Week beginning 13th July 2026

Wow! It's our last full week in school. How did we get here so quickly!

Reception classes enjoyed their summer party on Tuesday, where everyone had lots of fun.

It was also the last Forest School session for the year on this day. Children worked in groups to create a tunnel for small cars using toilet roll tubes and masking tape. They then had great fun watching the cars roll down the large ramp. Afterwards, there was still some time to explore the forest school area. Great team work everybody!

                      

We were also lucky enough to have a ferret visit and talk.  Mrs May's daughter brought in her family ferret called Moxi. Everyone enjoyed learning all about Moxi and watching her explore and walk around on her lead.

                                                 

We have been exploring fairy tales this week in Literacy, in particular Jack and the Beanstalk.  Classes have created linked story maps and created their own Jack and the Beanstalk story.  We have also been reading and writing phase 4 ccvc words in phonics.

In maths, we have been practising writing our numbers and consolidating our knowledge and understanding of numbers.

Week beginning 6th July 2026 

The warmer weather is still with us, the children have been busy learning and staying cool indoors. 

Lots of fun has been had this week with the magical arrival of a wishing cupboard! The wishing cupboard takes normal everyday objects and helps them to fulfil their "true destiny." The children have loved exploring wishes and using their imagination to develop their written skills. Making wonderful wishes and writing them independently in their books. 

 

In maths we have continued to refine our number writing skills and practised working together in groups to create our own maps using positional language to instruct each other on the placement of each object. 

Next week we are looking forward to writing our own stories about Jack and the beanstalk, reinforcing our understanding of problem-solving and having an exiting visit from Moxi the ferret.

The children are also excited about having their final forest school and class party Tuesday after school. 

Week beginning 29th June 2026

While the weather has still been warm this week, the temperature has been low enough for us to be able to enjoy a range of activities, both inside and out. 

On Thursday, classes relished a class Forest school session with Mrs Lovell, including a campfire and toasting of marshmallows. Children were then allowed to explore the Forest school area and lots of children worked as a team to take part in a tug of war.

 

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Our main text this week has been 'The knight who wouldn't fight' by Helen Docherty. We have done linked writing and drawing linked to this, as well as our usual phonics, which has included phase 4 cvcc words.  Children have also written from dictation as a whole class with great success.

In maths, children have done further learning on position and direction, including introducing mapping skills. Classes have looked at a variety of maps both on screen and on paper versions to describe where things are positioned.  

 

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Also linked to our castle and dragon topic, children have taken part in an online step by step drawing of a knight, made knight bookmarks and continued taking part in lots of other linked activities, including construction based.

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On Friday, classes were lucky enough to take part in an immersive theatre performance linked to Peter Pan.  They thoroughly enjoyed being one of the Lost Boys following Peter Pan on his adventures, acting out parts of the story and dancing along to the musical elements.

 

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Week beginning 22nd June 2026

What a very hot week it has been! Everyone has been amazing and has listened well to their instructions. We have stayed inside this week and completed lots of fun movement activities whilst staying cool indoors. 

  

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Building on their mathematical understanding of number bonds to 10, the children enjoyed writing calculations that total 10 and using Numicon pieces to make 10. 

In Literacy, both classes have enjoyed writing words containing CVCC words, including milk, golf and pond, to extend their understanding further. They have developed their literacy skills by reading sentences about castles, knights and dragons and adding the correct information to pictures, showing a good understanding of the texts they read. 

During our creative sessions, both classes enjoyed painting their own mythical dragons using a range of colours. They all looked so beautiful. Both classes also enjoyed learning to draw a king and queen. They were really cute. 

 

Finally, we ended our week with a successful transition day, where the children found out who their new teacher is going to be in September. Next week both classes will be practising their number writing skills, exploring missing numbers to 20 and writing their first dictated sentence. 

Week beginning 15th June 2026

Classes have enjoyed continuing our topic of 'Dragons, knights and Castles, relishing taking on the roles of people who worked in a medieval castle in the role-play area, as well as getting lots of opportunities to replicate their own castles using arts and crafts materials and various building materials.

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Children have done fantastic writing about knights, as well as drawn step by step dragons, after watching an artist teach them how to.  First, they followed the steps to draw a pencil drawing and test their listening to the instructions. For the 2nd try, they were able to choose 2 contrasting crayons or pens to colour the dragon. 

                                             

One of the things that we have looked at this week, in maths, is number bonds for 10, as well as positional language, odd and even numbers and patterns.

                                                                                    

 

We also took part in Forest School on Tuesday, where children created leaf-printed pictures using an array of different leaves that they had gathered from the surrounding woodland. They found some remarkably unique leaves with intricate vein patterns and varied shapes and sizes to make a very unique picture.

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Week beginning 8th June 2026 

Welcome back to our final half-term! We are excited to start our final Topic Dragons, knights and castles. This week the children have been thinking about what they already know about this topic and what they would like to learn. 

In Literacy, the children impressed us with their writing skills. Using a castle scene picture, they each wrote independent sentences about what they could see. 

In maths, the children were able to show their understanding of numbers to 20, odd and even numbers, number bonds to 10 and simple measures. This was accessed in a fun and interactive way.   

The reception children also joined key stage one on the main playground for break time. They are now able to access tuck shop each day with the grown-up children. It is lovely to watch them all playing beautifully outside together. 

      

In music, the children listen to and respond to sounds. Playing passing the tambourine around the circle helps the children to concentrate and identify which direction the sound is coming from. 

 

Next week the children will be taking part in Forest school, painting castles and writing about knights. In Maths, they will be exploring odd and even numbers in more detail and exploring positional language.      

Week beginning 18th May 2026

Our last week of the half-term has included a very successful sport's day with reception and nursery.

