Toys and Special Items from home

 Hi all,

It's another busy week in Reception. We are having a few of difficulties with children bringing in toys or special items from home. 

Whilst we appreciate it can sometimes be helpful for a child to bring in an item from home or they are keen to share with the class it can be very difficult to keep track of these due to our play/ toy based provision. Children don't always realise that the toy is a special toy and not part of our learning landscape so it might lead to a special toy or item going astray. 

Children have been asked to keep anything they have brought from home in their locker however there have been a few instances of those toys being used and subsequently the child has lost track of them and they may find it difficult to describe it to enable us to find it again. It is simpler all round if toys or special items from home stay at home for the time being. We are so fortunate to have an extensive range of resources, there is a huge variety of toys and play based items to keep everyone entertained and engaged.

Thank you to all those who have volunteered to accompany us to Maiden Castle Farm next week, I will be in touch directly on Friday.

As ever, please do get in touch if you need to.

Ms Evans and the Reception team.

People who help us,Trolls and Three Goats!

Here we are at the end of another fantastic Inspired to learn week in Reception.

Children have been learning our Dough Disco this week, it has been a real highlight of the day for all! We dough discoed to the Spice Girls today! 

We have continued to explore counting to five in Power maths using a whole range of resources.

In Drawing Club we have explored Billy Goats Gruff, we have had some fantastic bridges, animals and trolls! Pure imagination!

In scarf we reflected on five people who helps us in our daily lives.

In Understanding the World we explored members of the community who helps us, we've had a go at being firefighters, built police cars, and had a wonderful time in our mud kitchen cafe and Drs Surgery.

A real highlight for the children this week has been 'surfin' across the mound, it was wonderful to see so many children working together!

Reception did a fantastic job with the Fire Drill today and their sitting and listening in assembly is wonderful!

Coming up next week:

Comparing amounts in Power maths

Wacky Races in Drawing Club

People who help us in Understanding the world

The Jolly Postman

Our Whole school Food, Faith and Farming focus will begin next week which we will incorporate into our Learning Landscape over the next few weeks!

As ever please do get in touch if you would like to discuss anything.

Until next week Reception...

Zigga Zig Ahhh

Dragons, Blackbirds, school photos and Congas, another wonderful week in Reception

Hi Reception Families,

Here we are at the end of another super busy week in Reception, the children have been brilliant all week, they are settling into school life really well, and were praised in assembly for their excellent listening and sitting.

This week in Drawing Club we have exploring Room on the Broom, we have had lots of discussions about the dragon, how we can help the witch and the importance of including our friends (just like the witch shared her broom.)

We have explored making magic potions with Jellibath and orbeez this week.
 

We've made food for the dragon in the mud kitchen.

This afternoon we went to the forest school area for an explore, we listened to the blackbird singing, made nests (or traps) and practiced our counting and recognising  'four'.

Coming up next week:

Billy Goats Gruff in Drawing Club,

Counting to five in Power Maths,

People who help us in understanding the world.

We have a cardigan and two jumpers with no name labels, please let us know if you are missing one.

Please get in touch if you have any concerns or anything you would like to discuss.

Ms Evans, Ms Dainton, Mrs Cleaver, Mrs Howell, Mrs Brooker, Mrs Thompson

Individual school photos and maths walk!

 Hello,

I just wanted to remind parents that tomorrow individual school photos will be happening in the morning.

Thank you to those parents who attended our  Parent Information session this week, a link to the presentation will be sent to parents in due course, for those who were unable to attend.

Today we have had a wonderful maths walk, the children looked for '4 things' and arranged them appropriately on a 5 frame. It was lovely to observe the children working so well together.

Our Snack Station continues to prove very popular with children, they enjoy sitting together around the table enjoying a school or home provided snack. Staff are monitoring the snack station the whole time and ensure that all children have the opportunity to eat a snack.

This is a language rich environment for children which is a fundamental aspect of the Early Years Framework. Children are also enjoying exploring age appropriate magazine whilst they briefly wait their turn. 

Here are some other important positive aspects of a rolling snack time:

·         Giving children a choice

·         Promoting British Values such as individual liberty

·         Children spend less wasted time seated waiting for everyone to sit down or finish

·         Builds independence, confidence, esteem and self-awareness

·         Language, communication and conversation rich period of the day

This week we have had great fun learning to line up Conga style!

