Autumn Term 2025

Welcome to our Autumn Term in Reception – our very first term at school together! It has been a wonderful start to our learning journey, with the children settling in beautifully and beginning to build new friendships. Throughout this term, we have enjoyed exploring our classroom, learning new routines and taking part in lots of exciting activities designed to spark curiosity and independence. Here you will find a collection of some of the lovely learning experiences we have shared so far this term...

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Our School Promises

  

During our first week of school, we explored our school motto: Be Kind – Work Hard – Stay Safe. The children enjoyed discussing what each part means and how we can show these values in our everyday classroom life in an age-appropriate way. We then created colourful handprint artwork and added the children’s ideas to each piece. These are now proudly displayed in our classroom to remind us of the values we are learning to follow together.

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Eloquent and Truthful

    

   

This half term, we are learning to be eloquent and truthful — speaking with honesty and love, just as God calls us to. Reception reflected on these values through the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, where Moses listens and speaks with courage and truth. After sharing the story during their Celebration of the Word, the children created beautiful watercolour paintings inspired by this moment of faith. A lovely way to grow in both learning and in God’s word.

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Our Buddies

      

At our school, we are very proud of our Buddy System, where our Year 6 children support and care for our new Reception pupils. Each Reception child is paired with a Year 6 buddy who helps them settle into school life – offering friendship, guidance and a familiar face to look out for them.

Our buddies enjoy helping at lunchtime, playing together in the playground, and being positive role models. The Reception children absolutely love spending time with their buddies, and these special relationships create a strong sense of community and kindness across our school.

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All About Baptism

    

In R.E, our Reception explored the beautiful sacrament of Baptism, an important step in becoming a member of God's family. To deepen their understanding, the children took part in a thoughtful role play. We created our own 'church', sang hymns, and practised the words: “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” as they gently placed water on the baby's head. It was a joyful and faith-filled experience, helping the children to appreciate the meaning and symbolism of this first sacrament.

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Fun at Forest School!

    

Reception were the proud winners of this week’s Lunchtime Pom-Pom Award! As a special treat, they celebrated with their very first fire at Forest School

Each child got to toast their own marshmallow over the fire – and yes, they were absolutely delicious! Well done, Reception!

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Cheltenham Literature Festival

 Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had an incredible literary adventure at the Cheltenham Literature Festival today! Our young readers were inspired as they explored the festival, discovering the magic of books, stories and imagination all around them. A real highlight was the fantastic workshop with the brilliant Michael Rosen — the children loved learning his playful poems and captivating stories, bringing words to life through rhythm, rhyme and performance!

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Ross Community Gardens

      

Our Reception children had a wonderful time exploring the Community Gardens. They took part in an autumn scavenger hunt, planted some daffodil bulbs ready for spring, and even made bird feeders from the apples they had picked!

The highlight of the day was tasting the delicious apples and pears they harvested themselves – so tasty!

A huge thank you to Kris and Emma at the gardens for organising such lovely activities and making the visit so special for our little learners.

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NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe

    

This week, our children are taking part in the NSPCC Speak Out Stay Safe programme.

Reception enjoyed watching a special assembly all about keeping safe and learned that it’s always okay to speak out if something doesn’t feel right. Together, we talked about trusted adults – the people who help us feel safe, listen to us, and can help when we need it.

The children shared some lovely ideas about who their trusted adults are, and then created beautiful drawings to show these special people.

We’re so proud of how thoughtfully the children engaged with this important message about staying safe and speaking out.

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