nursery and Reception

We are a pre-prep school with four classrooms - Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Here you can read about our happy and eager Pre-Reception and Reception classes.

Nursery

In Nursery, we combine the Montessori ethos and activities along with the seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Our small class sizes enables us to spend a lot of time working with the children individually. The children can work at their own paces and we can support and extend each child to have their own individual education plan. We regularly do cooking with the children. This introduces concepts such as measurements. We actively encourage the children to be independent, things like putting on their coats, doing up their zips and buttons by themselves. We have a snack every day and children and encouraged and supported to pour their own drinks. We have a strong emphasis on social skills when they come in. By the time they finish Nursery they are working harmoniously together, and they are prepared in regard to their phonics and their numeracy for Reception.

Latest Nursery Newsletter (Reception Info Below)

Autumn 2 week 1

Notes

Welcome back Parents,

The children have returned to the classroom in great spirits and have remembered our rules and routines well. We have had a super busy first week and the nursery class have been introduced to the five senses and the story and history of Guy Fawkes. Fireworks have played a huge part in the work this week as this time of year, with both Bonfire Night and upcoming Diwali, will see our skies filled with light.

PSHCE: Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, commemorates the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and typically involves bonfires and fireworks. We discussed the following:
- Personal Safety: we spoke about the potential dangers of fireworks and bonfires, emphasising the importance of staying safe and following instructions.
- Health and Well-being: Some of us do not like loud noises and would not want to join a fireworks party and that's okay. It is important to understand that we will not always like the same things, but we should know about different celebrations.

Nursery watched an informative video highlighting the importance of celebrating Guy Fawkes night and how they may celebrate in London. Many of the children remarked that they had not seen real fireworks before or held a sparkler. They did however, identify all the food and drinks associated with an outdoor party.

Literacy: Last term we discussed the ways in which our body looks after us. This week we explored what our senses are and why we need them. Nursery children watched an informative video highlighting the significance of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing. We talked about what our senses tell us and how and when we use them. Children said things such as; we touch toys when we play with them and we hold our pencils. They commented that they smell Miss Kasha’s cooking and try to guess what we will have for lunch. We taste our fruits and our lunch. We look at the new activities and we hear what our friends and teachers say.

Each child sat with their teacher 1:1 to identify, cut, and stick the labels; sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing, to its corresponding picture. We will focus on a different sense each week this half term.

Phonics: Each week we have phonics circles where we introduce a single letter sound and identify the objects that begin with that sound (i.e., letter Ii plate would have an igloo, an ice cream , an iron, etc.). We collect these objects on the phonics plate and make a silly alliterative story with them. This week’s sound is a “bouncy sound” and so we say “i” quickly and move our hand up (as if bouncing a ball on the palm of our hand) when we identify it. Our silly story for the “i” sound is, “Inky the iguana spilled the ink and hid in an igloo.” Following the introduction to the “Ii” sound the next lesson I mixed the objects from the Ii plate and some of the previously learned letter plates together and asked the children individually to choose an object, identify its sound and place it on the correct plate.

Maths: This week the children revisited 2D shapes, they were asked to identify circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, and one hexagon. Next they sat 1:1 with their teacher to cut out all the shapes and then stick them with a Prit stick on the corresponding sheet, to complete a picture of a bus. Each child created their own shape bus with the 2D shapes. Being able to use scissors to cut well is an important skill for many activities at school including art and craft.
Many of the children are now describing the characteristics of shapes without prompting, this is fantastic and will help them when we move onto 3D shapes.

Meditation: The children continue to practise meditation in the afternoons. They understand that it is a time to be quiet, still and to take deep breaths (in through our nose and out through our mouth). They maintain their focus for the three minutes and are intrigued by the notion of having guided meditation soon.

Forest School and Art: Mr Hurst conducted a science experiment making “water fireworks” with water, oil and food colouring. The food colouring drops through the oil and “dances” into the water.
Next, he presented the children with beautiful brightly coloured red, yellow and orange leaves and explained that they will make a bonfire art on black cards as the night sky. Each child selected their leaves, tiny sticks and sprinkles of glitter to create a gorgeous bonfire.

Show and Tell: The children have been showcasing their Communication and Language skills this week. They have proudly presented their wonderful, creative posters of their favourite celebrations. Thank you all for your efforts for the posters, their Halloween costumes and of course the pumpkins.

Next week, we will explore our sense of smell. Please discuss what they enjoy the smell of, i.e. baking bread, grass after the rain, perfume, and an unpleasant smell they do not like, for example, burnt food, boiling brussels sprouts, certain fish, etc. Please upload images to Tapestry or draw and scribe pictures with them to present.

Thank you all for returning their homework folders. Homework in nursery class is optional but recommended as it will help to consolidate their learning and help build a strong work ethic for when they start reception.

Our bead jar prize winners for this week are Ji and Sofia congratulations! The children earn beads for good manners, good listening, kindness, working hard, and following our classroom rules and routines.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
Miss Victoria McDonald, Mr Hurst, Mr Var, and Mrs Hazard

Reception

In Reception, the children learn to work as part of a team. We make use of a lot of modern technology, the interactive board, they use the laptops and iPads, and choose websites and activities they would like to play and work on. For literacy, we work on phonics and do lots of tricky words, sentences and creative writing. In numeracy, we do hands-on activities with measuring and time, 2D and 3D shapes, adding and taking away, being more independent and taking more responsibility, then having the option to make decisions for themselves, it helps them with their transition from Reception to Year 1.

