EYFS – Newsletter – 06.12.24

Christmas has well and truly arrived in Reception this week! On Monday we were greeted with a letter from Santa himself, and we found that he had presented us with clues to find a special delivery from the North Pole. Inside we found a cheeky elf, sent by Father Christmas to keep an eye on Reception in the lead up to the big day. Inspired by our visitor (named Twinkle in a democratic vote amongst the children) we had a go at drawing our own picture of an ‘Elf on the Shelf’ and, as you can see from the photos, these pictures turned out wonderfully!

On Thursday we were invited to help decorate the Christmas tree in the hall and also had a special visit from Santa himself!

Lots of Christmassy activity has filled Reception this week following the arrival of Twinkle the elf. Lots of children took the opportunity to write a wish list for Santa – practising their application of phonics and refining their handwriting in the process. Another chance to practice phonics was in a word-building activity with children selecting the right presents to load on to the back of Santa’s sleigh. Maths activities involved throwing the correct number of snowballs into a bowl labelled with a numeral, as well as using 4-sided shapes to put together a robot toy picture. Scissor skills were put to the test by many in an effort to cut-out and join a gingerbread figure using split-pins to make the limbs move at will!

Our Toytown topic has continued with lots of fun chances to play with different toys and on Tuesday the children got to have a go at making their own spinning wheel toy. We have continued to learn about and compare traditional toys with ones the children may have at home now.

Phonics sessions this week focused on the digraph sounds ‘ff’ (off) and ‘ll’ (bell), with the children practising using these in their reading and writing as well as hunting for hidden ‘tricky’ words in the outdoor areas. 

In Maths, we have been investigating 2D shapes with four sides, in particular the square and the rectangle. The children have been discussing the properties of these shapes and how to tell the two apart.  Everyone has had chance to go on a square and rectangle hunt all over the school, as well as distinguishing between these shapes in pictures as well as building pictures of their own using squares and rectangles. 

Have a great weekend!

The Reception Team 

Dates for the Diary:

Tuesday 10th December – Flu Immunisations (information in recent notification – if the consent form is not completed your child will not receive the vaccine)

Tuesday 17th December – Christmas Disco EYFS and KS1 3:40pm-4:30pm (information in recent notification – payments to be made on parent pay)

Thursday 19th December – Reception CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION – Parents invited to join us from 2:30pm for a performance of Christmas songs outside in the reception playground

Friday 20th December – School closes for the Christmas break

Monday 6th January – School reopens