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Reception
PE Day: Tuesday
Knowledge Organiser Summer 1
Reception Class Blog
Week beginning 6th May
This week we had a fantastic trip to Sandringham House and Gardens. The children were brilliant, they listened to the information, asked questions and walked around so sensibly. We are very proud of them. First we walked around the gardens, we then took part in a workshop, we had a picnic lunch and ended with a tour of the house. The children have produced some lovely writing from the trip and wrote sentences to describe their favourite parts. We hope they have enjoyed sharing this with you too at home.
This week we have also been learning about sharing equally. The children have started to explore how we can share into two, three or four groups equally and say the verbal number sentence. We will continue to practise this next week.
Week beginning 29th April
We have had a lovely busy week in Reception, getting ready for our school trip next week. We have been discussing the journey, using maps to see where we are going and how long our journey will take. In Literacy we have written letters to King Charles III, asking him questions about his pets, Buckingham Palace and his favourite food. We are excited to deliver these to Sandringham House on our school trip.
In Phonics we have been continuing to learn the following sounds - sh, ck, ch, ng, wh and th. We have been working hard to segment and blend words containing those sounds, we will practise recognising them in our new reading books on Friday.
In Maths the children have used Numicon to represent nine and ten in many different ways. Some children found they could use three or four numicon pieces!
On Tuesday we were excited to take part in the Archery and Rock Climbing activities. The children listened to the safety instructions and demonstrated great teamwork and bravery in their chosen activity.
Week beginning 22nd April
This week we had a visit from the local dental team. They talked to us about the importance of brushing teeth and we learned all about the 'sugar bugs'. In our topic work we continued to learn about palaces, castles and royal houses. We discussed our school trip and used maps to look at how long the journey will be and where we are going. Some children drew castles or used junk modelling to create 3D designs. We are always impressed with the different ways the children find to create models.
Week Beginning 15th April
This week we began learning about our new topic – Kings and Queens. We have started to learn about the Royal Family and Buckingham Palace. This week we found out that Buckingham palace has 775 rooms and 78 bathrooms!
In Maths we used tens frames and the story of ‘Pete and the missing cupcakes’ to subtract numbers within 10. We have been focusing on saying the whole number sentence each time ("five subtract two equals three"). In phonics we have introduced the following sounds; sh, ch, ck, ng (two letters only one sound). We have been reading and writing words containing those sounds.
In P.E we have been learning about balancing and some fundamental skills. We took part in 5 different activities that supported our balance and coordination. These included walking along the bench, carrying a beanbag on our head over hurdles and jumping accurately.
On Friday afternoon we visited the Life Education Bus. We enjoyed a session learning about keeping our bodies healthy, naming body parts and discussing our feelings. The children listened and behaved fantastically!
Have a lovely weekend.
Week beginning 25th March
This week we have finished our growing and changing topic and also learnt about why we celebrate Easter. We talked about the Easter Story and we enjoyed practising the songs for our Church service.
In phonics we introduced the new sound ‘sh’ this week. We say “two letters only one sound” to help us remember that when the letters are together they make one sound. In Maths we have started learning about subtraction, using tens frames to help us and saying the verbal number sentences. In the creative area we have been making Easter cards and the children are thinking of their own designs.
Outside we have been trying hard to skip and have persevered when this became tricky! Well done Reception! We all really enjoyed the silent disco and had a great time dancing and singing together. A lovely way to end our term.
Have a lovely Easter break!
Week beginning 18th March
This week we have been writing sentences with CVCC words and thinking carefully about our full stops and finger spaces. In Maths we are learning about height. We have been comparing our height and ordering objects in the classroom.
As part of our topic work, we are closely looking at some insects and their features. The children were talking about the similarities and differences, counting the legs and drawing them carefully. We are excited to see that the caterpillars are now ready to turn into a chrysalis!
On Thursday we went out to the pond area and looked for signs of frogs. Although we didn't find any tadpoles, we did find a newt! We then researched which type of newt it was and we think it is a smooth newt.
We explored different fruits and vegetables and how they grow. We discussed if they grow under the soil, on the ground or in trees. The children enjoyed tasting them in the afternoon.
