Bourn 
Acorn - Reception
Date: 7th November 2025
Highlights
We have had a truly wonderful week in Acorn class this week. The children have returned to school happy, refreshed and ready to learn! We have started to practise some of the scenes and words in our nativity which has caused some laughter as the children have made up their own lines. We can already feel that this is going to be a great half term for them with lots to look forward to.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: We have reviewed some of the sounds that the class were less confident with before half term. We are now ready to start on the next set of letters which are ff, ll, ss, j. We have been working really hard on our writing and are writing 3 letter words in our phonics lessons now! Look at our lovely writing.
Kinetic Letters: We have introduced the Window Cleaner Family letters this week which are t, l, i and u. You will find the 'At home' sheets for this in their reading folders. Please continue to ensure your child is using the correct 3 friend finger hold with their pillow finger behind the pencil, with the pencil resting on the side of it.
Maths: This week, the children have continued to find out ‘how many’ objects there are altogether. This has reinforced their understanding of cardinality – that the last number in the count tells us ‘how many’ things there are altogether in a set of objects – and they have further practised their 1:1 correspondence skill, by counting numbers at the same time as moving or tagging objects. We have worked on deepening their understanding of 5 as a quantity by linking the number itself to the 5 fingers on one hand.
Finger breathing: We have learnt how to do finger breathing which we can use to help calm our bodies and mind when we feel an uncomfortable feeling (angry, sad or scared). The children put their names on our feelings display as they enter school each morning and we discuss what they are feeling, why and where in their bodies they feel it. Often just by sharing their feelings it makes their uncomfortable feeling smaller. It is important to us in Acorn class that the children are helped manage and process uncomfortable feeling so they are in the best mindset to learn.
What we are looking forward to next week....
Nativity: We are looking forward to doing some rehearsals in the hall next week. Please make sure you have checked your child's bag/reading folder for their costume request.
Maths: The children will be encouraged to compare the number of objects in 2 sets by matching them 1:1. Seeing that objects in some sets can be matched without any being left over will draw the children’s attention to instances when the quantities of objects are equal. We will be using the language of ‘more than’, ‘fewer than’ and ‘an equal number’ to describe how many objects there are in each set. As the focus is on countable things, ‘fewer than’ is used rather than ‘less than’ and ‘more than’ is used rather than ‘greater than’. Please help to reinforce this language at home.
Home Learning
Phonics: Here is a link to the Little Wandle flashcards which are a really great resource to have for supporting with phonics at home.
Little Wandle at Home First Phonics Flashcards for Reception by – Collins (also available at Amazon)
Reading: Please ensure you share your child's school reading book with them regularly at home, following the guidance sheets sent home working on Decoding, prosody and comprehension. The additional picture book is for you to read to them.
Notices and Reminders
Buddies: Just to make you aware that the Year 6 buddies will be on their residential next week so our Acorn's might mention missing them! We hope they have a great time and we look forward to having them back the following week.
PE: Our PE lesson next week will be on Thursday afternoon. Please send your child in their PE kit on Thursday and Friday next week.
Donations: If anyone has some picture frames they no longer need Acorn class would love them to frame the beautiful photos of the children with their families that have been sent in via Tapestry.
Weaving Frame: If anyone is handy with wood and a saw and would like to take on a project Acorn class would love a weaving frame as pictured to help with fine motor skills. Please let me know if you can help at all.
Dates
10th November – Bags2School
19th November - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh
19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair
8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am
9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am
11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am
17th December – Christmas Lunch
17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh
19th December - Carol Service in Church
Have a wonderful weekend and half term!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 23rd October 2025
Highlights
This half term we have grown together as Acorns. Mrs Crome, Miss Hayden and I are so proud of how settled the children have become, how friendships have strengthened and how hard they have worked, particularly in phonics. We have observed the children developing skills in many of the EYFS areas during play project time and have enjoyed playing alongside them and supporting them with their next steps. We hope you have enjoyed the weekly observations on Tapestry.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: This week, we have carried out an assessment of each child’s phonic skills and focused on plugging any gaps in their learning. Your support with this—especially following our discussions at Parents’ Evening—is incredibly valuable. We would like the children to continue practising their phonics regularly at home as well as at school to help reinforce their progress and build confidence in their reading skills.
