A Sneak Peek into Year 1
Reception's Fantastic Transition to Year 1!
What a wonderful couple of days we have had welcoming our Reception children into their new Year 1 classroom! It has been such a pleasure getting to know all of the children and they were all so lovely!
When the children first arrived, we gathered together on the carpet to talk about what Year 1 will be like and discuss our classroom expectations. Afterwards, it was time to explore their exciting new learning environment. What better way to do that than with a classroom hunt? The children searched for important places and resources, including the toilets, bins, whiteboards, cloakroom and the shelves for their water bottles and lunch boxes. This helped everyone become a little more familiar with their new surroundings.
Once we had finished exploring, we came back together to share the brilliant story The Colour Monster Goes to School. We talked about how the Colour Monster was feeling nervous about starting somewhere new, just as some of the children were feeling about moving into Year 1. It was a great opportunity to discuss our emotions and remind everyone that it's perfectly okay to feel a mixture of different feelings - even I felt nervous!
The children then created their own Colour Monsters to show how they were feeling about starting Year 1. We had lots of excited and happy monsters, alongside a few nervous ones too - and that's absolutely okay!
Throughout the afternoon, the children enjoyed a range of activities. Some built impressive Lego towers, others proudly showed off their beautiful handwriting, some created colourful patterns on the peg boards and of course, there was plenty of colouring too!
Yesterday afternoon was just as enjoyable. The children made some very special ice cream-themed birthday cards ready for next year. They used their handprints as the ice cream scoop before decorating their creations with lots of glitter—because who doesn't love a little sparkle?
It has been such a lovely experience chatting with all of the children, beginning to get to know them and seeing them start to explore into their new classroom. I am so excited to welcome them into Year 1 properly and can't wait for all the fun and learning we will share together!
Laura
