Great learning in Reception
What fantastic readers we are! I wonder if you have heard any of our new phonemes at home that we have been working hard on this week? We have been using our magic air fingers and whiteboards to learn more about letter formation and have been trying to use these new skills in our different areas of provision.
We have been thinking more about ourselves and our families and decided to create some playdough self portraits. We used mirrors to look at our faces before choosing different loose parts to create our faces.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our new friend in Reception called Ted. Ted is our class bear and he will be visiting everyone very soon. Ted has a diary which will be shared with the class after a home visit. The children are very excited to be bringing Ted home with them to meet their families.
On Thursday 29 September at 6pm there will be a zoom meeting with myself and Mrs Beesley to discuss reading and e-books. Everyone should have already received the zoom link and we are looking forward to seeing you then.
We now have our own reception email address which can be used for sharing information and pictures of fun learning that has been happening at home. The email address is: stjamesreception@spherefederation.org
As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Mrs Payne
School Rules
In reception and nursery we have been learning more about our school rules. This week we have focused on ‘we keep hands, feet and objects to ourselves’. We have thought about what this might mean and how it can help us in school. After our discussion we all made a hand print poster to remind us of this school rule.
What a busy week!
This week in reception we have been busy exploring our indoor and outdoor classrooms. We have enjoyed making new friends and even started learning phonics!
Dates for your diary
Over the course of the year we will be holding lots of exciting events for you to get involved in.
If you have any questions about any of the sessions please do not hesitate to get in touch.
The Reception Team
Welcome to Reception
A big hello from everyone in Reception!
This week we have been busy creating an exciting learning environment for everyone to enjoy. We have welcomed our first group of children for transition sessions and are excited to see our second group on Monday.
We hope you enjoy looking at some of our provision that will be ready for you to explore next week.
See you all on Monday!
The Reception Team
A warm welcome from Early Years
We’re so excited to start our transition into Reception Class on Wednesday 07 September. Everyone has been working hard to create a wonderful learning place in Reception and Nursery.
We cannot wait to see everyone very soon!
Goodbye Reception
Well it’s here! The last day of term for 2021-22.
You’ve all had an amazing year!
I thought it would be nice to share some wonderful highlights.
Click here to reflect back on your Reception year.
I hope you all have a happy and healthy summer break.
This week’s bible story
Jesus is friends with Zacchaeus: Luke 19: 1-10
Have you ever heard the story of Burglar Bill – Bill goes out every night. Getting into houses through open windows and taking things. Until one night, Bill found a baby, and that changed his whole life …
There is a Bible story about a man who stole from other people. He took extra money when he gave them their tax bills and became very rich on all the money that he stole. Zacchaeus was a little man and that small people can’t see in crowds. Read the story of Zacchaeus to find out what happened to him.
Reflection:
Jesus loved everyone when he lived on the earth. It didn’t matter how bad people were, Jesus was always there for those who needed him. This is true for us too – no one is so bad that God doesn’t love them. And the more time we spend with God – praying, thinking about him, finding out about him, the more we want to be like Jesus; kind, helpful and good. Just like Zacchaeus, Burglar Bill changed his ways and tried to be more like Jesus by loving those around him. Even though Burglar Bill and Zacchaeus made the wrong choice, God forgave them and continued loving them.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that Jesus loved Zacchaeus even when he wasn’t making the right choices. Help us to love all of those around us and be honest about our actions.
Amen
Almost there!
This week has been a ‘chilled’ week compared to last week. We’ve enjoyed spending some quality time in the areas and making the most of our last days in Reception.
Again, we’ve been super impressed with their amazing writing! They love talking about what they can see and writing sentences about the interesting pictures. For example, this was Thursday’s ‘weird and wonderful’ picture…
Yesterday, they enjoyed getting to know their new class teachers and exploring in the Year 1 classroom. Mrs Palmer sent me some lovely photos of them having fun in the sun.
In this week’s Living and Learning session, we talked about keeping safe around medicine and harmful substances. We sorted items that we can and can’t put into our bodies.
Home-Link Challenge
I hope you all have a happy and healthy weekend.
See you next week for your final week in Reception.
This week’s bible story
Joseph’s brothers lie about his death. Genesis 37:17-33
In the bible, there is a story about Joseph and his technicoloured dream coat. Joseph had 12 older brothers who didn’t like him very much. His father, however, loved him very much and would often say how we was his favourite. Joseph had lots of dreams and he liked to tell his brothers all about his dreams.
Joseph’s brothers were fed up with listening to his dreams. Why was he always the star in them? Why did he always think that he was so much more important than they were? Jacob, Joseph’s dad, heard their grumbles and decided to keep Joseph at home on the farm with him, while Joseph’s brothers were sent off into the fields to look after the sheep.
Then, Jacob did something that made Joseph’s brothers even more cross! He gave Joseph a special coat made of brightly coloured cloth. Joseph’s brothers were jealous and angry. They didn’t think it was fair that Joseph should be treated differently from them; they were upset that Joseph was their dad’s favourite.
Do you think Joseph’s brothers were right to be jealous?’
Joseph’s brothers were so cross that they began to plan to get rid of Joseph.
One day, when Jacob sent Joseph to take food to his brothers in the fields, the brothers grabbed Joseph and threw him down an old well! While they were considering what to do next, they heard the sound of people travelling along the dusty road. As they looked in the direction of the noise, they saw some travellers who were on their way to Egypt, with their camels loaded with spices that they hoped to sell there. What luck! This was a perfect way of getting rid of Joseph forever
. The brothers quickly pulled Joseph out of the well and handed him over to the travellers. Then, they watched as Joseph disappeared along the dusty road. Poor Joseph! His life had become a nightmare; perhaps he would wake up soon, and discover that it had all been a bad dream.
The brothers had got rid of Joseph, but what could they tell their dad? To try to cover up what they had done, they put some animal blood on Joseph’s special coat and took the coat home to show their dad.
‘Look what we found!’ they said to Jacob.
Jacob saw the coat and thought Joseph must have been killed by a wild animal. He cried and cried. The brothers tried to comfort him, but it was no use.
Reflection:
Do you think the brothers felt sorry and sad when they saw how much they had hurt their dad?
Do you think they were wrong to do what they did?
Should they have tried harder to like their brother, Joseph?
Should they have been honest with their dad about how they were feeling?
There are times when we don’t find it easy to like everyone. However, we feel, though, it is wrong to deliberately hurt people. It is always better to talk about things and try to sort out any problems between people.
Prayer:
Dear God,
Please help us to care for other people.
Please help us when we feel cross or jealous.
Please help us to talk about our problems with someone we trust.
Amen.