Have a look at what we’ve been learning…
Class 1 Assembly
Class 1 put on an impressive performance for their assemblies. It was lovely to hear such loud, clear voices and lovely singing! Well done, Class 1! A huge thank you to the parents who came along too to watch the children.
Growing Beans
As part of our topic ‘Growing and Changing’, the children planted beans. They put soil in a little pot, made a hole and then placed the bean in it. They covered the beans and we watered them. We looked every day to see if anything was changing. Soon we saw shoots peeping through the soil. The bean plants grew and grew. We thought they might get as big as Jack’s beanstalk! When they were strong enough we planted them outside. We will continue to water them and watch them grow over the next few weeks.
Butterflies
We have been exploring how caterpillars grow and change into butterflies. We read ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and the children did some super drawings and writing to retell the story. They did a cutting and sticking activity to show they understood the stages in the life cycle. We talked about how butterfly wings are symmetrical and the children painted their own butterflies.
We have had a tub of caterpillars in class for the last few weeks. We watched them grow bigger and bigger. They have now turned into chrysalises and we are waiting for the butterflies to emerge.
Bees
We have been learning about how important bees are. We talked about how they help pollinate the plants so they can produce more seeds. The children did an activity to explore how pollen sticks to the bees and travels from flower to flower.
We decided to make bee houses to encourage bees into the school wildlife garden. They gathered materials and placed them inside a plastic bottle. We have hung the bee houses around the wildlife garden and we hope that we will soon see lots of bees buzzing around.
Counting to 100
This week, the children have been thinking about the amount 100. They knew it was a really big number. We used ten frames to count out 100 objects. The children know that if they fill 10 ten frames then they have 100.
It took patience and perseverance to do all that counting.
Ordering numbers to 20
Counting beyond 10
Reception Class have been using ten frames to count larger amount of objects. They filled the spaces on the ten frames and then wrote down the amounts, e.g. “2 full ten frames and 6 of the next ones makes 26”
Coronation Week
The children have been very busy this week preparing for the coronation celebrations for King Charles III. They made crowns, flags, paper chains and decorated bags for a special picnic lunch. The children came to school dressed in red, white and blue. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we could not have a picnic outside as planned, but we did have a street party style picnic in the corridors instead, which was great fun.
Hall Hill Farm visit
Reception Class had a great day at Hall Hill Farm, despite the cold and wet weather. The children enjoyed a tractor ride, especially when the alpacas were following the tractor. They handled some small animals such as chicks, rabbits and guinea pigs. A highlight of the day was bottle-feeding some baby lambs. They also fed larger animals on the farm including donkeys, sheep, goats and Highland cows. The Hall Hill Farm staff were very impressed with the children’s knowledge of farm animals.
The children (and staff) had lots of fun in the play barn, climbing and sliding in the soft play area. Miss Stoker and Mrs Hall were very proud of how the children behaved during the visit.
Spring craft session with parents
Reception children had a lovely afternoon doing Spring themed crafts with their parents. They made Easter nests, Spring wreaths and used collage techniques to make chicks and sheep pictures. It was lovely to see so many parents in school having fun with their children.
Domino Disaster
Reception children were given some blank dominoes and were told the spots had fallen off. The children were asked to use their knowledge of addition number facts to think of ways the spots could be put back on the dominoes. For example, there are 6 spots so it could be 3 and 3, 4 and 2, 5 and 1 or 6 and 0.
Miss Stoker and Mrs Hall were very impressed with the children’s understanding of numbers and their quick recall of addition facts.
Addition
This week in maths, Reception Class have been looking at joining two amounts together and working out how many there are altogether. We have started writing number sentences, e.g. 4+2=6 and saying “4 and 2 makes 6.”
World Book Day
We celebrated World Book Day by bringing in a potato which was decorated as one of their favourite book characters. Some of us even dressed up too!
The Three Little Pigs
Reception Class have started their topic on traditional tales by doing lots of fun activities linked to The Three Little Pigs story. They retold the story using puppets, made a story map to sequence events from the story, made paper plate pigs, used collage to make straw, stick and brick houses and they even baked some pig cupcakes.
