Welcome to our Reception Class Page 2023/24

A warm welcome to Renoir and Morris class page!

Remember lots of our learning will be shared on Tapestry, (https://tapestryjournal.com/) but this page may provide you with a further insight into school life at Round Diamond.

Meet the team

Renoir Class - Miss Conroy and Mrs Allan 

Morris Class -Miss Owen, Mrs Keeley and Mrs Mason
 

Important dates

PE is taught every Wednesday and Friday.

Children should keep a named kit at school on their peg. This is kit is in addition to their spare clothes bag which also needs to be kept in school.

Autumn Coverage

This term we will be focusing on a range of core texts which link to different areas of the curriculum we will be learning about. The core texts include; 

What Makes Me a Me

The Three Little Pigs 

Leaf Man

What's in the Woods?

Where the Poppies Now Grow

Bonfire Night

It was a Cold Dark Night

The Christmas Story 

Our learning throughout the term will encompass our maths, literacy, personal, social, emotional development, communication and language, physical development, expressive art and design and understand the world. 

We will learn how to write our names independently, start to segment and blend words in phonics and learning what numbers are special to us whilst growing more confident in recognising numbers

We will be discussing new friendships we have made and how to keep safe in the classroom and online. We will learn how to join materials together and explore the environment to learn more about it. 

Week beginning 20th November 2023

This week the children have been continuing their learning of segmenting and blending when writing. The children have been sounding out CVC words and some children have started writing captions too!

Next week the children will be learning about a new book all about winter!

Week beginning 13th November 2023

This week we were lucky to have Sporting Futures in to deliver one of our PE sessions. The children learnt about Children in Need and played group games which included the character of Pudsey Bear! The children showed energy and excitement during this lesson and used team work to complete all the challenges that were set. 

Week beginning 6th November 2023

This week the children have been learning all about Remembrance day. As part of this learning the children made poppy biscuits. They learnt about following a recipe, measuring and mixing ingredients and decoration too! The children talked about the different textures they could feel as they touched the flour and sticky mixture and said they smelled delicious as they baked in the oven.

Next week our learning will move onto woodland animals. 

Week beginning 30th October 2023

This week we have been learning about bonfire night. We have linked all of our learning to this including making fireworks, learning about Guy Fawkes and learning about bonfire night safety! Next week we have our Autumn walk on Monday at approximately 9:10 and it will last roughly an hour/hour and a half. Please ensure you have emailed admin to state who will be attending with your child. 

Week beginning 16th October 2023

This week we were using our senses to explore the outside area. We thought about our sense of hearing and used this to see what autumnal sounds. The children listened carefully and heard the wind, the trees rustling, the crunchy leaves, the cars and the aeroplanes! We discussed how we couldn't hear the nocturnal animals as they are sleeping so we looked at videos of these to see what noises they made, we were surprised at some of the funny noises they make!

Have a fantastic half term! After half term we will be learning about Bonfire night!

Week beginning 9th October 2023

This week in maths we had a teddy bear's picnic! The children all had a bear, some bears were big, some small and some medium. We told a story about how the bears would like a cup of tea, cake and a blanket for if it gets cold! The children had to problem solve in their groups to ensure each bear had the correct item. 

Next week we will continue our autumnal learning.

Please remember to book your parent consultation for Monday 16th or Tuesday 17th of October. 

Week beginning 2nd October 2023 

We have been so busy in our literacy learning this week!

As a group we sorted some objects into the corresponding grapheme groups. Our independent learning included cutting out images linked to the story such as 'puff' and 'pig' and ensuring they were in the correct column using our knowledge of initial sounds. 

We continue to use our phonics in our literacy learning to consolidate all of the sounds we have learnt and apply these to different activities. 

Next week we will start learning about the story of 'Leaf Man' by Lois Ehlert. 

Week beginning 25th September 2023

This week we focused on independence, therefore we set the children the challenge of changing their shoes by themselves during PE. The children had special stickers in their shoes to ensure they put them onto the correct feet. They were so proud of their achievements and we will continue to promote this level of independence. It would be fantastic if your child could practise this skill at home so that they can be independently putting on their shoes.

Next week we will be continuing our learning linked to our core test 'The Three Little Pigs.' 

Week beginning 18th September 2023

We wanted to share our lovely weekly celebration. Every week we play the song 'Proud' by Heather Small and the children sit excitedly and wait to hear who has won the blue rosette. We celebrate the child who has won with a big round of applause! Manners certificates are also given to the children who have shown outstanding manners, these can be given by any teacher in the school!

Week beginning 11th September 2023 

This week the children have been learning how to create different patterns. They explored zig-zags, stripes, dots and many more patterns. They used super pincer grip to create their own patterns onto flower petals.

In their maths learning the children made 'rainbow numbers' by selecting 3 colours and using the number guide to write their age.

Next week the children in reception will be exploring different types of homes and discussing who lives in their house. 

Week beginning 4th September 2023

This week in reception we have welcomed the children into their new classrooms. They have explored all of the areas of their new learning environments and have been learning the expectations of being in reception. Next week we will start literacy and maths learning which will be linked to our core text 'What makes me a me.' 

Please remember if you have not brought in a named puddle suit, wellies, spare clothes and PE kits please do this as soon as possible.

2022-2023

Week beginning 10th July 2023

Transition

This week in Reception the children met their new Year 1 teachers. They were so excited to get to know them and see their new classrooms. 

