'All of us must be saints in this world. Holiness is a duty for you and me. So let's be saints and give glory to the Father' - Mother Teresa

It was lovely to welcome the children back to school after the holidays. They came back ready to learn and I couldn’t be prouder of them. They had remembered all that we had learnt so far and they had also remembered all the rules of our classroom. I was very impressed!

We have had such a busy week in Reception! We have hit the ground running with our learning and it has been non-stop. The children also had their first visit to church on Tuesday for the feast day of All Saints. They were so well behaved and respectful, and they did their very best to be quiet and still. I know that Father Frank was very impressed with them, and he made a fuss of them as were leaving.

Our theme in Reception this week has been celebrations. We have based our activities in our classroom around the Hindu festival of Diwali and Bonfire Night. We have also started daily guided reading sessions (just ten minutes a day) to start to help the children to fully understand and explore the texts they are hearing. This week we focused on the guided reading skills of vocabulary, prediction and inference with the book ‘The best Diwali ever’.

Look at what else we have been learning this week:

Phonics - the children have learnt three new sounds this week - ‘o’ - all around the orange, ‘c’ - curl around the caterpillar and ‘k’ - down the kangaroo’s body, tail and leg. We have also been practicing how to blend each day.

Literacy - we have started our Supertato talk for writing unit. The children came in to school on Wednesday to find that some vegetables had been trapped on the table! We then found a letter from the evil pea telling us that it was him who had done it! The children then wrote speech bubbles with what they thought the vegetables might be saying.

Understanding the world - the children learnt the story of Rama and Sita.

PSHE - we spoke about being ‘ready’ and what this might look like. The children sorted pictures of children who were ready to learn and those who were not.

Expressive Art & Design - the children have been creating Mendhi patterns this week.

Communication & Language - we practiced our listening skills through the game ‘boom, clap, grab’.

DT - the children have made their own Diwa lamps.

P.E. - the children learnt how to do an underarm throw.

Award winners

Each week during our school celebration assembly I will be handing out three certificates - Maths, Writing and a Golden award. Here are our winners for this week:

Maths - Arlo

Writing - Davern

Golden - Lincoln

Notices

  • A reminder to please ensure that all jumpers and cardigans are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

  • Please ensure your child’s water bottle is returned to school each day.

  • We will be holding a Christmas Fair on Sunday 4th December. More details to follow.

  • As we get closer to Christmas it is inevitable that bugs will start to circulate in the class. I just wanted to advise you that children can only return to school 48 hours after their last incident of sickness and diarrhoea. Thank you for your support with this.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Murray

Posted
AuthorCandice Heim-Sarac

Caring for each other and our world...

This week we have welcomed two new members into Reception - Nemo and Dory, our class fish! The children were so excited to meet them and to start caring for them. The children are responsible for feeding them twice a day and they will also help us to clean out the fish tank when needed! I know that having class pets will help the children to learn how to care for something else and just how important it is to be responsible and loving.

Each week the children will now also have the opportunity to bring home Barnaby the Bear. Barnaby is our class bear and he is very excited to spend the weekend with the children and their families. He will come home with a book for you to record your adventures for us all to read about on Monday (feel free to stick pictures in the book if you like!). He will also come home with a sachet of hot chocolate so that he can snuggle up with the children and listen to a story while your child has a yummy cup of hot chocolate!

Look at what we have been learning this week:

Phonics - the children have learnt the ‘t’ sound this week - down the tower, across the tower. We are not yet at the stage where the children can read however please practice these sounds with your children at home (recognising and writing them). After half term we will be aiming to learn a new sound every day.

Maths - we have focused on counting to 10 this week.

PSHE - we have thought about God’s world and how we can care for it.

Art - the children have been creating Art work based on the letters and numbers we have learnt so far.

R.E. - we used an inflatable globe to talk about all the wonderful things God made. We spoke about the things that can spoil the world such as littering and pollution.

