Reception Class News 16 / 05 / 25

Exploring Habitats and Happy Places

What a glorious week it's been in Reception Class! The sun has shone, and we've made the most of every opportunity to be out in our beautiful garden, digging, exploring, observing, and soaking in all the wonders nature brings.

Understanding the World: This week, we continued to explore the concept of habitats. We began by reflecting on our own garden, which is home to a rich variety of creatures we've spotted recently: worms, snails, butterflies, and bees. We talked about what makes our garden a good habitat and then broadened our learning to include habitats from around the world. The children identified deserts, Antarctica, snowy and icy regions, woodlands, forests, oceans, and rivers as places where animals live.

Our learning came to life with a very exciting visit from some giant African land snails! We were fascinated to discover:
They are nocturnal and sociable creatures.
They eat vegetables and even enjoy chewing on concrete!
They have thousands of tiny teeth used to grind their food.

We also learnt that in some parts of Europe, these snails are kept as pets. It was a wonderful opportunity to observe them up close and sparked lots of interesting questions and writing.

In our RE session, we continued exploring the stories Jesus might have heard as a child. We began by reflecting on our own experiences with stories--where and when we enjoy them, who reads them to us, and which characters we love. Children drew their favourite characters and labelled the book titles.

We then considered which stories Jesus might have listened to when he was young. While he wouldn't have heard modern tales like The Gruffalo or Elmer, we all agreed he would have loved them! Instead, we focused on stories from the Old Testament such as: Noah's Ark, Daniel in the Lion's Den and Jonah and the Whale. We noticed that in each of these stories, God speaks to the characters, and they show great trust and faith. We wondered which story Jesus might have enjoyed the most and compared it to our own favourites.

Mathematical Development: This week we deepened our understanding of subtraction by continuing to count back on a number line. We used the First, Then, Now structure to clearly explain what number we were starting from and how many we were taking away. The children are becoming confident and accurate in their calculations and are now able to talk through their thinking clearly. Well done, subtraction stars!

Literacy Development: Tiny creatures became our inspiration this week! We watched short videos of miniature journeys by creatures through gardens, then imagined what we might do if we were a tiny creature ourselves. We explored our garden to gather ideas and were particularly inspired by our visiting giant snails. Many children chose to write sentences about their adventure. With a strong focus on capital letters, finger spaces, Fred Talk, and full stops, the children produced some fabulous, creative writing.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development & Wellbeing: This week in wellbeing, we talked about what makes us happy and the moments when we feel our best. Children shared their favourite activities, people, and places that bring them joy. As part of our wellbeing activity, we visualised our own imaginary safe place or haven, a space in our mind where we can go when we need to feel calm, safe, or happy. The children described some beautifully imaginative places full of love, warmth, and wonder.

Expressive Arts and Design: Today in our music lesson, we listened to 'Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing' performed by Incognito. We really liked this song. It was upbeat and we just had to move our bodies in time with the music! We could hear lots of instruments, including drums, maracas, trumpets, and guitars. We decided that this song reminded us of our 'Big Bear Funk' song that we began to learn last week. We learnt that it is a Latin Jazz, Funk song.Next, we met Rita Rhythm. She played a beat that we copied by clapping. We talked about the pattern of the claps and worked hard to keep up.

In PE with Coach Beth, we warmed up by playing the electric car game. Then we practiced the bean bag race for sports day. Next, we practiced the sprint race, focusing on a good starting position. Finally, we cooled down with the bean game.

Reception Class, you continue to amaze us with your curiosity, creativity, and care for the world around you. Another joyful week of learning and growing together.