One more day!

Hi everyone,

With only one more day to go I'd like to say a big well done to all the children in reception for their fantastic hard work during the Christmas performances and indeed the whole term! Looking back at where we started the children have already come a long way! Thank you for all of your help this term and I look forward to seeing you all after the Christmas break. We have our class information session on the 12th January - 9.00am.

Today we had our class party and sent the children home with some of the things that we have been making over the past few weeks as well as their PE kits. We have placed your child's red t-shirt in PE bags. There will be a few more things to come home tomorrow afternoon too. 

Just a quick reminder that we have our annual Christmas carol sing-a-long tomorrow in the school hall at about 3.00pm - please arrive at the main entrance. 

Reception team

Class party...

Hello all,

Well done to reception so far for their great performances in the Christmas production! Some really confident children to get up on the stage and dance away. Apologies for the sound if you came to today's show (Wednesday). The problem has now been rectified! Tomorrow is the last performance and we look forward to seeing you there. 

The children also enjoyed their Christmas dinner today - with crackers!

Tomorrow afternoon will also be reception's class party! We will be playing games and having a bit of a boogie before snuggling up to watch a film. You do not need to provide anything towards the class parties as has been the case in previous years! 

Reception team

The last week of term...

Hello everyone,

We've finally made it to the last week of the term! This week we are performing our Christmas play on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. You are welcome to come and sit in the hall from 9.40am. As well as this we will be finishing off our Christmas cards and 2015 calendars. 

On Thursday we will be having our Class party in the afternoon - we will be going into the hall to have a boogie with years 1 & 2. More information to follow. 

On Friday we will be sending children home with lots of different things that they have made as well as PE kits. If you have a carrier bag you would like us to put some bits in please pop this into your child's book bag ready for Friday. 

On Friday we will also be having our annual Carol Singing in the hall from 2.30pm - parents are more than welcome to come along and sing with us. Any questions please ask us!

Reception team

Olaf hanging on a tree!

Hello all,

We are very busy making our Christmas tree decorations at the moment. If you haven't had a chance to look at them yet they are hanging in the tree at the end of the main corridor as you enter the main school entrance. There is a photo of just one below. 

We also had our second winners for the writer of the week! Well done Alfie and Rubi. Some fantastic writing coming in from lots of children which is making it very difficult to choose! We will continue to give out the rosettes after the Christmas break. 

Reception team

This weeks sound

Hello all,

We have reached the end of our sounds journey this term and will be learning the final sound this week! Beginning in January we will be going back over groups of sounds to ensure that all children can begin to read them in a variety of words and contexts. We will not be learning any new sounds from now on! The children have taken very well to phonics and their determination will serve them well as we move on to more complicated texts. Thank you for all our support. We will be continuing to update your child's sound pot for you to use at home so please keep this in your book bags.

This week sound is:

'ure' - as in manure - hold your nose and pretend their is a nasty smell nearby saying 'ure', 'ure', 'ure'.

This is a very tricky sound to learn for children as it is used in so few words and difficut to pronounce in the first place. We will be doing lots of revisiting on this sound. 

Reception team

What's happening this week.

Hello everyone! 

This week we will continue to practice our Christmas play. The dates for the play are next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (16th, 17th, 18th). If you have't done so already, you can book your ticket from the school office. 

This week we will also be making our Christmas tree decorations! This is what the white sock is for! Thank you to those that have brought your sock in so far. Do not worry if you haven't as we'll be working on these all week! Below is a picture of what it is that we'll be hanging on the tree. 

As well as making tree decorations we'll be getting our calendars and cards made too! So we have a very arty week ahead of us. We've also only got one new sound left to learn so we'll get that done to! Finally, on Friday we have our annual Christmas Technology morning. All the children in reception will be visiting different members of staff to make some lovely things that they can then take home at the end of the day. 

Reception team

A red jumper and one white sock!

Hello everyone,

With Christmas fast approaching, we are well under way learning our songs ready for the Christmas show. During the show reception will have centre stage for a dance. We would be very grateful if you could provide one plain red t-shirt/jumper to help us with the preparation for this. We will give you the t-shirt back once the performances are completed. 

