Hello and welcome to the Reception homepage. The team working in Reception are Miss Devaney and Ms Hanton. We are very excited for the year ahead and we will keep you updated on the children’s learning on the Chatter Feed on the right hand side of this page.
We use Seesaw to update you on your child’s progress and learning, when you log on you will see snapshots of some of the activities we take part in in class. We expect all parents to interact with posts on Seesaw and to work with their child on activities set at home.
Reading is fundamental to a child’s progress. It helps to introduce your child to new words and increase their vocabulary. We recommend that parents read with their child daily. It helps to spark imagination and plays a crucial role in speech development which introduces children to the world around them and new concepts. We expect all parents to read with their child and make notes at least once a week.
If you have any problems accessing Seesaw or the Monster Phonics e-books, please contact us using the parentmail@pleasantstreet.liverpool.sch.uk email address and we will try to support you.
PE – Friday – The children should wear PE kits into school on this day.
Thank you to Siva who came into our school to be our wonderful mystery guest reader last week, the children in Nursery and Reception listened to the story ‘The Highway Rat’ by Julia Donaldson so wonderfully. Thank you so much Siva for your time and wonderful reading.
The children have completed a six week bike ability class, developing their cycling skills and confidence on a balance bike. The children took part in a range of games designed to improve their coordination and concentration such as racing in teams, listening to stop and go instructions and playing a game of follow the leader around the track with skill and control. Well done everyone!
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During our PE lesson today the children took part in a few games to warm up our body, then practiced catch and retrieve exercises before taking part in an introduction to cricket lesson. The children took turns to throw the ball at the stumps, hit the ball with the cricket bat and catch the ball if it did not hit the cricket stumps. The children had great fun while improving their coordination and gross motor skills.
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We have been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly and we have been lucky enough to have four caterpillars to care for. The children watched the caterpillars grow and build their chrysalis around themselves and then we waited for the beautiful Painted Lady butterflies to emerge. Today was very exciting as we released the butterflies into the school garden where there are lots of plants and flowers, creating the perfect habitat for the butterflies to lay their eggs.
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Thank you to Ms Lowry for sharing a book with the children in EYFS called ‘When baby lost bunny’ by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds. A lovely story about a family outing that quickly turns into a fantastic parade of animals with baby leading the way. If you would like to be our next mystery reader please get in touch with us in school or through email.
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The children used some of the key vocabulary from the story The Storm Whale to think about and write their own sentence about the main characters in the story. The children had some interesting ideas and were able to use their phonic knowledge to segment and blend the sounds in the words they were writing.
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The children had a wonderful day on our school trip to ‘Imagine That’ using their imagination in the range of role play settings, exploring the creative area painting a car and making models and experimenting in the science area. We also had the opportunity to make artificial snow and mix ingredients together to create our own slime before watching a sensory science show making bath bombs for us to take home. What a great day !
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well done to all of the children in the EYFS for taking part in our fun sports day activities this week . The children used the skills we have been developing in our PE lessons to balance ,throw a bean bag at a target, manoeuvre over an obstacle course and run as a team in relay races.
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we enjoyed singing The Grand Old Duke of York together ,clapping our hands every time we sang the word ‘up’ and stamping our feet when we sang the word ‘ down’. Moving in time with the rhythm and beat of the music and song.
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The children have been working with an adult to fill in the missing words in a sentence and used their imagination to write stories using The Storm Whale story as a template. We have also been exploring the story props area to write sentences about what we can see remembering to use a full stop, capital letters and finger spaces in our sentences.
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The children have been thinking about mathematical symbols and number sentences, working with a partner the children have been using counters to represent a numeral then writing a number sentence with the correct answer. Well done everyone!
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We had a great time this week using the balance bikes, developed our gross motor skills , balance and coordination. The children can use the bikes with confidence and control taking part in a selection of team games where they have to turn over or collect coloured cones for their teams.
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The children used their phonic knowledge to write a model sentence independently during a phonic lesson, then chose to write a postcard to the whale in our story ‘ The Storm Whale’ by Benji Davies to ask the whale some questions such as “ How can whales swim” ? And “ Do you have any babies” ?
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We have been exploring the properties of 3D solid shapes, the children recognised flat shapes in the solid shapes and then experimented to see if their shape could roll down a slope or if it would slide. Finally the children looked around our classroom to see if the can recognise any solid shapes within our environment.
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The children had great fun taking part in our PE lessons this half term. We have been practicing throwing, catching and retrieving a ball in a range of team games where the children work together to be the first team to complete the circuit. Well done everyone !
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This week the children have been talking about how to keep ourselves safe around open water. We watched a presentation from the RNLI discussing the dangers of entering lakes and open water and explaining how to stay safe using four simple rules “ Stop and think” “ Staying together “ “Floating” and “Calling for help.” Working together the children looked at an image to identify areas of danger and what they can do to stay safe.
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Thank you to Miss Gormley for being our mystery guest reader today, sharing a lovely story with the children in EYFS called The Storm Whale in winter by Benji Davies . If you would like to be our next mystery guest reader please get in touch with us in school or through email.
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The children have asked if they can sing one of their favourite songs called ‘Jenny Jenkins’ Mrs Grindley uses a wooden spoon puppet as a prop for the song. The children enjoy following the song and using rhyming words to match with the colour of puppets dress, and following the adults actions during the chorus of the song. Well done !
