Reception Class
Welcome to Reception Autumn 1 2024
We are so proud how well the children have all settled into Reception. We are helping the children understand our rules and routines, especially tidying up and and sharing.
We are eager to start learning phonics and beginning our journey learning how to read. It is so exciting to meet the Phonics characters and following their gripping adventures.
The children love their new outside classroom called the 'Quad'. Over the Summer we have worked hard to create a fun and engaging outside space to learn in, surrounded in nature.
Take a look at all the exciting learning we did in 2023/24!
Spring 2
Spring 1
We have had another action packed half term in Reception full of fantastic learning. Our topic has been 'Just the Job'. We have been learning all about people who help us. The children have loved being police detectives in our police station role-play area whilst investigating what happened to Humpty Dumpty. We have also learnt about firefighters, dentists and doctors. We had several parents who came into school to talk to us about their jobs and the children have been thinking about what they might want to be when they grow up. Last week they came to school dressed as their Big Me’s.
We finished the half term with a week learning about Chinese New Year. The children continue to amaze us with their intricate models and imaginative play. They have been making lots of hotels, zoos and imaginative worlds, which has sparked interesting conversations and involved some brilliant maths learning!
Autumn 2
We have had a busy Autumn term in Reception! The children settled so well and are forming some lovely friendships. They are confident to try new things in the classroom and in the quadrangle.
This half term, we started ‘Drawing Club’, opening up the magic world of tales and stories to children whilst at the same time enriching their language skills and developing their fine motor sills. Drawing Club is an approach that immerses children into a world full of imagination where anything can happen and often does. Our Drawing Club adventures have focused on stories which have included ‘Not Now Bernard’, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and ‘Hansel and Gretel’.
In our mark making area, children have had the opportunity to write sentences to match pictures and help us with some shopping lists too. We also spotted some tiny messages and used magnifying glasses to read the words and write them. We are seeing some brilliant writing!
As mathematicians, we have discovered numbers to 5, subitising amounts of objects and looking at the composition of numbers to 5. We have also explored 2D shapes, looking at how many sides and corners a shape has.
The children have been investigating ice and discussing the conditions needed for it to melt. We performed our Nativity for parents and carers, had a Christmas party and had a visit from Santa! We now have presents for the classroom which the children have loved playing with.
We can’t wait to see everyone again in January 2024.
Autumn 1
We have had a busy first half of Autumn term in Reception! The children settled so well and are forming some lovely friendships. They are confident to try new things in the classroom and in the quadrangle. They have particularly enjoyed our Autumn work: going on an Autumn walk and looking closely at their Autumn treasures. We have been learning about colour mixing and the children have mixed some lovely Autumnal colours (including pumpkin orange and conker brown). They used some of these new colours when creating artwork inspired by the work of Alma Thomas during art week.
We read It was a Cold, Dark Night by Tim Hopgood, a story about Ned the hedgehog who is looking for his home. The children enjoyed retelling this story using puppets and actions.
When we were finding out some information about hedgehogs, we noticed that hedgehogs can sometimes be found in big piles of leaves, this inspired some of our outdoor learning, where we tried to make safe and inviting places for hedgehogs to sleep. We left these out overnight to see if it would attract any visitors. We have learnt some facts about hedgehogs and labelled the different parts on a hedgehog's body. We used clay to make our own hedgehogs, adding details such as spikes and eyes.
On the last day of the half term we had such a fun afternoon rolling pumpkins! We found that putting the pumpkins on their side makes them go down the hill faster. I think this will be a new tradition in Autumn in Reception!
To view previous year's information and pictures, please click here.