Kinetic Letters: We haven’t introduced any new letters this week as we’ve been consolidating what the children have already learned. After half term, we’ll begin work on the Window Cleaner Family letters. Please continue to practise the Abracadabra Family (using the sheets already sent home) to help develop your child’s fluency and confidence. This can be done in fun, engaging ways — using chalks or large paintbrushes and water outside, bath crayons, fingers in trays of foam or sand, or even rainbow writing. Anything that makes writing enjoyable for your child will help strengthen their skills!
Maths: We have focussed on looking carefully and using the language of comparison to describe sets of objects that they can see. Language is a key focus and we model the language of ‘more than’ and ‘fewer than’ to describe how many objects there are in each set.
Buckets: We have introduced invisible buckets this week. We read the story 'Have you filled a bucket today' and used role play to teach the children how we can fill and dip into each others buckets. An important part of our year together is working as a team, supporting each other and feeling safe and supported by our 'Acorn Family'. One way that we promote 'bucket filling' is giving compliments to our special helpers each day.
What we are looking forward to next week....
Half Term: Please do take a moment to congratulate your child on completing their first half term of school! It is a huge step, and they have done brilliantly. Over the holiday, they will need plenty of time to relax, play, and recharge — perhaps with a few cosy pyjama days thrown in too.
Home Learning
Phonics: You can use this game for practise of the phase 2 sounds Flash Cards (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game and this game to practise reading CVC words Fishy Phonics (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game. If your child needs additional practise to blend you can use Fred Games videos to support and additional ideas here of how to incorporate blending into everyday life. . Please also use any resources given out at parents evening.
Notices and Reminders
Phonics: I will be sending home copies of your child's phonics assessment today so that you can help us support any gaps.
Nativity: We have chosen the Whoopsie Daisy Angel nativity and have allocated all parts. Costume requests will be sent home today. After the half term break, we will be sending out lines and providing lots of opportunities for practice so the children can learn their parts and feel confident for the performance. We can’t wait to see them on stage ✨
Dates
6th November – 11am School Tour for new Reception places
10th November – Bags2School
19th November - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh
19th to 26th November – Scholastic Book Fair
8th December – GenR8 Christmas Assembly 9.10am
9th December – Acorn Nativity Dress Rehearsal 9.30am
11th December – Acorn Nativity 9.30am
17th December – Christmas Lunch
17th December - 2.45 to 3.15pm SEND 'Open' Afternoon with Miss Hensleigh
19th December - Carol Service in Church
Have a wonderful weekend and half term!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 17th October 2025
Highlights
Our Acorns have enjoyed a trip out to Bourn allotments this week. Chris and Orla introduced us to their chickens and showed us some of the home grown vegetables they are busy tending to. It was a great opportunity for the Acorns to see where food comes from and to develop an understanding of the natural world.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: h, b, f and l are our letter sounds for this week. We've been practising reading CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant eg bed, hat) words using sound buttons and our new tricky word is 'the'.
Kinetic Letters: The children have shown great resilience with learning our new letters this week. 'S' is a particularly tricky letter to grasp but uses the same 'push back' movement as others in the abracadabra family so the children gave it a really good go!
Maths: This week, the children have built on their subitising skills. They have continued to use ‘perceptual’ subitising – instant recognition – by saying the number of sounds that they can hear, such as claps or drum beats, without needing to count. They have been encouraged to look closely at small quantities and observe whether the quantity has changed or only the arrangement.
We have also investigated the shapes made by Numberblock Four and started to develop their skills of ‘conceptual’ subitising. Noticing the sub-groups that can be perceived within a larger set, and recognise the whole at the same time. For example, I have drawn their attention to the fact that Numberblock Four can be arranged with 2 blocks on top of another 2 blocks or as a line of 3 with 1 on top.
Inspiration: We really enjoyed listening to what our focus children brought in this week to inspire us. Beauden confidently spoke to the class about his trip to the zoo where he saw reptiles, lions and capyburas. Elowen talked to us about her ukulele and which inspired us to want to hear one being played and Boudicca brought in some amazing art work that she had created on canvas. It has been so lovely to hear about what inspires our Acorn class - from horseriding and ballet last week, to reptiles, art and musical instruments this week - we really do have a diverse range of interest in our class.