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we have been thinking about different 2D shapes in Reception, the children worked in teams drawing around different shapes and talking about the properties of each shape. Then we went on a very exciting shape hunt around our school looking for shapes in the environment, we used our mark making books to draw the different shapes that we found such as circular windows, square ceiling tiles and star shaped awards on display.
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Today we have began taking part in the LifeSavers Programme which will help our pupils learn about money and how to manage it wisely. As part of the LifeSavers Programme we have partnered with a local credit union, Central Credit Union, to provide our school savings club for pupils.
Any pupils from Reception to Year 5 are eligible to join the savings club now and they will receive a LifeSavers Passbook and wallet when they join. Please see the letters your children took home with them for more information and the QR code to register by Friday 12th June.
Some children from each class had the opportunity to partake in the assembly and help their fellow classmates to understand the importance of money and savings.
A big thank you to Miss Goodwin who joined us today as our mystery guest reader, sharing a book with us called How to make a cherry pie and visit the USA by Marjorie Priceman. A story about a young baker who goes on a trip around America to find all the materials she needs to stock her kitchen. If you would like to be our next mystery guest reader please get in touch.
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As part of our Diversity Day celebration the children talked about the idea of ‘home’ and what this is for different people, we thought about different parts of a house and what makes it feel homely and important for them. The children wrote about their home and used collage materials with a range of boxes to make a model of a home. We also learnt to recite a poem called Home and confidently performed the poem for the rest of the school. Well done everyone!
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The children had a wonderful time today taking part in a bike ability class developing their coordination, confidence, balance and gross motor skills.The children put on their safety helmets and after a few warm up activities followed the adults instructions and played lots of games together.
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A big thank you to one of the parents from Y4 who visited EYFS today as our mystery guest reader. We really enjoyed listening to the story you chose to share. If you would like to become a mystery guest reader, please get in touch.
The children had a wonderful time in the garden building a boat race track, then pouring water along the pipes to move their boats as fast as possible. The children discovered that using a larger jug and pouring more water made the boats move quickly, they also built a water fall which dropped water into the water wheel.
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During our Spanish lesson this week the children used their prior knowledge to recall the names of different types of playground equipment in Spanish, then took turns to play a game identifying a word in Spanish and then stepping on the correct picture.
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We had a special visitor to class this week, a member of staff from Everton Children’s Centre came to read us a story about our teeth and talk about how to keep our teeth healthy by brushing them twice a day especially In the evening before we go to bed. We also thought about the different types of food and drink that are good for our teeth and the foods that are not a healthy choice for our teeth. Then the children took turns to practice cleaning the model teeth and the dinosaur puppet with a large toothbrush.
This week the children have been brushing their own teeth in school to help develop a healthy routine around brushing our teeth to keep them healthy and strong.
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At the beginning of our PE lesson the children warmed up their muscles travelling around the hall then stopping at their marker to perform a yoga move. Then the children moved through the floor ladder being carefully not to step on the yellow strips, developing their gross motor skills and finally raced to move the tennis ball from one cone to another using both hands to cross the body. Well done everyone!
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This week the children have been exploring quantity using mathematical language of fewer than, more than, less and more.’ Working in small groups the children took turn to hold as many toys as they could in one hand then compare the different quantities in each group. Then we explored the Rekenrek counting tools to find and compare groups of objects using our subitising skills to recognise quantities and develop addition and subtraction skills through a visual representation.
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During our PE lesson today the children had to listen carefully to their instructions to touch a cone, dance around the cone, put the cone on their head as a hat and jump around the cones. Then in pairs the children had to take turns to play a game jumping, dancing and galloping around the cones and through sets of gates a set number of times before running back to their partner as fast as they can before swapping roles.
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Thank you to Mr Verdin for sharing a story with the children as our mystery guest reader. The children enjoyed listening to a rhyming story called The king and the cook by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts . A story about a fussy king who can’t find a good cook until he meets the timid Wobbly Bob, who is afraid of everything, leading the king to help him overcome his fears on a culinary adventure to make his favourite meal.
We can not wait to see who will be our next mystery guest reader. If you would like to sign up to share a story with us please send us an email.
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For our English lessons this week we have been thinking about the characters in the story The Extraordinary Gardener and the story setting. The children learnt to sing a song about the beginning of the story to help them to sequence events and following the teachers model wrote their own sentence about the beginning of the story.
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This week the children have been learning to use a Rekenrek to see and recognise number patterns. Using our subitising skills the children were able to select groups of numbers and select the correct number of counters noticing number bonds and patterns.
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We have been thinking about our similarities and differences and how being different makes us special. The children took turns to hold the worry monster and talk to their friends about what makes them special. We had some lovely ideas and conversations with the children talking about themselves and thinking about how special their friends are such as – “ I am special because I am clever.” “ I am special because I look after my toys and I’m a great artist. “Because everyone and everything in my life makes me special.” “ I am special because I’m good at writing.”
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This week we had some special visitors to Reception, the school nurses came to talk to the children about how important it is to brush our teeth and what types of food and drink are good or bad for our teeth. Then the children chose to make posters about how to brush our teeth and how we can keep our teeth healthy by visiting a dentist regularly.
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During our music lesson this week the children enjoyed singing familiar nursery rhymes, thinking about the beat and rhythm of the songs. Then the children took turns to play the glockenspiels tapping the notes in time to the music.
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Thank you to Mrs Davies for sharing a story with the children as our mystery guest reader. The children enjoyed listening to a rhyming story called ‘ My friend bear’ by Jez Alborough about a boy named Eddy who loses his teddy bear in the woods, only to find a giant bear with a tiny teddy.
we can not wait to see who will be our next mystery guest reader. If you would like to sign up to share a story with us please send us an email.
