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Taking Off on Our Reading Journey: Learning Owl Babies Inside Out 

What an extraordinary milestone! This week marked our Reception children's very first full week of school, and they have already taken their dynamic first steps on their lifelong reading journey. To launch our storytelling curriculum, every child was gifted their very own copy of Martin Waddell’s classic, Owl Babies - the heartwarming tale of Sarah, Percy, and Bill, three owlets who wake to find their mother gone, navigate their worries, and celebrate with pure joy when she flies back home.

Choosing Owl Babies for our opening week is deeply intentional, as the story beautifully mirrors our children's own lived experience during these first full days. Just like the owlets, starting school involves learning to navigate separation. Reading the book together creates a safe, gentle space to process these feelings, reassuring the children that while parents leave for a little while, school is a nurturing place filled with trusted adults - and, just like Owl Mother, parents always return at the end of the day.

By reading the story together in class every single day and sharing it at home each evening, the children are learning it "inside out." Educational research shows that this daily repetition builds a strong mental map of language and story structure, boosting children's confidence and vocabulary as they begin to "read" familiar lines from memory.

Our Reception team loves bringing books to life through immersive play. This week, structured story sessions were paired with sensory exploration of real feathers, leaves, and bark to encourage rich descriptive words. Next week, the excitement continues as the children make their own owl masks for character acting and try "hot-seating" the owlets to explore how Sarah, Percy, Bill, and mum, were feeling. Thank you for sharing this beautiful story at home - it has been a joyful, reassuring start to our year together!