As communicators, the children have been developing their speaking and listening skills through storytelling, poetry, discussions and oracy activities. Reception learnt a poem called 'If I were so very small'  They have been using exciting new vocabulary linked to our topic and practising taking turns to speak clearly and confidently with both adults and their peers. Reception children have also continued working hard in their Read Write Inc sessions, building confidence with blending, sentence building and reading comprehension.

As mathematicians, the children have been exploring shape, pattern, counting and number work through practical activities. They have particularly enjoyed our continued work in our Sunflower Challenge, noticing and commenting on the growth of their sunflowers. Next term we will be comparing the height of our sunflowers and hoping they grow even more over the holiday. 

As scientists and explorers, the children have been learning about animal habitats, migration and survival. They discovered that animals need food, water, shelter and air to survive and explored how different animals live in jungles and savannahs. The children were fascinated learning about wildebeest migration and discussing why animals travel such long distances. We will be look at this further in our topic 'Journey's next term. 

As artists, the children have created some fantastic jungle and savannah inspired artwork. They explored animal patterns and camouflage, experimented with painting techniques inspired by Henri Rousseau's Jungle paintings and created beautiful symmetrical butterlies with paint. 

As active learners, the children have continued developing their physical skills through dough disco, write dance, ball games, parachute games and team activities. We ended the week today with a very special lunchtime disco where the children got up from their seats and danced to their favourite tunes. It brought the teachers so much joy seeing their confidence and happiness as they danced together!

The children took part in a special group time this morning using the NSPCC PANTS materials. Through child-friendly stories, songs and discussions, the children met Pantosaurus, who helped the children to understand important messages about keeping themselves safe. The sessions helped the children to learn about safe boundaries, that their private parts are private, and that they should always speak to a trusted adult if anything ever worries or upsets them. The NSPCC PANTS programme supports children in developing confidence, understanding personal safety and recognising that their bodies belong to them in a gentle, reassuring and age-appropriate way. 

Communication App Reminder
We would like to remind parents that our communication app will be changing to Juniper Education next term. Please keep an eye on your email inbox for your joining invitation.

Please look for the purple J in your app store. 

Reception Legoland Trip Reminder
Our exciting Reception trip to Legoland is fast approaching on Wednesday 8th July.

There are still a number of outstanding payments for the trip. To allow us to finalise organisation and arrangements, we kindly ask that all remaining balances are paid as soon as possible.

The cost of the trip is:

• £24 per parent

• £39.97 per child

Payments can be made:

• In cash

• Via MCAS

If you have misplaced your trip letter, please speak to a member of the Barrier Reef Team, who will be happy to provide you with another copy.

Father’s Day Celebration
To celebrate Father’s Day, we would like to invite significant males in the children’s lives to join us for a special Lego building session in school for Reception children on Friday 19th June. All children will be creating some wonderful cards and crafts to gift. 

We will be hosting two sessions:

• 10:00am – 11:00pm

• 1:00pm – 2:00pm

We look forward to welcoming you into school for this special event!

Thank you for your continued support. Have a lovely half term break. 

The Barrier Reef Team