After the transition morning on Thursday the children drew a picture of themselves with their new class teacher.

Week beginning 3rd July 2023

2D Shapes

This week in maths the children have been learning about 2D shapes. The children have become very confident in identfying 2D shapes and can describe each shapes properties. 

The children have enjoyed exploring with the 2D shapes to create pictures. The children considered carefully about which shapes and their properties would be a choice choice and fit to make a final design. 

Week beginning 26th June 2023

Mug Cakes

In Reception the children have been enjoying reading the book ‘Chocolate Cake’ by Michael Rosen. They have all been getting very hungry thinking about chocolate cake every day 😋

In our topic learning today, the children had a go at making their own chocolate cakes in a mug 😍 the children followed a recipe, adding the ingredients into their individual cup. They then cooked them in the microwave. They smelt amazing!

Week beginning 19th June 2023

Healthy Eating 

This week in Reception the children have been speaking about healthy eating, discussing the benefits of healthier food choices. 

During CIL, the children were able to design a 'fruit kebab' using felt tip pens to draw which fruits they like. Using this plan, the children made their fruit kebab out of play dough. 

The children also had a go at creating a 'healthy lunch' box, they were encouraged to choose a variety of food from different food groups. 

Week beginning 12th June 2023

On the farm 

This week in Reception the children have been learning about life on the farm. The children learnt about the different animals that live on the farm and their young and where each of these animals live on the farm. During CIL, the children drew pictures of farm animals and their young and also had a go at matching each animal to the right home. 

They have also enjoyed creating their own narratives about life on the farm on the small world.

Week beginning 6th February 2023
🌟Cross-Curricular days🌟

This week in Reception the children have enjoyed taking part in the 'Inspirational People' cross-curricular days. 

On Tuesday the children met Darren Edwards who was a former mountaineer and was paralysed from the waist down in a climbing accident. Darren spoke to the children about how he has since found "strength through diversity" and has not given up on his dreams of exploring.

On Wednesday the children met Paul Sturgess. He is officially recognised as being the 'World's Tallest Basketball Player', with his height measuring 7ft8in. The children were in awe of Paul's basketball abilities and had a go at replicating these in their outdoor learning. 

The children also thought about what skills and attributes they have which are 'inspirational' and makes them unique.

Week beginning 22nd May 2023

🐻 Toys 🐻

This week the children enjoyed bringing in a special toy from home after comparing toys from the past and now in their theme learning. Many children spoke so confidently about the special toys from home and enjoyed playing carefully with each others toys.

Week beginning 15th May 2023

🤔 Real or nonsense? 🤔

The children in Reception have been enjoying one of the tuff spot challenges outside this week. They have to use their segmenting and blending skills to read the words on the coins and then decide whether they are ‘real’ or ‘nonsense’ words. Once they have decided if the word is real or nonsense they have to either put it in the ‘bin’ or in the treasure ‘treasure chest’ representing whether it is a real or nonsense word.

Week beginning 8th May 2023

🌟 Celebration assembly 🌟

This week the Reception children went to their first whole school celebration assembly. They behaved impeccably and made all of the staff at Round Diamond feel extremely proud.

Week beginning 1st May 2023

Celebrating

This week we have been discussing the upcoming celebration of the Kings coronation and discussing different ways the coronation may be being celebrated across the country.

The children have decided that in Renoir they would like to celebrate the kings coronation by having our very own street party in the role play area!

In CIL, the children have been busy painting bunting to decorate our 'street party' role play area.

Week beginning 24th April 2023
💬 Message in a jar 💬

During CIL, the children have been writing special messages to put in the jar that was going to be thrown out to sea.

Once the children had finished writing their message, they had to roll it up and tie it with some string. Then they posted their message in the jar ready to go out to sea very soon! 🌊

Week beginning 17th April 2023

🐚 Switching it 🐚

During CIL, we had an exciting maths challenge.

First the children had to use their subitising skills to see how many shells were in the bowl. Then they had to write and solve the number sentence using the shells that they had chosen.

As a next step 👣 the children had a go at ‘switching it’ (adding the same numbers but in the other order) to find the same total. The children used the bowls of shells to switch their number sentence and then they recorded the new number sentence accurately on their whiteboards.

Week beginning 27th March 2023

✍️ Writing ✍️

This half term in reception we have been focussing on our independent writing in literacy.

This week, the children completed some independent sentence writing in literacy. First, the adult said the sentence, then the children counted the number of words in the sentence using their counting fingers and finally the children went to their tables to write their sentence independently.

Keep being determined to improve your writing Reception 🌟

Week beginning 20th March 2023

🥕 🐰 🐣 Easter Stay and Play 🐣 🐰 🥕

This week the children had an 'eggciting' time taking part in their stay and play.

Thank you so much for joining us. We hope you had lots of fun with your child and made some lovely Easter keepsakes!

Week beginning 13th March 2023

 ‎‍👩‍👧 Parent Opening Day  ‎‍👩‍👧

The children had a fantastic day sharing their learning with their adults from home. Thank you so much to all of the adults that could join us.

Week Beginning 6th March 2023
💰🥕 Exploring money 🥕💰

This week, many of the children have been enjoying exploring one of the outdoor challenges.

The children have been visiting the vegetable shop and exploring using different amounts of money to pay the shopkeeper for their purchases.

