Staplegrove Church School 
Elm - Reception
Welcome to Elm Class 2025-26
The class teachers are:
Mrs Staples (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday)
Mrs Bottomley (Thursday and Friday).
The children are supported by Ms Marlow.
Key Information:
PE will be every Friday - PE bags can be left on class pegs.
Please send children to school in normal uniform as we will change in class.
Learning practice will be given out on Fridays.
Library books and phonics books will be changed on Fridays.
Please ensure phonics books are in book bags daily to support daily reading practice in class.
Children are expected to read 4x a week at home, which is to be logged in their reading record.
Our Class news:
Friday 14th November:
We have been enjoying talking about our Bonfire night experiences, fireworks, sparklers and hot chocolate in Elm Class this week. We enjoyed making firework pictures with coloured pasta and paint. Whilst linking our knowledge to the book The Quiet Little Firework.
We've also been taken time to reflect and consider remembrance. The significance of the Poppy and why this is worn by many at this time of year. Elm class joined sharing assembly on Monday, where some of our children were brave to share aloud in assembly. This was in front of the whole school. Well done to those children. They then joined the whole school on Tuesday for a minute silence at 11am. The children were very respectful and even offered their thoughts to Mr Armstrong's questions.
We have been continuing to look at Antibullying and reminding the children about the 'Power for good'. Allowing them to speak up for themselves and for others when they think someone is being unkind.
The end of this week is rounding up with 'Children in Need'. The children will come into school wearing spots and we will be finding out why!
Friday 24th October:
Elm Class enjoyed the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs in Class last week. We were able to join in with the repeated phrases and learnt lots of interesting vocabulary such as 'scarper' and 'obliterate'. We used the same tale in our drawing club and towards the end of the unit we wondered what the wolf might disguise himself as to trick the pigs in to opening the door! We then thought of all the delicious things the wolf might turn the pigs into before eating them such as piggy burgers, pig ice creams and three little pig sandwiches!
This week we have been learning about different celebrations and have been enthusiastic about Diwali which is the festival of light. We have made rangoli patterns in our classroom choosing time, used the playdoh table to make Diva lamps with the battery tea lights and decorated them using buttons and gems.
Friday 10th October:
We have officially started our toothbrushing program in Elm Class! We are a part of the NHS Big Brush Club and so brush our teeth after lunch each day. We were excited to see which coloured brush we had, and which fruit or vegetable picture was on it. After just a few days of our new routine, we are now so good at brushing our teeth during our 2-minute toothbrushing songs.
Over the last few weeks, we have been practising Harvest songs ready for our whole School Harvest celebration assembly. Reverend Paul led the collective worship where we sat and listened respectfully and sang beautifully. We were so generous when bringing in donations for the Taunton Food Bank.
We have been enjoying some very colourful PE lessons using rainbow scarves and bean bags. We were practising our listening skills to wait for our colour during the classical music mapping game as well as our balancing skills to keep the beanbags on different parts of our body.
Friday 26th September:
Autumn has well and truly arrived in Elm Class over the last few weeks! We have embraced the chilly weather outside and enjoyed conker rolling using the guttering and stands to make chutes and tracks. We have also been painting with pinecones to make interesting patterns on paper using autumnal colours like orange, yellow and red. After exploring the rest of the school this week, we decided to spend some time in the school library. We each chose a book to borrow to take home to share with our adults.
Friday 12th September:
We have had a fabulous start to the new academic year. Children have settled well into Elm Class and are becoming confident with our school routines. They have enjoyed exploring their new classroom environment both inside and out. The water play and sensory kitchen have been well used this week as well as the small world and playdough station inside. We have been practising our fine motor skills by cutting, sticking and creating wonderful cards to take home to our families as well as playing together and making new friends through role-play games using dressing-up superhero and princess costumes.