Forest School
Reception children have had a fun filled fortnight in their last sessions of Forest School, helping to build and light a fire and toasting marshmallows to eat (see photo below). They have sometimes been caught in the rain but this has not dampened their enthusiasm! Thanks must go to Mrs Mellar, Mr Roberson and all the Reception teachers and parent helpers for an excellent year in our outside classroom. Reception would welcome any parental offers of help for the new term. The sessions are on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

           
Nursery Fun day
Kindergarten and Pre-School had a very enjoyable day on Wednesday 4th July, when they took an American theme as it was Independence Day.  They enjoyed dressing in red, white and blue; were noisily entertained by a magician and had a picnic lunch (in the dining room!).  There were plenty of party games and Mrs. Symonds Sheriff badge came in handy for final decisions! Mrs Symonds says a big thank you to all the staff and parent helpers – the children went home very tired but happy (so did the staff!!)

11th May
It was a great pity that, due to the weather, the “Wacky Races” had to be postponed twice this week! However, we did manage to hold the Balloon release very successfully on Thursday afternoon, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. We now wait to see if any of the labels are returned soon.

On Tuesday May 1st Years 1 and 2 celebrated May Day with the time honoured tradition of May Pole Dancing. The children heard about some of the traditions of May Day in assembly and then enjoyed the dancing in the afternoon. Some of the dancing was so enthusiastic Toby, one of the Gap students who comes to work with us on Tuesday afternoon, was enlisted to hold the pole steady!

27th April
St George’s Day
The children were all reminded of the traditional story of the patron saint of England and Preschool acted this out with help from Mrs Symonds. We were very excited to see a real ‘dragon’ in assembly on Tuesday as the Animal Antics man had brought with him a Kimodo Dragon lizard from the Galapagos Islands, called George!

Animal Antics
Year 2 enjoyed a wonderful introduction to their Rainforest project when they encountered animals from each layer of the rainforest.  They handled giant millipedes, hissing cockroaches, prickly stick insects, a carpet python, tarantula and buzzard.  They also learnt many amazing facts!

May Day Sponsored Event
We traditionally hold a family and school based activity on the afternoon of May Day - Monday 7th May, which is a normal school day for us. Following last year’s successful ‘Wacky Races’ we have decided to repeat this event as children and parents alike had such a great time. The sponsor form for this event should be with this letter and we hope that all parents, family and friends will support their children by sponsoring the ‘Wacky Races’ activities that are planned. More detail about the day will be sent out early next term.

16th March, 2007.
Red Nose Day
There was much excitement when children wore their red noses into assembly and we all sang the special song for Comic Relief! We have not made as much of this event as perhaps other sections of the school did today but by selling the noses we raised some funds towards this very worthwhile charity event. Thank you to all who bought their noses from us.

Spring has arrived!
We always know that spring has arrived when we have a visit from a new born lamb. Thanks must go to Mrs Michell (Alex Yr 2 and James Yr 1) for bringing in a lamb last Friday, to meet Reception children. The children were very quiet and so gentle when they stroked the lamb that she almost fell asleep!

Pre-school visitor
Mr Sparkes came to talk to Preschool about his work as a builder. He also explained about the work of plumbers and electricians. He brought lots of visual aids and they thoroughly enjoyed his visit. They were able to extend their own role play – in the builder’s yard – with great enthusiasm. Thank you Mr Sparkes!

 Police visit to Reception
Reception enjoyed a visit from a Police Constable and a Community Support Officer on Wednesday. They had the chance to try on the uniform and even wear a pair of handcuffs! The visit was part of their on going topic of ‘people that help us’ and the children enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the police car, turning on the lights and sounding the siren – as all other year groups will testify!

2nd March, 2007
Pre-school outing
The Pre-school topic on ‘Homes’ is proving very interesting in many ways. The Pre-school children visited the Pre-fab building in Avoncroft Museum on Wednesday this week to see if they could identify things that are different from their homes today. It was very interesting listening to their comments both before and after the visit. They all enjoyed this mini adventure - many thanks to the Pre-school parents who came along to help with this outing.

Reception visitors
The fire brigade came to visit Reception classes this week. They gave the children a talk on fire safety (at a level they could understand!) and then the fun part began – each class was allowed to climb into the fire tender and the children were able to hold the hoses and aim the water at targets set up in the garden. A good time was had by all and the children learnt a great deal in the process.

February 21st
We had a visit from the Recycling Robot for Years 1 and 2 which was excellent – I am sure the children will be using ‘pester power’ to remind us all of the need to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’.

Chinese New Year
Reception have had a busy week! Doing a dragon dance in assembly and learning how to write their names in Chinese with Chinese pupils from the Senior school were just two of the activities in our Chinese New Year celebrations.

On Wednesday Mrs Dalby gave a wonderful talk to Reception about a dentist’s job and showed the children how they could keep their teeth healthy. They all went home with a brushing chart and toothbrush! 

9th February
Jump Rope for Heart

The children have had great fun this week, as you can see from the photographs, skipping to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. Many people have sent in their sponsor forms and the money already, which is great. If you have sponsor money and forms still to come, please send them into school after half term, by Friday 23rd February. We have already collected over £300 for this very worthwhile charity. Thank you all for supporting it so well.

Forest School Flag
we had a special visit from Mrs. Newton who very kindly volunteered to make us a Forest School Flag.  Now Reception can proudly fly the flag whenever they are “in residence” at Forest School.