As part of their transition to Reception, the Preschool children and their parents have taken part in a series of co-curricular clubs, alongside the Reception teachers.
In the Spring term, Charlotte from our Nursery team led three wonderful craft clubs. The children and their parents had the opportunity to create unique crafts based on a different theme each week—all while getting to know the Reception teachers in the classroom environment. Together, they made keepsakes such as bird feeders, wind chimes, picture frames, and vases.
In the Summer term, Mrs Barker and Mrs Jennings led a series of workshops open to all Preschool children and their parents. The first, a Phonics Workshop, involved singing rhymes together before making noisy musical instruments using everyday materials. The session ended with an outdoor listening walk, where they heard all sorts of interesting sounds, including zooming aeroplanes, tweeting birds, and buzzing insects.
The next workshop, Outdoor Learning, was led by our Forest School Leader, Mrs Jennings. The children and their parents enjoyed exploring the outdoor learning spaces with the Reception teachers. They hunted for wildflowers to make nature crowns and clay faces, and used wooden mallets to press the natural dye from the flowers, creating beautiful patterns on fabric squares.
The final workshop of the term gave the children a chance to share stories with their new teachers. It began with a fun activity where the children used their listening skills to guess which animal characters were hiding in the story sack, before Mrs Barker read one of her favourite stories. The session ended with story-themed craft activities enjoyed by children and parents alike.
These workshops have been a great success, giving children and parents the opportunity to get to know the Reception team and explore their new learning spaces ahead of starting Prep School in September.