Welcome back! We hope everyone has had a lovely Easter break. It’s been a fantastic first week back in Reception, and the children have settled in brilliantly, full of energy and curiosity for our new topic: Growing and Changing.

Phonics
This week, we learnt the tricky word "you" and the sound "ur" (as in "curl" and "burn"). The children practised saying the sound, blending words that include it, and writing both words and simple sentences using our new tricky word. We also revisited some of our previous sounds to keep them fresh in our minds.

Maths
In Maths, we’ve focused on counting strategies, discussing how to make counting larger groups of objects more manageable. We’ve also started talking about time—thinking about what activities we can do in one minute and beginning to use language like this evening, tomorrow, and yesterday to build our understanding of time concepts.

Drawing Club
We kicked off our Growing and Changing topic with the lovely story Tadpole’s Promise. This sparked some wonderful discussions and imagination! We explored four keywords: change, promise, grow, and metamorphosis. The children created drawings of the moment the tadpole and caterpillar met, illustrated the tadpole’s life cycle, and imagined creative adventures they might have had if they had stayed friends—such as flying into space!

PE
In PE, we’ve been developing our skills in rolling and tracking a ball, and working with partners to build control and coordination. We’ve also been exploring our climbing equipment (the horse climbing frames), learning how to use them safely and confidently.

Other Highlights
At the beginning of the week, we had a special treat: a live performance of "Anansi and the Lost Sun" by the brilliant team from Applause. The children were captivated by the storytelling, music and acting—it was a wonderful way to begin the term.

Finally, we’re continuing to observe our real-life tadpoles in the classroom. The children are so excited to see how they grow and change over the coming weeks—what great scientists we have!

Welcome Wednesday is every week from 8:30–9:00am—come into the classroom to read with your child or see what they have been learning!

Star of the week: Congratulations to Rohullah, who is our star of the week, for showing fantastic progress in phonics with his blending. Rohullah will be taking home his certificate and Wilfred the Elephant to write in the book all about his time spent with Wilfred over the next week and will bring him back next Thursday.

Please remember to read with your child, even for just 5 minutes! Please also remember to record it in the reading record. We will only change your child's book if you have read with them 2 or more times in that week! Reading books are changed on Tuesday's and Thursday's. Please remember to have the library book in your children's book bag on Thursday to be changed. 

Any issues or concerns we need to know about, please speak to the Acorn team before and after school or email at: acorn@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk

What a fantastic week of learning!