During our Spanish lesson this week the children revisited some of the words from previous lessons, recalling animal names, colours, playground equipment and numbers. Then the children played a guess the missing animal game using their Spanish vocabulary and finally had to find the animal by guessing the sounds and number of letters in the word. Well done everyone!
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During our PE lesson this week the children practiced throwing a beanbag into a cone then working with their partner the children played a movement game. Following instructions from the adult the children had to jump, hop and make star jumps together then touch the cone as fast as they can to win the game. The children listened carefully and took turns playing the games. Well done !
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This week Nursery and Reception had the chance to buy some yummy cakes donated by pupils in the school to raise funds for Shy Lowen. The Reception school council children were all hands on deck to help give out the cakes. What a lovely treat.
This week the children have experiences that will help them to develop an understanding of the magnitude of numbers focusing on ordinality. We have used linear number tracks to play games that encourage the children to compare numbers that are near or far apart helping to develop their understanding of number and build upon visualisation of number order using number tracks.
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The children had a lovely time listening to a very funny rhyming book called ‘ The day the banana went bad ‘ by Michelle Robinson and Tom knight, a story that celebrates differences and friendship. Then the children chose to write their own story using the same theme, drawing pictures or using scissors to cut out images of different fruits to illustrate their book. The children had some very interesting ideas and enjoyed sharing their story with their friends and teachers.
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For our Spanish lesson this week the children sang a Hello song in Spanish then used their prior knowledge to name colours and animals. Finally the children began to learn new words using their Spanish vocabulary to play a game naming different playground equipment.
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The children have been learning how to plant and care for flowers and vegetables, this week the children used a model text to write their own instructions to plant a seed. We thought about what equipment we would use and what we would need to do for a seed to grow onto a plant.
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Thank you to Mrs Mira for being our mystery guest reader this half term, sharing a story called Harry the dirty dog by Gene Zion. A classic children’s story about a white dog with black spots who at the beginning of the story hates baths, but as the story continues he changes his mind.
We can not wait to see who will be our next mystery guest reader. If you would like to sign up to share a story with us please send us an email.
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The children have been working in groups using counters to explore number composition and number bonds to ten. We thought about the different ways to make ten using objects and our fingers singing number songs and rhymes together. AH
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This half term the children in Reception are learning about what seeds need to grow into healthy flowers and plants. We thought about how to care for our plants and labelled different parts of a plant talking about the roots, seedlings, stem, petals and leaves. Then the children had the opportunity to carefully plant a sunflower seed in a pot to watch the flower grow before taking their flower home.
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During our PE lees on the children moved around the hall in teams taking part in a circuit of activities. Developing their gross motor control, eye hand coordination, throwing and catching skills. Kicking a football into a goal, catching and throwing a beanbag into hoops and against cricket stumps.
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We have been listening to a story called The Extraordinary Gardener by Sam Boughton, today the children looked at the illustrations in the text talking about the colours,flowers and plants in the story. Then we took some art materials into the school allotment area to draw our own pictures of the flowers and plants in our garden. The children were very excited using their sense to explore the area with their friends.
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This week we are learning about number composition and number bonds to ten. The children collected a handful of counters and using a tens frame we were able to gain a visual representation of how many more counters are needed to make ten. “I need two more to make ten.”
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For Diversity Day we listened to a story called The same but different by Karl Newson and Kate Hindley. We talked about how we may have differences but how in many ways we are the same, we all feel happy and we can all feel sad sometimes and talking to our friends can make us feel better. Then the children worked with their partner to discuss their similarities and differences drawing pictures of each other and writing sentences about how we are the same and also can be different.
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Reception received a surprise envelope today, containing a letter from Joe and a packet of seeds. The children explored the gardening tools and story props then we read the letter together and thought about what plants may grow from the seeds. The children suggested that we should plant the seeds and give them water and some sunshine to see if they grow into grass, sunflowers or trees. We are looking forward to reading the story, The Extraordinary Gardener and finding out who Joe is and what happens when he planted his seeds.
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The BIg Bad wolf came to school and wanted to eat the pancakes for our Easter breakfast ! So we made a plan to trap the wolf and save our breakfast, the children discussed ideas then we drew a plan and wrote a list of materials that we needed. Finally the children built a trap to catch the wolf in the garden with a toy cake to entice the wolf and catch him in the net.
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The children enjoyed a special Easter breakfast in class with a wide variety of pastries, pancakes and danishes, as we listened to a story called The velveteen rabbit by Margery Williams. Then the children became very excited during our Easter egg hunt, searching everywhere in the classroom for the hidden treasure.
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We had great fun during our music lesson this week as we all joined in with The Hokey Cokey song. The children were able to sing and dance following a repeating sequence of movements.
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After our trip to the farm the children looked at photographs and talked with their friends about where we went, what animals we saw and the fun of the tractor ride. Then the children used their phonic knowledge to write about the visit independently. The children were very proud of their work and were able to read their sentences to the adults in the room. Well done everyone!
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During our Spanish lesson this week the children recalled animals names and counted objects that they could not see using the correct Spanish vocabulary. Then we met a Spanish puppet called Pedro, the children listened to Pedro who sang to them asking their name and replied saying “ me llamo ——.”
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Following our class trip to see a farm we looked at a map of Farmer Teds and talked about our visit, thinking about the different animals and buildings on the farm. Then the children drew their own maps of the farm together, talking through their ideas with the adult.
