Reception- Trekking Tuesday- Remembrance
Today we had our Trekking Tuesday forest school session and for the first part of the session we were thinking all about Remembrance Day and we created some lovely natural poppies. We then went on to have some free choice and exploration on this very muddy Tuesday. The children loved jumping in the muddy puddles, creating with sticks and hiding in natural dens.
Whole School Worship - Power for Good
Our theme in today’s collective worship was “Power for Good”. Continuing our focus on Anti-Bullying Week, Mrs Ham shared some of the fantastic answers the children gave on Monday about standing up to bullying. These included saying stop, being assertive, asking why, and telling a trusted adult. We learned of how Jesus was a power for good, even when others turned against him, and we reflected on the ways in which we can also be a power for good by being a good friend and spotting when someone needs our help. The WOW Group also shared how they are being a power for good, by protecting our planet and leading our school’s Switch Off Fortnight campaign. They shared posters recommending ways to save energy around school, including turning off lights and computer monitors when they are not in use, and they explained that they will be checking how well each class is doing at saving energy every break time and lunchtime during the campaign.
Reception- PSHE- Anti-Bullying Week
Today we learnt all about anti-bullying and why we are wearing odd socks. We had a discussion about what bullying is. The children came up with some great ideas, stating that bullying is when someone is unkind to someone else again and again, hurting people, calling them names or pulling their hair. We spoke about bullying not just being actions but also words that aren’t very kind.
Reception PE - Jumping Stations
This week we have continued to develop our jumping skills in the hall. The children accessed four different jumping stations where they could practise jumping and landing appropriately.
Friday Celebration Worship
This morning in celebration worship, we reflected on a wonderful first week back to start the second half of our Autumn term. This week, we have remembered all those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives for us, and we observed a special two-minute silence. We would like to thank everyone who has supported the Poppy Appeal; our poppy merchandise will continue to be available next week. We then presented our individual value award winners in EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Well done to our worthy winners Hunter, Finn, Inaiya, Elijah, Chay, Harriet and Quinn for consistently demonstrating the Barney’s 4Bs, working extremely hard across the curriculum, producing work of an exceptional standard and showing a genuine desire to always improve. A huge well done also goes to Elijah, Chay, Isaac, Lana, Lyla, Cassidy, Naomi and Emily for achieving their pen licences—we know how hard you have all worked for this accomplishment. We also congratulated Whitehall Park as our overall value award winners for the week, along with Year 1 and Year 5 for achieving the highest attendance. Moving on, we celebrated the wonderful achievements of our children who have been excelling outside of school in their various sports and activities. Well done to Beau for being a mighty defender in football, Ida and Leila for showing impressive skill in stop, starting and steering during horse riding, Callie for demonstrating outstanding floor and vault work in gymnastics, Ava for her generosity at Rainbows and for achieving Star of the Week at Street Dance, Lana for her performing arts award, Theo for earning her drawing interest badge and Star of the Week in gymnastics for exceptional beam work, Olivia for achieving her 20m swimming certificate, Lyla for her success in lyrical, jazz and commercial dance, Olivia again for achieving her Level 1 gymnastics award, Isaac for demonstrating exceptional football skills at the Everton Academy experience, Rosie for being a superstar Brownie and earning several badges, Martha for achieving her 10m swimming award, Lydia for earning her laughter badge at Rainbows and for being extremely helpful, and Eleanor for achieving both her Rainbow Silver Award and a laughter badge. In other news, our Wellbeing Warriors also announced Year 3 as the winning class for having the most walkers in October and proudly shared that our school placed third in the borough for the highest number of walkers overall, our Sports Leaders presented India Mill as the Inter-house Dodgeball Competition winners from before the holidays, and we also congratulated our Year 5/6 Boys Football Team, who represented our school brilliantly and achieved two wins in the BwD Football League last night. Looking ahead, we are excited to continue our Scholastic Book Fair next week, to wear odd socks on Monday as we launch Anti-Bullying Week, and to end the week by wearing spots, pyjamas or Pudsey attire in support of Children in Need next Friday. Thank you to our wonderful school family for their support this week and always. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.
Value Award Winner Disco- India Mill
Today, India Mill enjoyed a well-deserved non-uniform day and disco to celebrate their success as the overall Value Award winners for last half-term. As part of this, they enjoyed a game of bonfire themed corners followed by a game of musical bumps. Well done to everyone for your fantastic achievement!
Reception Remembrance Day Activities
For Remembrance Day, Reception have been taking part in lots of different provision challenges. We have been thinking about why poppies are special for this time of year and saying prayers for the soldiers that sadly lost their lives to help protect us.
Reception- Understanding of the World- Guy Fawkes
In class we have learnt all about why we celebrate bonfire night and the story of Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot. We learnt the “remember, remember the fifth of November” song and watched some fireworks before then going and making our own powder paint fireworks on the playground outside.
Reception- RE- Thanking God, Harvest
During our RE lesson we have been looking at the things we were thankful for. We looked at some of the foods we were thankful for and we tried different types of bread from around the world. We then wrote prayers about some of the things we are thankful to God for.
Whole School Worship - Remembrance
Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, our collective worships this week are all about taking time to reflect on those that have sacrificed themselves to keep us all safe. We have been learning about what Remembrance Day means to our nation and also to us personally. Mrs Ham explained the significance of the poppy and she shared some stories of extreme bravery and self-sacrifice demonstrated by those in the services during the World Wars. We considered which Christian values these people showed and Mrs Ham invited some children to share how they will be remembering our service men and women, past and present, this Remembrance Day.
Reception: Muddy Monday
The children in Reception went to Jacks Key for their Muddy Monday session. They found lots of natural resources to build bonfires in preparation for Bonfire night on Wednesday. The children then went on a rainy walk and showed great perseverance and resilience. The children all worked well together and it is lovely to see them continuing to develop during these sessions.
Reception PSHE - Helping Others
This week in PSHE, we have been thinking about feelings and ways we can help others if they are feeling sad, scared or worried. We talked about the choices we could make to cheer up our friends and family when they need it, such as giving them a hug, making them something, asking if they are OK or giving them a small gift. We then made our own rice crispie cakes with the intention of giving these to someone we know to make them feel happy and loved. Although we’re not sure if many of the cakes made it home - they looked rather delicious!