Spring 2019
This half term we will be continuing to follow the child’s interests. We will begin the term, looking at the story “The Gruffalo”. We will share the book and do lots of activities around the book.
As the term has progressed the children have shown a lot of interest in Polar animals and the cold weather. We are going to be basing our next topic around Polar Regions, looking at both the North and South Pole. Children will be involved in lots of learning around this topic and we will make the most of the cold weather!
We will continue to develop our skills in learning to read and write through Read, Write Inc and our exciting literacy lessons. We will learn all about numbers using Numberblocks, which we love! As well as learning about adding, subtracting and 3D shapes.
Children enjoy their weekly challenges and are getting very good at independently completing them!
Living Eggs
18th March — Friday 29th March 2019
Article 28: We have the right to find out things and learn new things
We have had a very egg-citing time in Reception these last two weeks. On Monday 18th March we had some eggs delivered. We had a great discussion about what the eggs may be. Children had lots of ideas from dinosaurs to snakes to chickens! They were amazed when they found out we would have chicks hatching from the eggs and we would be looking after them for 2 weeks.
We watched chicks hatch from their eggs and waited until they were fluffy before we moved them to the brooder box.
Every day we would clean out the chicks and give them fresh water, food and bedding. We learnt how to care for living things and look after them
EYFS Curriculum Link: Maths SSM
- Orders two or three items by weight.
We measured the chicks and found how much they weighed and compared their weight.
EYFS Curriculum Links: Understanding the World
- Look closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change. (40-60 months)
- Know about similarities and differences in relation to living things. (ELG)
Mindfulness
Children in Reception enjoyed participating in a mindful session with Jenny. Children were encouraged to talk about their feelings and how we can manage our feelings in different situations.
We were shown different breathing techniques to help us relax down and we will be using these in our lessons to support us in our learning.
EYFS Learning and Development – PSED
- ELG – Talk about how they and others show feelings
- 40-60 Understands that own actions affect other people
- 40-60 Beginning to be able to negotiate and solve problems without aggression
- 30-50—Aware of own feelings, and knows that some action and words can hurt others’ feelings
Gardening
We have been enjoying working together to clean and prepare our school garden ready to plant some vegetables.
We enjoyed exploring the garden looking for mini beasts and talking about their habitats.
The children worked very well together to prepare the planters. We tidied up the area and talked about what vegetables we will grow.
Mini beasts
Friday 24th May 2019
Article 28: We have the right to find out things and learn new things
We have enjoyed over the last 5 weeks observing or caterpillars grow very big, spin their cocoons and then today we were very fortunate to water two butterflies emerge from their cocoon.
We have enjoyed experimenting with colours and perfecting our fine motor skills in painting our own mini beasts.
We have had fun looking for mini beasts in our outdoor area.
We have found snails, spiders, woodlice and even some caterpillar eggs.
We have enjoyed looking at fact books all about mini beasts.
EYFS Links – Understanding the World The World
Red Nose Day
Article 27: You have the right to food, clothing, a safe place to live and to have your basic needs met. You should not be disadvantaged so that you can’t do many of the things other kids can do.
It was a busy day in Reception being involved in Red Nose Day. We all came to school dressed in red with our Red Nose Day accessories. We had fun designing a red nose day, dancing with Ashleigh making our own Red Nose Day dance and decorating biscuits to make them look like red noses! We learnt about what Red Nose Day is all about and watched videos and talked about it.
Cricket
Article 24: You have the right to stay healthy
Reception children enjoyed their All Stars Cricket session with Darren. They learnt lots of new skills and worked together in teams.
Pancake Day
Article 30: You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion
We had a fun week in Reception, we started our mini topic reading the book Mr Wolf’s Pancakes and did lots of activities based around the book. We helped Mr Wolf with his counting and writing a shopping list for him. We then followed a recipe and made our own pancakes….they were delicious!
Learning to Ride
Article 24: You have the right to stay healthy
Children in Reception who are still not riding a bike without stabilizers had a great morning getting over their fears and learning to ride a bike with the instructors. All children did brilliantly and it won’t be long before they all are riding a bike confidently. Well done!
Fairtrade Fortnight
Article 13: You have the right to find out things
In Reception we have been learning about Fairtrade. We watched a video about where bananas come and learnt about Fairtrade and how important it is that farmers are payed fairly for their hard work.
World Book School
Article 13: You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others.
