Thorney Close Primary SchoolWillow Class 2025-2026
Welcome to Willow Class page! Over the course of the academic year, this space will be filled with photos, videos and updates that capture our exciting journey. You’ll be able to see what we’re working on, along with the special moments that make our class unique. Keep checking back to see how we grow, learn and celebrate our achievements together!
Class Information
Teacher: Mr A. Stewart
Year Group: Reception
PE Days: Wednesday
News (most recent first)
Early Years Foundation Stage
early years foundation stage.pdf
Phonics
We’ve begun our phonics journey, and we are already so impressed with how much the children have learned – and it’s only Day 1! To support them in practising each sound in its written form, we will be sending home a letter formation practice sheet every evening. If the sheet is completed and returned the following morning, your child will earn a special 5⭐ Dojo reward!
Vision Screening
Children received a letter informing them that an orthoptist will visit the school to conduct routine eye tests for students at some point during the academic year. The school is not yet aware of the exact date.
Jewellery
Our PE sessions take place on Wednesdays. For safety reasons, children should not wear any jewellery, including earrings, during these lessons. Please make sure earrings and other jewellery are removed before the school day begins, as staff are unable to do this for the children.
Lunch
Delicious first lunch of the year! We had pizza, potato waffles, and for dessert, ice cream and waffles. If you want to check out the daily menu, take a look at the school menu using this link. School Meal Menu.
Welcome Beech Class
I hope you’ve all had a joyful summer filled with play, rest, and adventure! As we begin this new school year, I’m so excited to welcome your wonderful children into Willow Class. We’ve got a fantastic term ahead—full of learning, laughter, and new friendships. I'm looking forward to a brilliant start together!
Gallery (most recent photos first)
Click on the photos for further information.
RAWR-some Dinosaur Week!
We had a fantastic dinosaur-themed week filled with exploring fossils, excavations, and learning new vocabulary like real palaeontologists! 🦖 In maths and art, we practised subtraction through dinosaur challenges and created colourful watercolour dinosaur paintings inspired by toy dinosaurs. 🎨🔢
Outdoor Fun
We took our learning outside and had lots of fun pretending to be dung beetles while practising rolling and aiming a ball. The children showed great teamwork, control and enthusiasm—what a fantastic active afternoon!
Exploring AB Patterns
The children enjoyed creating AB patterns using a range of materials and even explored action patterns with great enthusiasm. We were so impressed with their creativity and curiosity—some even challenged themselves to try ABC patterns!
World Book Day
We had a magical day celebrating a love of reading, with fantastic costumes and lots of shared stories. Reading helps build imagination, confidence and writing skills—thank you for supporting this at home!
Exploring Height
This week the children have been learning all about height, using new vocabulary such as tall, taller, tallest, short, shorter and shortest.
They worked together to order their friends from shortest to tallest, showing fantastic teamwork, confidence, and growing mathematical language skills.
A Fantastic Week of Learning!
We’ve had a busy week celebrating Pancake Day and exploring Chinese New Year, with lots of writing, creativity and fun activities.
In maths and phonics, the children have been working hard on number composition and building confidence with new sounds—well done everyone!
Birdwatching Adventures
This week, the children explored birdwatching in our garden, observing birds in the sky and learning about different species and habitats. They loved sharing stories about birds they have seen at home and in the local environment.
Willow Class Attendance Champions!
A huge well done to Willow Class for achieving the best attendance in the whole school last week with an incredible 98%, what a fantastic achievement! The children showed great commitment to coming to school every day, and their efforts truly paid off. As a special reward, they were able to enjoy a fun pyjama day together, which created lots of smiles and excitement. Everyone looked fantastic in their cosy outfits, and the day felt extra special from start to finish. It was wonderful to see such positive attitudes and team spirit across the class, making the celebration even more meaningful. We are so proud of their brilliant attendance and the example they have set for others across the school.
Journey into Space
Willow Class enjoyed planning what they would pack for a journey into space, discussing what astronauts might need and why.
They shared their ideas through drawings and writing, choosing a mix of practical items and favourite toys or books.
Outdoor Learning
Willow and Beech classes came together for a fantastic time exploring outdoor learning areas! The children worked in small groups throughout the day, discovering exciting spaces and taking part in hands-on activities. It was a wonderful chance for teamwork, curiosity, and learning through play — and they had lots of fun doing it!
Green Monster
We've had a wonderful day in class! We went on a nature walk, focusing on the 'green monster' from our class story, 'The Colour Monster', to help bring calm. The children pointed out things they spotted that were green outdoors and then painted their very own calm monster.
AB Patterns
We had fun creating repeating AB patterns using building blocks, exploring how patterns work through hands-on activity. We also used an ICT program, where the children selected and completed their own AB patterns, reinforcing their understanding of sequencing and pattern recognition in a digital format.
You Choose
In class, we have been reading 'You Choose' and imagining what our dream houses might look like. The children have absolutely loved getting creative with junk modelling to bring their ideas to life. We’re so proud of how imaginative and thoughtful they've been with their designs!
The Human Body
We've been learning about the human body, and what an exciting afternoon it's been! As a class, we collaborated to label different body parts, picking up new vocabulary and discovering all the incredible things our bodies can do. The children were full of enthusiasm and worked wonderfully both as a team and in small groups.
Videos
Please check back another day to see if we have any videos of our learning.
Useful Links and Learning
Reception links coming soon.
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