Reception- PSHE-People Who Help Us To Keep Safe
In our PSHE lesson today, we became safety superstars as we explored the many wonderful people who help keep us safe. We began by identifying the trusted adults at home and school, as well as the heroes we might meet when we are out and about in our community. The children’s curiosity shone during our "What’s in the Bag?" game, where they used clever clues to guess different helpers. We then brought these roles to life through imaginative role-play, dressing up as police officers, firefighters, doctors, and teachers—even practicing how we can be good friends and help each other! To wrap up our learning, we worked together on a jigsaw challenge, successfully matching our community helpers with the tools they use to look after us.
Reception- Science- Buoyancy
This week, our budding scientists in Reception took their learning into the fresh air to dive into the world of buoyancy. Armed with a variety of treasures found around the garden and indoors—from heavy stones and twigs to hollow plastic balls—the children practiced the art of making predictions, eagerly guessing which items would stay on the surface and which would sink to the bottom of the water trays. There were plenty of splashes and cheers as they tested their theories in real-time! Through this hands-on exploration, the children began to grasp the concept of density, discovering that it isn't just about size, but how "heavy" an object is for its size. By comparing how a large, light leaf dances on the surface while a tiny, solid pebble plunges downward, our young learners are already mastering the foundational physics of floating and sinking.
Nursery/Pre-school- Art And Design-Workshop-Making Flower Perfume
Little perfumers at work! Our workshop table was buzzing last week as the children created their very own custom flower scents. From sniping and pulling to pinching and squeezing, they put those fine and gross motor skills to the test! By exploring their five senses, every child mixed up a unique, flowery potion that was perfectly them.
Reception- Physical Development- Forest Friday
Over the past few weeks, our Reception children have really thrown themselves into Forest Friday and made the most of being outdoors. They’ve loved exploring the school and nursery grounds, turning into little builders as they created bug houses and heading off on an imaginative “Bear Hunt” through the bushes. Alongside all the fun, these sessions have also supported their physical development. Moving across uneven ground and using a range of outdoor equipment has helped to build both their gross and fine motor skills. Whether they were carrying logs to build a habitat or carefully using small tools, it’s been lovely to see their confidence and coordination grow in the fresh air.
Reception- Geography- Our Town
This week, our Reception explorers have been diving deep into our literacy focus, ‘The London Bus’, using the story’s journey through the capital as a springboard for our own local adventures. Inspired by the famous landmarks in the book, we shifted our focus closer to home to celebrate our town of Darwen. The children enjoyed reflecting on the familiar spots they have visited with their families and sharing exciting ideas about where they’d like to go next. Using these discussions as a blueprint, our young architects took to the construction area to recreate Darwen’s iconic skyline. It was wonderful to see their creativity in action as they selected different-sized blocks to represent the unique shapes of Darwen Tower, the Library, and the bustling Town Centre. From the greenery of Bold Venture Park to the local Swimming Baths and even a very busy Asda, the children demonstrated fantastic spatial awareness and teamwork while bringing our local community to life.
Nursery/Pre-School - Maths - Can You Place An Accurate Number Of Bugs On The Flower
This week, the children took part in a fun, bug-themed counting challenge. The activity focused on their ability to listen to a specific number and accurately represent that quantity by placing bugs onto a giant flower. When asked a question like "Can you place three bugs on the flower?", we made sure to give the children plenty of "thinking time." This allowed them to process the instruction and reflect on the number they heard before beginning the task. The children then practiced their one-to-one correspondence, carefully picking up and placing each bug one at a time until they reached the target number. To finish the task, the children were encouraged to count the bugs already on the flower to check their own work. This helped them reflect on whether the amount they had placed matched the number they were originally asked for. This hands-on approach was a fantastic way to build their confidence in counting and their understanding of how numbers relate to a physical group of objects.
