Reception Class News 09/05/25

Reception Class News
Honouring Peace and Remembering VE Day

What a lovely week of reflection, celebration, and learning we've had in Reception Class as we marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The children have shown great curiosity and empathy as they learnt about the past and the importance of honouring those who fought for the peace we enjoy today.

In Understanding the World Development, we explored the significance of VE Day, Victory in Europe which marked the end of the Second World War in Europe. We looked at black and white photographs from 1945, using our detective skills to think about what was happening and how people might have been feeling. We learnt that people across the country came together to celebrate with street parties, music, and dancing. To mark the occasion ourselves, we enjoyed a special street-style lunch on Thursday, sang the national anthem with pride, and joined the rest of the school for a minute's reflection to honour those brave men and women whose sacrifices must never be forgotten.

In Expressive Arts and Design, we created beautiful VE Day wreaths to celebrate peace and remembrance. After learning that wreaths are traditionally made with flowers, we looked at more modern, themed wreaths for inspiration. Using card, we painted red, white, and blue stripes, made poppies and leaves, and tied on a ribbon to complete them, ready to hang up proudly.

In music, we enjoyed listening to songs from the 1940s, discovering how upbeat they were to reflect the joy and relief people felt when the war ended. We said they made us feel happy too! We also spent time practicing our worship song for Friday, learning the words and singing them from the heart.

In Mathematical Development, we have been focusing on subtraction by counting back from a given number. Using the 'First, Then, Now' structure, we practiced identifying our starting number and how many we needed to count back. This was trickier than counting forwards, so we had lots of hands-on opportunities to practice and apply the skill. We'll revisit this again next week to build confidence and understanding.

Our Personal, Social and Emotional Development focused on the value of honesty. We listened to a Native American tale about Rabbit, who tricked his friends into believing the sun would never rise again. This made them scared and anxious, and Rabbit learnt a valuable lesson about telling the truth. We talked about why honesty is important in friendships and how telling the truth helps us to be trusted. Boris says, "Friends always tell each other the truth." Our Bible link reminded us: "The truth will set you free." (John 8:32)

In Wellbeing, we reflected on the statement "I am..." and thought about the many different ways we can describe ourselves. Children shared positive affirmations like "I am kind," "I am special," "I am loved," and even "I am fun!" Our yoga session helped us relax and reconnect with our bodies through poses like frog, mouse, warrior, and surfer.

In Physical Development, we continued to build our physical skills through games and movement activities. The children are becoming increasingly confident in using space, developing control, and enjoying being active together.

In communication and language development, we have worked together to plan and rehearse what we would like to say and share with our families in collective worship. We discussed how our learning links to our school vision and practiced speaking clearly and confidently so we could speak in front of an audience.

Well...when the time came this afternoon, we absolutely smashed it! There were some very moist eyes in the audience as we confidently delivered our message.
Reception Class, you shone your lights so brightly, you definitely could be seen from a mountain top. I am immensely proud of you. It was a great way to finish our week.

Reception Class, you have embraced a meaningful week with thoughtfulness, joy, and kindness. We are so proud of the way you have remembered, celebrated, and learnt from the past while living out our values in the present.

Have a super weekend, you have earned it!
Mrs Ward