Week Beginning 27th February 2021

📖World Book Day📖

The children in Reception had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day on Friday.

They even got to meet famous author James Campbell!

Week beginning 20th February 2023
🥕Vegetable workshop 🥕

This week the children took part in a 'vegetable workshop' funded and delivered by HCL.

During the workshop, the children discussed making better food choices and its importance. Then, the children had the opportunity to try some new fruit and vegetables. 

The children were really open minded and they all tried something new, many children now know the name of this 'new' food and what it looks like.

The children will be keeping a close eye on the dinner options at lunchtime now to see if they can spot the fruit or vegetable they liked and choose it to have with their meal.

Week beginning 6th February 2023
🌟🐧Cross-Curricular days🐧🌟
 

In Reception as part of the whole school maths cross curricular days, the children have been learning about penguins and exploring with number blocks.

On Thursday the children listened to the story ‘365 Penguins’, there was some fantastic maths talk by the children, we discussed adding ‘one more’ as each penguin arrived into the story. During CIL, the children had a go at drawing and painting their own penguins as well as continuing a pattern with arctic themed pictures.

On Friday, the children took part in a 'number block' fashion show  show their fabulous number blocks outfits. They then made their own number block masks and printed 'number block' pictures.

Week beginning 30th January 2023

✏️Tricky words ✏️

During CIL, the children have been enjoying practising writing some of the tricky words that we have been learning in phonics.

Week beginning 23rd January 2023
🥢🧧 Chinese New Year 🧧🥢

This week was the start of Chinese New Year and we were really excited to celebrate this festival with the children 🙂

There has been lots of learning opportunities linked to Chinese New Year for the children to explore, some of which included;

• Trying different Chinese foods

• Making ‘lucky money’ red envelopes

• Making Chinese dragons, we had a go at making them dance too!

• Making lanterns

• Having our own ‘Great Race’ through a dice game

• Retelling the Chinese New Year story using small world resources

Week beginning 16th January 2023

❤️ Kind messages ❤️

During CIL, the children have been writing kind messages to their friends. This has developed from our current PSED theme of 'friendship'.

It has been wonderful to see the children using their phonics to complete independent writing and celebrating the special friendships that have made in Reception since September!

Week beginning 9th January 2023
🌟 New Year Goals 🌟

The children have been thinking about their goals and wishes for 2023! Many children have shared that they would like to get even better at reading or writing, or develop their skills within a particular sport such as football or basketball.

Week beginning 19th December 2022
🎄📆 Christmas Learning 📆 🎄

The children have had a fantastic last week at school before Christmas!

They have had Christmas dinner, made Christmas cards and calendars for the new year, performed for you all in their nativity and taken part in lots of other fun Christmas learning.

We hope you all have a great break over Christmas and we look forward to welcoming you and your children back in the new year!



❄️ Snow Day Learning ❄️
❄️ Monday 12th December 2022 ❄️ 

Please find below some learning challenges to complete today if you wish. But remember, stay safe and have lots of fun! 

Literacy- write your name in the snow with a stick… make sure you form all of your letters correctly!

Phonics- play a game of ‘Obb and Bob’ on the phonics play website. Make sure your grown up selects the write phase letter sounds in line with your phonics learning at school.

Maths- make a snowman (or a snow animal of your choice) how many buttons will you give him? How many fingers does your snowman’s branch/arm have? Is your snowman bigger or smaller than you? Maybe you could make 3 snowmen/snowballs and put them in size order. 

PE- Follow along to ‘Christmas Specual’ cosmic kids yoga video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pMeKIAEpWxw 

Story time- cosy up under a blanket with your favourite soft toy and listen to a story read by your grown up. Maybe you could echo read some of your grown ups funny voices when they read. 

If you complete any of this learning, make sure you send it back to us on tapestry so we can see it 🤩

Week beginning 5th December 2022
🎄📆 Advent Calendars 📆 🎄

It's December!!!

The children have been very excited that we are the countdown to Christmas today and they are enjoying sharing their story from the book advent calendar. I wonder which book will be unwrapped tomorrow...

Week beginning 28th November 2022
🔢 Number 🔢

This week the children have been continuing to practise the skill of counting using 1:1 correspondence during their maths learning. The children are now getting really confident using their special counting fingers,

They have also been sequencing numerals in order by threading digits!

Week beginning 21st November 2022
👩‍⚕️ A visit from the nurse 👩‍⚕️

This week, the school nurse, Mrs Grayling, came to visit us to talk about the importance of good hygiene when we have a cough or cold.

She reminded the children to cover their mouths when they cough and the importance to taking care of our personal needs, including wiping our noses and washing our hands frequently.

Week beginning 14th November 2022
🐿️🌳 Woodland Animals 🌳🐿️

This week the children in Reception have been learning about 'Woodland Animals'. This learning has been centered around the text of 'Who's hiding in the Woods today?' by Katharine McEwan.

The children have really enjoyed taking part in a range of learning around the theme of 'Woodland Animals' this week.

Week beginning 7th November 2022
🍂 Autumn Walk 🍂

The children had a lovely time on their 'Autumn Walk' with grandparents. Whilst on the walk, children enjoyed collecting autumn treasures on their journey sticks.

During the walk, the children shared lots of their autumn knowledge with their grown-ups and pointed out the seasonal changes that were taking place.

