Early Years Foundation Stage

As the Autumn term draws to a close, we’re excited to share a glimpse into the incredible journey of learning and growth your children have embarked on so far. 

To celebrate and showcase their hard work, we have created a special Spotlight on Learning. This interactive Microsoft Sway presentation captures the highlights of this term, showcasing what the children have learnt and how their experiences have been enriched both inside and outside the classroom.

How to View the Spotlight

Click here to access the Microsoft Sway presentation and take a virtual tour through the learning journey of the first half of the autumn term.

We hope you enjoy this opportunity to see the progress and enthusiasm your children have shown over the past weeks. It’s a testament to their hard work, curiosity, and the supportive community we’ve built together.!

The recent Diwali Workshop was an incredible experience for our Reception children.

One of the highlights of the day was the interactive retelling of Rama and Sita: The Diwali Story. This engaging session brought the ancient tale to life, captivating the young minds and offering them a memorable introduction to the story behind Diwali.

Beyond the story, the children were introduced to the various customs and rituals that make Diwali so special. From the lighting of diyas (oil lamps) to the colorful decorations and festive foods, they learned all about the traditions that make the festival so vibrant.

The fun didn’t stop there—everyone had the chance to learn a traditional song wishing good luck, which added to the excitement. To top it all off, the children joined in a joyful dance, embracing the spirit of Diwali with energy and enthusiasm.

All in all, it was the perfect way to end the week, creating lasting memories for our Reception children. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s support, making this Diwali Workshop a truly unforgettable experience for our young learners.

Last term, our Reception and Year 5 children embarked on a cosmic journey through their topic and science lessons by delving into the wonders of space! We were thrilled to welcome a mobile planetarium show to our school on 10th May, transforming our hall into a gateway to the Universe.

The planetarium show was an engaging and immersive experience that brought the mysteries of the skies and the thrill of space exploration right to our students.

For our Reception pupils, the show took them on an exciting tour of the planets, shared tales of brave astronauts, and showcased the sheer power of rockets. "I loved flying past the planets! It felt like I was in a spaceship," said Emma from Reception. Miss Smith added, "It was wonderful to see the children’s eyes light up with curiosity and excitement. The show truly ignited their interest in the world and Universe around them."

Our Year 5 students had an equally awe-inspiring experience. The show provided them with a greater understanding and appreciation of our position in the Universe. From introducing the sheer scale of the Universe to demonstrating how the Moon moves through its phases, the presenters made complex concepts easy to grasp. Milan from Year 5 exclaimed, "I never knew the Universe was so huge! The part about the Moon phases was really cool." If time allowed, Year 5 students also got to ask their burning space-related questions.

Mr Lillie was particularly impressed, noting, "The WonderDome experience was truly awe-inspiring. It sparked a desire in the students to learn more about space, and it was fantastic to see their enthusiasm."

We’re so proud of our budding astronomers in Reception and Year 5. This cosmic adventure has undoubtedly sparked a lasting interest in the wonders of space. Well done, everyone!

The children all settled back into Nursery life quickly following the Christmas break and did a super job of remembering our rules and routines. At the beginning of our Spring term, we had lots of new friends join us in Nursery, they all settled in well and quickly became a wonderful addition to our Nursery!

Our Spring 1 topic was ‘People Who Help Us’ and we kick started this by having some great discussions about all the different people who help us and what it is they do to help us. We spent time learning all about the Emergency Services, focusing on Police, Paramedics and Firefighters. We spoke about what they can do to help us in an emergency and even had a go at matching the Emergency Services with the different scenarios. We have also learnt about the importance of calling ‘999’ in an emergency. We were lucky to have three Police Officers visit us where they told us lots of information and we got to ask them some questions too. Our favourite part was when we got to wear the Police Officers hat and sit in their Police car! We have also spent time learning all about the roles of a dentist and a vet. We especially enjoyed exploring our Veterinary Surgery role play area where we put all our knowledge of vets to good use and helped to make all the animals better. During this topic we were also very lucky to have visits from two of our Parents one of whom is a children’s Doctor, it was so interesting to hear all about the important work she does to make us feel better when we are unwell. Our other visitor told us all about her job at the hospital, we especially loved the video of the emergency helicopter landing!