A Wonderful Start in Reception

 Phew! 

What a wonderful first week we've had, I have been so impressed with how the children have settled into life at the Prince of Wales. Their attitudes and behaviour has been remarkable. We have had lots and lots of 'pats on the back' this week!

I'd like to remind you of our Parent Information Session on Tuesday 13th September at 9.00 in the school hall. I am looking forward to discussing our topics, routines and learning landscape with you.

Next week we will be exploring us 'now' and us 'before' this will help the children begin to understand how we change over time.  It would be lovely if the children can share a photo of when they were younger with the class. It could be when they were a baby, toddler, or preschool, the age and stage will be entirely up to you as a family so please choose an appropriate age that the children will feel comfortable talking about. If you would like to email me a picture please feel free to do so. We will be sharing them across the week.

We would like to start taking the children into the hall for PE, however a number of children are finding it challenging to change their shoes and coats, which is ok as we settle in, but we would like to maximize the amount of time we can use experiencing PE so if the children could practice changing in and out of clothes and coats over the next few weeks that would be fantastic.

This link will take you to a brilliant coat 'hack' which we will be using with the children, perhaps you could practice it at home too!

Coat Hack

We seem to be having very wet days, if the children can bring wellies into school we can keep those feet dry and school shoes looking smart! We will be going out in all weathers!

The children have made an impressive start and we can't wait to do it all again Monday.

Coming up: 

Room on the Broom in Drawing Club

Counting to 4 

Play Projects

Families and 'me now and before'

Ms Evans and the Reception Team

The first few days in Reception.

 Hello Reception Families,

What a wonderful few days we have had together, the children have been an absolute joy and the whole Reception Team has been very impressed at how they are adjusting to new routines, friendships and the learning landscape.

A few key points moving forward:

I would like to warmly welcome you to our first Parents Information Session on  Tuesday 13th September at 9.00 in the school hall.

Please can you make sure that PE kit is in school as we will start PE sessions shortly.

A quick word about snacks,  the government recommends that children has a fruit or vegetable snack  during the day. We are providing the children with access to fresh fruit or vegetables and they have the option of milk or water to drink as well as their drinks bottles which they have access to at any time. 

The children have been deeply engrossed in their play so you may have noticed that children have returned home with some snack remaining, but please be assured that there is fruit and vegetables available from 9.45am for the children to eat. If you would like to continue to provide a snack please ensure that it is a fruit or vegetables but there is no obligation to provide one.

Tomorrow the children will come home with a picture of their 'bird group' please could you remind them of their group, we are reminding them often but they have a lot of new information to process. We use the groups throughout the day and it would be helpful for the children to learn their 'bird' as soon as possible.

I will explain in more detail next week, but if you would like to know more about what the children have been upto during the day, you could ask them what they drew in 'drawing club.'

If you have any queries please don't hesitate to get in touch my email is j.evans@princeofwales.dorset.sch.uk

Ms Evans, Ms Dainton, Mrs Howell, Mrs Clever, Mrs Brooker, Mrs Thompson

Reception Intake 2022 (FIRST BLOG POST)

 

Hello families and our new Reception intake 2022!

We are so looking forward to having you all with us on Monday.

I hope you have enjoyed our virtual story time over the summer.

All the videos can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL59vGCJJ8xw9zqIrjnCuaZgE9BWREG7Su 

Please see below for photos of our learning landscape. If you haven’t seen these, it is worth taking a look as it is quite different from the last time the children visited.

In practical terms, it would be very helpful if the children could bring in some spare school uniform and underwear in case they need to change, this will be kept in their lockers.

Please use name labels on school uniforms, lunch boxes and water bottles as this makes it much easier for us to ensure that everyone keeps their belongings. 

We completely understand that this is a big step for the children and we will support and check in with them regularly throughout the day over the coming weeks and our focus will be on getting to know each other and getting off to a flying start at The Prince of Wales.

Children will meet their buddies from Year 4 during the first week, these friendships are a positive and nurturing relationship for the children and help them learn all about daily life at the Prince of Wales.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to speak to the team on Monday.

We are so excited to start this adventure together!

Ms Evans and the Reception Team.