Thank you to all of the grown-ups that joined us ❤️

Week beginning 31st October 2022

Celebrations 🎆🎇

This week in Reception the children have been learning about celebrations. The children first learnt about Halloween, they discussed their costumes and they printed onto pumpkins. The children also had a go at making their own 'Halloween Potions' outside. 

Alongside this, the children were also learning about 'Bonfire Night'. They watched videos of fireworks, discussing the different colours and sounds. It was lovely to see children replicating what they saw into paintings and role play. The children also learnt the story of Guy Fawkes and even had a go at making a stick puppet of Guy Fakwes to use on the small world. 

Week beginning 17th October 2022

Space 👨‍🚀🚀

In Reception we had two very exciting days about space! The children have enjoyed listening to lots of stories about space, they had a go at retelling the narratives through their play. The children in particular enjoyed pretending to be 'Baby Bear' flying into space with a colander as their space helmet and a cardboard box for their rocket. 

They also made rockets out of 2D shapes, decorated stars, designed spaceships and created a packing list for their own space journey. 

With the wet weather, the children embraced this by putting on their piddle suits and became astronauts in their space boots and space suits. 

All the children were so excited to visit the inflatable planetarium on Friday afternoon! 

Week beginning 10th October 2022

🍁 Autumn 🍁

In Reception we have been learning about the season of autumn.

The children have been on an autumn scavenger hunt, compared the different seasons, created their own autumnal leaves and they have also recreated a tree using different body parts, all whist carefully selecting the appropriate colours and resources.

Alongside this, children have been reading the story of Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert and they have even made their very own leaf men.

Week beginning 3rd October 2022

💻🐬 E-safety 🐬💻

This week the children had their first E-Safety lesson.

They learnt about the importance of keeping their personal information safe and what to do if they see something they don't like online.

All of the children in Reception also signed the EYFS E-Safety agreement. 

Week beginning 26th September 2022
🩳👟 PE 👟🩳

The children have been enjoying participating in their PE lessons with Mr McGregor.

The children are also persevering with their independence of getting themselves dressed and undressed for PE.

Week beginning 19th September 2022

🌟✏️ Phonics ✏️🌟

The Reception children have settled into their differentiated phonics groups well and they are having lots of fun learning their new sounds in their phonics groups.

Some children have also began learning to orally segment and blend sounds in words using their robot arms.

It has been wonderful to see the children so engaged and enthusiastic with their phonics learning! 
 

In phonics, we use cued articulation actions to support the children with their pronunciation and recognition of sounds. Please find a video below demonstrating these actions for each sound. You may use this video at home to support your child.
 

Week beginning 12th September

🌳 Exploring Outside 🌳

The children have been enjoying exploring the outdoor area and engaging in lots of different activities as part of their Child Initiated Learning.

It has been lovely to see them begin to develop some friendships and talk to their peers with increasing courage.

Week beginning 12th September

🍽️ Lunch time 🍽️

The children are doing a fantastic job at eating their lunch in the dining room.
 

They are trying hard to remember their manners when collecting their food from the cooks and they are eating their food with increasing independence.

The children are also enjoying playing outside on the Key Stage 1 playground once they have finished eating.

Week beginning 5th September 2022

⭐ First week ⭐

It has been wonderful to meet you children this week.

The Reception children are already becoming more independent and they are settling into the school routine well.

We can't wait to continue to get to know the children and watching them flourish throughout the year.

Week beginning 27th June 2022
🐌🐸🐹 Animal Visit 🐹🐸🐌

As part of our cross-curricular learning the children enjoyed a visit from Wild Science.

The children met Gary the snail, Sid the hamster, Stefano the frog and Randal the lizard. 

The children asked lots of questions and learnt lots of interesting facts about each of the animals.

This week in literacy,the children will be writing their own non-fiction books about the animals that visited.

Week beginning 20th June 2022

🐛 The Very Hungry Caterpillar 🐛

This week in literacy we have been reading the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Clarle.

Each day, the children have had the opportunity to try one of the fruits that the Hungry Caterpillar ate in sequence.

Upon tasting each fruit, the children were encouraged to think of cloud words (adjectives) to describe the fruit. The children then used the  adjectives shared to write sentences to sequence a retelling of the story.

Week beginning 13th June 2022

🐞🐛🐜 Mini-beast hunts 🐜🐛🐞

This week in Child Initiated Learning the children have been enjoying going on mini-beast hunts.

They have enjoyed predicting where they might find each of the mini-beasts on the checklist and then using the magnifying glass to take a closer look in the outdoor area. 

Week beginning 6th June 2022

🌎 Geography Fieldwork 🌎

This week the children all took part in some Geography Fieldwork.

The children began by looking at a map of the local area and naming some of the local roads. They went outside in small groups to see if they could spot these roads in real life.

They had lots of fun exploring the local environment and developing their map skills.

Week beginning 23rd May 2022

👑🇬🇧 The Queen’s Jubilee 🇬🇧👑

This week the children have been celebrating the Queen’s jubilee.
 

They have  designed some royal crowns, drawn and painted a portrait of the queen, written and posted letters to the queen and had a picnic on the field to celebrate.

Week beginning 16th May 2022

🪴 Planting 🪴

This week the children have enjoyed exploring planting different seeds. 
 

During this time, the children have been learning and using new vocabulary linked to planting. They have been discussing what a plant will need to keep healthy and thinking carefully where they will place there plant so that it can be healthy.