We are also going to get busy next week making a Christmas decoration for the tree that goes up in the main corridor as you enter the school. Again, we would be extremely grateful if you could provide your child with one plain white sock - it would be better if the sock was adult sized. The reason for the use of a sock will become apparent next week! Thank you very much for your support. If you would like any more guidance, please come and speak to us.  

Reception team

Sounds being covered this week

Hello everyone,

The sounds that we are covering this week in phonics are:

'er' - as in hammer - Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say ererer.

'air' - as in hair - Put your hands in the air and move around.

'ear' - as in hear - Touch both ears and say ear, ear. 

Only one more to go after this! Well done to everyone so far.

Reception team

 

Some Christmas writing ideas

Hello all,

Firstly, it has been fantastic to see so many children bringing in writing that they are doing at home. Thank you very much for your support in this crucial area of development. Even as we near Christmas, we would like to continue to highlight to children writing's importance. 2 children were given the writer of the week rosettes today! Well done Jack and Matilda! We will have another boy and girl winner next week. 

Some ideas to possibly follow up at home on a Christmassy theme:

• To write some Christmas present labels.
• To make and then write a Christmas card for someone in the class.
• To write your Christmas list (if you haven't already done so!)
• Write some words that remind you of Christmas or winter. 
• Write a poem about Christmas/winter

As always, if children just want to practice letters and sounds that they have been learning, this is fine! The same goes for name writing. 

Reception team

2014 DT Christmas competition has begun!

Design Technology Christmas Competition! This year the DT competition is based around making a tree decoration and all classes are welcome to take part! ·       Your decoration must be able to hang from a tree
·       It must be made from as many recycled materials as possible
·       You must have your name and class on a label clearly displayed.
·       What type of decoration can you create which make it unique from other decorations before?!

The closing date for this competition is Thursday 11^th December. Please take the decorations to the hall; we will be hanging them ready for judges and assembly!  Good luck!  Finally, we do accept parent help will be needed for this but it should be clear that the child has been involved too!

A big well done

A MASSIVE well done to all the children who took part in the class assembly today. There were some very confident children to stand up in front of all those people! 

Also, thank you for all coming to the Woodland Feast this afternoon and digging in to the lovely selection of food that reception had made. We have now finished our Gruffalo topic and will begin looking at Christmas from next week. 

Reception team

Thank you all for your generosity!

Thank you so much to everyone that came to the Bring and Buy Sale on Wednesday. We were very grateful that so many of you donated some fantastic items that were no longer wanted.

 

Due to everyone's generosity on Wednesday and on the non school uniform day on the 14th of November we have raised over £340 for Children in Need!

 

I would like to say a big thank you to all of the staff and children that helped on the day. Well done!

 

Mrs Thorpe

Assembly tomorrow!

Just a quick reminder that it is reception's first class assembly tomorrow. The children have been practising hard all week and are excited to show you what we have been up to. 

Also, later on tomorrow you are welcome to arrive from 3pm to come and join in our woodland feast! Please come to where you normally pick up. We look forward to seeing you.

Reception team

Sounds being covered this week

Hello everyone,

The sounds that we are introducing this week are:

'ow' - as in how - Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ow, ow, ow.

'ur' - as in fur - Hold knee as if hurt and say ur,ur

'oi' - as in coin - Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi! ship ahoy!

As well as these new sounds we will be revising some of the sounds already learnt and introducing the tricky word 'my'. 

Next week all children will bring home a group reading book that contains more of the newer phonemes. This is to try and get children reading more complex texts. Most children revel at the chance of a challenge! 

Reception team

Assembly lines

Hello all,

Just a quick note to say that children will have come home today with their assembly line in their bookbags. It would be fantastic if you could practise this with your child for Friday. Thank you

Also, thank you for the amazing amount of writing that we are getting into school from children, a real variety! These will be copied and added to learning journeys so thank you again!

Reception team

Woodland Feast!