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The children have been working together to find signs of spring in the garden, using a spring hunt identification chart. We noticed flowers, buds on the trees and blossom on the bushes, the children listened to a bird singing and were excited to find insects under the logs.
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The children have learnt some interesting facts about an artist called Vincent Van Gogh. We looked at a painting called Sunflowers which was intended to convey gratitude. Then we discussed the use of colour, form and textures in his artistic style. Finally the children drew pictures using their own interpretation of the Sunflower painting.
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Reception enjoyed a lovely day in the sunshine at Farmer Ted’s. They met and handled the guinea pigs, helped to maintain the shetland ponies and met some mini beasts from all around the world. They enjoyed watching the sheep show, especially taking part in the dancing at the end and the exciting dinosaur tractor ride. It was fun to meet the other residents of the farm and pretending to be farmers in the tractor ride area.
Today the children used watercolour paints and pencils to create images of The Big bad wolf and Little Red. We talked about the characters in the story and discussed the colours and style that the illustrator had used to make the images in the book.
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The children had a lovely story outdoors today as they enjoyed their drinks and a snack, consisting of either an apple, pear or tangerine.
We heard the birds singing and watched the gulls flying overhead.
The children looked at the shape of an iconic national emblem of Ireland symbolising St Patricks day, signifying Irish heritage, faith, hope and love. Then the children collected leaves from the garden and attached them with elastic bands to their cardboard shamrock leaf. We discussed the different shapes, textures and colours of the leaves on the bushes and trees in the garden.
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Today the children listened carefully to their instructions and watched the adult demonstrate the activity. Then the children manoeuvred the ball in circles using their hands then we practiced throwing and catching the ball with two hands before bouncing the ball on the floor and catching it again.
Great gross motor skills and coordination !
The children used their prior knowledge from previous lessons to recap and recall the name of some animals, then we described the colours on each animal using Spanish vocabulary.
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Today the children enjoyed a camp fire, We began by thinking and looking for woodland animals then the children talked about fire safety before helping to chop the wood for the fire. We took turns to stack the wood correctly before lighting the fire with a flint, then we enjoyed singing songs around the camp fire and listening to a story.
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Today we had a lovely time visiting the forest school facilities at Liverpool John Moores University. The children enjoyed building a den, collecting sticks, filling bird feeders, playing games on the field and taking part in a treasure hunt to find different natural materials. What a lovely morning !
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The children in Reception have explored a range of different creative activities both indoors and outdoors such as drawing with chalk, paint sticks, pens, crayons and paint.We have also experienced different types of media and used natural materials to make pictures and patterns.
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Today we have some exciting visitors to our class to talk about the job of a dentist and how to keep our teeth healthy and clean. The dentists showed us how to clean our teeth twice a day and talked about how important it is to eat healthy food to help our teeth to grow strong.
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We have been thinking about the Muslim festival of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Fortunately two parents came to visit us to talk about their faith, fasting and this special celebration. The children listened with interest asking questions about this holy month and were given gifts and pictures of a Mosque to colour and decorate which was very much appreciated.
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During this weeks PE lesson the children have been practicing eye hand coordination taking turns to throw beanbags into hoops set at different ranges, scoring one , two or three points fie each beanbag that landed in the hoop. Then the children rolled their hula hop and tried to catch it before it fell onto the floor, we also used our gross motor skill to spin and balance the hoop on different parts of our body.
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During our music lesson this week the children took turns to perform. Playing the correct note on the glockenspiel in time to a familiar rhyme.
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The children in Reception had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day. We enjoyed dressing up as a story character and exploring the classroom which was filled with exciting fairy tale story activities. We made story bags, built the Three little pigs house, mixed porridge for Goldilocks, looked at story books, had a fairytale tea party in the home corner, went on a fairytale treasure hunt in the garden and made our own story books. Then Little Red came to visit us and answered lots of our questions about the Big bad wolf and Grandma. What an exciting day !
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We have been listening to a story called Little Red by Bethan Woollvin, the children thought about the different characters in the story and how to describe them. Then the children wrote about Little Red and the Wolf describing their features and character.
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We have been learning how to name some domesticated animals during our Spanish lesson, the children thought of lots of interesting types of pets and demonstrated good listening skills during the lesson.
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This week the children in Reception have been thinking about the composition of numbers and some double facts using a part whole model. The children are developing a good understanding of numbers to ten and are able to demonstrate number bonds to five independently.
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We will be looking at a new story in Reception called Little Red. We wondered what the story would be about and after exploring the story props we made predictions about the characters , setting and story plot. Then we drew images of the story and made puppets of the characters in the book to show to the rest of the class .
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This Diversity Day, Reception explored the theme of friendship. We discussed the characteristics of a good friend and the times when we might need our friends the most. The children took turns Sharing why they believe they are good friends and the kind things they do to support others. We also explored the poem “ Alone” reflecting on how sometimes feel to be lonely and have friends can help us through those moments. To finish, the children worked together to create a beautiful repetition poem, with each child contributing a line about the thoughtful and caring things their friends do.
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The children in Reception have had a wonderful time learning about different cultures and celebrations. We took part in Lion dances, made dragon masks and visited the Chinese arch as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations. To consolidate our experience some children chose to write about our trip to Chinatown demonstrating their phonic knowledge, good pencil control and letter formation.
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The children have been looking at different maps and their features in Reception. Following our trip to see the beautiful Chinese arch we chose to draw maps showing the route we took from school to the Chinese arch. The children worked independently describing the route as they drew buildings and shops then labelled areas on their map.