Week beginning 9th May 2022

🖥 Using Technology 🖥

During CIL, the children in Reception have been enjoying practising their segmenting and blending skills using the computer and the interactive whiteboard. 

The children have been navigating the pirate coins into either the treasure chest or the bin, depending on whether they were real of fake words.

It has taken some real determination and perseverance this week for the children to use the computer mouse with success.

Week beginning 2nd May 2022

🔍 Odd and Even 🔎

In Maths the children have been exploring odd and even numbers.

The children have been making their own numicon number lines to help them identify the odd numbers and some children have even noticed a pattern.

We have also been listening to and joining in with the Odd Todd and Even Steven song to support our learning.

Week beginning 25th April 2022

Rhyming

In literacy this week we have been reading the story of ‘The Gruffalo’ by Julia Donaldson.

The children have enjoyed joining in with the repeated refrains and phrases in the story and discussing the different characters.

In addition, we have begun exploring the skill of rhyme. The children have had ago at finding the rhyming words in the story, making 'silly soup' with rhyming words and  completing one syllable rhyming strings. 

Week beginning Monday 18th April 2022

🌸 Outdoor Area 🌸

This week, the children have enjoyed exploring some of the recent renovations that took place in our outdoor area during the Easter break.

It has been wonderful to see so many areas of the early years curriculum being explored in Child Initiated Learning.

Week beginning 28th March 2022

🧮 Maths 🧮 

The children have made some excellent progress in maths this term.

Take a look at the video below to see what Reception have been getting up to in Maths.

Week beginning 21st March 2022

🌼🌸 Spring Hunt 🌸🌼

This week the Reception children went on a Spring Walk.

On the walk, the children were looking out for signs of spring and comparing what they saw in reflection to the Autumn walk they went on last term.

Thank you to all of the grown ups for joining us on this walk.

Week beginning 14th March 2022

🌳🏕 3D Shape Hunt 🏕🌳

In maths this week we have been learning about 3D shapes.

We have explored the different shapes such as cube, cuboid, cylinder, pyramid, prism and cone. We have also discussed the different properties of these shapes and thought about these shapes in everyday life.

The children also went outside on a 3D shape hunt, they looked closely for the shapes we have learnt about and then took pictures using the iPads.

Week beginning 7th March 2022

📜🆕 History 🆕📜

In History, the children have been continuing to compare old and new. This week they have been exploring schools from the past to modern day schools like Round Diamond.

After these comparisons, the children decided that they definitely preferred modern day schools and teachers to those in the past. 

Week beginning 28th February 2022

🌍 📚 World Book Day 📚🌍

The children have had a busy day today celebrating ‘World Book Day.’

It was wonderful to see all of the children dressed up and talking about the book character that they were dressed as.

The children have had a virtual visit from an author, Holly Ryan, listened to a story from our very own Round Diamond author, Mrs Hooper, taken part in The Masked Reader, had a ‘Book Tasting’ treat and then finally the day was finished with a story from a guest teacher, Miss Owen.

Week beginning 21st February 2022

🌸 Well-being Wednesday 🌸

The children had a wonderful day on Wednesday with activities planned around boosting mental health and well-being.  The activities were based around the 5 key areas outlined by the NHS ‘5 ways to well-being’.

In the morning, the children took part in a range of mini sporting activities that were ran by the Round Diamond Sports Crew and Sporting Futures. The activities included using the parachute, throwing, catching balancing and team work games.

Before lunch, the children completed some beautiful art work through the exploration of tessellating. The painted, tessellation patterns were created in the style of Escher.

In the afternoon, the children had the opportunity to compose their own songs in music and take part in more outdoor sporty game with Miss Cousins.

Finally, the day was finished with some calming meditation.
 

Week beginning Monday 7th February 2022

🦕 🦖 Dinosaur Display 🦖🦕

Our ‘Dinosaur’ display is complete!

Lots of AMAZING learning is now displayed in the corridor. The reception children have really enjoyed learning about dinosaurs this half term and it’s been amazing to see all of the cross-curricular links they have made and experienced!  

Week beginning 31st January 2022

🧧🐉 Chinese New Year 🐉🧧

This week we have been doing lots of learning linked to Chinese New Year!

The children have had the opportunity to visit the role play Chinese New Year restaurant, make traditional Chinese lanterns, make dragons from various resources, learn the story of the great race, participate in a dragon dance, play the piano with Mr Meek to make some Chinese music and even try some traditional Chinese food!

It has been lovely to see the children enjoy exploring this celebration and asking lots of questions to develop their understanding!

Happy Chinese New Year! 

Week beginning 24th January 2022

🦖 Dinosaur books 🦖

In literacy, the children have been very busy writing their very own non-fiction book all about Dinosaurs!

Each day the children chose a different dinosaur to write about. They orally rehearsed their sentence, then used their phonics to have a go at writing it. Some children even remembered their sentence rules whilst they were writing.

These dinosaur books will be on our corridor display next week!

Week beginning 17th January 2022

🎶Music🎶
 

This week in music with Mr Meek, the children have been exploring the different sounds that different musical instruments make.
 

They have been thinking about the high sounds that they can hear and the long sounds that they can hear. They have also been practising making high notes and low notes using their voices.

Week beginning 10th January 2022

🦖 Dinosaurs 🦖

This week the reception children started their new theme learning of ‘Dinosaurs’. 
 

