In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we joined our friends in Y1 and Y2 to learn about and re-enact the events of the Nativity.  We dressed up in costumes to perform and the story was narrated by the older children.  We all joined in with a selection of songs and carols to recall and celebrate different parts of the story.

We spent time reflecting on the Good News of the Christmas story and prayed for friends, family and people in need all over the world.   We remembered that Christmas is the birthday of baby Jesus, God's precious gift to us all.

Christmas in Reception!

We have really enjoyed counting down the days until Christmas.  Every week during Advent we had lots of fun joining in with special Christmas activities and events as we prepared for the birthday of Jesus.   The last week of term was especially exciting as we went on our first school trip to Farmer Ted's and meeting Santa on our Christmas Party Day!

Take a look at our slideshow to see our photos with Santa!

Our First School Trip to Farmer Ted's!

We were very excited when we set off on our very first school trip to Farmer Ted's.   As a special Christmas treat, we hopped aboard the 'Santa Express' tractor and travelled to Santa's workshop where we met the elves who invited us to write our Christmas wishes on postcards.  Afterwards, we were led into Santa's magical Christmas grotto where Father Christmas was waiting for us for a chat and some special presents for everyone!  We had fun posting our postcards in the magic postbox and meeting the reindeer and donkies outside.

To add to our Christmas fun, we also groomed Shetland ponies, stroked two llamas and came up close with lots of exotic creatures in the bughouse.  We stretched our muscles in the climbing barn and riding mini tractors.  After a much needed lunch break, we ended our day with a fun-packed half hour in the soft play area!

What an exhausting, fun and magical day we had!

Book Week 2013

Magic Mystery!

We really enjoyed the 'Magic Mystery' theme of this year's Book Week.  It was very exciting to meet Cat Weatherill and join in with her magical storytelling session.  We loved inviting our families into school to share books with us and we had a great time visiting the Book Fair in the school hall.  It was a lovely surprise to find out that everyone in Reception could take home a super book bag containing two lovely new books to read and enjoy - we are certainly enjoying 'reading for pleasure' now...

At the end of a wonderful week, we all came into school dressed up as our favourite magical heroes, even the teachers joined in with the fun!  We played Guess Who? discovering the identity of some very mysterious characters and had a parade in the school hall so the whole school could see our costumes.  See if you can guess who's who in our pictures below...

Baptism with Rev Alistair

Rev Alistair visited Reception to 'baptise' our baby doll this week.  We prepared for this celebration by dressing up to take on the role of parents/godparents and dressing our baby in white clothes and shawl. 

We listened to Alistair as he explained the special meaning of the holy water, baptismal candle, certificate, sacred oil and white clothes.  We made the sign of the cross on the baby's forehead and made a special promise to be friends with Jesus. 

We listened carefully as Alistair blessed the baby, then we all joined in praising God singing 'Oh, Oh, Oh How Good is the Lord!'

999 Teddy Bear Emergency!

We were very excited to bring our teddies to school to meet the doctors from the 'Teddy Bear Hospital' .  We learnt lots about how to stay fit and healthy, how to make a 999 emergency phone call, how to look after our teeth and how to name and locate important parts of our body. 

The best part of the day was talking to the doctors and helping them to examine and treat our teddies, using real doctor's equipment and dressings.  After dressing up, singing, talking and listening to the doctors, we all felt much happier about what would happen if we ever had to visit a hospital and be treated ourselves...