There will be no focus children next week as we will be carrying out phonics assessments.
What we are looking forward to next week....
School Run for Fun week: Every day next week we will taking part in Run for Fun week. We are going to challenging ourselves to see how many laps of the KS1 playground we can do in 15 minutes. The aim of this event is to foster social connections and promote enjoyment and wellbeing.
Home Learning
AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 6. Meet Alphablock F - BBC iPlayerAlphablocks - Magic Words: 2. Meet Alphablock B - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 8. Meet Alphablock H - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 12. Meet Alphablock L - BBC iPlayer
You could also play the following game with them to practise blending with these sounds Fishy Phonics (Phase 2) - Online Phonics Game.
If you prefer to practise off screens you could cut up some pieces of card/paper and write the letters they have learnt on each piece. You could use these to play matching pairs games or to build CVC words with. The children have enjoyed doing this in their independent play this week.
Notices and Reminders
Drop off: Please ensure you and your child wait at the bottom of the steps until I open the gate at the start of the day.
Collection: For safeguarding reasons and to always ensure the right child goes to the right parent/carer can I kindly request that you are close enough for me to see them walk to you and also that you are ready to receive your child by giving me eye contact before I send them to you.
Parents consultations: Ahead of parent consultations I want to share with you the Early Learning Goals which are the level of development children are expected to have reached by the end of their Reception year. Our meetings will be focussed mainly on how well your child has settled in to school, personal, social and emotional development however I will also use this as a basis for discussion about strengths and areas of areas of development.
Dates
Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October
Have a wonderful weekend!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 10th October 2025
Highlights
What a wonderful week we’ve had in Acorn Class! The children are really starting to feel more settled and confident as they get to grips with our daily routines and hence have made progress in many areas. It’s been lovely to see so many happy faces each morning and to watch new friendships beginning to blossom.
We held our phonics and handwriting workshop. If you were unable to make it please find the slides about Little Wandle here and Kinetic letters here. Here are two of the key messages from the workshop....
"One of the greatest gifts adults can give is to read to children" "A love of reading is the biggest indicator of future academic success."
Please also take some time to explore the Little Wandle website parents section. It has lots of videos on to help you support your children with their phonics, including how to pronounce the sounds and how we teach tricky words and blending.
If your child is not yet able to blend, please do take some time to explore the nursery rhymes section and work on some of the suggestions on there. You can also use this video for support. Everyday life lends itself very nicely to blending practise when parents turn themselves into robots who can only say sounds like "go and get your s-o-ck-s on".
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: ck, e, u, r are our letter sounds for this week. We've been building on our skills from last week and introduced visual blending. As I mentioned at our phonics workshop Little Wandle phonics scheme moves at quite a fast pace. The children so far are impressing me with their ability to retain and build upon their recognition of sounds each week. For any children who need extra practise with this, they will get this in school and also I have/will be in touch and send home a set of letter cards to reinforce them at home. Thank you for your support with this, it really does make a big difference.
Drawing Club: In Drawing Club, we’ve been exploring the story of Owl Babies for the second week. The children loved creating their own nests for Sarah, Percy and Bill, cracking eggs to reveal baby owls, and inventing secret codes to keep the owl family safe! Their imaginations have truly taken 'flight' this week.
Kinetic Letters: I have loved seeing the children's progress in forming letters this week. We have invested a lot of time in strengthening fine motor and gross motor skills over the past few weeks and it is now all coming to fruition, which is very exciting for them (and us!) This week we have learnt to form the letters c,o,a and d. You will receive a copy of the letters with the script we use for practise at home in their folders on Friday,
Maths: This week, the children have explored how numbers can be composed of 1s and, from this, begin to investigate the composition of 3 and 4. Composing and de-composing numbers involves children investigating part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. The children will learn from practical experience that a ‘whole’ is made up of smaller parts and is, therefore, bigger than its parts.
What we have enjoyed this week...
Penguins: The children are showing a real interest in penguins this week. They have enjoyed making models of penguins and placing them on a world map, leading to lots of rich discussion about where they live and why. Mrs Crome and I love seeing the children take their interests and feed it into their play. We use this as an opportunity to work on the children's next steps eg writing initial sounds.