P.E. - we have focused on learning to hop.

Award winners

Each week during our school celebration assembly I will be handing out three certificates - Maths, Writing and a Golden award. Here are our winners for this week:

Maths - Philip

Writing - Mabel

Golden - Hallie

Notices

  • Our P.E. days are Monday and Wednesday.

  • I still have a small number of parents who have not yet activated their Tapestry accounts. Please follow the activation link in the e-mail that has been sent out to you.

  • A reminder to please ensure that all jumpers and cardigans are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

  • We will be having a welcome assembly for the Reception children on the 11th October at 2.30pm. We would love it if you could attend!

  • Please ensure your child’s water bottle is returned to school each day.

  • On the 21st October we will be holding a Parent’s Day - a chance for you to meet with me for us to discuss your child’s progress. More details to follow!

  • There will be an Own Clothes Day on the 20th October (the last day of term). In exchange we are asking the children to bring in £1 towards PTA funds. Thank you for your support.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Murray

Posted
AuthorCandice Heim-Sarac

Our class family...

Time is really flying in Reception! The children have now completed two weeks of full time days and I am so unbelievably proud of all of them for how well they have adjusted to school life. They are a wonderful class and I am enjoying every moment of teaching them. We have spent a lot of time this week talking about looking after our classroom as we have had a few incidents of broken toys and damaged equipment. We will continue to teach the children how to care for things but if you could reiterate the message at home that we must treat things with respect. Thank you!

We have also given the children jobs this week. They are now each in charge of a different area in our class room that they will tidy at various points throughout the day. Myself and the other members of staff have been working with the children in their different areas to show them how to tidy and where things go. They are enjoying this new responsibility!

Look at what we have been learning this week:

Phonics - the children have learnt two news sounds this week: ‘s’ - slide around the snake and ‘d’ - round his bottom, up his tall neck and down to his feet. We are not yet at the stage where the children can read however please practice these sounds with your children at home (recognising and writing them).

Maths - we have carried on with learning to subitise but we have also had a focus on number 1 and number 2 this week using our number block friends to help us!

PSHE - we have talked a lot about our class family and how important it is that we look after each other and our class room. The children created a piece of artwork to represent our class - a heart made out of gems.

Art - the children created a feelings jar in line with our work on the Colour Monster.

R.E. - we have learnt what God created on which day during the seven days of creation. We spoke about how we can care for God’s world. The children then picked an item from the rainbow box and tried to think of something matching that colour that God made.

P.E. - we missed a P.E. session this week due to our school photos being taken however we made up for it on Wednesday with some dancing and yoga!

Award winners

Each week during our school celebration assembly I will be handing out three certificates - Maths, Writing and a Golden award. Here are our winners for this week:

Maths - Arthur

Writing - Esmae P

Golden - Noah

Notices

  • Our P.E. days are Monday and Wednesday.

  • I still have a small number of parents who have not yet activated their Tapestry accounts. Please follow the activation link in the e-mail that has been sent out to you.

  • A reminder to please ensure that all jumpers and cardigans are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

  • We will be having a welcome assembly for the Reception children on the 11th October at 2.30pm. We would love it if you could attend!

  • Please ensure your child’s water bottle is returned to school each day.

  • On the 21st October we will be holding a Parent’s Day - a chance for you to meet with me for us to discuss your child’s progress. More details to follow!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Murray

Posted
AuthorCandice Heim-Sarac

Every flower blooms in its own time…

The children have been little superstars this week and I have been so impressed at just how well they have adapted to full time days. We know this is a tricky time and that some children may struggle with change, but on the whole there have been lots of smiles, beautiful behaviour and full tummies! The children have enjoyed having their lunch at school, and there have been lots of empty plates each day. Well done Reception!