Penguin Dance
In PE on a Thursday afternoon with Mrs Robson and Mrs Hall, we have been learning all about penguins. Looking closely at how they move, travel, waddle and swim. We then made our own penguin dance, working as a team, perfecting moves and listening to the beat.
Knights and Castles
We explored the topic of ‘Knights and Castles’ to follow the children’s interest in the subject. The children had fun making helmets, swords and shields. They built castles and tried to include important features like a moat, battlements, arrow holes and a drawbridge.
Weighing
In Reception Class we used the balance scales to weigh two objects and see which one was heavier. The children understand that the heavier object goes down and the lighter object goes up on the balance scales. They enjoyed putting different objects from around the classroom into the balance scales to see which one was the heaviest or lightest.
Maths – Recognising amounts to 6
The children have been using dominoes to work on their quick recognition of amounts 0 to 6. We have been trying to say how many dots are on each domino without having to count them.
Gymnastics
This half term, Reception Class are working with a sports coach on Monday afternoons to develop their gymnastic skills. They have been working on developing their balancing skills and their rolling skills.
Chinese New Year
We spent the week learning all about Chinese New Year. We listened to the story of how the Jade Emperor made all the animals have a race and this is why each year is named after a different animal. This year is the year of the rabbit so we made bouncing rabbits and the children then used this technique to make dragon puppets.
We looked at all the different ways that Chinese New Year is celebrated and the children were fascinated by videos of the dragon dance. We finished the week by having a feast of Chinese food. The children enjoyed noodles, rice, dumplings and spring rolls. They all had a try at eating the food with chopsticks.
Capacity
Reception Class have been working on using the language associated with measuring capacity. They had great fun pouring water into containers to show full, nearly full, half full, nearly empty and empty.
We also looked at different containers and tried to work out which container would hold the most. At first, children thought that tall containers would always hold more than a shorter container, but now they know that a shorter wide container can hold more than a tall thin one.
Making bird feeders
We have been talking about how it is hard for birds to find things to eat in the winter. We made bird feeders and will hang them up outside in our playground. Hopefully over the next few weeks we will see robins, blackbirds, bluetits and sparrows enjoying nibbling on them.
Numbers to 5
The Reception Class children are working on consolidating their understanding of numbers to 5. We are making sure that we can recognise and write the numerals 0 to 5, and ensuring that we can recognise the amounts 1 to 5 represented in different ways. We are ordering the numerals and putting the amounts in order least to most. These are all key skills that the children need to be secure in before we move on to numbers beyond 5.
Nursery Rhyme Week
Poppy Art
In Reception Class, we looked at poppies and talked about why we wear them to remember people who have died in war. The children then made poppy suncatchers.
Circle Art
We have been learning about circles in Maths this week. Then we looked at some abstract art by Kandinsky, where he used circles in his artwork. The children then did some colour-mixing with paints to create lighter and darker shades, then they painted circles onto a square piece of paper. The squares were all joined together to produce a class piece in the style of Kandinsky.
Representing numbers on a five frame
The children are starting to use five frames to represent amounts. They were asked to pick up 1, 2 or 3 beanbags and place them on the five frame. We talked about how many spaces were filled and how many spaces were still empty. Children need to recognise these amounts on a five frame on sight, and without counting. This is something we will be focusing on over the next few weeks in our maths lessons and through activities in the wider classroom provision.
Repeating shape patterns
In maths we looked at repeating patterns with 2 parts being repeated. Children then made their own repeating patterns by either printing shapes or sticking shapes on a long piece of paper.
Room on the broom
The children love the story of Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. They worked with a partner to put pictures from the story in the correct order and used phrases from the story when retelling it.
“Is there room on the broom for a dog like me?”
“I am a bird as green as can be. Is there room on the broom for a bird like me?”
“I’m going to have witch and chip for my tea.”
“Iggety ziggety zaggety zoom. Out came a truly magnificent broom.”