Hello everyone,

This Friday is reception's class assembly in the morning at 9.20am. Please feel free to head straight through to the hall after drop-off. 

In the afternoon we are planning to have a 'Woodland Feast' in the classroom. If you want to come and see what we've been doing and cooking for our Gruffalo topic please come along. You will be able to arrive from 3.00pm onwards and then take children from 3.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Reception team

Bring and Buy Sale- items needed please!

This Wednesday (26th) the Children's Voice have arranged a Bring and Buy Sale to help fundraise some more money for Children In Need.

 

We are hoping that you have been able to have a sort out of any unused, unwanted; toys, clothes, books etc ready for Wednesday.

 

Please bring any items for the Bring and Buy Sale to Mrs Thorpe in Year 1.

 

The hall will be open to parents from 3pm on Wednesday afternoon so that you can have a look around without your children! Then the sale will carry on until around 4.30pm (unless we have sold everything!)

 

Items will be reasonably priced from 20p- £2.

 

We hope to have lots to sell and raise as much as we possibly can for children who need our help.

 

Mrs Thorpe and The Children's Voice

Thorncombe woods...

Hello everyone,

Reception had a great trip to Thorncombe woods yesterday. We hopped onto a coach for the first time! The children were well behaved for this and throughout the trip. Once we got to the woods we split up into family groups to do two different jobs.

1. Using natural materials to make a Gruffalo collage.

2. Searching the woods for the Gruffalo characters that were hidden around.

We then had to follow some clues to find the Gruffalo herself hiding in a log pile house! To finish, we had an extra snack and headed back to the coach.

There are some fantastic pictures from the trip and these will be on the whiteboard for the next few mornings if you want to look at them. Finally, thank you for the parents that helped on the trip - I hope you weren't as tired as the children were!

Reception team

 

Letter formation focus

Hello everyone,

As you may be aware, the whole school is having an increased focus on handwriting. In order to aid this in reception I have already placed a letter formation power point on the school info section of the school website. If you can't find it please come and speak to us. 

There is also a Wow! Writing display board up in the main hall. Every week a new piece of work will be chosen to go up onto the board from the work we are doing in school. Obviously we would love to see children practising their handwriting at home too. So as a class we shall be giving out further certificates every week for a piece of writing that has come in from home. Every few weeks there will also be prizes given out for development and neatness of handwriting. I will be posting a weekly blog about possible things you could base writing around but please feel free to write anything you would like to! Even if children just want to practice individual letters to begin with that's fantastic. Hopefully children should be able to show you the most effective way to hold a pencil. Lastly, please don't feel as though you must bring something in everyday! Or even every week. We want to foster children's enjoyment of writing and not make it a chore - thank you. 

Some ideas for this week:

• Write your whole name.
• Write a character list for the Gruffalo.
• Write this sentence from the Gruffalo and fill in the words: 

But now my ........... is beginning to ......... and my favourite food is Gruffalo ..........

• Write labels for a picture of the Gruffalo i.e. poisonous warts, knobbly knees

Please remember that as a school we operate a cursive writing policy in school. If you have any questions please come and speak to us.

Reception team

Sound being covered this week

Hello everyone,

This week we are really getting into the gritty sounds. By this I mean they all begin to look fairly similar but make different sounds! There will be lots of repetition happening to give children the best chance to practice. Any help from home is greatly appreciated in this respect. Doing the actions and asking children to say the sounds, pointing out the sounds within different words, writing the sounds with fridge magnets and using sound pots are some ways that will give children more experience with the sounds. 

This weeks sounds are:

long 'oo' - as in boot - Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock - this action serves as the action for the short 'oo' sound as well. 

'ar' - as in park - Open mouth wide as if at the dentist and say ah.

'or' - as in fork - Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore - this is the same action as 'ee'

Short 'oo' sound  - as in good - same action as above. 

Just a quick reminder that it is reception's trip to Thorncombe Woods on Thursday. Currently the weather doesn't look too bad but we will endeavour to keep you updated. 

