Reception Class News 06/06/25

We've had another wonderful week in Reception, full of learning, exploring, and celebrating our achievements. Here's what we've been up to:

Physical Development: In PE with Coach Beth, we started the session with the car game to get ourselves warmed up and moving. We then continued to develop our athletic skills, revisiting some of the games we enjoyed last term. We even had a go at playing tag rugby, practicing our running, dodging, and teamwork.

Literacy and Language Development: This week, we loved diving into our new storybook, The Storm Whale by Benji Davies. We thought about what we would do if we discovered a washed up whale, sharing our ideas and feelings. We also talked about what some animals need to survive and related this to looking after our own pets. To bring our learning to life, we made fantastic lost and found posters for the whale and displayed them around the classroom for everyone to read.

Mathematical Development: Our focus this week in maths was on numerical patterns, specifically doubling. We explored what doubling means and learned to recognise and represent doubles up to double five. Through a range of fun activities, we practiced spotting doubles and using different resources to show them in different ways.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: In our Heartsmart session, we explored the idea that making mistakes is a normal part of learning and helps us to grow. We thought back to Boris's story when he tried to make a birthday cake and it went horribly wrong, leading him to run away. We discussed what Boris could have done differently and shared times when something we did went wrong and how we put it right.
Boris reminds us that "making mistakes helps us to grow."
We linked this idea to the Bible verse: "If they fall, they will not stay down because the Lord will help them up." Psalm 37:24.

During our wellbeing session, we focused on thinking about what we are proud of from our time in Reception. We started by talking about what it means to feel proud, feeling happy and joyful about something we've achieved. It was lovely to reflect on all the things we've accomplished this year, such as improving our handwriting, learning phonics and moving up to green books, being a kind friend, taking part in races on sports day, winning the beanbag race, getting the Guardian Angel award for spreading joy, and helping others. For our wellbeing activity, we practiced calm breathing using our hands, spreading our fingers wide, and breathing in as we moved up and out as we moved down.

Understanding the World: In RE, we completed our Questful map to show our understanding of the stories Jesus might have heard as a child. We also reflected on our own experiences with stories and books we enjoy and shared which stories from Jesus's time we liked best. We thought about how these stories made us feel.

This week, we also loved exploring some of our large scale maps and storybooks about oceans and seas. We discovered that about two-thirds of our world is covered by water, with the rest being land. We learned how important water is for sustaining life for humans, animals, and plants. In our construction area, we used our knowledge to create islands surrounded by water, remembering that Great Britain is an island country.

Expressive Arts & Design Development: We had a fantastic time creating beach scene pictures inspired by The Storm Whale. We explored stormy skies, imagined washed up treasure, and painted our own whales.

In music, we started by listening to The William Tell Overture, which we learned was written by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini in 1829 almost 200 years ago! We discussed what a composer is and what they do. We also listened to a small piece of Superstition by Stevie Wonder and identified some of the instruments we could hear, using samples to help us decide. Finally, we were really excited to play the glockenspiels again. We found middle C and played it to a beat 1, 2, 3, then play! We even got to improvise, which means making up our own music, to a calm, quiet piece, matching our playing to the mood of the music.

What an amazing week of learning and discovery! We are so proud of everything Reception Class has achieved this week, and we can't wait to see what adventures await us next week. Have a restful weekend, everyone!