Creative Easter Fun in Reception!
Our little artists have been busy crafting their own Easter chicks! Using bright colors, fluffy materials, and lots of creativity, they carefully designed their adorable chicks. This activity not only gets us into the Easter spirit but also helps develop fine motor skills and artistic expression. Well done, everyone—your chicks look amazing!
Reception Class - Imaginative Play
Today, the children embraced the warmer weather by spending time outdoors, engaging in imaginative play through dressing up. This type of pretend play is vital for their development, fostering creativity, social skills, and emotional expression. By adopting various roles and scenarios, they enhance their cognitive abilities and learn to navigate different social situations.   According to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, such activities contribute significantly to children’s personal, social, and emotional development, as well as their communication and language skills. Encouraging pretend play supports their ability to express themselves and understand the world around them. We look forward to more sunny days filled with exploration and creative adventures!
Reception Class - Handwriting
Our Reception children have been busy developing their handwriting skills today! With the support of our teachers, they have been working hard on letter formation, pencil grip, and fine motor skills. Handwriting is an essential skill that builds confidence in early writing and supports overall literacy development. Through focused practice and encouragement, our young learners are making great progress. Well done, everyone—keep up the fantastic work!
Online Safety - Instagram
Instagram remains a go-to app for teens, with its endless stream of photos, videos, and ‘Stories’ keeping young users constantly connected. From influencer content to live broadcasts, the platform is packed with evolving features that can feel fun and engaging – but can also raise some serious concerns around screen time, online pressures and exposure to inappropriate content. We’ve created this free guide – also available in podcast format – offering parents and educators up-to-date knowledge on the risks and safety tips for this latest version of Instagram.
Reception PE - Rocking and Rolling
During today’s PE lesson, the children engaged in a sea-themed movement activity, demonstrating a variety of physical skills through imaginative play. At the start of the session, they identified different sea creatures using a resource card, confidently naming animals such as sharks, crabs, octopuses, fish, seahorses, and starfish. The children moved around the space, carefully navigating the gaps between mats while imitating the movements of different sea creatures. Most children confidently transitioned between actions, crawling like crabs, floating their arms like octopuses, and galloping like seahorses. When the teacher called out “shark,” the children quickly responded by tucking into a small shape, showing good listening skills. As the session progressed, they were challenged further by balancing on a mat when the teacher said, “watch out, shark!” Many children attempted this with enthusiasm, and some were able to maintain their balance for a few seconds. In the second part of the session, children worked in pairs to explore different rolling movements. They enjoyed pretending to be “rocking sea turtles,” hugging their knees and rocking side to side. Most were able to maintain their shape and some successfully progressed to rocking backward and sitting back up without using their hands. They then attempted “barrel rolls” like rolling turtles, following the demonstration from the video resource. A few children found it challenging to maintain the correct shape throughout, but with encouragement, many improved their coordination. The final activity focused on “rolling seals,” where children practised straight rolls. Some were able to keep their bodies in a tight shape, while others needed reminders to keep their legs together. To challenge themselves further, a few children attempted to roll while keeping a beanbag in place, which helped improve their body control.
Reception - Art and Design - Painting Frames
The children in reception showed great enthusiasm and creativity while painting their photo frames. They carefully selected their favorite colours and took their time applying the paint, demonstrating both independence and personal preference. As they added sequins and glitter, they experimented with different placements and combinations, enhancing their fine motor skills and artistic expression. Their excitement was evident as they admired their unique and colourful designs, showing pride in their work.
Reception - Maths - 2D and 3D Shapes
This week, the children have been busy exploring 2D and 3D shapes in a variety of fun and engaging ways. They have been identifying and naming different shapes, using them to build structures, and hunting for shapes in the environment around them. Through these activities, the children have been developing their mathematical thinking, strengthening their ability to recognize and describe shapes—key skills in the EYFS Mathematics framework. They have been using language to talk about the properties of shapes, such as the number of sides, corners, and faces, deepening their understanding of spatial awareness. It has been wonderful to see their curiosity and excitement as they discover how shapes are all around us!
The Benefits of Reading Every Day!
Reading with your child every day has a huge impact on their learning and development. It helps to build their vocabulary, improve their imagination, and develop a lifelong love of books. Just 10-15 minutes of reading each day can strengthen their confidence, comprehension skills, and ability to express themselves. Encouraging daily reading—whether it’s a bedtime story, sharing a book together, or letting them read aloud—helps to support their progress in school and beyond. Thank you for making reading a special part of their day!
Online Safety - Streamers
Livestreaming is now a major part of children’s entertainment, evolving from gamers sharing screens into a booming industry with diverse personalities. While watching streamers can be entertaining, it comes with no small number of risks for children, such as misinformation, negative influences, and inappropriate content. With over 2.5 million viewers on Twitch – the current most popular streaming platform – at any one time, this guide highlights the potential dangers associated with watching livestreams and the importance of staying informed. We’ve created this free guide – also available in podcast format – to provide parents and educators everything they need to know about streamers and how to keep children protected.
Reception - Maths - Number bonds
To support their understanding of number bonds to 10, the children today participated in a Numicon-based activity in small groups. This session encouraged collaboration, with some children taking on the active role of "Numicon detectives" to physically explore and identify the number combinations that total ten. To consolidate their learning, one child from each group was responsible for writing down the different number bonds they found. This multi-faceted approach allowed for both hands-on exploration and the development of recording skills.
Family Easter Egg Competition
Dear Parents/Carers, Our annual Family Easter Egg Competition is almost here! This year’s theme is “All Things Easter”, so let your creativity shine! You could design your eggs based on: • Easter animals like chicks, bunnies, or lambs • Traditional Easter symbols such as crosses, baskets, or spring flowers • Fun Easter scenes like an egg hunt or a chocolate feast • Characters with an Easter twist—perhaps an “Egg Minion” or a “Bunny Superhero”! All entries should be clearly labelled with your child’s name and class and brought into school by Wednesday, 9th April. The winners will be announced during worship on Thursday, 10th April. Good luck—we’re egg-cited to see your fantastic creations!
Reception’s Exciting World Book Day Celebration!
Reception had a fantastic time celebrating World Book Day this year! Our chosen story was Supertato, and the children were absolutely thrilled by the adventures of Evil Pea and his mischievous antics. In the afternoon, they got creative by decorating their own potatoes to represent their favorite characters from the story. To end the day, we visited the library to swap our books and enjoyed sharing the Supertato story with our grown-ups. It was a wonderful day full of fun, creativity, and a love for reading!
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