Welcome back after the half term break – it already feels like we have never been away! Many of our pupils enjoyed activities during the half term holiday club including cooking, swimming, art, sports and soft play. The next holiday period is over Christmas and we don’t have a club then but we hope that more pupils will join us for the holiday club next February half term – if you have any suggestions for further activities we’ll be happy to incorporate them as far as possible.
Our Reception class have got straight back to work and I’ve taken some photos to show you their busy, productive classroom…
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The activities are very much along the lines of any Reception class in any mainstream school, involving lots of practical hands-on activities and based on structured play. However, the specialist environment includes visual cues, structures and supports to enable the pupils to anticipate their routines and stay focused on their learning. You can also see how their interest in Minions is being used to promote positive learning and behaviour using interactive reward charts.
Although the class may think they’re spending a lot of time playing they are learning in every area, including the core subjects.
Literacy lessons tend to focus on books and the pupils have been reading ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ as well as ‘Owl babies’ this week. They spend time reading and matching words, practising early writing, completing puzzles and working on art and craft activities related to the stories…
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There is also a great focus on speaking and listening and wherever possible this is practised in a social context. Group activities focus on involving all pupils in communication ranging from loud voices using a microphone to whispering games which create great opportunities to focus on peer interactions…
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Maths lessons similarly include practical activities ranging from shape recognition, building bricks to recognise pattern, and counting pegs to begin to work out subtraction and addition sums…
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Science lessons give scope for lots of sensory experiences. The class have been learning about their senses and have explored different experiences to begin to understand how our senses help us to identify different characteristics of a range of objects…
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At the end of a busy week the Reception class generally spend some time on a Friday afternoon in the soft play area. Although the soft play room is generally only accessed by the primary department I am pleased that some of our older pupils have trained to be ‘buddies’ supporting the younger class in developing their play skills in the area. This benefits both the younger children in terms of learning from good role models and also enhances the self-esteem and sense of responsibility for the older pupils.
Next week we look forward to seeing many of our families at Parents’ Evening on Tuesday when staff will be able to share with you all the lovely work and progress the pupils have made.
Have a lovely weekend,
Sarah