Spring Term 2

This term Reception have been learning all about traditional tales. We have had fun dressing up as different characters and retelling the stories such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk and the Elves and the Shoe Maker. We even turned our outdoor role play hut into the magical world of fairytales.

During science week we designed bridges using different construction materials for the Three Billy Goats Gruff to cross. We also investigated which material would be the best to use for the roof of the Three Little Pigs’ house. We decided a roof needed to be strong and waterproof to protect the pigs from the weather as well as the wolf.

When we looked at the story Jack and the Beanstalk, Reception planted beans to grow their own beanstalk. We talked about what plants need to grow and what we need to do to look after them. It didn’t take long for our beans to start growing.

Finally to end the topic, we read the story Each, Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and made our own pear turnovers. We looked at all the ingredients needed as well as the recipe we would need to follow. We also enjoyed rolling out the pastry and couldn’t wait to taste them when they were baked in the oven.

Spring Term 1

During this term of Reception, we have been learning lots about different real life superheroes and the qualities we need to be superheroes in school.  We have really enjoyed learning about lots of different superhero jobs such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, paramedics, police, dentists, postal workers, school staff, bus drivers, chefs and many more!  We thought about how each of these real-life superheroes help us and the tools they may use.  When learning about the dentist, we spent time learning about the different teeth in our mouths and how we can keep our teeth healthy.  To finish our learning, we were lucky enough to have a visit from the Metropolitan Police who brought their car with them!  We were able to sit inside the car, turn on the siren and look more closely at the tools that police use.

Reception enjoyed learning all about Chinese New Year.  We learnt why this is a special festival and how it is celebrated.  We also celebrated Children's Mental Health Week by exploring the different ways we can look after our wellbeing and the importance of connecting with others.  We explored meditation, mindfulness colouring, yoga, taking a walk outside and breathing exercises. We enjoyed making lots of different rainbows using paper chains, hand prints and had particular fun exploring watercolours!

Just before half term, we were very lucky to have a trip to the library!  We enjoyed looking at all of the different books and and each chose our favourite to bring back to school.  On our journey to and from the library, we pointed out many of the real-life superheroes we had learnt about such as ambulance drivers, paramedics and the police. 

Autumn Term 2

Reception have been very busy this term learning about the seasons of autumn and winter. We have had lots of fun learning how the weather changes in each season and how some animals make changes. We enjoyed learning how the leaves on deciduous trees change colour and fall whilst evergreen trees keep their leaves in autumn. We also learnt how ice forms as the weather gets very, very cold. We thought about the changes we make to the clothes that we wear in each season and how we can keep ourselves warm and healthy. We were very lucky to experience some snow before Christmas!

During this topic, we also learnt about some of the different festivals and celebrations that happen in autumn and winter. We learnt about firework night, the Christmas story and the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Autumn Term 1

Reception have had lots of fun taking part in our topic ‘Welcome to my World’. Each week, we have learnt lots about ourselves and our friends in our class and have enjoyed reading lots of stories to help us with this.

On our first week in Reception, we read a story called ‘How to Catch a Star’. We were really impressed with how the little boy never gave up with his challenge and thought about things we wanted to try and do. We worked hard to create lots of art pieces around stars – including a giant star which you can see in our book corner! We talked about what the word ‘reflection’ meant and were surprised when the little boy found a starfish at the end of the story. As we read the story, we predicted how the little boy would catch the star and have enjoyed reading this story at home too.                       

Over the next few weeks, we shared lots of information about ourselves!

We talked about what we looked like and how this may be similar and different to others. We used the story of Elmer to help us with this. We painted self-portraits and enjoyed making colourful collages of Elmer.

We read the story ‘Once There Were Giants’ and talked about our families. We learnt that our families are very special but are all different. We enjoyed making homes to show who we lived with and talking to our teachers about the fun things we do with them.

On the following week, we read the story ‘The Colour Monster’ and talked about the names of some of our emotions that we might feel. We talked about how each emotion might make our body feel and what we could do when we felt this way. We enjoyed making monsters out of playdough and practising our fine motor skills by using pointillism and collage.

We really enjoyed our week learning about the human body. We learnt the names of different parts of our body and what they were used for. We worked hard to make faces and bodies out of clay and made faces using fruit, bread and jam. We were extra careful when using the child friendly knife to spread the jam!