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The children have been learning gymnastics during our PE lessons, improving their balance, coordination, physical movement and climbing skills. The children took turns to explore each piece of apparatus safely and with control helping to build confidence and skill.
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This week the children were able to say number names in order and count body movements using their knowledge of the Spanish vocabulary. Well done everyone !
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We had a wonderful time visiting Chinatown to see the largest Chinese arch outside of China. The arch was imported from Shanghai in 2000 and is decorated with 200 dragons made from a mixture of wood and marble. The children noticed the lion statues that are on both side of the road bringing good fortune to visitors to the city.
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We have been thinking about different celebrations, this week the children enjoyed listening to a book about the how people celebrate the Lunar New Year. We then took turns to wear the lion costume and take part in the Chinese lion dance. Some children played the drums and tambourine to create the music for our dance.
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During our music lesson the children explored pitch and tempo through an Hawaiian song called Liliko butter. The children listened to their instructions as they sang and followed the actions of the adult.
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Thank you to this weeks mystery guest reader Miss Jackson for visiting us in nursery to share a story called The Baddies by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The children enjoyed listening to lovely story about a witch, a troll and a ghost who pride themselves on being mean but are outsmarted by a little girl.
We can not wait to see who are next mystery guest reader will be. If you would like to sign up to be our next mystery reader please send us an email. Thank you
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Today we played a game of phonics disco, dancing to the music then when the music stops the children quickly found a table with a high frequency word on it reading the word and then writing independently.
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The children have been learning to name some wild animals in Spanish and today we played a game of hide the animal. As an animal was taken away from the group the children had to remember the animals and recall their name in Spanish.
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We have been looking at a story map to help the children retell the story of Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart, then the children chose to draw their own story map retelling the story in the correct sequence and using phrases from the book.
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The children listened to a story called Super Me by Sam Usher and Charissa Coulthard, we then thought about how we are all super and what makes us super. The children took turns to speak about what makes them special saying “I am super because -.” Then the children used the phonic knowledge to write a sentence about how they are super.
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Today the children have been discussing the differences and similarities between two stories, Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart and Star in the jar by Sam Hay. The children had lots of suggestions which we added to our chart then the children drew pictures of the main characters in the stories and wrote sentences about the two books.
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The children used the programmable mice to navigate around the map this week.The children worked together using positional language to discuss the best route around the map helping the mouse find their way home.
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This week we have been learning to recite nursery rhymes in our Spanish lessons. Well done everyone !
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We have been thinking about a story called Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart. This week the children have been making masks and pretending to be a character from the story. We began by asking Juniper Jupiter questions. Then the children took turns to sit on the hot seat and pretend to be Juniper themselves answering questions from the rest of the class.
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As part of our fundamental skills physical exercise program the children have been practicing climbing, balancing and jumping along an obstacle course. Learning to hold their balance position to the count of five then moving along a bench to balance a beanbag on their head as they navigate around a set of cones.
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The children enjoyed exploring the natural materials in the mud kitchen, using their hands to pull apart red cabbage leaves and long stem broccoli mixing them together in the pans as part of their ingredients. Then the children used pine cones and shells to decorate the mixture before giving it to their friends.
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The children had a great time during our weekly PE lesson. We began by warming up our bodies then explored a range of different ways to travel along a bench, sliding, crawling, jumping and balancing. Then the children carefully jumped on to a safety mat learning to bend their knees as they landed and demonstrated a balance position to finish their movement.
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we enjoyed our Spanish lesson this week listening to a new story about Pablo visiting the zoo and learning to name animals using the correct Spanish vocabulary.
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The children have been listening to a story called Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart in Reception and this week the we have been very creative using boxes, tinfoil and a range of collage materials to design and make our own superhero headquarters.
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we were very lucky this week to welcome two Police officers to school who talked about their role in keeping people safe, showed us their uniforms and let the children try on some of their clothes and feel how heavy the police jackets are. The children were also very excited to see the police van in the school grounds climbing into the back of the van to explore and sit in the passengers seats pretending to be police officers. The children were excited to hear the sirens and the see the lights flashing on the police van and the meet Bobby the police mascot. How exciting !
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Today the children in the EYFS had a lovely time in the garden exploring numerals hidden in the flour, then we matched the numeral to the correct numicon shape. We also used mathematical language comparing different quantities such as more than, less than and fewer than.
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we are learning about a story called Juniper Jupiter by Lizzy Stewart which features a superhero as a main character. Today we have been pretending to be a superhero thinking of a superhero name and our own super powers !
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The children have been looking at and thinking about maps, we talked about what maps are used for and discussed maps that they have seen at home such as maps of the zoo, maps for our city, treasure maps and weather maps. Then the children chose to make their own maps in the creative area using grids, rulers, pens and pencils.
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Nursery and Reception children have been busy exploring ice in the garden when it was snowy. They loved investigating how cold and slippery the ice felt and watched closely as it began to melt in their hands. The children then used watercolours to paint the ice, noticing how the colours spread and blended as the ice melted. It was a wonderful sensory experience full of curiosity, creativity, and scientific thinking.
During our PE lesson the children have been learning to balance on a set number of points of their body, then we began to demonstrate balances using patches or large body parts and holding their position to a count of five. AH
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The children have been learning to pronounce animal names in Spanish through the use of a familiar song.
well done everyone !
