It has been a wonderfully busy few weeks in Reception, filled with fun and exciting learning!
In Maths, we have been exploring matching pairs using Numicon and sorting objects by colour and type. We have also been matching numerals to quantities by counting out objects on ten frames and writing the matching numbers. The children have enjoyed making repeated patterns using dabbers and by threading cotton reels.
This term, our topic has been “Ourselves and All About Me”, and we have been learning about our families, and where we come from. The children drew their country flags and made the England flag using red and white pegs on boards. We also explored the human life cycle, learning how we start life as babies and grow into adults. We talked about what we couldn’t do as babies and what we can do now — there were some very funny ideas shared! To make our learning come alive, we were lucky to have some very special visitors. Baby Arthur and his mummy Alice, and baby Oscar and his mummy Sally, came to visit us. The children loved asking them questions about life with a baby and learning all about what babies can (and can’t!) do. We also had a visit from Manja, Aine’s mum, who told us all about the Netherlands, her home country. She shared fascinating facts about how Holland reclaimed land from the sea, showed us the Dutch flag, and talked about her favourite Dutch foods.
Our Forest School sessions have continued to give us rich, hands-on experiences with nature. We’ve been watering our plants and vegetables, making leaf art with natural materials, and building dens with our lovely Catherine. A special thank you to Shaun, Florence’s dad, who joined us to share his amazing gardening skills! He helped us plant daffodil and bluebell bulbs, and together we explored dried plants with husks and pods, which inspired some beautiful observational drawings. We even discovered worms! Afterwards, we went on an Autumn walk, collecting leaves and searching for signs of the changing season. Back in class, we sorted our leaves by shape and colour!
During handwriting, we have been practising patterns using Letter-join, focusing on vertical and horizontal lines, crosses, and number formation.
In Creative Arts and Design, we created self-collages, designing outfits that represent our identities and cultures. After reading Avocado Baby, we made our own baby crafts by combining different materials. We also explored colour mixing after reading The Colour Monster, learning all about primary and secondary colours — the children were amazed at the new colours they could create!
To end our half-term, we celebrated the festival of Diwali. We learned about the story behind the celebration, created rangoli patterns using dry foods, designed henna patterns, and even tasted delicious Diwali treats such as mango lassi, poppadoms, and chutney!
It has been such a joyful, creative, and busy few weeks of learning. We are so proud of how curious, caring, and enthusiastic the children have been. Well done, Reception!
Michael Faraday 