We have hit the ground running with our learning this week. Here is what we have been up to…

Phonics - the children have learnt two news sounds this week: ‘m’ - maisie, mountain, mountain and ‘a’ - round the apple and down the leaf. Phonics is an integral part of our school day and it enables the children to recognise and learn sounds and their corresponding graphemes (letters) which will in turn lead to them blending these sounds together and being able to read. We are not yet at the stage where we can read however please practice these sounds with your children at home (recognising and writing them).

Maths - we have been learning to subitise this week (recognising an amount without counting). The children have done fantastically well at this and they have enjoyed applying this knowledge to various Maths games.

PSHE - we have read the book The Colour Monster this week and we have discussed the various emotions we can feel.

Art - the children have done a blow painting of The Colour Monster.

R.E. - we have learnt that God created the world in seven days. The children then chose an item from our classroom that they believed God had made to place on our R.E. table.

P.E. - In Reception there are five FMS (fundamental movement skills) that we will be working on with the children. One of these is jumping for distance. In P.E. the children took part in a carousel of activities that gave them lots of opportunities to practice their jumping skills.

Award winners

Each week during our school celebration assembly I will be handing out three certificates - Maths, Writing and a Golden award. The children attended their first celebration assembly today with their buddies and here are the winners for this week:

Maths - Layla

Writing - Esme

Golden - Eva

Reading records

Even though we are not yet at the stage where the children can read independently, I still think it is extremely important that the children are exposed to a variety of texts on a regular basis to help to develop their love of reading. Today your child has come home with a reading record so that you can write in it which books you are reading together at home. You can also let us know if your child enjoyed the book - this will give us a good idea of their interests. Thank you for your support with this.

Notices

  • Our P.E. days are Monday and Wednesday.

  • It is school photo day this coming Monday. Please send your child to school in full school uniform even though it is a PE day for us. Thank you.

  • I still have a small number of parents who have not yet activated their Tapestry accounts. Please follow the activation link in the e-mail that has been sent out to you.

  • A reminder to please ensure that all jumpers and cardigans are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

  • We will be having a welcome assembly for the Reception children on the 11th October at 2.30pm. We would love it if you could attend!

  • Please ensure your child’s water bottle is returned to school each day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Murray

Posted
AuthorCandice Heim-Sarac

'The best time for new beginnings is now'

Our part time days have now come to an end! It has been a joy to spend such quality time with the children this week as they have continued to grow and settle in to their new routines. I am still in awe at how well they are all doing and at how they seem to be taking everything in their stride. Next week brings new challenges with full school days and the whole class coming together as one. I am confident that the children will mix beautifully and that they will grow to love one another quickly.

As you know, we will not be in school on Monday as it is Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. We have thought about the Queen and her family in our thoughts and prayers this week and we will continue to do so.

Yesterday and today the children met their buddies in Year 5! It was so lovely to see the older children interacting with the younger ones. The children have brought home a letter from their buddy for you to read. They were so excited to meet them and show them around the Reception classroom. There are some pictures at the end of this blog.

Here is some important information for you:

  • PE will start from the week beginning the 19th September. Our PE days are Mondays and Wednesdays.

  • All the children have been given a new school water bottle. This will come home each night to be cleaned and re-filled. Please only use the school bottles and ensure your child brings theirs each day. Lost water bottles can be replaced at the school office, but I am afraid you will have to pay for those. Reception have white tops.

  • All parents should now have received their Tapestry activation links. Please activate your account this weekend if you have not yet done so to enable you to see updates about your child.

  • Please can I ask that all jumpers and cardigans have your child’s name written inside. We are already having daily instances where items of clothing are getting mixed up so this would be very helpful.

  • A reminder that children are not allowed on the trim trail near the Reception classroom at drop off or pick up. Thank you.

  • We will be having a welcome assembly for the Reception children on the 11th October at 2.30pm. We would love it if you could attend! The assembly will be led by Year 5 and Year 6.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Heim-Sarac, Mrs Debowska and Miss Murray

Posted
AuthorCandice Heim-Sarac