Number 3
The children have been learning to subitise (recognise on sight) the amount 3. They looked at acorns scattered on a tuff tray and drew circles round where they could see three.
We used ‘Ten Town’ to learn how to write the numeral 3, through the character of Thelma Three. The children used chalks to write 3 on the playground.
Number 2
The children have been working on subitising (recognising on sight) the amount 2. We scattered pine cones in the sandpit then looked for where we could see 2. The children drew circles in the sand around where they could see 2.
We used Ten Town and the character Tommy Two to learn to recognise and write the numeral 2. The children used chalk to write number 2 on the playground.
Number 1
The children can subitise (recognise on sight) the amount 1. They looked at conkers scattered on a tuff tray and circled where they can see 1.
We used the Ten Town character King One to learn how to write the numeral 1. They used chalk to write number 1 on the playground.
Harvest on the farm
The children explored how in the autumn time farmers are busy harvesting the crops they have grown. They looked at the different machines a farmer uses to harvest his crops and how wheat is changed into flour.
The children also talked about harvesting fruit and vegetables. They sorted fruit and vegetables into groups depending on whether they like to eat them or not.
Halloween Party
Reception Class had a great time at their Halloween party. They came dressed up in Halloween costumes and had a great time playing party games. They played Mummy Pinball, Pin the Spider on the Web, Witch’s Hat Hoopla, Apple Bobbing and Eye-Ball Pong. Thank you to the Year 6 children who came and helped out at the party.
Halloween Fun
The children had lots of fun preparing for Halloween. They enjoyed messy play activities, making potions, carving pumpkins and baking cakes and biscuits for the Halloween party.
Gross motor skills development in the outdoors
Over the last few weeks the children have participated in activities outdoors to develop their gross motor skills. Activities such as climbing, riding the bikes and scooter, raking the sand, walking on stilts and washing the car – all help children develop their co-ordination, bilateral movement and body strength.
Halloween Helicopter Stories
We have been reading lots of Halloween themed stories in class so we had a go at making up our own Halloween Helicopter Stories. We talked about the spooky characters who might appear in a Halloween story. The children told Miss Stoker their stories and she wrote them down. Here are the stories the children told. We hope you enjoy reading them.
Sukkot
In Reception, we learnt about the Jewish festival of Sukkot. We made our own Sukkot (hut) in our outdoor area. We worked together to build the three walls and a roof. It was really fun sitting inside our Sukkots. Then we shared a special meal of bread and honey, just like Jews do during Sukkot (the Jewish harvest festival).
Autumn Walk
Class 1 had a lovely afternoon when they went on their autumn walk. They used their noticing skills to look for signs of autumn. The children had lots of fun collecting berries, leaves, acorns and conkers. We explored the fields and countryside around Wolsingham and even crossed the river by going over the stepping stones.
Getting Ready for Elmer’s Day
The children baked some buns and iced them. They had lots of fun mixing the ingredients together. They got the school cooks to bake the cakes in the big oven.
Maths in Reception Class
A key skill in maths for Reception children is to subitise (recognise on sight without counting) small amounts, so this week we have been working on our looking and noticing skills.
We went outside and found natural objects, e.g. sticks, stones, berries, leaves, etc. The children collected a range of objects in a bag then when we got back to class we sorted them. Once the children had grouped all the stones together and all the sticks together, etc., they looked at them closely to see if they could notice any differences. The children talked about “big sticks” and “little sticks” and “smooth leaves” and “crunchy leaves”.
This is something you could do with your child at home when you are out for a walk or during a car journey, e.g. Look at the animals in the field – what do you notice? “Some of the cows are brown and some are black and white” or “Some of the sheep have horns and have no horns.”
Our First Few Days
The Reception children have had an exciting first few days in school. They have explored their new classroom and the outdoor area, finding out what resources are available and where to find things. They have had lots of fun being creative in the art area, building things in the construction and small world areas, setting up “home” in the role play corner, baking chocolate chip cookies, listening to stories, riding the bikes, climbing on the play equipment and splashing around in the new outdoor water play area. Here are some pictures so you can see what they have been up to.