Week Beginning 11th March
We have taken part in Science week in Reception this week. The theme this year is 'time'. To begin with the children discovered their cress had grown enough to eat. We all tasted the cress and decided if we liked the taste or not. The children came up with some sentences to describe what they thought and we had a vote. We then looked at the different ways we measure time including; watches, clocks, sand timers, stop watches, the seasons, days of the week and many more. The children made their own watches and posters. We also linked this in with our topic learning. We are learning about the life cycle of a butterfly and talked about the amount of time this takes. The children are continuing to monitor the caterpillars in the classroom closely, as they get bigger and bigger!
Outside the children timed how many star jumps they could do in thirty seconds or how many balls they could throw into the hoop. We linked this to our P.E learning and extended the challenge by placing the hoops further away.
In Maths we have started learning about length and height. We have been comparing the length of objects using the language of short, shorter, shortest, long, longer and longest. We talked about the different ways we can measure. We explored cubes, rulers and tape measures. We also introduced height and will be learning more about this next week. We were able to use ourselves and our sunflower plants to compare and discuss.
Week Beginning 4th March
This week we have planted some cress seeds and sunflower seeds as part of our growing and changing topic. We talked about how some plants take longer to grow. The children are excited to see that the cress has already grown and we can eat some next week! We also learnt about how to take care of plants and the things they need to grow - space, sunlight and water. In Maths we continued to build on our knowledge of doubles, using what we had learnt in games and solving problems.
We had a fantastic time on World Book Day and enjoyed sharing lots of stories together. The children also had the opportunity to make their own books and draw their favourite book characters. We discussed if those characters were 'good' or 'bad' or both and how we knew.
We are looking forward to seeing lots of you for our Class Celebration Assembly. The children are busy practising and have lots to share with you.
Week beginning 26th February 2024
This week we have started our new topic - 'Growing and Changing'. We began by looking at the four seasons, describing the differences and changes that happen as the seasons change. Some of the children drew pictures and wrote labels to describe each season. We noticed a small caterpillar had arrived in a bag of our fruit for snack. This opened up discussion about how caterpillars grow and the best place for them to live.
In phonics we have now started segmenting and blending CVCC words. The children have been listening carefully for all four sounds in the words, before writing each one. We are also focusing on letter formation and continue to model and practise when needed.
We have continued to build up our fine motor skills. This week we have had cutting activities, tap tap hammers and boards, tweezers counting games and stretching elastic bands onto boards. It has been lovely to overhear the children saying "my hands are getting really strong. My fingers are going to write really well after this". In Maths we have been learning about doubling. The children have represented doubling in a range of ways, including with Numicon and cubes. We have been encouraging the children to describe what a double is and how we know when we spot one.
The outside area continues to be a busy place! The children's imagination has been fantastic this week. We have had a space station and a castle made out of wooden blocks, in great detail. The children continue to build on their turn taking and social skills during this crucial part of their day.
Have a lovely weekend.
Week beginning 12th February 2024
This week we have finished our Space topic by learning about robots that explore space. We have started to design and make our own robots out of junk modelling and we will continue to finish them off next half term. Some children used their own ideas and decided to make jet packs or rockets too! In Maths we have been learning about odd and even numbers this week. We have been checking which numbers are odd or even by putting amounts of objects into pairs and checking if there are any odd ones out. We have been working on speaking in full sentences and explaining how we know.
In phonics we have started to blend and segment CVCC words (sand, pond) and we will be continuing with this after half term. The children have been working hard on writing sentences - the cat is big. The bus is red. The children have also started to think of their own sentences.
Have a lovely half term!
Week beginning 5th February 2024
This week we have continued to learn about Space. The children have been tracking the International Space Station (Live Space Station Tracking Map | Spot The Station | NASA) and commenting on what we notice. We transformed our role play area into the Space Station. The children have been carrying out experiments and taking on the role of Astronauts. As we are learning more about our solar system and the planets, the children have enjoyed painting and junk modelling parts of space.
In Maths we have been learning about adding amounts, using different resources to help us. We have used tens frames, counting objects, number lines and the part-part-whole model. For the children's independent work, they have been ordering numerals 1-10 or 1-20. We challenged the children to say one more or one less than a number on their number line.
In phonics we continue to learn new sounds every two weeks. Currently we are learning; ff, ss, zz, ll, y, w, and x. We introduce ff,ss,zz and ll as 'two letters, only one sound'. The children are continuing to build CVC words and use these words in simple sentences. We have had some amazing writing about Space and the children are very excited to share this with you!