Our favourite CBeebies presenters introduced their favourite Black History heroes to us and explained why their impact had been so great. We then learned about some famous inventors: Garett Morgan invented traffic lights; Dr Bath invented a machine for improving sight and Philip B Downing invented the postbox. This inspired us to become inventors ourselves.

We created some traffic lights that tell us whether to sit, jump, twirl or put our arms out wide. Evie invented a “collar” for “scaring away fireworks”. Oscar’s bus took him on an underwater treasure hunt. Our new glasses gave us an orange perspective on the classroom. I wonder what other inventions we can think of?

Todd Parr urges us to appreciate that ‘It’s Okay to be Different’ and we do! We are glad that we are all different as it makes our classroom so much more interesting and fun!

After looking at some beautiful African art and noticing the colours and shapes, we had a go at making a class Ndebele pattern.

To mark the occasion of National Poetry Day, Miss Cooke wrote a poem, which celebrates some of things that are special about our school. The whole poem will be performed by the older children next Monday in their assembly. In Reception, we learnt the final verse.

We have also been singing even more nursery rhymes than normal in Reception, The children decided that their favourite is ‘Five Little Buns in a Baker’s Shop’. Oba loves to dance when we sing.

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

On Monday, we found some objects, which gave us clues to our new Talk for Writing text: ‘Little Rabbit Food Foo’: bunny ears, a mallet, a carrot, some denim, a fairy wand and a fluffy tail.

We have learnt part of the story each day and would like to present our imitation to you.

We really enjoy the story but know that Little Rabbit Foo Foo needs to make better choices! Next week, we will innovate the story.

Congratulations….

….to Isabelle and Arlo, for earning their first certificates on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds respectively. They are so proud.

Thank you so much if you were able to join us for our box exhibition this morning. The children were very excited to share the contents of the boxes with their buddies. It is such a special part of getting to know the children and we really appreciate the effort that went into making them: thank you.

On Monday, we found lots of colourful dots in the classroom and Mrs Shipley was dressed up as an artist. We wondered why?

When Mrs Pridden arrived, Sophie borrowed the art overalls and we heard the story of Vashti: a young girl who, at the start of Peter H Reynolds’ story, lacks the confidence to draw. However, with her teacher’s encouragement, she discovers that she is very capable of producing wonderful art: so much so that Vashti inspires a young boy to pick up his pencil when he sees her paintings at the school art show.

‘The Dot’ is an uplifting tale about having a growth mindset. We have been talking about how it is perfectly normal to have things we can’t do yet. Asking a friend or adult for support or putting lots of effort into practising can really help us to improve. The sense of satisfaction, when we learn new skills, gives us such a buzz.

When you are drawing at home, remember that you can ‘Just make a mark and see where it takes you’…..and don’t forget to sign it!

We all feel very proud looking at the dotty art we are creating this week.

The buddying relationships between our Reception children and their older peers in Year 6 are always precious. The children met on Monday and have had the opportunity to start getting to know one another during lunch time play this week. Reception parents will meet their child’s buddy at the ‘All about Me’ box exhibition on Wednesday 24th September.

Caring for our chicken

We have also had the opportunity to meet our chicken. We talked about how we can keep her healthy – by giving her space to exercise; fresh water; food and a clean straw bed, on which to lay the eggs (which we love to collect and count). Wrapping the eggs carefully is a DT challenge! We would love to see how you eat your eggs. If you have any pets at home, we would enjoy seeing photos and hearing about how you care for them – via Tapestry, please.

This week, we welcomed nearly all of this year’s RS into school. School bears were cuddled, self-portraits were drawn, friends were reunited, new friendships were made, ‘All about Me’ boxes were delved into, delicious lunches were enjoyed in the dinner hall, indoor and outdoor areas were explored, models were created in the workshop, tea parties were held in the home corner, sorting and tidying was practised and we made our first visit to our class tree: a Ribston Pippin. The adults were really impressed by the kindness, good manners and wonderful approach to our early learning on display. Well done, children, and thank you, parents, for your support.

On Monday, one more member of RS will arrive and, in the afternoon, we will meet our wonderful and caring Year 6 buddies: how exciting!

Can you believe that you have finished your Reception year? This year seems to have flown. We hope that you will take time to reflect and to celebrate all that you have achieved this year: the friendships you have made; the songs you have learned to sing; the art you have created…..and so much more. Be proud of yourselves, enjoy your summer break and come back refreshed for Year One.

Thank you to all of the families for your support this year. It is always appreciated.

Happy birthday to our summer-born children. Enjoy your special days when they come.

Thank you very much to everyone, who was able to join us for our Arts Celebration today. The children have engaged so well in our creative learning since returning from Knaresborough and were very excited to share it with you: our collaborative mosaic, which was inspired by the one we saw on the station platform; our Knaresborough maps, which tied in with our maths topic; our crayon landscapes of the scenes we recalled from the train window; the castle sketches from the tri[ days; our sponge painting, block print and oil pastel train pictures and our postcards.

It was also wonderful to see how much the children wanted to involve you in making their individual mosaics and photo frames/boxes this afternoon and to pull you up to join in with the fun dance that Miss Fraser had choreographed: thank you for your enthusiasm and support.

This week’s blog is brought to you by Aaliyah, who has been with us on work experience. Thank you, Aaliyah.

This week, in Reception, the children experienced their Jump Up day and had lots of fun meeting their new teachers: Miss Dench, Miss Cannon or Mrs Barnes. Some children were initially nervous to move up a year but found themselves enjoying their first day. Alma said, “I was nervous; now I am not because it was fun!” and Reggie said, “I can’t wait for next year!”. The children had time to explore the classrooms after their introductory circle time, with Edie and Leyan agreeing that their favourite activity was painting and Ian enjoying the building area of the classroom the most. The children did a writing activity based on ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’. Maria said, “I had fun, it was good”.  Zoe, Ahmad and Yousaf played ‘Buried Treasure’ together before the children came back to Reception at the end of the day.

We have returned to the concept of repeating patterns this week. The children have been deepening their understanding of different patterns, developing a more secure knowledge of pattern rules and becoming more confident in verbalising their thinking. Children have been supported in drawing out the unit of repeat from a pattern shown to them. They then enjoyed inventing and describing their own patterns. In a next step, children looked carefully at a friend’s pattern and tried to copy it.

Why not have a go at acting out a repeating pattern at home, for example, head, shoulders, knees, head, shoulders, knees….? Or head, head, knees, knees, head, head, knees, knees?

Preparing for Wimbledon

The racquets and balls have been out to get us in the mood for the start of Wimbledon next week. Budding Jack Drapers and Emma Raducanus have been learning to control the ball and develop their hand-eye coordination.

One Colour Day

Thank you for supporting School Council’s rainbow creating efforts today, raising funds for our four House charities: Homeless Angels; Yorkshire Air Ambulance; Elephant Human Relations Aid and Make a Wish.