EYFS – Newsletter – 23/10/2025

Well it has certainly been a magical week in Reception! Although we’ve all felt a bit tired as we approached the half term holidays, we have had lots to keep us busy.

On Monday we celebrated the Hindu festival of Diwali. After learning a bit about what Diwali is and why it is celebrated, we watched a video to see how a young girl celebrated with her family. The children were then encouraged to celebrate this Festival of Light by making a paper lantern, or by using carefully penmanship to make mehndi patterns on hands. Outdoors, some children chose to use some beautiful coloured leaves to make rangoli-inspired patterns to welcome in the goddess of wealth during Diwali. Mr Verdi has put two lines on the Euromillions in anticipation!

As Halloween approaches, we have enjoyed a few magical moments and spooky activities. All the children were invited to have a go at making a magic potion and casting spells on the teachers. They were first asked to pick a potion bottle, each with a different animal on it and then to look on the reverse for three golden letters. Once they had found an animal that began with each of these letters, the magic powder could be sprinkled into their cauldron. If the animals had been chosen correctly a power magic was released into the powder and all it would take is a little of the precious potion and some magic words to produce a spell to turn anyone who drank it into an animal. Given the spell to read, the children practised their blending skills to read the magic words which were recited as the potion was poured in. As the magic took hold, the children were astonished to see the potions bubble and foam (which of course proved the magic had worked). Mr Verdi and Mrs Andrews bravely took a little sip and amazingly they were momentarily transformed into pigs, snakes cats, frogs and crows. Other Halloween themed activities that were available to the children included; colouring and decorating pumpkin faces and making potions outside with Miss Bostock using some careful counting.

Tuesday saw lots of fabulous costumes as we made our way to the hall for our Halloween Disco! The children loved the music and dancing – almost as much as they liked the sweets from the tuck shop! The children joined in some fun routines and the disco was finished with a blast from the snow machine! 

In Phonics this week, we introduced the children to three new sounds – ‘m’ (as in meatball), ‘d’ (as in drum) and ‘g’ (as in girl). We enjoyed fun activities like getting dressed in funny hats, beating a drum to help rehearse how to blend sounds to read words and also read and then match labels and pictures.

Our maths sessions have been focused on exploring numbers 1, 2 and 3. The children have used part part-whole models to investigate the make up of these numbers with numicon and bean bags, as well as retelling the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and discussing how many goats are on each side of the bridge at different points in the story.

Elsewhere the children have kept busy learning in lots of fun ways. We’ve had more exploration of the human body, lots of writing practise and investigation of nature in the rather wet playground. 

Have a lovely half term!

The Reception Team

DATES FOR THE DIARY: 

Thursday 23rd October: Last day of Autumn 1

Friday 24th October: School closed

Monday 3rd November: First day of Autumn 2

Thursday 6th November: EYFS Parent Workshop – Early Reading (5:00pm) We are holding a workshop for Reception parents and carers around the area of early reading. During the session we will show you some of the strategies and resources we use. If you come to the main entrance a member of staff will come and collect you.