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We have enjoyed sharing dinosaur stories and have been reading non-fiction texts on the life cycle of a sunflower, linked to the planting that we have done.  We have also labelled the parts of a sunflower in our writing, as well as painting them.

                                                                                   

 

In maths, we have exploring sharing and grouping. First, we shared lots of objects between two groups, so that it was fair. We then experimented with sharing between more groups. We also recapped our knowledge and understanding of odd and even numbers, when the result of sharing between two groups left one object spare.

 

Week beginning 11th May 2026 

This week we have consolidated our learning of dinosaurs and made links to our tricky words. We are continuing to develop our confidence with our phase three letter sounds and the children have really impressed us with their independent writing this week.

 

We have also been sharing the story Dinosaurs Love Underpants. The children enjoyed telling us all about their favourite parts of the story and drawing beautiful pictures in their Literacy books.  

In maths this week, we have used cubes to measure the height of our dinosaurs, and plastic dinosaur bones to measure length.  Making estimates and then accurately measuring using our multi-link cubes.  

 

During our creative lessons, the children loved creating colourful dinosaurs wearing underpants. The children have had lots of fun! 

 

On Thursday next week, both reception classes will be taking part in their first sports day, and we will be learning all about the life cycle of a sunflower and writing all about dinosaurs for one final time. 

 

Week beginning 4th May 2026

This week, we have continued our learning on dinosaurs, reading linked non-fiction books.  Children have been writing information sentences about dinosaurs, as well as writing sentences to show their understanding of what carnivores, omnivores and herbivores are.

                                                               

Our maths has been linked to 2D shape. We have been looking at properties of shapes, how shapes are arranged, how they rotate and we have been using lots of linked positional language. Linked to manipulating shapes, we have been moving and turning shapes in different directions so that they fit the purpose or picture we want to make, including for a 2D dinosaur.

                                                   

 

We have also created oil pastel dinosaurs that we are very proud of!

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On Tuesday, we had another fantastic session with Mrs Lovell for Forest School.  Children had the opportunity to build a small house for an animal or creature of their choice using all of the natural resources within Forest School. They could work together or build their house individually. What fantastic places they built!

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We have also enjoyed tending to our sunflower plants and watching them grow!

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To end the week, we were lucky enough to have a digital author visit from Rashmi Sirdeshpande and illustrator Nakul P.  They shared their new story, 'Super Uma.'  It was really exciting to have a real author talking to the children about the story and reading it to them.

       

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Next week, we will be reading the story 'Dinosaurs love Underpants' and continuing our learning on shape, also including 3D shape.

Week beginning 27th April 2026 

This week in maths, the children have been busy learning how to sort objects into different groups. They have also been introduced to a Ven diagram and have been practising their takeaway skills practically and number writing from 0 to 20. 

   

 

During our phonics lessons, the children have really impressed us with their blending and understanding of our phase three sounds. This is also shown in their writing. This week the children have been writing facts about dinosaurs and labelling a T. Rex. 

On Thursday, both classes enjoyed a sunny P.E. session on the school field learning how to throw a foam javelin safely from a fixed point. 

 

Finally, on Friday, we loved wearing yellow to raise money for St Claires Hospice and the children loved looking at our Thomas Willingale Lion which will be proudly displayed around Essex once he is finished. 

Next week we will be practising our addition skills and creating a class book containing different dinosaur facts.      

Week beginning 20th April 2026

The highlight of this week has been our trip to Hertfordshire Zoo on Tuesday. We were so lucky to see almost all of the animals at the zoo; lots of them were sunbathing! Our favourites were the tigers, leopards, snow leopards and sun bears. The bird show was very popular too with the owl flying right over our heads. Children also got to see lots of their favourite dinosaurs and managed to avoid getting sprayed with water by the last dinosaur. The children were all a pleasure to take out.

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Following along from our School trip to Hertfordshire Zoo, children were encouraged to paint their favourite animal/dinosaur that they saw during our walk around. They had a selection of paint to use and were encouraged to use the correct colours for each animal. We also read lots of non fiction animal books and read dinosaur stories.

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Reception classes were also given the opportunity to see, and hold if wanted, the chicks from nursery. They learnt about the incubator and how it keeps the chicks warm. What a lovely experience for everyone!

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For our maths focus, we practised addition of two numbers using the small dinosaurs, and we also focused on more and less, comparing two numbers in pairs. 

                                                                                

This week, children also each took a turn to plant their own sunflower seeds. First they added soil to their flower pots, then they counted out seeds and placed them in the soil. Finally, they covered the seeds. They are now outside and have been watered. We are looking forward to seeing them grow in the coming weeks!

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Week beginning 13th April 2026 

Wow! We have had a busy first week back! Welcome to the summer term. This half-term the children will be learning all about dinosaurs. To introduce the topic, we have asked the children what they already know about dinosaurs and what they would like to find out. This is displayed in the classroom.  

   

During our Literacy lessons this week, the children were challenged to write short sentences linked to a dinosaur picture. The children impressed us with their understanding and ability to write independently. During our twice-daily phonics lessons, we have reinforced our phase three letter sounds to ensure these are embedded in their understanding. 

Handwriting daily has given the children the opportunity to practice their letter formation and consolidate their understanding of how each individual letter is written. 

Our maths focus this week has been about numbers beyond 10 and how they are represented. We have also explored the language shorter and taller to extend our mathematical vocabulary.

  

Dinosaur paintings and pictures have been our main focus during our creative lessons and making our new Dinosaur role-play corner. The children have been so excited about playing in it. 

Next week we will continue our learning about dinosaurs, and we are all looking forward to our school trip to Hertfordshire zoo on Tuesday 21st April.