What a fantastic and busy half term we have had in Reception!
Our topic of Under the Sea has inspired so much creativity and curiosity. The children created beautiful drawings of sea creatures including starfish, turtles and crabs, carefully adding labels to their pictures. We were so impressed with their growing confidence in using their phonics to sound out words independently. Using plasticine, the children sculpted their own sea creatures such as starfish and orcas, thinking carefully about their features — tentacles, fins, flippers and tails. They enjoyed discussing textures and shapes while developing their fine motor skills. We also explored observational painting, looking closely at sea creatures and trying hard to represent their colours, patterns and details accurately. We became researchers by exploring a range of non-fiction books to learn fascinating facts about sea animals. The children were particularly interested in sharks! They learnt about their sharp teeth, powerful tails and how some species have several rows of teeth. We even labelled a diagram of a shark, identifying key parts of its body. The highlight of our half term was undoubtedly our visit to the Sea Life Aquarium. It was a surreal experience seeing so many incredible creatures up close. The children were amazed by the variety of life under the sea and spoke excitedly about what they had observed.
As part of our topic work, we have been reading The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch. The story captured the children’s imagination and led to lots of wonderful learning opportunities. We learnt about the purpose of lighthouses and designed and built our own using junk modelling materials. The children showed great creativity and teamwork while constructing their models. Inspired by the story, we made jam and cheese sandwiches and wrote simple instructions explaining the steps. We also designed warning posters to protect the Lighthouse Keeper’s lunch from the mischievous seagulls, thinking carefully about bold lettering and clear messages for passing ships!
In Maths, we have been exploring number bonds to 5 using Numicon tiles. The children investigated which pairs combine to make 5 and experimented with different combinations. They then began recording their learning as number sentences using the addition and equals signs.
To end our lovely half term, we celebrated Culture Day. The children came dressed in clothing representing their cultures and countries, and we enjoyed learning about each other’s backgrounds. We were very lucky to taste delicious foods from around the world, including rice and peas, pavlova and Scottish shortbread biscuits. It was a wonderful opportunity to explore different traditions and flavours. We also had a very special visitor — a professional dancer from Muraldo D.C. She performed a traditional Caribbean folk dance as well as a vibrant Bollywood number. The children were captivated by her performance and had an amazing time learning parts of the dance sequence themselves!
Michael Faraday 