Recption Class News 23/05/24

Happy Half Term, Reception Class!

We've had a truly wonderful and busy week in Reception, filled with learning, laughter, and discovery. Here's a look at everything we've been up to before heading into the half term break!

Understanding the World: To celebrate World Bee Day on Tuesday, we explored the fascinating world of bees. We watched a short video that helped us understand how bees are important pollinators for flowers and food plants. We saw this process happening in our own garden, as the blossoms on our apple tree had turned into tiny apples.

Inspired by what we had learned, we planted Beebombs, native wildflower seedballs, around our allotment, hoping they will attract more bees to help pollinate our fruiting trees and shrubs in the future. We also spent time planting out the rest of our seedlings into the garden. We are hopeful that, with sunshine and care, they will grow strong and healthy and provide us with lots of delicious vegetables this summer.

Later in the week, we released the worms from our wormery into the garden. We didn't want to leave them in the wormery over half term in case they dried out. We were amazed to see how big and plump they had grown, which reassured us that we had looked after them well by keeping their soil damp and feeding them rotting leaves.

Religious Education: In RE, we continued to explore the stories that Jesus might have heard as a child. This week, we re-enacted the story of Jonah and the Whale using props and resources from around the classroom. We really enjoyed bringing the story to life and sharing it together.

Mathematical Development: In maths, we focused on counting forwards and backwards from 20. We explored the ideas of one more and one less and compared different numbers. Using counters and number blocks, we represented numbers up to 20 on ten frames. We built on our previous experience by using a clever counting strategy. When our ten frame was full, instead of starting from one again, we popped ten in our heads and counted on. This really helped us become more confident with numbers.

Literacy Development: This week in literacy, we used our senses to explore our garden. Each day, we focused on a different sense, thinking carefully about what we could see, hear, smell, and more. We used this sensory experience to inspire our writing. We worked hard to construct our sentences carefully and tried to include some describing words. The results were fabulous, we're so proud of the thoughtful and descriptive writing we produced.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development and wellbeing: In our HeartSmart lesson, we learned about the idea that "Fake is a mistake" and talked about the importance of having a thankful heart. The lesson began with great excitement as we received a postcard from Boris, replying to the ones we had sent him earlier. He said he was really thankful to receive such lovely postcards and that they made him feel very happy.

Boris asked us what we are thankful for, so we spent time thinking carefully about the people, places, and things that bring us joy. We shared our ideas in a circle and talked about being thankful for our families, friends, teachers, toys and teddies, holidays, God, the world, and birthdays. We learned that when we focus on what we're thankful for, it makes our hearts feel happy and strong.
As Boris says, "A thankful heart is a strong heart."
We also linked our learning to the Bible verse: "Be thankful in all circumstances"
1 Thessalonians 5:18.

In our wellbeing focus this week, we explored the theme "In the future, I want to...". We began by talking about what the future means, it's time that hasn't happened yet. We also revisited what we've learned about the past and the present. Then we imagined what we might like to do or become one day. Some of our dreams included becoming a dancer, a reception teacher, an EasyJet pilot, a gymnastics coach, a salon owner, and a hairdresser. One of us even hopes to travel to New Zealand!

We also reflected on a time when we faced a challenge and how we overcame it. It was lovely to hear each other's stories and realise how strong and capable we all are.

Expressive Arts & Design: In music, we listened to the song 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder. We really enjoyed this funky tune and couldn't help but move along to the beat as we listened together on the carpet. We discussed the instruments we could hear, including trumpets, drums, guitars, and piano.

We remembered that earlier in the year, in October, we had listened to 'Happy Birthday' by Stevie Wonder. We recalled that Stevie is blind and plays the keyboard. This week, we also discovered that he plays the harmonica! We watched a video of him performing, where we saw him singing, playing piano, and playing harmonica all at once, we thought this was incredibly clever and inspiring. To finish our music session, we sang and danced to our new favourite song, 'Big Bear Funk'. We especially love the actions and the clapping in this lively tune!

Physical Development: A real highlight of this week was Sports Day which we celebrated with real enthusiasm! We ran, hopped, skipped and jumped whilst having an amazing fun time together. Thank you to all the families who came along to support, it meant the world to us and was greatly appreciated!

In PE, we had an exciting session with Coach Beth where we got to use brand new equipment, hurdles! We began with a warm-up game called the car game, where we zoomed around the field, following instructions to speed up or slow down. There were even roundabouts and traffic jams!

After that, we learned how to jump safely. We now know that before we jump, we must bend our knees, and we must do the same when we land to protect our joints. Once we had practiced this skill, we put it into action by jumping over the hurdles.

We then completed a fun obstacle course in teams of four. We had to walk, jump over a hurdle, and land inside a hoop. We cheered each other on to see which team could complete the course first. To round off our session, we drew pictures of how to jump safely so we could share our new skill with others.

We are so proud of everything our Reception Class has achieved this half term. From planting and pollination to music, maths, and mindfulness, it's been a joy filled journey. We wish you all a happy, restful break and can't wait to see you again soon for more learning adventures!

Mrs Ward