“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”
Dalai Lama
This week in RE, we have been exploring what it means to be part of God’s family. We talked lots about how being a Christian means belonging to a loving community, just like a big family. The children shared their ideas about how we show love through our kind words and actions, and how we can talk to God through prayer.
We also looked at what happens at Mass and how everyone has a special role. The children enjoyed matching different church items to the people who use them, and we learned how some people welcome us, some read from the Bible, some sing, and the priest helps lead us in prayer. We loved thinking about how all of these jobs help everyone come together as one family to show their love for God.
During our teacher led worship, we listened to a story from the Bible (Matthew 10:26–33) and talked about how precious and important each one of us is to God. The children reflected on how God’s love is always with us, even when things feel tricky, and how we can trust in His care.
Conversation starter:
Each week we will give you a question that we would like you to think about and discuss together at home. This could be over dinner time as a family, at bedtime, on a walk or even in the car. However you choose to discuss this question is up to you, but the idea is that it will help to give an insight in to what we talk about in school, help children to understand more about themselves or others.
What did you enjoy most about our school trip this week?
What adventures have we been on this week?
What a busy week we have had!
We were so proud of the children on our class walk into St Anne’s. They were exceptionally well behaved and represented our class beautifully. There was so much excitement as we spotted lots of different types of transport along the way, and the miniature railway was definitely a highlight! Even though some little legs were feeling tired on the way back in the warm sunshine, the smiles never faded - and the ice creams were a very welcome treat!
In maths, we have been learning how to use rekenreks. These colourful bead frames are a fantastic way to help the children see numbers clearly, partition them, and begin to calculate. The children have enjoyed exploring them and are becoming more confident in talking about their number ideas.
Our English lessons have been inspired by the lovely story “Giraffes Can’t Dance.” The children have really enjoyed getting creative, designing new dancing shoes for Gerald and making musical instruments for him in our learning landscape. This linked beautifully with our learning about Africa, where we have been finding out what it is like and how it is different from England. The children have especially loved learning about the different African animals and sharing their favourites with their friends.
We also had a wonderful time during our Gym Jam Jog on Wednesday morning. It was so lovely to see so many families coming together and joining in the fun. Thank you so much for all of your kind sponsors - we are very excited to share soon how much we have raised to help improve our outdoor play equipment!
And finally, there has been lots of excitement in our classroom as our caterpillars have now formed their chrysalises. We are watching and waiting very patiently for the moment when our beautiful butterflies begin to emerge… we can’t wait!
And we had a wonderful surprise to end this incredibly hot week. Mrs Gregan treated all the children (and adults!) to a well deserved ice cream! Thank you Mrs Gregan!
Let’s Celebrate:
Enthusiastic Bobby Bee - Steve, all members of the Reception team have noticed what an ‘Enthusiastic Bobby Bee’ you have become this year! You are showing so much enthusiasm is your writing and always take pride in the work you are completing. You throw yourself into maths challenges, asking for support when it’s needed. Well done!
Whole School Virtues - Curious & Active: You are a real curious learner Harry! Always asking questions to find out more and playing an active role in all of our lessons.
Henry the Dog: Will, what a successful week you’ve had. Even though it’s been incredibly hot, you’ve tried really hard to maintain your focus on the carpet and make kind choices.
Important Information and Upcoming Events:
Crazy Hair Day - As you may be aware, every class works towards completing our school’s Star Charter as a way of giving back to our community. One of the challenges within the Star Charter is to raise money for a charity that is close to our hearts. This year, Alder Hey has provided wonderful care and support to Annie and the family during a very important time, and we would like to give something back in recognition of this. Therefore, on Tuesday 30th June, we will be holding a Crazy Hair Day in Reception to raise money for Alder Hey. Children should come to school in normal uniform, but anything goes when it comes to their hair - glitter, hairspray, tinsel… the more creative, the better! We kindly ask for a donation of £2 to take part, which will go towards supporting this truly wonderful charity!
Forest School - For the final half term, Reception will be accessing Forest School learning weekly every Friday. Please can they come to school dressed in their old clothes (long sleeves and trousers) and shoes ready for more exploring. Feel free to bring wellies in a carrier bag and waterproof coats depending on the weather. We’re going to get changed back into our school uniform afterwards (PE kits are fine), so please ensure that your child has their uniform with them. Thank you!
Transition Morning - The children will be visiting the Year 1 classroom and spending more time with Miss Edwards on Thursday 2nd July. Children will come into Reception class as normal to be registered before making their way through to Year 1. They will be back in the Reception class at 12pm ready for lunch. The children are super excited!
Reception sports day is now Monday 6th July - starting at 9:15am.
Please don’t forget that if you have any questions, concerns or celebrations, please email Miss Woodend:
l.woodend@ourladystarofthesea.lancs.sch.uk.
Polite reminder that we are a Nut free school. Please can you bring in healthy snacks please refer to the poster for suitable snacks, we always have fruit avalible too.
PE - Our PE days are Wednesday (outside) and Friday (inside). On these days, children can come to school in their PE uniform and will remain in this for the day. We kindly ask that velcro trainers (white, black or navy) are worn as this allows the children to be indepoendent when taking their shoes off and putting them back on. Polite reminder that for health and safety reasons, no jewellery is to be worn on PE days. We kindly ask that this is removed at home before coming into school.
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Drummond, Miss Woodend, Mrs Summersall, Mrs Krol, Mrs Ely and Miss Goldstone.