The children in Reception are taking part in a six week fundamental physical skills class. We began by listening to the story of Jack and the beanstalk, then we thought of different ways Jack may have traveled to the market and carefully balanced a beanbag around the hall.
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As part of the schools Diversity day celebrations, the children in reception listened to a story called ‘When sadness comes to call ‘ by Eve Eland then we took turn to talk about what we can do if we are feeling sad and what makes us feel better. The children had some fantastic ideas that we discussed and then wrote about together.
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The children had lots of fun exploring the frozen areas in the EYFS garden. We talked about how water changes into ice when it is very cold and noticed how the ice melts in warm hands changing back into water. The children felt the frozen leaves and pine cones and looked through chunks of ice with great excitement.
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The children had a lovely Christmas part day, enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner then playing pass the parcel games and musical statues together in the classroom.
Great dance moves everyone !
The children enjoyed a special breakfast in class this morning as part of our Christmas celebration in school.
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The children had a wonderful time playing together in the garden, climbing on the posts, cooking in the mud kitchen, exploring the outdoor musical instruments and laughing as they took turn to pull or ride on the tractor.
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The children are thinking about one more than ,building steps with the number blocks then we used cubes to represent different quantities matching them with the corresponding numeral and writing the numeral independently.
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This week in Reception, the children have been developing their subitising skills by matching number cards and representing numbers using counters. Through these practical activities, the children have been learning to recognise quantities quickly and confidently.
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We had a very special visitor to school this week and the children had a wonderful time meeting two reindeer and their elves in the nursery garden. Then we met Father Christmas who enjoyed singing some Christmas songs with us before giving each child a lovely present.
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The children made posters to help us find Sam the Star who is missing from our classroom, then we went for a walk around our school to ask if anyone has seen Sam putting up our posters to ask people to help us find Sam.
I hope we find him soon !
On Monday Reception had the chance to explore an iPad using apple pencils children also looked at basic skills when it comes to using an iPad. Children used an apple pencil with the application Pro Create to decorate a bauble. Children looked at using different colours and what happens when they apply different amounts of pressures. Children also completed an activity from BBC bitesize, looking at swiping and selecting different items.
This week we enjoyed taking part in a digital art lesson using the iPads. The children navigated a program clicking and swiping the images then using a digital pencil chose different colours to carefully decorate a Christmas picture.
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During this week’s PE lesson the children thought about balancing using small or large body parts. We listened to the adults instructions about how many points to use then the children chose different ways to balance and hold position for a few moments, developing their gross motor skills, coordination and balance.
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The children have been drawing a story board for a story called Star in the Jar by Sam Hay, using appropriate story language and sequencing events in the correct order. We talked about the characters in the story and used our phonic knowledge to write some words to match each picture. Then we discussed how to make a poster to help us find Sam the Star who is missing from our classroom.
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Thank you to this weeks mystery guest reader, a parent of one of the children in reception for visiting us in nursery to share a story called “ The Smartest Giant in Town” by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. The children enjoyed listening to this lovely rhyming story about a kind giant who helped other characters in the story.
we can not wait to see who are next mystery guest reader will be. If you would like to sign up to be our next mystery guest reader please send us an email. Thank you
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The children are enjoying learning new words in Spanish, today we are learning to retell a familiar story called The Hungry Caterpillar using Spanish vocabulary. With picture cards the children can name different types of fruit and are able to sequence the story through song.
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The children have had great fun immersing themselves in a story called Star in the Jar by Sam Hay. We have enjoyed looking at the images in the book, listening to the story, learning to retell the story through songs, write sentences and dress up as astronauts in our space station zooming to the stars.
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Thank you to our mystery guest reader, a parent of one of the children in reception for visiting us in the nursery to share an information book, we enjoyed learning about how to keep our bodies healthy. We thought about looking after our teeth by eating healthy foods and brushing our teeth twice a day. We can not wait to see who are next special guest will be.
If you would like to sign up to be our next mystery guest reader, please send us an e mail.
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Today, we enjoyed a story around the fire about Fire Safety. We listened carefully to the story of Fiery Fox and the rules that are in place to keep us safe. After this we enjoyed helping to set up the fire before singing some of our favourite nursery rhymes with Mr Curry.
The children used different equipment to form groups of objects that matched the number circles.
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During our PE lesson the children warmed up their body by thinking of different ways to travel around the hall, then we separated into small groups and made star jumps like a star fish, hopped like a frog, jumped like a rabbit and leaped like a cheetah.
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We are very proud of the children in Early Years who showed confidence and resilience while performing nursery rhymes for the rest of the school and for their families.
well done everyone!
The children had a great time during our Music lesson learning new songs and thinking about rests and rhythm while moving in time to the beat.
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Damo, a parent of one of the children in KS2 joined us to read two books about very special dogs. We enjoyed listening to Detective Dog and Hospital Dog by one of our favourite authors, Julia Donaldson. We enjoyed listening and talking about the stories together and we can’t wait to see who our next special guest will be. If you would like to sign up too be a mystery guest reader, please send us an email.
In Literacy this week, we explored our new book ‘Star in the jar’ by Sam Hay and Sarah Massini. The children enjoyed exploring the different props from our story and listening to the story.
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We read the book ‘Angry Cookie’ and discussed the different emotions Cookie felt throughout the story. In provision, we enjoyed reading the story to our friends, making our own cookies from play dough and drawing different emotion on our own cookies. Some children took the opportunity to write their favourite sentences from the text in their mark making books. Well done Reception!
