EYFS – Newsletter – 07.03.25

It’s been another wonderful week in Reception! Especially wonderful to see and feel some sunshine as winter starts to recede at last. Of course, the children have taken full advantage and spent time outdoors soaking up some rays and getting busy with lots of fun activities. The children are all getting an opportunity to come and work in our DT area and encouraged to build a mode of transportation with which to travel the world – we’ve seen planes, trains and automobiles! The children have loved helping to set up and then navigate some challenging obstacle courses, testing out their balance, coordination and agility. 

Our ‘Around the World’ topic has headed east from Europe to visit Asia this week. We have taken a closer look at some counties across this region of our planet and explored some of its famous landmarks such as the Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan and the Taj Mahal in India. By using non-fiction texts, maps and our trusty inflatable globe we have examined where these landmarks, when they were built and why and even used Google Earth to have a good old nosey around them!

Around the classroom we’ve had a number of challenges and opportunities related to Asian countries and their people. There were Islamic mosaic inspired artworks and colourful paintings inspired by the work of contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Many tried an addition maths challenge to try building Numicon skyscrapers inspired by Asian megacities such as Tokyo and Shanghai by putting two number tiles together to build tall buildings.

We also got to think a bit about different foods eaten in Asia as we opened a pop-up Japanese sushi restaurant in the small world area and many children took on the challenge of picking up noodles with chopsticks to reveal hidden tricky words underneath. And to top it off, we all had a go at following along with a drawing tutorial to draw our own picture of a noodle bowl! 

Whilst learning all about locations across the globe this topic we have also taken time to think about how we can take care of our planet and the environment we all share. We learned all about recycling and how we have a responsibility to reduce, reuse and recycle the materials we use in everyday life. The children then were encouraged to sort some typical household items into their appropriate recycling bin. 

On Friday, we even had a go making our own paper from the used and scrap paper and card that we collect in our class recycling bin. It was a messy but fun affair – and hopefully, as it dries out we hope to be able to use our own recycled paper next week!

Phonics this week has introduced the new phonemes ‘oi’ (as in coin) ‘ow’ (as in clown) and ‘ear’ (as in, well – ear!). The children have engaged brilliantly in this new learning and are applying their skills to read and write with increasing confidence and independence. 

Our Maths sessions have focused on the concept of doubling this week. The children explored how this means the same amount two times and explored how to double numbers in different ways and how we can represent doubles in written number sentences. 

Have a lovely weekend!

The Reception Team

KEY DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Tuesday 11th March – Parent consultations

Tuesday 18th March – Parent consultations

Wednesday 26th March – Foods of the World Parent Event – 2:00pm – parents and carers invited to join us in Reception to share in our learning and enjoy some delicious foods.

Friday 4th April – Last day of Spring 2 term