As a class, the children shared everything they knew about dinosaurs and their super knowledge was recorded in a ‘Knowledge Harvest.’

The children have also enjoyed engaging in some small world dinosaur play in the dinosaur den outside!

6th & 7th January 2022

🗑 👨‍🚒 🚦🍴 Cross-curricular days - Life skills 🍴🚦👨‍🚒🗑

Over the last two days the children have been learning different life skills.

We have looked closely at the importance of recycling and not littering to keep our world happy and safe, people who help us and how they help us, fastening zips and undoing and doing up buttons, cutting and spreading food, considering the value of different items and exploring money. Finally, we also learnt how to cross a road safely!

The children have shown such a mature response to this learning and fantastic perseverance skills, especially when it came to fastening lots of tricky buttons!

Keep practising at home and remember try, and try again because you CAN do it!

Week Beginning 20th December 2021

🎄 Christmas Learning🎄

The children have been busy doing lots of learning linked to Christmas.

In literacy, the children have done Christmas word matching, written Christmas cards and written a Christmas list for Santa. 

In maths, the children have been revising lots of learning that they have been taught since joining reception. This has included 2D shapes, counting and making repeating pattern paper chains for our Renoir Christmas tree.

In CIL, the children have made Christmas cards, Christmas calendars, followed maps to help Santa deliver presents, decorated Christmas trees, wrapped presents and many other festively fun activities!

In addition to the above, the children have continued to learn and perform their Christmas songs (video links posted below) and enjoyed a yummy Christmas lunch together! 

Have a wonderful Christmas Reception. We can’t wait to see you and all of your super learning in 2022!

Week Beginning 13th December 2021

🎵 Christmas Singing 🎵

Over this half term, the Early Years children have been learning some Christmas songs to perform. The children have worked really hard to learn both the words and actions for each of the songs with Mr Meek. They have also been exploring pitch and rhythm whilst singing these songs.

We hope you enjoy listening to these songs.

Week beginning 6th December 2021

🎅🏼🎄 A special day 🎄🎅🏼
 

This week the children enjoyed meeting Father Christmas. 
 

They behaved really well and have enjoyed talking to their friends about Christmas.

Thank you for your contributions today for Christmas jumper day too! 
 

Week beginning 29th November 2021

🍁 Autumn Walk 🍁

This week the children were very excited to go on their Autumn Walk with their grown-ups from home.

Over the last few weeks we have been discussing the season of Autumn coming to an end with the children and how Winter is on its way! The children have also been looking closely at the changes in weather as we go into the winter months.
 

On the Autumn Walk, children collected Autumn treasures on a journey stick. After the Autumn walk, the children were given the opportunity to talk about their ‘Autumn journey stick’ with a small group of friends.

Week beginning 22nd November 2021

🦸‍♂️🥔 Supertato 🥔🦸‍♂️
 

This week in literacy we have been reading the story Supertato and the children have made their very own Supertatoes!

First, the children looked carefully at the illustration of Supertato on the front cover of the book to decide what resources they would need. Then, they followed step-by-step instructions to build their very own Supertato.

The children’s Supertatoes are now in the Small World area of the classroom ready to be used for role play during CIL.

Week beginning 15th November 2021

📖 Story Time 📖

In Reception we have story time everyday.

Each day, the children vote on which book they would like to be read at story time. To support the children with their choice, we discuss each book by reading the blurb and the adults make their vote. Sometimes, the children even choose the books to be put to the vote.

In the clip below you can see Mr Paice reading a book to Morris class and the link to YouTube of Miss Conroy reading to Renoir class.
 

Remember every child has a school reading book and a library book to share at home. Please remember to log all of your super reading on Goread.

Week beginning 8th November 2021

🎆💥 Fireworks 💥🎆 

The children have been doing some collaborative painting this week.

After lots of discussions around light and firework celebrations, the children decided it would be a good idea to make our role play area look like a fireworks show. 

We got a giant piece of black paper the children chose bright coloured paints from the art cupboard. They then began carefully painting fireworks to create a firework backdrop after watching a teacher model of how to successfully paint a firework shape. The children made patterned fireworks using the paint and then some children decided to sprinkle some glitter on their fireworks to make them extra sparkly.

Whist the children were painting, they discussed the noises that fireworks made and shared their own firework experiences.

Week beginning 1st November 2021

🪔 Diwali 🪔 

This week the children have been learning all about Diwali in school as part of our theme learning.

The children learnt that Diwali is the festival of light and was celebrated by Sikhs and Hindus among other religions. 

We shared a story about celebrating Diwali and Navi, Vedika and Kira told how they were celebrating Diwali in their homes.

During our learning, the children also decorated their own rangoli patterns, learnt a Diwali dance using an online tutorial and created a collaborative firework scene. 

At the end of the day, Vedika gave the children all a Diwali gift to take home too. Thank you Vedika!

Week beginning 18th October 2021

🧺 🥪 The Giant Jam Sandwich 🥪 🧺

Our Literacy learning has been inspired by the book 'The Giant Jam Sandwich'.

We used the book to create a range of learning across the key areas for our corridor display.

Literacy learning included story sequencing, name writing and exploring initial sounds.  In maths, we looked at door numbers and matched the sequins to the number on the door. 

During our CIL time, the we created wasps and people from the village as part of expressive art and design learning.