Reception team

 

 

Letter formation

Hello everyone,

As we begin to cover more and more sounds we will be broadening our focus to include writing. As a school we adopt a cursive handwriting policy and it is crucial that we teach children the correct letter formation at the beginning. In reception this takes the pre-cursive form which can then be built upon. To help children with this in class we use an interactive power point to show how the letters are formed. We have placed this Power point in the Class timetables and Parent Docs section on the main school website - down the left hand side - to help you with any writing you do at home.

A great website for pre-cursive practice is http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/contents_handwriting.htm - there are plenty of sheets down the bottom for every letter except 'z'.

Reception team

Sound pots

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to say that we have added new sounds to some sound pots today. If you're child does not have their new sounds yet, they will have them added in the next day or two. Thank you for using these at home with your children. 

Reception team

Sounds...

Hi all,

The sounds we are covering this week are listed below.

'ng' - as in hang - Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy weight

 above your head, saying ng...

'ai' - as in rain - Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai.

'ee' - as in leek - Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore.

'igh' - as in night - Stand to attention and salute, saying igh igh.

'oa' - as in goat - Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!

The children have begun this next sets of sounds very brightly and are quite determined to learn them all! 

Reception team

The Gruuuuuffffalo!

Hello everyone,

Today we started a brand new topic: The Gruffalo! As the book is so popular most of the children were able to join in the reading of the story. Hopefully by the end of the topic they should be able to tell the story completely! Over the next few weeks we will be doing various activities based around the story. All of these will lead up to a woodland feast that parents will be invited to (more details to follow). So as you may have guessed we will be doing lots of cooking! All children will be involved in making something for the feast. 

This week in literacy we have got lots of jobs! Some children will be helping to write some recipe cards based on the food we are cooking, others will be writing captions for a Gruffalo storyboard and some will be trying to fill in the missing words based on phrases from the story. 

In maths this week we are focusing on numerals (1-20). We will be trying to show children how widespread numerals are, so if you see any around, we'd be grateful if you could point them out i.e. house number, car registration plate, supermarket prices etc. Once children are comfortable with the numerals we will be getting them to find the correct number of objects to go with that numeral - sounds confusing but we will be practising it lots! 

Reception team

phonics workshop

Hello everyone,

As previously mentioned there will be a phonics workshop taking place in school this half-term. I have put up a sheet asking what time and day would be best for everyone. I will try to accommodate as many as I can but if  you are unable to make it I am more than happy to chat with you and pass on any relevant materials. 

Thank you

Sounds this week

Hi all,

This week we are beginning the next major phase in our quest on sounds! The sounds will now contain 2 or 3 letters but we will be stressing to the children how they only make 1 sound. 

The sound being covered this week are:

'qu' -  as in quack - Make a duck's beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu

'sh' - as in shop - Place index finger over lips and say sh, sh, sh

'ch' - as in chip - Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch

'th' - as in thin - pretend  to be a naughty clown and stick out your tounge a little for the 'th'

These sounds are known as consonant digraphs and may take a little longer for children to pick up and notice in texts. 

Reception team

Bonfire night and remembrance

Hello everyone,

A big welcome back to the new half-term! I can already tell how ready all the children are to settle back into things! This half-term is a very long one and ends with the celebration of Christmas!!

This week we are going to be focusing on bonfire night and bonfire night and Remembrance Day. The children will be learning how things that happen in the past can have an effect today. 

After discussing fire safety with children yesterday it was clear they know how to keep safe around fires and what to do if there is a fire indoors: GET OUT AND STAY OUT! Some children have been making some fantastic fire safety posters explaining how to keep safe. 

We are also making some poppies that will be used in a display outside the classroom door - please feel free to look at this in the morning after drop-off. 

In literacy this week we are working on name writing and writing instructions. Some children have already written their instructions for how to make poppies and other groups will be doing so later this week. 

In maths we have been practising counting up to 20 and making sure that we say all the numbers in the correct order. This is a very complicated skill and requires lots of repetition. After the order of the numbers is secure we can then being to count objects up to 20!

