Christmas has arrived at Storytellers; the children
created their letters to Father Christmas and were lucky to have our wonderful postman collect them! They have been assembling beautiful
decorations and enjoying Santa's post office while often dressed in various festive outfits, which always bring a smile to everyone’s faces.
Storytellers had a magical day visiting Father Christmas in
his beautiful grotto; the children embraced everything on offer: riding
reindeer, making snow angels, decorating gingerbread, and talking to Father
Christmas and the elves. We enjoyed a delicious lunch together and even had
chocolate cake to take home!
Yesterday morning, a few of our tiniest people were helped by some of our biggest people to decorate the Storytellers Christmas tree as part of the St Petroc Churches Christmas tree festival. Nursery and KS2 have been busy making decorations, which are now adorning the tree! It looks spectacular, and everyone can view their tree along with over 70 other beautiful trees in St. Petroc Church. It really is worth a visit as it looks amazing, or as one of our little ones said, ‘Wow…sparkly!’
This tiny fundraising team has smashed it by raising £80 to
support Children in Need. They have baked, made posters, decorated cakes and
eaten spare sweets to save us from tidying them up! Watching them sell
their little cakes was a pleasure as they were so proud, and rightly so! Well
done, Storytellers team!
While making Poppy paintings
for Remembrance Day, the Children can begin to explore British Values. As and Early years settings we are required to promote British Values actively to
ensure our young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. British Values are embedded into everyday practice. Remembrance Day will
help children make links between their lives, their freedoms, and the values in
England. Democracy, Mutual Respect, Tolerance, Rule of Law, and Individual
Liberty are the values that settings are expected to incorporate into their
practice. They are learning about these values when:
* They make choices and decisions and know that their
decisions and choices can make a difference.
* They begin to understand that
everyone is entitled to have different opinions or feelings that may be
different from someone else, but learning that this is ok.
* They begin to learn about the
importance of being kind and respectful of similar and different people.
* When they learn about cause and
effect and that actions have consequences
* When thinking about the freedoms
that they have in the things that they enjoy doing every day.
Storytellers have been learning about Diwali, also known as the festival of lights, and many rituals and traditions during the event include light. Diya lamps are lit around the doorways and windows of people's homes. This symbolises the triumph of light over dark and welcomes Lord Rama home from the story of Rama and Sita. The children listen to a story about family traditions celebrating Diwali. They enjoyed creating their Diya lamps and decorating our entrance with Rangoli, a popular Diwali tradition –beautiful patterns made using colourful powders and flowers. People draw Rangoli on the floor by the entrance of their homes to welcome the gods and bring good luck!
This week, we continue our season's theme by investigating Halloween. This festival signifies the move from autumn to winter and is always a great favourite for young children.
We
have enjoyed reading a classic this week, “Room on a Broom” by Julia Donaldson.
The story of a witch, a group of animals who help her, good manners, friendship
and cooperation was fun to read aloud because of its rhythm and rhyme and
opportunities for the children to join in.
The
children thoroughly enjoyed the potion Station today. They measured out bicarbonate and various coloured vinegars along with a variety of Halloween-inspired pasta shapes and then watched the results. They were totally immersed in the process, which created some wonderful learning opportunities as we talked about the reactions that happened and the words we could use to describe them.
The
children carried on this passion for potions within their role-play area, currently themed as ‘Meg and Mogs’ house. There have been many magic spells and rhymes as the children explored roles together. Having
a selection of pumpkins around the room has offered an abundance of learning
opportunities, from size ordering and counting to mark-making in various exciting ways.
Creative
We are bold and innovative in our approach to find new solutions to the challenges we face.
Curious
We are inspired by the awe and wonder of the world.
Responsible
We take responsibility for our actions in an environment of mutual respect.
Enthusiastic
We are passionate about learning.
Excellent
We are the best we can be.
Determined
We overcome all barriers to reach our potential, developing a capacity to improve further.
© 2025 Bridge Schools trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Registration number 7736425. It is an exempt charity.