Week beginning 11th October 2021

⚽️🎾 PE 🎾⚽️

In PE the children have been going to the all weather pitch for PE and they have been learning how to move in various ways including running, jumping, skipping and hopping.

They have learnt various ball skills including dribbling the ball with their hands and feet, throwing, catching and bouncing.

The children have also been learning in pairs by passing the ball to each other. They have learnt to do this by both rolling and kicking.

Week beginning Monday 4th October 2021

🧮 Careful Counting 🧮

This week in maths we have been focussing on our careful counting skills. 

The children were showing their ability to use  1:1 correspondence when counting and some children even had a go at  finding 1 more.

Week beginning 27th September 2021

🎶 Music 🎶 

This week in music the children have been practising expressing emotion through a change in facial features. This music learning links with the reading skill that many children have been focussing on of suggestions how a character might be feeling because of their body language/ facial features. 
 

We hope you like this video snippet of our singing!

Week beginning 20th September 2021

❤️ Family ❤️

As part of the children’s theme learning, we have been talking lots about our family. The children all brought a family picture in from home and then shared this picture with their friends.

We spoke about how families can all be made up differently and come in all different shapes and sizes. These family pictures are now displayed in the cloakroom.

Week beginning 13th September 2021

📚 Our first reading books 📚 

This week, following the children’s baseline phonics assessments, they received their first reception colour banded book. The children were very excited to get their lilac or pink book, and their login details for the GoRead app (our online reading record system).
 

The children also chose a book from the class library to share at home. They have loved spending time enjoying books in the reading area that they designed in the transition session.

Week beginning 6th September

🏫 Settling in 🏫

The children have had a great first week in Reception. 

They have enjoyed exploring the learning environment both indoors and outdoors, making new friends, exploring the resources and becoming increasingly independent.

All of the Early Year’s staff are SO proud of each and every child!

2020 - 2021

Week beginning 19th July 2021

🧸🧺 Teddy Bears Picnic 🧺 🧸 

This week we celebrated the end of our time together in Reception by having a Teddy Bears Picnic on the field.

Both the children (and the teddies) had a lovely time and enjoyed having conversations with their friends in Reception and Nursery.

Week beginning Monday 12th July 2021

🐛🦋 Transition 🦋🐛

This week the children in Reception have been thinking about the transition to Year 1. We have been reading the story ‘Colin the Cautious Caterpillar’ and relating Colin’s feelings to our own.

The children and teachers are feeling excited, anxious, happy and nervous all at the same time. However, we know that the children are ready to spread their wings and that they will be absolutely FANTASTIC in Year 1.

Week beginning Monday 5th July 2021

🎨 🖼 Painting Portraits 🖼🎨

This week the children have been reflecting on the special friendships that they have developed so far this year in Reception ❤️
 

The children had to pick a friends name out of a hat and then carefully paint a portrait of them. They had to look closely at the colours that would be needed and the shape of each of their friends features to complete an accurate portrait. If the colour needed wasn’t available, then they had to used their colour mixing skills to make the correct shade.

The children engaged in two way conversations to clarify shapes and colours to complete their portraits as accurately as possible.

These portraits will be sent home at the end of the year as a Reception keepsake memory ❤️

Week beginning 28th June 2021

📚 GoRead 📚 

This week the children have enjoyed using the new GoRead online reading record app at home and at school. The children have earned so many gems already from super reading!

Renoir read a staggering 111 times at home this week. A huge congratulations to the Renoir children and all of the grown ups at home.

Morris class will you beat Renoir next week?

Week Beginning 21st June 2021
📝 Phonics 📝

The children have been making some super progress in phonics this term. Miss Conroy's group have been learning Phase 4 consonant blends and the children are feeling so proud of themselves!

Week beginning 14th June 2021
🍎🥦 Healthy Lifestyle Cross-Curricular days 🥦🍎

This week we have had our cross-curricular days which have been focussed on a 'Healthy Lifestyle.'

The children have enjoyed learning about dental hygiene, basic first aid skills and Great Britain. The children also took place in a 'Mini-Olympics' afternoon with Miss Hall.

Week beginning 7th June 2021

🥕 👩‍🌾 Oliver’s Vegetables 🥕👩‍🌾

In literacy, we have been reading Oliver’s Vegetables by Vivian French. This week the children began by making a prediction of what they thought would happen after listening to the first few pages of the story. 
 

Here are some of the super predictions from the children below.

Week beginning 24th May 2021

🌻 Sunflower Art 🌻

In Reception this week we have had a focussed art CIL session.

We began by looking at a famous painting by Vincent Van Gogh and then we created our own sunflower art pictures. We have done some detailed drawings, some painting and even some salt dough sunflower sculptures!

Week beginning 17th May 2021

This week we have been learning about halving, doubling and odd/ even numbers in maths.

Miss Conroy and Miss McGregor can’t believe how confident we are becoming and how ready we will be for Year 1! 
 

Below is one of the songs we have enjoyed listening to and learning this week to support us with our maths learning. 

Week beginning 10th May 2021

🐝 Well-bee-in Wednesday 🐝 

This week Reception took part in a ‘Well-be-in Wednesday’ activity with Mr Haig.

The children got involved in improving the environment of the school, learning about the increasing number of pollinators and enjoyed spending some quality time outside in the mud!

