The Little Gardener

This week it was RH's turn to visit the school library and share a story with our fantastic librarian Ms Storms.

The children heard the story of 'The Little Gardener' by Emily Hughes. This book tells the tale of a little gardener who loved his garden more than anything, but struggled to look after it despite working very, very hard. That is, until Someone finds the garden and decides to help!

If you would like to find out more about this story then Ms Storms can be found in our school library after school on a Tuesday.

Please come along and make use of this great resource!

"Books are a uniquely portable magic." - Stephen King

First time for everything...

The children have been at school for three weeks now and have been busy filling their days with lots of 'firsts'. There have been first days, first lunchtimes, first PE lessons and for some children, first time meeting their new teachers and friends!

 

 

This week has also seen the children spending their first full week at school and despite the long days, the children have coped fantastically with all of the new experiences that each day brings and settled beautifully into the daily routine of life in Reception.

The first year of school is an exciting time for the children and we will keep you updated with news and photos as we continue to 'play, grow and learn together'.

"You're off to great places, today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so... get on your way". - Dr Seuss

Toys!

After a busy end to the last term and perhaps an even busier Christmas holiday, it is lovely to be back to school and settling into a brand new term.

Reception have decided on a toy theme for this half term and have kicked off the topic by learning about and creating their own moving toys.

After cutting out their chosen toy template, the children learnt how to use split pins to attach the different parts together.

 

During their research into different kinds of moving toys, the children learnt how to use the internet to find out information. We used a search engine designed for children and reminded the children how important it is to stay safe online. 

http://www.kidrex.org/parents/ - please follow this link if you want to find out more about 'kidrex' the search engine for children

The Festival of Lights

This week the children have been learning all about Diwali, the Festival of Lights. They heard the story of Rama and Sita and had a go at acting it out for the rest of the class. 

The children have also been learning how people celebrate Diwali and have been creating their own Rangoli patterns.

"Sometimes people take sweets to the neighbourhood" - Lily-May

Back to School!

The children have been back to school for 4 weeks now and what a busy start to the half term it has been! There have been new friends to make, school lunches to eat and lots of exciting things to learn and do.

This week Reception have dedicated time to supporting charitable causes as part of our topic 'People Who Help Us'. The children were lucky enough to have a visit from a lovely lady who volunteers at the Watford Foodbank who told us all about the fantastic work that they do there and how they help lots of people. Thanks to the generosity of the Reception parents we were able to send a sizable donation back to the Watford Foodbank which will be used to feed families in need!

If you would like any more information about the Watford Foodbank then please follow this link: http://watford.foodbank.org.uk/

Not only have the children been collecting food for the Foodbank, but Thursday saw the entire school baking up a storm in time for the Macmillan Cake Sale. There were cakes and biscuits of all shapes and sizes and the hall was full of people queuing up to see what treats they could find. With only a few crumbs left at the end of the sale, we are keeping our fingers crossed for a big fundraising total to send to Macmillan!

Take One Picture...

Across the school we have taken part in the National Gallery's 'Take One Picture' scheme as part of our Arts Week, using the picture 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' as a stimulus for creating our own pieces of art.

In Reception we chose to take inspiration from the countryside setting of the picture and create sculptures and art work using natural materials.

As well as looking at 'Mr and Mrs Andrews' we explored the work of Andy Goldsworthy to support our chosen theme.

The children collected sticks, leaves and other natural objects from the wooded area and used them to create some imaginative art work.

 "The Gruffalo"

 

A castle - "It has leaves and flowers on the floor"

The Long Arm of the Law...

Nursery 

Our role play is now a busy police station. Each policeman makes his own ID badge and all the prisoners have been fingerprinted!

When taking a break from fighting crime, the nursery children have been looking at their learning journals.