Finally, if anyone has any questions about what was mentioned at parents evening please come and speak to us. 

Reception team

The Great PoW Poetry Competition

The Great PoW Poetry Competition.........

Roll up, Roll up, Roll up..................don't forget the Great PoW Poetry Competition is in town!!!!!!! A reminder that the closing date is this Friday, so you still have a week to get your creative master pieces in to your class teacher.

Check back on the last blog for details, remember the theme is Autumn/Winter, there are no limits, only to say - be as creative as I know you can be!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to read them all and choose a winner from each class!!!!

Good Luck!!!!!

Get writing if you haven't already!!!!!

A VERY excited Mrs. Johnson

The end of the first half-term!

Hello everyone,

Just a quick message to congratulate all the reception children on completing their first half-term! There were certainly some tired children at the end of the day today. We have sent children home with their 'Who am I?' sheet that was up on the display board this week. There were some lovely things written by different people in the school (including year 4 buddies). Children also have their PE kits with them to be cleaned over the half-term. 

Thank you for all your support so far and I hope the half-term gives you a chance to rest and come back ready for another one! Thank you also for the baby photos, we will give these back to you after half-term. 

Reception team

Right to clean water

As part of our work this week about UNICEF's rights of all children the Reception class did some activities this afternoon with Mr Farrington about our right to clean water. We learnt a hand washing song and talked about all the ways we use and need water. Mr Farrington also showed some photos of how water is used in India to wash clothes, pots and pans, to irrigate fields and to cook rice. The children then chose various activities using water to cook rice, wash pots and pans full of Year 2's curry, clean saris in soapy water and irrigated a patch of soil to grow some vegetables. The wellies came in handy!

Sounds this week and sound pots

Hi all,

Thank you to those who wrote something on the 'Who am I?' wall this morning! Please feel free to keep adding to this all week.

We are making fantastic progress with our phonics and this week we have started the next phase! The sound being covered this week are:

'v' - as in van - Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv.

'w' - as in wind - Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh.

'x' - as in fox - cross wrists together and say ks, ks, ks

'y' as in yak - Pretend to be eating a yogurt and say y, y, y.

'z' & 'zz' - as in zap/buzz - Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz.

After half term there will also be a phonics/handwriting workshop available if you wish to go. There will be a form up outside the reception classroom door for you to write down what days/times would be preferable. We will try to accommodate as many as possible.

Today children also came home with their own sound pot! These are for the children to keep and use as we progress through the year. To begin with children will have received the first few sets of sounds that we have covered in class. Please use these to help consolidate the sounds and as children become confident with the individual sounds, use them to make simple words. If you would like any further guidance on the sound pots please come and chat to us. 

Reception team

POWSA AGM

Just a quick reminder that the POWSA AGM is happening this Thursday 23rd October 19.45 in the school staffroom.
This is a great opportunity to meet the current POWSA Committee, find out what we do for the school and enjoy home made goodies! We are a committed, friendly but small band of parents and we are always looking for new members. the level of your involvement in planning, implementing and running POWSA events is entirely up to you. We don't expect you to be at every meeting and at every event from start to finish but with more members and if we all do a little bit then there is plenty of time for us all to enjoy each event with our families as well as helping out.
It is a lot of fun and in return you receive a huge amount of satisfaction and feeling of pride that you have raised funds which are used to help all our children and our fantastic school.
Please consider coming along and finding out a bit more. Hope to see you there, POWSA.

The Great PoW Poetry Competition!!!!! Get Writing!!!!!!

What a wonderful, exciting and inspiring time of year we are immersed in - beautiful autumnal colours, leaves floating to the ground and flooding the pavements, conkers peppering the streets, crackling fires, Diwali, Halloween, Bonfire Night, moving towards winter and all the excitement of Christmas............so let's fire up our creativity and use it to compose a poem!

I am thrilled to announce The Great PoW Poetry Competition!

The theme is Autumn/Winter.

