This week in Reception, we enjoyed reading the wonderful story How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. The children loved following the little boy on his adventure as he tried to catch a star.

We talked about the different ways the boy tried to catch the star and discussed whether they would work.

The children then used their imaginations to think of their own creative ways to catch a star, drawing and writing about their fantastic ideas.

Later in the week, we looked closely at Vincent van Gogh's famous painting, The Starry Night. We explored the swirling sky, bright stars, and the beautiful colours used by the artist before creating our own Starry Night-inspired paintings.

The children were incredibly proud of their artwork, and each masterpiece was unique and full of creativity.

Reception had a fantastic day at Foxburrow Farm! 

Young Scientists and Engineers in Action!

During STEM Week, our Reception children transformed into young scientists and engineers, exploring the exciting world of investigation, construction, and problem-solving!

We began our week with a science investigation to answer a big question:

🏠 Would the straw house be strong?
🏠 Would the stick house be strong?
🏠 Or would the brick house be the strongest?

Before testing, the children made predictions and shared their reasoning, using words such as because to explain their ideas. This helped them think like real scientists! 

We learnt scientists must carry out a fair test. This means we only change one thing.

For our investigation, we changed only the material of the house. Everything else stayed the same:

✔ Same fan
✔ Same distance from the fan (3 steps away)
✔ Same duration (10 seconds)
✔ Same starting position for the fan and houses

 Each house was tested for 10 seconds. The results were clear: the brick house was the strongest, staying stable and secure while the others moved in the wind.

Our fair test result! 

Next, Date Palm Class became engineers! The children designed and built their own houses using a variety of materials. They carefully thought about how to make their houses strong and stable.

Through testing, they discovered an important engineering principle:

✨ A strong base makes a house strong! ✨

We discovered that if the bottom of the house is secure and balanced, the whole structure is stronger.

We are so proud of our young scientists and engineers. Their creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills shone throughout STEM Week, making it a fun, educational, and unforgettable experience!

Ramadan Mubarak to all our families!

We have been learning about Ramadan and why it is such a special and blessed month. The children have shown wonderful excitement and care while preparing our classroom.

Look at Our Beautiful Lanterns!

The children made their own lanterns to decorate our classroom. They carefully cut, coloured and put their lanterns together. Our classroom now feels warm and bright!

Welcome to Date Palm Mosque

We turned our role-play area into a mosque called Date Palm Mosque.

The children are enjoying attending Date Palm Mosque. They take turns being the Imam and praying in jama'ah together.

There are tasbeehs and books about Islam for the children to explore and learn from.

The children have been exploring different roles. Some children have been the mua'zzin, calling everyone to prayer. Others have been caretakers, helping to look after the mosque.

They know that when we enter the masjid, we take off our shoes. We practise walking calmly and showing respect in this special place.

We are so proud of how the children are learning about respect, kindness and caring for others during Ramadan.

Assalamu alaykum, 

Alhamdulillah, we are pleased to let you know that Arabic spelling and other vocabulary practice is now available on three different websites for you to choose from.  Arabic vocabulary builders are ; Quizlet, Memrise and Blooket [note the spelling, booklet not booklet :-) ].

We suggest parent email is used to register and monitor children's activity from home. 

Here are the links and a useful booklet attachment

Rec (spring term 1)

Rec People who help us/ Professionals core vocabulary:

o   Memrise:  https://app.memrise.com/course/6330297/people-who-help-us-in-arabic/

o   Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/_1aylu4?x=1jqt&i=1sh4a

o   Blooket:

o   set 1 -  https://dashboard.blooket.com/set/63b0bc5da8e4c53a01b0389e

o   set 2 -  https://dashboard.blooket.com/set/63b0bcb1a8e4c53a01b038a2