We have had great fun celebrating World Book Day! We enjoyed participating in our outdoors fairy tale adventure. We had to climb the Beanstalk, complete maths challenges and escape the castle before the Giant came home! We helped Jack and Jill fill containers, made a troll with natural materials, helped the pigs build a stick house and collected things for Grandma.
We enjoyed dressing up in our costumes and sharing some of our favourite stories.
Valentines Day
Article 30: You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion
We have had a fun week in Reception learning about and celebrating Valentines Day. The children have enjoyed baking valentines biscuits and decorating them and making Valentines cards.
Chinese New Year Dancing with Ashley
Article 30: You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion
The children had a wonderful dance session with Ashley. As we had been learning all about Chinese New Year, the children took part in a Chinese Dragon dance. They worked together to create their dance piece and performed it to Chinese music.
Chinese New Year
Article 30: You have the right to practice your own culture.
We have enjoyed learning all about Chinese New Year! This week we have shared stories about Chinese New Year and located China on a map. We enjoyed trying some food from China, the spring rolls and prawn crackers were very tasty!
We enjoyed creating a dragon dance and making our own music!
Snow Day
Article 31: You have the right to play
We were so glad to see the snow, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, as we have been talking a lot about the cold weather and learning about the Polar Regions. We have had loads of fun playing in the snow in our outdoor area. Children worked together to make snowmen. We had fun making snow angels, dancing and jumping in the snow and rolling snow balls to see who could make the biggest!
Arctic
Article 28: You have the right to a good education
Thursday 24th January 2019
We are enjoying our Polar topic. We learnt about the different Artic animals and how to move like an Artic Animal. We used the instruments to pretend to be snow. We used soft jangly sounds. We also looked at different fact books about Artic animals. We listened to Vivaldi’s Winter and imagined what we could see in our imagination.
Expressive Arts and Design
Article 31: Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
The children enjoyed exploring the different sounds the musical instruments make. We talked about the different pitches and how to make loud sounds and quiet sounds. Evie enjoyed being the conductor and telling us to play our musical instruments quietly or loudly. We were able to listen to a beat and had a good try at following it.
We used the lycra to sing familiar nursery rhymes.
Autumn 2018
This first half term our topic is “All about me”. We will be learning all about us as well as learning new school routines, getting to know each other and meeting lots of new friends. It will be a fun and exciting half term in Reception Class as new friendships form and new adventures begin.
Ice
Today in the Reception outdoor area, children discovered a tuff tray frozen with ice. They were very curious about it and spent time investigating it. Children talked about what the ice looked like and how it felt. They then found tools to break the ice. We talked about how the ice got there. Most children understood that the ice was there because it was so cold and had frozen the water.
Article 28: You have the right to s good quality education.
Christmas Decorating
To get us all in to the Christmas spirit we enjoyed decorating our classroom. The children enjoyed decorating the tree.
Article 30: We have the right to practice your religion.
Stay and Play
(12th December)
The children enjoyed being involved in lots of Christmas craft activities with their families.
Article: 29: Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities.
Kite Flying
Article: 29: Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities.
Children in Need
We enjoyed supporting Children in Need—children came to school dressed up in their Pudsey and spotty clothing. We all brought in loose change and used it to cover Pudsey!
Article 13—You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others.
The Leaf Man
On Thursday 16th October we enjoyed reading The Leaf Man as part of our Autumn Topic. We went on our own adventure around the school to find Autumn materials to make out very own leaf men. We collected leaves and sticks and made some fabulous leaf men.
We enjoyed using the Autumn materials we had collected to also make transient autumn art.
Article 28: You have the right to s good quality education.
Scooter Skills
Article 31— You have the right to play and rest.
Solving a Mystery
(October 2018)
The children have enjoyed playing in our police station and learning about the role of police officers. This morning they were very surprised to find footprints in our outdoor area. They quickly set to work trying to solve the clues and find out who had left the footprints. We had all kinds of ideas as who it might be. Children were adamant they could see numbers in the footprints when looking closely with their magnify glasses. “It’s the number taker… I can see numbers.” We got to work being detectives and writing wanted posters.
Article 13—You have the right to find out things and share what you think with others.
Dental Health
(27th September 2018)
Today the children enjoyed the visit from the Dental Nurse and lots of about looking after our teeth.
Article 24—You have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clan and safe environment, and information to help you stay well.
Getting to know each other
In Reception we have spent lots of time settling in and forming new friendships. We love to play and learn together.
Article 31— You have the right to play and rest