BE AS CREATIVE AS YOU LIKE! Your poem can be as long or as short as you like, it can rhyme or not, you can use any particular style (Acrostic, Haiku, Tanka, rhyming couplets........) However you choose to construct your poem make sure it conveys the theme, remember the presentation of you poem is important too and why not illustrate it as well!!!!!

For Reception ONLY: if writing your own poem is a bit tricky, why not find a favourite poem about this theme and try to copy it, get an adult to help you write one, use a computer or even record yourself reciting one!

There will be one winner per class so, PUT YOUR NAME AND CLASS ON YOUR ENTRY AND HAND IT IN TO YOUR CLASS TEACHER BY FRIDAY 7th NOVEMBER.

The winners will also be displayed on the New Golden Writing Wall!!!!!

We are a very creative school with a bubbling and overflowing imagination so I would love to see as many of you as possible having a go...........then we can have more competitions like this!!!!!

Get writing!!!!!!!

Good Luck - Mrs. Johnson (Literacy Coordinator)

I have the right to an Identity...

Hello everyone,

Today we started a whole school themed week centred around the 'Unicef Rights of the Child'. The two rights that we will be focusing upon are 'The Right to an identity' and 'The right to education'. 

Throughout the week we will be creating a class charter with the children's rights and responsibilities. The children came up with some fantastic ideas as to what we should include on our charter (including the right to have a trampoline!). This will be going up this week by the computers in the reception classroom. 

You may have also noticed a display with the children's pictures up in the classroom. This is going to be our identity wall for the week. You are welcome to add anything to the wall that you think helps identify your child - and any other children. Feel free to bring certificates/awards and pictures in from home to add to the wall. There will be some post-it notes by the display to write things up if you wish - some have already been added by staff at the school. 

Tomorrow we will be having a visit  from the fire department. Hopefully children will be full  to the brim with information tomorrow after school.

Reception team

Baby/family photos

Hello everyone,

Next week the whole school will be having a week focused on the 'Right to an identity'. In preparation for this could we kindly ask you to bring in a photo of your child as a baby or a family photo. These will be copied and the originals given back to you. We are going to be using them to set up an achievement wall. Parents, friends, buddies, teachers and the children themselves will all be welcome to come and put something up on the wall underneath each child's picture. Thank you for your help

Lastly, thank you for the immense number of Wow! Moments being brought in to school. These are fantastic to read out to the class. Keep them coming.

Reception team

Learning journeys

Hello everyone,

Today your children will have come home with their old learning journeys from Pre-school (if your child went to the Prince of Wales Pre-school). These are yours to keep so please look through them with your children and celebrate all that they achieved so far! The children's current learning journeys will be given out next year when they enter year 1 and the year 1 teacher has looked through them. 

Reception team 

Goldilocks and the three bears...

Hello everyone,

We have started a new topic this week: Goldilocks and the three bears.We read a retelling of the story today and throughout the week we will be looking at alternate versions as well as thinking about the question 'What kind of character was Goldilocks?' 

In literacy this week we are going to be having a go at writing some apology letters to the three bears - we will be encouraging the children to sound out words so any practise at home would be appreciated. In maths this week we are looking at shapes - more specifically the difference between 2D and 3D shapes. We'll also be tasting some different porridges as well as making a map for Goldilocks because she gets lost in the woods (Oh no!). 

In phonics this week we are continuing to consolidate the sounds we have learnt so far as well as beginning the next phase at the end of the week. The only sound we are learning this week is:

'j' - as in jug - The action is holding your hands out in front of you and pretending there is a wobbly jelly on them

Children have also come home with their reading eggs usernames and passwords today. This is a great website for children to learn and practise literacy skills and it is in the reception section on pupil links. If you would like any help finding it come and speak to us. 

Reception team

Joint morning with pre-school

Hello everyone,

To continue with our themed week we had a joint morning with Pre-school today. We carried out a range of activities throughout the morning:

1. Painting a tree using finger tips.

2. Fruit printing a banner that said reception or pre-school.

3. Making an owl out of leaves. 

Apologies for any paint that got onto tops today! You will be able to see all of the lovely artwork hanging up in the classroom. This will be transported to the hall for Friday's harvest assembly at 9.20am - please feel free to head into the hall after drop off for this! Reception will be singing a song and reciting a poem. 