Latest Reception Newsletter

AUTUMN TERM 2 - WEEK 7

Notes

3rd November 2023
Reception Class Autumn Term 2 - Week 7

The Reception Class returned from half-term with a myriad of festivals to celebrate, arriving back on Halloween saw a day of learning themed around this spooky festival. It was marvellous to see the array of fancy dress and the creative pumpkin carving. We recapped our knowledge about Guy Fawkes, in preparation for today’s Community Assembly, and learned all about Bonfire Night and Fire Safety.

We had our whole school photo day on Wednesday and the children looked very smart in their Winter uniforms.

Communication and Language:
The children proudly presented their posters about Guy Fawkes Night as well as presenting their Firework Safety ad-vice.

Expressive Art and Design:
Fireworks have played a huge part in the work this week, as this time of year, with both Bonfire Night and Diwali coming up next week, our skies will be filled with light. The children made beautiful firework art by learning how to create their own tube brushes which they then used to dip in a plate of paint to create explosions of colour on their paper.

Understanding the World:
In Forest school the children had an exciting lesson where they did some cooking outdoors by making hot chocolate in an outdoor (non-electric) Kelly Kettle. The children watched how Mr Hurst start a fire by using a flint to make sparks, which then lit the cotton and sticks aflame. The children were informed that fire needed oxygen to burn and therefore every time Mr Hurst blew on the fire, the flames grew larger. Mr Hurst and Mr Var then made hot chocolate to share with the class. (Apologies that there are no photos for this lesson as I forgot to ask Mr Var to take photos - Mrs Holloway was absent that one day).

Maths:
In Maths we have been looking at Time. We discussed how time plays a factor in most things we do in our waking hours. We also use time to help us determine what time we should go to sleep and how many hours we should sleep for. Children were introduced to a clock face and learned about the hour, minute and the seconds hand on an analogue clock. We also conducted a cooking experiment where we used the timer on my phone to determine what the best amount of time was to make hard boiled eggs. Children counted the seconds along with the timer and some started to realise that after 60 seconds, it became 1 minute, and we would start counting the seconds again with 1.

Reading:
The children will continue to need to bring their Reading books and yellow Reading Record books to school every Tues-day and Thursday. Please do remember to put a comment in the book about how your child tackled the book at home.

Senses:
This week the children learnt about their final sense, smell. We used the Montessori smell bottles to try and identify the the smells and find the matching smells.

French:
The class recapped on their prior knowledge of greetings and numbers and were introduced to the names of colours in French this week.

Next week:
Every Day – Labelled water bottle and coat/hat/gloves – as necessary.
Monday – Winter Uniform to be worn. No after school.
Tuesday – PE Kit to be worn for PE Lesson. Reading Book and yellow Reading Record Book to be brought in. Football Club after school.
Wednesday – PE Kit to be worn for Forest School. Please ensure that your child has a warm raincoat to wear for Forest School as well as wellies to change into (brought in a separate bag). Mr Hurst’s Space Club after school.
Homework to be returned.
Thursday – Winter Uniform to be worn. Reading Book and Yellow Reading Record Book to be brought in. Multisport Club after school.
Friday – Winter Uniform to be worn. Homework to go home. School finishes at 12pm. No lunch. No after school.

After School Clubs:
Please do remember to give your child a small healthy nut-free snack in their school bag on days they are attending an after-school club. It is not always possible for us to access the kitchen after school.

Other Important Dates:
Thursday 9th November – Nasal Flu Spray
Friday 1st December – Reports Out
Monday 4th December – Please send in all costumes for the school play. Costume requirements to be sent shortly.
Week of 4th December – Reception Teacher/Parents Meeting. Sign up closer to the time.
Friday 8th December – Class trip to the Little Angel Theatre to watch Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. Permission forms to be sent out closer to the time.
Tuesday 11th December – School Christmas Lunch
Thursday 14th December – School Christmas Production. End of term 12pm.

Maths: This week we have been learning about Time. We looked at how time is divided into days of the week, months of the year and the 4 seasons. We also looked at the breakdown of time throughout one day. We looked at a clock and the short (hour’s) hand, the long (minutes) hand as well as the fast second’s hand which is included in some clocks and watches. We talked about how we use time to measure so many things that we do in a day.
Please complete the handwriting sheets provided for the ‘Days of the Week’, the ‘Months of the Year’ and ‘4 Seasons’. If possible, provide a calendar and a clock in your child’s room or your kitchen and begin to talk to your child about the day, month and year that we are in, as well as the timetable or weekend plans that you might have.
Please provide opportunities for your child to explore time wherever possible. Show them examples of clocks and watches around your home. Talk about and time your child with various activities such as brushing their teeth for 2mins (using an egg-timer or a stop-watch on your phone). Or noticing that they should be in bed by 7pm every day.

Physical Development: Some of the children have come back to school having practiced putting the zip on their coats on independently. Please ensure your child can independently: Zip up their coat, take their shoes off and put them back on and take their jumpers off over their own head and making sure it is the right way round so they can put it on easily. We will be rewarding all the children trying to do these tasks independently with marbles.

Communication and Language (CL): Look on Tapestry at all the activities that your child has done so far this term and ask them to tell you about them.

Next week we will be learning about Remembrance Day and Diwali.
We wish you a wonderful weekend of firework displays celebrating Bonfire Night. Remember to ask your children how to keep safe!

The children are showing a real interest in wanting to make things using our art/craft area. Could we please request you to send in any clean recyclable items that you think could be used for construction purposes at school. For example; large and small boxes, bottle caps (i.e. milk bottle tops), stickers, empty clean yogurt pots, wrapping paper, magazines, pieces of fabric, cork tops, etc.

Warmest regards and thank you for your continued support,
Ms Hetal Shah and Mrs Francesca Holloway