Reception Autumn 1

We have had the most amazing half term with your delightful children. All of the children have settled into their new routines, made new friends or were reacquainted with former friends. They learnt about our school values and helping others to feel welcome. They understood the importance of being responsible for their actions and their environment. We celebrated the things that made us the same and things that made us different. The children have immersed themselves in all the provision available, indoors and out. They have enjoyed riding bikes, making obstacle courses, dens, using construction to create anything their imagination desires and using the climbing frames to build strength and balance.

Our big question was ‘How have I changed?’ the children made comparisons of themselves as babies and what they can do now. We had real babies into visit where the children learnt first-hand what they ate, what made them laugh, their favourite toys and where they slept. The children used their sorting skills to work out items they used as a baby and things they use now. They sequenced pictures of the human life cycle from birth to elderly, they created portraits of themselves as babies and what they look like now and wrote about the changes they have gone through from being a baby to a reception child.

In our RE lessons we have been learning about how special and unique we all are. The children ended this unit of learning by collecting special items in a special box and sharing them with their class. Thank you for supporting your child with this activity.

We learnt about how our teeth grow and what we need to do to take care of them. We learnt a tooth brushing song and wrote a letter to the tooth fairy to tell her how we are looking after our teeth. We watched a video of children visiting the dentist and encouraged all the children to go regularly to the dentist for check-ups.

We have been astounded at the children’s progress in Read Write Inc phonics. They have all worked so hard at school and at home. Thank you to everyone who has watched the videos we have sent home via Marvellous Me, it really makes a difference.

As scientists we explored the season of autumn by going on nature walks in our school grounds, reading autumnal stories, making art work, singing songs and using our daily calendar to compare the changing season and the weather.

In maths we looked at sorting objects, noticing patterns and creating our own patterns. We have looked at different measurements such as size, weight and capacity.

For Black History week we looked at several significant figures. We recreated art work in the style of Alma Thomas, made rockets when we found out about Mae Jemison the first black female astronaut and we listened to Floella Benjamin’s story about coming to England.

The children enjoyed sharing a harvest assembly with the whole school. They sang songs and learnt about how we can share food with those less fortunate than us. Father Andrew from St Mary’s church talked to the children about being thankful and grateful for things in our lives.

The children have enjoyed playing musical instruments and learning to listen and talk about music. They have been exploring the sounds of different instruments.

We have been really pleased with the children’s resilience that they have demonstrated this last week as we have moved into our temporary classroom.

Well done Butterfly Class for a super half term of learning.