Finally, the timetable for parents evening is up outside the classroom. Please feel free to add your name to a free time. If you are unable to make any time please come and see me and we can see if we can arranage something else. 

Reception team

Autumn photograph challenge!

Hello everyone,

A BIG well done to reception for completing their first school trip up to Maiden Castle Farm. We found out all about Harvest and what this means for people who work on a farm. Quiz your children to see if they know the difference between hay and straw - I do now. We looked at a combine harvester and walked around the farm. 

As we are looking at the festival of Harvest and autumn in general, I thought it would be a nice idea to have a photograph competition. Get your coats and wellies on and take the camera with you and see if you can snap the perfect picture of autumn. We'll judge all the entries and as always with competitions, there will be a prize! Feel free to bring your entries in on a memory stick (that we will give back) or print them out! Good luck.

Reception team

Can anybody help?

On the 20th of October we will be having a Rights Respecting Week to celebrate 25 years of the UNCRC. 

The Children's Voice have decided that they would like to see some of the UNICEF articles of the Rights of the Child displayed in our school entrance. Each year group will be designing and making a flag portraying one of the articles. 

This is where we need your help! We are looking for some plain white flat sheets usually used for bedding that we could have please. As an Eco School we encourage recycling old unwanted items so was wondering if anyone has any old sheets that we could have for our project please. If so please can you either give them to your child's class teacher or pass them on to Mrs Thorpe in Year 1. 

Many thanks 

Maiden Castle Farm...

Hi all,

Just a quick note about Maiden Castle Farm tomorrow. If the weather is bad we may have to call it off but hopefully that will not be the case. Regardless of the weather could we please ask that children come to school wearing home trousers and a school top & jumper/cardigan. Could we also ask children to bring in some Wellington boots because if we do go it will probably be quite muddy up a the farm. 

Finally, children will be coming home with their Rights Respecting Schools home learning challenge tomorrow. This requires children to fill in their little piece of paper with something that links to our theme for the week: 'The right to an identity' It could be a picture they draw or suitable quote/words. Why are the children proud to be them? What makes them special? Please bring all your entries into school and give them to one of the reception team. They will then be judged by the 'Children's Voice'. 

Reception team

Harvest week

Hello everyone,

Next week we will be taking part in a whole school topic all about Harvest. We will be doing lots of cooking and making throughout the week. On Tuesday we are off to Maiden Castle Farm to learn all about Harvest and what this might look like on a farm. On Wednesday we are going to be having a joint morning with the Pre-school children - there will be more details of this early next week. 

In literacy next week  we're going to be looking at autumn poetry. We'll be having a go at making some nonsense word rhyming poems using what we know and learn about autumn. As a small challenge see if you can put some rhyming sentences  together for example:

There was a cat that sat on the mat, wearing a hat, then he saw a bat etc... They can be nonsense words if you like! 

On Friday we will be having a special harvest assembly in the morning where reception will be singing a song. We will also be putting all of our art work up in the hall. We will be accepting any fresh food donations on Friday morning for use in the Harvest display. In the afternoon there will be a Harvest cafe in the hall and parents are welcome to come and collect there children from 2.30pm and go into the hall to taste the food that has been cooked by different classes and look at  the art work. If you have any questions please come and ask!

Reception team

Whole school home learning

This week all children will be bringing home a whole school home learning project. We are really proud to be a Rights Respecting School and will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the UNCRC in the week beginning 20th October (more information to follow soon).

Article 8 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child:

‘We have a right to an identity’

We are going to be designing a school flag to be displayed at The Thomas Hardye School as part of our DASP Rights Week Project (starting on the 20^th October). We would like the children to design something we can add on our flag linked to our theme. One design from each class will be chosen by the Children’s Voice. It could be a picture they draw or suitable quote/words. Why are the children proud to be them? What makes them special? All entries to be given to class teachers by the 10^th of October.