Latest Learning 2026-2027

11.09.26 - Welcome Back to School!

What a wonderful and carefully planned first week we have had. The children came in small groups throughout the week. Parents joined them if they were new to education and explored their new classrooms and made relationships with their new teachers. Children began to learn new routines, most of which were smoothly planned to reflect their nursery ones and have really settled in well. Parents joined the children for their first school lunch and saw how well they are looked after by their key workers. We paid lots of attention to the unique characteristics of each child, including dominant hand and self-care skills. We can’t wait to get going with their learning journey! 

 

 

 Latest Learning 2025-2026

03.07.26 - Expressive Arts and Design!

This week we have been revisiting a skill around choosing colours for purpose, when drawing or painting. The children used the great outdoors to take large pieces of card and watercolours and represent what they know such as parks or gardens. Some children went very abstract and just enjoyed the feel of experimenting with colours and their placements. Adults modelled to the children, rich vocabulary as they painted such as stroke, thin, thick, light and dark. The children were encouraged to talk about their paintings and share their ideas and processes with others. What little artists we have! 

 

 

12.06.26 - Reading!

What a wonderful week of reading practice and application. Children are actively at different ages and stages of reading so we ensure that we provide lots of opportunities for children to use their reading to complete little activities, based on their individual needs. Some children this week have been continuing to learn how to hear the whole word when an adult says three sounds through an activity involving all early years children's favourite skill...cut and stick. Children were given a park scene and had to listen carefully to the teacher segmenting a word and seeing if they could blend the sounds together to see which 'who' or 'what' they must add to the scene. This involved so much focus from these children and we are so proud of them!  Children that are learning to read sentences took part in a silly quiz! Children read silly questions to each other and answered yes or no whilst laughing at the silliness of each one! Brilliant application. Well done everyone!

05.06.26 - Communication and Language!

The reception team have been working hard on establishing a new approach (SHREC) to having high quality interactions with children that enable children to learn and use new vocabulary. Adding provocations to our continuous provision has proven to have a huge impact on creating moments of awe and wonder in which staff can offer new words and structure sentences back to the children. A simple addition of flower petals to water and sand areas enabled children to squash, squeeze, fill, rip and create, offering endless opportunities for staff to teach words such as petal, over flow, smell and pattern. A similar approach was taken in the home corners, where a bag of 'Grandma's things' was left behind. Children were taught ambitious language to describe their texture, form and function. 

We teach new vocabulary through direct adult led teaching and then provide opportunities for the children to practise using these words as they play. The addition of our pet family of snails allowed children to explore what a 'foot' looks and feels like, as well as describing what they see with the words; slither, crawl and hide.

A fabulous week of language explorations! 

22.05.26 - Reading and Writing in Reception!

We have been very proud teachers this term, seeing the progress the children have made in their sustained attention, word reading skills and transcription skills. Children have been taking part in independent reading tasks with so much focus, saying the sounds and reading the words and finding the corresponding picture. They have been able to keep their focu on this task until it is finished and ask for help if they are unsure! Such progress. The children are now able to use their writing skills to write sentences that have been given to them. We provided lots of opportunity for this to happen by creating sentences about our key text, The Three Little Pigs, that can be written using the phonics that they know. Children were encouraged to write using their strong body positions such as the lizard. Well done team! 

15.05.26 - Expressive Arts and Design!

We have been learning the skills of using resources as props in role play for some time. We felt that the children were ready to move into very open ended resources, so we have introduced loose parts into our continuous provision. We modelled to the children how we could tell stories using these props and include some of our new story language that we have been learning in literacy this week. Children used their knowledge of pattern to make representations with their objects such as buses or trains. The adults skilfully interacted with the children to include story lines in their play e.g Choosing a 'villain' in their story and seeing what happens 'suddenly'. Children enjoyed bringing their new knowledge of bug names into this play and created stories about villain ladybirds that are trying to stop the train from getting to its destination. A glorious example of children using new language in their play! 

01.05.26 - Physical Development!

This week we have been focusing on the skill of crawling in line with all our new movement play intents. The children have enjoyed practising  their crawling skills by having crawling races with their peers. Adults have used this opportunity to model turn-taking behaviours and how to be resilient in group games. Some children progressed onto crawling through a Lycra tunnel, which allows children to use pushing movements with their hands and feet to get through. Adults were on hand modelling these skills and ensuring the stone lion position was accurate!