Reception Newsletter

We have had an interesting couple of weeks in Reception. The children loved last week's Science Days where they got to experience lots of different types of science. We looked at density in liquids, we went on a nature walk and enjoyed the science outside and we made our own playdough, observing what happened when we mixed different ingredients together. We were also so lucky to have a visit from The Royal Institute, who put on a very exciting show for us!

This week, we have been discussing healthy eating and talking about the Eatwell Guide and the rainbow of foods, where the children try and eat as many different colours of food as they can. We introduced the different food groups as well and encouraged the children to try and think of as many different types of carbohydrate, protein etc as they could. 

The children have really impressed us with the way they embraced learning about doubling in Maths this week! They loved using mirrors to press up against cubes and show the double amount and some children were even able to write the corresponding number sentence! We also made double patterns on  a giant butterfly with some shiny gems!

Reception's first full week back!

It's been lovely having the children back in class and they've certainly come back to school with a wonderfully positive attitude. When we went in the forest this week, we discussed New Year's Resolutions and talked about ways in which we would like to better ourselves. The children were very open minded and we had such lovely answers like, 'I'd like to help mummy with the laundry at home' and 'I'm going to start putting things in the dishwasher more!'. Other children said they wanted to be able to do forward rolls this year and try hard with their drawings. It was a lovely conversation in the log circle. 

We also introduced the children to our new Worldviews lesson. This was a lovely afternoon, where the children discussed the importance of friendship and answered the question, 'What is a friend?'. We made a 'friendship recipe', played games with our friends, where we focused on sharing and we made paper chains of our friends.

Reception Newsletter

This week in Reception, we have been looking at the story of The Rainbow Fish. The children have done some lovely writing and they have been using some wonderful vocabulary related to the book, during the school day. We've heard children discussing their 'hairband that is glistening' and talking about the 'shimmering leaves'.

In Maths, we have been looking at 2d shapes and the children have been playing patience with the cards and matching 2d shapes, as well as discussing the properties of simple shapes such as squares, rectangles, circles and triangles. 

In our visit to the forest, we have been looking at the wonderful colours around us - especially when we look at the leaves on the trees. We explored around the forest and found as many different colours as we could and displayed them all on coloured paper amongst the trees. It was a lovely afternoon.  

Our PSED focus was looking at how we are all special and unique. The children took part in a lovely activity, where they all looked at themselves in a mirror and discussed what they saw. We then talked about how/ why we are all different. During activity time, some children chose to take part in some colour mixing, where they experimented with adding light and dark to colours to try and make a replica of their hair colour. They were wonderful artists!

Safety first in Early Years!

In Reception, we have been learning about how to keep ourselves safe.

As well as other people that can help us, such as firefighters, crossing guards or teachers, we have also been thinking about what we can do for ourselves to manage risks and keep safe.

"We need to walk inside or look where we're going. That keeps us safe and that means we don't hurt ourselves"

- Charlotte

"We should stay with our grown ups when there's a busy road"

- Jesse

"You have to stay away from the chemicals in the high cupboards; they're just for the grown ups when they're cleaning"

- Austin

The children have also been noticing different signs and symbols that help us remember what we can do to keep safe. We looked at symbols around the school, like fire exits and walking signs, and also symbols that we might see out and about, such as speed limits and stop signs.

 

Year 1 - child initiated play

We try to make the transition from Reception to Year 1 as smooth as possible, to enable the children to feel supported and so the move to sitting and writing at desks is not a huge shock to the system! One way that we do this, is by continuing the children's Child Initiated Play (CIP). We have time every morning, where the children can access resources around the classroom to help increase their learning further and develop their social skills.

This week, in CIP, we have seen children working as part of a team making giant floor puzzles together, developing their fine motor skills by manipulating playdough and using the paint to create their own art work. 

Some children even spent time mixing resources to create their own woodland area. This was after our class discussions on our topic of Into The Forest. We have been discussing the importance of a forest and chatting about the habitats of animals within a wooded area. Our weekly visits up to the forest have been a fantastic opportunity for the children to immerse themselves into forest life.

The day we met Harold!

On Thursday, the children visited Nancy and Harold in the Life Education Bus! We helped him pack his bag to go to his Grandma's house, and helped him to develop coping strategies to calm his nerves about being away from his Mummy and Daddy. 

Nancy told us about how Harold likes to look after his body by eating healthily and getting lots of exercise, so we made sure he took a healthy snack for the long walk to Grandma's house and of course his toothbrush and toothpaste. We spoke about the different parts of out body that these things were linked to.

At the end of a busy day at Grandma's house, Harold was exhausted! We helped him get to sleep by singing him a lullaby. This made us think about how we feel comforted when we are away from home.

The children absolutely loved meeting Harold!

5 little teddy bears

Last week the nursery have been counting teddy bears! Our focus rhyme was

 

"5 little teddy bears jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head, Mummy called the Doctor and the Doctor said "No more teddy bears jumping on the bed."

 

 

Poor teddy bears got bumped heads, knees and arms! Fortunately the children were on hand to make them better in our Doctor's surgery role play area.  This led to the children making "Get well" cards for teddy bears and we spoke about people who can them at school, home and the community if they get hurt or are poorly.

 

 

 

 

This week we will be learning "5 shiny conkers" to link to our learning about Autumn  and the changing season.

I am feeling....

In Circle Time and P4C (Philosophy for Children) today we spoke about our emotions.

We talked about the different emotions and practised how our faces might look when we are feeling these emotions. 

The children were asked what makes them grumpy....

"When I want to go to the park and Mummy says no."

"When Mummy takes my ice-cream away because I have to do my homework."

"When I have to go to bed."

Then they were asked what makes grown-ups grumpy?

"When my cat poos on the carpet."

"If I am naughty."

"When my Mum and Dad argue."

"If I mess my Mums room up."

"If I do a prank on my Dad- like put yoghurt in his shoes!"