Inspiration: We really enjoyed listening to what our focus children brought in this week to inspire us. We heard all about George's up and coming ballet show, Pandoras "Where's Wally" books and horseriding skills on Lucy and a video of Georgie trotting around the arena on (either a horse with the same name or the same horse!) ......Lucy.
What we are looking forward to next week....
Inspiration: We are looking forward to hearing about what our next focus children are inspired by. You will have received a letter in their book bag if it your child's turn. Please complete the form and return it on Monday.
Walk to Bourn Allotments: We will be walking to Bourn Allotments on Tuesday afternoon to find out more about where food comes from (before growing some of our own later in the year). We will also be collecting eggs from the chickens to make cakes with!
Home Learning
My Family: To support us with our Understanding of the World, we will be identifying and discussing who is in our family next week. Please can you upload a photo of your child with their family on to Tapestry to support your child with this understanding.
AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.
Alphablocks - Series 2: 21. Kick - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 5. Meet Alphablock E - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 21. Meet Alphablock U - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 18. Meet Alphablock R - BBC iPlayer
Notices and Reminders
Drop off: Please ensure you and your child wait at the bottom of the steps until I open the gate at the start of the day.
Collection: For safeguarding reasons and to always ensure the right child goes to the right parent/carer can I kindly request that you are close enough for me to see them walk to you and also that you are ready to receive your child by giving me eye contact before I send them to you.
Parents consultations: Ahead of parent consultations I want to share with you the Early Learning Goals which are the level of development children are expected to have reached by the end of their Reception year. Our meetings will be focussed mainly on how well your child has settled in to school, personal, social and emotional development however I will also use this as a basis for discussion about strengths and areas of areas of development.
Dates
Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October
Have a wonderful weekend!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 3rd October 2025
Highlights
We have enjoyed practising our Harvest Festival song and performing it to the rest of the school and in particular our buddies who we gave a little wave to. We look forward to going to church on Friday for the real thing. We started Drawing Club this week based on the story of Owl Babies and have had our imaginations run wild with possibilities of what our secret codes could do.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: g, o, c, k are our letter sounds for this week. We have got really good at using these to start blending 3 letter words. The children will all stay on wordless books until after half term when the children who are able to blend will start bringing home books with words in.
Kinetic Letters: These are the moves we have learnt so far. The children have enjoyed practising these moves with feathers, scarves, in the air, in the sand and on whiteboards. You will hear more about these and how to support your child with forming letters correctly in our talk next week on Wednesday at 2.30pm. Please do attend if you can as supporting your child with their handwriting is essential for their overall development.
Maths: We have been counting with our puppet Fred who is making lots of mistakes. We showed him how the last number name you say is the total number (cardinal value), we helped him give one number name to each object (1-1 correspondence) and how you can make counting easier by lining objects up or moving them as you count. Fred got much better by the end of the week thanks to our help.
What we have enjoyed this week...
Buddies: We had a visit from our buddies on Monday for Book sharing time. I have already seen so many examples of friendship between the children. The Oak children help our little Acorns find books they like, showing great patience at times. They read with them, entertain them and make them laugh. It is such a special part of our week.
What we are looking forward to next week....
Phonics: Next week we will be learning some new sounds ck, e, u, r.
Focus Children: This will also be our first week of Focus Children. We look forward to seeing what our first 3 children bring in as their inspirations on Monday (please remember no toys).
Home Learning
Signs of Autumn: Please can you send in, email or upload any photos you have of your child outside at autumn time - this could be with a handful of conkers or acorns, changing leaf colours, dew on grass, fields, blackberries, pumpkins etc. We will add these to our birthday display to help the children identify which season their birthday is in.
AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos.
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 7. Meet Alphablock G - BBC iPlayerAlphablocks - Magic Words: 15. Meet Alphablock O - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 3. Meet Alphablock C - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 11. Meet Alphablock K - BBC iPlayer
Reading Books: Your child will bring home a Little Wandle wordless book and chosen book on a Friday. Please use the guidance to share the book with your child and return on Thursday please. We do not need the folders in school in between those times.
Notices and Reminders
Thank you: Thanks for sending your child in with their 'Special bag' item to help us get to know what their interests are. Toys should no longer be coming into school please
Acorn Class Walk: On Tuesday 14th October in the afternoon Class Acorn will be going on a walk to Bourn allotments. We will be talking about where food comes from and while there we will be collecting eggs from the chickens. This walk will contribute to our Understanding of the World part of the EYFS curriculum.
Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop: Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm.
Forest School: Please can children have their legs covered on Fridays to protect them when they are in the Nature Reserve.
Volunteers: If anyone would like to become a regular volunteer at forest school on a Friday afternoon, please email me.
Dates
Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October 9am
Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop - Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm
Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October
Have a wonderful weekend!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 26th September 2025
Highlights
Our second full week at school has brought with it lots of successes! Lots of teachers commented on how well we sat and sung in our first assembly on Tuesday. We have been working hard to learn our next set of letters sounds i,n,m,d and we've been doing lots of activities that will help with our gross and fine motor strength and control ready for writing. We have loved subitising in maths and in the environment and moving on to counting with 1-1 correspondence.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: i,n,m,d are our letter sounds for this week. Please do continue to support your child with the sheet sent home to help them to learn them and become fluent. The faster they can recognise them the more fluent they are.
Kinetic Letters: We have learnt 4 of the moves that Brave monkey and Scared monkey do in the jungle (down and bump, up, flick and slide in and out). The children practise in the air, then in sand and then on a whiteboard.
Maths: We have been subitising (knowing the total without counting) 1,2, and 3 objects. In one of our maths lessons the children were challenged to circle 1,2 then 3 pebbles. Read here for more information on subitising, why it is so important and how you can support at home with it.
What we have enjoyed this week...
Early Morning activities (EMA's): These are the activities that we set out for the children for when they enter the classroom in the morning. This week we have been sorting pictures beginning with the sounds s,a,t,p , screwing bolts onto screws (fine motor development), matching numerals to amounts of conkers and following pre writing patterns with small pebbles (fine motor development). We run EMA's from 8.30-8.50am.
What we are looking forward to next week....
Harvest Festival: You are invited to come along to Bourn Church on Friday morning to see us perform in our Harvest Festival. The song (Big Red Combine Harvester) is quite catchy so I am hoping you will get lots of opportunity to practise with them at home if you don't know the song off by heart already!
Home Learning
Signs of Autumn: Please can you send in, email or upload any photos you have of your child outside at autumn time - this could be with a handful of conkers or acorns, changing leaf colours, dew on grass, fields, blackberries, pumpkins etc. We will add these to our birthday display to help the children identify which season their birthday is in.
AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos..
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 9. Meet Alphablock I - BBC iPlayerAlphablocks - Magic Words: 14. Meet Alphablock N - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 13. Meet Alphablock M - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 4. Meet Alphablock D - BBC iPlayer
Reading Books: Your child will bring home a Little Wandle wordless book on Friday 26th Sept. Please use the guidance to share the book with your child and return on Thursday please.
Notices and Reminders
Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop: We will be holding a presentation on how to support your child in Little Wandle phonics and Kinetic Letters on Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm (handwriting). Pease do come along if you can. Supporting your child at home with these skills is crucial for their reading and writing development.
Forest School: Please can children have their legs covered on Fridays to protect them when they are in the Nature Reserve.
Volunteers: If anyone would like to become a regular volunteer at forest school on a Friday afternoon, please email me.
Dates
Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October 9am
Phonics and Kinetic Letters workshop - Wednesday 8th October 2.30-3.15pm
Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October
Have a wonderful weekend!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 19th September 2025
Highlights
This week has been a week full of firsts and the children have coped brilliantly, despite obvious tiredness! We have experienced our first time having lunch at school, our first time being in school all together as a whole class, our first time having music with Mrs V, our first proper Book Bus visit, our first phonics lesson and our first forest school session.
What we have been learning this week ....
Phonics: We started phonics this week, introducing the letters s,a,t,p. The children have learnt to say the phonemes (sound) and link them to the graphemes (written letter shape). We have also started oral blending where I speak in robot talk to them and they have to identify the word I am saying eg touch your l-i-p or l-e-g. You could practise this at home with them as it's a key skills in learning to read.
Kinetic Letters: We have learnt about Brave monkey who sits high in the tree and Scared monkey who sit on the low branches of the tree. The two monkeys will come to help us with where to start our letters. We have also been developing strength in our fingers and bodies using dough gym, playing games outside that work on arm and shoulder strength and singing finger exercise songs that will help us with how to hold a pencil correctly using a 3 friends finger hold. We have learnt 5 moves (Bear, Meerkat, Stone Lion, Lizard and Penguin) which help us build strength in our bodies ready for writing which we use throughout the day. I wonder if your child can show you which one is which.
