Friday 13th September 

Dear Parents,

What a great first week we have had! It has been so lovely getting to know all of you and your wonderful children.  Despite some children finding it difficult getting back into a routine,  all the children have persevered and had a wonderful start to a new academic year! Thank you to you all for your wonderful support over the last week! 

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development this week, the children have been settling back into school and learning their routines. We wrote together a ‘class contract’ with the Reception rules which included being kind, being a good friend and being a good listener. We all put our hand print on it as our very own personal signature. This way, we can revert back to it throughout the year should we need to.  

In Communication and Language this week the children have been discussing their summer holidays. I have heard about some fantastic trips to exotic locations and it all sounds very exciting. I heard about some wonderful holidays and it was so great to hear that so much learning continued to happen throughout the summer outside the classroom!  The children also spoke at the end of each day and shared their favourite part of the day using full sentences which we have been modelling. It’s so nice to see how in just one week, their vocabulary has expanded! 

In Physical Development, the children have been practising their cutting and sticking as well as their pencil grip. They’ve also been painting their self portraits for their ‘All About Me’ topic. The children also used their imaginations when it came to building large construction forts, using the balance grass bars and I must say, I was very impressed with their balancing skills when it came to riding bikes. 

In Literacy this week, the children have heard many stories. They have listened carefully and identified some rhyming words, said what they thought might happen next and predicted how a story might end.  I have also been assessing the children’s phonic skills in preparation for starting phonics next week. The main story we are currently working on is being shared across the entire school. It is called ‘Flotsam’ and it is a beautiful book that we will continue to work on over the next few weeks going over numerous topics and themes covered in the story. (I am going to leave you in suspense!)

In Maths this week, the children have been working on a lot of counting. We have been doing the date board on a daily basis. They have been introduced to the visual timetable in order to see the sequence of events for the day and they have followed the big hand on the clock to know when five, ten or fifteen minutes is up.  I have also been assessing the children’s maths skills on a one on one basis. We worked on counting and ordering numbers using our special penguin puzzle pieces! 

In Understanding the World, the children have been playing with our very new pirate ship!  The children have also been using the dressing up clothes in the classroom in our role play area. They have also absolutely loved the playhouse in the outside playground, and it was so nice to see many of the children doing some cooking- I even tasted a delicious meal! 

In Expressive Arts and Design the children have been creating their own self portraits! The children had to discuss their physical features and explain the steps they were doing in order to make their beautiful portraits!

This week in forest school, it was wonderful to meet the new Reception class and welcome them to the beginning of our  year together!  We sat in a circle and sang the Forest School welcome song. Emma introduced us to some of the trees at our site. The children started to learn the names and will be getting to know them well over the year. Next, Emma explained the rules we have to keep everyone safe and how we care for nature during our sessions.

Then we played a game called ‘1,2,3 Where Are You?’ to help the children become acquainted/reacquainted with the site and to be able to come back together as a class quickly when they hear the special call from Emma. Everyone was very good at following the instructions and coming back to Emma as fast as they could!

After the game, Emma introduced the children to the wooded area of Forest School and our next activity. Everyone worked together to sort different natural objects into similar groups. Then the children collaborated to make a giant face on the ground with the natural objects they had found.

The rest of the session was spent playing and exploring. Children enjoyed manipulating clay, time in the hammocks, digging and making dens for our Forest Friends with sticks, and investigating all the new resources.

We finished our session back at the circle together and sang ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ with actions and a Forest School twist! 

Jewish Studies: In Jewish Studies this week, Reception class has started to explore Rosh Hashanah, focussing on the custom of eating apple and honey, in the hope for a sweet and good New Year. We sang and made actions for an old favourite song ‘Dip the Apple’ and we enjoyed a new song by Rabbi B, called 5 Red Apples. Do have a listen at home! Reception children had an opportunity to make their own little honey bees out of card, paper, tissue and other craft materials. Everyone made a beautiful folding apple Shana Tovah card, which we will be sending home closer to the chag. 

Reception had their first alef-bet lesson this week, and they all did so well. Reception class, I am so proud of how you took all of the learning in your stride and with such enthusiasm. Welcome to the exciting world of alef-bet! We explored the letter Shin, which says ‘Sh’ and comes at the end of this week’s vocabulary words, which are:
-rosh, meaning ‘head’
-dvash, meaning ‘honey’ 
-kiddush
-shemesh, meaning ‘sun’
-esh, meaning ‘fire’ and 
-chamesh, meaning ‘5’

Each of the children took home a plastic zippy folder containing a set of vocabulary cards and a card with the letter Shin. There is an instruction page and a welcome letter, giving some fun ideas as to how to get the most of using these cards. Please make sure to have a look over these with your child and fill in the signature page and return the folder to school next week. 

This week, we also looked into the parasha of Ki Tetzei. In Ki Tetzei we learned that if you find something lying about, you should not simply pick it up and keep it. It belongs to someone who has lost it. We talked about how the Torah tells us to find out who it belongs to and give it back. If you cannot find the owner, give it to the teacher. We had such fun making our fabulous imaginative collages of a ‘Lost and Found box’ with lots of different exciting items, to discuss at home over Shabbat. 

On this week’s Shabbat table, we had:
-Ima - Leora
-Aba - Aaron
-Ben - Micah
-Bat - Odelia

Reminders:
Please remember to put your child’s name in all their school clothing, including their kippah.  
Please remember that every Thursday is forest school and to bring waterproofs each week. Please make sure that you look at the weather each morning and ensure your child has the appropriate clothing.
Please for Monday 16th September can each child bring in ONE printed photo from their summer holiday. It would be great if it was on the beach, but don’t worry if not.  This is for an art project that will begin on this day. 

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

Shabbat Shalom

Mrs. Ranson, Mrs. Tapper, Miss Le Fort and Morah Cassie