28th March 2024
Another brilliant fortnight in Reception. We were super lucky last week that two very exciting things happened. First, we got to see our chicks hatch with our very own eyes and we ended up taking care of 6 of the cutest little chicks. We made sure they had enough to eat and drink and had a nice place to sleep. We talked about handling them carefully and not too much because we don’t want them getting cold. They are currently at home with Miss Nicholson until they are big enough to go and enjoy allotment life with Miss Nicholson’s dad.
We also had loads of fun at Whitehouse Farm on our visit last week. We held small animals, ate our packed lunch, fed the lambs some milk and fed the cows, ponies, sheep and goats some grain. We learned all about looking after the animals and their lives. We also learned about how to keep ourselves safe around farm animals including washing our hands thoroughly after we touched them. The children were exceptionally well behaved and polite and we all had such an amazing day.
Back at school we have been writing all about our visit and the animals we saw. We have been learning about farm machinery and how it has changed over time. The children were very good at spotting differences between past and modern machinery.
In maths, we have been focusing on subtraction and how to count backwards to find the answer. We have also looked at measuring length and the children had lots of fun searching around our classroom for the biggest things they could find to measure.
In RE, we have enjoyed learning about the Easter story, including recreating the Last Supper, and how Christians celebrate Easter.
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter break!
15th March 2024
What an exciting time we have had in the first weeks of our new term. We had a special delivery of some eggs in an incubator. We have learned all about keeping the eggs safe and how we can care for the chicks once they hatch. We used a short story to learn the lifecycle of a chick and retold it using actions, drama and we did our first larger piece of writing of the year- very impressive! Our chicks are due to hatch on the 20th so keep an eye out for updates!
In maths, we have been looking at recognising and ordering numbers to 10. We have filled in the missing numbers on our number line, ordered the numbers forwards and backwards and matched amounts to number. We have also been looking at the composition of 5 by doing some work on number bonds, the children were super at spotting hidden numbers within 5.
In our DT unit, we have been practising our weaving and sewing skills. We all showed amazing resilience when having a go at a running stitch and I definitely think we have some future sewing superstars amongst us!
We have also been learning about how Ellington has changed over time. We looked at some old photographs of Ellington and went on a walk around our local area to see if we could locate the exact place the photograph was taken. We then took our own version of the picture and compared similarities and differences. The children were particularly amazed that you used to be able to get petrol from the Top Shop!
Another very busy two weeks in Reception! Last week we completed a mini topic ‘Women in Space’ based on the very inspirational Mae Jemison. The children were very sensible when discussing Mae’s life and the obstacles she overcame to be an astronaut. We made our very own space passports looking closely at our features to help us describe ourselves and then we watched some videos of what it is like to be in space. The children were amazed that everything was floating and had some lovely discussion about gravity.
This week we have been learning all about Chinese New Year and the story of the animal race. The children have retold the story through drama and a story map. We found out what zodiac animal we are and have enjoyed making our own Chinese dragons using our folding skills. We will continue our work on Chinese New Year next week.
In maths we have been continuing our work on doubles and have learned a fabulous song to help us remember them, perhaps we could give you a performance at home!
We were incredibly lucky to have Shirley from Tiddlywinks join us for a story telling session on Tuesday this week. She made the story of the Gingerbread Man come to life and we had a wonderful time acting out the story. Thank you Shirley!
26th January 2024
What a great start to the new year in Reception. We have really enjoyed exploring our new topic Run Run as Fast as You Can using the story of The Gingerbread Man. He trashed our classroom in week 1 so we made posters to encourage everyone to keep an eye out for him. Last week we used our STEM skills to make boats to help him cross the river without getting eaten by the pesky fox! We had lots of fun exploring different materials that would be best to make boats and then test our boats at the end of the week- they all floated for at least a little while!
This week we the Gingerbread Man sent us a letter to say he was off to travel the world. He has sent us letters, emails and postcards to keep us up to date as he passed through Antarctica, the Caribbean, Alaska and Australia! He sent us clues to let us know where he was and the children had lots of fun guessing where he could be. We compared the places he has visited to Ellington and decided we like the looks of the warmer countries than the cold ones!
In maths we have been working hard on number recognition, 2D shapes and doubles, using our fingers to help us recall facts speedily.
We also had a special music lesson this week, we sang some lovely songs thinking about pitch and got to play some musical instruments.
Great work Reception!