.jpg)
Nurser/Pre-School-Geography-Understanding The World-Little Gardeners
The children had a fabulous week in the sunshine! They truly enjoyed getting muddy as they transformed into little gardeners. After choosing a special spot in our outdoor space, the children planted a variety of blooms, seeds, and bulbs. They have since loved watering their plants and sitting quietly in their new garden, watching and waiting for them to grow.
Reception- Technology-Follow The Mouse
In the bustling environment of the Reception classroom, the children took their first exciting steps into the digital world by mastering the IT mouse. With small hands poised carefully over the device, they practiced the fundamental skill of clicking the buttons to navigate the mouse along a winding track. This activity served as a fantastic practical application of positional language, as the children eagerly called out "left" and "right" to guide their movements and keep their mouse on the path. Developing this fine motor control is a huge milestone; it requires the coordination to input information into the mouse and how many steps it would make. Taking turns in this simple game with friends to show awareness of digital literacy.
Reception- Worship- Easter Story
The children in Reception were absolutely captivated this week as Jack the Puppet joined the circle to share the vibrant story of Palm Sunday. With Jack’s help, the children "travelled" to Jerusalem, imagining the dusty streets filled with waving palm branches and joyful shouts of "Hosanna!" as Jesus arrived on a humble donkey. Through Jack’s gentle storytelling, the children learned that Jesus didn't come as a powerful king to be served, but as a friend who showed extraordinary kindness to everyone he met. Jack explained how Jesus encouraged his disciples to follow his lead—teaching them that a small act of love, like sharing or helping a friend, is the most important job of all. It was wonderful to see the children's faces light up as they realised they could be "kindness champions" just like the disciples.
Nursery/Pre-School-Continuous Provision-Independent Learning
There has been lots of exciting independent learning happening in our Nursery/Pre-school this week! Our story of the week is Jasper’s Beanstalk. The children have enjoyed becoming 'little gardeners' and exploring different ways of planting flowers, creating beanstalks at the play dough table, and using their maths skills to measure beanstalks of different sizes.
Nursery/Pre-School - R.E - Kind Hands And Caring Hearts
This week, the children in Nursery and Preschool have been exploring the Easter story. We focused on the scene before the Last Supper, where Jesus washed his disciples' feet. To help the children understand this story, we watched a short cartoon video that showed how Jesus cared for his friends. Inspired by the video, the children had the opportunity to act out this act of service themselves. After taking off their shoes and socks, they used wet wipes to carefully clean their own feet, just as they had seen in the story. Following the activity, we sat together to talk about the meaning behind this story. We discussed how even though Jesus was a very special man, he still chose to help people and treat others with kindness. We linked this back to our own classroom values, reminding the children that at nursery, we always use our kind hands and kind words. We spoke about our mantra, sharing is caring, and how we look after all of our friends to make sure everyone is happy and included in our play.
Nursery / Pre-School - Maths - Hungry Hippos
This week, Nursery and Preschool engaged in an exciting, large-scale game of "Hungry Hippos" to support their mathematical development. The activity was adapted to meet different learning focuses, allowing all children to explore concepts of quantity and comparison through active play. Exploring Full and Empty For some children, the focus was on the concepts of "full" and "empty." As they moved around the classroom to collect the scattered balls, they closely observed how their baskets changed. They practiced identifying when their basket was "empty" at the start and the satisfying moment it became "full" once all the balls were gathered. Comparison and Equal Quantities Other children used the game to develop their understanding of comparison. Working in teams, they aimed to collect the "same" number of balls in each basket. This required great focus and teamwork as they counted their hauls and compared them to the other team's basket to see if the quantities were "equal" or "different." Matching and Sorting To add an extra challenge, some children focused on the properties of the balls as well as the quantity. They worked to ensure that both baskets were "identical" by matching the colors of the balls they collected. This encouraged high-level observation and sorting skills, as they had to find the exact color matches to make their sets the same. This energetic activity successfully combined physical movement with key mathematical language, helping the children visualize and describe the groups they were creating.
.png){kind=logo}
