It’s been a very busy first week back and an exciting start to our Spring 2 term and our new topic ‘Change’.
This week the sun has been shining and we have been preparing our outdoor classroom ready to start planting. We have had lots of helpers in our ‘Gardening club’ who have enjoyed looking to see what plants and nature are starting to appear! I wonder what changes we will spot over the next few weeks!

We also had a lovely afternoon with Year 6 to swap our Lenten boxes. All of the children went into so much detail with the boxes and really thought about how they could make them special for their partner. I am sure these very special Lenten boxes will help us to think about what extra acts of kindness we can do over Lent to raise money for CAFOD. Thank you for your support at home.

What have we been learning this week:

Phonics: We have continued to focus on our blending skills this week and have tried used ‘Fred in our head’ to become speedy readers. We have had morning speedy sound challenged and speedy reading on the board and each day we are becoming more confident and fluent with out reading and letter recognition. Keep up the fabulous work Reception!

Maths: This week in Maths, we began by exploring 2D shapes. We used a fun rhyme ‘a 2D shape is flat, I can squash it like…. that! ‘ to help us identify 2D shapes. We came across some other shapes which couldn’t be squashed flat and realised that these were 3D shapes. We had lots of fun playing 3D or not 3D with different shapes around the classroom. In our number work we have continued developing our subitising skills and number bonds for numbers 5,6 and 7. We thought about different ways we could make these numbers and used the cubes to show this with different colours and arrangements.

RE: On Wednesday, we celebrated Ash Wednesday in our school assembly with Father Peter; this led to some wonderful whole class discussions. We reflected on why we have Lent and the things that we can do during Lent to show that we are grateful and to help others. Reception decided to use our class kindness jar as inspiration and have been thinking of the acts of kindness that they will try to do during Lent.

Let’s Celebrate!

Enthusiastic Bobby Bee: Maya!
Maya, it is wonderful to see your genuine excitement for learning and how you have grown as a learner this term. You’ve particularly enjoyed our phonics activities and you blend the sounds and read the words with fantastic enthusiasm. We love to see your brain thinking and growing and your eyes light up when you share your ideas! We know you have an exciting learning journey ahead.
Well done Maya!

Determined Sadie Spider and Creative Kiki Chameleon: Alfie!
Alfie, it has been lovely seeing how much you enjoy Drawing Club. Each day, you are determined and you challenge yourself to be even more creative with your story telling and sentence writing. You are becoming fantastic author and illustrator and we can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Well done Alfie!

Important Notices & Polite Reminders:

Stay and Play session - polite reminder to please respond via email to confirm if you are able to attend your child’s stay and play session. This helps us to organise the groups and staffing for the day. Many thanks.

World Book Day is on Thursday 2nd March and to celebrate, children should come to school dressed as their favourite book character, we look forward to see your costumes!

Virtual parents meetings are taking place on Wednesday 15th March and Wednesday 22rd March, from 2.00pm-5.30pm.The appointments can be booked via the online booking system which can be found on the school newsletter.

Please make sure to read through Mrs Gregans newsletter for information regarding school pick up times.

As always, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact via email - s.hartley@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk

Have a wonderful half term,

The Reception Team