Gymnastics
Reception Class are practicing their gymnastic skills in PE. They are using the apparatus to work on travelling, balancing and jumping. The children love using the apparatus and are growing in confidence and challenging themselves.
Recognising Number to 8
Reception are working on recognising and ordering numbers 0 to 8. They put the numerals in order then quickly pointed to numbers called out by the teacher.
Chinese New Year
Reception Class have been learning about how Chinese New Year is celebrated. They listened to the story of ‘The Great Race’ and learnt how twelve animals were chosen to be part of the calendar, and how each year is named after one of the animals in the race. The children made puppets and masks of the different animals and then used them to retell the story while playing.
They learnt about how Chinese families prepare for and celebrate Chinese New Year and they compared it to celebrations they have experienced. They dressed up in traditional Chinese clothes and enjoyed a feast of Chinese food. The children had a try at using chopsticks to eat with.
Animal Print Art
Children in Reception Class are learning all about the jungle. They enjoyed looking at jungle animals and talking about the different patterns the animals have on their fur. They used painting and printing techniques to make their own animal print patterns. The children talked about what colours they needed to use and what tools they would use to paint or print the patterns and lines.
Jungle Animal Faces
Reception Class have enjoyed learning about different jungle animals. We decided to make some jungle animal faces from paper plates. The children knew which colours they needed to use when painting and chose either thick or thin brushes, depending on the job. They made marks and selected other materials and cut and glued them to add features onto the faces.
Representing Amounts to 7
The children have now been introduced to 6 and 7. They can recognise the numerals and are starting to write them. The children have done lots of work with the ten frames and are learning what 6 and 7 look like on a ten frame. This week the children were asked to represent different amounts on the ten frames using cubes, e.g. “Show me 6”. The children quickly filled the top line and then placed 1 more cube on the bottom line to make 6. They also identified how many empty spaces are on the ten frame, e.g. “7 spaces are full and 3 are empty”. This will help their maths in KS1 when they have to quickly recall number bonds to 10.
Music time
The children In Reception Class love music time. They love singing and joining in with action songs. This week they sang “I’m a Little Teapot” and “The Grand Old Duke of York”. They enjoy using and exploring the percussion instruments and are working on tapping out simple rhythms and keeping a steady beat.
Exploring Ice
The Reception children love playing in the snow and ice outside but this week we investigated ice indoors too. The children worked in groups to try to get a block of ice to melt as quickly as possible and free the items that were frozen inside. The children had lots of good ideas and tested them out to try and get the ice to melt. They listened to each other and collaborated, trying out ideas such as hitting the ice to try and smash it, holding it in their hands because “our hands are warm”, and pouring hot water on the ice.
EYFS Pantomime Visit
On Tuesday our Nursery and Reception children thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Consett Empire Theatre to watch the pantomime, Cinderella. They really enjoyed seeing all the different characters and joining in with the singing and dancing. They even squirted them with water and made it snow.
Fun Outdoors
Reception Class have made the most of the lovely autumn sunshine this week and had lots of fun outdoors. They had lots of fun exploring how water travels along pipes and worked together to see how far they could get the water to move. Lots of their play was helping to develop their gross motor skills with balancing, pushing, pulling, jumping and climbing all going on.
Maths
The children in Reception Class have been learning about the amount 4. They have been doing lots of subitising and can recognise the amounts 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 represented in lots of different ways. The children also explored the composition of 4 and know that “2 and 2 makes 4” or “3 and 1 makes 4”. They are using the Ten Town character Freddy Four to learn how to write the numeral 4.
Firework Pictures
This week Reception Class learnt about Bonfire Night, exploring how it is celebrated and why. We talked a lot about fireworks and how to be safe around fireworks. The children then made firework pictures. They were shown different techniques and materials that they could print with, and then they chose what they wanted to use to make their own firework picture.
