Autumn 2

It doesn’t seem possible that we have already reached the end of our first reception term! We have been amazed at how resilient your children have become and are delighted to see how independent they are now. It is great to see children putting their own coats on and helping others plus tidying up after their learning time, both inside and outside. Thank you for supporting your children with their home learning and for listening to them read every evening. It makes such a difference to your child’s progress. It is wonderful to hear the children sounding and blending so confidently now and applying their phonic skills when writing.

The children have really enjoyed our big question, “What is my body telling me?” Each week we have looked at a different sense and explored different activities relating to it. Stories such as We’re going on a bear hunt and Owl Babies really helped to excite the children and provide fascinations for them. We were really impressed with the letters that the children wrote to the owl mummy asking her to come home.

As scientists we explored each sense in more detail. We tasted different foods, used our sense of smell to identify different fragrances and explored our sense of touch through our tuff tray Bear Hunt fascination whilst understanding how our senses are linked to our body.

In Maths we have focused on ‘Subitising’, this helps to secure understanding on number with rapid, accurate and confident judgements of numbers. The children look at a small set of objects and instantly know how many there are without counting them. We have been exploring the numbers 1-5 and the composition of numbers 1 to 5. Children have consolidated their understanding of numbers being made up of smaller numbers, and can confidently talk about the parts they can see. They understand that these smaller numbers can be combined to make the whole. We have also looked at shapes and their properties.

Throughout this term in RE we have been learning about different celebrations. We have thought about why we celebrate and how different people celebrate, focusing on differences and similarities in different religions. At the end of this RE unit the children chose their favourite celebration to write about. The children learned about the birth of Jesus and acted out their own story of the Nativity when they performed Whoops a Daisy. We were thrilled with the children for performing so confidently on the stage. It was a true delight to hear their beautiful singing.

For their Personal, Social, Emotional Development this term, the children have been focusing on accepting that everyone is different and learning about being kind to one another.

An amazing half term of learning!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and look forward to welcoming you and your delightful children back in 2025!