning about the Jewish Festival of Light- Hanukkah.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

The Reception Team

Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely half term break!

This week, Reception have been learning all about the Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali.

They learnt about how Hindu families prepare for this special celebration and why they celebrate it. The children then had fun making Diva lamps, Rangoli patterns, Diwali cards and trying on traditional clothing.

During the latter part of the week,  Reception learnt about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot and why we celebrate Bonfire Night. They also learnt the Firework Code and made their own firework safety posters. The children also thought about the things they would need to host a firework party- some children even used their phonic knowledge independently to write a list! They also made their own fireworks from junk modelling material.

It was lovely to see so many of you during the parent consultations this week. A summary of the conversation will be in your child’s book bag on Monday. Thank you for your continued support!

Wishing you all a nice weekend,

The Early Years Team

This week, Reception have been learning about growing up and how we change as we grow older. They have been thinking about all of the things that they couldn’t do when they were a tiny baby and comparing them with the things that they are able to do now, all by themselves.

On Thursday, we had two very special visitors to Reception’s class- Ella’s mummy and her baby brother Eric. Ella and her mummy told the class all about how they look after Eric and how they keep him safe and healthy. The children also had the opportunity to ask Ella some really good questions about her little brother. Next week, we are looking forward to welcoming even more visitors to our class. These special visitors are going to tell Reception about how they help other people! One of the visitors is a vet and the other a dentist!

Alongside our ‘growing up’ theme this week, Reception have also been thinking about how we celebrate birthdays. They have been very busy making birthday cards, hats, party lists and party banners; they even turned the outside role-play area into a party room! This has been a very popular and fun role play activity!!

In Religion this week, Reception have been learning about a very special book- The Bible. They worked in pairs to draw their favourite story from the Bible and shared their learning with the rest of the class. The adults were amazed at how well the children co-operated and worked together!

As you will have seen, Reception have started their phonics learning this week. Thank you for supporting your child with their home learning. This short activity at home really does help to consolidate the day’s new sound and the children are so proud to show the adults their writing the next morning!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,

The Reception Team

Reception have had another wonderful week in their new class and it’s fair to say that the children are now very settled and confident in their new learning environment!

This week, Reception have been thinking about themselves and how they are all special and unique. As part of this focus, the children all painted a picture of themselves which have been proudly displayed in the Reception classroom. We have some very talented artists in our class it seems!

Reception class took advantage of the beautiful weather at the beginning of the week and really enjoyed playing with the sports equipment and exploring the space on the school field. We are so blessed to have such wonderful school grounds to take advantage of!

Some of the children have also taken part in some gardening this week. Every class in the school has a school flower bed that they have responsibility for. Sadly, the Reception bed is looking a little sorry for itself at the moment. Over the past few weeks, the children from other classes have been bringing in bulbs and bedding plants from home and brightening up their flower beds and we wondered if our children could do the same? Any donation however small would be gratefully received! Thank you!

Today, alongside the rest of the school, the class took part in a special mass to celebrate the start of the new school year and welcome them into the Pope Paul School community. The children were all absolutely fantastic, demonstrating incredible focus and reverence. All the adults in the school were very proud of them!

This afternoon, a very special occasion took place- the children met their Year 6 reading partners. This is a very important tradition at Pope Paul School dating back years and is an important part of the settling in process. The relationship formed and nurtured with their partner during their Reception year is very special and one your child will never forget! Please see the Year 6 blog for photographs.

Thank you to the families who have already sent in a family photo(s). If you haven’t yet, please can you send it in by Tuesday morning, as we will be using them in our RE lesson. Thank you!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

The Reception Team