December has been a great month for so many reasons. For many of our children, they have experienced their first school trip and first Christmas Nativity performance. We are so proud of every child for what they have achieved during the Autumn Term.  Thank you again for your support by providing the wonderful costumes, helping to learn the lines and songs and payment for the trip. 

Our attendance to date has dipped slightly to 94%, but this is largely the result of the winter germs that are circulating. If your child is unwell, please ensure that you call school before 9:00am.

This week we are looking forward to our Christmas dinner day on Wednesday. Hopefully, we may have a visit from someone special this week!

Miss Matthews and Mrs Guild are super proud of the progress and achievements of every child in Reception Maple. Here are some of the highlights.

This week, we are reading the story 'Dear Zoo'. Mrs Burke was delighted in Drawing Club today with how the children independently segment words, use a lollipop stick to leave gaps between words and also using the tricky word wall to spell words such as – 'the' and 'has'. 

Mathematics

Reception Maple have continued to secure their knowledge of time, sorting and sequencing pictures about day and night and their typical day.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

On Friday 5th December, Reception Maple went on their first school trip to Ash End House Farm. For many children, it was their first time on a coach, which was super exciting. At the farm, Farmer Mags allowed us to feed the goats and sheep. We saw chicks, ducks, horses, tortoises and many more animals. One of the highlights of the day was the visit to the stable where the children dressed up as the characters from the Nativity, listened to the Nativity story and sang some songs with a real donkey and sheep. It really was special.

After the Nativity, the children noticed a large door. Farmer Mags knocked on the door loudly and inside was Father Christmas! Every child spoke to Father Christmas and in return was given a present. This was magical.

The children also got to see Father Christmas's sledge and real reindeers.

Phonics and Reading

In the provision, Miss Matthews set the children a new reading challenge called – 'Secret Words'. The children had to use their phonic knowledge to read and reveal the secret words; the children really enjoyed this challenge!

Literacy Tree

In Literacy this term, Year One have been diving into the wonderful story Leo and the Octopus. The children have been working hard to use capital letters and full stops consistently, as well as improving their handwriting. They wrote imaginative log books all about Maya the Octopus, using the -ed suffix to write in the past tense and remembering to use capital letters for the days of the week. We were thrilled to receive an exciting letter from Sea Life, inviting us to create brochures all about octopuses! Ask any of our Year One experts for an interesting fact about octopuses – you’ll be amazed at what they know.

Reading/Phonics

Mrs Stamp and Miss Rogers are so impressed with Year One’s fantastic progress in phonics and reading. Every day, their reading skills are improving - they’re becoming more fluent, starting to use wonderful expression, and confidently answering questions about the texts they read. Well done, Year One! Keep shining!

History

In History, the children have been discovering what life was like for our parents and grandparents. The children were amazed to learn that Mrs Stamp and Miss Rogers grew up without iPads—and that Netflix didn’t even exist! Instead, they explored old technologies like videos, CDs, and vinyl record players. A real highlight was watching a birthday party video from the 1960s, which sparked lots of discussion about how celebrations have changed over time or what has stayed the same. To finish, the children examined a range of objects and decided whether they belonged to the past, the present, or both.

PSHE

The children have been learning all about the importance of sleep, relaxation, and personal hygiene. One exciting lesson explored how easily germs can spread! We covered a volunteer’s hands in glitter and asked them to shake hands with a friend – soon, the glitter was everywhere! This fun activity helped us understand why washing our hands properly is so important. We also learnt the correct way to wash our hands and discovered that singing “Happy Birthday” twice makes sure we do it for the right amount of time.

Christmas Conkers Trip

On Friday 12th December, Year One Rowan had the most wonderful trip to Conkers.  Here are some of the highlights from the day.

Computing

In computing, we are continuing to increase our knowledge and skills to paint pictures using various tools on the computer. Mrs Burke challenged us to recreate Mondrian art and also Matisse. We are so skilled using the different tools.

Thank you for your continued support with parking respectfully during the morning drop-off and afternoon collection. It is much appreciated.

Last Friday, Mrs Burke attended the Leadership Strategy Day at Anker Valley Primary Academy. It was a great day collaborating with the wider leaders from across the Fierte Trust on the plans for each school for next term and beyond.

For further information about the Trust, please use this link: Fierté Multi-Academy Trust - Home

Telephone: 01827 214630

Office Email: office@gardenvillage.fierte.org

Headteacher / SENCO: headteacher@gardenvillage.fierte.org