🦁 Week beginning 3rd May 2021 🦁 

Following on from our ‘Lion King’ cross-curricular days last week, we have been gathering lots of lovely learning to renew the Reception corridor display. 
 

Here’s the finished product below, we hope you like it as much as we do!  
 

*** UPDATE- Pupil parliament LOVED our display so we earnt a blue rosette 😁 ***

Week beginning 26th April 2021

🎭 Cross-curricular days 🎭

This week the children have enjoyed participating in this terms cross-curricular days alongside the whole school.

The cross-curricular days were planned to enhance children’s cultural capital and to allow them to begin to engage with their own personal development.

Cross-curricular days finished with a live production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. The children really enjoyed the show and have all thought of lots of occupations they may wish to do in the future linked to the theatre, from costume designer, to popcorn server, to script writer! 

Week beginning 19th April 2021

💰 Money 💰 

This week we have been learning about money in maths.

We have been exploring the different coins and talking about what’s the same and what’s different. 
 

The children have been using numicon to support them in understanding the value of each coin and some children have been ordering the coins from the coin with the smallest value, to the largest! 
 

Week beginning 12th April 2021

🌸 Spring 🌸

Outside, during CIL, the children have been enjoying going on  spring hunts.

The children have been independently looking for each thing on the checklist and then marking it off. They have really enjoyed going on spring hunts and reporting back to the adults every few items to share their findings and sometimes personal experiences with that spring item too.
 

Week beginning 22nd March 2021

🐣 Easter 🐣

Reception have been learning all about Easter this week!

We have been discussing why Easter is a special time in the Christian calendar and explored the Easter story. We have also been making lots of links to Spring whilst learning about Easter and how it symbolises the beginning of new life. The children have enjoyed observing daffodils blooming and baby lambs being born. 
 

We have also had lots of fun being creative by making lots of Easter crafts to celebrate Easter! We have made Easter cards using our fingerprints, Easter wreaths, Easter bunnies and even finished the week by making a special chocolate treat!!

We would like to wish you a restful break and a very Happy Easter! 
 

We are looking forward to a very exciting summer term ahead! ☀️ 🌸 ☀️

Week beginning 15th March 2021

💃🏼🕺🏽 PE 🕺🏽💃🏼
 

Reception have been working hard to put together a carnival dance in PE.

They have learnt a routine and have been being different animals during the carnival dance. 
 

I wonder if you can guess some of the animals they are travelling as? 

 Week Beginning 8th March 2021

🎉🏫 Back to school 🏫🎉

It was so lovely to see so many smiling faces back at school this week!

The children have settled back in well and have really enjoyed seeing and playing with their friends again. We have spent some time talking about our school day and reminding children of the expectations at school.

This week we have been assessing the children to identify any gaps and regroup the children for their phonics, literacy and maths learning.

The children really have been super and we are so proud of them.

Google Classroom
 

As the children log off of Google classroom (for what we hope will be the final time), we want to say a huge well done to each and every one of you in Reception!

You have made us SO proud and we cannot wait to see you back at school on Monday 8th March at 8:50am.

Please find below a transition booklet that you may wish to share with your child at home to support them in their return to school.

Week Beginning 1st March 2021
📚 World Book Day 📚 

This week we celebrate World Book Day.

We had  virtual fancy dress parade, a remote visit from an author, created our own story and took part in 'The Masked Reader'.We finished off the day with a story from a guest reader in our Google Classroom, before a cosy afternoon reading at home.

Lots of fun was had by all!

🏰 Week beginning 21st February 2021 🏰 

This week Reception have been learning about shapes in maths. The children built their own castles using 3D junk modelling shapes. This maths learning also linked with our Spring 2 theme of ‘Fairytales’.

Week beginning 7th February 2021

To finish off a very different, but successful half term the Reception children had a well-being afternoon.

The children made a jar of ‘Things to look forward to...’. They had some fantastic ideas of what they would like to do when it was safe to spend more time away from home. Lots of children are looking forward to having sleepovers again, going on day trips, visiting friends and family  but most of all they can’t wait to come back to school and we agree! 
 

Thank you for being abasolutly amazing this half term Reception. We can’t wait to see your smiley faces hopefully very soon. 🤞🏼 

Week beginning 1st February 2021

This half term lots of Reception learning has been focussed around our theme of dinosaurs!

This week it has been all about the stegosaurus. The children watched a short factual based video about a stegosaurus and then produced their own non-fiction, factual stegosaurus pieces of learning.

Attached below is the video the children retrieved their stegosaurus facts from and some of their super learning. 

Week beginning 25th January 2021

This week the children have exceeded all expectation via the Google Classroom. They have continued to put so much effort into their learning and they are remaining so engaged with their learning. We are so proud of the children! 
 

Here is a picture of some children showing their learning to the camera for instant feedback! Lots of children are choosing to complete the additional challenges as part of their learning which is a delight to see.

Well done girls and boys, you really are Superstars!

Week beginning 18th January 2021

This week we have been learning how to solve subtraction number sentences in different ways. Some of us have been using a number line, some of us have used our fingers, some of us have used concrete resources, some of us have drawn pictures and some of us have even began counting backwards in our head!

Week Beginning 11th January 2021

This week Reception had a virtual tea party. We invited our favourite toys and hosted a tea party. There were lots of yummy treats to choose from and we had the best time, even the grown ups enjoyed joining in!