This afternoon we enjoyed an assembly that celebrated some of the work classes completed on Diversity Day. Class Five explained the Windrush Generation after reading ‘Coming to England’ by Floella Benjamin. They considered the range of emotions that may have been felt on the journey to England and how the new arrivals to the country settled. Their performance and discussions were excellent and they made links to some of our school values; resilience, respect and resourcefulness.
Reception then performed a verse from the poem ‘I Rise’. We were very proud of how confident the children were reciting the poem with actions in front of the whole school.
Our assembly was completed by a pupil in Y6, who performed her own original poem, based on ‘I Rise’. Her thought-provoking words reminded people that they can achieve anything if they put their mind to it.
Reception enjoyed our trip to Hightown Pumpkin Patch today. We searched in the rain and sunshine for pumpkins of different shapes and sizes before bringing some back to school.
The children counted how many, compared pumpkins of different shapes and sizes and worked together to pick them up to put them in our wheelbarrow. We had a great time talking about the things we could see both at the patch and on our way to the farm.
We enjoyed spending some time exploring the forest school area in Nursery. We spoke about the safety procedures we need to follow when we enjoy a fire together in the future and found out the names of some of the tools we may use in the future. We are looking forward to taking part in more forest school activities soon.
Reception are reading The Something by Rebecca Cobb they have enjoyed taking part in a number of activities linked to the text.
We have had lots of fun exploring the enhancements in the mud kitchen this week. Some of us have planted beans in the hope that a beanstalk might appear. In the mud kitchen we used sieves and spoons to separate the beans from the other ingredients. Some children collected apples from the garden and used the scales to compare the weight of the apples.
This week we read a story called ‘Big Feelings’. We discussed the zones of regulation and some steps we can take when we are in the blue and yellow zone. In provision we used paint to match expressions to the zones colours.
Today we worked in small groups to talk about our families. We showed good communication skills, talking clearly and listening to our friends.
Nursery and Reception have had a wonderful party day today, they enjoyed playing lots of fun games in the garden such as hook a duck, bean bag toss and making some fantastic party hats.
In Reception, the children have been playing the glockenspiel. The children were introduced to glockenspiels as a fun and engaging way to explore music and develop early musical skills. Playing the glockenspiel helps children build their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and an understanding of pitch and rhythm. It encourages listening, concentration, and following simple patterns, while also allowing for creative expression. Children enjoy experimenting with different sounds, creating their own tunes, and playing together as a group, helping to develop their confidence and teamwork in a joyful, hands-on way.
Reception have been such fantastic writers! In our literacy lessons, we’ve been reading Little Red by Bethan Woollvin, and the children have absolutely loved it. Over the past week, they have been busy creating wanted posters for the wolf – and they did an amazing job with their writing
A big thank you to everyone who attended our family BBQ last week. A great time was had by all and we managed to raise over £1000 which will help school funds. We were also able to make a donation to Shy Lowen Sanctuary, where lots of our children have attended over the years. We cannot wait until our next event.
This week in Maths, Reception have been exploring doubles. The children used counters to create patterns and worked out whether they were doubles or not. As a challenge, they were then asked to decide if the patterns showed even or odd numbers. To finish, the children designed some beautiful double butterflies, carefully making sure that the wings were symmetrical to show a double.
Reception had a wonderful time becoming little chefs! The children worked to create their own set of simple, clear instructions for making jam sandwiches. They carefully followed each step, learning how to use knives safely to spread the jam and butter. Everyone showed fantastic listening skills and concentration, and of course, the best part was enjoying the delicious sandwiches they made themselves!
For RE this week the children thought about what was the most beautiful thing in the world. Some children said that the earth, sun and park are the most beautiful thing in the world and other children said their families and animals. The children then had a think as why the word ‘God’ is important to Christians. The children then decorated the word ‘God’.
This week Reception explored the artwork of Gustav Klimt and how he used lots of different shapes and patterns within his art. The children had a go at creating their very own art work inspired by the artist.
In our Reception class, the role play area was transformed into a vibrant vet’s surgery, sparking imaginations and encouraging rich, purposeful play. The children eagerly took on roles as vets, pet owners, and nurses—caring for animals and learning how to use different tools and equipment. Through this engaging activity, they deepened their understanding of people who help us, discussing the important work vets do to keep animals healthy. This experience not only supported language development and teamwork but also helped the children make real-life connections to the world around them.
This week the children had a go at using the laptops in our computer suite. The children turned the laptops on, explored how to use the mouse and buttons and had a go at creating a picture on the app ‘paint’.
Reception have been learning this week all about our Literacy story ‘Little Red’ by Bethan Woolvin. The children explored what was inside Little Reds basket, listened to the story fantastically, explored the characters from the story and drew some of the characters.
This week in Maths reception have started to use their reknreks in preparation for starting year one. For our group work the children looked at the pom-poms on the table and had to match the correct dot card with the patterns they could see on the table.
As part of our Diversity Day celebrations, the children explored the beautiful story “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold. This heartwarming book helped us reflect on the importance of kindness, inclusion, and embracing differences. Inspired by the story’s message, the children discussed what it means to make everyone feel valued and accepted. They then wrote their own thoughtful sentences about how they can help others feel welcome in our school. Their words captured a deep sense of empathy and community, showing that even the youngest voices can share powerful messages of unity.
This term, the children have some special guests in our classroom – caterpillars! During circle time, they had the chance to observe them closely and talk about the life cycle of a caterpillar, sharing what they know and showing great curiosity as they explored.
