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Rabbits Class

Mrs Birrell & Mrs Flashman,
Mrs Skilton & Mrs Scottow 

Welcome to Rabbits class page.

Information for Parents

 Latest Weekly Reception Newsletter (updated each Monday)

 Guide to Reception's Phonics Homework (4th October)

Reception Parents Welcome Meeting (26th September) 

In Reception, we use Tapestry, an online learning journal for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. We use Tapestry to give our parents a regular snapshot of their child's learning and experiences in school

Fetcham Village Infant School's Guide to TapestryTapestry User Guide - Apple (iOS) App

Tapestry User Guide - Android AppTapestry User Guide - Web Browser 

Please do contact our Early Years Leads, Mrs Birrell or Mrs Flashman, via the school office if you would like any more information on our EYFS curriculum. 

Spring 2 Learning Overview

Spring 1 Highlights 

 

Our focus for this half-term was ‘Traditional Tales and Classic Stories’. The children have enjoyed retelling the familiar stories in our role play and small world areas. They have enthusiastically acted as the different characters, often using repeated refrains such as ‘What big teeth you have… All the better to eat you with!’ and ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!’  We have used the traditional tales for learning across the early years curriculum; for instance, constructing bridges for The Three Billy Goats Gruff and using Little Red Riding Hood’s journey through the woods to Grandma’s house for some map work.  

The Girl, the Bear and the Magic Shoes by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks  inspired some excellent Art and Design learning. Each child designed their own ‘magic shoe’, which they then made using materials from our Self Select Art area. We were so impressed with the children’s choices of colours, shapes and textures. 

Our learning in Maths included a variety of practical activities focused on Shape, Space and Measure. The children experimented with different objects in balance scales, finding out what was lighter, heavier or the same mass. They explored and compared capacity using different containers in the water tray. They built towers, drew around each other and created a class height chart to investigate height and length. They began to use key Maths vocabulary such as shorter and longer. 

The children were very excited by our ‘ice’ experiment to explore melting and freezing. We had some plastic teddies and Lego figures ‘trapped’ in ice blocks. The children investigated how we could melt the ice quickly to release them! They suggested different ways, such as putting them in hot or cold water and using sugar or salt. They then observed and discussed the results like real scientists! 

We enriched our RE learning about Special Places through a visit to St Mary’s Church in the village.The children were very excited to do a ‘treasure hunt’ to spot special features and artefacts in the Church, such as stained glass windows. They worked in pairs and carefully ticked each item off on a special  photo sheet that Hannah Hossain, Children and Families Worker at St Mary’s, had made for them. They then listened carefully as Hannah pointed out each feature and explained why it was important and special to Christians. We were very proud of the children’s behaviour on the visit, which reflects their growing maturity now they are halfway through their first year in school!

Spring 1 Learning Overview

Autumn 2 Highlights 

Our focus for this half-term was ‘People Who Help Us’, learning about how different people in our community keep us healthy, happy and safe. The children were captivated by a visit from the firefighters at Leatherhead Fire Station, including an opportunity to explore the fire engine and use the hose. We had very engaging talks from Reception parents who work in healthcare: Mrs Knight, a nurse, and Mr Vaughan, an Orthodontist. As well as explaining how they keep people healthy, they left us with bandages, gloves and masks to use in our role play area outside, which became a busy drop-in surgery! Finally, three Reception parents who are Police Officers (Steve Douglas and Claire and Pete Jones) provided an amazing learning experience, aided by Surrey Police who allowed the children to investigate their Police Van. The children loved seeing the protective equipment that Police Officers wear and tested it out by throwing tennis balls at a (willing) Police Officer! In the classroom, they tried on police hats and watched their teachers get placed in handcuffs (and freed!). There were also three extra-special visitors: Coco, Ned and Trigger, Police Dogs at different stages of training. Coco hunted out hidden money, Ned barked on command and Trigger stopped a running ‘suspect’! We ended our topic with a ‘Wow Day’, involving the children coming to school dressed for a job they would like to do in the future. 

This half-term, we also learnt about different celebrations, including Bonfire Night, Diwali, Remembrance Day and Christmas. We explored the ideas through role play, artwork and stories. In one Woodland Learning session, for example, the children gathered sticks to build an (unlit) bonfire. We then sang a song around the bonfire to the tune of London’s burning: ‘build a bonfire...big and round…watch the embers glow…warm your hands…’.

Our Autumn term finished with preparations for our Christmas Show, at which our Reception children performed a special collection of songs. Every child got up on the stage happily and performed with a smile! We thought this was a wonderful achievement and a lovely milestone with which to finish their first term in school.

Autumn 2 Learning Overview

Autumn 1 Highlights

 

It has been wonderful to see our lovely Reception children settling into school life. We are so proud of them and impressed by the way they are following our School Values and classroom routines already. This half-term, they spent lots of time exploring the whole school inside and outside. Our staff especially loved seeing the children’s delight as they discovered all the places outside where they can play and learn! 

We enjoyed our Nursery Rhymes theme, singing and dancing to rhymes including Humpty Dumpty, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Hickory Dickory Dock. The children have started to tune into rhyming words and new sound patterns. They have also warmly welcomed ‘Fred Frog’ in our Phonics lessons, and they have been fantastic at blending ‘Fred Talk’ to make wordsWe have been very busy in Maths too; counting, sorting, matching objects and comparing sets. We also introduced PE lessons (Games and Dance this half-term) and Woodland Learning. In the woods, the children’s favourite activities included hunting for spiders (to learn about habitats) and using the Self Select Trolley for their independent learning.

And finally, our highlight of the half-term was the children’s brilliant performance at our Harvest Assembly. They were amazing! They sang Big Red Combine Harvester with confidence and gusto!

Autumn 1's Learning Overview