Dahl Class - Reception
Dahl Class Staff:
Miss Cannon – Class Teacher
Mrs Szydlowski – HLTA
Miss Amatt – 1:1 Teaching Assistant
Mrs Elwes – 1:1 Teaching Assistant
Mrs Morris – 1:1 Teaching Assistant
Welcome to Dahl Class! We are the youngest class in the school and the Reception children learn here. We provide a happy, safe and caring environment where children feel secure, giving them a strong foundation for learning. We encourage children to become independent and confident learners, to explore and discover things for themselves, whilst supporting them to make connections in their learning. The children work with adults, their peers or independently, to access their learning environment, both indoors and outdoors. We provide high quality teaching, organise school trips and offer enrichment activities, in order to encourage our children to become life-long learners and good citizens in the wider world.
In Dahl Class, the Reception children follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. The EYFS framework sets out the key learning for your child’s early development and provides the foundations for all later learning and successes. The EYFS curriculum is divided into two main areas: the prime areas of learning and the specific areas of learning. Each area is divided into subcategories. The prime areas of learning are vitally important as these provide the basic systems and foundations which are essential to support learning in all the other areas.
The 3 prime areas are:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The 4 specific areas are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
We also promote ‘characteristics of effective learning’ in Dahl Class. These are the ways in which children engage with other people and their environment, through ‘play and exploring’, ‘active learning’ and ‘creating and thinking critically’. The characteristics of effective learning and the prime and specific areas of learning and development are all inter-connected and support your child in achieving their end of year ‘Early Learning Goals’.
Dahl Class 2024-25
Term 5 2024-25
Term 4 2024-25
This term Dahl Class have been learning about ‘What can we grow?’ The children have loved having pet caterpillars and they even named them all. We watched them slowly transform into cocoons and this week, they hatched! We were so lucky that we saw one hatch out right in front of our eyes – how magical! The butterflies were released this week and the children loved letting them go.
Earlier on in the term, we walked to the village hall for pancakes. These were delicious and the children loved them. Thank you to the lovely people at the church for cooking them for us.
Dahl Class took part in session one of their grow your own potatoes workshop. The children learnt about soil, healthy foods, parts of a plant, food from around the world and then planted their own potatoes. Thank you to all the workshop leaders who ran the session and we are looking forward to part two!
In RE, we have been learning about the Easter story. The children spoke about Easter traditions at home, made Easter gardens, had an Easter egg hunt and took part in lots of Easter craft. We were very proud of the children during the Easter service. They sang well and said their lines very clearly.
Dahl Class celebrated their first World Book Day this term. The children loved dressing up in cosy clothes and book character clothes. They visited all the other classes for some author-based learning, then spent the afternoon in their own classroom. Everyone commented on how fabulous the Reception children were, so well done Dahl Class. The book we focussed on during the afternoon was Charlie and the Chocolate factory and the children made their own chocolate bars. They had a wonderful time!
We are very thankful for all the support from parents. It means so much and has such a positive impact on the progress that the children make.
Have a lovely Easter,
Miss Cannon, Mrs Szydlowski, Miss Amatt, Mrs Elwes and Mrs Morris🐥
Grow Your Own Potato workshop part 1.
The children have created their own self portrait by tracing over a photograph of themselves onto a laminated sheet.
Our new areas for term 4.
We have made our playhouse into a garden centre to link with our enquiry question “what can we grow” the children have enjoyed browsing through the different products on offer in the garden centre, taking them to the shop keeper and paying for their items. The children have then practised their writing skills to write receipts for their customers!
Term 3 2024-25
Dahl Class have had an awesome term. They have adapted well to the class changes and are loving their time as a small Reception group. The children have been leading their own learning and we even had a class wedding which resulted in the children creating their own costumes, props and invitations. Nightingale Class were lucky enough to be invited and it was a joyous occasion … haha!
The Reception children took part in Balance Bikeability training. During the sessions, the children learnt about parts of a bike, the importance of being safe and how to make sure their helmet fits correctly. The children listened well to instructions and the progress they made in just two days was incredible. Well done, Reception!
The afternoons have been very busy this term. We have been part of the Big Bird Watch 2025. The children enjoyed making bird feeders, identifying birds, creating birds during our Art afternoon and then carrying out some bird watching. The children created different stories in Music and even composed their own music about our school morning routine. This week we finished off the busy term by learning about how to look after our teeth and why it is important to eat healthy foods.
We loved celebrating Chinese New Year a few weeks ago. We tasted Chinese foods, enhanced the home corner with Chinese themed resources and completed Chinese crafts. The children learnt about lucky red envelopes and had one each to take home. They enjoyed their challenge of putting the envelope under their pillow at night and waking up to find it had been filled with sweets and coins. How magical!
Dahl Class thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the woods earlier this term. We learnt about what lives in the woods, met some new friends and saw some videos of badgers and deer in action. We saw some fairy houses in the woods and then made fairy wands with sticks and ribbons. We had treats and hot chocolate while having story time. The resident cats also joined us for story time and even led us back to the house safely. Thank you to Mrs Willerton for allowing us to visit the woods and thank you to all the parents for dropping the children off promptly, with everything they needed.
Miss Cannon, Mrs Szydlowski, Mrs Morris, Miss Amatt, Mrs Elwes
Reception Welcome Service
The Reception children were presented with their bibles at the Welcome Service held on Friday 13th September 2024.