In maths, the Reception class played a fun game using two handfuls of items. They shared the items out between the teddies and guessed which teddy had the most. The children loved counting and comparing, and it was a great way to explore early maths skills through play.
Reception class enjoyed a lovely outdoor learning session in the school garden. Armed with clipboards and pencils, the children observed the plants, flowers, and insects around them and created wonderful drawings based on what they saw. It was a great opportunity to explore nature and practise their observational skills in a fun, hands-on way.
In their PE lesson, the children worked with partners to throw bean bags into hoops. They took turns aiming and tossing, developing their hand-eye coordination and teamwork skills. As they practiced, the children learned to focus on their aim and improve their accuracy while encouraging and supporting each other. The activity was not only fun but also helped build their confidence and cooperation in a playful, active setting.
The Reception children have been learning about the frog lifecycle. They explored the stages of a frog’s life, from egg to tadpole, and finally to adult frog. Using pictures and videos, they observed how frogs grow and change, and some even made their own frog lifecycle diagrams. This hands-on learning experience helped the children understand the concept of growth and transformation in nature while sparking their curiosity about the world around them.
The children in Reception have been busy planting in the garden. They excitedly dug small holes, carefully planted seeds, and watered their plants, learning about the growth process. Through this activity, they explored nature, developed responsibility, and observed how plants change over time. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to connect with the environment and appreciate the importance of caring for living things.
Reception class has been learning to play the glockenspiel in music lessons. The children have mastered basic skills such as holding mallets, striking the keys to produce different notes, and following simple rhythms. They have explored high and low sounds and started playing short, simple melodies. Through these activities, they have gained confidence in making music, developed hand-eye coordination, and built a foundation for further musical learning. The experience has been both fun and educational, encouraging creativity and a love for music.
Reception have been drawing some fantastic pictures this week in Art of our garden area, the children have had a look around our garden and we have taken pictures of the areas and then drawn pictures of what we can see from the pictures. The pictures turned out brilliant.
Reception had a lovely trip on their first day back after half term. We visited Farmer Teds farm as the class were learning all about farm animals, their mums and their babies and it linked with our literacy story ‘Mr Gumpy’s Outing’, when he collected lots of different farm animals along on his boat ride. The children were so excited to use their knowledge of animals and be able to link them with real life experiences.
Whilst at the farm the children enjoyed some fantastic activities including ferret racing, the Shaun the sheep show and exploring lots of minibeast.
Then of course the children had to have a go of the climb and slide.
Then after lunch Reception were able to explore more of the farm animals in their barns.
And finally have a go on the climbing frame and in the sand area. What a wonderful day.
This term our diversity day story is ‘Happy in our skin’ by Fran Manushkin, the story explores how people have their skin to keep their insides safe but also how we can happy within our skin, we discussed what makes us happy inside and wrote them down in to body pictures then we drew our faces.
This term in English Reception has been reading the story Mr Gumpy’s Outing and the children have created some fantastic lists of things they will need for their teddy bears picnic.
Today the children enjoyed a wonderful picnic in the garden.
Reception created some fantastic pictures drawing around 2d shapes in maths this week, some children chose to draw houses, snowmen and crowns.
Reception have been exploring doubles in Maths, the children created their own double patterns using a die pattern to guide them.
Then reception had a go at placing doubles on half of butterfly wings and listening to instructions to put the counters in the correct place without looking at each other’s butterflies.
As the weather starts to become brighter Reception explored in the garden area today some changes in spring. With the help of a checklist, the children observed what has changed to some of the garden so far and what they might see start to grow.
This term Reception are looking at special places within different religions, this week Reception explored what a special place for a Muslim was and they looked around a Mosque online to see what a special place it is and why people go to mosques. The children the coloured in some beautiful prints that can be found in a mosque.
Reception were invited to a forest school session at Liverpool John Moores and the children had so much fun some of the activities they did included creating clay creatures and building dens with students who are training to be teachers.
We shared a story called ‘When Cucumber Lost His Cool’. We worked as a group to think of ideas to share with Cucumber about what he can do if he is feeling like he is going to loose his temper over things.
The children recalled some brilliant strategies, including balloon breathing, taking a short walk and playing a game to take your mind off things.
A big thank you to one of our Nursery and Y1 parents, who surprised the children this afternoon as our Mystery Guest Reader. He read two wonderful books, singing songs and putting on different voices for the characters.
Thank you for your time, the children loved it!
This term Reception explored the artist Vincent Van Gogh and his amazing paintings, the children explained what they they liked or didn’t like about the paintings and then the children had a go at creating their own pictures and paintings inspired by Vincent Van Gogh.
For world book day this year Reception read the story ‘A Seeds Grows’ which is a non-fiction story about how seeds grow from a seed and germinate to push through the soil to grow into a wonderful flower. The children created a poster about a lifecycle of a flower and what flowers need to grow. the children also created some fantastic flower pictures and some paper flower crafts.
During Diversity Day, we read the book, When Sadness Comes to Call. We spoke about our feelings, the things that make us sad and what sad can feel like. We then discussed the types of things we can do when we feel sad, who we can talk to if we feel this way and how we can help others.
In RE Reception have been learning all about special places, this week they have learnt about churches and what inside a church looks like, the children created some fantastic stained glass windows inspired pictures.
Reception have also learnt about Ramadan this week and celebrate the beginning of Ramadan the children created some beautiful lanterns.
Reception had a fantastic time at the museum aquarium, as they explored all the animals that live under the sea. This links with our literacy story the storm whale.