What we have enjoyed this week...
Mindful Story: This is a time we come together after lunch to just be. We make the classroom dark, we play calming music and we lye down. The children have really enjoyed having me read our mindful script to them and have really embraced the opportunity to calm their bodies and minds ready for the afternoon. I think some would happily stay like this for a lot longer!
What we are looking forward to next week....
Assemblies: We will start going to Assembly on Tuesdays for singing and Fridays for Community as of next week. You are welcome to join us at Fridays Community Assembly 9-9.30am.
Show and Tell bags: Your child will be bringing home a 'Show and Tell' bag. I would like them to put something that is special to them inside it and bring it back into school to talk to the class about. More details to come home on the bag.
Home Learning
Signs of Autumn: Please can you send in, email or upload any photos you have of your child outside at autumn time - this could be with a handful of conkers or acorns, changing leaf colours, dew on grass, fields, blackberries, pumpkins etc. We will add these to our birthday display to help the children identify which season their birthday is in.
Rhyming Books: Please share lots of rhyming books with your child and help them to identify the words that are rhyming. These 3 are favourites of ours in Class Acorn.
AlphaBlocks: Help your child remember the sounds we have learnt his week through the following videos..
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 19. Meet Alphablock S - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 1. Meet Alphablock A - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 20. Meet Alphablock T - BBC iPlayer
Alphablocks - Magic Words: 16. Meet Alphablocks P - BBC iPlayer
Number: Encourage your child to subitise (recognise the amount without counting) quantities up to 3. Ask them 'What do you see?' (eg. I see 3) and 'How do you see it?' (I see 2 here and 1 over here or I see a 1 here, a 1 here and a 1 here). This will set them up to have a greater understanding of number than just learning to count.
Notices and Reminders
Independent skills: Please continue to teach and then encourage your child to put their own jumpers, cardigans and coats on. This week I did a teaching session on how to pull the arm out when it is the wrong way round - we go 'fishing!' and how to find the hood of their coat and put it over their head to make it easier to find the arms. Reinforcing this at home will help them develop these key self help skills.
Dates
Harvest Festival - Friday 3rd October
Parent Consultations - Tuesday 21st and Thursday 23rd October.
Break up - Friday 24th October
Have a wonderful weekend!
Acorn - Reception
Date: 12th September 2025
Our first week at school
Well what a week we have had! Our first week has been full of new beginnings—meeting new teachers, making friends, and exploring our classroom and school. Thank you for helping to prepare them so well for this new chapter in their lives. We have been so impressed with their ability to follow the rules of Acorn class, negotiate with others and line up so sensibly! They have been a real joy and we have really enjoyed getting to know them and what they are interested in. Here are the highlights of our week.....
Tour of the school
We went for a walk to the Year 1 classroom next door and met Willow class who gave us a cheery welcome. We then headed to Mr Fraser's office to say hello to him and asked him lots of questions about what was in his office and why! We continued into the hall to find out about Assembly, lunch and PE which all happen in there. We took a little detour to see the swimming pool which was exciting and then headed back to see the KS1 playground to see where will go for play times next week. On Friday the children are going to continue their tour and look at the book bus and the nature reserve. We will also head up to see the older children's classrooms.
P.E.
We had our first PE lesson. We went into the hall and played some listening games, found different ways of moving our bodies and enjoyed and explored the space in the hall.
Cookies from the kitchen
Jules and Linda from the kitchen came to visit us so that we know their faces when we start having lunches next week. They baked us some delicious cookies which we really enjoyed. 
Key skills we have developed
We have learnt to make new friends by asking others if we can play.
We have learnt how to ask our friends for help when we need it and how to help others.
We have learnt how we can use the sand timer if we want to play with something that someone else has.
Please have a wonderful, restful weekend. Your child will be tired so please factor in plenty of rest for them ready for next week. If you get out and about in the fresh air please take some photos of signs of Autumn as we have been discussing this in class. You can add these to their Tapestry accounts.
We look forward to next week when your child will stay all day 8.30-3.15pm.
