Posted on: November 28th 2014 | Category:
Reception have been involved in a fun-filled start to this half-term, especially when their big buddies came to visit earlier this week. As their new friends arrived, the little buddies’ faces were filled with delight, their bodies wriggling with excitement! The children were set to work on completing a booklet of all the things they both enjoy - food, toys, sports, music and parts of school life. Wonderful discussions began, beautiful drawings appeared and interesting booklets were made by all. The big buddies also enjoyed an afternoon session in the playground at Princes Avenue; helping each other on the climbing frame, playing chasing games and showing the older children how to use the brilliant selection of toys on this site.
Following Tuesday’s session, Ms Habgood received this lovely email from a parent: ‘I thought you might like to know what an impression the buddying scheme has left on Kaya! He really raved about it, and was looking forward to it for days in anticipation of meeting his buddy… He said it was the best part of his week!’
Also, a couple of weeks ago, Reception participated in a drama workshop, re-enacting the Gunpowder Plot story, which they'd been learning about in class. They responded marvellously to the trained actor running the session, taking part in all activities including travelling in a 'time machine', participating in a 'plotters meeting' and moving 'like fireworks' to music with great enthusiasm and enjoyment. It was a delight to see the children share their knowledge and retell the story in their own words. They came to the session with plenty of knowledge of the story and characters, but came away with even more.
Later in the week, the children participated in a Philosophy for Children exercise where they chose whether they would have been on King James' team or Guy Fawkes’ team. They were asked to justify their views and could change their minds based on the arguments of their classmates. The children confidently shared their thoughts and had quite convincing rationales for their decisions. This type of lesson really highlights how independent, thoughtful and aware the children are becoming.
In addition to this, the children have been learning about other cultural festivals, such as Diwali where the children made exceptionally sparkly Rangoli patterns; they had an informative visit from Rabbi Miriam where they helped to act out the very first story of Hanukkah; they are thinking about all they have to be grateful for in order to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we are gearing up for Christmas.
We look forward to seeing you all in fine voice at the Carols by Churchlight service on 9th December and at our Nativity on 11th December in the afternoon
