Welcome to Willow Class!

My name is Mrs Potter and I am the teacher of the reception class with our lovely teaching assistant Mrs Wiater.

The reception class or EYFS as it can be known, encourages the children to become explorers and investigators; and to develop their creative minds through child-initiated learning and adult led activities.

When the children begin school in September we allow them the chance to settle in and make new friends, and then we gradually introduce short inputs such as Phonics and Maths.  At the end of this term we will be looking at the people who help us in our community and learn about their different roles. 

There are many ways to support your children’s learning, at Newtown we recognise the importance of reading.  As a celebration of the children’s reading at home we have the 100 Club, where the children will receive certificates and prizes for the times they have read at home.  Who will get to the milestone first?

When the children are in full-time they will have P.E. lessons weekly. Please ensure their P.E. kit is in school every day.

We are very excited to meet all of you and get started on another exciting school year.  Please come back and visit this page throughout the year to see what your child has been up to.

Mrs Potter 

Minibeasts

This week in Willow class we have been learning all about minibeasts. We have been out and about within our school grounds looking for and identifying different types of minibeasts that we could find. Inspired by our searches we have created some artwork linked to our topic including clay mini beasts and butterfly paintings. Take a look at our wonderful creations 😊

Animals

This week we have been learning about lots of different animals from around the world. We have talked about the different habitats for animals and why they live where they do. This week the children created their own animal tracks to follow animals when out of safari, they role played being vets, used their fine motor skills to help free animals caught up in elastic bands, read stories and ordered the events in the stories and went on an imaginary safari to Africa. Take a look at our fantastic photos 😊 

Coronation

We have had a fantastic day in Willow class celebrating the Kings coronation. We came to school dressed up in our red, white and blue and decorated our classroom in union jacks to match! During the day we played lots of games, dressed up as kings and queens, created our own coronation crowns and even decorated some cakes! Take a look at our wonderful photos 😊

Dinosaur Week

This week in Willow class we have had a dinosaur themed week. The children have been very busy writing their own stories inspired by the book Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs. We have also been using our fine motor skills to become palaeontologist and created our own dinosaur fossils. At the end of the week the children arrived at school to find that a dinosaur egg had appeared in our classroom. The children were extremely excited to ask questions about where this had come from and come up with ideas about who might be inside. Take a look at our wonderful photographs.

Longleat Trip

This week we were lucky enough to go on a trip to Longleat. Whilst there we had an amazing day exploring the park and meeting lots of different animals. We started our morning with a trip on the boat where we got to feed the sealions some fish. We also saw the monkeys, the gorillas and even the hippos (even if they did just look like mud piles). After our boat trip we caught the Longleat train and spotted some signs of spring. Throughout the afternoon we wondered around the park looking at different animals and before home time we even managed to squeeze in a visit to the adventure playground. Take a look at our wonderful photos! 🙂  

Wednesday 8th March Home Learning 

Trowbridge Library Visit

On Thursday 19^th January Willow class took a trip to Trowbridge Library. Willow class got to have a look around the library and met with one of the librarians who read us some wonderful stories. The Willow class children each choose a book to borrow using their library cards and we shared some of these stories together once we returned to school. Take a look at the pictures from our trip 🙂 

Term 2

Willow class have had a wonderful term! We have been very busy preparing for our fantastic Christmas play as well as learning about different celebrations that take place across the year. We have been exploring the different areas of our classroom and developing our friendships within the class. Take a look at our amazing photos from this term 🙂 

Willow Class Poppies

This week the children in Willow class have been learning about Remembrance day. We discussed the reasons why we celebrate and talked about the importance of taking time to remember those people we have lost. Have a look at our super artwork! 🙂 

Police Officer Visit

Today Willow class were fortunate to have a visit from our local PCSO’s linked to our topic of people who help us. We heard a little bit about what police officers in our local area do and how they keep us safe. After our talk the children were lucky enough to have go in the police van, use the sirens and role play being police officers.

Term 1

Wow! Willow class have had a very busy time together since starting school. They have settled in beautifully and been developing their relationships with their friends. Since starting school full-time the children have been learning lots of new sounds and numbers and finding out about the different ways that people in our community help us 😊