Our Spring 2 topic was ‘Once Upon a Time’ where we focused on a different traditional tale each week. We started our topic by reading the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We enjoyed listening to this story, answering questions and joining in with the ‘fee fi fo fum’ chant! During our busy time, we were busy using our hands to mix blue and yellow paint together to make the colour green which we then hand printed onto our very own beanstalks, they look great! We were so excited to plant our very own beanstalks. We spent time talking about how we can care for our beanstalks to make sure they grow big and strong (just like us!) We also read the story of The 3 Little Pigs and retold this during our play. We were busy building our own houses out of straw, sticks and bricks and testing them out together to see which one is the strongest. We also created our own paper plate pigs and drew maps to help Mummy pig find her way to the 3 little pigs houses. We have also read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, The 3 Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood!

This half term we have also enjoyed lots of additional enrichment activities such as National Storytelling week, Children’s Mental Health week, World Book Day and STEM Week. During National Storytelling week our focus story was The Gingerbread Man. We used our five senses to explore a gingerbread man biscuit (our favourite part was eating it, yum!) During our busy time we had fun creating our own gingerbread characters as well as using our maths skills to match the correct amount of pegs to the numeral on the gingerbread man. We loved drawing giant gingerbread men on the big paper and working together to decorate them. As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, we spent time talking and thinking all about our feelings. We practised recognising feelings by looking at different facial expressions and sharing times that we have felt different emotions and why we felt that way. The children enjoyed watching video clips from the film ‘Inside Out’ – they especially liked the ‘guess the feelings’ game that we played. Throughout the week we read both ‘The Colour Monster’ and ‘The Crayons Book of Feelings’ and spent time discussing the different colours and emotions from both books. During busy time, the children enjoyed completing a feelings sorting activity where they had to recognise the sad, happy and angry pictures and sort them to the correct emotion.

In Maths this term we have been singing a range of number rhymes as well as practising our number recognition to 5. We have also spent lots of time practising our counting skills and completed activities where we had to match the amount of toys to the correct numeral. We have been learning all about how to compare amounts using the words ‘more than’ and ‘less/fewer than’ as well as developing our understanding of positional language. We have spent time reviewing our knowledge of 2D shapes by naming and describing their properties. In the Maths area, we loved tracing round the 2D shapes to see what pictures we could create. We then moved onto learning about 3D shapes which we have learnt is a shape that has three dimensions and is not flat.

This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week with the theme of ‘My Voice Matters’. Over the course of the week, we have been doing lots of different activities to encourage the children to talk about their feelings because ‘it matters!’ We ended the week with a dress up day where we all wore something to express ourselves!

Our entire school recently took part in Storytelling Week, from 27 January to 4 February! 📖 This incredible annual event is a vibrant celebration of the power that stories hold, reminding us of the joys of sharing them. ✨📚

 Stories have the remarkable ability to teach us about the world around us, letting us step into someone else’s shoes, encouraging empathy, and broadening our horizons. They also provide a means to relax and escape from the everyday, whilst nurturing essential literacy skills. 

To kickstart the week,  Mrs. Ryder and Mr. Gilbert, shared an enchanting tale during our assembly. They then set a thrilling challenge for the children: to learn and retell a traditional story over the course of the week! 📚📝

 The culmination of this exciting week was a magnificent assembly, where each year group showcased their incredible storytelling skills. The performances were absolutely captivating! 

 Throughout the week, our eager students eagerly shared stories amongst themselves, and were treated to some mesmerizing tales from adults around the school. In addition to this, all parents, grandparents, aunites and uncles were invited in to school to read with their children and share stories.

🌟 We are immensely proud of all our students for their enthusiasm and creativity during Storytelling Week. Their dedication to honing their storytelling skills was truly inspiring! 🌟

Let's keep the magic of storytelling alive throughout the year, nurturing a love for tales that will last a lifetime! 💫📚