Halloween Party
The Reception children loved coming to school in their Halloween costumes. They had a Halloween party where they did apple bobbing, and played games including ‘Pin the Wart on the Witch’s Nose’. The children demonstrated good listening skills and were able to share and take turns.
Halloween Craft Session
Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who attended the Halloween Crafts session. It was lovely to see so many adults in school making Halloween themed creations with the Reception children. They decorated biscuits, and did lots of cutting and sticking to make Halloween decorations.
Halloween Sensory Play
This week Reception Class have been having lots of fun engaging in sensory play. We had pumpkins and the children scooped and scraped with tools and their fingers to get out the seeds and flesh. Then we had slime, which the children loved dipping their hands in and getting all gooey and slimy.
Autumn Walk
Reception Class went on an autumn walk, exploring the countryside and looking for signs of autumn. They collected leaves, berries, conkers and apples. They enjoyed their adventure in the outdoors, especially crossing the river on the stepping stones.
Building a Sukka Shelter
Reception Class looked at how different people celebrate harvest. They learnt how Jewish people have a festival called Sukkot. During Sukkot, families build a shelter called a sukka. It needs to have 3 sides and there needs to be things from nature on the roof. The children worked in groups to build a sukka shelter. They chose which materials they wanted to use, then lifted, carried and placed them carefully to build the shelter and roof. They placed grass, leaves and twigs on the roof. Once the shelter was finished, the children sat inside and enjoyed eating bread dipped in honey.
Phonics Fun
This week Reception Class started learning sounds using our phonics programme Read Write Inc. Activities are set up in the classroom to enhance the children’s learning. These activities allow children to practise key skills such as letter formation and identifying objects that start with a sound, e.g. t is for tractor, tiger and tomato.
Developing Our Noticing Skills
Looking at things and noticing how things are the same or different, are important skills in Early Years Maths. We looked at some sets of 3d shapes and the children noticed what was the same about the shapes and identified a shape in each set that was different. The children explained why they thought a shape was different.
“They all have a pointy bit and this one doesn’t.”
“They are all cylinders and this one isn’t a cylinder.”
“This has a curved bit and the others don’t.”
Exploring the 5 Senses
As part of the ‘Marvellous Me’ topic, the children learnt about their 5 senses and how they help to understand the world around them. We did an activity where children focused on their sense of touch. They put on a blindfold and then touched some mystery objects to try and work out what was in the bowls. The children described what they could feel:
“It’s cold and wet….is it ice?”
“It’s gooey and slimy like jelly.”
“I think it’s a pine cone because it’s prickly.”
“It’s squishy and dry.”
They used excellent describing words and were able to work out what was in each bowl.
Elmer Week
Reception Class listened to lots of stories about Elmer. Elmer is a very special elephant because he has a patchwork pattern all over his body. The children talked about what is special about them and then they did lots of fun craft activities making patchwork elephants and models of Elmer using empty milk bottles.
Making Faces
As part of our topic ‘Me, Myself and I’, the Reception children learn the names of different parts of the body and this week we were focusing on naming different parts of the face. We made paper plate faces and drew self-portraits, making sure that we included eyes, nose, eyebrows, mouth and hair. We talked about how people can have different coloured eyes or hair and this led to discussions on how some people wear glasses or have freckles. We also talked about different skin colours and the children chose a suitable skin tone pencil to colour in their faces.
The children are good at naming different facial features and knew which materials and colours they should choose to make images of their faces.
Outdoor Fun
Reception Class spend time outdoor every day. They have lots of fun playing in the mud kitchen. The children are building new friendships as they collect berries, grass, leaves and flowers to go in the pots and pans for their muddy creations. They also enjoy mark-making with chalks and exploring with water play.
Our First Few Days
Our new starters in Reception Class have had a busy few days, settling in and becoming familiar with their new classroom and the routines. They have had lots of fun playing in the home corner, making things with playdough, building models in the art area, splashing around in the water tray and baking cookies.
