Our Nativity rehearsals are well underway and the children are very excited to perform to you at the end of the week. They have been working hard at learning the songs and should have brought home their lines if they have any to learn. We will have a focus on the Nativity story this week to reinforce what the children have been rehearsing and give them the opportunity to link the story with their play. The children will be involved in a range of activities across the week and will learn why the story is important to Christians around the world. We understand that some of our families do not celebrate Christmas but like the other religious celebrations we look at throughout the year it is important for children to understand that different cultures have different celebrations. We want our children to be accepting of others and their beliefs and to learn that it is fine for people to have different beliefs to our own. We hope you agree and if your child wishes to talk about another religion or celebration to your own, then you answer any questions they may have in a respectful way.
We all had a wonderful day at Ash End Children’s farm. The children had a lot of fun and got fully involved in all of the activities. They were very brave feeding and touching the animals and saw a wide range of farm animals in their natural habitat. The children helped to act out the Christmas story and had a great time visiting Father Christmas and telling him what they wanted for Christmas. Hopefully your child told you all about the visit and you have had a chance to look through the sample of photos of what we got up to through out the day on the Friday Focus. The children were all very well behaved and listened very well to the farmer guides. We had a lot of tired children on the way home with a few even falling asleep!
This week we will be assessing the children on what they have learned over the last 6 weeks. The children will then be put into their new groups ready for January. Please continue to practise the sounds your child has brought home and reading the 3 and 4 letter words. We will not be sending a reading book home over the Christmas break but continue to practise the sounds and words as often as you can.
This week, the children will build on their understanding of the composition of numbers by investigating the composition of 3, 4 and 5. Composing and de-composing numbers involves the children investigating part–part–whole relations, e.g. seeing that 3 can be composed of 1 and 2. Through practical experience, they will consolidate their understanding of a whole being made up of smaller parts. They will begin to recognise that numbers can be made by combining parts in different ways. A key focus will be the spatial arrangements that can be made with different combinations of the same number of objects.
This week Reception will be going on a walk to the post box on Southbank Road to post the letters that they wrote last week, to Father Christmas. We will be walking down in our classes, talking about what we see in the local area as we walk. We will send our letters on their way with a song and hoping that they reach Father Christmas before the big day. If you do not want your child to take part in this activity then please let your child’s teacher know.
We are looking forward to seeing you all at the Christmas Nativity this week. If you do not yet have your tickets then please speak to the office staff. Entrance is by ticket only.
Have a lovely week,
The Reception Team