Hello and welcome to Reception at

Great Malvern Primary School

At Great Malvern Primary School learning is fun and it all starts in the Foundation Stage classes.
 

Welcome to the first half of the Summer Term!

This half term our theme is Down on the Farm and we are looking forward to an exciting (or should that be egg-citing!) 4 weeks investigating what types of food are grown on a farm in the UK. The question we will be asking the children is “I wonder… where does some of our food come from?”

Talk to your child about any farm experiences you have had. Perhaps this could be a family day out or perhaps some of your family members work on a farm. Discuss which is your favourite farmyard animal and why. If possible please share photos or videos of family days out at the farm on Tapestry so we can share the children’s experiences!

Shhh! Don’t tell the children yet but we are hoping to hatch our own ducklings in school! We will send you more information about this and how to access “Duck-cam” so that you can share this experience at home. In order to do this we will be holding a “sponsored Waddle” to help pay for the cost of this amazing experience. We will be telling the children all about the arrival of the duck eggs on Tuesday 6^th May.

We will be basing our curriculum around excellent books based upon the stories from around the world, here are just a few of the stories your child will be telling you about this half term!

Our PE this half term is on a Monday with our school sports coach Joel. Please make sure your child has shorts and a t-shirt in school as well as a pair of pumps or trainers as we will be outside where possible.

Forest School will also continue to be on a Thursday – just a reminder that Forest School kit is black or green jogging bottoms, a white polo shirt, and either a green school jumper or the black school hoodie. No shorts please (Even in hot weather) due to stinging nettles. The children still need to come into school wearing their school shoes, as we will change them into wellies for Forest School.

Reading at home plays a huge part in the development of this essential skill, so please continue the wonderful work you are doing at home and read regularly with your little superstar – it makes such a difference, and we are really starting to see their progress.

As always, if you have any questions, come and chat to us before or after school,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Carter, Mrs Hooley and the Reception Team

• Mrs Armitage's on Wheels
• Handa's Surprise
• Shhhhh!
• Mr Grumpy's Outing
• The Gruffalo
• Goodnight Moon
• Whatever Next
• Six Dinners Sid
• Rosie's Walk
• Owl Babies
• Farmer Duck
• On the Way Home

What do your children need in school?

Every day in school your child should have;

• A water bottle
• A book bag with their reading book and reading diary inside
• Wellies
• A waterproof coat or...
• A warm coat, hat and gloves in the winter months or...
• A sun hat in the summer/hot weather and sun cream (to be applied at home. We recommend the 8 hour protection creams

Please make sure that all items are clearly labelled!

PE

Children in Reception will do PE at least once a week so a kit is required. A PE kit should consist of:

• A white t-shirt 
• Green or black shorts
• Green or black jogging bottoms
• A pair of black pumps or trainers

For our Reception classes at Great Malvern Primary School, Forest School sessions take place weekly. The sessions run throughout the year which enables the children to experience the changing seasons using all of their senses.

Children will be supervised at all times by a Forest School leader and school staff. Our Forest School Leaders are fully trained to deliver Forest School and there is always a first aid trained member of staff on the site.

What kind of activities do we offer in Forest School?

Activities are varied throughout the year as they are often child initiated and seasonal. Nature is at the heart of what we do and the children will, over time, learn about the world around them. Activities may include:

• Mini beast hunting
• Den building
• Using simple tools
• Mud painting
• Story telling
• Cooking around a campfire
• Creating tree sculptures… to name but a few!

What to wear in Forest School?

We ask that they come in wearing a pair of black or green jogging bottoms and a school polo top, jumper or hoodie, and school shoes as they will change into their wellies when we go to the Forest School site. We ask that your child has a pair of wellies that stay permanently in school until the end of the school year. During the winter months we may ask for woolly hats and gloves. 

We love our Forest School sessions. Please remember to check our Tapestry pages to see what we have been up to!

The Reception team would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supports the Foundation Stage on a daily basis. We value the support we receive from parents supporting their children by reading regularly at home, providing the correct PE kit and uniform and contributing to Tapestry, our online learning journey. We are also hugely grateful to our reader helpers and volunteers who give up their time to support the learning of the children. If you or someone you know would like to find out how you can support the school please contact the school office.